We enjoyed a whirlwind visit in Singapore, which has to be the most modern and efficient city we will visit on this journey. We traveled to Singapore by bus from Melaka and to our surprise we were the only two passengers on the big tourist bus. With reclining seats and plenty of room to spread out it was a comfortable ride, although we felt pretty bad about such a large vehicle being driven several hours with only us on it. Not sure why they did not stick us on one of the other many buses with other passengers but maybe the bus needed to go to Singapore regardless. We arrived in Singapore pretty late so did not make it out anywhere beyond our hotel our first night there.
The next day we set off to explore after having breakfast at our hotel. We walked to the historic Raffles Hotel and looked around the exterior and courtyard a bit before walking down to the Marina Bay area. The air was slightly hazy but clear for the most part. We went by Merlion Park where the famous fountain of the mythical Merlion with the head of a lion and the body of a fish is located.
We admired Singapore’s skyline around the bay area. The Marina Bay Sands Hotel is one of the most notable structures with its three giant towers and surfboard shaped Sands Sky Park that sits on top. Sands Sky Park has a famously beautiful infinity pool overlooking the city. Non-hotel guests can also go up to this top level to enjoy the view for a fee.
It was sweltering hot and we decided to seek out lunch inside one of the many indoor food courts with air conditioning. We found some delicious Indian food that was pretty affordable. Compared to the other places we have been traveling Singapore is rather expensive. Our hotel room is probably the most expensive place we will stay the whole trip and it is in a great neighborhood but our room was teeny tiny.
We visited the ArtScience Museum where we viewed the “Future World: Where Art Meets Science” collection of artworks. The geometric building design itself is a work of art and it is surrounded by a large lotus pond. The key narratives of Future World were: City in A Garden, Sanctuary, Park and Space.
Future World Exhibit 
ArtScience Museum Exterior
The collection includes futuristic high-tech interactive artworks that utilize amazing technology with digital displays, projectors, and lighting to create responsive and interactive displays. The exhibits seamlessly combined art with technology. Some exhibits had interactive features geared toward children where they could design something and it would become part of the art display. The Crystal Universe portion of the exhibit used lighting techniques to create the sensation of being in space surrounded by an infinite number of light particles. The museum is a really fun and interesting place for children and adults. Everyone there seemed to be having a wonderful time.
After the museum we went to the Gardens by the Bay, which is one of Singapore’s most famous attractions. It is a 250-acre nature park in the heart of the city built as a premier urban outdoor recreation space for residents and visitors. First we explored the Cloud Forest, a beautifully designed conservatory built inside a massive mist-filled glass dome.
We spent about two hours in the Cloud Forest, which amazingly replicates the look and feel of a real cloud forest except the air is cool and there are no bugs. Every surface is covered with lush vegetation with works of art interspersed. There is a large indoor waterfall and a canopy walk that provides views of the forest from higher levels.
Educational signage is posted throughout the conservatory about the different kinds of vegetation growing inside and also about the importance of forests to the health of the planet as a whole. There was also a large exhibit about climate change that outlined some of the dangers the earth is facing related to species extinction, habitat loss, deforestation, and pollution. The Cloud Forest runs on solar power and uses a water collection and filtration system for its water supply. It was built to be self sufficient and sustainable with an eye to the future
Next we explored the complex’s other conservatory, the Flower Dome, which is the world’s largest greenhouse. It is climate controlled offering a wonderful respite from the heat. There are endless varieties of flower and plant species on display from around the globe. One section has statutes of characters from Alice in Wonderland.
There are some incredible carved wood statues in the dome of dragons, horses, deer, and other animals. We meandered through the Flower Dome for over an hour enjoying the beautiful surroundings and taking photos.
We then went to explore the Supertree Grove, which includes giant tree like structures that stand up to 160-feet tall. Living plants grow up their trunks combining futuristic modern technology with nature. The trees harness solar energy and collect rainwater. They also are part of the conservatories’ cooling systems. There is an elevated walkway, which we explored, that allows you to view the supertrees near the top and also enjoy gorgeous views of the gardens below. Every evening there is a choreographed light and music show in the Supertree Grove that is free for all the enjoy. We stayed for the show after sunset and absolutely loved watching it on the lawn with everyone while enjoying glasses of wine. The light show lasts about fifteen minutes and is a must see when in Singapore. The Supertrees are amazing and inspiring and the Gardens by the Bay is perhaps the most beautiful man-made place I have ever visited. It gave me hope for the future.
After the light show at the Super Grove, we walked over to the bay area in front of the Marina Bay Sands Hotel where there is another free nightly light and music show. There is a large seating area built facing the bay for people to gather and enjoy the show. This show was also quite impressive and entertaining. The fountain and lights were perfectly choreographed to the music throughout the show, which lasted about fifteen minutes. It is wonderful that these nightly entertainment options are available for anyone to enjoy. If you are interested in shopping, the Marina Bay Sands Hotel area has some ultra high end shopping opportunities inside the glitziest mall I have ever seen.
Singapore has an outstanding MRT (mass rapid transit) system and we were able to take the train back to our hotel. The MRT train will transport you just about anywhere in the city, including all the way to the airport. It is affordable and so convenient. We found out there was a Singapore Vegan Festival happening while we were in town so we decided to check it out. It took place inside a hotel in a ballroom that had tables set up offering samples of vegan food and products. There was also a section with restaurants selling vegan dishes. The event was much smaller than we expected but it was quite crowded and well attended, which was great to see. It was a nice event but our local Veganfest at home in Asheville, NC usually has a larger crowd and much more to offer in our opinion. We took the MRT toward Chinatown and went to Amoy Street Food Centre, one of Singapore’s many open-air hawker centres with stalls selling a variety of inexpensive food and drinks. We were there on a Sunday so many of the stalls were actually closed but we did find some tasty noodle dishes for lunch at a vegetarian food stall. The food centres are a great place to sample a variety of authentic local food at reasonable prices. We then walked around Chinatown for a bit, where there are many shops and boutiques selling every kind of clothing and souvenir you can imagine. While the rest of the city feels new and modern, Chinatown’s buildings are shorter and appear older and more traditional in the Chinese style giving it a totally different vibe. There are several temples to explore in Chinatown as well as hundreds of restaurants and a couple food centres.
On our last night in Singapore, we enjoyed a wonderful dinner at Herbivore, a vegan Japanese restaurant inside the Fortune Center, which is home to a number of vegetarian restaurants. We then enjoyed a glass of wine at Ginett Restaurant and Wine Bar, also in the same neighborhood as our hotel. There are many wine bars in Singapore and you can often buy a nice glass of wine for less than the cost of a beer. Craft beer seemed to be quite expensive most places while wine was pretty reasonable – my kind of town!
On our last morning in Singapore we took a Grab to Changi Airport about five hours before our flight was scheduled to leave so we could explore the airport. Jewel Changi Airport is a splashy entertainment and retail complex that opened in April 2019. Most airlines now allow early check in at this airport so passengers can explore the complex’s many shops and attractions. We were in awe of the massive indoor waterfall, indoor gardens, and art installations inside Jewel. We went through a few of the attractions that require the purchase of an entrance ticket, including the mirror maze, canopy walk, indoor slides, and several gardens. They also have a sky net walk attraction that looked like it would be great fun for children.
Jewel at Changi Waterfall 
Big Indoor Slide 
Changi Garden Sculpture 
Changi Sunflower Garden
Other airport facilities include tons of dining options, several spas, a fitness center, an outdoor sunflower garden, movie theaters, and shops from many well known international brands. Each of the airport’s four terminals has its own unique attractions and garden features. There is also a nightly light and sound show at the Jewel waterfall. You could easily spend an entire day just exploring the airport as I imagine many people do, especially those who come to Singapore for a stopover visit. It is definitely the nicest airport we have ever been to. Everything about it is way over the top and I am sure will be quite a contrast to our next destination which is Kathmandu in Nepal. We loved Singapore and is it an enjoyable city that is not hard to navigate. Singapore seems like it would be a nice place to live as long as you are okay with following the rules as penalties for prohibited acts such as jaywalking, chewing gum, spitting, littering, and begging come with steep penalties if caught by the authorities. Their system seems to be working as overall it felt like an exceptionally clean, safe, and orderly place.
Love love this!
Wow! Will have to put Singapore on my bucket list!
Marvelous !! Great photos…I’m glad you are having “TOO MUCH FUN !!”