Travel Plus: From the top of Marina Sands
Summer adventures to Singapore and Kuala Lumpur
Contents
- Seriously – Take a holiday!
- Morning Manoeuvres in the dark, Terminal 5 and Galleries South
- BA776 London Heathrow to Stockholm Arlanda (Club Europe)
- Exploring Stockholm on the cheap (Travel Plus!)
- Back to Arlanda, Stockholm Arlanda Lounge
- QR168 Stockholm Arlanda to Doha (Hamad International Airport) – (Business Class)
- Six Hours in at Al Mourjan Doha’s Lounge
- QR944 Doha – Singapore Changi International (Business Class)
- Intercontinental Singapore
- Exploring Singapore by boat
- From the Top of the Marina Sands
- Back to Changi T2, SATS Lounge
- MH624 Singapore to Kuala Lumpur International Airport
- Into KL, Holiday Inn Express KLCC, Kuala Lumpur
- Adventures in KL
- KL Tower (or yes, Kevin is in yet another tall building)
- Back to KLIA
- MH611 Kuala Lumpur International Airport to Singapore Changi
- Exploring Singapore again with a tweep
- Back to Premium, dnata lounge, Singapore T3
- QR947 Singapore Changi to Doha (Business Class)
- A Dash through Doha…
- QR169 Doha – Stockholm Arlanda (Business Class)
- From Premium to Economy featuring the Aurora Lounge
- BA777 Stockholm Arlanda to London Heathrow
- To have flown, To Wait…
- I need another break…
After a little more exploring and a cool down in my hotel room, it was time for one of my big explores – this time to Marina Sands.
Getting there is simple – catch an MRT to Bayfront. From there, follow the signs, and you’ll find yourself in the Marina Sands Shopping Mall. Follow the other signs, and you’ll find your way to the Hotel.
And if I wasn’t paying attention to the sounds, I’d swear I was in Las Vegas as I went through Marina Sands.
This way or that way?
Blink, and if you’re not paying attention, you’d think you’re in Las Vegas…
Eventually I made it to the entrance for SkyPark, and paid to go in. On the day, entry was SG$23 (around £13.25/US$17/€14.30)
Ticket to ride…
Naturally, this being one of the top attractions – there’s a queue to get anywhere here – be it to buy a ticket, for a photo, to go up the elevator and to go down an elevator.
Queues, Queues, Queues…
It was about 20 minutes to get through that hell and I was in an elevator going to the top deck of the Marina Sands.
But eventually, I was out in the open, and Singapore was in front of me.
Remember – above all Singapore is a nation built on trading. And ships. Lots of shipping.
So why did I choose this time of day? Mainly because I love the transition from day, through dusk and into night.
Those stands were set up for the Singapore Grand Prix.
Louis Vuitton darling!
The CBD
Merlion and the Fullerton. I was there earlier…
Big ass Durians. I know they’re Theatres… but they’re Durians…
Conditions change faster than you can believe in terms of light (I suspect if there was rain, the deck would had cleared out fast…). However, this is where you have a camera that can deal with this and be happy – such as the Canon 6D with a 24-105 F4 L – and it can just do the photography. (although as a Canon user, I’m actually not considering an upgrade to a 6D MarkII… there’s another post on that in a few weeks).
Shhh. Photographer trying to work (I’m playing long exposures).
With dusk, darkness begins to fall. And this for me is a wonderful time to shoot photos – least of all, all the blinking lights start to come up. This where you have you have watch your exposures and ensure you’re hitting the images you want
High-rises and roads.
Personally, I love my photos with more contrast than brightness for that sort of moody photo. Your taste may be different – and perfectly fine.
Lots of lovely shades of blue.
The Marina Gardens in the evening… and the bay lit up by ships waiting for their next instructions.
The Singapore Flyer. I’ll be honest. I used to like wheeled observation places. I still do… but I prefer to do things at my own pace…
Colours, Colours, Colours.
With the sun setting, the Spectra water display played below.
What did I say about it being like Las Vegas if you weren’t paying attention… that feels accurate here.
With the show over, the lights went to the night-time skyline of Singapore.
With that done, I headed downstairs, and begun tracking back to the Merlion. And that was a classic Kevin mistake. Why? My left foot was playing some merry hell at that juncture, and I should had aborted and headed to the hotel and sorted the problem out.
Instead, my explorer instinct was trying to break past that pain.
What did I say about this place looking like a Vegas hotel?
Heading to the MRT for a short ride back to a downtown point, I wandered through the central business district and back to Merlion for the ideal view.
What’s forbidden today on the MRT. Ah. NO DURIANS!!!!!
Look up!
And I found it.
Another round of Spectra in progress.
A bum boat and Marina Sands. That was the shot I was looking for…
That done, I headed for a taxi for a ride back to the hotel. My foot (or rather my left big toe) wouldn’t stand for much more.
Some pain relief, some odd angles, and sometime later, I stumbled out of my hotel room and found some Laksa.
Because 1) Singapore, 2) the food courts were shut and 3) Laksa. For SG$4… I found a bowl of warm and filling Laksa.
Overall: Another enjoyable experience high in the sky. My one bit of advice is that you need to allow yourself plenty of time if you visit – least of all for all the queuing you’ll need to do…
Next: Back to Changi Terminal and the SATS lounge
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