Combining the skyscrapers and subways of a modern, affluent city with a medley of Chinese Malay ans Indian influences and a tropical climate, with tasty food, good shopping and a vibrant night-life scene, the Garden City makes a great stopover or springboard into the region.
This is by
far our new favorite Asian city and one of the most impressive places we have
been to yet. The Singapore government must have taken a Disney blueprint for a
theme park and built an entire city. It is an island nation with just over 5
million people and is roughly 3.5 times the size of Washington DC.
While we were visiting, Singapore was hosting the annual Formula One Grand Prix race. One of only 2 cities where the race is held on the city streets and is the only night race. The race added a lot of excitement to the city and made our visit all that more unique. A great link to what is said about Singapore and the race. http://www.singaporegp.sg/media/news.php?id=103
While ME was making her visits in the office, I got a chance
to explore some of the cities attractions. I went to the Garden by the Bay a
relatively new project by the Singapore government to transform Singapore from
the "Garden City" to a "City in a Garden". The Garden has
two conservatories, the larger one is the Flower Dome containing plants from
the Mediterranean and semi-arid tropical regions and the other is the Cloud
Forest which contains plants found in tropical mountain regions. The park also
includes Supertrees that are tree like structures and are linked together by an
elevated walkway. For those who like gardens here is a wiki link. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gardens_by_the_Bay
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Arial of the park
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| The SuperTrees |
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| inside the dome |
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| SuperTrees and elevated walkway |
Just across the highway is the Marina Bay Sands. It is a
combination of a 2500 room hotel, a convention and exhibition center, shopping
mall, museum, theatres, ice skating rink, floating pavilions, and the world's
largest atrium casino. It was developed by the Las Vegas Sands. The three tower
hotel is topped by a 370 yard long SkyPark, which includes a observation area,
and an infinity swimming pool among other hotel amenities. This is a very cool
looking building, it looks like there is a giant surfboard on top.
For those of you who
would like more information here is a wiki link to the hotel. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marina_Bay_Sands
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| Marina Bay Sands complex |
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| close up of SkyPark |
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| infinity pool |
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| view of the Formula 1 race grand stand concerts are held on the floating stage during the night race |
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| The Flyer Ferris Wheel with race course the pods on the ferris wheel are used for viewing and entertaining during the evening race |
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| F1 car on display |
Late one afternoon ME and I went to the Ritz-Carlton
Millenia Hotel to view their artwork collection. It is billed as one of
Southeast Asia's finest (under the radar) collections of modern and
contemporary art. It includes a 3 ton Frank Stella piece in the entrance
anchored by a pair of Dale Chihuily glass sculptures. Other pieces include
paintings by Andy Warhol and David Hockneys, among many other artists. It is all free and the hotel offers an iPod
guided tour. All of these items are in very public spaces on several floors of
the hotel with many people walking by them not really knowing what they have just
passed.
We also stopped by the world famous Raffles Hotel. A
colonial-style hotel first opened in 1887 named after Singapore's founder Sir
Stamford Raffles, it is known for its luxurious accommodation and superb
restaurants. After walking around the hotel grounds we took a seat at the
tropical garden courtyard bar and had a Singapore Sling.
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| night view of the financial center |
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