48 Hours in Singapore- Part 2

1030: Brunch at Enchanted Cafe, a lovely 24hr cafe on Rangoon Road. Everything is digital, so you need to order and pay for everything online and they bring the food to your table.

1130 to 1300: On the hop on/hop off tour bus. The Red Route takes you across Little India, Chinatown, downtown and the waterfront and you can see many Singapore icons on the way. The route takes about 90 minutes in total.

Park Royal Collection – Keeping up Singapore’s reputation as the garden city state.

Marina Bay Sands across the water – with ArtScience museum on the left

Suntec City – the complex is shaped like a hand with 6 building representing 5 fingers and a fountain representing the palm. The water in the fountain flows in rather than out, representing money flowing into the hand rather than out.

Side view of the Marina Bay Sands Hotel, which has 57 floors in total

One of the most colourful buildings in Singapore – The Old Hill Street Police Station. It housed Singapore’s first prison, the old Assembly Rooms of the Town Hall, as well as Barracks for the police personnel.

Vast majority of the Singapore population live in high rise buildings, which are subsidised by the government. Despite this, Singapore is still one of the most expensive cities in the world for real estate.

1330 to 1430: On the hop on/hop off bus Yellow Route. The Yellow Route takes you a bit further from the city centre to the national botanical gardens, the leafy (and very expensive) suburbarbs of Singapore and the shops in Orchard Road.

Singapore Botanical Gardens – entry to the Gardens is free

Leafy suburbs of Singapore – although the houses may look modest, the real estate prices means that they are some of the most expensive properties in Southeast Asia

The Big Bus tours for Singapore has mixed reviews on various tourism websites. Overall, I found the tour bus experience to be interesting. There is no live guide, but the recorded audio gives a comprehensive introduction to Singapore and its icons.

1500 to 1615: At the Temple of Buddha Tooth Relic. This temple dedicated to Chinese Buddhism is home to a tooth relic that is said to be from Lord Buddha. A solid gold stupa that houses the relic can be seen on the top floor (no photos allowed).

The temple roof has a beautiful garden, complete with a large prayer wheel. The lower floors are dedicated to a Buddha museum and museum dedicated to eminent monks.

1700: Afternoon snack – a singapore classic – Kaya toast. Dish consisting of two slices of toast with kaya (coconut jam) and served with two soft boiled eggs and coffee (or tea). In Singapore this is usually eaten for breakfast.

1745: Head to sky deck observatory on top of Marina bay sands. Tickets to the observatory cost 23 SGD. To enter the skydeck after 5pm advance reservation is required.

Views of the waterfront from the Skydeck

View of Gardens by the Bay and the harbour – the shadows is that of the Marina Bay Sands Hotel falling across the gardens

1845: We had originally planned to stay on the Skydeck until after dark to see the lights of Gardens by the Bay and the city. But we decided to head back down to get dinner before going to see the Garden Rhapsody at the Gardens by the Bay.

1945: At the Gardens by the Bay Supertree Grove to see the garden rhapsody. This is a coordinated music and light show on the Supertree Grove.

Supertrees are 18 tree-like structures that dominate the Gardens’ landscape. They have heights ranging from 25 metres to 50 metres.

After seeing the supertree Grove it is is time to head to the waterfront infront of the marina bay shopping centre to see the spectra light show. The lights of Marina Bay Sands is spectacular.