Singapore: City Magic and Man-Made Islands (Part 2 of 4)

After having my fill of Singapore’s good eats, I went to explore what else Singapore had to offer.

I was eager to see what all the fuss over the Marina bay front area was all about, so the first night I was there, I opted to go on the Singapore flyer. At its very peak, the Singapore flyer reaches 165 meters (the equivalent of 31 male giraffes stacked on top of each other, says singaporeflyer.com) and is currently the world’s tallest observation wheel (soon to be beaten by Beijing’s 208 meter wheel, when completed).

The “foreigner’s” ticket price was a whopping $33 SGD (approx. $26 USD), which was the most I spent on ANYTHING in SE Asia up to that point, but an unbeatable view wasn’t something I was willing to pass on. It was beautifully constructed, that’s for sure, and there was even an educational pre-ride walk through to entertain the skeptical visitor.

A model of the Singapore flyer

Feels like you’re walking into a first class VIP night club

An unusual and colorful contraption of sorts…?

The arriving capsule. Each of these can fill up to 28 people and is the size of a small city bus. Fortunately for me, I didn’t have to be jam packed with 27 other people, but unfortunately for me, I was stuck with a large family of 4 rowdy, overzealous, over-sugared kids. Parents, that is what Benadryl is for…please medicate your annoying kids.

I took this photo while sadly realizing that the next capsule down was…empty.
Sigh…FML.

Once we neared the top, however, it was easier to forgive the screams of the running beasts because the view was more than I ever imagined it could be. It was too bad that there was a constant glare from the capsule glass, not allowing me to get a proper picture, but I did manage to get one shot with minimum glare.

I’ve never had a city view take my breath away before, but this was on a whole another level of gorgeousness. Oh Singapore, you amaze me…

One complete revolution around the wheel takes 30 mins. By the time I reached the bottom again, I think I was already pretty obsessed with this area and had to explore more.

It’s interesting how whenever I mentioned just how beautiful the bay front was to a Singapore local, I was usually given an apathetic shrug or simply, a casual “yeah”, making me wonder if we truly were looking at the same thing. I suppose when you have been living here your whole life, the novelty wears off, and it’s easy to shrug off something that the new eye gazes upon with awe. Would this apply to my attitude about DC? Maybe I should take another look at the monuments with a fresh lens?

….Meh.

Here’s another view from the ground of the helix bridge (built from the design of the DNA structure), Marina Bay Sands resort, and the Art Science museum (lotus building).

With Julynn, my lovely Singapore host, and her friend from New Zealand 🙂

During our walk, we ran into a huge wishing well, where you throw in coins and try to get it through the small hole in the center of the dome. Well, my friends, guess who got her coin through the hole???
(Answer: Me)
At least…we think so 😛

The Merlion. Half fish, half lion.

What?

So according to a local, the origins of this Singapore icon is derived from the man who first discovered the land of Singapore, who claimed to have seen a lion-like creature on the island from a distance, but it was never seen again after that. Ironically enough, there are no lions in Singapore, except the ones imported into the zoos from overseas. But still, it’s become Singapore’s emblem and Singapore was even nicknamed “The Lion City” (a move by the Tourism Board?). At any rate, the word “merlion” has also become a verb, associated with violently barfing from intoxication. This is clearly explained from the picture above.

Use in a sentence: “Dude, pull over, I’m about to merlion!!”

One last picture of the Marina bayfront. I just I could not get enough.
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Day Two (or three…or six. I swear, you lose track of time when traveling):
SENTOSA ISLAND!

Sentosa – Singapore’s popular tourist island resort, created from reclaimed land. A hostel buddy and I decided to take a day trip to this island to explore. There is a short walkway you can take from the mainland to the island – an alternative to the metro or cable car options.

The view from the walkway.

Once you arrive, this is the main area, from where you can decide where you want to venture off to.

There is also a Universal Studios here. Cool. But considering there is a much bigger, much better one back in the states…I decided to pass.

There are two Merlions in Singapore. This is the second one. Sadly, this one does not merlion at all. A dry merlion! Booo 😛

It was clear once we set foot here just how much of a tourist-oriented destination it was. Everything was priced sky-high, the rides were mostly geared towards kids, and numerous expensive Western bars lined the artificial beach coastline.

But hey, it was a wonderful place to forage through and get lost in. My friend ended up pulling me into a random forested trail that was marked “restricted”, and in between getting soaked in the rain, and trying to avert authority-like figures, we somehow ended up in the middle of what we later found out was the Skyline Luge, a go-cart race track. We entertained the thought of staying hidden until a go-cart rolled by, at which time we’d leap out, hijack the cart, and take a free ride around the track. It sounded like a perfect plan, until the next cart carried in it a kid that looked like he was having too much fun. Rats. Morals and cute kids are so inopportune sometimes.

Anyway, we found other things to do here, like pay someone $5 to hold their giant snake and take pictures like we are bad asses!

Who awakens me from my slummmbberrr??

It was a heavy son of a gun.

I smile when I’m nervous.

Yesss! I am officially badass.

We also chilled a bit on the beach. Had an absolutely beautiful view of industrial oil tankers, boats, and vessels along the sea line. Just what I want to see to have a relaxing day at the beach 😛 But considering it was completely man-made and artificial, the beach was ok. No margaritas and hammocks and foot massages, but ok.

Soon though, boredom drew us to the bars, and because backpackers are such high rollers, we bought ourselves $20 beers for each of us, and enjoyed every last drop until sundown.

Monkey…? Human…?

Oh, just my acrobatic German buddy.

Sentosa by night. This is the indoor skydiving building.

Time to head back. Seeya Sentosa, it’s been fun.