Singapore Sights

Top of the evening folks! It's 10:30 AM for me but 9:30 PM on Saturday in Canada. Still trying to wrap my head around this planet business.



Yesterday was a very eventful day. After breakfast at the Rendezvous I decided to take to the streets in an effort to acquaint myself with the surroundings. Singapore's national museum of history is just down the road from here so I learned a little more about the city's Malayan-British heritage. The bright white colonial architecture stands out majestically against the tropical trees. After this, I found myself walking past the famous Raffles Hotel, one of Ernest Hemigway's numerous hangouts around the globe. The hotel is uber exclusive and uber posh so I tried sneaking into the lobby. Unfortunately, only guests and residences have this privilege and I was whisked away to the Long Bar where I tried my first Singapore Sling for $30 where the drink was invented. In 15 minutes they must have sold $600 worth of this drink to tourists like me!



After this I went over to a massive supermall called the Suntec centre boasting to have the world's largest water fountain, the Fountain of Wealth. Although it tries to be boldly futuristic, it looks more like it was ripped from the ruins of Chernobyl. A little further south from here is the Esplanade and the waterfront. The Esplanade is an architectural marvel with spiked cones encrusted in a silver shell. Keeping along the water I visited a massive statue dedicated to a mythological lion figure. Singapore is known as the Lion City after all. I loved walking through the hordes of Asian tourists taking pictures in front of it. Everyone with smiles and laughter, pure entertainment!



After this I found myself in the corporate heart of Singapore. The skyscrapers are imposing and wealth abounds in this area - I saw an envoy of Ferrari's and Lambo's scream by. I was getting tired though, so I got on the MRT subway (the best subway system I've ever seen, so clean, fast, efficient) and travelled back to the hotel. But, I got lost and found myself walking through a magnificent jungle called Fort Canning Park. The island is peppered with these beautiful sanctuaries and they have the most exotic trees I've ever seen.



I found my way back to the hotel and had a short rest before getting some dinner at a hawker plaza around the corner. My mission was to make a trek to the Singapore Flyer, the world's largest ferris wheel, for a view of the city at night. I am usually pretty good with directions but I managed to make every wrong turn possible and it took me almost 2 hours to get there! I'm glad I did though because I walked through a crazy Asian bazaar. I got to the flyer 10 minutes before it closed, incredible views! It was a long night but completely worth the effort.



Well, it's time to move on from here. Have to keep moving along. My next destination is a hostel called Betel Box in Little India where I plan on staying for a week. This will be interesting... Bye for now!