Infinity pool view Marina bay sands hotel Singapore

Singapore: Day 4 – Marina Bay Sands Casino and views from the SkyPark observation deck

By Mithun Divakaran
/
Jan 15, 2012
/
Singapore, Travel

Date: September 22nd, 2011

Yesterday turned out to be better than I hoped. Today I was adamant to make it even better!

Geylang wet neighbourhood Singapore — UNfortunately, it was raining (Taken on my phone)

Singapore post park mrt station — Fortunately, the rain was reduced to a slight drizzle a few minutes later

Singapore Post headquarters building — I took a bus and got down near the Singapore Post building

Malay village Geylang Singapore — I was on my way to the Geylang Serai hawker centre & fresh market

Geylang Serai hawker centre market Singapore — I wanted to check out the food stalls

Geylang Serai fresh market Singapore — This market was recently renovated

Geylang Serai market stalls Singapore — So I didn’t really sense a “charm” to this place

Geylang Serai market fruits vegetable shops Singapore — I went upstairs to where the food stalls were

Geylang Serai market clothes Singapore — They have a few other stores too

Geylang Serai market history Singapore — This place is quite famous in Singapore — or at least it used to be in it’s original form

Geylang Serai hawker centre Singapore — I wondered what to eat

Malay biriyani stall Geylang Serai Singapore — This ‘baryani’ stall seemed fairly popular as they were dishing out hot plates is quick succession

Malay chicken biriyani Geylang Serai market Singapore — At $4 (Rs.160/$3/€2.4 ) a plate, the ‘bariyani’ was just about alright as far as taste went. Fairly similar to Hyderabadi biriyani in taste.

I shared my table with a local who began chatting with me after he asked me why I was taking photos of what I was going to eat. I told him about my website, and why I was taking many photos. He asked me whether I worked here, and I told him ‘no’. I gave him my brief life story and in the end, he complimented my English. He suggested I could try for a job in Singapore but all this while, my food was getting cold.

Sucks. The only reason I ordered the biriyani was because it looked piping hot as they served it. Most of the food served at these kind of stalls restaurants are rarely ever hot. They’re usually pre-cooked and served out of buffet trays as per order.

The local sat with me long after he finished his meal as he continued to make conversation with me. The only thing I asked him was “what other good hawker centres are there?” He told me a few, and I noted them down. I gave him the link to my website and we parted ways.

Post lunch, I headed straight to Funan IT mall to pick up my 70-200mm lens from John 3:16.

Maid cafe Funan IT mall Singapore — Fortunately my lens was fixed and I tested it by taking a few shots

They told me the Canon service center had to drill two holes on the filter and break the filter carefully so as not to touch the main lens glass. The lens was checked thoroughly and re-calibrated. Sadly, I had now lost my rather pricey HD filter, to which they said it’s not even required that I use those expensive filters, as even a standard UV filters would suffice. All said and done, the damage wasn’t over. The cost of all this repair: $130 (Rs. 5100!). I had no choice but to pay up. I was just glad to see my most expensive lens back in my bag in perfect working condition.

But when you’re unemployed and trying be very careful with your spending, losing $130 plus the $50 I spent day before yesterday at the clinic simply felt like unnecessary waste of money. Sigh…

Gaming world software store Funan IT mall Singapore — I prefer shopping at Funan IT mall over Sim Lim Square

Nikon store John 3:16 Funan IT mall Singapore — The shops here are good and slightly more trustworthy

Central fire station building Singapore — Left Funan IT mall. This is the Central Fire Station bang opposite.

Ministry of Information Communications and Arts building Singapore — MICA building

Singapore parliament building junction — That’s the Singapore parliament

Funan IT mall building Singapore — I walked to City Hall MRT and headed towards Marina Bay

Marina Bay blue building construction Singapore — Marina Bay was still buzzing with construction activity

Singapore Marina Bay financial center buildings — Panorama comprised of 7 shots

Marina bay city gallery Singapore — Decided to see what was in here

Inside Marina Bay city gallery Singapore — Inside were interactive displays showcasing Singapore’s development history

Singapore Marina Bay planning model — Specifically Marina Bay

Marina Bay model plan Singapore — Marina Bay was mostly developed by dredging and land reclamation

Singapore passing of land acquisition act — The Land Acquisition Act was passed in 1966

Singapore developing the city phase — The Merlion Statue at the mouth of Singapore River was installed in 1972

Singapore concept plan 1971 — It was in 1971, with the help of the UN, that the first major infrastructure plan of Singapore was laid out

Review of Singapore masterplan 1980 — They made some changes to the masterplan for Marina Bay in the early 1980s

Singapore masterplan 1998 — It wasn’t until the mid 1990s that Singapore even thought about implementing a Common Service Tunnel, which would house piping and essential utilities. At least they did it. How many cities in Asia have such massive underground infrastructure?

Singapore masterplan 2003 — In 2003, another draw-up of Marina Bay

Singapore infrastructure interactive display — If I had the time, I would have just sat there and read through it all

Marina bay future concept Singapore — I was really keen on learning about all this

Walter bunny art exhibit Singapore — This bunny is an art exhibit. He’s been spotted around Singapore.

Oue Bayfront building Marina Bay Singapore — Had to crop this tight for a closer look

Audi Ultra sail boat Singapore Marina Bay — Audi had this impressive boat, but it was for invited guests only

Singa lion mascot Singapore marina — Singa, the mascot for Singapore’s Happiness Movement. (Seriously).

Marina Bay Sands walk mist cooler Singapore — They have placed these mist coolers to make the walk here more comfortable

Cool mist pipe Singapore Marina baywalk — But Singapore’s humidity being what it is, the mist had little cooling effect

Marina Bay financial centre Singapore panorama — One final panorama before going in

Salvatore Dali art exhibit Singapore Marina Bay — There was an exhibition of Salvador Dali’s work going on

Marina Bay Sands Shoppes Singapore — This was the mall

Marina bay sands shoppes mall Singapore — When I came here last year the mall was rather empty as Marina Bay Sands had just opened

Marina Bay Sands shoppes fountain — The Shoppes has slowly started to fill up

Singapore Marina Bay Sands mall Venetian gondola boats — Marina Bay Sands Singapore is after all by same people behind The Venetian in Las Vegas

Way to casino Singapore Marina Bay Sands — Enough of the mall. Time for the first thing on my to-do list – the casino!

I walked to towards the entrance, past the security and straight to the baggage counter. Last year when I came to Marina Bay Sands, I couldn’t enter the casino because I got wet in the rain and I was wearing shorts. There was a dress code and the casino was only open to foreign tourists. This time around, I came dressed in formal wear and now Singaporeans could enter — after paying a $100 entry fee (which is ridiculous!).

No bags are allowed, and more strictly – no photography… at all… not even using your mobile. Which sucked, because you should have seen how the casino looked! Man, the chandelier inside was huuuge! Hundreds of slot machines, and other games with each one with scores of people playing.

I had never been to a casino before this, and had only seen them in Hollywood movies, so this was quite a revelation for me. I came with the intention of gambling a little bit, because hey, I didn’t have a job — so I thought I’d try my luck at winning some money! I even set aside a $100 just for this, but obviously I wasn’t going plonk it all down in one easy shot. Since I had never gambled before, I didn’t even know how to play most of the games. Slots was easy, pull a lever and hope you get match. Or at least that’s what I thought, because now, slot machines have gone digital — and they had way more buttons than a single lever.

You can play for as little as $1 and that made it easy for everyone to get in and begin. I converted $30 into chips/tokens and started with the Wheel of Fortune. Waged $10, placed my bets on a ‘x 10’ multiplier and a number. The lady spun the wheel and the needle stopped… at a number three stops after mine. Damn, there goes my first $10. The lady smiled and asked if I would want to try again. I thought, “Yeah, why not?” and put down another $10. She spun the wheel again, it stopped and she smiled again. I walked away after losing another $10. Sigh.

I then moved on to the slot machines and sat down at Queen slot machine. I played for $10, and ended up winning $17! I could have played for more but I decided to cash in my winnings and printed the receipt. Besides cards and tokens, the machines can use the same receipts to begin play. I had $17 with me and I started to wonder if my luck was improving. I walked past the roulette table and asked the attendant how the game worked. After he told how the game worked, I had to go and buy some more tokens as I obviously couldn’t place a receipt print on the table. So I got chips for $30 more.

I placed $10 as that was the minimum bet for this table (there were tables with $20 and $30 minimum bets too, larger payouts obviously). He spun the wheel in one direction and then the ball in the opposite direction. As the ball slowly lost momentum, it did the bounce – just as in the movies. But in my present real world scenario, it finally dropped into a number I didn’t select. So I tried again, and believe it or not, the ball stopped at a number just one spot away from mine.

So another $20 lost. So much for my hopes of being on a winning streak. I just played the slots after that. I won, wagered my winnings and then lost it all. At the end of it all, I had spent $60 and not really won anything big. I decided to stop.

I had no regrets though. It was an experience I smiled through. Looking around, it’s amazing how many people (most of whom were Chinese tourists) were spending so much money and I could only imagine how much money the casino was making — daily! You would think playing for as little as $1 is simple, harmless fun. But as I experienced it myself, human greed is what makes gambling harmful. And it’s as though the casinos have figured how a gambler’s mind works. There is a science to gambling and it’s a good bet to assume, very few ever make it out of a casino with more than what they spent in the hopes of winning big. It’s fair to see why gambling, to this day, remains controversial and banned in many places. Just because I stopped after losing $60, doesn’t mean others will. I even saw labourers from the sub-continent playing, and imagine how much they make in a month here in Singapore.

That said, there were the high rollers too. Some Korean guy came to the roulette table I was playing at and just dumped chips worth $1000. $1000, just like that! And to think above the two floors I could walk around on, were private rooms meant for even bigger players. Now think of the kind of money they’re playing for!

In the end, this place was not for a middle-class guy who spent the last eight years working and trying to save up as much as possible. I left the casino and collected my camera bag from the counter.

If you’re a foreign passport holder in Singapore, I still recommend visiting the casino at the Marina Bay Sands, the place is really well done up. The chandelier alone is worth seeing, it’s one of the world’s largest and it really is impressive.

Patek Philippe Vacheron Constantin Singapore Marina Bay Sands — I made my way to the hotel towers

Marina Bay sands hotel lobby Singapore — This is the lobby of Tower 3

Marina Bay Sands hotel reception — I walked towards Tower 1

Marina Bay Sands skypark ticket counter Singapore — Took a left and went downstairs to the ticket counter of the Sands SkyPark

When I came here last year, I made it all the way to the ticket counter, but only told be told that the SkyPark was closed due to rains that day. It rained earlier today as well, but fortunately the observation deck was open! I bought my ticket, which cost SG$20 (Rs. 800/$15/€12).

On top Marina Bay Sands SkyPark Singapore — Here we go…

Marina Bay Sands Skypark first sight Singapore — The views from up here, are needless to say, awesome!

Gardens by the Bay construction panorama Singapore — The first thing you see is this – the Gardens by the Bay project (still under construction)

Gardens by the bay glasshouse Singapore — This Flower Dome will house plants and trees and re-create a Mediterranean climate

Supertree grove construction gardens by the bay Singapore — This is the Supertree Grove, another attraction part of the Gardens by the Bay

Singapore bay ships docked in sea panorama — This is how many ships are anchored outside Singapore Port…

Container ships waiting Singapore dock panorama — … and some more. It goes all the way like this until the port.

Singapore Marina Barrage reservoir ships sea — The Marina Barrage

Marina Barrage Singapore bay — It controls the flow of water in and out of the reservoir

Bay East garden Marina Bay Singapore — That’s the Bay East gardens

Singapore East coast aerial view — I guess that’s where East Coast beach is

Floating stage zone 3 Singapore F1 circuit — The Zone 3 grandstand of the Singapore F1 circuit

Singapore Marina Bay skyline evening sky — I don’t think I’ll ever tire of this skyline

Singapore Marina Bay bank buildings panorama — Panorama comprised of 3 shots

One Fullerton Hotel aerial view Singapore — The Fullerton Hotel & One Fullerton entertainment complex

Singapore Merlion park aerial view from Marina Bay Sands Skypark — The Merlion Park

Marina Bay Sands Arts Science museum Louis Vuitton — The Arts Science museum is one on the right

Louis Vuitton floating store Singapore Marina Bay — The Louis Vuitton ‘floating’ store

Avalon club Marina Bay Sands Singapore — I was disappointed to know the Avalon Club was down there since I had initially read it was up on the SkyPark

Boat ripple Marina Bay Singapore — But I was really happy I got my 70-200mm lens back

Marina Bay Sands convention centre mall roof Singapore — The Shoppes down below

Marina Bay financial center buildings panorama — You can tell the new from the old — by the use of glass mainly

Singapore concrete jungle aerial view — Concrete jungle or what!

Singapore Padang grounds stage Esplanade Marina Bay aerial view — The lawn in the back is the Padang stage, where the big concerts this F1 weekend were going to happen

Esplanade theatres by the Bay aerial view Singapore — The Esplanade theatres glow at night — imagine the sight from up here!

Singapore boat Clarke Quay aerial view — Singapore river, passing through Boat and Clarke Quay

Singapore port view from Sands SkyPark — That’s Singapore port, in the back

Singapore port container cranes — One of the busiest ports in the world

Way to swimming pool Marina Bay Sands hotel Singapore — Okay, now time to check out the coolest attraction at the Marina Bay Sands Hotel

Infinity pool trees Marina Bay Sands hotel guests Singapore — The infinity swimming pool!

Infinity pool trees Marina Bay sands hotel Singapore — Quite possibly the most famous infinity pool in the world

Infinity pool access Marina Bay Sands hotel — The swimming pool is accessible to hotel guests only. Damn, so there goes my plan to just sit by the pool and have a drink.

Couple swimming infinity pool Singapore — Sigh, one day. One day I will definitely stay at this hotel.

Marina Bay Sands hotel kids playing infinity pool — And to those who think: “Oh my god, it looks so scary!”

Marina Bay Sands infinity pool walkway Singapore — Don’t be, it’s just an illusion. There’s no way you are going to fall over. I mean, you could try…

No access door infinity pool sands skypark — Access is for hotel staff only

Marina bay sands skydeck steps Singapore — Went back up to take one final look around

Singapore Flyer east coast highway panorama — I had plans to even go on the Singapore Flyer

Singapore Flyer observation wheel panorama — A ride on this costs $29.50

Singapore Flyer view from Sands skypark — But look at the height difference!

I don’t mind checking out the Singapore Flyer now… but I decided to keep it for next time. If you had to choose between the two, I’d recommend the Sands SkyPark over the Flyer any day.

Singapore evening traffic jam aerial view — Evening traffic was starting to pile up, that too with the diversions due to F1 work

Container ships sea Singapore — Traffic, even at sea 🙂

Singapore building skyline hill distance — Wonder which hill that is in the background

High rise buildings concrete jungle Singapore from above — Took the last few shots, just to make sure I got every view possible

Residential apartments new construction Singapore — Wonder what they’re constructing over there

Singapore skypark observation deck Marina Bay Sands — It was 6pm, time for me to leave

Marina Bay Sands view from skydeck panorama — One final panorama

Mithun Divakaran Marina Bay Sands skypark Singapore — Got a picture of myself taken… (yeah, Mithun in formals, save it)

Marina Bay Sands sky park restaurant panorama — … and I left the SkyPark

Closed road Marina Bay Sands hotel Singapore F1 — Mithun has left the building

Marina Bay Sands hotel and casino Singapore panorama — I tried to fix the distortion in this panorama as much as possible

Helix bridge Marina bay sands hotel Singapore — Planned to walk on the Helix Bridge next

Helix bridge during Formula 1 Singapore — The Helix Bridge is closed during F1 weekend as it’s one of the entry points to the circuit

Helix bridge Marina Bay Singapore — Still, people were walking on it, so I figured I could check it out until a certain point

Helix bridge Singapore evening — The Helix Bridge lights up, and looks even more impressive at night

Helix bridge Gate 10 Singapore F1 — Pedestrians couldn’t go beyond a few metres from here as there was a private event taking place

Arts Science museum Marina Bay from Helix bridge Singapore — So I walked back

Singapore river cruise Marina Bay station — You can take the river cruise from here too

ArtsScience museum Marina Bay Singapore — The design of the ArtsScience museum is inspired from a lotus flower

Salvador Dali melting clock display museum Singapore — The signature melting clock artwork of Salvador Dali

ArtsScience museum Singapore — There’s an entry ticket here too

Marina Bay Sands ice skating rink panorama — Went back into the mall for some air-conditioning (Panorama comprised of 5 shots)

Empty stores Marina Bay Sands shoppes Singapore — I guess there’s still more leasable space left

Marina Bay Sands shoppes mall interior — ‘The Lion King’ was in town

Singapore marina bay arts Science pool — What was that?

Singapore Arts Science space in pool — Clever design

Rectangle gap in pool Arts Science Singapore — Pretty cool none the less

Marina Bay buildings Singapore — Again, I keep photographing this skyline

Marina Bay Louis Vuitton customers Singapore — Felt like stepping in, just to see what the store looked like from the inside. Not like I could afford anything in there anyway.

Singapore Marina Bay Sands hotel panorama — Panorama comprised of 6 shots

Avalon club Marina Bay Sands Singapore evening — Avalon Club

Hippo River Cruise station Marina Bay — Hippo River Cruise is another boat tour company

Marina Towers blue glass Audi boat Singapore — Panorama comprised of 5 shots

Audi sailing boat Singapore dock Marina Bay — Pretty impressive sail boat

Wedding photograph Marina Bay Singapore — I guess a lot of wedding shoots happen at Marina Bay

Marina Bay solar panels jogging park — Instead of taking the MRT, I decided to walk around the bay area a bit more

Marina Bay link Singapore — I guess this connects you straight to the MRT station

Customs House Marina bay Singapore — A lot of choice for the bankers in the area to hang out after work

I walked to Raffles Place MRT and boarded the train from there. Got down at Bugis, simply because I felt like walking through the area I first saw when I visited Singapore last year.

Bugis Junction mall Singapore — Did a bit of mall hopping

Bugis street shopping market Singapore — Walked through the Bugis Street Shopping market, where they had recently opened an upper level

Bugis Chinese market statue Singapore — After doing a bit of shopping at Bugis Street, I walked around the adjoining Chinese market

Bugis apartment complex shops building Singapore — I somehow just enjoy walking and soaking up the local life, even if it isn’t always buzzing

Raffles hospital junction Singapore at night — The junction at Raffles Hospital

Kampong glam at night Singapore — I walked to Kampong Glam (the ‘Arab area’), which is where I stayed last year

Singapore Zam Zam deer meat biriyani Kampong Glam — Deer meat. As weird as it sounds… I felt the temptation to try it.

Grand Sultan Mosque at night Singapore — The Grand Sultan Mosque

Victoria street traffic signal Singapore — I decided to walk to Victoria MRT

Wendy's Victoria street Singapore — Spotted a Wendy’s across the road, knew right away what I wanted for dinner.

Had a shrimp burger meal from Wendy’s, one of my favourites from the chain. Also picked up some donuts from a local bakery in the same block and then took the MRT back to Aljunied.

Today was a good day. I was really happy with the photographs I clicked, though I do wish I got a bit of sunshine, which seems to be something of a rarity in Singapore.

Tomorrow begins the first of my three day F1 weekend.

Next posts in this series:

Singapore 2011: Day 5 – Chinatown, F1 Friday (Charice, Seungri and GD&TOP concerts)

Singapore 2011: Day 6 – F1 Saturday (Rick Astley, Shakira and Shaggy concerts)

Singapore 2011: Day 7 – Little India, F1 Sunday race, Linkin Park concert and Avalon Club

Leaving Singapore, and discovering certain truths about this famous city state

Previous posts in this series:

Singapore 2011: Day 3 – Bukit Timah and Singapore Botanic Gardens

Singapore 2011: Day 2 – Jurong Bird Park and… *ouch!*

Singapore 2011: Day 1 – Landing a second time; walking around CBD

‘It’s more fun in the Philippines’ – I just had to do it too!

By Mithun Divakaran
/
Jan 10, 2012
/
Blah, Philippines

Last week, the Philippines Department of Tourism unveiled its latest campaign. While we have ‘Incredible India!,’ Malaysia has ‘Truly Asia’ and Philippines had ‘WOW! Philippines,’ the new campaign is called ‘It’s more fun in the Philippines‘. It may not have sounded great instantly, but I quickly began to like it as I saw more of the campaign’s visuals. It’s a very effective campaign in getting the youth of Philippines to play their part in getting creative with their own submissions and sharing them with their friends. It’s trendy, very current… and absolutely freakin’ perfect as a meme generator!

The brains behind this campaign surely knew people were going to have fun with the tagline and it’s many, many possible variations. Even though the Department of Tourism won’t appreciate the negative variations, being the Philippines, it just can’t be helped. As they say: “There is no such thing as bad publicity”

So here are my creations:

(Above photo was taken on a bus ride from Puerto Princesa to El Nido)

(Photo was clicked while undertaking the arduous trek to Batad village in Banaue)

(The above happened to me in Angeles City)

(The above two photo photographs were from the Good Friday celebrations in Pampanga)

(These kids were having a ball in El Nido)

Coconut water It's more fun in the Philippines — I also considered "You'll get sick of drinking it in the Philippines" (Boku = coconut)

(This was taken on Seven Commandos beach)

Metallica disco It's more fun in Philippines — (If you don't get the Lars Ulrich reference, then you don't know much about Metallica's episode with Napster and copyright laws)

And finally…

Update (10/01/2012):

Dog on trike roof It's more fun in the Philippines — (Took this shot on my phone while leaving El Nido)

Update (17/01/2012): Got some more! 🙂

Tarsiers Dobby It's More Fun in the Philippines — For those who don't know, that character is Dobby from the Harry Potter films

(The tarsiers are famous residents of Bohol)

Skinny dipping Its more fun in the Philippines — I'm glad that little naked boy came out blurred as he jumped from that coconut tree

(Again, another photo I clicked when I toured Bohol)

(Both taken from Bohol’s most famous Chocolate Hills)

—-

Now, if there are any sensitive Filipinos that land up on this page and thinks the above is a mockery of your country by an Indian — please don’t. I’m not insulting the Philippines at all. I’m sure Filipinos can do that way better than I can. In fact, here’s what I think about your country. Trust me, I would love to visit Philippines again! I just did this for fun, like the many who have turned this campaign into an internet meme.

As soon as this new slogan was announced, some Filipinos lambasted it saying it’s a rip-off of a Swiss tourism ad from 1951. Who cares! ‘It’s more fun in the Philippines‘ works better for a country that has a lot more to offer than the snow-capped nation of banks with illicit money. I just hope the campaign is well promoted and sees a return on its investment.

P.S: I’ll update this post with some more pics as and when I come up with new ones 🙂 Oh, and if you want to create your own version using software such as Photoshop (what I used), download the Harabara Bold font from here, the slogan .eps file and you can refer to this website for some tips.

Singapore: Day 3 – Bukit Timah and Singapore Botanic Gardens

By Mithun Divakaran
/
Jan 08, 2012
/
Singapore, Travel

Date: 21st September, 2011

After a depressing yesterday, I got up knowing there was little I could do today. With my right hand slightly injured, enjoying the rides at Universal Studios Sentosa was ruled out. I couldn’t go to Marina Bay Sands either because I needed my 70-200mm lens, which I had to give for repair.

After freshening up, I sat at the dining table to have a cup of coffee. I picked up a newspaper and decided to actually read about what goes on in this tiny city state. I couldn’t help but notice the real estate property ads, not because of how good the properties looked, but mainly because just about every condominium advertised cost over a million dollars! And I thought to myself: “How on earth do the locals even afford to buy property here?”

Surely not everybody lives in the posh condos being advertised. That’s when I decided on what to do today – take the bus and see inner Singapore. Now, I didn’t know where exactly to go, but today I didn’t have anything else planned until I got the call from John 3:16 to come pick up my lens from their store.

I laid open my map of Singapore and just pointed to the centre of the island. My finger landed on some area called Bukit Timah. So Bukit Timah it was. Off to the nearest bus stop I went (the MRT doesn’t cover every nook and cranny of Singapore, thus the decision to ride the bus)

Singapore canal mrt train condo — I hopped on a bus at around 12:30pm after an early lunch

Singapore bus to Bukit Timah — Didn’t seem like many were on their way to Buikt Timah

Singapore condominiums apartments — I know wages in Singapore are obviously higher than say, India, but the cost of living here is extremely high too. Extremely high is also how you can describe most residential buildings. They have to be, developmental land is scarce in Singapore.

Singapore apartments canal — I honestly had no clue if I was even on the right way or where to get down

Luxury condominiums Singapore — These all looked like privately built apartment buildings

Vista condominium construction Singapore — And they’re building more

HDB building road Singapore — The Housing Development Board apartment buildings often look like that red and white building in the photo

Singapore greenery view from bus — That said, I did notice that there is still a lot of open land space still available. It’s just that government ensures there’s enough greenery in every district — which is nice.

Inside sbs bus to Bukit Timah — Looked like we were on an expressway to Bukit Timah

I didn’t really know where to get down, so when I saw a sign pointing to Bukit Timah Shopping Center, I got down at the next stop.

Bukit Timah MRT station road Singapore — The area didn’t look that exciting. To the left was the construction of a new MRT station.

Bukit Timah Plaza shops — I presumed malls in inner Singapore weren’t going to be as flashy as the ones in the CBD, but this was Bukit Timah Plaza

Bukit Timah shopping centre Singapore — Went all the way up to the food court/open area where the hawkers were

Bukit Timah shopping centre maids — I don’t quite remember if this section was another part of the Bukit Timah Shopping Centre, but every floor had nothing but maid service businesses — most maids being from Indonesia and Philippines

Bukit Timah restaurants Singapore — I was honestly quite bored here

Yuk Tong Ave Bukit Timah Singapore — I just walked around the area to soak up what life in these parts must be like. Not quite the residential area I hoped I would see, but it was okay.

Bukit Timah Chinese temple Singapore — Unlike the Geylang area, which has a sizable Malay population, I’m guessing inner Singapore has a lot more of citizens of Chinese descent

Just then my friend Aimee called, saying she might be coming to Orchard Road and that we could meet in the evening. But since I still had a few more hours to kill, I wondered how to spend it.

Inside SBS bus — I hopped on a bus going towards the Orchard Road side

Nanyang Girls High school Singapore — Nanyang Girls High school

Shelford road Singapore — Drove past what looked like a rather posh area. Very few people in Singapore live in villas.

The bus drove around and as it neared Orchard road, it passed by the Singapore Botanical Gardens. In a split second, I decided to get down at the very next bus stop.

Singapore Botanic Gardens entrance gates — Singapore’s Botanic Gardens wasn’t on my list-of-things-to-see actually… but I had to see something!

Singapore Botanic Gardens direction sign — There is no entrance fee, it’s like a public park

Singapore Botanic Gardens restrictions no signs — It’s a public park, but there are quite a few no-no’s

Singapore Botanic Gardens leaf sun — I hadn’t even shot enough photographs today, so I needed to justify carrying my camera around

Swan lake no feeding Singapore botanic gardens — No feeding allowed

Swan lake Botanic Garden Singapore — This is called the Swan Lake

Swan lake statue island Singapore botanic garden — Shot on my Canon 450D

Turtles swan lake Botanic Gardens Singapore — Turtles

Swan lake island Singapore botanic garden — Sadly, because my telephoto lens was undergoing repair, I couldn’t zoom in much

Swan lake water leaf Singapore botanic gardens — Oh look Pacmen… 😛

Tembusu tree leaves Singapore Botanic garden — The Tembusu tree

Ginger farm waterfall Singapore botanic gardens — I saw a way in

Restaurants Singapore Botanic garden — You have a few restaurants here

Entrance to National orchid garden Singapore — Went in here

National orchid garden ticket counter Singapore — There’s a SG$5 (Rs.200/$3.8/€3) entry ticket

National orchid park Singapore botanic garden — Didn’t really know what to expect as I know as much about flowers as I do about neurology

Singapore Orchid garden huge cage — Went inside this huge cage

Way to vip orchid Singapore botanical gardens panorama — Walked up towards that bungalow, named Burkill Hall

Vip orchard garden information Singapore — Orchids here are in honour of special guests

Dendrobium Jean Chretien flower Singapore Botanical garden — This orchid was named in honour of Jean Chretien, former Prime Minister of Canada

Dendrobium concham Margaret Thatcher flower Singapore garden — Ghastly looking flower…

Margaret Thatcher orchid visit Singapore botanical garden — Oh that’s why

Dendrobium orchid Princess Masako Japan Singapore garden — This one is honour of Princess Masako of Japan

Qatar orchid Singapore Botanical gardens — This one is in honour of some royals from Qatar

India orchid Singapore botanical gardens — These flowers were in honour of former Indian president K.R. Narayanan’s visit

Weird looking orchid flower Singapore — The designs by Mother Nature I tell you

Nelson Mandela plant vip orchid garden Singapore — The plant was named in honour of the great Nelson Mandela

Vip orchid house panorama — I left the VIP Orchid house

Vandalized tree Singapore botanical gardens panorama — Sigh, even in Singapore there are idiots who do this

Tan Hoon mist house Singapore botanic garden — Went in here next

Way to coolhouse Singapore botanic garden — Coolhouse? Sounds promising!

Coolhouse Singapore botanic gardens — Oh my god it was SO relaxing in here!

Coolhouse vents Singapore botanic garden — It was so cool in here… Singapore’s humidity was killing me!

Coolhouse mist Singapore botanic garden — But just then I get an SMS from Aimee informing me she’s on her way to Orchard Road. Damn, I had to leave this place.

Singapore botanic garden wooden shed — I quickened my pace

Mithun Divakaran Singapore botanic garden — But I just had to stop to take a snap of myself 🙂

Dog walking Singapore botanic park — This is a park for everybody

Picnic spot Singapore botanic park — There’s even a huge picnic area

Cat Singapore botanic park — Dogs walk, humans jog… cats… sit and do nothing. Typical!

Shaw foundation symphony stage lake Singapore botanic garden — They have concerts here every week

Photographers Singapore botanic garden — I wasn’t the only photographer there

Walking path Singapore botanic park — I was trying to figure out how to get out of the park

Directions board Singapore botanic park — I was trying to get out as quickly as possible, Aimee had already reached Ion Orchard

Singapore botanic garden Nassim gate — I was finally out!

But this exit didn’t have a bus stop anywhere nearby, so I hailed a taxi and made it to ION Orchard mall.

Aimee Marie checking her phone — Aimee, a reader turned dear friend, who was of great help to me in Philippines

Daiso Ion Orchard mall Singapore — Aimee introduced me to Daiso, and I quite liked the offerings. Picked up a mini-vaccum.

After checking out a few stores, we stepped out on to Orchard Road. I promised Aimee I would make her look good this time, as neither of us were happy with the photos I took of her in Manila.

Aimee Marie Orchard road Singapore — So here’s Aimee at Orchard Road

Ticketcube booth Orchard Road Singapore — Went in here to collect my ticket for the Chemical Brothers show after the Sunday race

Mithun Divakaran Ticketcube Singapore — Aimee took this

Ngee Ann city shopping hall Singapore — Went to Ngee Ann City next

Aimee Marie lucky plaza Singapore — Here’s Aimee at Lucky Plaza, where I went to exchange some currency

Aimee Marie Singapore escalator — Here’s Aimee going down an escalator

Suntec city towers at night Singapore — We walked to Suntec City towers where Aimee’s fiance was waiting to meet us

Aimee Marie Suntec Singapore — Here’s Aimee.. oh, the camera focused on the background. Oops.

View from Suntec city building — The view from one of the floors at Suntec

Given how the day began, I quite liked how it eventually ended. I’m glad I visited the Singapore Botanic Gardens, it was actually quite nice! I hadn’t done much macro photography since my visit to the 2010 Lal Bagh Botanical Garden Flower Show and I liked how most of my photographs turned out today. It would have been nice if I had my 70-200mm lens but I wasn’t going to get it until tomorrow.

Prata beef curry Malay food Singapore — Once back in my area, I had dinner at the Malay Indian restaurant in my block. Had a few pratas and beef curry, cost SG$6.20 (Rs. 250/$4.7/€3.7)

I felt better knowing, despite my injury, I wasn’t going to leave Singapore without some great photos. I wasn’t going to give up. Tomorrow, I visit the Marina Bay Sands Casino – my first time gambling!