Singapore, Day 2

There is so much to see and do in Singapore. It is a fascinating city. And you walk a lot. Yesterday we walked 4 miles, today I walked 3 miles and Michael walked 5.5 miles.  

I decided to rest in this morning and then venture out one time only since you have to do the long walk just to get to the bus. In any event, I needed to rest up after yesterday’s 4 miles of walking.  Michael went on a fabulous excursion the afternoon and I got my nails done. While I needed to get my nails done, I would have loved to gone on the excursion he did.  So here is his description of his fabulous time exploring Singapore.

My excursion on Friday was probably the best I’ve had to date. We left the ship for a brief bus ride right back to the same boat we sailed on the night before. The difference, of course, was that this was daytime, and so the view was entirely different.  Singapore is a gorgeous, amazing city and you see something different every time you look. This time I saw the one and only Apple Store in the world that floats.

We re-boarded the bus for a short ride to the Flower Dome.  You enter the flower dome by first walking through Gardens by the Bay, a futuristic horticultural park which is nothing short of incredible. It is a national garden and horticultural attraction with more than 1 million plants showcased in ingenious landscape designs. Part of garden by the bay is the Super Tree Grove, an ecological marvel with vertical metal gardens shaped like trees (up to 160 feet), supporting a diversity of ferns, orchids and vines. These are maintained with photovoltaic cells, advanced water and air filtration systems, and other green technologies. 

Entering the flower dome, you get to take in the world’s largest columnless greenhouse, and a world of perpetual spring. The gardens are divided by areas of the world: African gardens, Mediterranean gardens, and Australian gardens. These gardens are mixed with some incredible sculptures and other art forms. The recently concluded lunar new year, which introduced the year of the dragon, resulted in additional decorations in the flower dome, which were also magnificent.

I walked into the next dome, the centerpiece of which is a five story tall waterfall, which was just lovely. I didn’t have time to do the whole thing, but I quickly glimpsed the orchid garden, which is beautiful. It was now time to board the bus for our next adventure, the Marina Bay Sands Sky Park.

The Sky Park is the 56th floor of the marina Bay Sands Hotel, which provides a 360° view of this incredible city. We glimpsed everything that we had seen on the previous two days but this time from the top which was yet another entirely different view.  One could see the nearly 100 ships waiting to unload in one of the worlds largest ports, the public housing where 80% of all Singaporeans live, and everything else. If you squinted, you could actually see over to the Malaysian islands.

Poor Michael came back from his excursion sweaty and exhausted and hungry. He was going to take the afternoon to rest up while I was going to get my nails done. As I said before, the terminal is connected to a mall, and a nail shop was conveniently located nearby. I finished just in time for us to board the shuttle to the Marina Sands Hotel convention center where we were being dropped off. We were going to watch the show at the tree garden. 

As I said before, a lot of walking is involved in sightseeing. We were told to walk through the convention center, through the mall (and hopefully find a place for dinner), then cross the bridge, go through the hotel skybridge, and then find the path to the tree garden. Whew! We never did find a suitable place to eat in the mall, but we sure did find some interesting things here. Every high-end shop you can imagine is here. The mall is underground as well as other shopping centers around town. If you can believe it there was a river running through it with a gondola caring passengers. You would think you were in Las Vegas! 

Up until now I have been not been sweating. That was about to change. After walking to a restaurant in the mall and finding a long line, we decided he better get walking to the tree garden, because it was quite far distance. So over the bridge and through the hotel to get on the path to the trees we went.

After emerging from the hotel, you find yourself in a horticultural fantasy land. We walked the path and finally reached the garden. Since we had not had dinner, and there was time before the show started, Michael went and search of something to eat. He brought back a chicken sandwich and a strawberry malt. I asked him where was his sandwich and he replied, the strawberry malt was it.

Now it’s time for the show to begin. It was surreal and beautiful. It was worth all the effort to get there. This way to see the show was to actually lie down on your back and look up. This is what I was doing when I took the video. It was a beautiful evening.