I was in love with the natural beauty of the Singapore Botanical Gardens and the riot of colour at the National Orchid Garden. If I could, I would have spent the rest of my trip here in these placid, relaxing surroundings.
But there was stuff to be done, and grub to be had, which fortunately for me was like the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, something that I had been craving for all these years - the legendary orh luak! And I had to head to the Singapore Flyer...
After my lunch at the Flyer, I had to collect our iVenture cards, a smart card that would give me and Neeti complimentary entry into places like the Singapore Flyer, Underwater World, the Zoo, the River Safari, the Night Safari, Jurong Bird Park as well as right to participate in the walking tours, like the one I had done at Kampong Glam!
The Indian lady at the iVenture counter in the Guest Services Lounge was quite helpful and friendly. She accepted a copy of Neeti's passport (in lieu of her original passport or her presence here) and handed over our cards to me. Wow! That was going to be a big saving of time as well as money.... iVenture cardholders have a priority entry into these attractions, plus the cost of the card is less than the entry fee of all these places....
So what better way to inaugurate my iVenture card than to use it right here at the Flyer....
I proceeded up to the 3rd level and was led into the boarding area. The passage was somewhat like a tunnel....with blue illumination on the sides....
Soon I boarded the capsule....
The capsule is about the size of a bus and can carry 28 people.
In each round, which takes about 30 minutes, 784 people can enjoy a ride....
My capsule had a couple of ethnic Chinese and an Indian family, they seemed to be Maharashtrian....
A glimpse of the Gardens By The Bay.... That's not on my itinerary this time around...
A view of Downtown with the Durians in the distance...
And soon we were on the top...
This cute little, specy, Chinese girl loved getting photographed with her mom, and I happily obliged!
What a transformation from a mosquito infested swamp to this, in just under 100 years....
Experimenting with sepia.... I had to kill time, I was bored to death in just about 10 minutes here....
Ahhh, how could I forget this?
At Changi, when I landed the other day, I bought a Singapore Tourist Pass Plus from the MRT station located there. For SGD30, I was to get 3 days of unlimited rides on the MRT, LRT and the SBS network. This card came with a free FunVee open top bus ride and a BubbleJet boat ride...
The FunVee bus is a hop-on-hop-off bus that takes tourists through the attractions in and around Downtown, Marina Bay, China Town and Little India.
Ok, since my next stop was Chinatown, it was a good idea to ride on the bus and pass through Marina Bay on the way there...
Passing by Marina Bay Sands.... I remember seeing Sands at Macau, but Singapore underwent quite a transformation of their traditional, "no-vice" mindset to get in the Las Vegas casino chain.... It was the slowdown in post-Lehman era that prompted Singapore to change...
The iconic structure on the top is said to be longer than 3-Airbus A380s.... Other than being an engineering marvel, I thought, aesthetically and architecturally, the structure did not blend in at all...
Powering The Nation.... A gas-based power plant....this plant actually runs, unlike the gas-plants in India which are mothballed today, sigh....
A view of Downtown....
Passing by the Gardens By The Bay....
Passing by Lau Pa Sat....
Getting into Chinatown.... it was all decked up for the Autumn Moon Festival....
I alighted here and said goodbye to my Funvee...
Here comes another HOHO... this one would be particularly appealing to kids...
Now over to Chinatown....
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