The Local Tourist: New Maria Bay
In the year I've been back in Singapore, I found no reason to visit the Marina Bay area, with all it's new swanky architecture. I had only ever seen it from the expressway, whizzing by. So I was surprised to find myself in the area four times within a week.
I went up into the Flyer. While it is an experience, it certainly was not a $30 experience and thankfully, I did not pay quite that sum. As I gazed upon the immediate landscape, I realised that the area is completely alien to me. The last time I lived in Singapore, the most iconic structure was the durian (the Esplanade). My, how much has changed in a decade! For optimal viewing, we got in the capsule at 7pm so that half the ride was by day and the other half, by night. I liked both. A pity though that Singapore is far too cloudy for brilliant sunsets.
I also explored the newly opened Gardens by the Bay. It is pretty. And it was rather quiet on opening day, a Friday afternoon. It was smaller than I expected, and some parts are still under construction. Maybe in a few years, it will be comparable to the Botanic Gardens. The Supertrees up close were quite interesting, having seen them from the Flyer a few days before.
Things were different on Saturday, when we attended Corrinne May's concert at Gardens by the Bay's outdoor performance venue, The Meadow. People everywhere! The concert itself was wonderful. She sounds as good live as she does on her CD. Definite talent, not like some other musicians who rely solely on technology to make them sound good. The venue however, left much to be desired. The ground was still visibly sandy (and would likely have been muddy had it rained) and there were little rocks all over. After setting up my mat, I had to flip it up to pull up some rocks that were sticking into me. It felt like a campground. Definitely not as good as other outdoor concert venues such as Fort Canning or the Shaw stage at Botanic Gardens. To add to my annoyance, food and drinks were not allowed. Not for any other reason than to protect their partnered vendors. It's an outdoor concert for goodness sake, I want my own picnic!
I also went to the Harry Potter Exhibition at the Arts Science Museum. But because no photography is allowed inside, my favourite shot of the trip are these pretty waterlilies outside. The Exhibition experience itself was a bit of a letdown, partly because there were too many people around (Youth Day). Except for the beginning (after the sorting hat bit) where a wall on the side opened to reveal the Hogwarts train, most of the exhibition was sadly not particularly memorable. Nevertheless, it was cool to see artifacts from the film, and also to realise the level of detail that goes into making a fantasy movie.
I went up into the Flyer. While it is an experience, it certainly was not a $30 experience and thankfully, I did not pay quite that sum. As I gazed upon the immediate landscape, I realised that the area is completely alien to me. The last time I lived in Singapore, the most iconic structure was the durian (the Esplanade). My, how much has changed in a decade! For optimal viewing, we got in the capsule at 7pm so that half the ride was by day and the other half, by night. I liked both. A pity though that Singapore is far too cloudy for brilliant sunsets.
I also explored the newly opened Gardens by the Bay. It is pretty. And it was rather quiet on opening day, a Friday afternoon. It was smaller than I expected, and some parts are still under construction. Maybe in a few years, it will be comparable to the Botanic Gardens. The Supertrees up close were quite interesting, having seen them from the Flyer a few days before.
Things were different on Saturday, when we attended Corrinne May's concert at Gardens by the Bay's outdoor performance venue, The Meadow. People everywhere! The concert itself was wonderful. She sounds as good live as she does on her CD. Definite talent, not like some other musicians who rely solely on technology to make them sound good. The venue however, left much to be desired. The ground was still visibly sandy (and would likely have been muddy had it rained) and there were little rocks all over. After setting up my mat, I had to flip it up to pull up some rocks that were sticking into me. It felt like a campground. Definitely not as good as other outdoor concert venues such as Fort Canning or the Shaw stage at Botanic Gardens. To add to my annoyance, food and drinks were not allowed. Not for any other reason than to protect their partnered vendors. It's an outdoor concert for goodness sake, I want my own picnic!
I also went to the Harry Potter Exhibition at the Arts Science Museum. But because no photography is allowed inside, my favourite shot of the trip are these pretty waterlilies outside. The Exhibition experience itself was a bit of a letdown, partly because there were too many people around (Youth Day). Except for the beginning (after the sorting hat bit) where a wall on the side opened to reveal the Hogwarts train, most of the exhibition was sadly not particularly memorable. Nevertheless, it was cool to see artifacts from the film, and also to realise the level of detail that goes into making a fantasy movie.