A Few Days in Singapore

Singapore was a refreshing contrast to Bali. The moment we stepped out of the airport, we were surprised to see uniquely structured skyscrapers, many of which were covered in vines, and very, very clean streets (first time offenders for littering can get fined as much as $1,000).

parliament singapore — Although skyscrapers could be seen in almost every direction, Singapore had a very tranquil feel to it since they did such a good job of incorporating jungle life to eliminate noise and provide a somewhat rural environment.

singapore trees 1 — To encourage birds to habitat the busy city (and therefore help with the issue of traffic noise), there are lots of trees and wildlife surrounding the outskirts of the city and throughout it.

singapore trees 2 — Seeing as Singapore sits just above the equator, getting sweaty on an uphill walk like this is something some people might like to avoid. We went slowly, however, and took this during one of the couple of times that we explored the nearby parks.

singapore trees 3 — Standing in a jungle-like area while watching the sun set behind a metropolitan city was a surreal experience.

singapore trees 4 — Still in Singapore’s parks, we were surprised by all of the different types of trees. Some of the most common are Rain Trees, Angsanas, Yellow Flames, Senegal Mahoganies, and many others. I believe the one in the center of this photo is a Yellow Flame.

As we eyed the beauty of this unique city, our Airbnb host talked with us about some of the best places to eat/see around the area as she walked us to her apartment where we’d be staying for the next few days. She was Irish and her partner was Australian, but they’d been living in Singapore for about 8 years at the time and were quite settled in the country’s way of life.

When we arrived at the apartment, we were surprised and excited to see that we’d be staying 23 floors up with an excellent view of Singapore’s downtown area.

Singapore Airbnb — Looking back at this picture now, it almost looks like Hunter is taking a picture of one of those carpeted mats that kids use to play with matchbox cars, but this is actually how high up our accommodation was.

Singapore Airbnb 1 — Although there are skyscrapers in many, if not all big U.S. cities, most of Singapore’s buildings were shaped and designed in an almost futuristic way. The skyscrapers outside our apartment were no different.

Singapore has some public transportation, but the downtown area could best be seen on foot, so we did a lot of walking to get from one side of Marina Bay to the other.

Standing on the West side of the bay, the most expensive hotel ever to be built called the Marina Bay Sands Hotel, can be seen across the way.

Marina Bay Sands hotel 2 — The same view a few hours later – Singapore was just as enchanting at night.

marina bay sands hotel 3 — We took this when we traveled to the other side of the bay and stood underneath this incredible structure. A bit hard to tell, but this is also an evening shot.

Behind the hotel is Gardens by the Bay which includes a grove of Supertrees that are between 80 – 160 feet tall (25 – 50 meters).

The Supertrees look like this during the day and are said to provide shade, which they do when they work together as a grove, although I’m not sure how shady they are by themselves.

supertrees at night — At night the Supertrees come alive with an exhilarating show of colors and lights.

Not far from the Supertrees is a Cloud Forest that we had the pleasure of exploring and learning about.

cloudforest dome — Essentially it’s a greenhouse dome that demonstrates how the ecosystem works at higher elevations in tropical jungles.

cloudforest dome 1 — This water fountain is the tallest indoor water fountain at about 100 feet (30 meters).

cloudforest dome 2 — In higher elevations of tropical mountains, plants take in mist and rain and then gradually release the water to create a consistent supply for the ground underneath them so that they can help other plants to grow.

cloudforest dome 3 — The tour took us through all the levels of the forest.

cloudforest dome 4 — Within the forest grows orchids, pitcher plants, ferns, and other beautiful plants.

cloudforest dome 5 — Definitely one of the most unique flowers we’ve seen. This is called a Red Blossom.

cloudforest dome 6 — One of my personal favorite things about this Cloud Forest was getting to see all of these vibrant flowers. These are Vireyas.

cloudforest dome 7 — To enhance the experience, parts of the dome had mirrors on the ceiling, perfect for selfies.

cloudforest dome 8 — We left the Cloud Forest with renewed respect for nature.

Singapore is also known for its malls. They’re huge, for one, but many people go there just to walk around and escape the incredible heat.

entrance to mall — In our experience, most malls make you forget that there’s an outdoors, but Singapore being Singapore is sure to have malls with enormous windows and sometimes even a river running through them.

entrance to mall 2 — Went for a boat ride in the mall today, what did you do?

We took one of the longest elevators we’ve ever seen to the roof of the mall:

Probably the most memorable experience we had in Singapore was the light show that they do every night in the downtown area at Gardens by the Bay.

light show 1 — Not shown in this picture, but at times they’d use the lights to create 3D designs and pictures over the water.

light show 2 — The show lasted for about 30 minutes and could be seen from both sides of the bay. We watched it from the East side.

light show 3 — They do the show every night, but there is always a big crowd, apparently.

light show 4 — The light show can be seen behind us – here we’re standing on the West side of the bay.

The days following the light show, we explored the rest of this tiny country and were continuously impressed by its diversity in every way. Much of Singapore’s architecture is influenced by the British, Chinese, Indian, and Arabian cultures.