Round The World and other travels
A frequent flyer's collection of trip diaries
This is: Singapore & Malaysia 2014
Unfinished business, at a very great height
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| ABOVE: Breakfast in the Executive Lounge, with its panoramic windows | |
Fairly quickly after waking up, I realised that we had a big day ahead: our only full day together in Singapore. Breakfast in the Executive Lounge was much quieter and more pleasant than the previous evening's crowded Happy Hour. Our first sightseeing objective this morning was going to be a visit to the Marina Bay Sands complex, hopefully including its Skypark observation deck. Opened in 2010/11, this amazing integrated resort is one of the most remarkable man-made structures in the world, featuring three 55-storey towers capped by the Skypark, an enormous deck that spans all three towers and projects out into the air at one side. I had intended to visit during my 2012 stay in Singapore, but in the event ran out of steam after around five hours of other sightseeing.
No such mistake would be made today, as this modern Singapore landmark headed up the day's agenda. We rode the MRT's North-South line to its terminus at Marina Bay and took a one-stop hop on the Circle line to Bayfront. Emerging directly into the resort, we initially found ourselves in a mall that was reminiscent of the Venetian attractions in Las Vegas and Macau, due to the presence of artificial canals and boats. We soon located the entry point for the observation deck, paid the required fee and rode the express elevator to the top. It turned out that the public deck was located on the protruding bit of the Skypark, sitting neither on top of any tower nor bridging the gap between two of them. That's right - it just sticks out of the north side into thin air, overlooking the new Art-Science museum and with views of the Singapore Flyer, the giant Ferris wheel opened in 2008.
The views from the deck were amazing, but the knowledge of exactly where you are and what is (or more importantly, is not) underneath you, makes this an experience that is definitely not for the fainthearted. I only wished I could have seen the well publicised infinity pool, but this is located in the larger section of the Skypark that is reserved for hotel guests.
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| ABOVE: Marina Bay Sands complex, including the Observation Deck. The '50' referred to Singapore's forthcoming anniversary of becoming an independent state, due to be celebrated in 2015. | |||||
After returning
to terra firma, we had a further look around the ground floor to
give the air-conditioned environment a chance to work its magic. We
then emerged into the open air and, trying to take it at a nice,
easy pace, walked around to the Fullerton Bay Hotel and its hugely
impressive parent, the Fullerton. Like much of the rest of
Singapore, the older hotel's main atrium was decked out for the
festive season in spectacular fashion, in some ways more reminiscent of
continental Europe than the UK, despite the presence of a bright red
British pillar box. We had hoped to continue our Sunday
midday tradition of having a Bloody Mary here, but sadly the bar
wasn't yet open.
| RIGHT and BELOW: The Fullerton Hotel, The Fullerton Bay Hotel and the view back towards Marina Bay Sands |
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A
few stops on the MRT brought us from Raffles Place back to Orchard,
and the chance to relax for a few minutes before heading out to lunch.
We didn't have far to go: Crystal Jade, the chain that had served us
well in the past in various cities, had a branch in one of the
nearby malls. We enjoyed a super dim-sum lunch, in the city where
the chain was founded.
We
followed this up with a visit to Little India, which met with
considerably more success than a previous attempt to locate the
district in 2009. The colourful buildings, bustling markets
and crowded food stalls created a rather different atmosphere from
the rest of the city-state, while the less than pristine streets and
a warning about public urination (left) suggested that
cultural differences might exist!
While it was good to experience this area, especially after a previous unsuccessful attempt, it was another hot and steamy afternoon and the air-conditioned refuge of the Marriott soon beckoned once more.
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| ABOVE: Singapore's colourful Little India district | |||||
As on the previous day, we decided to end the afternoon by the side of the impressive 5th-floor pool, situated above the entrance to the hotel. Bruce had only done 1.5 lengths when the first lightning bolt appeared, accompanied by a deafening thunderclap - he was out of the water in double-quick time! We sat for a while to see how the situation would develop. There were several more flashes, bolts and bangs, but I was convinced that I could see the back edge of the storm. When this passed and the rain intensified, however, we knew that the game was up.
Cocktail
hour in the Executive Lounge was every bit as busy as on the
previous evening, and today this was followed by a stunning Chinese
dinner at the in-house and very upmarket Cantonese restaurant,
Wan Hao. We were served chrysanthemum tea and a red-bean snack
on arrival, while we ordered Hendrick's dry martinis to get this
part of the evening off to an enjoyable start. Our set menu had
Peking Duck as its centrepiece, which on this occasion would make
two appearances as the meal progressed. First of all, a half-duck
was brought to the table, looking visually spectacular with
beautifully bronzed skin, and served with the classic accompaniments
of wafer-thin pancakes, vegetable batons and hoi sin sauce. Of course
there was far too much duck meat to consume in this manner, and the
excess was then removed for use later in the feast.
The next course was hot and sour soup - a rather delicate and luxurious version of this Chinese classic. Next up was a scallops and fish maw dish in an excellent XO sauce, beautifully presented in a deep-fried potato basket, followed by Japanese-style black cod in a mandarin orange and yuzu sauce. By now we were drinking Tsing Tao beer. Finally, our leftover duck reappeared, having been stir-fried with noodles. It was an expensive but absolutely delicious meal, and a thoroughly fitting way in which to bring down the curtain on our short visit to this wonderful city.