Video: Singapore

 Kevin put together all the video clips from our short visits to Singapore in April and May. Enjoy!

Postscript from Singapore

I know, I know...in my previous post I said that Cambodia was the grand finale of our trip! But it's impossible to fly direct from Siem Reap to Phoenix. So we've had one last 3-night stay in Singapore, which has been great because we had a couple "must-dos" leftover that we weren't able to get to on our first visit a few weeks ago.

We landed at Changi airport in the early afternoon and decided to schlep ourselves and our luggage over to the Jewel (a very fancy mall next to the airport) just so we could see the "Rain Vortex" right in the middle of the shopping center. So we have now officially checked "see the world's tallest indoor waterfall" off of our list. 

While Singapore is about ten degrees cooler than Siem Reap, it's still pretty hot here. So we were thrilled that we didn't need to even go outside to get from the airport to our hotel. We took the MRT metro train directly from the airport terminal, and then it was just a short walk underground from the MRT stop directly to our hotel elevator. For this leg of the trip, we had decided to pull out all the stops and use some Hyatt points to book a stay at the Andaz. They ended up giving us an amazing corner room with fantastic views of the city...

...even from the commode! (Thank goodness there were good window shades).

The hotel pool has a good view of the port, the Singapore Flyer ferris wheel, and even a partial view of the Marina Bay Sands building.

We spent our first afternoon just relaxing at the hotel, but on our second day we decided to knock a couple more tourist sights off the list. We got tickets for the Future World exhibit at the Art Science Museum. When we were in Tokyo a few years ago we really enjoyed the teamLab Borderless art installation, and this permanent exhibit in Singapore is run by the same international art collective. Future World hosts several rooms full of interactive art and technology, like this infinity room called "Crystal Universe".

The exhibits all have grandiose names, like "Universe of Water Particles, Transcending Boundaries". What is cool about this interactive light projection is that you can change the flow of the waterfall just by touching it or standing in it.

One of our favorite exhibits here is called "Sketch Flight". You color a pre-printed sheet of paper (your choice of a bird, butterfly, or airplane). Then you take your artwork to a staff member to be digitally scanned. We were delighted to embrace our inner eight-year-olds, so we grabbed some crayons and created these masterpieces:

After scanning, the images are animated in 3-D and projected onto a huge wall with everyone else's drawings. Then you get to use a tablet to control the flight of your drawing, and you can also view the animated world through your object's perspective. Pretty cool!

Since the museum was right next to the Marina Bay Sands building, we decided to go up to the SkyPark Observation deck on the 57th floor to see yet another view of the city skyline and Marina Bay. The Art Science building is the white building that is shaped kind of like a lotus flower in the lower right corner of the photo.

Looking out over the Singapore Strait we could see dozens of ships in the harbor (Singapore is the world's second busiest container port) and the Supertree Grove and conservatory domes. For me, it was very impressive to see the grand scale of the Gardens By the Bay from above.

Relaxing in one of the world's most modern, beautiful, and well-planned cities has probably been the best way to end this three-month trip. While we have enjoyed the easy public transit, excellent food, and fancy hotel room here in Singapore, we are looking forward to heading home and settling back into "real life". We'll enjoy being at home for a few months and then start planning our next adventure, so stay tuned!

Weekend in Singapore

We kicked off our 3-day weekend in Singapore by going to see the Gardens by the Bay light show, "Garden Rhapsody", at the Supertree Grove. The lights on the giant tree structures were synchronized to the music. You can see the iconic modern Marina Bay Sands hotel in the background. 

After the 7:45 light show finished, we walked over to the Marina Bay Sands hotel to watch their 9pm “Spectra” show - illuminated dancing fountains with images projected onto the mist. It was very cool — literally— because the mist was carried onto the spectators by a slight breeze. 

We spent all of the next day at the sprawling Gardens by the Bay complex. It is 250 acres of gardens and attractions. There are actually two indoor gardens inside enormous glass domed conservatories. The “Flower Dome” (world's largest greenhouse) was filled with flowering plants from all over the globe. 

They rotate the planted beds monthly, and actually close the dome for a day or two to change out all the flowers. If you guessed that this month’s theme was Tulipmania, you'd be correct! We were there on the first day of the exhibit, so not all the bulbs had bloomed, but the red and yellow ones were spectacular.

The second, taller conservatory is called the “Cloud Forest”. There was a special installation inside called "Avatar: The Experience". Not only were Na'vi statues all over the place, but you could also "fly" a banshee using virtual reality. The plants inside this dome thrive in cool moist conditions of the world's tropical mountain regions - orchids, ferns, anthuriums, bromeliads, and other epiphytes. The dome itself is tall enough for a 115-foot artificial waterfall. 

After that we went up to to OCBC Skyway, a catwalk among the Supertree Grove. The Supertrees are very interestingly designed — there are 18 trees total, all between 82ft and 160 ft tall.  The sides of the trunks are planted with epiphytes that get watered by an elaborate misting system. Atop each tree are solar panels that are used to provide power to the conservatories and gardens.

On our way back towards the metro station we stopped in at the last exhibit hall “Floral Fantasy”. This was mostly a series of flower arrangements that seemed to be made for taking selfies.

The very best part of Singapore for me was getting the chance to see one of my longtime best friends, Carrie, who has been living here with her family for several years. On Friday night we met up at the Raffles Long Bar for one of the famous “Singapore Slings” which were invented here in 1915 by a bartender named Ngiam Tong Boon. We even got to try our hand at cranking the "Sling Shaker" machine that can mix several drinks at once.

We had a chance to walk around the very fancy Raffles hotel, built in 1887 and named after Sir Stamford Raffles who first established a British colonial post in Singapore in 1819. Being inside is like walking back in time.

On Saturday night we met again for dinner and a "Bum Boat" cruise around the Singapore River and Bay. Singapore is a beautiful city by day but it really comes into its own at night.

It was fun just to be out on a weekend night; we stayed out until 10pm -- way past our usual bedtime! (Haha, we are getting old!) But even Kevin enjoyed the beers and a bit of nightlife. We can't wait to come back to Singapore at the end of our trip!