Singapore is another one of our favorite cities. Singapore is an island city-State just off the top of the Malay Peninsula. The city is situated along the ocean trading route between India and China and, as Singapore is about half way between the two, it has long been a key trading post. The modern city was founded by Sir Stamford Raffles for the East India Company but island was inhabited for hundreds of years before Raffles arrived.
Our tour began with a drive through Little India and China town.
Then an elevator ride to the observation deck of the Marina Bay Sands Hotel for a panoramic view of the city.
Back down the elevator Frances found some Easter treats.
Next we went to Clarke Quay for a boat ride down the Singapore River. We passed the business district, Raffles’ statue which marks the site where he founded the city, the Parliament, Supreme Court and, finally at the mouth of the river, the statue of the Merlion, a mythical beast half lion and half fish, which is emblematic of the city. Unfortunately, the statue is currently undergoing refurbishment and is covered by scaffolding.
After alighting from our boat, we went to a Hindu temple in Chinatown , Thian Hock Keng. It is specially noted for its shrine to the many armed goddess of mercy.
After leaving the temple, we went to the Gardens By The Bay, a 250 acre garden. There you can see ‘super trees’ which vines grown on metal tree shaped trellises. It also has two huge domed conservatories. One simulating the climate of a cloud forest and the other mimicking the Mediterranean climate. We went through the Mediterranean dome which was filled we plants that are found In temperate climates.
Our final stop was the Marina Barrage which is a dam that has turned the Marina Bay into a fresh water reservoir. This is Singapore’s 15th reservoir but they still buy half of their water from Malaysia.
