Finally: A place to rest our heads

I was originally planning on spending two nights in Singapore. As a Hilton Diamond member, it was a no-brainer to select a Hilton property. I had the Conrad in mind. After running the itinerary over in my mind, I decided I needed that second night intended for Singapore elsewhere. It was the right decision and made with the anticipation that I'd be returning to Singapore for a longer stay. With that decided, I looked my bucket list and the biggest attraction I wanted to see in Singapore: The Marina Bay Sands. As we were now only spending one night in town, it made sense to investigate a visit. I investigated so thoroughly that I ended up dumping the Conrad altogether and booked a Harbor View Room for one night for about what the Conrad would cost for two nights.



Marina Bay Sands


Lobby



Marina Bay Sands Check In

After a 20 minute/$30 cab ride, we were dropped off at the Tower 1 Lobby of the Marina Bay Sands at around 6:15pm. They had emailed me specific instructions on where to be dropped off, taking some of the guess work out of it. Check in was smooth an efficient. We turned and headed to the elevators to see the bellman already waiting with our bags and holding the door open for us. This is a rather large hotel. That kind of timely and personal service made a big impact and set the tone for our brief stay.

Soon, we were on the 44th floor and into our room.



The Room



Elephant


The View


The Tub

Our bellman mentioned that National Day would be coming in a few weeks and that tonight would be rehearsals for the festivities. He told us to be sure to look out our window at 8pm.

Our next move was to switch into our bathing suites and head to the roof for some pool time.



The Pool

The pool is obviously iconic. The was more photography going on in the pool than actual relaxation. I was as guilty as anyone. As we got closer to 8pm, the pool; started getting more and more crowded in anticipation of, well, we have no idea. So we toweled off and headed back to our room on 44.

Turns out, the was a series of military flyovers (jets, bombers, chinooks) as well as an extravagant fire works display. From our vantage point in our room, it seemed like it was all being staged for us.


National Day Rehearsals

I won't bore you with countless photos of fireworks but it was really cool seeing the display pretty much eyeball to eyeball. We headed back up to the rooftop pull and exited into a mass of people waiting to go down the elevators. Perfect timing for us that everyone was leaving, My wife grabbed a sandwich and beer. We grabbed some selfies and then it was back to the room to decompress.


The Beer


The Selfie


The View From The Pool

It was a very long two days of travel so it was time to hit the bed and rest our heads. We were both wiped and wired. The usual occupational hazard that comes with this type of itinerary, resulting in about 5 hours of deep sleep.

I awoke at about 3:30am with my body telling me it was time to do something. I decided to hit the fitness center, located in Tower 2. Working out at 3:30am may seem odd to some people but all I can say is that I was not the only one there at that hour. The view from the fitness center was stunning as it was located only a few floors below the pool.Following the workout, I decided to burn off some more 'lag by walking around the harbor. To get there, I had to traverse the attached Shoppes At Marina Bay Sands. A very large upscale shopping center between the hotel that also contains the hotel's convention center and casino. I was surprised that I was able to walk through the mall freely at that hour and that there were so many people in the mall even though no stores were open. Nice time to window shop, however.

I eventually made my way to the promenade that rings the harbor. There were plenty of people milling about. I was surprised at the amount of people just sleeping on the ground and benches. Wasn't sure if people were suffering from the Irish Flu or whether they were homeless. The walk made for some great pre-dawn photography.



Singapore Early Morning


Marina Bay Sands Complex from the Helix Bridge

At around 5:45am I received a text from my wife saying she was awake and getting ready. We made a date to meet at the hotel buffet at 6:30am, around opening time.

The buffet, located in main lobby open atrium, was spectacular, if not pricey. There were food stations upon food stations for every style of breakfast food imaginable. The food was fresh, plentiful, and very tasty. We were seated just in time as each passing minute the restaurant was filling up until there was a line forming to get in.



Typical Buffet Station


After breakfast, it was time for a stroll over to Gardens By The Bay via a pedestrian connector bridge from the hotel. We were just killing time but it turned into the most spectacular thing we saw on our Singapore stopover. We barely scratched the surface after walking the grounds for over an hour. It felt like we were in another world.


Gardens By The Bay from the rooftop


Gardens By The Bay Pedestrian Bridge










With a busy morning behind us, it was time to pack up and head back to Changi for our next stop. Singapore is obviously the antithesis of ancient splendor. One of my great paradoxes is that while I enjoy history , I am fascinated just as much with modern design and architecture. Singapore seems to have a modern design that is not ostentatious. It all seems to fit and is appealing to the eye. Some could consider it too sterile but with flora covering just about everything that would be a hard argument to make. Anyways, enough preaching. I would gladly give up chewing gum (illegal) for as long as it would take to explore this fascinating city-country.

Next: On to Siem Reap, Cambodia via Ho Chi Minh CIty with Vietnam Airlines