Singapore Trip - Day 3 Part 2 - GBB and MBS

Back again,

I had an afternoon short lunch after i finished visiting Botanical gardens. Reached the Bayfront station and crossed the tunnel to enter the daylight. Enter the Marina bay sands site. Back to it was the magnificent Marina bay sands (MBS) hotel. Back side to it was the singapore skyline. Stood there enjoying the beauty of the weather and the scenery. at 4:15 started walking towards the GBB entry. The bridge connecting the park had the stunning view of Singapore skyline. Again photo shoot opportunity came and got some photos clicked with the help of fellow visitors.

Entered the GBB and visited all the parts to capture an amazing view of gardens and on the way , kept on feeding to the peanuts and the juice which i had to keep myself hydrated. I missed visiting the observatory as time was less and i had to cover the Marina barrage. 

But the visit was worth seeing the gardens. I wonder , how fast singapore has changed it's identity and transformed itself into a tourist destination. Gardens by the bay is worth visiting. If you are on a budget trip, you can skip the flower dome and rainforest and entry to the garden's other part is free. More details are in their weblink here.

The next visit was to Marina Barrage. This is next to GBB. a short walk of 10-15 mins will lead you to this magnificent dam. People wondering if singapore has a dam, this is  the one. They have built this dam and also this is a picnic spot. You can visit to the top of the dam and enjoy both sides of singapore- Sea and land. Below, you have observation deck and fountains where you can play. Even this spot is a marriage photo-shoot spot. Most of the people come here to get their photos shot after they commit 'Emotional suicide", Jokes apart. Also this is a kite flying spot and also a picnic spot. when you are in SG, make sure that you visit this place to enjoy the beauty and calmness of nature.

Some more photo shoot opportunity for me, got my pics clicked with a few people who were busy playing games in their mobiles. Time for me to leave the place as the cock approached 6.30. Time was meant to visit MBS and enjoy the magnificent structure which is a landmark now at SG. 

REached the entry of MBS from the back side and this entry connects us to GBB and the Marina waterfront. Cool walking space and again a spot to check out the GBB from the far. The MBS is a structure built with investing $5 Billion dollars. Do check out it's history in the web.

After raoming around MBS and checking the beauty of this structure, i headed out to Louis Vuitton showroom built on the water. Took some stunning shots of the skyline and then headed to see SINGHA of Singapore.

A walk through Helix bridge was worth it. then i headed towards the youth Olympic park and then towards the Esplanade to reach the Merlion. This spot is the crowded spot in SG. Here you need to have some patience and place to capture the snap of MErlion as all will be emerging to get the phto shoot op. 

After a quick walk around Merlion, saw some young guns who had come there to start their evening runs, Met some barefoot runners and got to know how they run on barefoot. Amazing that 18 -20 year olds are now running HM's in bare foot. Wished them good luck and headed towards the raffles place station. Time was already 7:30.

Next i caught a bus and roamed around for some time to get a glimpse of china town in the night. truly a spectacular view as they had decorated the entire stretch to celebrate the Chinese new year. After i got down at china town, headed towards Little india to get some Indian food. time was 9 already, got into hotel and had full meals and my stomach was full. Then it was way back to home. Reached home at 11PM , Day 3 passed by. Next day it was a visit to changi beach, China town , Aerospace museum and  Walk down the singapore river.

Happy reading and indeed today is a sad day in indian history, shame on the elected representatives who reminded us the bloody rule of "Divide and rule" sorry for many people and companies who will lose out on their investments and hardships.

Some moments of the GBB and MBS :

Singapore Trip Day 3 - 6 Feb 2014 ( Singapore Botanical Gardens)

Day 1 and 2 were hectic and 3 was getting hectic also. After sleeping up late night , it was the time of the day to get up early and go roaming. Today was Thursday and i was about to cover Singapore botanical gardens which by itself is a huge garden. Avdhy had said that the day is all yours and i c an come home by 11 PM as he was also running late at office.

Time was 10AM after i was ready and was getting to catch the bus, suddenly remembered, where's the memory card? it was at the camera bag itself. Now i had to rush back. Got that and there the time wastage happened. Got the bus at 10:30 and started towards the destination. As usual, the train was on time. Got down at Buona Vista and then caught the transfer train going towards gardens, It was already 12Noon. Sun was burning hot. Got down at the garden station, went to exit and reached the entry of the gardens.

It's a huge huge garden with so many varities f flora and fauna. One day is too less to cover this garden. the garden has following subgardens in them:

1. Singapore Botanic Gardens

2. National Orchid Garden

3. Evolution Garden

4. Healing Garden

5. Jacob Ballas Children's Garden

I decided to skip the Orchid garden and children's garden. First was the foliage garden, with beautiful flowers, then i headed towards Evolution garden, This was too good to see. The plants from old age to the new day is present and preserved. Themed park is very well built. Then headed towards the healing garden, there is saw the symphony lake with the beautiful concert hall. then took some snaps and continued towards the healing garden. On the way went to Swan lake and got the snaps of lake and sculptures.

You can find the beautiful sculptures here. Some of the beautiful sculptures:

1. Swiss granite fountain

2. Chopin

3. Swing me mama

4. Girl on bicycle

5. Girl on a swing.

The Redbrick path is a majestic path built with the red bricks and covers many gardens on the way. The visitor center is amazing with all the info readily available. For people looking for restrooms, there are plenty and neatly maintained. Amazing thins is that they ask you to deposit back the maps so that others can use it. This is the art of recycling.

Finished roaming around all the major gardens and it was a treat to the eyes. Healing garden is worth watching. Last but not the least, rainforest and palm gardens are also treat for the eyes. Finally had some break at 3PM and headed out towards the exit by 4. Went to a super market to catch some snacks. got some food and headed towards my next destination - Gardens by the bay.I shall cover this in the next part as Gardens by the bay and marina barrage are too vast to cover in a single post.

One good thing about the entire trip was i was amazed to see so many professional photographers using the park for photography. Even models were having their photo shoots there.

This is must visit in singapore even it consumes half a day. Entry is free. There are lot of restaurants to fill your stomach. Some of the snaps at the gardens are below:

perjalanan singapore: Day -2 Feb 5

Day 2 At Singapura.

After an hectic flight of 4.5 Hours landed at my favorite airport Changi. I had a window seat, was able to see the sea next to the airport. Touching down, it was a great feeling. I had heard about Changi a lot. Being a best airport of the world, it was maintained amazingly. 

Time was 8:30 when the flight landed, moved out and immediately called Avdhy. Poor fellow was sleeping, He thought i would arrive at 11AM singapore time :). He said me to clear off the immigration and he will be there in 15Mins. I went to immigration and took my baggage and was waiting at Taxi pick up point. There the confusion started. I was looking for him outside, he was looking me at inside. After a long struggle we met inside. 

Luckily we met and time to greet ourselves as we had not met since a year. Then it was time to head home for some rest. I had planned to visit Chinese and Japanese gardens on this day. So i had 2 hours to get ready. After getting tourist pass which is worth $20 for 3 days we headed home with the bus #53. Got some breakfast and a hot shower and i was ready by 1PM. Avdhy took me to Expo center where we had lunch and he headed to work as it was already late. Not to forget, he made sure that i got a sing-tel SIM to contact him. Any body willing to get a SIM, take Sing-tel SIM worth $8 which is valid for 3 Months and gives you talk time of $10. Just flash your passport. Plug into the handset, your mobile is ready for usage.

Reached the Chinese gardens by taking the train which headed towards Jurong East, the journey was 45Minutes. Observed few things in the metro:

1. All plugged into their own world.

2. Busy with their own mobiles and handhelds.

Smiles if you smile, But it was too less when compared to America and Australia. But life goes on. 

Reached the gardens which was next to the Metro, short walk to the entrance i saw a running group ad. Got the feeling of running culture at singapore. I saw many people in their running gear already in running mood. 

Entered the Chinese garden which was towards the left of the Entrance, the pagoda in the begining was amazing. Next was the statues of the Kings. Then a short walk lead me towards the beautiful lake where Confucius statue was placed. The lake housed turtles, fishes and Dragon lizard. They were busy in their own world. Got some snaps and headed towards the bonsai collection garden. finished that and then towards the lake. The silence of the gardens made me feel amazing. I was in a different world. After the lake , there was a bridge which lead me to Japanese gardens. This was a simple garden with some sculptures and architectural houses. Garden with statues of Zodiac signs was amazing. Really happy to see that the Chinese give much importance to thier culture.

Time was 5 and the next stop was Harbour front overlooking Sentosa Island. Started from Chinese gardens and landed at Vivo city mall. Their i got the singapore feeling. Crowd, crowd and more crowd. Real craze for shopping. All ages no bars.

Walked out of the vivo city to reach the sentosa Broad walk. Walked to the entrance of sentosa Island. and had some snaps of the sentosa and Star cruise ship. Spent an hour there. Happy to see various faces and expressions. Looking at them it is easy to forget our own pains. Beach side bars were amazing. Lot of couples  ;P spending their time sipping wine and Beer. Time was 7 and next stop was Marina bay sands.

Reached at Raffles place and called Avdhy, he was stuck in work and i had some time to roam around Singapore Cricket club. Had some snaps of Towering buildings and War Memorial. Headed back to Raffles place to meet Avdhy. After meeting, we headed towards Marina bay sands. The Tall towering building is real amazing. A mall housed in it and with all brands A-Z you name it , we saw it. Came out of the MBS to have a look at LOUIS VUITTON showroom on Singapore river. They have too much money to spend on stuffs. 

After a short walk on the helix bridge and taking snaps of Skyline, we headed towards the Chinese exhibition set up to celebrate new year. On the way we had a ice cream sandwiched with Wafer. Then we spent some time exploring the exhibition and smelling the Chinese food smell. Of course we both veggies cant eat the food. Got some corn to fill our stomach and then headed towards Bugis to have some dinner as it was 10 PM already. Got some Indian restaurant after we saw the mall closed where Pasta-mania was there. After a stomach filling biryani, we headed back to metro station.

Finally reached Pasir Ris station at 11:30PM. Went to house at 12:00 Early morning. Met his room mates and was ready to crash. Bed was ready to crash land. But time for uploading the snaps, did some uploading and then crashed.

NExt day was hectic with more to see.. 

Good night and happy reading. Presenting some snaps of the trip of day 1

perjalanan singapore: Day -1 Feb 4

Friends, 

Posting my experience of my trip to singapore as it was a long awaited trip after so many years. 

Background:

After running year long, separation and hectic schedule of Work, i wwas desperately in need of break. To my favor, i had leaves in my bucket which i had to utilize. So decided to make full use of it. Dheeraj, My colleague was speaking of singapore and suddenly Spicejet sent an offer. Checked it, and then swoosh 11K the ticket was booked. Dates were decided in flash. Initial idea was to visit Bali, but due to Visa complications, i had to settle down at Singapore. All of a sudden, Avdhesh Pinged me to wish me for Mumbai Win. I said that i am traveling to Singapore. He said, accommodation is ready and no searching of hotel. He helped me to get the Visa done by sending invite letter. Thanks to him for that. He was a wonderful host during my entire stay at Singapore. That's why i trust my friends, they never backstab like family members who do so for money.

Trip to Chennai to catch Flight:

Feb 4, Flight was ready to be boarded from Chennai to Hyd and then to Singapore. Decided to travel in bus to chennai as i had an experience of reaching the airport within 20 mins from Central.

6AM - got ready to board train from Mysore to BLR. I didn't wanted to trouble my parents and make them to wake up so early. Train reached as usual 10 Mins to BLR. Pakced up to Majestic and Ready to catch bus to Madiwala.

10:30AM- Got stuck up in traffic jam. Called the Travel guy and he said the bus is at 11:30 AM. So decided to take chance and catch that bus.

11:15- Stuck at Madiwala, called the guy to find the travel office. All was well. He directed me to his office. Tickets were booked and was ready to start to Chennai.

12Noon - Bus started to Chennai. As usual, Stuck in traffice jam, reached EC at 1PM. I took a short nap and then decided to wake up when the bus stops for lunch.

2PM- Bus stops near krishnagiri for the lunch at MCD. Had a burger and softie and again slept for a while.

6PM- Enter into cehnnai Madness traffic. it was a touch and go for me now as i had to board the flight at 8:30 PM. I got down at Guindy at 6:45PM.

7PM- Boarded the Local train, sandwiched between people, i cursed myself. No way, but got to go. End result got down at a wrong station.

7:40 PM- Started From menambakkam. Initially thought that i had got down at wrong station. Decided to walk to the airport as it was2 mins walk. Airport never came after 5 mins of walk. I asked people there, they said its 2KMs. I was on the wrong side of the road. So decided to do a jog till airport with 20KG's of luggage.

8.25PM- Reached airport. Was looking for domestic departure. People were busy to get their passengers to the taxi's. Fortunately airport staff guided me to correct place. rushed to the counter to get my boarding pass.

8:45PM- Got my by boarding pass. 9:10 was the boarding time. No time for Dinner. Decided to have it in Hyd at 10. Sat in the flight. Stupid cattle class people will not allow you to sleep. One guy was chanting mantras and kicking from back. I don't understand why idiots like these are allowed to board aircraft.

9:30PM- flight was on Air, Dream of reaching singapore was alive. Took a short nap as i was sure that  wont get sleep in long haul flights.

10:50PM- Landed at HYD, Surprise to me was a person waiting for me. He took me to the desk and gave the food coupon. I was surprised. Collected my baggage and checked in to Singapore Tiger flight. 

12:00 PM-  Way to have dinner. Had a good food with some rest needed. Though it was late, i had something for feeding me. Next was to wait to booard the TR2624 Flight to singapore.

1:20 Am-  Finally into the flight. This was the 4th International trip. So was no excited. but was happy to go to a place where i wanted to go. Ready for take off. The flight finally takes off from RGIA to Singapore.

Story continues... Day 2 will be next. Singapore i am landing...