It was a late start to our first day of sightseeing in the lovely Singapore. But then that was what our stopover in Singapore was to be all about! Relaxing and getting the body clock back to where it needs to be. In the early hours of Monday morning we were awakened by a reasonable thunder storm. Quite the norm for Singapore, certainly for this time of year.

We left the hotel about 10.30am and purchased tickets for the 'Hop on Hop off bus'. The ticket was valid for two days. The storm had past, although it was still overcast and there was a tiny spit every now and then. During the course of the day we did the Yellow, Blue, Brown and Red lines on the bus. These buses took us on different routes through and around the city. Sometimes we went down streets we had previously been down, but hearing the information about a particular area or building for the second time, was helpful. It's a bit hard to take all the information in, or get it typed into 'notes' on the phone, but by the second day we were starting to get a feeling for where we were in the city. Well maybe..... 

We walked back to the hotel from Suntec City, the terminus for the 'Hop on Hop off' buses. Having purchased the ticket from the 'Raffles' stop opposite our hotel, we now realise just how close the Fairmont Hotel is to everywhere. If we didn't already know it, after today we fully realise that Singapore is definitely a city of high rise buildings. And of course it has to be! Land is very precious in this small country. It is a city/country with an area of only 791.2 square kms and a population of approximately 7.5 million. In 2013 the country had a gross domestic product of 297.9 US billion dollars. Interesting facts on the web comparing Singapore to other cities. London is more than twice the size of Singapore. There are many beautiful hotels in the city.

The new tourism development in Marina Bay is huge. The concept was initiated 30 years ago and 10 years ago 'Gardens by the Bay' became operational. Marina Bay takes in an area of 360 hectares and 101 hectares of it is the beautiful 'Gardens by the Bay'. All of this area is reclaimed land. The reclaimed land has increased the size of Singapore by 25 percent. 15 million tourists visit Singapore each year and it is estimated tourism is worth 23 billion Singapore dollars to the countries economy.

Marina Bay Sands Hotel, the magnificent hotel that dominates the Singaporean skyline, has 2,500 rooms and was built for 5.7 billion American dollars. The Casino is opposite and to enter the Casino it costs you $100.00 for 24 hours. The new 'Financial District' is being built at Marina Bay and it is said "When finished it will be twice the size of Singapore's original Financial District". Singapore is a 'Global Financial Centre'.
 
The industry at the wharf is all about shipping containers. 9,000 containers are handled at Singapore port every day. 19,000 containers are loaded onto one mega ship and if those containers were placed end to end, they would cover a distance of 115 kms.

The 'Merlion' or 'Singapore Lion' is a well known marketing icon of Singapore. It depicts as a mythical creature with a lion's head and a body of a fish. It is widely used as a mascot and the national personification of Singapore. The 'Merlion' was first used in Singapore as the logo for the tourism board.  There are two significant 'Merlion' sculptures in Singapore. From what I have read it seems the first 'Merlion' was completed in 1972 at a cost of $165,000 S. The 8.6 metre high, 70 tonne sculpture spouting water at the mouth of the Singapore River, was unveiled in September 1982 and the 37 metre high 'Merlion' on Sentosa Island was unveiled as a tourist attraction in 1996. I don't remember it being there in 1996 when we visited. I will have to have another look at our photos.

Singapore River is now a reservoir. The river has been dammed at its outlet to the sea and a reservoir of freshwater has been created. The dam is known as 'Marina Barrage'. Whereas the original mouth of the Singapore River emptied into Singapore Straits and its southern islands, before major land reclamation took place, the Singapore River now empties into Marina Bay - an area of water partially enclosed by the reclamation work. The Port of Singapore is now located to the west of the island. 

Fort Canning Park area is the tunnels from WWII and the area of Singapore where the country surrendered to the Japanese. Under the British Army, the fort served as the headquarters of the Singapore Base District, until the spread of World War II into the Asia Pacific in 1941. In February 1942, the Malayan Command was established at the fort in an attempt to defend the island from the invading Japanese forces. The Japanese also used the fort for its military until the end of the occupation in 1945, whereby the British army resumed control. 

During the day we received more information about housing and living in Singapore. If you want to purchase a car you must first apply for a ticket to purchase and go into a ballot. If accepted it will cost you $50,000 S and that permit only lasts for 10 years. If you wanted to purchase a property in the exclusive 'Orchard Estate' it would cost up to $6 million S. The land the dwelling sits on, is worth millions. 

Orchard Road is the start of the popular shopping belt in Singapore and one can enjoy or experience 6 kms of shopping. 20 years ago this was the street where the shuttle bus from the hotel we were staying at dropped us. We were always being pestered on the street to 'buy a watch'. Peter does a good impression of 'wanna buy a watch'. He was well and truly over it by the time we left in 1996 and we still laugh about it! We haven't experienced any of that this holiday.

I think where we stayed 20 years ago was not far from the Royal Botanic Gardens. Entry to the gardens is free, but there is a charge to visit the orchid gardens. The gardens were established in 1859 and they are one of three listed on UNESCO world heritage. The consular residences were nearby and in this area bungalows are worth 25 million dollars S and understandably the security is high. 

The Singaporean President's home, is known as the 'Istana' and is nearby on Orchard Road. 'Istana' in Malay means 'Palace'. There are no high rise buildings nearby. The British Colonial Government acquired the land in 1867 and built a mansion, to be the official home of the British Governor. This continued until 1959 when Singapore was granted self-government. It was built by convict labour. It had a beautiful view of land and sea, and glimpses of the town and shipping area through the trees. Although it is the official residence of the President of Singapore, no Presidents nor Cabinet Ministers have lived there since 1959. On the first Sunday of the month there is a 'Changing of the Guards', which is a popular event.

The Raffles Hospital was formally a retail outlet named 'Blanco Court'. In September 1997 two companies formed a joint venture to convert Blanco Court into the present day hospital that was officially opened in March 2002. It is a 306 bed, tertiary care private hospital and the flagship of the Raffles Medical Group, a leading private healthcare provider in Singapore and South East Asia.

The Raffles Hotel has a great deal of history attached to it. It started as a privately owned beach house built in the early 1830s. It first became a hotel when Dr. Charles Emmerson leased the building in 1878. Upon his death in 1883, the hotel closed and the 'Raffles Institution', which is still one of the most prestigious schools in Singapore, took over the use of the building as a boarding house, until the lease expired in September 1887. The Armenian hoteliers, the Sarkies Brothers established the hotel in 1887 and it was named after the British statesman Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles, the founder of Singapore.  It only has 103 rooms and the cost is 700 dollars per night.
 
The Civilian War Memorial was just across from our hotel. The structure is 67 metres high and was built to commemorate the Chinese, Malaya, Indian and Other Civilians that were killed during the 'Fall of Singapore' in February 1942. Singapore surrendered to the Japanese Army on 15th February 1942. Sir Winston Churchill called the mortifying fall of Singapore to the Japanese the "Worst disaster and largest capitulation in British military history". The memorial was unveiled on 15th February 1967 and a commemorative service is held at the memorial each year.

The Main Street of 'Little India' was a very colourful to drive through. Indians make up 9.2 percent of the population in Singapore. Most work in industry and at the port. In 2008 an Indian was killed when he was run over by a bus. Riots followed and there was an extensive inquiry which revealed that alcohol was involved. Since then no drinking has been allowed on the street between 10.30pm and 7am.

On Sunday we walked through a huge market area. We learnt today they were the historic 'Bugis Markets' and there are over 600 market stalls. This is the place to visit if you want to do some bargain shopping. Also the place to visit for lots of those really cheap stalls. All cash sales! We were going to buy some cheap watches, but you need cash in your pocket to bargain and we didn't have that on Sunday!

Beach Road runs through China Town and was the beach front many years ago. It has been pushed back 3 kms with the reclaiming of land. The amount of reclaimed land in Singapore is the equivalent to the size of 8,000 football fields.

The hotel we look onto from our balcony is the Swissotel Stamford. It is 70 stories high and a 'Staircase Marathon' is held there each year. The record to climb the 70 floors of stairs is 6.46 minutes and it is held by an Australian Mark Bourne, who has won the event twice. In 2014 2,324 people competed and some had severe disabilities. Competitors come from all over the world to compete. The building is 226 metres in height.

We returned to the hotel late afternoon. Put our feet up for a while, showered and caught a taxi to 'Gardens by the Bay', just as the sun was setting. The taxi driver told us we had picked a good time to view the 'Rhapsody Light Show' as the Singaporean skyline is more beautiful as the sun goes down. He was right.

We were early enough to get a seat on one of the concrete surrounds, that are around each of the 'Supertrees'. We decided against doing the skywalk, believing that it was possibly more spectacular sitting and looking up. Maybe that will be another visit! It will have to be sooner than 20 years though, if we are going to do the skywalk!

The design of these 'Supertrees' in the garden are amazing. The saucer dish at the top is the rainwater tank. Water is caught and used to water the plants, that are growing down the sides of the structure. There is a restaurant at the top of the large centre tree. The skywalk is suspended from two slightly smaller trees. There are 18 'Supertrees' in Gardens by the Bay and 12 of them are in the 'Supertree Grove'. The light show is free and is shown every night at 7.45pm and 8.45pm.

We caught a taxi back to the hotel after having dinner at one of the many food outlets. It is not hard to find somewhere to have a meal in Singapore.