Singapore
Feb 11-13
After Bali, Singapore was like returning to a North American city, with its glitzy high-rises, ultra-clean streets and expensive shopping malls. We arrived just one week before Chinese New Year and the city, especially Chinatown, was all dressed up for the party. Prices in Singapore were more in line with North America, as well, and, after Bali’s bargain prices, I was sickened to be paying $100 a night for a very mediocre hotel. We were glad that we had only three days to spend (literally) in the Southeast Asia’s wealthiest city, and most expensive, city.
We spent our first day exploring the city mostly on foot. First, we took the pristine subway, the MRT, to Little India where we walked through the shopping districts and visited a few temples.
Next, we walked to Kampung Glam, Singapore’s Muslim district where we visited some mosques and went to the Cultural Centre where the kids and I learned how to balance a Kris, a ceremonial dagger.
Then it was on to the city’s cultural district where we visited the “World’s Largest Fountain,” the Fountain of Wealth.
Having guaranteed our future wealth by completing the ritual walk around the inner fountain, we continued on to the Pan Pacific Hotel where we rode the glass outdoor elevators to the penthouse to get a view of the Singapore skyline before exploring their opulent lobby.
Next, we strolled past the city’s famous concert hall (shaped like a durian fuit) toward the waterfront where a nice gentleman rushing by stopped to tell us that, if we hurried, we could catch the free concert being put on at the concert hall. So, hearing the word “free” and not even knowing what kind of concert it was, we joined the throngs of people rushing toward the entrance to the concert hall. It turns out that we were lucky enough to catch the Valentine’s performance of the Valley Chinese Orchestra as part of the concert hall’s monthly free concert series. Our seats were in the balcony almost directly over the stage and we were able to look down on the unusual and exotic collection of instruments used by the orchestra. Simon quickly lost interest and fell asleep on Claude’s lap, but Alexa was fascinated and spent the entire hour long concert on the edge of her seat, clapping enthusiastically at the end of each piece. For their encore, in honour of Valentine’s Day, the orchestra performed a medley of love songs, ending with a beautiful rendition of Elvis’ “Can’t Help Falling in Love with You” (our wedding song, for those of you who weren’t there). Who says you can’t enjoy Singapore on the cheap? After the concert we walked across the causeway and caught a bumboat up the canal to Clarke Quay
where we stopped for a drink before wandering over to Chinatown to see the Chinese New Year decorations and sample the interesting food for sale by the street vendors.
We ended the evening by wandering through Chinatown’s chaotic night market before catching the MRT back to our hotel.
On Day 2, we spent the day at Sentosa Island which turned out to be a rather expensive tourist trap. However the kids enjoyed the pink dolphin show and the aquarium, Underwater World. We spent the afternoon lazing on the artificial sand of Siloso Beach
and wandering around the flower gardens beneath the Merlion before catching the evening laser light show at the Magical Fountains which was really spectacular and worth the wait.
All in all, in the end we were glad to have visited Singapore, but a few days was enough and we were anxious to move on to Cambodia before we went bankrupt.
Tags: Singapore, South East Asia, Travel
tambour
Hi Claude!
This is a great read, I love the pictures. What a wonderful time it looks like you are having.
Take care, be safe and continue to enjoy.
In Belleville it chilly, overcast, and a bit of snow flying in the air.
Later,
Greg