23 December 2011
We were supposed to go to Singapore last August, but due to my dengue fever, we had to cancel our trip. Luckily, we had another chance to go to the Lion City.
Our flight was supposed to be at eight in the evening, but it got delayed by thirty minutes for some reason. We arrived at around 1:00 AM on December 23. This picture – see our weary faces? – was taken at the lobby of the Ibis Hotel on Bencoolen where we stayed for the trip.
After breakfast, we went to the Suntec City Mall for our Duck Tour. The Duck is an amphibious Vietnamese war craft. They didn’t keep the guns.
This is the ticketing counter for the duck tour. When we got there, the queue wasn’t that long. The queues here in Singapore are generally quite long. So if you’re impatient or if you have impatient kids, be prepared.
The tour started on land (obviously!).
Then, we went into the water shortly. The transition from land to water was smooth. Our tour guide was very fluent in English and he also knew how to greet in other languages. He was a Filipino, by the way!
These are the Gardens by the Bay. They have many different flowers from all over the world, such as the cherry blossoms of Japan and the Holland Tulips. One of these two will have an artificial mountain inside in the future.
The gallery of the Floating Stadium has a whopping seating capacity of 27,000.
The biggest observation wheel in the world is the Singapore Flyer, beating the previous record holder – the London Eye – by 30 meters. Each of these capsules can accommodate 28 people. Here, the Flyer dwarfs the trees and the building!
The Marina Bay Sands has the highest skypark in the world as well as the highest swimming pool in the world. Its Infinity Pool is as big as three Olympic-sized pools.
These white balls fronting the Merlion contain wishes of people. People would come to a booth with these things, make a wish and put the wish inside the ball.
These apartments cost an unreasonable $1,000,000 (at least for me who doesn’t have money)!
After the tour, we hopped onto the bus and went off to the Singapore Flyer.
My Mama told me there were toys on the Flyer, since their theme is “Toys Come Alive at Singapore Flyer”. I thought there would be on the wheel itself, but they were probably someplace else in the compound. They probably weren’t free either. =(
Below the Singapore Flyer. One complete revolution of the Flyer takes around 30 minutes.
There were some galleries that showed the ideas, history and various information about the Singapore Flyer.
One of the galleries that showed the ideas behind the Flyer.
On the way to The Flyer!
Thankfully, the queue wasn’t long at all when we got there.
Me – watching Singapore’s skyline from The Flyer! On a clear day, you can see some parts of Indonesia and Malaysia but unfortunately it was raining at that time. The rain turned out to be our main enemy for the first two days of our trip.
We saw lots of ships and boats while on the Flyer.
Turn 22 (?) of the Marina Bay Formula One circuit.
Seen in this picture are the “overpriced” apartments and lots of Singapore’s tall buildings.
The Marina Bay Sands (leftmost), the ArtScience museum (center, in the form of a lotus flower), some more buildings, and the Floating Stadium (right, soccer field at the bottom).
ArtScience Museum and Singapore skyline.
The rain really ruined our first two days of the trip. Luckily, it didn’t rain on our last two days.
Us at the Singapore Flyer
We went back to Suntec City Mall (See the Fountain of Wealth at the background.) because we were low on Singaporean dollars and there is a money changer inside the mall. The cab driver was amused we took a cab from The Flyer to the mall because he said it’s very near. The views of Filipinos and Singaporeans on distances are apparently drastically different.
Then, we had lunch at Food Republic. I ate Spicy Chicken and Beef. The beef and chicken rice were good, but the chicken didn’t taste like chicken at all.
After eating, we went to Orchard via double-decker bus. The upper floor was roofless but it had a tarp to protect us from the rain. We went on the top, but it was raining so we couldn’t take pictures. The tarp did a lousy job at protecting us from the rain, so we got wet. We went to some of the malls to get out of the rain and buy pants because our pants got wet.
At the taxi queue in Ion Orchard. The only pic (using iPod) that we were able to take after hopping onto the double-decker bus.
We had to go back to the hotel instead of staying in Orchard Road until dark to see the lights because we were wet and miserable.
Then, Tito Rene came to our hotel. He is my father’s brother who lives in Singapore. I haven’t seen him in a long time, and I don’t know if Gian has even seen him yet before. We went out to have dinner at a food court near our hotel and went to Collyer Quay with Tito Rene.
Me, ArtScience Museum and Marina Bay Sands!
Three of Singapore’s best attractions in one awesome picture!
Another awesome view of Singapore at night!
In this picture is the Fullerton Hotel, one of Singapore’s best hotels.
Me with Papa and Mama. Behind us to the right is the Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay. It has a concert hall that can accommodate 1,600 people and a theatre that can accommodate 2,000 people. The building resembles a durian.
Us at the Merlion Park
My Tito Rene.
Gian was getting tired and grumpy and I was getting sleepy, so we decided to retire for the night.
DLSG Travel Log 