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orchard road

Pink orchid Singapore botanical garden

Singapore: Day 3 – Bukit Timah and Singapore Botanic Gardens

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

Global Indian International school Singapore

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 temple road Singapore

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.

Adam road Singapore Singapore water canal from busThe 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 history

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

Singapore Botanic Gardens walkwaySingapore Botanic Gardens trees Singapore Botanic Gardens stone tilesSingapore Botanic Gardens pond plantsSingapore Botanic Gardens pondSingapore Botanic Garden stone pathBanyan tree Singapore Botanic GardenLake Singapore Botanic garden

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

Singapore Botanical Garden swan lake historySwan lake statue Singapore Botanic Garden

Turtles swan lake Botanic Gardens Singapore
Turtles

Lake turtle Singapore botanic garden

Fish turtle lake Singapore Botanic GardenSwan lake pigeons Singapore Botanic Garden

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

Wild flower Singapore botanical gardenSingapore botanic garden visitorsWild flower Singapore botanic garden

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

Swan Singapore botanic garden lake

Tembusu tree leaves Singapore Botanic garden
The Tembusu tree

Plants Singapore botanic gardenStone steps Singapore botanic gardenGinger garden Singapore Botanic GardenGinger garden waterfall Singapore botanic parkDragon lizard Singapore botanic garden

Ginger farm waterfall Singapore botanic gardens
I saw a way in

Inside waterfall cave Singapore Botanic gardenBehind the waterfall Singapore Botanic gardenSmall purple flower Singapore botanic garden

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

Orchid park fountain Singapore

National orchid garden inauguration plaque Singapore Yellow flowers Orchid park SingaporeGold orchid flower Singapore botanic parkPink orchid Singapore botanic parkYellow flowers plants path orchid park SingaporeCattelya hybrid plant orchid park Singapore

Singapore Orchid garden huge cage
Went inside this huge cage

Purple orchid Singapore botanic gardenWhite orchid flowers Singapore botanic gardenPink orchids Singapore botanic gardenPink orchid closeup macro shot Singapore botanic gardenViolet orchid closeup macro shot Singapore botanic gardenPink white orchid flower Singapore botanic parkBig pink orchid flower Singapore gardenWork in progess Singapore orchid parkPurple orchid park Singapore botanic gardenSingapore botanical gardens plants

Purple orchid stones Singapore botanic garden

Orchid flower Singapore botanic gardenWhite orchid flower Singapore botanic parkWild white orchid flower Singapore parkBee insect on flower Singapore botanic garden

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

Arch door vip orchid house Singapore gardenVip orchid house interiors SingaporeVip orchids Singapore botanic gardens

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

Lime green orchid flower Singapore Botanic park

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

Orchid flowers vip garden SingaporePink orchid Singapore botanical gardenWhite orchids Singapore botanic gardens

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

Orchid park Singapore botanic garden

Violet orchid Singapore botanic gardensMonument orchid gardens SingaporeLady statue orchid garden Singapore

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

Lao president orchid plant Singapore Yellow orchid Singapore botanical gardenRed flower plant Singapore orchid garden

Vip orchid house panorama
I left the VIP Orchid house

Botanical gardens tree panorama

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

Singapore orchid garden protect environmentNational orchid garden path ways SingaporeWhite orchid flowers Singapore Cyathea Latebrosa Singapore orchid gardenBenches dustbin Singapore orchid gardenNational orchid garden Singapore panoramaNational orchid park Singapore panoramaSingapore botanic garden stepsOrchid plant white flower SingaporeNational orchid garden wheelchair path panorama

Tan Hoon mist house Singapore botanic garden
Went in here next

The Mist House Singapore botanic parkStatue misthouse Singapore botanic gardenNational orchid park mist house Singapore Purple orchid cultivar Singapore botanic gardenYellow orchid cultivars flower Singapore botanic parkOrchid flowers Singapore botanic gardensOrchid cultivars Singapore botanic gardenOrchid flowers Singapore botanic parkPink orchid flowers Singapore botanic gardenNational orchid plants park mist room panoramaNational orchid garden mist room panoramaPink purple Singapore botanic parkWild orchid flower pink Singapore botanic parkYellow orchid flower Singapore botanic parkWild orchid flower Singapore botanic parkRed orchid flower Singapore botanic gardenThorny plant Singapore orchid parkRare orchid flowers Singapore botanic parkOrchid park section panoramaOrchid park panoramaOrchid park plants section Singapore botanic gardenYuen Peng McNeice bromeliad collection Singapore botanic parkYuen peng McNeice bromeliad Singapore botanic parkLittle girl pond sculpture Singapore botanic gardenBromeliads information Singapore botanic parkYuen peng mcneice bromeliad section Singapore botanic park

Way to coolhouse Singapore botanic garden
Coolhouse? Sounds promising!

Bridge to coolhouse Singapore botanical gardenEntry to coolhouse Singapore botanic parkSingapore botanical garden coolhouse information

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 🙂

Singapore botanic garden archYellow flower plants Singapore botanic gardenPalm trees Singapore botanic garden panoramaYellow flower arch Singapore botanic gardenStone cubes Singapore botanic parkFountain Singapore botanic park

Dog walking Singapore botanic park
This is a park for everybody
Picnic spot Singapore botanic park
There’s even a huge picnic area

Students Singapore botanic parkJoggers Singapore botanic park

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

Palm valley lawns Singapore botanic park

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

Singapore botanic garden echo lakeSingapore botanic garden couple

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

Singapore botanic park Symphony lakeWay to Symphony lake Singapore botanic garden

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

Singapore botanical gardens officesSingapore national parks headquarters

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

Way out Singapore botanic garden

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

Nike Singapore sign 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

Ngee Ann shopping mall floors SingaporeNgee Ann city fountain Singapore

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

Orchard road underpass Singapore

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.

Conrad hotel Singapore cbd at night

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!


Next posts in this series:

Singapore 2011: Day 4 – Marina Bay Sands Casino and views from the SkyPark observation deck

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 2 – Jurong Bird Park and… *ouch!*

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

Singapore Ion Orchard mall road night

Singapore 2010: Day 2 – Orchard Road, mall-hopping… and already shopping

Date: 26th September 2010

We woke up late.

Thought I’d get that out of the way first. After a tiring first day (with barely any sleep), we made up for it by only getting up around 10:30am. And by the time we were out, it was already noon.

But today, the skies were clear and sunny.

Singapore Kampong Glam noon

Singapore Kampong Glam Muscat street
We were ready for brunch

Singapore Kampong Glam cafe alleySingapore Kampong Glam cafe brick streetSingapore Kampong Glam Nasrin restaurantSingapore Kampong Glam shopsSingapore Kampong Glam Arab areaSingapore Kampong Glam Bian's cafeSingapore Tan + Tsakonas office

But despite the plethora of eateries and cafes, ‘the vegetarian’ (my friend Ramesh) found nothing to his taste. So we decided to go to Little India.

Singapore Rochor Centre colourful apartments
Rochor Centre
Singapore Rochor Centre apartment hanging clothes dry
This is how apartment households in Singapore hang clothes out to dry

Singapore apartment hanging clothes out dryWhile the guys headed to Little India, I instead went to Sim Lim Square – Singapore’s famous IT mall.

Singapore Sim Lim Square buildingBeing a Sunday, few stores were closed but you still had plenty open.

Singapore Sim Lim Square Nikon storeI was looking for a good tripod and the Canon 70-200 f2.8 IS USM I lens. Most stores didn’t have the latter in stock anymore but I did get a chance to try out the non-IS variant.

Singapore Sim Lim square tripod store
Taken on the 70-200 f2.8; these are unprocessed & only cropped — very impressed with the image quality!

Singapore Sim Lim Square Vangaurd tripodSeveral shops I entered asked  me why I needed the IS version and suggested that I simply go in for the non-IS version and buy a good tripod instead. Something I did give deep consideration later.

Singapore Sim Lim square floors
SIm Lim Square isn’t as big as Funan Digital Life mall — but still offers quite a lot

A few smaller shops did say they had the lens and it “could be arranged,” but I decided not to deal with them. After all, Sim Lim is equivalent to Bangkok’s Pantip Plaza — you have tread carefully when shopping here. You can get ripped off, at the same while scoring some really good deals.

Singapore Sim Lim Square SNSD Gee Samsung laptop
SNSD and other K-pop shown on laptops and TV screens was such a common sight

I had only made it to the second floor before my friends called and told me they were done with lunch. Since I had to catch up with them, I had to leave Sim Lim. Just like yesterday, I left disappointed knowing I couldn’t explore the mall in its entirety.

Singapore Sim Lim Square stores

Singapore Sim Lim Square escalator Indian KeraliteI grabbed a quick bite and made my way out.

As I stepped out and crossed the road in front of Sim Lim Square, I noticed crowds and street shops ahead of me.

Singapore Bugis Street shopping back entrance

Singapore Bugis Street shopping centre snake charmer
… and street ‘performers’ like this guy
Singapore Bugis Street Shopping centre Rochor
Turns out I was now inside the Bugis Street Shopping centre

Singapore Bugis street shopping centreSingapore Bugis Albert CentreBugis Street Shopping is the largest street shopping market in Singapore.

Singapore Bugis street shopping insideFor me, it wasn’t really impressive. Not after you have visited Bangkok’s Chatuchak Weekend Market (or JJ Market). In fact, a lot of the merchandise sold here was from Thailand — which obviously meant it was slightly more pricier here.

Singapore Bugis street shopping sex shopSingapore Bugis street shopping food

Singapore Bugis street shopping main front entrance
The main entrance to Bugis Street
Singapore Bugis Street shopping Iluma mall
We were really curious as to what this Iluma building was
Singapore Bugis iluma mall exterior
I thought it was some boutique hotel

I had to get to Suntec City to meet up with my friends, but instead of taking of the MRT, I just walked.

I passed through another mall, this time — Bugis Junction.

Singapore Bugis Square G.NA autograph session fan meet
K-pop star G.NA was going to be here in two days

Singapore Bugis square water fountain shoppingSingapore Bugis square water fountain

Singapore Bugis Square Porsche sports car
Spotted at Bugis Square. It was F1 weekend after all.

Singapore Victoria Street public library buildingSingapore Bugis Suntec City laneSingapore over bridge to Suntec city

Singapore city traffic diverted F1
Singapore’s roads aren’t this empty, just that traffic was diverted because of the race

After catching up with my friends, Ramesh made his way to the F1 tracks to begin his evening. While myself & Loi pondered what to do next. I had plans of going to Marina Bay Sand Casino to go up to the sky deck. When I had called them up earlier in the day, I was informed it was only open to visitors until 4pm, after which it would be off limits to non-guests.

We were inside CityLink Mall (yes, another mall in the area) when we decided to check out the HMV store.

Singapore CityLink mall HMV store

Singapore Jay Park HMV store
Damn, Jay Park was in Singapore yesterday! (Jay Park is an K-pop star who’s going to be big worldwide… trust me)

By the time we stepped out of the HMV store, we already spent SGD150 (around Rs. 5,100) on official band t-shirts — and it was past 4pm. So I pushed Marina Bay Sands for tomorrow and headed to Suntec City mall instead.

Singapore Suntec City Tropics Atrium

Singapore Suntec City Canon booth

Singapore Suntec City stores
This is just one section to Suntec City mall

After shopping some more at Suntec, we made our way back to Victoria Street where I had plans to show Loi the Bugis Street shopping centre.

Singapore National Library building
The Singapore National Library building

Singapore greenery trees BugisSingapore Victoria Street iluma mall signalBut lay before us was Iluma — the alluding building which I assumed was a boutique hotel.

Singapore iluma mall exterior design

Singapore iluma mall Victoria street
But upon closer inspection…
Singapore Iluma Mall entrance
… guess what…
Singapore Iluma mall interior design
… it’s just another mall

But a funky one at that. Iluma is a pretty cool mall mostly targeting a younger crowd. Despite its appearance, we didn’t find the usual selection of high-end designer brands. Instead, we came across stores like this:

Singapore iluma mall Comics Connection storeThe merchandise on display was good enough to draw me & Loi in. Nearly half-an-hour later, we step out after having spent some dime on anime merchandise.

Singapore iluma mall floor design
We window-shopped a bit more…
Singapore iluma Otaku House shop
…. before stepping into another nerd’s toy haven

Inside the Otaku House was more anime merchandise; more necklaces and keychains (like the ones we bought from Comics Connection), to cosplay outfits and other props for rent or purchase.

But we sighed… and quietly walked out, reminding ourselves that we had already spent enough and would soon run of Singapore currency at this rate.

It didn’t stop us from exploring the mall still.

Singapore iluma mall inside design
Pretty cool looking mall

The top-most floor houses what they claim to be Singapore’s largest arcade. And then there is the open roof top.

Singapore iluma roof top National Public Llibrary

Singapore sunset skyline iluma rooftop
You get a nice view of the Bugis surroundings from up here
Singapore Raffes hospital Bugis Victoria street
Victoria Street and Raffles Hospital in the distance

Singapore Raffes hospital Bugis junctionSingapore evening sky building iluma rooftop

Singapore iluma rooftop restaurants
There are a few rooftop restaurants up here

As we made our way down, I realized iluma was one of the more unique malls in Singapore. Not only does it look cool, it really manages to cater to a young crowd with more affordable options compared to the rest of Singapore’s malls.

Singapore iluma mall ground floor

After we stepped out of iluma, I took Loi to the Bugis Street Chopping centre.

Singapore Bugis Street shopping Tokyo ShopAnd by the time we were done with that, we were hungry. So we popped into the near by Burger King for a good ol’ beef burger

(Note: Beef burgers are a rarity in India due to religious sentiments so even McDs are too ‘chicken’ to serve beef burgers here).

Singapore Burger King Bugis

Anime jewelry necklace keychain Singapore purchase
Some of the anime merchandise we bought
Singapore iluma building lights night
iluma mall lights up at night

After this, we took the MRT to Orchard Road, our next destination.

I actually wanted to go back to Sim Lim Square, but Loi needed to meet his cousin — and since he didn’t have a local SIM, I had to tag along with him.

When we got to Orchard Road, we stepped right out to Ion Orchard mall.

Singapore Ion Orchard mall road night
There was some dance competition open to the public
Singapore Orchard road Ion Orchard dance contest
And this fat dude was getting a lot of fake screams from the women… so he kept dancing

Orchard Road is Singapore’s famous shopping stretch (as if the rest of the city didn’t offer enough already), home to many star hotels and a very popular stop for tourists.

And boy, does this one-way road live up to its reputation!

Singapore Lucky Plaza Orchard road
Opposite ION Orchard, Lucky Plaza is very popular among Filipinos working in Singapore
Singapore Ngee Ann city mall orchard road
Ngee Ann City mall, the largest mall on Orchard Road
Singapore Takashimaya shopping center Orchard road
Popular for housing Japanese department store Takashimaya
Inside Ngee Ann city mall Singapore
You can get into Ngee Ann city to get to the underpass which comes out the other side of Orchard Road

Inside Ngee Ann City mall fountain Singapore

Singapore Paragon Tod's Prada Miu Miu Orchard road
Paragon, a high-end mall housing luxury brands like miu miu, Prada and more

Once Loi met up with his cousin, I was on my own to explore the rest of Orchard Road for some time.

I got back to the other side to continue from where I left off.

Singapore Emporio Armani store Orchard road
Next up, Mandarin Gallery
Singapore Orchard road street performer gold
You’ll find a few street performers on Orchard Road… and for the love of god, do not taunt them like a few tourists did. They don’t like it.

Singapore Orchard Road woman bikini sculpture

Singapore Orchard Road female bikini sculpture
This can be found in front of the Mandarin Gallery

Singapore Mandarin Gallery Orchard road

Singapore Tourism Visitors center Orchard road
This is the Singapore Tourism office where you can get info, maps, make reservations and such
Singapore Courts electronics store Orchard road
Courts is a large multi-storey electronics store
Singapore bus stop bed ad Orchard road
Pretty innovative ad

Singapore Orchard Road old building traffic signalSingapore Orchard Road The Centrepoint mall RobinsonsSingapore Orchard road mall escalator

Singapore Orchard Central mall Orchard road
This was a pretty cool looking mall

Singapore Orchard Central mall lights Orchard roadSingapore Orchard road Orchard Plaza Hotel GrandSingapore Orchard road green grass treesAfter this point, the malls slowly disappeared.

Singapore Orchard road art gate monument

Singapore Orchard road Orchard Central signal
Crossed to the other side and made my way back

Singapore Orchard road crossing Meritus Mandarin hotel

Singapore Orchard road Tangs store
Tangs is a local department store
Singapore Orchard road Wisma Atria mall
The Orchard Road MRT station is connected to Wisma Atria mall
Singapore Orchard road Ion Orchard Paterson road junction
Ion Orchard, from across the road

After catching up with my friend Loi, we decided to see off his cousin at the bus stop and take one ourselves as we hadn’t done so yet.

Singapore Orchard road Ion Loiyumba cousin
My friend Loi with his cousin sister who studies in Singapore
Singapore sbs transit bus inside
The buses use the same MRT cards

Since we didn’t really know where to get down, we just got off at the end of Orchard Road.

Singapore Orchard road Plaza Singapura Carrefour
There were still more malls this side

Singapore Cathay Mall 75 years oldAs I looked at the map, we realized that Victoria Street wasn’t very far from where we were currently, so I asked Loi if we could just keep walking.

Singapore School of the Arts campus building
The School of the Arts Singapore campus
Singapore YMCA hostel building
We passed by quite a lot of landmarks

It was nearing 11pm, so we stepped into a food court to have dinner and to quench our thirst with some beer.

Singapore Kopitiam food court 24 hours
Open 24 hours, Kopitiam has mostly Chinese and Pan-Asian fare
Singapore Kopitiam roast honey duck pork
We weren’t really hungry so we just had roast duck and pork with our beer

Singapore Kopitiam Master Duck counterAfter ‘dinner,’ we resumed our walk towards our hostel.

Singapore Arts Museum night sculptures
This was the Singapore Arts Museum

Singapore Arts Museum building nightSingapore Victoria Street church junctionI couldn’t help but remind ourselves how good a location we chose to be stay in, given how close we were to a lot of what Singapore has to offer (especially if you a re shopaholic!).

Singapore Management University building
Singapore Management University campus

Singapore Victoria street at night building

Singapore Bugis street shopping closed night
The Bugis Street Shopping centre… closed
Singapore Kampong Glam at night Sultan Mosque
Sultan Mosque down the street

Singapore Kampong Glam trees moon sky

Singapore Old Street cafe & bar hotel
Santa Grand Hotel Bugis is in front of ABC Hostel

We were finally back in our room…. oh wait, we ran out of drinking water.

(Steps out again)

Singapore Kampong Glam Al Baik Mariam restaurantSingapore Kampong Glam cats at nightSingapore Kampong Glam Biriyani Bistro restaurantSingapore Kampong Glam wall grafittiOnce back from the nearby 7-Eleven I was finally done with day 2! As we checked out out our merchandise, we also counted how much we had already spent and soon realized we were running out of Singapore dollars.

We just had one more day left in Singapore, so it was either going to be Sentosa or the Singapore Zoo. I also wanted to hit the sky deck at Marina Bay Sands Hotel and Casino.

Would I be able to do it all?

Well…


Other posts in this series:

Singapore & Malaysia 2010: Planning and preparing for the trip

Singapore 2010: Day 1 – Little India, CBD, Clarke Quay, China Town… and a lot of walking

Singapore 2010: Day 3 – Singapore Zoo, Marina Bay Sands; leaving Singapore for Penang

Malaysia 2010: Day 4 — One day in Penang (Around Georgetown, Gurney Drive, Penang Hill)

Malaysia 2010: Day 5 — Langkawi (Ferry ride from Penang, Cable car & Sky Bridge)

Malaysia 2010: Day 6 — Langkawi (Island hopping tour, Pantai Tengah beach, Night market)

Malaysia 2010: Day 7 — Kuala Lumpur (Low Yat Plaza, Petronas Towers, Jalan Alor)

Malaysia 2010: Day 8 — Kuala Lumpur (Batu Caves, Petaling Street/China Town)

Malaysia 2010: Day 9 — Kuala Lumpur (KLCC Aquaria, Merdeka Square, KL Tower observation deck)

Malaysia 2010: Leaving Kuala Lumpur… and about going back

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