Tag Archives: Singapore

Singapore: Merlion Park and Views from One Fullerton at Night

Two of Singapore’s most iconic symbols: the Merlion and Marina Bay Sands

You might have noticed by now that most of my previous posts about Singapore were nightscapes, and that’s because we went there primarily for training so we were free only at night.

On our last day of classes, we decided to go to One Fullerton where the iconic Merlion Park is located.

Again, because we were there during the Formula 1 Race, it was difficult to move around since they closed off some of the roads. We also had no choice but to get off at a farther train station than the usual and walk.

where we exited, plus Porsches on display near One Fullerton

Singapore is a very tourist friendly country because there were signs all around to guide map-challenged tourists like me. When I saw the Fullerton Hotel, I knew we were near our destination.

Notice the bridge, which is called Cavenagh Bridge, the only suspension and one of the oldest bridges in Singapore. It was opened in 1870 and to this day, exists in its original form.

Finally at One Fullerton, I was treated to views of the Singapore River and the iconic Marina Bay Sands.

Here’s a close-up shot of Marina Bay Sands, where I watched a light and water show the previous night.

I could also see the Singapore Flyer from where we were. Pardon the photo quality since this was a zoomed-in shot.

And here’s a photo of the Esplanade, Theatres by the Bay from our vantage point.

I would have wanted to visit this that same night, but the roads going there were closed off for the race.

From where we were, I could also see the Pan Pacific and Mandarin Oriental Hotels.

I don’t know what these buildings are called, but I loved their lights and the way this cluster of buildings made a nice backdrop against a cruising boat.

Finally, we reached Merlion Park and because it is perhaps Singapore’s most famous landmark, it was full of people.

Here are some of my photos of the Merlion that are taken at different angles.

The main photo is from this set and this one is an almost similar shot, except for the backdrop since this one features the Esplanade.

A trivia. Did you know that there’s a merlion cub located just near this iconic statue?

By the way, river cruises are available at One Fullerton. I don’t know how much it costs, though since we did not try it.

Going home, we again passed by the Fullerton Hotel, and I couldn’t help but be amazed at how magnificent it looked.

We also passed by this statue when we accessed the train station near the hotel.

This is a version of French artist Rodin’s “The Thinker,” which is based on Dante’s “Divine Comedy.”

Lastly, here are photos of ION Orchard, one of Singapore’s upscale malls.

This was our last stop for the night since we got off at this station, which is near our hotel. I just couldn’t help snapping photos when I saw its facade because it looked so uniquely futuristic.

Singapore: Marina May Sands’ Wonder Full Light and Water Show

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According to its official website, Marina Bay Sands’ Wonder Full Light and Water Show is Southeast Asia’s largest light and water show.

I watched this show on my 4th night in Singapore. By this time, I had explored much of the city so when I found out about this on TripAdvisor, my colleague and I decided to check it out. It’s a free activity, anyway.

Marina Bay Sands as viewed from one of its entrances

The place was packed, but despite the notice that says show times start at 8 PM, the show did not start until past 9 PM.

the crowded Event Plaza at the Promenade, where the show is best seen

the schedule

To while away time, I roamed around the Promenade to take photos.

Singapore is so pretty at night, don’t you think?

While I had an enjoyable time taking photos, the wait was so long that we got hungry and had no choice but to eat at nearby Bazin (detailed review to follow).

Finally, the show began. Based on the voice-over, this almost 15-minute show was about a drop of water representing the birth of life.

It then showed the important stages of a person’s life such as childhood, adulthood, and old age.

The colorful lights were really nice to look out. The colors were just so vivid and they contrasted nicely against the dark sky.

They said the show incorporates some of the most advanced and the latest Laservision technology ever created. No wonder the light show aspect of this show was impressive.

The water fountains were less impressive, though. I had seen the Dancing Waters of Bellagio when I visited Las Vegas, and this paled in comparison to it.

Wonder Full Light and Water Show is touted as an amazing convergence of light, music, and sound. I was disappointed, however, because the images inside the lights were blurry and the narration was difficult to understand. Honestly, this was even more disappointing than Hong Kong’s A Symphony of Lights.

Though this show is shown nightly, weather permitting, shows and show times are subject to change or cancellation at the discretion of Marina Bay Sands’ management, so do check this out when you happen to see it. I was disappointed, yes, but it’s still something worth seeing if only for seeing the beautiful Singapore skyline at night.

For more information about the show, please click HERE to get to Marina Bay Sands’ Wonder Full page.

Singapore: Mid-Autumn Festival at the Gardens by the Bay

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Before I abandoned this blog on the second week of December to the end of January to give way to my work and travel, I was documenting my return trip to Singapore. There are still so much to to share about that particular trip and since today is Thursday, I decided to do a “throwback” post.

My most recent post about Singapore is about Gardens by the Bay. It was mid-autumn when I went there and so Continue reading →

Singapore: the Beauty of Gardens by the Bay at Night

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The moment I saw Gardens by the Bay’s impressive structure and colorful lights while onboard the Singapore Flyer, I knew I just had to see it up close.

Gardens by the Bay is a 101-hectare park that brings to life Singapore’s desire of creating a City in a Garden. It is adjacent to the Marina Reservoir and consists of three waterfront gardens: Bay South Garden, Bay East Garden and Bay Central Garden.

Dragonfly and Kingfisher Lakes
These sculptural and planted islands show the aquatic life of fish and plants and their ecosystem’s fragility.

I thought they named it as such because of the dragonfly sculptures, but I overheard someone say that in the morning, dragonflies can actually be seen here.

Gardens by the Bay’s website shared that the 440-meter boardwalk along the Dragonfly Lake is one of their many secret gems and a fantastic photographic shot, which I found to be true.

Planet
This is what its signage says: Beautifully balanced on a languid arm of a sleeping boy child, this seven ton, 383 cm by 353 cm by 926 cm bronze cast sculpture floats like a heavenly body above a verdant earth and explored nature under human influence and the dual meanings of human life, between spiritual and physical, surface and depth, cerebral and sexual.

Isn’t it amazing to see this “float” especially after knowing that it weighs seven tons?

Trivia: British sculpture Marc Quinn created this masterpiece in a depiction of his infant son, Lucas.

Supertree Grove
Now these were what made me decide to see Gardens by the Bay. I’ve seen them in magazines and on the web and thought they looked so beautiful, especially at night because of their colorful lights thus, I opted to visit at night time.

Supertree Grove are uniquely designed vertical gardens of 25 to 50-meer trees with large canopies that provide shade in the day and come alive with an amazing display of light and sound at night.

Supertrees are made of four parts: reinforcement concrete core, trunk, planting panels of the living skin, and canopy. I was amazed to find out that 62,900 plants comprising more than 200 species and varieties of bromeliads, orchids, ferns and tropical flowering climbers are planted on these trees. Wow.

They looked so beautiful, almost otherworldly.

And they change colors too.

Their website shared that there’s a Garden Rhapsody Show here, which features 48 independent audio speakers to simulate ‘live’ musicians performing at various spots, but in my almost 2 hours here, I did not hear anything.

OCBC Skyway
This offers a spectacular view of the skyline 22 meters above the ground. While Supertree Grove does not charge entrance fees, I had to pay S$5 to get here.

Here’s a photo of my view of the supertrees and the gardens below from the OCBC Skyway.

While I find the entire experience exhilarating, I don’t recommend this to people who are afraid of heights because the 128-meter long aerial walkway has narrow parts and it wobbles!

During my visit, we actually got stuck because someone got so scared to continue and opted out. The walkway is one-way so we had to wait for her to retrace her steps to the entrance. So if you have any of the conditions on their Safety and Health Advisory below, do yourself a favor and skip climbing up here.

And just to be on the safe side, when here, do follow their list of don’ts e.g. no running or jumping (someone actually run, much to our annoyance).

From the top, I was afforded a panoramic view of the Gardens against the Marina Bay skyline.

Here’s a zoomed-in shot, just to emphasize the Singapore Flyer.

As I walked along, I was also given a good view of the iconic Marina Bay Sands.

I even got lucky to see it emit lights that changed colors.

The OCBC Skyway also gave me this view of more buildings that make up Singapore’s cityscape.

Aside from what covered here, Gardens by the Bay also has other attractions like Children’s Garden, Flower Dome, Heritage Gardens, Sun Pavilion, and World of Plants. I was not able to check them out since most of these were close when I left the OCBC Skyway at past 10 PM.

If you ever find yourself in Singapore, do visit Gardens by the Bay. I loved it here so much that I made a promise to myself to re-visit this when I’m back in Singapore. I’ll be doing it at daytime though, just to see the difference.

For more information about Gardens by the Bay, visit their official website.

Singapore: Singapore Flyer

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my view of Singapore’s cityscape while onboard The Flyer

Singapore Flyer is the world’s largest giant observation wheel outside the United State that affords one a view of Marina Bay’s skyline and even a glimpse of neighboring Malaysia and Indonesia. I was not able to try this out in 2007 so on my second visit to Singapore, I made it a point to check this out. I was so sure about including this in my itinerary that a week before my trip, I booked my ticket online, which saved me the hassle of queuing for tickets.

Getting Here
During my visit, because it was the Grand Prix and many roads were closed, I had trouble finding my way to The Flyer. Thankfully, I made it just in time for late afternoon as all along, it was my intention to experience this ride at dusk and sunset.

For directions in getting here, click HERE.

Journey of Dreams
Before reaching the flight deck, we passed by this multimedia showcase that details the history of The Flyer as well as some trivia about it.

At The Prelude, we were welcomed by their mascot, Captain Flyer in a backroom setting of revolving 3D rotating gear mechanisms.

Dreamscape provides a concaved panoramic screen displaying a myriad of images projected onto geometric cut-outs that transform into psychedelic patterns that revolve and rotate, forming a sequence of circular shapes that depict the circular nature of this giant observation wheel.

The Discovery was all about how the flyer was put together. The main feature here is a 1.5 meter in diameter time machine that one can turn to see a stream of images that tell Singapore Flyer’s pre and post-construction stories.

There were also some trivia about The Flyer e.g. that the only animals who had been onboard here are dogs and orangutans and that its spindle weighs 180 tonnes, which is equivalent to about 40 elephants in weight.

Fragment of Dreams invites viewers to explore the country’s culture and architecture. One can interact with this display by shining a torch onto a portrait of old Singapore.

Dream Journal is a peephole to the nation’s history and heritage that shares to viewers the dreams and aspirations of Singaporeans that have come true in Dream Reflections, thus The Flyer’s tagline, A Moving Experience at Every Turn.

Lastly, there’s the Reservoir of Dreams, which is a summation of the experience that was just seen and discovered as captured through 3 objects:

Oneiroi’s Orb – a tactile display using a myriad of circular artifacts from the past and present to depict the Flyer’s Spherical shape.

The Planet – the first inflated PufferSphere using internal projection in Asia.

The Numeric – presents the facts and figures and the physics and physique of Singapore Flyer.

After all these multimedia showcase, we were directed to the Flight Lounge where we waited for our turn to ride The Singapore Flyer.

There’s Captain Flyer again (lower left photo) waiting to take us into “a moving experience at every turn.”

Here’s a collage of my first glimpse of our air-conditioned capsule and of the flyer up close and my initial views of the city’s cityscape.

I got really excited when I saw the skyline change colors because it made a more visually arresting backdrop.

Singapore has a beautiful skyline so I had fun snapping photos here and there, and because The Flyer’s observation decks are not stationary, I got to see its cityscape at different vantage points.

Here’s a view of its bay,

And its buildings, roads, and overpass.

And here’s a collage my views of its bay and its cityscape.

Aside from the interesting cityscape, The Flyer was just as interesting to look at because it would change colors from white to blue to green.

By the way, The Flyer has a total of 28 capsules and each one is air-conditioned and can accommodate 28 passengers.

As the night wore on, I watched in awe as the colorful skyline darkened and the building’s lights made the night sky even more beautiful to look at.

I find it frustrating though, to take really good shots of the beautiful scenery before me as there were reflections from our capsule.

Here’s a decent one, which still have reflections, but not as pronounced as in the other photos that I chose not to upload.

Lastly, here’s a collage of more photos of Singapore Flyer taken when we alighted from our capsule and just before I left the building.

If you find yourself in Singapore, do take the time to experience The Singapore Flyer. In my travels, I always make it a point to visit a destination’s viewdeck and I find Singapore Flyer to be my best viewdeck yet because as said earlier, it’s not stationary so I got to to see the whole cityscape at different vantage points.

Singapore Flyer is located in 30 Raffles Avenue, Singapore. It is open daily from 8:30 AM to 10:30 PM. For more information, visit their official website.