Just a few months after our first weekend to Singapore we decided on a spur of a moment to visit again for 36 hours and to meet with friends from Europe and Canada. Thus, limiting the time for sightseeing and still experiencing something new along the way. This time we stayed at the Mercure Singapore Bugis hotel, a 10 minute walk from the Bugis metro-station and were surprised about the modern and quirky layout. The room was compact with all the needed amenities and had a huge window for amazing views over the neighbourhood. The infinity pool, kept at a crispy (for us being used to 30C pools) 22C, was a delight to swim in. We couldn’t get enough of the views in the half hour we managed to find before we checked out again.
After arriving around lunch time we had time to clean up and relax before we headed out to the Marina Bay Sands hotel. We not only enjoyed drinks at their roof top bar, but had a nice sushi dinner in their next door restaurant. After nightfall our friend’s daughter had suggested to go to the Gardens by the bay to see the light-show in the artificial trees. It was an amazing and fun event of listening to 15 minutes of musical tunes (Cats, Phantom of the Opera, Les Miserables and many more) free of charge and great for all ages.
Impressed and happily humming some of the tunes we walked to the Fairmont hotel for a night-cap and further to our hotel for a good nights sleep. Meeting with our other friends at lunch time we had a few hours in the morning and decided to grab a tart and coffee at a coffee place around the corner before heading out for a walk to Chinatown. We enjoyed the sights along the way much more than our destination as we had to turn back when we reached the first block or two of the old Chinese quarter.
The Chinese Chamber of commerce impressed with an elaborate wooden gate sheltered by a roof with glazed tiles. The sculptures and architecture we found along the way added interest to our walk. We crossed the river and saw river cruise boats anchored along the sides: this would be on our to-do-list for next time. After a quick snack of a BBQ-pork bun we headed back to explore another area with our friends. They walked us past a modern building with very striking designs of the Art Deco era. The building could have easily played the background for any Batman-Gotham-based movie with its sculptures and wooden-paneled two-story bar.
We wandered ahead towards the area known as the Arabic quarter and were treated to small streets with two-story wooden houses which held a store or restaurant on the main floor and apartments on the second. A bar with outdoor fans was our destination for lunch and cooling off in the swirling air. To be followed with more walking through other small streets with lovely craft stores and small restaurants.
We still have not seen the zoo at night or visited any of the museums or the area of Little India. So, I suppose, we may be back to experience more.
Thank you, for traveling with me in my blog. To happy journeys!
Yours, Maike
beecosydesign 