After traveling to six countries during the short span of my 23 years of existence, I have discovered one secret to experiencing a city in a short time. Spend most of your time in the concentrated commercial stretch the whole city flocks to, and you would have seen it all. The approach maybe unadventurous and stereotypical, but it always works and the experience is most often complete, leaving you familiar with all the popular sights.
I applied this method when I traveled to Singapore this July. As opposed to The Strip in Las Vegas, the time I spent in Marina Bay Sands, one of the biggest malls in Singapore City was enough to make my trip.
I got off the hop-on and hop-off bus at Gardens by the Bay, which was thoroughly disappointing due to how artificial and concretised it is. The architect probably had in mind an advanced world with trees and concrete juxtaposition, but there was a sore lack of aesthetic appeal. Purple wires sticking out of satellite towers turned into tree trunks just hurt the eye. I felt like I was on a broken Avatar movie set.
While navigating my way out, the discovery of Marina Bay Sands came as a surprise. Similar to Kuala Lumpur, which is connected through underground and overhead passages to avoid pedestrian walking, I made it to the opposite side of the road through a network of passages.
I first saw a sign board which read, ‘Marina Bay Sands’ and was hoping it would lead me to a beach. But I was happy to find a world within a world, inside the mall.
On the third floor, an outdoor deck overlooks the Singapore skyline. The vision is breathtaking. Families and couples camp out here for a while and take in the scene of the beautiful buildings. This close proximity to the skyline, which can be seen from different parts of the city, with the sea in between, was the best part of my trip, as I am someone who grew up romanticizing the New York skyline from movies.
To celebrate my mother’s birthday, we splurged on Broadway tickets for a play straight from New York. The MasterCard theatre within the mall has three floors, with plush carpeted flooring and an enormous chandelier. Our seats were on the last floor and we had to strain our necks to watch. Singing in the Rain, was more tight-knit than any Bollywood movie, which really made me question the skills of our film makers. The musical was compact and flowed perfectly scene to scene.
The malls in Singapore have an infinite number of brands. After a point, I stopped counting or noticing them, and just waded through the sea of glorious capitalism in amazement. I finally touched Alexander McQueen being a Lady Gaga Fan and walked through three floors of Louis Vuitton.
Marina Bay Sands, has a small artificial canal on the first floor. Children usually utilise the boat for a ride in the mall and this is adorable to watch. TWG cafe which stands on the water body, had varieties of tea, which I went back to twice.
The hotel and resorts under the name Marina Bay Sands, maybe confusing to tourists, but a clear difference has to be made to find this treasure.
Another interesting aspect of Singapore is Sentosa Island, which has Disney Land and Sea Aquarium. I was never one for bumpy rides, which is why I spent half a day at the aquarium. The massive sting rays stood out, with tiny human faces on the bottom. They moved in the water majestically and had a power over the other fish, and were at the center of attention. Tiny catfish swam at each other with a speed, that it was difficult to decipher their shape. Oddly-shaped jelly fish was kept in a tube like structure was unique and something rare. Sentosa Island has a variety of restaurants to choose from. The Hard Rock Cafe is easily comparable to the Bangalore branch. Although the beef burger was more rich and filling at Singapore, and the plating of french fries was quite large.
If I ever needed to eat Indian food, it was quite easy to find. Hotel 81 in Little India, was a home away from home. Right across the street, I could find small restaurants serving masala dosa and chai.
I would recommend Singapore for a short period of four days, as it’s a short flight away and can be experienced fast.