If you can imagine what the city of the future would be like, it is very likely that it would be a city like Singapore. Our first visit here was last year, and we simply fell in love with it. For those who want the history of this remarkable city which has risen from an illiterate, uneducated poor country to this fully literate economic powerhouse in the last 40 years, you can read my brief from last year on our first blog at www.janeandbarry.blogspot.com or buy the book on Amazon about the leader who shaped it. You cannot argue with what has been accomplished here although there are many who feel that the people have traded some of their rights for the growth.
At any rate, our arrival this year would be early afternoon, first because last year we only had a short 200 km jump from the port into Ho Chi Minh City and this year we had to come from Nha Trang, and second the shipping lanes are extremely crowded into the second largest industrial port in the world. Shanghai is the largest port in the world. Three hundred ships come into this harbour daily!.
So we began our day as usual, me with spinning, Barry with Tai Chi, followed by another brilliant lecture from Dr. Schrirer, lunch, then the sail in. Our ship guide Barbara did commentary over the loud speakers and Barry and I went to the bow of the ship which was opened for the occasion until the thunder and lightening and tropical rain drove us onto the Lower Promenade. This is not a beautiful harbour, but since Singapore has some of the most spectacular architecture in the world, it is a thrill to see some of these buildings as you come upon the harbour.
Jonathan and Karen had arranged a van through the port agent and tourist board to take the 4 of us out for the evening starting at 7 pm., so for the afternoon Barry and I opted to go through the very rigourous immigration stations, then go only into the Terminal Building which houses a small mall to get some much needed items, come back for a dinner at 5:30 and be off.
Magic is how I would describe our evening, simply magical. Singapore at night is spectacular, as there are so many fantastic structures and we concentrated our evening at the hub of Marina Bay. We had a small luxury bus, a guide named Jimmy, and a driver named Toa (Twa). Jimmy took us to Clark Quay, which is an area built on both sides of a river with open air restaurants, kiosks, bars, and entertainment. It is a people magnet. Since it was St Patrick's Day, there was a lot of boisterous patrons at some of the bars. The streets are covered with giant overhead flower like structures that protect you from the rain, and have large pores that spill out cool air to help counteract the extreme humidity and heat that is ever present in Singapore. This makes for a huge outdoor area where you can wander in any weather. Singapore, by the way does not get typhoons, just tropical rain. Our first event was a ride on one of the river boats that would take us out to the larger Marina Bay, where the Merlion, the famous Marina Sands hotel, the Flyer, and much much more can be seen… sort of the heart of the city. While we waited we saw just to our right their version of the bungie jump - which is a 3 seat ride that catapults the people up in the air on bungies, so hard that they entire seat structure flips upside down and over itself. This is not for the faint of heart and we were not about to try it as we thought it would give Barry's titanium plate a real test.
We could not believe our luck, as the boat we were in, was timed exactly for us to be able to see the new laser show which is beamed from the Marina Sands Hotel. This hotel consists of 3 huge glass towers that are connected on the 57th floor by a monstrous metal structure shaped like a great boat or spaceship that houses an infinity pool, bars and restaurants, and gardens. This was going to be our final destination of the night. The men were snapping pictures like mad with their twin Canon cameras, except for a brief time when Barry thought his memory card was full (false alarm).
We strolled back among the even bigger crowd to our bus, and sped over to the Flyer - the largest ferris wheel in the world. For 30 minutes we were enclosed in a glass bubble with seats, that slowly wound around and over to give us an even better view of the Marina Bay, and beyond and behind, including this new structure that houses an indoor eco forest. This Garden sits within a glass and concrete structure that resembles a giant dinosaur skeleton, whose ribs are the concrete. Jimmy had told us that they are harvesting the water from this vast garden. One thing Singaporeans know about is ecology and about the importance of water and they are world leaders in conservation. I wish we had known about this as it is new and we might have arranged a visit. Next time. Again, we saw the second laser show, but this time from a different vantage point. One of the buildings looks like a huge lotus flower and it was lilt up in different colours for the 30 minutes. At this same venue there was a Flight Simulator ride that you know who would have loved to visit, but the price and time was prohibitive.
Our final stop was the famous hotel and we rode the 57 stories at the speed of light to once again join a mainly young group of partiers, who were enjoying the view. Beside us was the immense infinity pool, open only to hotel overnight guests, and a VIP roped off drinking area, with a minimum coverage charge of $100 each for food and drinks. Our drinks were expensive enough at $25 each. The night was clear, the company was terrific, the music was great, and Singapore sparkled like some futuristic dream before us. Pure magic.
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