Marina Bay – welcome to one of the most iconic locations in the world. Yes, you heard right, the world. Known best for its iconic giant “ship” resting atop Marina Bay Sands hotel, this local infrastructure has captured the eyes of many around the world.
Apart from the giant “ship”, which is actually just the Marina Bay Sands Skypark situated atop the hotel itself, another infrastructure that’s captured the attention of budding travellers to Singapore would definitely be the cluster of supertrees in Gardens By The Bay.
The beauty of these supertrees is further accentuated by the darkness of the night, where breathtaking lights are emitted from the supertrees. A walk around the supertrees in the stillness of the evening would definitely remind you of the movie Avatar, where the flora and fauna of the fictional planet Pandora would emit it’s own alluring glow.
10am
Start your day by testing out your luck in one of Singapore’s two casinos, the other being at Resorts World Sentosa. Whether you’re a fan of the exhilarating rush you get when gambling or you’re just merely doing it for fun, Marina Bay Sand’s casino is definitely the place for you.
With free entry for foreigners (bring your passports along for free entry), professionally trained dealers and very helpful staff, this is definitely a go-to place if you’re visiting Singapore from overseas. The casino also offers free refreshments like tea, coffee, soda or mineral water in case you needed a little something to quench your thirst in between those intense games of poker.
11.00am
Take a walk around Shoppes at Marina Bay, and do a little shopping at this upmarket shopping mall, which is connected to Marina Bay Sands Hotel. If you’ve got a little bit of extra money to throw around, the Shoppes at Marina Bay would be the perfect place for you. It’s filled with all the luxurious brands that you could ever ask for, all in one place.
However, even if you’re not feeling the shopping bug crawling under your skin on that particular day, you can still escape the heat of the afternoon sun and soak in the beautiful infrastructural design of the building. Simply take a walk around the shopping mall, which has wide walking spaces and various locations to just sit and chill.
12pm
For lunch, drop by the DC Comics Superhero Cafe found in the same shopping mall! Located at level 1 of Shoppes at Marina Bay, this unique superhero themed cafe has giant murals and life sized figurines of your favourite DC superheroes like Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, and many more.
Regardless of whether you’re a fan of these comic superheroes or not, you’ll definitely fall in love with the food here. With food items on the menu like Batman’s Dark Knight Burger, Superman’s Smallville Original Burger and Aquaman’s Ocean Legend Sandwich, you’ll be feeling like superhero yourself after a scrumptious meal here.
1.00pm
After a good lunch, head over to the Art Science Museum just right beside the shopping mall. The museum, shaped like a lotus flower, is a superb demonstration that shows the many things that art and science have in common. Together with the many other infrastructures in the area, the Art Science Museum stands out as one of the more eye catching ones.
The museum houses many different types of exhibitions which change from time to time, and most of these exhibitions are interactive, making a visit to the Art Science Museum more interesting than your average “no-touch, hands-off” type of museum counterparts.
2.30pm
Head over to Gardens By The Bay after a visit to the museum, and for just $5, take a leisurely walk on the OCBC Skyway, where you get to soak in a beautiful view of Marina Bay Sands, the barrage and the gardens all from a bird’s eye view.
You’ll learn more about the supertrees, which actually have environmentally sustaining functions, apart from being gorgeous man-made structures.
4.00pm
With one of the hottest parts of the day being around 4pm, you’ll definitely want to get out of the sun. Else you risk getting a bad sunburn, sweating litres nonstop, or both. While still at the gardens, the best place to escape the sweltering heat would definitely be at the Flower Dome and Cloud Forest.
With temperatures inside ranging from 23°C to 25°C, you’ll get to hide from the heat of the sun till around 6pm. In the Flower Dome, you’ll be greeted with a wide display of flowers and you’ll get to immerse in a world of perpetual spring. The flower dome replicates the cool-dry climate conditions of mediterranean countries like South Africa and Spain, where some of the floral and fauna there have been adapted to survive in this conservatory.
In the Cloud Forest, get ready to feast your eyes on the 35-metre-tall mountain covered in lush vegetation, shrouding the world’s tallest indoor waterfall.
6.00pm
Before moving on to your next activity, have an early dinner at Supertree Dining, situated right next to the domes. With a whole stretch of restaurants along the bottom of the Supertrees, you get to choose from places to eat like Texas Chicken, Bay Leaf Indian Curry House, Peach Garden Noodle House and many more.
7pm
Ah yes, the time where the gorgeous sun sinks across the horizon. To witness a sunset against the Singapore skyline, you’ll want to head over to the iconic Singapore flyer just a walk away from the gardens.
There, you’ll get to watch the sunset from 165m above the ground, and experience a 360˚ view of Singapore.
8.30pm
Remember the OCBC skyway from earlier on? Well, you’ve experienced the skyway and walking amongst the supertrees during the day, now you’ve got to go back and soak in the atmosphere at night.
In the darkness of the night, the walkway and supertrees would be lighted up with gorgeous lights which you’ll be able to see only at night. Also, stick around for the Garden Rhapsody, a free music and light show happening around the supertrees itself!
10.00pm
As the day winds down, you’ll want to sit down and relax, and just soak in the stillness of the night. Lay down a picnic mat over at Marina Barrage, and even if you can’t find yourself any lucky stars in the night sky (because the city is lighted up too brightly, it’s hard for every star to appear in the sky), maybe you’ll find yourself a lucky star amongst the various brightly lit lights in the Singapore skyline over in the distance.