The City of Singapore

A tour through Bugis and Marina Bay

7/28/11

My second day in Singapore I toured the city with a group of fellow exchange students. We took the city bus to the MRT all the way into Downtown Singapore. We started in Bugis Junction, an area with lots of shopping, temples, and a pedestrian street with little carts set up all over it selling flowers. We visited a Chinese Temple, a Buddhist Temple, and many small churches located in the area. Most are famous for surviving the Bombings that took place durring WWII, and are now national landmarks. We got dinner in a small market area nearby.

The pedestrian street we visited:
DSCN2743

DSCN2743

The Chinese Temple we visited:

DSCN2744

And the Buddhist Temple we visited:

DSCN2751

After dinner, we walked to the Marina Bay area. This is the waterfront of Singapore, with skyscrapers along the shore and the famous Merlion on the waterfront. We first stopped at the Esplanade, a beautiful area for talking pictures of the city. The Esplanade itself is a building which from the front side is covered in little spikes, but has an area on the back that overlooks the water. It is here one finds the perfect view of the new Marina Bay Sands Resort, a huge hotel with an infinity swimming pool connecting the top of the three towers. Also the Singapore flyer is located on the water, and lights up with many different colors at night.

Here is the front side of the Esplanade:
DSCN2785

DSCN2785

And the view of the Marian Bay Sands Resort:

DSCN2795

From the Esplanade we walked to the Merlion, and by now the sun had set and the lights in the city had all turned on. A fantastic light show incorporates almost every building in the Bay area, with most of the lasers coming from the top of Marina Bay Sands Resort. We stayed on the water front until the light show had ended. Overall, it was an amazing tour of the city, and an amazing view of the Singapore waterfront area.

Here I am in front of the Merlion with the city in the background:
DSCN2802