24 hours in Singapore

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We left Australia on our Emirates flight at 2.30 in the morning! It had already been a very long day. The flight took seven and a half hours and upon our arrival in Singapore (our second visit - the previous being 12 years before) we cleared the formalities in only a few minutes - pretty normal for the well organised Changi Airport. Though planning on catching the MRT the city our plans were thwarted by having no coins to feed the ticketing machine so we paid $9 each and caught the shuttle instead. Next time we'll be armed with the necessary coins or smaller denomination notes. We had booked accommodation at the Ibis on Bencoollen and it proved to be a great choice - immaculately clean though compact rooms and with a central location. And for Singapore a reasonable price. We were thrilled to be given a room upon our arrival there at 9am and though feeling very sluggish from lack of sleep we showered and ventured out into the humid sunshine.

We walked to the Perakanan Museum - a recently opened sister museum to the Asian Civilisations Museum - where a charming English speaking volunteer guided us through the exhibits. The old house in which the museum is situated was once a school and has been beautifully restored and the displays within give a fascinating insight to the traditions of the Peranakan (descendants of late 15th and 16th-century Chinese immigrants) population in Singapore. Communities of this culture also live in Melaka and Penang in Malaysia. One gallery showed the wedding traditions - 12 days of celebration in total. The beadwork (a traditional Peranakan craft) was stunning and the beaded slippers worn by the women very pretty. Their furniture is inlaid with mother of pearl and is also very attractive. We enjoyed the tour immensely but the stifling heat of the midday sun really knocked us upon leaving and we walked (shuffled) back to the air conditioned comfort of our hotel room where we quickly succumbed to a long overdue snooze!

Late in the afternoon we caught a taxi to Clarkes Quay, a complex of shops and restaurants lining the river where we took advantage of happy hour and watched the area come to life as the sun set. Happy hour it may have been but the bill still came to $45 - we had beer, wine and some nachos to share. Singapore is certainly not a budget destination with prices similar or even more expensive then Australia. Even food lines at the local markets are expensive - we bought six bananas for $4.50 at the market behind the hotel - bananas are usually amongst the cheapest fruit we find on our travels. All the fruit on sale price marked so we didn't pay tourist prices. Though taxis are plentiful and cheap comparatively to Australia.

In the cool of the evening we walked along the riverside admiring the city lights and skyline. We stopped to use the toilets at the very plush Fullerton Hotel (as you do!) before resting with an ice cream near the Arts Complex. Architecture in the city is pretty amazing - all day we had been admiring the three towers of the Marina Bay Sands hotel complex. The 56 storey height of the towers were linked by a single ocean liner shaped 57th storey (check out the photo). This houses more restaurants, lush gardens and an infinity pool (considered one of the 10 best swimming pools in the world). At 8pm (and 9.30pm) each evening a laser and light show radiate from this hotel complex and it started whilst we were licking our ice creams. Very colourful and free so can certainly recommend.

We had actually been trying to reach some other interesting pieces of architecture which were somewhere behind the Marina Bay complex and though it was massive and very obvious to see was surprisingly hard just to reach. The colourful pieces were a group of Supertrees 'growing' from the middle of the 100 hectare Gardens by the Bay. These gardens house over 250,000 plants from around the world. The Supertrees are actually metal structures - these 16-storey-tall vertical gardens collect rainwater, generate solar power and act as venting ducts for the park’s conservatories. And particularly impressive when lit up in the evening. To reach them we passed a large fenced off area where people were making enormous silk lanterns for the upcoming Chinese New Year festival. We will be at the largest lantern festival in Chengdu, China in a couple of months so now know a little of what to expect.

In front of the hotel complex was a glowing white lotus shaped building which is the home of the ArtScience Museum. Beside this stands the Louis Vuitton store, resplendent in its own glass and steel Crystal pavilion. For designer label connoisseurs Chanel even have a store with their entire range for sale - and there are another 300, no doubt, very expensive stores to wander (or wonder at!)Eventually we found ourselves behind the glitz of the shopping complex under the towering hotel. This building has to rival the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur - the view from below looking upwards whilst standing beside them is amazing! I've since found out for a fee you can actually visit the 57th floor Skypark. However the amazing Supertrees beckoned so we headed into the not particularly well lit gardens. A lift then a long escalator took us to the view point before I left Jerry to get a little closer to them. The view of the hotel behind us, the colourful Supertrees in front and the city skyline surrounding us was wonderful.

Absolutely exhausted and very footsore by then we took a taxi back to the hotel where we thankfully had a great nights sleep. In the morning we watched the locals praying in the temples (Chinese and Hindu) behind the hotel. The street in front of them were full of temple stalls selling incense and flowers. We breakfasted with the locals on noodles and vegetables before having a very sweet coffee made the local way with a thick base of condensed milk. Having a couple of hours to spare before leaving for the airport and our onward flight to Hanoi we decided to walk to the famous Raffles Hotel. We checked out the museum, the price of Singapore Slings ($24 each but we 'll partake when we return in a few months) and the grand entrance of the hotel where we entered the foyer area (totally ignoring the guests only sign!) before collecting our bags. We debated about catching the MRT to the airport but took the easy option and caught a taxi instead. We had a lively conversation with the taxi driver - he was very well travelled - paid the $14 fare and within a few minutes were passing through immigration. It was only a tiny taste of this island country/city made up of 63 islands and situated only 137 kilometres north of the Equator, but despite our tiredness and the oppressive humidy, enjoyable.

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Photos

Beaded tablecloth
Minute glass beads stitched into detailed pictures are a Peranakan tradition.