Formula 1 track „Marina Bay Street Circuit“
Our day began with a visit to the Formula 1 track, the Marina Bay Street Circuit. Here you can simply walk along the pit lane and take a look at the start/finish line. A large part of the track runs on public roads, but this section is right on the bay and is always accessible, except of course during events like the Singapore Grand Prix.
Singapore Flyer
Right next to the racetrack is the Singapore Flyer. This 165-meter-high Ferris wheel is the second tallest in the world. At 33 SGD (approx. 22 EUR), we didn't find it particularly cheap for just one ride. Since we already had a tour of the Marina Bay Sands Hotel, we didn't have time to go on it. You can find a report about the Marina Bay Sands here. here.
Basler & Hofmann Singapore
After our personal tour of the hotel, we took a taxi to Basler and Hofmann Singapore. This subsidiary belongs to the same corporate group where I work. Since I was already in town, I wanted to stop by and see what our company is designing, planning, and building in this part of the world. Sometimes you just have to make an exception and combine work with vacation. ;)
It was very interesting to learn about the country, the people, and the working conditions in Singapore from a European perspective. As it turned out, everything here is the complete opposite of our ideals and expectations. No matter how Western this Asian country seems, living here is quite an adjustment: the housing market, values, the status of women, buying a car, and then the working conditions for planners and construction managers on building sites. We were very surprised, but also somehow fascinated. All things you simply have to embrace!
Merlion
Afterwards, we had planned to go to Gardens by the Bay. But as soon as we left the office building, it was already drizzling, and when we stood on a nearby overpass, it started pouring. The downpour was so intense that we couldn't get away. During a brief break in the rain, we ran to the nearest building for shelter. We hopped from building to building, watching as the streets turned into rivers and the sewers couldn't cope with the volume of water.
We really wanted to visit Gardens by the Bay in good weather. Even though it had stopped raining, it was still hazy and overcast. Not the best weather for such a beautiful garden. We decided to take the Tube from Burgis station to Raffles Place, changed our plans for the day, and walked to Marina Bay to stroll along the waterfront to the Merlion. The water-spouting Merlion is half mermaid, half lion, and symbolizes the city's strength (lion's head) and its origins in and connection with the sea (fish body). Fraser Brunrner created this figure as the city's logo and symbol. It's always crowded with tourists, and you constantly feel like you're going to be walking into their shots. You hardly have a chance to take a picture of the Merlion without other people in it.
Raffels Hotel and Sin Swee Kee
From the Merlion, we walked to the Raffles Hotel. This very elegant, old colonial-style hotel opened in Singapore in 1887 and is named after Singapore's founder, Thomas Stamford Raffles. The hotel boasts a tropical courtyard garden, a museum, and a Victorian-style theater. It also houses some of the more expensive shops and numerous bars. Tourists can wander through the verandas and courtyards without being hotel guests. We kept peeking inside the restaurants—wow, it looked incredibly luxurious and expensive!
We walked right through the hotel and arrived at Seah Street. We wanted to eat there, as we'd read a recommendation for Sin Swee Kee on a food blog. And there it was, right in front of it. So we sat down and ordered a roasted chicken rice meal for €7.80. The service wasn't exactly friendly, but oh well. The food arrived surprisingly quickly, and we tucked in. Unfortunately, the chicken was cold, and we weren't sure if that was how it was supposed to be. On the other hand, the vegetables were warm, and the rice was quite tasty.
We paid and continued down the street, past the other small restaurants, only to discover to our dismay that we had eaten at the wrong place. We had gone to Swee Kee, not Sin Swee Kee. So don't make the same mistake, because the real Sin Swee Kee looks much more inviting and better! The food there would certainly have been tastier, too.
Since we had already done quite a lot of walking on the first day, we were correspondingly exhausted and headed back to the hotel in the early evening. The taxi had worked so well and easily in the morning that we decided to take it again for the return trip instead of the bus, as we had originally planned. Unfortunately, the taxi ended up being a bit more expensive than expected, but oh well, at least we avoided the hassle of the bus.
Are you still looking for a suitable hotel in Singapore?
You can find a hotel to suit your budget via various online travel agencies such as Agoda, Booking.com, ebookers.com, Expedia, Hotels.com, lastminute.com, otel.com or Venere.com.
It's striking how little traffic there is here, at least for a major city. This is likely due to the high cost of cars. According to an advertisement in the Singapore Times newspaper, a Ford Focus costs the equivalent of €75,000. On top of that, there's a license fee, adding another €40,000-€50,000. It's insane! But that's how Singapore manages its traffic problems and chaos.
