Feeling nostalgic about ending a trip and with the desire to return to Buenos Aires to tell new stories we came back to Singapore, the last stop in Southeast Asia.
We started with an early dinner (7pm) in Singapore Food Trail, a food court outdoor, set in the ’60s with stands where you can eat delicious and affordable food. With $5 Singaporeans we ate braised duck with rice, a delicacy in Chinese cuisine. You can also get Singaporean, Malaysian and Thai food.
With a full belly and a happy heart we took the bus to Gardens by the Bay, a magnificent piece of engineering of horticultural greenhouses that houses more than 250 thousand plants in an area of 100 hectares. In the center, the main attractions of the gardens: the huge metallic flowers every day at 19.45 and 20.45hs they offer a free light show and sound to the beat of classic films soundtracks. The funny thing is that these large «trees» full of ferns and orchids are full of colors thanks to solar energy. The main message of this great green lung, opened in 2012, is the care of the environment and sustainability. The guide stressed the importance of leaving a healthy environment for future generations and this is how a huge swamp only inhabitated by mosquitoes became one of the emblems of the city.
Shocked by such natural beauty planned to perfection by human hands we went boating perhaps on the shortest river that we have sailed, the Singapore River just eleven kilometers long has great historical significance as the city was built around it. This is where the financial center grew. In short, it is an attractive boat ride that mixes the beauty of the river with the history of Singapore and skyscrapers to end at Clarke Quay, five blocks along the river full of restored old warehouses converted into bars. Excellent choice to go for a drink and enjoy live music. Dazzled by the lights and music of Clarke Quay, we went to Orchard Road, the street department stores, from Louis Vuitton to Zara, Forever21 and H & M. Paradise for any average consumer and terror to credit cards.
Finally we went to Bugis Market, a crowded market where you get not elaborate crafts, drinks, toys and the famous “durian”, an exotic fruit for us (prickly fruit in Malay). If we returned to Singaporeit would overlooked this place. We didn’t find it necessary to spending much time there compared to all the amazing places that the country has to offer.
On the second day we went to the Merlion, symbol of the city, where we found museum pearls by the Business district, where there are artworks by renowned artists on the street, Botero and Dali. With some heat, we stopped for an ice cream sandwich in the street. The strange thing was that the ice cream was cut like a wheel of cheese and put between two wafers, rare but delicuous. Cooler we hit the civic center where churches, cathedrals and historic buildings from the colonial era of Singapore are perfectly maintained. Some government agencies moved outside the country.
The highlight of the day was when we went to Marina Bay Sands, a complex of buildings with three hotel towers and over 2500 rooms, restaurants, museum, convention center, attractions, permanent shows, etc, etc, etc. We were wearing our regular nonfancy clothes, backpacks and we were thirsty. We snuck into the elevator and we realized that we had to be hotel guests to go to the rooftop, something far from our reality as we stayed in a much simpler hotel in the Bugis area. Finally, we got in, we had no hotel card and we were lucky to come up with a lady who saw us, she winked at us and passed her card in the elevator to go up to the 57th floor. Dodging the hotel security (obviously they saw us harmless and let us pass) we got to the hotel terrace where there is a bar called Ce La Vi. It was the most expensive snack our lives but believe us it was worth it. From the terrace you can see from Singaporeto Indonesiaif climatic factors help. Another pearl is the pool…
We had some time to do walking tours through Chinatown and Little India where guides explained how the first Indians and Chinese people arrived to Singapore, what are the typical dishes, the importance of religion to these ethnic groups and how they settled in the multicultural Singapore, a country that this year is celebrating 50 years of independence. Finally, as a paradox of fate we went to enjoy a show of water, lights and music in the esplanade of Marina Bay. It ended as it began, as if it were a play where everything worked perfectly. Perfection in the sense of enjoyment of life, experiences which we tryied to transmit through the blog.
We send warm greetings from Ramos Mejia, Buenos Aires, Argentina (now with a bit of heart in some parts of Southeast Asia …).
