July 06, 2010-- Woke up at 6, jump off the bed at 7, off the road at 8. Honey and I wanted to go to Orchard to see how it was in the morning. And since we did not have a nice breakfast experience yesterday, we decided to go to McDonalds to have a decent starter this time. Two orders of their breakfast De Luxe was surely a great way to start the day.
Orchard road that morning looked like a busy yet relaxed place. Majority of the walking people were in their fastest pace, while there were some who looked as if they were just paying a visit in the park. Different group of people, different styles of walking, I guess.
One place we failed to visit when we arrived is the Visitor's Center. Though honey already mastered our routes and activities for the day, we still went there and asked for further information, activities and whereabouts. Our Customer Service Officer did an excellent job! She spoke good english so we were able to catch everything she said. She gave us tips on where to go for cheap, authentic electronic buys, helped us revise our plan for the day by suggesting on what places to definitely see and eliminating places that we can miss-out so to maximize our time, and furnished us a list of bus numbers and train stations that made our hopping from one point to another a breeze.
The Singapore Flyer.
First impression was, yeah right another giant ferris wheel. What the heck, the flyer is not just an ordinary ferris wheel ride! We rode in an air-conditioned capsule that could accommodate 28 persons (imagine how big the capsule was!) and slowly took us 165 meters off the ground. This is currently the world's highest observation wheel that took my breath away as my eyes feasted on 360 degrees view of Singapore's skyline, greens, architectures and waters. This 30-minute ride was so worth it, and could be romantic too if it would be just you and your lovey alone in the capsule ;)
The Marina Bay Sands.
Just at the sight of it from afar, I could not help but think how lucky could I be, me stepping inside the world's most expensive hotel? We entered at Tower One and we were ushered to Tower Three and queued for tickets-10S$ per person. The elevator took us in less than a minute to the 56th floor where I had, again, a breathtaking experience. The Marina Bay Sands, recently bagged The Most Expensive Hotel in the World title, freshly opened it's doors last April 2010. The wonderful structure of three towers, 55-storey each, connected together by a hectare-big roof (that was where the elevator took us) that serves as a luxury park in the sky with the Singapore's skycrapers and landscapes as the backdrop, convinced me that this hotel deserves to have that title. There's also an infinity pool exclusively for the guests situated a floor higher. My experience alone felt so expensive already, even more if we were checked-in in one of their 2,600 rooms.
The Esplanade.
Esplanade, known as Theaters on the Bay, looked like two durian fruits from a distance. Closer and closer, spikes designs came flashing to my eyes. This is located in waterfront along Marina Bay and serves as Singapore's prime performing arts venue, which also houses a mall, restaurants, library, and others relating to arts.
The Merlion Park.
As what I have posted, Merlion is Singapore's icon. There are few other location of Merlion in Singapore, but the main spitting beast is the one located in Singapore River. This one measures 7 meters high (the one in Imbiah Lookout is it's taller version sans the spitting water). Unfortunately, the mother Merlion was taking a shower when we visited the park and the one "open" for picture and for viewing was the baby counterpart which is only two meters high.
The Chinatown.
We wanted to have a different feel of Singapore, one that is away from city glam and modern living. So we headed to Chinatown, as suggested by the magazine we read that tackled about quiet yet worth visiting corners of Singapore. Good bargains, interesting food in kiosks, old shophouses--these welcomed us upon reaching the Chinatown stretch. This is where we had our lunch. It was like eating in a carinderia or turo-turo, but much, much cleaner and safer (no beggars asking for food or street children waiting for your leftovers).
Funan Mall.
The map's description to this mall: the digital mall. Floor by floor, all I saw were gadgets, electronics, gadgets, electronics, gadgets, electronics (keeps on repeating)!! Techies would surely fall in love with this mall. We did not stay that much for we were not set on buying anything. We just wanted to see how many gadgets this mall can accommodate.
We ended the day by having dinner at Food Republic again (we were tamad to explore this time). After dinner, we went to different Orchard malls, hopping from one to another, for this would be our last to experience Orchard at night. After ten, we met with honey's cousins who are based there and had a little chat and how are you's over a cup of coffee.
Tomorrow, we will be going back to Manila. Yehey! I will be seeing my little man already who I already terribly miss.
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