Singapore: Marina Mandarin

This is definitely one of the nicer hotel buildings I've stayed at (as opposed to a resort) that's right smack in the centre of the Financial District. It has a huge atrium in the middle of the building, with skylight pouring through from the top. The reception is on the 4th floor, and as you take the elevator up, you get to see the expanse of the building and the lobby. I was most definitely overwhelmed by the sophistication of the hotel. They had a decorative piece hanging down in the middle of the building at the atrium section and it hung down like a necklace - very sophisticated.

As the hotel was located near my event, I booked a Deluxe room via Agoda in order to get a reasonable rate of RM 600 (without breakfast). I added an extra bed on the day of check in for SGD 80++ without breakfast. The reception was friendly and efficient - I managed to check in at 1pm. Please be aware though that you have to park your car at Marina Square and they provide free 24 hour parking per night's stay if you are a guest at Marina Mandarin. You will need this complimentary season ticket from the hotel concierge in order to get the free night's parking.

The room was huge by Singaporean standards and we managed to put in the extra bed without any issues. Certainly one of hour highlights was the pillow menu where we got to choose soft, medium, hard or contour comfort without any additional price. The housekeeping will send up the chosen pillows once you have made your requests through the phone. The room came with the standard amenities - tea and coffee making facilities, fridge, shower (no bath - as we had extra bed, we chose a slightly bigger room but we forfeited the bath), bathrobes and a safe. However, as per all 5 star hotels, you have to pay for internet and wifi. Please note that they do not provide creamer for your coffee, but little milk sachets - and they are in the fridge!! (Complimentary)

There was nothing much special about the rooms - just that it met expectations and it was bigger by Singaporean standards. You might want to request for rooms facing the Bay and not the CBD - we got the City view and face Suntec City.

I didn't manage to check out the gym or the pool as I did not have enough time but its safe to say that this hotel is well located - it is next to a mall (Marina Square), it has a 7-Eleven next door, it has plenty of eateries, Hong Kong restaurants round the back and Suntec City Food Court is open early for breakfasts. If you are in town for the OCBC Cycle Singapore events, you may rest assured that Marina Mandarin has a huge storage rooms where bicycles can be kept. I've even seen cyclists bringing up their bicycles to their room on the lifts.

Overall I would stay here again for the bicycle storage reasons, proximity to my event location (F1 pit building), the price (it is the cheapest around this area) and the availability of food. I dont believe we need to pay for breakfasts in the hotel when there are plenty of eateries outside the hotel for a reasonable price. Do note that the night performances in the lounge can be noisy till up t0 midnight.

Singapore: Singapore Flyer

I recently made a visit to Singapore recently for the OCBC Cycle Singapore - because I had to take my bicycle down I decided to drive. I've been recently visiting Singapore a lot lately as there has been some new attractions popping up around Singapore - Marina Bay Sands, Musical Theatre, The Singapore Flyer, International Events such as the ones I was attending, and also the famed Night Safari and Singapore Zoo.

Although staying there is expensive in terms of cost of living and hotel expenses, travelling there itself is not too bad in terms of air flights, train tickets, bus tickets or even driving there. If you are willing to save some money WHILE you are there, such as on food and hotel, Singapore is do-able, even for Malaysians. Some of the things in Singapore you just can't get in Malaysia - good organisation of OCBC Cycle Singapore, and the Wicked Musical for one!

So on this trip, I visited the Singapore Flyer as it was right next to the OCBC Cycle Singapore 2012 Registration Site. Since we had time to spare, we bought SGD 29 (approximately tickets). One entire circle on the Singapore Flyer takes approximately 30 minutes. There is a great Singapore Food Heritage Food Court at the Singapore Flyer site. It is something like Hutong in Lot 10, but I felt the food there was just so-so. Again I'm not a foodie or a food blogger so I will not elaborate about this here. However, just be aware that there are plenty of eateries here so no worries about going hungry.

After looking around for a while we managed to find the escalators going up to the "Flight Entrance". After you go up, you will see another sign asking you to turn left directly into the entrance. As usual, once you hand in the ticket, you will be brought through a "gallery" or some sort to show case the "Biggest Observation Wheel in the World", the history of its making, the mechanics and so on. I suppose its just something to occupy our minds in Air Conditioning while we queue to enter the platform.




After a 15 minute queue, we boarded our little capsule. It should fit about 8-12 people in 1 capsule and its fully closed (no open window or anything). While the view was nice, it moved kinda slow (one whole rotation in 30 minutes). You will be able to view the open seas with industrial ships passing, part of the Marina Bay Sands, the Merlion and The Fullerton Hotel area, the F1 pit and the areas surrounding the Singapore Flyer.


I felt the overall experience was OK - but a bit pricey considering its SGD 30-ish. I'd rather have gone up to the Skypark on Marina Bay Sands with a cocktail to enjoy the same view. But it was a good one-time experience nevertheless. After you get down, you are of course, brought through a souvenir gallery where you can also access the toilet as well. In conclusion, Im happy that I came here once but I probably won't do this again. There is parking next to the building but I have to say that it is pretty expensive for Malaysian pricing - approximately SGD 1.05 for every 30 minutes.