Amazing Singapore - Part 2

Amazing Singapore Part 2😊…

"Happiness is a journey , not a destination."
                                                                                        - Anonymous

And the adventure continues with Day 3 and 4 experiences….

Just when you thought that there were too many activities in two days, please hold on tight we had more to do on Day 3 and 4. Let the action begin😄...

Day 3:

Itinerary for Day 3: 

Jurong Bird park, River Safari, Skypark view in Marina Bay Sands, Laser show

                           Since we had a long day on Day 2, we started a bit late on Day 3. Our first point was the Jurong Bird Park. It was almost 10 AM when we started, so instead of taking the metro we took the taxi to reach our destination in around 35 mins. Jurong bird park is again quite far away from our place, so we had another city sight seeing tour with a totally different landscape with all industrial areas and its surroundings.

                            We reached the bird park just in time for the Penguin feeding time. I took a quick picture with the colorful Macau and its relatives to head out to see the penguins. 

                           We strolled around a bit and moved along to see the other exhibits. We planned to see the bird show scheduled at 11.30 am in the amphitheater. This again was just like the one in Point Defiance Zoo / SanDiego zoo.We reached well in time and got a good spot. We saw that there were many tourists, being a Sunday with local folks and lot of Indian tourist as well come in via the packages. We could hear Kannada, Telugu, Odiya,Bengali etc all around.

                            We stayed put and enjoyed the High Flyers bird show. It was indeed a good one with some of its star performers like the parakeet Amigo which sang songs in three languages, count numbers and put up a cool show. There were other starts like the Red and Blue Macau just like in the movie Rio..i love to see those birds so colorful and vibrant. They also had the hornbills, flock of flamingos, pelicans, rooster. It was a good show.

                             Another main exhibit was the Phillipine Eagle which was latest entry and a rare bird which we got a chance to see. It was quite majestic. 

                             We then strolled along to see the Lory croft to see whole lot of parakeet and its relatives open in the wild and we were in their territory. There were lot of Asian origin birds.

                            One of the interesting one was the Malaysian Peacock bird which had the whole plumage like the eyes on the peacock feathers. The birds were all flying around freely and we had to walk through them. I felt like being in the Jurassic park aviator. I just wanted to get out of the place as soon as possible. On the whole it was quite a good exhibit, but since it was bit sunny we got a bit tired.

                          We had a quick lunch with a slice of Pizza and headed out to the River Safari terminal. We had to take a bus to the place. We reached the bus interchange place which was indeed again a big bus stand like majestic. It is much more organized with all the lanes clearly out for each of the bus routes. It was an interesting experience. We had a bus directly to the Singapore Zoo which was the point for the Zoo, River safari and Night Safari.

                          It took almost an hour for us to reach the destination…so another unexpected sight seeing tour along the way.  

                         The River Safari is again another interesting place where they showcased all the major rivers and its beings. It included the Nile, Amazon, Ganges, Yellow river, local rivers. We had to walk all along the path to reach the ferry terminal at the end.

                         Here we were again faced with another surprise element that makes me smile even now. We had to go through the Giant Panda enclosure which I was not prepared for. It was an enclosure with Pandas doing what they do..just relax, eat and more relax . It was the most amazing stretch. I saw the Red panda which was bit shy.

                         I happened to see the Giant panda... it was just amazing.. it gave a full pose for me to capture. It was exactly like Po in Kungfu Panda, eating it’s bamboo shoots and moving around to check for more bamboo, enjoying itself in the sunshine and relaxing. Once it was done,  it was looking for more in the sack when it was out of food..just the foodie it is. For 5 mins it was just quite enjoyable. We then headed out to the ferry terminal.

                         It was a small ferry ride for 15 mins in the reservoir which was attached to the area. We saw the Rhino, Giraffe, some birds along the path. I din get the window seat so  could’nt spot more animals. 

But after walking through the heat, it was very pleasant cruise with the cool breeze all around. I enjoyed the ride very much. We then had a nice Ben & Jerry ice cream before heading back.

                        The Original plan was to head back to Marina bay sands. But we still had some time before the laser show begins at 8 pm.

                       So our friends asked us to meet at the Nex mall which was mid way. Again we took a different route to reach the place thereby exploring more of the locals of Singapore. My cousin wanted to do some shopping , so we explored the Nex mall for sometime. We had a nice bubble tea which was the first time for my cousin and headed back to Marina bay sands. Because of this detour I had to postpone my plan to meet my friend on Sunday.

                     We reached Bayfront just in time. We had to walk a bit and be at the right spot to get a good view of the laser show. I must’ve had Wheels instead of feet coz I think I walked so fast to reach the view point. It was worth the rush as we saw the show, which was amazing. 

                     The waterfront, the musical fountains like the Bellagio in Vegas, the crowd, the Christmas decorations, the lit up art museum, Louis Vuitton store sparkling like a diamond, lit up Helix bridge. All complimenting each other even the supertrees lit up like a symphony was going on in that whole area.

                     The show went on for 10 mins. I sat on the arena for few minutes then we strolled back to the Skypark view in Marina Bay sands from the 56^th floor.

                      It was already 8.30 PM, yet it was quite crowded with a long line of tourists waiting to see the skyview. On its own the Marina bay sands building looks much beautiful in the night. The skypark view is like the view point we have from Empire state building in Newyork.

                     After some wait , we got into the elevator to reach the 56^th floor. It was indeed a mesmerizing view of the downtown, waterfront in the night. Just like how I liked Newyork view in the night better than daylight. I would say Singapore looks very much different in the night than the day.

                    The whole landscape was very beautiful and we could see the 360 degree view as we walked all along the view point.

                    There are some places I would just stay put without any talk or activity and just live in the moment. This was one such moment. 

                    I was just enjoying the views. Just then the laser show at 9 PM started. I got a much better view from the top and I thoroughly enjoyed it. And once again the same bunch of three guys happened to be here at the same time. We din happen to talk but each of us recognized though. Its bit funny to see such coincidences.

                    At around 9.20 pm we headed back home, which was bit of a wait with lot many folks trying to head back. We somehow reached by 9.45 pm to the ground level. This time our friends suggested to take a direct bus to Pasir Ris instead of the metro. We thought of trying it out. 

                    As we got in to the bus it was completely full with folks standing jam packed. It was surprising to see such full buses in Singapore which people don’t expect to be so. The previous bus had missed the schedule or too many people travelling on Sunday night..whatever the reason it was an interesting ride. It was another kind of experience in Singapore. We got seats almost halfway the distance and reached home by 11.10 pm. We then had some noodles for dinner at home and called it a day.

Another eventful Day 3 ended😎.

Day 4:

Itinerary for Day 4:

Universal Studios, Vivocity, Meet my friend for coffee, WhiteSands mall in Pasir Ris

                            Last day of our trip, I wanted to keep it bit light so that we can do some shopping if required. The plan was to visit the Universal Studios in Sentosa World resorts. So once again, we took the Sentosa express from Harbourfront. Now the routes all seemed so familiar that it felt as though I have stayed there forever😊.

                           Since the previous day we had done too many activities, we started a bit late to Universal Studios. We reached at around 11 AM which is quite late but we were hoping that we may not have many visitors which turned out to be exactly the opposite. It was holidays for schools, so lot of tourists and local folks had come to visit.

                           I had been to Universal studios in Paris, LA..so wanted to see how this place is different. This was relatively quite small with fewer rides.

                          This was the first visit for my cousin and so she was enjoying every turn we took. Holiday decors were in which was making the whole look very festive and colorful. We decided the path which we wanted to explore and started towards our first ride the TRANSFORMERS. This is one of my favorite rides anytime.

                         Enroute, we stopped by to watch some street dance show which was quite energetic. It was like the dance form as in the movie ‘Step up to the streets’. I enjoyed it. 

                         We arrived at the transformers ride just to see that there was already a long line formed. We joined the crowd and were almost midway through the NEST, when they announced that the ride was cancelled for 2.5 hours due to technical issues.

                                   We waited for few minutes hoping it would resume sooner, but it did not. So, we walked on to the next ride which was ‘Return of the Mummy’. It was an interesting ride and different from the one I had tried earlier. We enjoyed it.

                         After the ride we saw that the crowd was too much in the more dangerous ride of Battle of Galactica. 

So we went on to see the Lights, Action , Sound show hosted by Steven Spielberg which was the special effects show.

                        We still had few minutes before the show. It was just the right time for the live musical show called the Turn tables where artists were performing live to the songs on the jukebox. It had a good mix of old songs from the 80’s and 90’s by MJ, Celine Dion etc. Soon after we saw the special effects show which was just 15 mins duration.

                       After brief talk by Steven Spielberg, we walked into the scene with a ship anchored on the waterfront. We were standing in two rows. We were in the bottom row and closer to the water. The whole scene transformed into hurricane in Newyork. It was quite good with the effect of rough waves, rocking ships, blown away window panes, and sudden fire due to lightning etc. It was short yet sweet experience, but the best part was the sudden splash of water in the end when the fires are put out and we too become part of the whole scene. It was a surprise splash and it just made all of  us in the group smile when we walked out. It was a good one.

                      We then had our lunch in a burger place. This had most food courts as in the US. So I felt bit at home and tried a nice Chicken burger with fries and a strawberry milkshake just like in Potbelly😊.

                      Once lunch was done, my cousin din want to try any of the rides lest the burgers would turn into Cloudy with a chance of meatballs😊. So we explored the Madagascar exhibit with nice stalls and Marty’sfood court, King Julien’s carousel ride for kids. This was a new exhibit for me too.

                     The bigger exhibit is of Shrek, which had the Ogre’s home, Princess’s castle all depicted in great details even the city square of Dulap with the musical clock tower. We wanted to get into the 4D show , but it had a wait time of 50 mins which was too long. It was already 2 PM and we had to so some shopping before heading out to meet my friend.

                     So we were walking back , but I wanted to give a shot on the Transformers ride one last time before we leave. Luckily the ride had resumed , but the line was so so long that people were waiting even beyond the entry point. But then I had read somewhere about the line for Single riders. My cousin was not in a mood to try the ride. So I just went into the Single rider lane which was quite empty. It was like a fast track lane where I reach the point to the ride in 7 mins. It was a short line with only 10 people before me. I got quite lucky in that. In a matter of 20 mins I even finished the ride and was out😎. It was the same ride as in LA and I enjoyed it thoroughly as though it was my first time. That ride is so good. That made my day😊.

                    We then bought some soveniers and headed back to Vivovity mall for some shopping. We took the train back to Harbourfront station which had the mall too. We did some shopping and headed out to meet my friend. He had asked us to meet in Tangan Pagar station which turned out to be the spot where most IT companies had their office. Its like the IT park in Singapore. It just a stop away from Marina Bay sands.

                    My friend had relocated to Singapore for quite sometime, so I thought of meeting up for a coffee. After finishing some shopping in Vivocity, myself and my cousin reached Tangan Pagar station. My friend happened to join us a bit late. Still it gave us some breathing space to explore the huge Tangan Pagar station which had various section with major IT companies stationed there. It was well connected too. The point we were was close to Sofitel hotel. 

                    Finally I met up with my friend and had a good coffee at Starbucks as in Seattle😊. The open courtyard near the Sofitel was quite pleasant. It had a nice seating area and local holiday market was setup with stalls from local artists. We got some advice to do our bargained shopping in Bugis😊 which we could’nt go and also got to know of many good places to eat and have a nice chai. But, since this was our last day we could’nt try much of it. We also had to head back to do some more shopping and also packing our stuff . Our flight was at 5.30 am the next day.

                   So, it was a short but sweet meetup and we took our train back to Pasir Ris. We then explored the White Sands mall before heading back home. We were quite tired by then and enjoyed the refreshing chai which our friend had made.We packed our stuff to make sure we don’t have extra stuff. By then it was around 8 PM. So we called it a day.

The day is not over yet😎...

                   We then went for a roof top view and walk in the apartment complex in Pasir Ris heights. Our friend’s daughter was the guide and she showed all her favorite spots to us. The play area, the swimming pool, the roof top view of the waterfront. The weather was quite pleasant too. I enjoyed every moment of it.

We slept early since we were planning to start by 3 AM to the airport. I woke up at 2 AM and we freshened up and called for our taxi at 3 AM.

                   After some confusion on the pickup point, the taxi driver finally found us. We started to the airport. The taxi driver was quite interesting. He was a localite and looked like Indian origin. He was sharing information about Singapore culture, best places to eat, various cultures, laws in Singapore etc..literally a guided tour of Singapore. He was also advising about how I should return to Singapore and get my family to stay here because its safe and nice place, all with good humour. It was like a conversation from my uncle. He was sharing his experiences about the different kind of passengers he has seen .So it was kinda fun. We also got good tips about how to visit Changi Jewel at the airport from our terminal. It was quite informative.

           

                    The best part was when we arrived at the airport. I had Singapore $50 with me with no small change. The taxi fare was $10 Singapore dollars. But the driver din have any change, so I scouted my purse to just find $8. The driver just waived the rest of the money off and he just wished us well before leaving. It was the most surprising thing and a great gesture in a foreign land that anyone could show. This really left an impact on us. I wanted to still give some more money as tips since we had a good ride. But this was like, he complimented us. I would never forget this incident. It made some very good memories of Singapore.

                   We then checked in our bags and our exploration did not end here. We were in Terminal 2, and the Changi Jewel was in Terminal 4. So we started walking to the place.

                  Changi Jewel is an architectural marvel which is quite innovative. The airport terminal is in itself transformed into a center piece of a huge table. Its like two funnels are converged to meet each other with a sheet of water. Its like the Ceiling and the ground are converged to form this surrounded by a beautifully decorated garden of lights. Its again similar to the laser show in a smaller scale. Holiday music with light show. We just happened to reach in time to get a glimpse of it. We then had to walk a bit to see the actual place.

                   We had to walk the same way back to our terminal, so we din venture out for long. The path back was as well quite beautiful. We reached our gate and waited up before getting on to the plane. Even in the flight our fellow passenger was quite nice to us and let us sit beside each other on his own and he took the aisle seat. These small yet sweet gestures made me feel to believe that there is still lot of hope and things to learn in life.

                    We reached Bangalore at 7.30 AM in the morning. Felt good to be back home.

 For all the small,big experiences, Singapore trip has been quite memorable and eventful. We really had a good time and enjoyed every bit of it.On the whole it was a wonderful adventurous trip exploring new places, its people, its culture, local cuisines etc. There is always something new to learn and new places yet to be explored and so many unknown friends in the making😊.

Adios until the next trip😎....

                                                                 

                                                                                                                                                 - Nirmala