The gardens themselves were not the most impressive I've seen on this trip. I believe that title would have to go to Sydney. However, it was still nice for a run. This park seemed less gauged towards the trees and more so to the people. That is there were a lot of ponds, gazebos, and wide open paved areas for group exercise. So, I found the trees less impressive, which is part of what the botanic gardens should be about. That said, their ponds were great, with some huge japanese fish, swans and a bundle of turtles. The orchid garden bit was also lovely. My favorite part though was a little waterfall that I could run behind and get the spray. That was indeed refreshing.
So, I returned to the apartment and showered. Margaret had not been feeling well yesterday, so since we saw a lot yesterday, I was in no hurry to wake her. Instead, I wrote a bunch of emails and did some reading. The early afternoon however was spent doing a bunch of planning for japan. I worked out a train pass (which I hope to finalize tomorrow), and booked hostel rooms for the entirety of our trip, both in Kyoto and Tokyo. Now its just figuring out the details of train locations and the locations of activities and sites.
Around 4 we headed back out into the city. We started out going into a mall next door where I picked up a dozen batteries for about 4 USD. That was sweet. We then took a cab back towards the harbor, and just down the river enough to where we had not gotten before. This is where Singapore continued to baffle me with how ridiculous it can be.
Most obvious was the Marina Bay Sands Singapore Luxury Hotel. Yes... its name is huge, and yes its huge, and ridiculous, and massively looming over the harbor so its impossible to miss. This hotel rises from the western side of the harbor and towers over all the nearby buildings. It is comprised of 3 seemingly independent towers that appear to bow inwards as they climb. All 3 are capped and connected by an enormous roof platform, shaped like a boat, that contains dining, pools, casinos and more! In front of it lie more uniquely shaped bits of architecture. First was the Art and Science Museum, a building who's outside is finished but is still being worked on. The whole thing is shaped a bit like a hand and at the right angle/time of day looks like its cradling the sun (I have a picture...).
Between the two lies the Marina Bay Sands Mall, which rivals any mall I've seen in being cool. We entered at the top floor and were immediately baffled by size alone. Looking down 3 floors to the ground floor and restaurants we saw an indoor ice rink. The mall is also home to hundreds of shops (no sunrise) and a casino of its own. Running the length of most hallways were waterfall/pools. These had angled "steps" in them and filled from the center. This led to it draining on all sides while appearing to be static. Lastly, the directories were interactive touchscreen.
Connecting the two sides of the river were a few bridges for cars (which had sidewalks) and 1 unique pedestrian bridge. This was one of my favorites, as the entire bridge is designed to look like and walk inside of a multiple helix. Better yet, while it looked like a nearly perfect helix from afar, while inside it was still abundantly clear that the bridge's structure was based on triangles.
After this point, Margaret started feeling ill again, so we hailed a cab and sent her home, but I stayed out a bit to see the harbor at night. I had a few disappointing and failed attempts at food, but I got over it. As darkness fell I started my sites back at the Raffles Hotel. I'll admit, it wasn't that much cooler at night, though pretty in a different way. I then headed due south towards the harbor to see the Singapore Flyer, a massive ferris wheel at the foot of the city. It stands out pretty easily, as there are no buildings beyond it and its a giant wheel that changes colors. I then worked my way back to the heart of the harbor.
Now... did I mention that it was the last day of celebrating the chinese new year? I feel that plays a part in the gratuity of the following. As I approached the harbor, the Bay Hotel still stood out above everything else, though this time lit up with its own light, in addition to giant green flood lights making green beams against the night sky. The helix bridge was lined with spiraling purple lights that matched the helix. I crossed the bridge and ducked into the mall briefly, only to find a light show being played on the ice 3 floors down.
I headed back out and crossed the bridge one last time. In this direction I had a tremendous view of the thousands of chinese hanging ball-like lamps suspended from hundreds of ropes. Protruding into the bay was a floating platform, lined with more lights and giant figures of characters (that are relevant to the new year I assume). Walking through, it was easy to see additional flood lights stream up from the art and science museum and other spots around the harbor. Fireworks periodically shot from somewhere, helping to light up the sky further. Behind me was a stage, with fog machines billowing and a chinese dance being preformed. All the while various carnival rides were each going on with their own music. From where I stood I could identify 5 or 6 individual techno songs. The entire harbor was really just transformed into 1 big, gigantic raving dance party. It was ... ridiculous.
I then proceeded to walk back in relative quiet, and saw much what I did yesterday. Margaret was feeling a bit better and we made some food. For me it was just nice to have a breather. Regardless of how much is credited to the chinese new year, this city is really pretty cool and I think the modern styles of architecture-meet-modern-art is really cool.
Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.7
No comments:
Post a Comment