Singapore

 What exactly IS Singapore? Is it a city, a country, or an island in Malaysia? Apparently, it is all of the above! Singapore is a city-island-country. Singapore (the city) is the capital of Singapore (the country.) If you ask Google if Singapore is a country or a city, here is the response:

Singapore is a sovereign island country and city-state located in maritime Southeast Asia. It gained independence and became a sovereign state in 1965, functioning as an independent nation with its own government, legal system, and economy. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]

 

 Singapore Tour

Singapore is a wealthy place full of chrome and glass skyscrapers housing all the major world banks.

View from the Fullerton One waterfront mall where we picked up our Singapore Tour.

We had a perfect day for a boat ride on the Singapore River. Starting at an area called Clarke Quay, we headed downriver and under a few bridges till we reached the Merlion (mermaid+lion) statue/fountain that represents Singapore. The city started as a humble fishing village - thus the fish tail. The Lion part came from a legend that the first person to see the city thought he saw a lion and named the town 'Singapura' meaning Lion City. Turns out there are no lions here - maybe it was a tiger?

The Merlion with the famous Marina Bay Sands hotel in the background. Meant to look like a ship resting atop the 3 towers. It houses a hotel with 1,850 rooms. Also in front is a convention center and luxury mall. If you want to stay there, be aware that an average room cost is $1,050 per night. 😮

Gardens by the Bay and the Super Trees

Next stop on our tour was the Gardens by the Bay. Described as one of the most 'Instagrammable Spots' in Singapore. We went there to see the Rhapsody Light show, so we were there after dark. The show was light and music. Think the Epcot nightly fireworks but all orchestrated with these giant high tech 'Super Trees.'

Marina Bay Sands and Spectra

Then it was back on the bus for the short ride to the Marina Bay Sands to watch their light and water show called 'Spectra." I expected water fountains shooting up to the beat of music and displaying different colors. What I didn't expect was the wall of water spray acting as a screen for laser artwork to be displayed. What a show.

Night view of the city from the vantage point of the Marina Bay Sands hotel waterfront

Last Stop - Street Food

Singapore has very stringent health regulations so 'street food' isn't exactly allowed. To accomodate the different vendors - known as Hawkers, a large building was constructed long ago in the heart of the business district. This is called Lau Pa Sat. Once inside it felt like a giant food court with a dizzying number of choices. I had heard about there being good Satay so went on the hunt. It turns out that Satay has its own street on the side of the building. It's called Satay Street! And, it is literally a street with traffic during the day. They close it off and fill it with tables and benches at night. There are 9 stalls all selling Satay sticks - chicken or beef - covered with delicious peanut sauce and seasonings and grilled over an open flame. You buy 10-15 sticks and they are served with a little dish of spicy peanut sauce. I skipped the sauce and thoroughly enjoyed my Satay. Jim loved the spicy sauce.

Yummy Satay sticks. Eating out on "Satay Street" 😊 in Lau Pa Sat market

Tour by Viator

This was a fantastic tour. I highly recommend it and our tour guide 'Jingle' - yes, that's actually her name, just like in Jingle Bells. She was very Singaporean as she told us how she speaks 4 languages: English, Cantonese, Malay, and Tamil. 

The tour itself was about 4 hours, but it dropped us off at the Lau Pa Sat and we spent another hour wandering and eating, then found our way to a bus that got us back to the ship.

Singapore River Cruise, Night Garden Rhapsody & Spectra by CYT