I was finally touched ground at Changi Airport after only accumulating 20 hours of air, 7 hours layover in Beijing and an uncomfortable last 7 hours of shuffling on the plane to catch up on sleep. There’s no ideal position in those tight chairs – that is unless you’re like the Chinese who can sleep on a bed of rocks or contortioned themselves on a children’s elephant swing. See for yourself @ www.sleepychinese.com – I don’t know how it’s done.
The weather was cool, the air fresh and the golden hour upon us – terms meaning to early to be awake and way to late to sleep. From the airport, now like Vancouver, the MRT connected the airport with downtown metropolitan any surrounding districts. In Singapore the roads were well accessible and Taxi was the most ideal way to travel, but with my hostel only seconds away from a MRT station, there was no excuse.
I booked myself a week at the G4 Station – a hostel recommended to me by a Singaporean friend. Location was central, amenities provided, the price was very affordable. It lacks a gym, but exercise wasn’t a problem. Just book yourself on the 5th floor and get ready to grind because there’s no elevator. Too many times I walked out the front door only to remember I left something back upstairs – this happened on multiple occasions too! Early check-in at 6:30, so I quickly unpacking and made haste to take full advantage of the day.
I’ve separated each key area I enjoyed most so I wasn’t have to bore everyone with a weeks worth of exploring.
Singapore Flyer
New to the multi-million construction going on at the Marina Bay, the flyer stands at stunning 165m, that’s the height of a 42-storey building – that’s some 30 metres taller than the famed London Eye. Open to the public 15th of April 2008, the 28 air-conditioned capsules initially rotating in a counter-clockwise direction. In August 4, 2008 the direction was changed under the advice of Feng shui masters. For a “dollar a minute” you were treated to a 30 minute ride on a massive carousel and a brief history lesson of the city through a headset and a pie shaped pamphlet. A bit pricey, but this was the only place that provided a great 360 view of all the major landmarks and their history.
St. Andrews Cathedral
St Andrew’s Cathedral is the country’s largest Anglican cathedral in Singapore. It is located near City Hall MRT Interchange in the Downtown Core, within the Central Business Area in Singapore. Built in 1835, the church suffered two lighting strikes in 1845 and 1849, which resulted in its closure in 1852 and demolition in 1855. Just a year later it was scheduled to be rebuilt again and lives to this day. Being in the main part of the city and right next to the law courts and parliament, the beautiful white peaked church stands out from all the rest. I did get a chance to walk inside, but it would have been inappropriate to take photos during mass.
Marina Bay
Located at the Southern tip of Singapore, Marina Bay is a 360ha development designed to seamlessly extend Singapore’s downtown district and further support the city-state’s continuing growth as a major business and financial hub in Asia. A greenfield site surrounded by water and gardens, Marina Bay provides an opportunity for further urban transformation, attracting new investments, visitors and talent, as well as becoming a new destination for the local community. Envisioned as a 24/7, thriving and energetic place where people will live, work and play, it will usher in a new concept of city living that embraces all the opportunities and activities that the city has to offer. It would consist of residential, office, and commercial developments, as well as many entertainment outlets and attractions to inject life into the area. Annouched in 2007, the Marina Bay was to host the Formula One Race. The inaugural Singapore Grand Prix took place on September 28 2008 on a street circuit through Marina Bay – It was the first ever Formula One Grand Prix to be staged at night, with the track fully floodlit.
East Coast Park
I was ichin’ to explore Singapore by cycling and I heard the best place to rent them were at East Coast Park. After diligently searching around the market of bike shops, I finally found one which rented road bikes. From one end to the other, the East Coast Park trail runs 20km and I decided to travel the whole distance totalling 40km round-trip. I forgot that back home I wore a liner to protect the groin from the hard seat. It was to late complain once I got to the end. I took a break and road the hard trip back trying to avoid sitting for more then a couple seconds.
Park View Square
Parkview Square is one of the more expensive office buildings in Singapore. Designed by an American consultant and funded by Mr. C. S. Hwang, a Taiwanese tycoon who was looking in creating a “imposing and monumental, yet stylish and elegant” as his last project. To tourists the building reminds them off the “Gothum” building in batman because of it’s choice in Art Deco. Although it’s a modern building having been completed in 2002, it is specially designed in the classic style, following New York City 1929 Chanin Building as an inspiration. The exterior surface of the building is clad in brown Granite, bronze, lacquer, and glass.
The lobby is also designed mainly in the Art Deco style and features a 15m-high ceiling with handcrafted details. The bar in the lobby of the building has a unique 3-storey high wine chiller. The open plaza of Parkview Square is reminiscent of Piazza San Marco in Venice, with sculptures and statues surrounding the open plaza. There are many bronze effigies of some of the most famous figures in world history, including Sun Yat-sen, Abraham Lincoln, Salvador Dalí, Mozart, Chopin, Isaac Newton, Pablo Picasso, Rembrandt, Shakespeare, Plato, Dante, Winston Churchill and Albert Einstein.
The building also has widespread use of motifs, sculptures, and ornamentation. The building is “guarded” by eight gigantic fiberglass statues of men holding a light ball in their hands, four of them standing on each broad side of the building’s crown. Another example is the gargoyles decorating the building’s exterior, which are said to be hand-crafted. In the center of the plaza is a statue of a golden bird. On the pedestal is written a Chinese poem which refers to a mythical bird returning to its temple (a place of worship in Hubei, China). It is supposed to bring wealth to the building. – Wiki
Words cannot describe how detailed and grand the inside and outside of the building looks. You can’t miss it when walking around Singapore either as it stands out from everything around it. Just stop at the Raffle’s MRT station and having a look inside and out. No cameras permitted inside, unless around your waist pretending to be off 
Orchard Road Christmas Lights
Every year Singapore Tourism lights up the most popular shopping and dinning strip in the city. With 24malls placed right next to each other, don’t be surprised to find four Louis Vuitton stores along the strip. Orchard road is a shoppers paradise. With Christmas just around the corner the decorations were already up and so was the traffic. Here I thought North America was crazy when they started rolling Christmas in end of November. Singapore Tourism also invites all tourist to a free double decker ride along the strip starting as early as November so you can enjoy the Christmas light tour. All you need to bring to their office on Orchard road is your passport and book a time.
I was warned about the weather as well, but when I arrived thought nothing of it till it hit me at noon. The AC filled shopping malls were your best friends; and with Singapore’s past time of eating and shop till you drop environment, you could never loose sight of a mall – ever! The first couple days I set aside to actually have a vacation – left the camera behind, sat around sipping drinks and talking to other travels in the hostel. The rest of the time was spent eating and leisurely exploring the landmarks, cultural districts of little India, Arab street and Chinatown. Just getting a taste and smell of little India got me excited for my trip to India.
The vacation was now over but the adventure was just beginning.
