Visit to Singapore
My trip to Singapore!
Sometime in the 10th year, while in Egypt, they shared with me the story of a trip to Singapore. It was then that I did not think that I would get so far into this wonderful country.
But after half a year I was in Singapore! Well, first things first.
Before the visit, I read a bunch of literature, forums, compiled routes and wrote down sights in a notebook that were definitely worth a visit. I flew from the island of Phuket, through the JetStart airline (http://www. jetstar. com), democratic prices, the airport of Phuket island is spacious, clean, nothing very outstanding, but everything you need is there. The only negative is that it's insanely cold in the departure hall. The flight was delayed for an hour, during which time I really froze being in shorts, flip flops and a T-shirt.
I flew out on Sunday and the plane was full of citizens of Singapore, a father and daughter were sitting next to me, seeing a guide in my hands, offered to tell me a little about my country and even drew tourist routes for me for two days : )
The flight takes a little over an hour and a half and now the plane lands at Changi Airport. The plane follows to the terminal, and huge planes of the Australian airline Quantas, Singapore Airlines and other huge liners are visible from the windows. Leaving the plane, you get to one of the 4 terminals, all except 4 (budget airlines) are interconnected by a skytrain (trains in two cars, controlled automatically without a driver) go every 3 minutes, a regular bus runs to the budget terminal.
Having passed the border (showed a printed visa, international passport), I get a stamp in my passport and follow the signs to the skytrain, and from there I go down to the MRT (subway).
The subway is clean (like the rest of Singapore) nice and cool. I buy a card for travel in automatic machines, after passing through the turnstiles, do not throw the card away, as the exit is also carried out using the cards, and after that you can feed it back to the sales machine and get 1 dollar, by the way, in Singapore the currency is Singapore dollars. Being in Russia through agoda. com. com booked a downtown hotel near Orchard Road, which is where I headed to start. The subway cars are clean and comfortable, I rushed to the center in 30-40 minutes.
My Nokia N900 phone with preloaded maps helped me find the hotel. Having settled, I went towards the Singapore flyer (http://www. singaporeflyer. com/) a huge Ferris wheel, on the way I examined the Raffles Hotel (built in 1887, classic colonial style), then the path followed through Suntec city, one of the largest commercial entertainment centers in Singapore.
Which is definitely worth a visit, it houses various boutiques, exhibitions, forums, and there is also a giant fountain, the Fountain of Wealth. Which is listed in the Guinness Book of Records as the largest fountain in the world.
So let's get back to the Ferris wheel. The fare on it costs something around 20 Singapore dollars, on the first floors of the complex there are shops, fish spa salons. The cabins are equipped with air conditioners and a LCD panel on which they play a video about Singapore. The views are gorgeous, on the one hand, the endless ocean, where huge barges are anchored, on the other hand, a view of the city. Mirrored skyscrapers, the newfangled Marina Bay Sand hotel (about it a little later), the Esplanade Theater (resembles a durian with its shapes), a floating stadium is nearby (the stadium is located on a floating platform), across the road from it (by the way, a section of the Marina Bay Formula 1 track passes through it ) stands are located.
After taking a picture of all this, I went to the famous, new Marina Bay Sand hotel across the DNA bridge, the bridge is made in the form of a DNA molecule. The bridge connects the Marina Center (business center) and Marina South (recreational, sports center) microdistricts of the Marina Bay area - an ultra-modern corner of Singapore, which has been built over the past few years as part of the Marina Bay project.
To climb to the very top of the skyscraper hotel you need to buy a ticket (if you are not a hotel guest). The high-speed elevator will quietly, without noise, take you to the 60th floor at such a speed that it lays your ears. Skypark is the name of the platform park, which is located on the roofs of 60-storey skyscrapers, it houses a swimming pool, garden, cafes, restaurants and a chic observation deck.
Further, my path followed to the Chinese business center, concrete, glass and metal ...Beauty! Just look at the pics...
By the way, in this stone jungle, my miracle phone N900 began to receive GPS signals poorly.
From there I got to the picturesque Chinatown, a bunch of all possible shops that I recommend visiting. They sell all possible roots (bought half a kilo of ginseng for 18 Singapore dollars), silk, souvenirs.
After that, having reached the Raffles Place station on the MRT, I walked along the embankment, the buildings are very beautifully illuminated. The building of the Marina Bay Sand hotel looks incomparable. The building of the Esplanade Theater sparkles with its “needles”, a little further from all this there is a Ferris wheel that revolves tirelessly towards the Chinese business center (initially, when this attraction was opened, it was spinning counterclockwise, which caused indignation of the authorities - not according to Feng Shui, money so supposedly leaving the country for the ocean, but it is necessary to turn around). Skyscrapers at night are stylishly painted with powerful beams of light. Therefore, I recommend taking a tripod to the camera for a night walk to capture all this beauty.
Guarding all this is the symbol of Singapore - Merlion (a creature with a lion's head and a fish body sitting on a wave).
Ended the day with a visit to Clarke's promenade and walking street, which by the way is air conditioned. There are a lot of restaurants, bars, and just beautiful, see for yourself.
A little under the charter in winding kilometers and from impressions I stopped a taxi,
(it is worth writing that a taxi in Singapore is very convenient and not expensive transport, in every taxi there is a counter for payment, they accept plastic cards) and returned to the hotel closer to the night. Ahead is a visit to Sentosa Island and a chic Zoo.
Waking up early in the morning and quickly collecting my backpack, putting everything I needed (a camera, batteries for a cell phone and a camera, a guidebook), I rushed at a pace to the food court opposite the hotel.
Singapore, due to its geographical location, is replete with a variety of cuisines, Thai, Indonesian, Malay, Chinese ...so in terms of indulging in all sorts of exotic dishes, this is paradise.
Sentosa Island (the name means the island of peace and tranquility) can be reached either by train express, car or cable car.
Having chosen the funicular option, I caught a taxi to the HarbourFront center (the metro station is called HarbourFront), this is a complex of skyscrapers in one of which the cable road originates - Cabel Car Tower. Having bought a ticket and climbed to the top of the tower, he continued his way to the island, for a start the funicular goes to Mount Faber, then back to the Cabel Car Tower and from there to the island. The cabin has air conditioning and absolutely insanely gorgeous views!
On the island, first of all, it is worth visiting the Oceanarium (you can get to it by a free bus that runs quite often throughout Sentosa). Fountain laser show.
After wandering around Sentosa, I went to the zoo (http://www. zoo. com. sg/), took the cable car to the Harbfront Center, and from there by taxi (the cost of the trip is about 18 Singapore dollars). The zoo is very large and saturated with all possible animals (most of which roam absolutely freely - those that are not dangerous to humans, predators are separated by ditches with water). Separately, it is worth mentioning the night safari at the zoo, which is definitely worth going to.
The Little India area is also noteworthy, there are Indians and Arabs here, it is possible to see dirty streets here (compared to the total mass of course), you should definitely visit a Hindu temple. The streets are lined with shops selling everything.
And for color I visit Orchard Road.
This is a mega space street, a street of chic boutiques and malls. All well-known brands are represented. The street itself is very beautiful, glass, concrete, metal and trees mixed with skyscrapers, luxury cars rushing along the avenue. Even if shopping is not your thing, it’s still worth visiting the street, looking and understanding what shopping should be like; )
All in all, Singapore is definitely worth a visit.
all pics here - http://fotki. yandex. ru/users/zhigalov-oleg/album/122890/
