Singapore - January 2019

Marina Bay Sands.

Sam and I had spent time in Singapore in 2017 and 2018, so finding ourselves there again in early 2019 we had a fair idea of the spots we wanted to explore on this visit. We’d just come off a fairly intense 3 weeks cruising around Asia (cough…like I said ‘intense’) so our main aim on this short stay was going to be….more relaxation! Luckily with us staying at Marina Bay Sands again relaxation wasn’t going to be too difficult, my days were largely spent reading and people watching at the pool and Sam’s day’s normally involved shopping, although with Sam being on a Feral budget the shopping was mostly of the window kind.

You've got to get up early to see Marina Bay this quiet.

The view at night is pretty sweet.

The pool at Marina Bay Sands is the main attraction though.

I was successfully adapting to the lifestyle - although it looks like I'd been grazing at the breakfast buffet for a bit too long!

The view from the rear of the pool area isn't too shabby either. Incidentally that building sticking out into the Singapore Strait is the cruise ship terminal.

Singapore is a big trans shipping port (where ships drop their loads to be picked up by other ships and delivered to the final destination).

There's a light show every hour at night up until around 11pm.

When we did decide to head out exploring a bit we checked out a few old favourites and also a few spots that we’d wanted to have a look at but had never had a chance. Satay By The Bay definitely falls into the old favourite category I think, conveniently this Hawkers Market is only a very pleasant 15 minutes walk from the hotel. Satay By The Bay made for a very pleasant place to sit in the early evening as the sting went out of the tropical heat. Sipping on a cold Tiger beer as the almost traditional late afternoon thunderstorm passed through, enjoying a fair variety of the many different foods on offer, life was pretty sweet!

Sam and I quite often enjoy a relaxing meal here at the back end of our days when we are in Singapore.

It's not exactly fine dining at Satay by the Bay....

....but it's got everything I need!

After our nights eating at Satay By The Bay we would inevitably weave our way back to Marina Bay Sands through the Gardens By The Bay. This is another spot that I don’t seem to get bored with, no matter how many times I’ve visited, the colourful and brightly lit man made Super Trees are stunning from wherever you view them. It’s not just the Supertree Grove at Gardens By The Bay though, the gardens are full of quirky sculptures and public art and then there is the architecture and the views back up the bay towards the city and Singapore Flyer which always test out my skill behind the shutter, especially as we inevitably visit at night.

The walk home after dinner is always sweet.

The Super Trees are stunning at night.

The Gardens feature a large variety of public art works.

Gardens by the Bay.

Looking across Marina Bay towards the Singapore Flyer on our walk back to the hotel.

I'm not sure if this worked or not....I never stop trying though;)

Time for bed.

The next hardship that Sam an I had to endure on our short stay was an evening river cruise. We’d seen these small bumboats coming and going as we’d gazed out over Marina Bay from our room and I’d always wanted to do the tour. Meandering our way back to our room one night after tea we found ourselves at one of the jetties that the river cruise stops at, with the night still relatively young we decided to that the time was right. After buying our ticket we jumped onto the next boat that came along, slightly surprised to find that we were sharing the experience with only a couple of other punters.

Evenings at Marina Bay.

Our Singapore River Cruise docked almost beneath the Art Science Museum.

The Helix Bridge.

Our little cruise was hardly crowded.

Now straight away I have to say if there is a more pleasant was to sit back and enjoy the sites of Singapore slip by then I don’t know what it is. Sitting on the open deck as the bumboat slid through the black water creating just enough of a tepid breeze to make the humidity comfortable was pretty special (it may be a different story when the suns out during the day though?). As you may have guessed I find Singapore a stunning city and I particularly like it at night after the heats gone out of the day, sitting back watching the lights, people and sites slip by on this short cruise turned out to be the highlight of this trip to Singapore I think.

Esplanade Theatres on the Bay.

The Fullerton Hotel is one of the flashier hotels in town.

Passing beneath the Anderson Bridge.

The Cavenagh Bridge.

The river cruise heads out fro under the Helix Bridge in Marina Bay (we’ll it did for us, you can hop on or off in numerous spots) and heads up along the Singapore River to Riverside Point near Clarke Key where it hangs a u-ey and heads back down again. When the boat got back to Marina Bay it did a big loop up past the Merlion towards the CBD before heading back down towards the jetty under the Helix Bridge.

The CBD of Singapore from the Singapore River.

Elgin Bridge.

Clarke Quay is a bustling place at night.

The Merlion at Marina Bay.

The Singapore CBD from water level on Marina Bay.

Heading back to the room after another great day in Singapore.

The day after our river cruise Sam and I decided to retrace the journey only this time in the daylight and on foot. Like the cruise, the river walk is pretty sweet. We followed the river upstream on the left bank mostly, passing through the bustling Boat Quay which looked like a great spot for a feed or a drink. Reaching Read Bridge near Clarke Quay we crossed the river but instead of heading back down the river straight away we headed over to the green oasis that is Fort Channing Park.

It was getting close to the Chinese New Year when we visited this year.

There are a lot of cultural and historic sights to see along the river walk.

Public Art outside the Asian History Museum.

Looking across the river towards the Fullerton Hotel... it looks pretty good in the daylight too.

Outside the Asian History Museum.

Fort Canning Park features another wonderful area of green parkland, these areas are synonymous with Singapore I think, well they are certainly what I think of when I think of Singapore. There is network of walking tracks criss crossing Fort Canning Hill and the lush green canopy means that the sting is taken out of the heart and humidity a bit, even in the middle of the afternoon.

Fort Canning park is another of those little green oasis that help make Singapore so special.

Fort Canning Park.

Fort Canning Park.

The tree cover helps to take the sting out of the heat and humidity.

Fort Canning was an old British fort back in the day.

After our little Fort Canning excursion Sam and I returned to the river and slowly made our way back down to Marina Bay, this time on the opposite bank. This was our last full day in Singapore so Sam and I savoured our gentle walk back to the hotel, soaking in the sights, the heat and the humidity and trying to etch everything into our memory to sustain us until our next visit to this wonderful city.

After our walk around Fort Canning we headed back to the hotel mostly sticking to the opposite bank of the river.

There is some nice public art near the Fullerton Hotel.

The Singapore River was an originally a working port and market area.

Relevant Posts.
On this visit we stayed at the very flash Marina Bay Sands Hotel again. This place is probably most famous for it’s roof top infinity pool, it’s a stunning spot to chill out for awhile although it tends to get fairly busy. At least as good as the pool though is the location of the hotel, it’s the perfect spot to easily access the Gardens by the Bay with all it’s attractions. The Singapore River Cruise stops at numerous spots along the river as well as in Marina Bay itself, the hop on hop off service costs $25 Singaporean (generally a similar exchange rate to the Aussie dollar).

Relevant Posts.
Sentosa Island, Singapore, 2018.
Gardens By The Bay, Singapore, 2017.

The Shoppes at Marina Bay Sands feature a huge variety of top end gear....good for window shopping when on a Feral budget....

....as well as a large food court and children's area...

....not to mention a tacky Venice style indoor gondola thing.