SINGAPORE DAY AND NIGHT

 

We LOVED Singapore!

It is known as the “Lion City” and also “The City in a Garden”.  The Merlion, the Art and Science Museum, The Gardens by the Bay and the Marina Sands Hotel & Casino are four iconic structures that are well known. (All four are shown in this photo). It is such a beautiful, clean and organized city/country! 

Singapore broke away from Malaysia in 1965 and became its own country.  Its location has enabled it to become one of the largest port cities in the world!  When it achieved independence, the first Prime Minister, Lee Kwan Yew,  made some radical changes immediately that helped Singapore to become the country that it is today. First, he established a democracy with strong legal guidelines that promoted meritocracy instead of graft, bribery and cronyism/nepotism.   Second, he established a fifty year plan for the evolution of Singapore.  This plan is reviewed and updated every five to seven years. Third, he made English the national language.  All the schools are taught in English although Chinese, Tamil and Malay are often spoken at home.   Business is conducted in English.  Another change was to make the city as green and as modern as possible.  As mentioned earlier it is often called the “City in a Garden”.  The crime rate is very low, mostly because anyone committing a crime is punished severely.  For example, anyone caught with drugs, even marijuana is imprisoned or sentenced to death! Murderers are hung. Selling chewing gum is against the law!  Perhaps one of the most important factors here is that cronyism or nepotism is not tolerated and severely punished if found.  Only the best qualified for their jobs are hired. All of this helped to create this beautiful and prosperous city and dominate first-world power that exists today.  Singapore went from a poor third world country like all those surrounding it to the revolutionary country that it is today, and in only 60 years!  That is amazing!  

Land wise , Singapore is very small - only 290 square miles, but has a population of six million people. To put this in perspective, it is half the size of the state of Rhode Island and with almost 6 million people is the second greatest population density in the world. Tall high rise apartments are the norm here, most of them owned with government mortgage assistance.  Modern high rise office buildings are plentiful here too.  The country produces very few exportable products and is dependent on other countries for its gas, oil, food sources, etc.  The country has become wealthy due to its financial presence and port dominance.

Once our ship ported we were able to spend two lovely and packed days exploring this city.  We were scheduled for three excursions during the two days.  There was some overlap in our excursions so I am combining them into two posts.  

The first thing I want to share is our experience visiting Singapore during the DAY.

We were transported from our ship to the famous Sands Hotel, Casino and Mall.  The building is incredible!  It consists of three towers joined at the top with a boat shaped rooftop deck.  We took an elevator to the top and marveled at the incredible views of the city.

After seeing the city from above, we took tours to see it at ground level.  First, we took a guided tour by coach, followed by a walk along the Riverwalk and then a boat ride on the Singapore River.  

Here are photos of the Marina Sands Hotel from ground level.

And here are the incredible views from the rooftop deck of the Marina Sands Hotel

We exited the coach in front of the former police station, converted into upscale apartments.  I love the colors on this building. Even though it is huge, it is also quite charming.  Also loved the multi colored “shop houses” scattered along the River walk.  We boarded an electric boat and toured the city from the Singapore River.  The river is a freshwater river now, after construction of a damn to separate it from the salt water ocean.  The city was even more stunning from the water!

Here are views of the city from the river:

We boarded a bus and headed to China Town.  Here are some sights along the way:

And then there’s China Town:

The Buddha Tooth Relic Temple

After a full day of touring, we went back to the ship to rest a bit and freshen up for dinner.  Then, we were back at it again!  This time we were seeing Singapore at NIGHT!  We basically went back to the same places we had been to during the day except for China Town.  We again walked along the Riverwalk and took a boat ride to see the cityscape from the river.  What a transformation!  Stunning!

The Riverwalk

Beautiful Night Views while boating on the Singapore River.

More views of the iconic buildings and the Merlion Fountain!

More views including the Marina Sands Hotel - bottom right!

Time for a nightcap!  We made a stop at the famous, historic Raffles Hotel.  It is stunning and so different than the modern Marina Sands, the other iconic hotel in Singapore.  Raffles opened in 1887 and is very elegant and traditional .  It is named after Sir Stamford Raffles who was the founder of the port city of Singapore.  Our group was escorted upstairs to the famous “Long Bar” where we enjoyed the signature cocktail - A Singapore Sling”!

CHEERS!