Gimme Gimme More, Gimme More, Singapore

Did you sing the title? I don’t know why a Britney Spears song came into my head. It might be that karaoke last night, but for now more on Singapore!

I really had thought that Singapore was much larger. Maps can be deceiving. I did a few more activities and visited a few more sights on my trip.

Stop 1: The Merlion!

The one I visited in Sentosa wasn’t the real deal. That was more of an attraction telling you a little bit about Singapore and how the Merlion became their National Symbol. Singapore was named after Sang Nila Utama who had landed on the island after a shipwreck. He saw a lion and named the island Singapora, which means “Lion City”. In the 1960s, the Merlion was created to represent Singapore’s beginnings as a fishing village. (Learn more about Merlion origins.)

The Merlion was really beautiful! It was cool that it actually had water splashing out of its mouth.

I get to drink from the Merlion!

Stop 2: Wonder Full (show at the Marina Bay Sands Event Plaza)

I researched a little and found out about this show. This show isn’t exactly advertised in the area and it can be easily glance over in Singapore guidebooks. My mom and I sat in the designated area for the show. The Event Plaza is an extravagant name for large steps off the shore. At night, it feels like a deck along the beach shore (although there is no beach). The epic, dramatic music starts and fog is released from the light panels on the right and left side.

Bubbles coming from the sides

It really felt like I was in some kind of 4D outside theatre. The show really surprised me! I was just expecting some lights and water splashing, but it was definitely a beautiful show! I would describe it as a heartwarming, beautiful light and water show. It makes the Bellagio water show in Los Vegas look like nothing!

Stop 3: Singapore Zoo

This zoo was unlike any other zoo that I had been to. Findout more on my trip to the zoo.

Stop 4: Chinatown

At first, Singapore’s Chinatown didn’t seem that big. Once you start walking around it definitely felt as big as San Francisco’s Chinatown. Find out more on my trip to Chinatown.

Stop 5: Gardens By the Bay

This garden is MAGNIFICENT! It is so beautiful! I don’t know if it’s true, but I did hear they are still making the garden bigger. People say that it is worth going now since there is a lot to see. I underestimated how much “a lot” was. Find out more on my trip to Gardens By the Bay.

**Stay tuned for Japan**

Singapore Zoo

Bus and tickets to the zoo

Lets Go!

Note: My mom and I were a bit disappoint that we couldn’t see the pandas at the zoo. Kai Kai and Tai Tai (the pandas’ names) are getting used to the habitat. I think they are also building a huge section for them too. It took us a long way to get to the zoo, so we went in anyway.

As close to the pandas as I could get

I feel like I have visited the San Francisco Zoo many times, but I had never felt so immersed into the habitats of the animals there. Usually zoo animals are behind glass or in their own habitat that seems far away (for safety). There were a ton of different trails, so I got confused at times. Most trails were to different animal exhibits, but some felt like nature walks. Singapore zoo has a variety of different animals: otter, flamingos, white tiger, orangutan, sun bear, giraffe, lions, kangaroos, wallabies, chimpanzees, hippos, tortoises, and many more.

An Orangutan inspecting a flower. So cute!

A view

The elephant show was really adorable. It was entertaining. It wasn’t as extravagant as the elephant show I saw in Thailand, but it was still good. It was definitely a kid friendly show. You can pay 5 sing dollars to feed the elephants after the show.

Although my mom and I didn’t feed any of the animals, there are designated times where you can pay to feed certain animals.

The giant tortoise was so cute! It looks so huggable!

Giant Tortoise! <3

There were a couple of tree branches at the Orangutan habitat that stretched over the trail below. It was pretty cool because the orangutans could run along those branches above you and cross the trail.

I never seen flamingos act the way they did. I have a feeling the construction noise nearby them was making them panic a little. They had their necks extended and heads up moving left and right. They were making a flamingo noise (I will not attempt to even spell their noise out ha-ha-ha), and pacing in every direction.

When we exited the zoo, there were some peacocks walking around. Some were running away from a couple of children, but I found it interesting that the zoo let them out. I’m sure they wouldn’t have let them out if they would harm us. It was neat to see them up close!

It was an overall great time at the zoo!

White Tiger and Wallabies

 

Hippo and Otters!

This is their stop!