( A view of Sentosa from the VivoCity Mall)
Singapore appeared glossier than ever before. It could have been due to the bright sunshine on the newly constructed glass buildings or the glittering lights at night. The new buildings have appeared everywhere and residential and commercial apartments have mushroomed all over the island. While we were there, a new MRT line was inaugurated which connects far flung areas to the centre. The pace of development has been impressive in this tiny country. No wonder so many of the Indians have found home there.
A decade back, Singapore used to be boring with very little nightlife. Now it has bars, pubs and even casinos. It has shed its orthodox outlook and has become ‘hep’ and happening.
Clark’s Quay used to be a comfortable quiet place for an evening drink or a meal. Now it is an action packed waterfront with loud music, thronging crowds and hundreds of pubs and restaurants. The theme pubs seem pretty popular:
Bar Cocoon, Bamboo, Bar Lunar Asian, Fusion Bar or Bar Opium……….the list is endless. What took the cake was the pub called
‘Clinic’ right in the middle of Clark’s Quay. Clinic’s unique decor is easily identified by its hospital whites, colourful pills, syringes, drips, test-tubes and ………..many revelers drinking liquor from what could be perceived as the drip bottles or blood bags while sitting on a wheelchair ! Sounds disgusting? Well, not if you go by the wait list outside the pub on a Saturday night.
You cannot miss the swanky new
‘Marina Bay Sands’ which virtually appears to have a ship atop its tall structure. It has a wonderful sea facing location. The resort features a 2,561-room hotel, a huge convention centre, the 800,000-square ft mall, an Art-Science museum, two large theatres, seven 'celebrity chef" restaurants, two floating Crystal Pavilions, an ice skating rink, and the
world's largest atrium casino with 500 tables and 1,600 slot machines. The complex is topped by a 340m-long SkyPark with a capacity of 3,900 people and a 150m infinity swimming pool, set on top of the world's largest public cantilevered platform, which overhangs the north tower. It has now become a tourist attraction and tourists make a beeline for entering the hotel. The management had initially charged a fee for access to certain view points including the infinity pool but now access to infinity pool has been stopped after objections from the hotel guests. Singaporeans must be quite proud of this creation as they do like talking about it.
Kids have a lot of attractions in Singapore.
Sentosa island, Night Safari, Zoo, Universal Studios, Jurong bird park and Forest Adventure to name a few. With the time being short, a compromise was reached between the kids and us and it was the
Universal Studios which won the honour of our visit. Devicka decided to skip this theme park and go gallivanting to the shopping centres, and it was I who had to go up and down the massive heart stopping roller coasters called the
‘Human’ and the ‘Cyclone’ a few times with the kids. These roller coasters were hair raising experiences but kids wanted to go again and again so there was no respite. There were a few impressive shows like
‘Light, Camera, Action’ designed by Spielberg and
‘The Waterworld’ which are certainly not to be missed as they are not on the screen but daredevil stuff performed in front of you by live people using real stuff like aircrafts, speedboats and props like fire and typhoons. W
ater-world was particularly enjoyable as the performers made sure that the audience sitting in front were absolutely drenched.Thankfully, the theme parks in Asia are just a fraction of the sizes in North America.
But after having had to go on the most popular ride called the ‘
Revenge of the Mummy’ as many as 6 times, I asked the kids to give me at least a year’s break from these roller coasters!
‘Jumbo seafood restaurant’ serves some great
chili crab and very good
pepper crab. We possibly couldn’t have both on the same day, so we went twice in the 3 days we were in Singapore. Their main restaurant at
East Coast Park is a sight to behold. This waterfront restaurant must be having a cover of 500 pax and on Sunday, the restaurant was completely packed for dinner. The food was delicious and service was efficient.
I would rate Singapore to be the gastronomical capital of the world. I could see all kinds of restaurants and all types of restaurants. At the VivoCity Mall, near Sentosa I could see fine dining restaurants serving German, Spanish, Chinese , Brazilian, Korean and Italian foods. There were many more restaurants in that mall itself. If you sit out, there is a very good view of the sea and sentosa world resorts.
T
he Orchard Road has changed completely since I last visited. Massive shopping centres flank a broad avenue and you could spend a day in a store like
Takashimaya. Fortunately, a weak Rupee ensured that we found everything much too expensive there so one didn't spend as much time as one would have been expected to. Orchard road has some fine dining places but I loved the choice at the
food courts there which are situated in the shopping malls. Often it would take me half an hour to decide what to order as everything looked just too tempting.
My friend Sumit took me to the
American Club where I enjoyed the atmosphere & the Wasabi Prawns. Being a regular club goer , it was nice visiting a club in a different country as it is different from going to a normal restaurant. All our friends took turns in taking us to all these exotic eating joints which I have mentioned above but how much could we try out in just 3-4 days ?
I was meeting Sumit after around 4 years and on one to one basis after maybe more than a decade. As we were visiting Singapore after a very long time, it was our objective to meet each and every friend we had there. My friend Amit had migrated there a couple of years back after being impressed with the quality of life in Singapore. So impressed has he been with everything that he left his work and has started attending the
University there while his wife Savera, earlier a housewife in Delhi, now looks impressive in an executive suit. We stayed with our friends Vikram and Ichha. We had become friends almost a decade back when our kids had gone to the same class in Shri Ram school in Gurgaon. By sheer co-incidence another close friend couple Percy & Priya not only lived in the same complex on the same road but as we were to discover, they lived in the same building ! Singapore, being a relatively small place, the other friends were also not too far away.
Having always stayed in a stand alone house, the kids loved the condo atmosphere and would be either at basketball court or in the swimming pool.. They would spend each and every free moment running down to play with other kids and come back full of sweat. Devicka was fed up of seeing Kartik spoil his clothes every 2 hours but it clearly indicated that the kids were having a time of their lives. It goes without saying that if kids are having fun, it rubs on to the parents as well.
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