Marina Bay Sands, Singapore

The Marina Bay Sands is right across the highway from Gardens by the Bay. They have conveniently put a pedestrian bridge to connect the two. Even the pedestrian bridge looks like a park! It's lined with benches and trees. Singapore really is such a beautiful city. Anyway, the walk is longer than it looks. The bridge actually passes through the hotel and out the other side where you can then either take the stairs or the elevators down to the sidewalk. Then you have to walk to the entrance to the hotel at the end of the block.

The first floor of the Marina Bay Sands is almost like a shopping mall. It's full of nice stores. We went to the rooftop of the hotel, which is basically the boat on top of the three buildings. At the top is a large viewing platform as well as a nice bar. It also has a restaurant but it is pretty pricey. I don't know, if I had more time, I would have done it. It would have been worth it just for the view.

After watching the sunset, we headed over to the part of the river where the large merlion statue is. From there we watched the light show of the Marina Bay Sands from across the river. The lights and the odd shape of the hotel kind of made it seem like an alien base trying to contact the mother ship.

After resting our tired feet and finally eating dinner. We went back home to prepare for another full day out the next day.

Gardens by the Bay, Singapore

We first made our way to the Gardens by the Bay, which is simply a huge park and garden located by the river and waterfront. Much of Singapore already seems like a garden to me but this place much more of a tourist attraction type of park rather than a Central Park of New York kind of park. I'm not sure how to describe the contrast, I guess.

The free parts of the garden are quite nice too. They have their own themes and are really nice outdoor botanical gardens. The weather in Singapore is perfect for having outdoor gardens. The whole place is kind of like its own island since a river separates it from the rest of the city. From across the highway, you can see the Marina Bay Sands hotel.

However, the most well known parts are the ones you have to pay for. Sadly, Cloud Forest was closed for maintenance but we still got to enjoy the Flower Dome. It was nice and cool in there, which is why I think my family lingered far longer than expected. The plants ranged from desert cacti to colorful flowers. Well, obviously the flowers were the best part.

An iconic image of the Gardens by the Bay is the Supertree grove, made of these huge fake trees that light up late at night. There is a walkway connecting them called the OCBC Skyway where you can see pretty much all of the garden. The Supertrees are one of the things Singapore is most known for.

If I could come back, I'd definitely want to see Cloud Forest. Perhaps next time.

Singapore

While in the Philippines, we decided to do a small side trip to Singapore. My mother has been there multiple times in the past for business. It's actually pretty common for people in the Philippines to take a business trip to Singapore. I've never been there though so I was really excited to go.

First impression upon landing, the airport is gorgeous. It has been voted one of the most beautiful airports in the world and I can see why. Lots of nature displays everywhere. There are then two large display gardens close to the entrance gate and also an outdoor sunflower garden on the second floor!

We stayed at the York Hotel, which is walking distance to Orchard road and two metro stops. This made it really convenient to commute around the city. We got a spacious and technically three bed room but we put together the two small beds. Not much of a view from the window unfortunately but we kept the curtains closed most of the time anyway.

We began by walking around the city just to see the buildings, go inside some shops, and also get to the visitor center to get some information on the sights we want to see. One thing I noticed is that for a city, it seems so very at one with nature. Large trees and plants everywhere. For a country closer to the equator than Manila, it sure didn't feel hotter. Unlike the congested Manila air with heat made worse by engine exhaust, the air in Singapore was nice and clean with a nice breeze too. It felt refreshing and less humid in my opinion.

This was only the first few hours. There is still the rest of the day to go!