Hello Singapore! Continent number 2 and country number 4!
We scored another free stop over and spent two days admiring the prosperous city of Singapore. If you want to experience business class but with an economy ticket, take a ride with Singapore Air. They lead you to your seat, offer full meals with real silverware, and have complimentary liquor. They make you feel fancy!
Walking around Singapore was an immersive experience. The unique architecture, beautiful murals, colorful accents, massive shopping malls, countless eateries, and built in gardens and green spaces around the city and on the skyscrapers kept us searching for things we might miss.
We tried to beat some of the heat by starting our excursions early in the day, but we quickly learned that Singapore has more of an afternoon/evening vibe with the city waking up around 10am. That didn’t stop us from exploring!
We started with a walk through Fort Canning park and a stop at the iconic Tree Tunnel for a unique view of the trees. We continued on with a quiet stroll around Little India followed by a slightly more active wander through Arab Street and Haji Lane. We were first in line to see Sultan Mosque, slipping our shoes off and pants on before going inside.
We popped into our first massive shopping mall while seeking respite from the heat and humidity (hello sweat, I did not miss you!). It felt a little like Epcot with shops and restaurants from around the world. Jeff was pretty excited to stop at Tim Hortons for an ice cap and some Timbits. We also found a ramen restaurant that we loved in Japan, you bet we stopped there!
By midafternoon we were ready to cool down in our hotel’s rooftop infinity pool before getting ready for our Macallan whiskey tour. We’ll be in Scotland in July and have a handful of whiskey tours booked, but Macallan is celebrating their 200th anniversary and aren’t running tours when we’ll be there. So instead, we figured it would be fun to stop by the Macallan House in Singapore for a tour half way around the world. We “smelled” our way through Scotland’s country side while learning about Macallan’s brewery and brewing process and ended the tour with a dram of the 12 year double cask.
As darkness approached, we prepared for our double feature light show. The first was displayed on the water at the Event Plaza and incorporated fountains and lasers into the show, and the second was at the Gardens by the Bay with lights bouncing around the Supertrees. On the way to the Garden’s show, we passed through the famous Marina Bay Sands Hotel. Talk about a luxury stay!
We continued our Singapore tour on Friday, by starting in Chinatown. We stopped at Sri Mariamman temple, Singapore’s oldest Hindu temple, and Thian Hock Keng, a Hokkien temple completed in 1840.
Our tour resumed as we made our way back to the unique nature park at Gardens by the Bay. We opted to visit the Flower Dome and Cloud Forest, which were like fancy botanic gardens. The Flower Dome had gardens from around the world and a special Tulipmania exhibit which made us dream of returning to the Netherlands. The Cloud Forest was our favorite of the two as we caught an elevator up to the top of a lush mountain embellished with plants and walked through a misting cloud down to the valley floor. My favorite flowers here were the mini orchids that were the size of a pea!
We spent the afternoon wandering through the city, checking out the iconic Merlion, and eventually stopping back at the hotel for a little break.
As evening approached, we caught the double decker bus back to the Gardens by the Bay, returning for a second viewing of the light show, but this time, we viewed the show from the suspended walkway (72 feet high) that connected the Supertrees. We timed it perfectly and two minutes after we stepped off the elevator the music started to play, the lights began to twinkle, and the show commenced! We were in for a treat as this was a special light show promoting Inside Out 2.
Following the dazzling light show, we popped into the Marina Bay Sands Casino. I mentioned the massive malls earlier, but to give some perspective, this particular one had a 4 story Casino with 500 gaming tables, a musical theater big enough to host Hamilton, multi story elite brands like Louis Vuitton and Gucci, a river with a waterfall where you could ride on a gondola, and I don’t even know how many restaurants, eateries, and other shops. It was huge!
At the Casino, Jeff was planning to place a couple of bets just for fun, but after seeing the $75 black jack minimums he decided to pass on that and instead just observe the ebb and flow of money being passed between individuals and the house. It’s wild to think about how much money was in there.
And just like that, it was time to pack our bags and move on to our next destination.
But before we left for good, we had one last sight to see, a tour of Changi Airport. If you know Jeff, you know he likes planes and airports, and this was quite the airport! This place is unlike any other airport. We started at the Jewel where we stepped into a rainforest and caught the morning show consisting of a massive rain vortex misting before turning into a 7-story waterfall. We followed that with a stop at the Butterfly Garden, a peek in at the movie theater (yes a movie theater in the airport!), and on to the orchid garden, before pausing to grab a snack from the lounge. We purposely arrived extra early to explore this unique sight, and I feel like we could have used even more time to see everything. What a fun space!
Thanks for some great sight seeing Singapore!
Next stop, Vietnam!
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