Singapore Trip : Part 1

Last week I was in Singapore with hubby becos we got the RM 0 fare from MAS Everyday Low Fares.
It's the Great Singapore Sale season from May to July. So...you know.. I just couldn't decide where to begin!....there is SALE everywhere!...at every corner and we were staying at Orchard Road, the main shopping belt. The whole street are lined with shopping malls. And not just Orchard Road, I mean the whole island is full of shopping malls. And they ARE ALL doing SALE. Goodness!

aboard the HIPPO bus

It was impossible to cover all grounds in 3 days. So on the first day, we toured away from Orchard Road first, by HIPPO bus. This is a double-decker, open-top deck tour bus that brings you around the city attractions and heritage sites. One day ticket. You can hop on and off the bus at any stop you want. The bus arrive every 25 minutes. We got to Suntec City Mall using the bus. It is once the biggest shopping mall in Singapore, now surpassed by another mall I can't remember which. I enjoyed Suntec City Mall. I found lots of local designed clothing lines here (meaning cheaper). I don't have pictures to show you, though. See, Singapore is strict. No photography allowed in the malls. Not even in the FoodCourt.

After a day of city sight seeing and window shopping (survey-survey dulu), I've made up on where to go for kids clothes, for my clothes and what price to look at. You know, I had to be careful with the currency, as Sing dollar is more than twice ours. I reminded myself to not look beyond $40 tag, which was erm..bit tough at first. But I soon managed to steady myself (hik!). And I'm excited to show you what bargains I got! But not yet, k, part 2.
Duck tour they call this. It's a boat on wheels. Can travel on road and in the water.


Amazing architecture. This building just look like a sheet of paper.
This is not a shopping mall nor a govt office. It's a library. Singapore National Library. A two-16 storey blocks with 3 basements. It has gardens, drama centre, exhibition area, cafes.

There are so many tourists in Singapore and we were amazed to find many Indonesians among them. Wealthy Indonesians. Some of them tourists, some work there and we suspect even owning businesses there. A chat with the taxi driver confirmed it. More Indonesians are pouring into Singapore to invest. They owned homes, even have their own private school opened there specifically for Indonesian kids. He showed us a private apartment where 80% of it , bought by Indonesians. I was observing an Indonesian family staying at the same hotel with us, Meritius Mandarin Hotel by the way. The elderly mother, in her late 50s, cooly walked past holding 2 carrier bags, both LV! Fancy that. That's the mother shopping. Can't imagine how's the daughter.

Took us 2 days to finish touring all the malls in Orchard Road up to Tanglin Mall. On foot. We walked day and night. When the malls closed for the day, we hang out at the fountain area fronting Ngee Ann City Mall, munching pastries from Old Chang Kee kiosk nearby. I don't know what time this kiosk close. We often stayed till 11.00 pm there. The open area at Ngee Ann City seem to be the creative site for youth activites. The day we arrived (12th July), there's aYouth Festival happening there. Also, Singapore is hosting the Youth Olympic Games 2010, so there are daily rehearsals held there: acrobatic performance, orchestra music, mime acts, etc. It may also be preparation for the National Day next month (S'pore's on 9th Aug).

Another pride for Singapore is they are holding an F1 Grand Prix soon in September. First time for Singapore. And they don't have it in the stadium. They'll have it in the street. At night. First ever night race in F1 history. The public roads around Marina Bay are where the race gonna be and we saw massive preparations underway. They have also erected a floating stadium, the world's largest. This is where The Youth Olympic Games will take place.

floating stadium

Next to the stadium is a Singapore Flyer. See the 'merry-go-round' thing below. It is an observation wheel. The world's largest. (S'pore BOLEH). Just opened in Apr 2008. I don't know how exciting it is. We didn't try. You are supposed to be able to see the whole of Singapore city and beyond (neighbouring country?). They are 28 capsules on it and each can carry up to 30 people. A choice attraction for all the people coming in for F1 race & Youth Olympic. So, tourists spot in Singapore is not only Sentosa, or Botanic Gardens, people. There are a lot more.

Singapore Flyer up-close

To be continued next post...