Singapore

Hot, humid, fascinating – the first words that spring to mind when thinking of Singapore. Although we have been getting used to the high temperatures on our trip, nothing quite prepared me for the hot humidity of Singapore. The country is a unique place. Old and new mingle together to produce this exotic, ancient yet modern metropolis.

We stayed in a hotel in Chinatown so were immediately submerged into the hustle and bustle of hawker stalls, steaming dim sum and souvenirs. In the run up to Chinese New Year, decorations were already being hung in preparation for the celebrations of the year of the rooster so there was a real carnival feel to the air.

There is so much to see in Singapore that you could quite happily spend a week there and still not see everything. We had 3 days and crammed in as much as possible but left wanting to see more.

A real highlight was the Bay of Gardens and the Botanical Gardens. The Bay of Gardens is an unmissable sight if you are ever in Singapore. The mix of nature and art (mainly fascinating sculptures) is unlike anything I have ever seen elsewhere. We loved it. The gardens are built on 101 hectares of reclaimed land. Two impressively large conservatories house a flower garden and a “cloud forest”. The cloud forest is a wall of greenery with walkways at various levels to allow visitors to view it from different heights and angles, a waterfall crashing down its side. I hadn’t appreciated before we visited, the size of the place and its uniqueness so I was incredibly glad we went. The majority of the gardens are free to visit, but it is worth paying the entry fee to see inside the conservatories and the sky walk. The whole place was pushchair friendly too. For older children, there is even a childrens’ garden.

The gardens also have “super trees” – large tree looking sculptures that act also as funnels to collect water. It’s possible to walk on a sky walk between the super trees and to visit a restaurant/bar on the top of the largest for great views across the gardens and back towards the heart of Singapore. Stunning.

The Botanical gardens are also beautiful, in particular the Orchid Garden. To the north of the city, the gardens stretch over a couple of kilometres, the orchid garden being near the centre. It only costs $5 to get in and it has a huge variety of rare and colourful orchids. Its a lovely haven from the busy city.

We spent one of our afternoons and an evening at Singapore Zoo and Night Safari. If you like zoos then you will be impressed by Singapore zoo. It has been thoughtfully set out to make it feel very open, is shaded and really lets you get close to the animals. It is worth the visit purely for the orangutan enclosure. The trees and ropes for the orangutans go right above the public walkways so you can view the orangutans over your head and very close.

The Night Safari is something unique and is next door to the zoo. As you wait to go inside, music with a heavy drum beat and fire breathers rank up the anticipation in the air. You head straight to an amphitheatre for a talk and show of animals then take an informative tram ride around the park. Finally you can take a night walk at your own pace around the enclosures for a chance to see animals active at night, particularly those who are nocturnal. It was very different and is worth a visit. The highlight for us was getting close to a tiger.

Both the Night Safari and Zoo are a bit touristy but, as far as zoos go, are possibly one of the best in the world. Nothing quite like a visit to Africa though!

On our last evening we had a walk around the marina to watch the light show outside the Marina Bay Sands hotel. It takes place every night at 8pm and is pretty impressive as you can see from the photos. Water mist is sprayed in front of you and then videos projected onto the spray to music.

It’s possible to have a drink at the top of the Marina Bay Sands hotel, but we went instead to Level 33 nearby where the view is just as good but there is no entry fee and the drinks are more reasonably priced.

Finally, a visit to Singapore would not be complete without a visit to Raffles and a Singapore Sling. Whilst a little touristy, it is fun and the walk through the beautiful colonial hotel is worth it.

I would definitely visit Singapore again.