Singapore - The Merlion City

Singapore never ceases to amaze us with architecture and attractions. We had a one day stopover on this occasion en route to Copenhagen, and we wanted to add to our experience of last year when we were dazzled by the new Marina Bay Sands building with its very upmarket shopping centre. Needless to say the views from the top deck were stunning, including a bird's eye view of the Gardens on the Bay project that opened in June 2012.

Marina Bay Sands

View from Singapore Flyer

The Gardens on the Bay are divided into numerous sections and cover a total area of 250 acres. The gigantic "trees", planted all around and from bottom to top with flowering bromeliads dominate the skyline and two of them are connected by an elevated skyway - you can walk across this from tree to tree, stopping along the way to admire the amazing view. It was not to D1's liking as it moved and swayed in the breeze. We were lucky to arrive at around 8:00pm in time to see the last of the day's sound and light shows, a spectacular display during which the trees light up with different coloured sparkling lights.

The following day started with an extravagant buffet breakfast at the Ritz Carlton hotel. It's a beautiful hotel, specifically because of the magnificent artwork and glass sculptures in the lobby - it's as beautiful as any fancy art gallery. We then wandered 500 metres down the road to the Singapore Flyer; this is a huge ferris wheel which resembles a giant bicycle wheel with capsules capable of taking 28 people at a time on the circular journey taking about 35 minutes - as we arrived early in the day, we were lucky enough to score our own capsule, so we could wander about the space and enjoy the experience independently of other people. The views across Singapore and the harbour are absolutely breathtaking. Some of the capsules are fitted out with restaurant tables where different courses are served on each circuit of the wheel. Others are painted and decorated to suit kids' parties, which is a cool idea.

Ritz Carlton

Singapore Flyer

The day also included a short river cruise on a "bum boat", a walk down Orchard Road with the (for us) compulsory visit to the fabulous Japanese department store Takashimaya , several trips on the MRT which is a very simple-to-navigate subway system, a nanna nap in the afternoon, dinner at the Raffles shopping centre and a bus ride back to the airport to catch our flight to Denmark.

D2