Recently I got a phone call from my friend Paul. “I have booked a trip to Singapore, with an overnight stay in the Marina Bay Sands hotel. Leaving tomorrow. Just got news from my friend that he is unable to join because of a problem in his family. Can you replace him”?
I was free that weekend, so of course I did not say no…:-). Two years ago I had visited this iconic hotel and enjoyed it very much, see my report.
The next morning our bus trip to Singapore took about 6 hours. There is now a MRT station near the hotel! That afternoon we spent a lot of time in the infinity pool..:-)
Here are more pictures of the hotel, the shopping complex around it and the views from the Skypark on the 57th floor. The weather looked a bit threatening, but we had no rain
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- The hotel lobby
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- Check in counter. Art work by Stella
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- More art work
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- Still more
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- Cloudy but no rain
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- Singapore Gin Sling
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- Frozen Marguerita
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- Near the Casino
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- Many shops
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- Singaporean gondolas
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- Breakfast in the food court
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- The infinity pool
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- With the harbour in the background
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- Nice weather
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- The Esplanade
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- The ArtScience Museum
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- Skypark platform
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- Always interested in architecture
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- Gardens by the Bay
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- The Supertrees Grove
After our dinner (in the food court, the Marina Bay Sands restaurants are too expensive.. haha), we walked a lot in the the town and around the marina. Here are some night views.
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- ArtScience Museum by night
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- The Gardens by the BAy
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- Supertrees Grove
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- Singapore Skyline
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- Bugis Square
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- Christmas trees
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- Many of them
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- Raffles Hotel
The next day we visited the Gardens by the Bay This park of more than 100 hectares, on reclaimed land, was not yet open to the public during my earlier visit. The park itself is freely accessible, but for some of the attractions you have to pay. From the park you have nice views of the hotel and the Singapore skyline.
You can easily spend many hours here. Access to the two domes is expensive, we did not go in, later we heard that it is worthwhile. But we visited the “canopy walk” Here is a collection of pictures.
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- Hotel view from the park
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- This is man-made!
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- Looks so natural
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- Flowers
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- Birds
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- Serene
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- Supertrees with canopy walk
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- Slowly covering the tree
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- On the canopy walk
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- View of the hotel
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- Park with skyline
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- Dragonfly
The next day,before we took the bus back to KL, we visited the Haw Par Villa. This theme park, containing over 1,000 statues and 150 giant dioramas depicts scenes from Chinese mythology, folklore, legends, history, and illustrations of various aspects of Confucianism. Created in 1937 by the makers of Tiger Balm, its main attraction are the Ten Courts of Hell
Access to the park is free and easy, there is a new MRT station around the corner. Not so many people know about its existence. The park is a photographers delight. Here is a selection of my pictures.
And here is what you can expect as punishment for what you did wrong in your life. Don’t worry too much. Before you are reborn in your next life, you will be served a cup of tea of Forgetfulness, so you will not remember anything in your next life!
This Haw Par Villa is definitely worth a visit!