Travel Recap: 2 Days in Singapore

This is a VERY late posting about the 2nd part of my trip to Southeast Asia with Nicole that we took in March 2016.    After 8 Days in Bali, we didn't want to waste being in Southeast Asia by just seeing the one island so we flew to Singapore to spend 2 days and 2 nights exploring the city-state. At the end of this blog is the Video so check it out!

 After about a 2 hour flight we made our descent over the Singapore Strait. It was very dramatic with so many huge container ships anchored or traveling by as far as you could see from the air.

Upwards of 2,000 ships pass through the strait every day

We landed around noon and caught a cab into the heart of the city. Our first day and night would be spent at the famous Marina Bay Sands Hotel.  It is known for the huge rooftop infinity pool 57 stories high. It's not just a hotel, but also a casino and large mall complex that looks across the water of the Downtown Core. The south side overlooks the Gardens by the Bay. The Hotel itself was very modern and felt a bit like being at a casino hotel in Las Vegas and considering Singapore is the 2nd largest casino gambling market in the world, it makes sense.

We spent the afternoon by the pool taking photos and video for Nicole. The views from the top were pretty outstanding as the day got darker and the skyline lit up.  After another day in the sun (and I used so much sunscreen -  I swear), my skin and eyes were in full on rebellion, my skin was still broken out in hives and I couldn't look anyone in the eyes - mine were so red! I had to get some eye drops from a pharmacist but they didn't work.

That's me.. I'm dead from the heat.

Singapore financial district and Downtown Core after Sunset

Our 2nd Hotel, The Mandarin Oriental, where we would be staying the next night

Gardens by the Bay at dusk, the Strait in the background

In the process of planning some shoots around the city, we met up with a local video producer, Alan. He was experienced in video production and he took us out to show us the layout of the city and have some dinner in Little India.  He explained about how Singapore is a huge melting pot of cultures because of its location in Asia.   The four official languages of Singapore are English, Malay, Mandarin Chinese and Tamil.

We had an amazing Indian dinner at a hole in the wall place and we drove around the city that night to see more neighborhoods. We saw a full street dedicated to selling the stinky Durian fruit that we tried in Bali.

 We planned to meet up early the next morning to shoot at the pool while it was less crowded and Alan flew his drone up to see Nicole in the water to get some amazing shots for the video. Then Alan took us to a few more spots around the city.  We saw the Merlion: a Mythical half Mermaid half Lion mascot of Singapore. The statue is a huge photo-op in the Downtown Core.

We drove to The Marina Barage, a large grassy area with a wonderful view of the Marina Bay Sands and the city as well as the Supertrees from the Gardens by the Bay.  An interesting fact that Alan told us as we drove around was that to own a car in Singapore it cost at least $100,000 to just pay the import costs (a normal sedan can cost about $110k to own and a luxury car can cost at least $175k) and almost $2k a year on taxes and fees for owning/driving it around the city.

The Supertrees are extremely tall structures that are covered in tropical plants

Alan! Our tourguide & drone operator

We took a break to have lunch at what seemed like another hole the wall place - Ramen Keisuke. The small spot is considered the best Ramen in Singapore and honestly it was the best Ramen I've ever had. I really appreciated Alan's knowledge of the best small but delicious places to eat, especially with so many types of food to try.

In the evening, after catching the sunset back at the Marina Barage, we moved to the Mandarin Oriental Hotel to spend our last night in Singapore. We had a fancy Cantonese dinner at the restaurant in the hotel - Cherry Garden. After dinner we packed up, organized our photos and footage and I got ready to leave for an early morning flight.

Supertrees lit up at night were so beautiful, it's like Fern Gully come to life

A very strange experience at the Singapore Airport was the lack of security at the entrance. I was expecting a large security line which opens up into the terminal but the process is different there. The airport itself is open and you only go through security when you get to your gate. You can have one of the old experiences where you say goodbye/hello to your loved ones right before they get on the plane like in pre- 9/11 days.

My overall impression of Singapore was that it's an organized, modern, clean city.  It was really helpful to have a fantastic and knowledgable tour guide who gave us personal insight into living there. It was an interesting mix of ultra modern with historical pockets where culture thrives.  I would have liked to spend a little more time there to really explore each neighborhood but we were on a tight timeline.  Here's the Video!