Jennifer, Eric and I made a short brake in Singapore on our way to the Philippines. I worked a lot in Singapore in the 80-ies and had an apartment on Orchard Road during a period. I have been back many times since, but it was a first both for Eric and for Jennifer.
But the Singapore I was used to 30 years ago was a far cry from the Singapore we saw now. We stayed at Marina Bay Sands, a new and enormous hotel that has become the new unofficial landmark for Singapore, like the lions at the classic bridge crossing the river. It had 57 floors and at the very top rested a big “ship” with restaurants and bars and an enormous infinity pool, where Eric loved to go swimming. The pool is 340 metres long (1,115 ft), which makes it by far the largest infinity pool in the world. And it serves a hotel with more than 2,500 rooms!
The hotel was built on reclaimed land that didn’t exist, when I spent time in the city. Next to Marina Bay Sands was a park with two enclosed spheres covering an enormous rain forest, and beyond the gardens were Singapore Straits with all the ships at anchor. Far in the distance Sumatra could be seen at the horizon. Lots of wild fires were burning around Sumatra last year in September and October, in order to clear land for crops, and the smoke covered Singapore more densely than any smog in London a hundred years ago.
Our first morning we went to Singapore Zoo to have breakfast with the orangutans. Eric loved them because they are very human with lots of facial expressions. We were seated at a table and served a luxurious breakfast, while next to us the orangutans were enjoying their slightly more frugal breakfast. One female orangutan arrived with her two babies clinging to her body. And after our breakfast we strolled around the zoo where it looked like the animals could stroll freely, but some kind of discreet fencing preventing them from running away. Eric loved the zebras and the cheetahs.
We spent part of the afternoon at the shopping centre. Jennifer found a bag that caught her liking. Notice that the colour was exactly the same as the (artificial) flower balls. We had a late lunch at a dim sum restaurant after having watched the chefs preparing the dim sums through a window. Eric and I enjoyed the restaurant but Jennifer was more attracted to Cartier and Prada! Thankfully we didn’t have too much time before we had to return to the airport and take off for Manila.
