As said in earlier in my article http://anandbharat.com/2019/12/26/singapore-a-peek-into-past/ the period of old Singapore can be assumed as from 7th century to 1965 AD. After liberation of Singapore for total independence from communist Malaya forces Singapore adopted the path of development in leadership of Lee Kuwan Yea (political life from 1955 to 2015). Most of the Singapore which we see today for tourists is developed after 2000 AD.
We planned to visit Singapore leisurely
- Day 1- Buddha Temple, Art Gallery, Asian Civilization Museum, Light show at Marina Sands Bay
- Day 2- Botanical Garden (UNESCO World Heritage), Garden at Bay.
- Day 3- China town, India Town, Sentosa Island
How much time needed for Singapore – I think 2 days and one night will be sufficient to touch nerve of Singapore. One night is needed so that you can see the lighting at Marina Sand Bay and Garden By The Bay. Next day you can see Botanical Garden and Sentosa Island and move to Malaysia or your home country by bus or flight.
Where to stay in Singapore – Most of the spots listed above are around 6 KM of Marina Sand Bay. So you can stay in this area. Service apartment are costly and may cost no less than INR 10K per day. These service apartments have kitchen. Once in 3 days only they come for changing bed sheet etc. You can stay at Sentosa Island area also but I suggest to stay in main land area.
Taxis in Singapore- There is no Ola or Uber in Singapore. Install GRAB app for taxis. Since Singapore is a small country 758 Sq. KM the main tourist spots you can cover in 6-7 trip which will cost about S$10 each if you stay in Marina Sand Bay area. Since Singapore is a small country it is not useful to take“Big Bus” service and most of the visiting places are in vicinity of 6 KM.
Food- Using GRAB app you can also order food. Indian food is available and supplied by Indian origins. One meal may cost you about S$7 to S$10 max. Instead of going in details of these I will just share my experience in some newly developed places in Singapore which attracted us.
Day -1
We just took a service apartment in Funan which is in center of city and most of the attractions are within radius of 5 Kilometers. We checked in service apartment at 6 AM. We had a jet lag as Singapore is about 3.5 hours ahead of India. We slept till 11 AM. Then we walked about 1.5 KM to reach Buddha temple. I think this is one of the main temples in Singapore.
We took Lunch. Though Singapore is said to be one of the costliest country but we felt the rates are quite comparable with Europe. One normal lunch costs S$10 on average.
After lunch we moved to Singapore Art Gallery which is in old Supreme court building. This is quite big Gallery and took about 3 hours to see. The entry fee is about S$15. This gallery contains the masterpieces of Chinese painters such as Dr. Tan Tsze Chor, Ren Yi, Xu Beihong and Qui Baishi etc, Singapore local artists etc.
Then we moved to Asian Civilization Museum which is at a distance of about half a KM from National Art Gallery. The museum is beautifully designed and is basically not a historical museum but displays the richness of the articles such as ceramics, gold and silver artifacts, furniture design, marble designs. It is not related to civilization as I understand except 2-3 displays.
By 6 PM we came to Marina Sand Bay to stroll around the place and see the Singapore river which was once upon a time lifeline of mariners in this region. The place is really very lively and so many tourists from all over world can be seen here. We took Dinner in Indian Restaurant and eagerly wanted for Marina Sand Bay lighting program which starts at 8 PM. By 10 PM we came back to hotel and had a good sleep with total 10 KM walk.
Day -2
Today we had a plan to visit Singapore Botanical Garden (UNESCO World Heritage) and Garden by the bay. Both gardens are really not so big in area but there are huge number of variety of plants that it takes time to enjoy their mesmerizing beauty.
Singapore Botanical garden the entry fee is S$5 and free for children below 12 years. opens at 5 AM till 12 midnight. With 5 million of visits annually this is most visited gardens in the world and was rated as Asia’s top botanic garden by TripAdviser in 2012. In 2008 it was named Asia’s best Urban Jungle by Times magazine. It surpassed Europe, Canada and USA. Though I personally find that Netherland’s Kuken Hoff garden was better and bigger than this but I think this garden has more number of species than any other gardens in the world. For ex. Ginger garden itself has more than 3000 species of ginger.
Next we came to Garden by the Bay 6 PM. We chose evening as this garden is world famous for lighting of 22 meter high OCBC skyway. The complete garden is divided in different types of garden as below. The garden has ASTONISHING collection of different species of plants and trees. These are from Australia, Africa, USA etc. We took cold coffee in a beautiful restaurant inside the garden bay and located in luxurious vicinity of greenery. It was a great and memorable experience.
Now we enter the Cloud forest area of the Garden. It is difficult to explain this experience until you yourself see with your eyes.
This is the trail we have to pass through when we into the cloud forest.
There is super tree grove and here also we see a lot of gathering to see lighting which starts at 9.00 PM
Day -3
In total we already walked about 18 KM in two days. Third day we reserved for China Town and Sentosa island. China town did not take much time. We took lunch is China town Indian restaurant and call for taxi to go to Sentosa Island. We booked taxi up to Mount Faber. From here we took to and fro cable car ticket for S$35 each.
The cable car trip was too good and there was wonderful view of Singapore and Sentosa Island from the top. It is worth going to Sentosa by cable care rather than by road. There are a lot of activities to be performed on this Island but we just did Fort Siloso and beach part.
We spent about 2.5 hours on this island and took return cable car by 7 PM. While returning we have to get down at Mount Imbiah.
Lot of hotels and resorts are there on Sentosa but I think it is more economical and wise to stay in main land as most of the gardens are in main land.
Synopsis
Singapore is very small country. Sir Winston Churchill called it Gibraltar of East as it was an ideal place for ship harbour. It is 2nd busiest port in the world today. There are only very spots are there. It is more to study about their administration, smooth traffic flow, water supply system, space problem and at the top their unity in diversity.
Singapore is a tiny country but magnanimous in terms of embracing unity in diversity. It has about 74% Chinese, 13% Malaya and about 10% Indian migrants. It is Buddhist country, followed by Christianity, Islam, Taoism, Hinduism. In 21st century Christianity is increasing and Buddhism decreasing.
They basically depend on Malayasia for water imports. Other source of water is rain water catchment, sea water desalination and waste water cycling. For traffic control they follow yearly quota system, incentive to taxis for not plying in busy hour slot etc.
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