Singapore: Marina Bay Sands

I visited Singapore as part of my 30th birthday celebrations this year in 2011. Ive been to Singapore a few times since my college days, but I was never a big fan. I always stayed around the Orchard road area and went to Sentosa and from what I have seen, it really seemed very plasticky, commercialised and in summary, Singapore appeared to me like a web of underground, air conditioned walkways connecting malls and subways. This time round, I really had a good time in Singapore, more so than in Ho Chi Minh. I would not have expected it. I went to Singapore for a few reasons 1) The Lion King 2) Marina Bay Sands 3) Singapore Night Safari.

Also, I think what made a difference was HOW I travelled. After you have more experience travelling, you sort of know what suits you. What suits me ? Tonnes of activities, left right and centre. Nature and Culture. No staring into space at a cafe, people watching, 'mere sightseeing' or sunbathing on the beach/by the pool for Lavy81 please.

So during my weekend in Singapore it was packed jamed full of cycling at Tampinese and Bedok at their Cycling Routes, followed by dinner and Night Safari (which was awesome btw), and then by The Lion King, dinner with a friend at the Singapore Skypark at the Marina Bay Sands and gambliing at the casinos. And to think that this wasn't even all the activities I planned for for 2 days. I actually had to cut 2 activities cause I was so exhausted.

The Marina Bay Sands was fine. It wasnt as ritzy or as glamarous as I thought it would be but the Skypark was definitely worth going up. Here's a tip, instead of purchasing a ticket for the Skypark, why not get a drink at Ku De Ta (the bar at the Skypark) and enjoy the ride up for free, without a ticket? You need to inform the Ku De Ta staff at the ground floor and tell him/her you intend to have drinks and she will give you a Ku De Ta card for you to head up without a ticket.I had an ok cocktail but the views were lovely to justify the price. We ordered a fish and vegetable with 2 rice and split 2 drinks and it came up to be about SGD 90. Its chinese style, not western style so you need to order a dish and rice to follow. Its steep, but it was my birthday so whatever :) After that we went down to the casinos where I earned back my SGD 50 to pay for my dinner and took a short walk back to the MRT station. On the way back we managed to get this beautiful picture of Marina Sands Bay at night, next to the museum and the Esplanade.

All in all, I had a pretty good trip in Singapore. The Lion King was awesome (reminded me of Kenya, where I was based for 4 months in 2011), The Night Safari was awesome (reminded me of Kenya) and Marina Bay was pretty good (Skypark, won some money). I stayed at 1929 Hotel in Chinatown but that's a whole different story all together.
Attraction Details:

http://www.marinabaysands.com/