Ultimate Guide To Singapore: Part 1

Ultimate guide to Singapore: part 1

First part of the guide to Singapore!

By Anna Purpurpurpur

Singapore, a majestic futuristic city, is just as unique as you can imagine. Nicknamed a ‘lion city’, which actually it never was (because lions don’t live here and a prince was probably mistaken), it celebrates its complex heritage and never stops evolving even if it’s located on a tiny plot of land.

Come here to admire the architecture, eat creamy kaya spread toast in the morning, explore the natural wonders, and experience the creativity of the human mind. Scroll to see some of the best landmarks and activities to do in Singapore – this is part 1 of my guide!

1. Gardens by the Bay

Gardens by the Bay is one of the most recognisable sights in Singapore, combining modern high-tech and natural lush flora. This is precisely the vision the city is known for, as Singapore is seen as a green city with sustainable architectural sights and an eco-friendly approach to everything.

There are a few zones in the park – Bay South Garden, Bay East Garden and Bay Central Garden. You can visit the Cloud Forest Dome, the Flower Dome, Skywalk, and the Supertree observatory for an extra fee. Besides that, there are also lots of space simply to stroll around and to admire the vegetation around you.

The Supertree observatory was probably my favourite part of it: you literally climb one of the Supertrees, observe the Grove around you, and from the top you can see not only the Marina Bay Sands hotel, but also both greenhouse domes, the SingaporeFlyer and everything else around you! They have a small cafe there too.

Supertrees (13 of them are located at the Supertree Grove) lighting up at night are actually vertical gardens with over 200 species growing there, and 11 of them collect solar energy.

The Flower Dome is a fantastic large greenhouse with the plants blooming all year around. During our visit it featured a Dahlia exhibition combined with New Lunar Year exhibition dedicated to the traditional celebration of this season – Read of the Dragon – and, of course, orchids!

Did you know that the orchid is a national flower of Singapore? You can buy the special species of it here in the shop near the Dome too!

2. Marina Bay Sands Hotel

Since its opening in 2010, Marina Bay Sands has been undoubtedly one of Singapore’s most famous landmarks. And I must say that this hotel is 100% worth the hype! Its three towers could be a self-sufficient city itself, and it reflects the moto ‘the garden city’ perfectly as well.

We stayed in a fantastic stylish room in the central Tower, with Jo Loves skincare and a view over the Gardens by the Bay – just imagine spending a pretty warm evenings there with the Supertrees glittering in from of you while you sip a special Marina Bay Sands tea blend and some delicious desserts! You can easily reach the Gardens bay itself from the hotel as well.

Marina Bay Sands has a great selection of cuisines for breakfast: Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Indian, Western etc. There are some shops and restaurants inside the hotel: your favorite was the dinner buffet at the Rise restaurant and the contemporary Chinese restaurant Blossom.

The infinity pool (for the guests only) is probably the most well-known pool in the world, and I can’t choose which view I prefer: the daytime or nighttime! It provides you with the best view over skyscrapers of the Central Business District along Marina Bay, and the Merlion fountain; but make sure to wear tons of sunscreen because you'[re very close to equator! The Skypark observatory is located on the 57th floor (see below).

3. The Shoppes at Marina Bay Sands

The Shoppes at Marina Bay Sands is a large shopping mall, with canals, ArtMuseum installation, many high end shops and food court zone – and it’s surely an attraction itself! You don’t have to stay at Marina Bay Sands to access it but if you do, you can get there directly from one of the towers.

Think of famous Oculus, a boat canal ride, exclusive products such as Louis Vuitton Chocolates and many more.

The Shoppes is a really unique destination whether you like shopping or not. And of course, you’ve heard that the world’s most expensive standalone casino is also here!

4. Skypark

The Skypark observation desk is located on the 56/57 floors of Marina Bay Sands Hotel. It’s free to hotel guests, but anyone else can visit it by buying a ticket.

It’s an absolutely fantastic place to examine the Singapore skyline, from the Art Museum, skyscrapers of the Central Business District and Esplanade theatres on one side and Flyer Wheel and Gardens by the Bay on the other.

Other facilities at the Skypark include a bar, a gift shop, and the Ce La Vie restaurant.

5. Singapore Flyer

The Singapore Flyer is an absolute must for visitors: the views from it are breathtaking! It was opened in 2008 and was the highest giant wheel in the world at that time.

First, you spend some time on an interactive journey around the time capsule, where you learn about the history of Singapore and the stages of its development in the most fun interactive way (kids would adore that).

After that, you proceed to one of the 28th capsules: I must note that during our visit, there were only 6-8 people per capsule, although the capacity is 28 people, so you all have seats and can walk freely without feeling overcrowded.

The views were simply overwhelming! Probably this is one of the top attractions I’d suggest someone to attend in Singapore.

We visited in the evening around the time of the fountain show in Marina Bay, and the views were simply breathtaking, all glimmering with lights (but you can also see it from the embarkment where the ArtMuseum is).

6. Changi airport

Changi airport is a landmark in itself! Although it’s one of the busiest airports in this part of the world, this huge space is not only where people come to depart or arrive from other destinations, but it’s also a shopping venue with some modern impressive installations.

Depending on the terminal you’re in, you can find a large screen with a waterfall crashing onto the doorway, a kinetic rain installation with individual metal droplets, a large orchid garden, or a glass Flores pond with real fish and water lilies.

And, of course, the heart of the three airports is the Jewel and its breathtaking green vertical garden with a falling whirlpool of water mass in its centre.

7. ArtScience Museum

The ArtScience Museum near the Marina Bay Sands opened in 2011 and has gained enormous popularity since then. Being the first ArtScience museum in the world, it holds a permanent exhibition in collaboration with teamLab.

There are many rooms filled with different entertainments, from sliding among the digital fruits to immersive art installations and a room filled with L.E.S. strings hanging from the ceiling just like I saw a few years ago in Tokyo.

There are also temporary exhibitions: during our visit, we had a chance to learn about the history of Mars exploration and the sci-fi surrounding it.

There’s also a cafe inside the ArtScience museum, and the majority of desserts were in the shape of cutest clouds!

The ArtScience museum is surrounded by a water lilies garden; look how beautiful it is!

8. Helix Bridge

Just behind the ArtScience museum is a large Helix Bridge opened in 2010. It goes along the Marina Bay from the Marina Bay Sands and provides with the best views over the ArtMuseum!

You might notice the letters inserted into the pavement: actually those represent the four bases of DNA (the bridge is called a Double helix for a reason!): c stands for Cytosine, G for Guanine, A for Adenine and T for Thymine. The only note I’d like to add is that this Double helix bridge is left-handed, also called Z-DNA, while our DNA – or B-DNA (and the dominant one on Earth) – is right-handed.

9. Merlion Park

Merlion Park is home to the most recognisable symbol of Singapore, the Merlion: half lion and half fish (making it a mermaid with a lion head literally).

Basically, the origins of the city name are linked to ‘lions’: a legend says that a prince of the Srivijaya Empire from Sumatra (it existed for 7-11 centuries) called Sang Nila Utama landed here and thought that he saw a lion. Thus, he decided to name this place ‘Singapura’, or the lion city in Sanskrit. Lions never inhabited this land, so what creature it was remains a mystery.

The gorgeous statue of Merlion, which opened in 1972, is now one of the prominent tourist landmarks. It was designed by Kwan Sai Kheong and now overlooks Marina Bay. Initially, it was built at the mouth of the Singapore River. Still, it was transferred here to maintain the newer architectural sights. It sits near the iconic Fullerton Hotel, erected in 1928.

10. Esplanade Theatres

A short walk from the Merlion park you can see famous unusual buildings Esplanade, the theatres on the Bay. You can easily guess why they are lovingly named Durians by the locals – the building shape clearly has something in common with this infamous fruit!

Nearby the Esplanade Theatres there is a lovely park – we enjoyed it mostly in the evening – and an area by the Marina Bay filled with slamming stalls.

11. Singapore Zoo

Looking for a fun day out in the Jungle? Come to Mandai reserves, a complex of animal parks with different specialisations. You need different tickets for all of them but you also can buy a combined ticket. The most famous of them is probably the Singapore zoo: get ready to get lots of fun!

Singapore Zoo was opened in 1973 and is also managed by Mandai Wildlife Reserves Singapore (the same as the Night Safari we visited a week ago, Marine Park and the BirdPark). You can explore it on foot or by taking a tram train. There are animals and a large KidZone with various activities, a water splash area, many cafes and shops, not to mention numerous vending machines throughout its territory.

There is clearly some work on parts of the zoo (maybe they construct new enclosures, I’m not sure); however, the vast territory reminds me more of a park than a zoo.

We encountered giraffes, zebras, tigers, elephants, otters, orangutans, lemurs, rhinos, and many, many more!

12. River Wonders

I*t’s totally worth visiting another animal park by Mandan Reserve — River Wonders, which is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year.

It’s a unique, extremely well-made safari park dedicated solely to the river habitats and animals whose life is closely linked to water. On your journey through it, you’ll learn about the fauna of human history’s largest and most important rivers, like the Yangtze, Nile, Amazon, etc.

Expect to meet lots of colourful fish swimming in the most transparent waters, including giant catfish, some birds, reptiles, manatees, and capybaras (for the boat adventure, you have to be at least 106 cm high, so sadly, we missed that part as George is not that tall yet),giant Asian otters, long-tailed macaques living here in the wild and stealing food from visitors and…pandas!

Kai Kai and Jia Jia are definitely the stars of the River Wonders. As you probably know, pandas are really slow to reproduce. Still, here, Jia Jia gave birth to a cub in 2021, Lee Lee. He was brought to China just a few weeks before our arrival (as the panda cubs mature, they must be brought to China as the Chinese government claims all pandas belong to their country). There’s a lovely panda-themed cafe on the grounds as well.

Overall, I’d recommend visiting this unique venue even over the Singapore Zoo: believe me, you’ll have fun!

13. Night Safari

Night safari is part of activities provided by Mandai / Singapore Reserve alongside the zoo, bird park and marine park. Some parts of the trails are explorable only by foot, and others you visit on a tram with a voiceover.

Civets, kiwi birds, tigers, elephants, snow leopards, porcupines, monkeys, bats, deers – and those are just a few to name out of 2500 you can see there! Unfortunately, the photographs are not great there, as the lighting conditions are obviously poor.

There is a shop area with restaurants at the entrance and ranger stops along the way.

14. Raffles Hotel

Next, we’re going to the most famous afternoon tea in Singapore’s most historically significant hotel: Raffles Hotel! It is named after Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles, the founder of the modern city.

Raffles Hotel was opened as a bungalow in 1887 by Armenians Martin, Tigran, Aviet and Arshak Sarkies, and in 1899, they opened the three-story iconic, beautiful building we know today.

The Raffles is still one of the city’s leading hotels. It’s famous for its collonaded porticos, Grand Lobby, where afternoon tea is served, and Long Bar, where the Singapore sling was born (be ready that there will be queues!). The Writers Bar is named after Joseph Conrad and Somerset Maugham, who have stayed at the hotel. Other notable personalities who visited the hotel, including Charlie Chaplin, Maurice Chevalier, Jean Harlow, Ava Gardner and Elizabeth Taylor.

We came there for an iconic afternoon tea, and it combined both the classic dishes such as finger sandwiches and scones with clotted cream and jams, and creative beautifully looking desserts!

15. Lau Pa Sat

Lau Pa Sat, or the Telok Ayer Market, is a historic highlight of the Central Business District. You’ll recognise its little tower from afar, as it’s dramatically different from the surrounding buildings.