CMR Singapore

The newest and most exciting neighborhood in Singapore is Marina Bay which has been built on reclaimed land near Riverside. This glitzy development is Singapore’s attempt to make itself into a world class tourist and gambling destination.

Most of the reclaimed land in this area is still empty but the main attraction on Marina Bay is the huge Marina Bay Sands Casino is open for business. The Marina Sands, named for a legendary Las Vegas hotel, is an attempt to bring Las Vegas style gambling and nightlife to Singapore.

This gigantic casino is a gambler’s paradise with 600 gaming tables and 1500 slot machines. The Marina Sands features a 55 foot tower containing a hotel which probably makes it the world’s tallest casino. The top of the tower will feature an attraction called Sky Park which will contain nightclubs, restaurants, and other fun stuff when it is complete. The view of Singapore from Sands Sky Park is spectacular and well worth the admission.

Visitors to Singapore can get into the Marina Sands for free but Singapore residents have to pay $100 to get in. As with most casinos, gamblers have to be 21 years of age and have an ID to play. The table games at the Sands are pretty standard with Roulette, Baccarat, Sic-Bo, Money Wheel, Non Commission Baccarat and a local variation called Singapore Stud Poker.

Like most casinos, the Marina Bay Sands has a number of restaurants and a hotel. The Sands has 2,500 rooms not all of which are available yet. These rooms will feature some of the best views of the city.

Reaching Marina Bay

Unfortunately Singapore’s mass transit system the MRT doesn’t right to Marina Bay although there is a Marina station on the line. Persons who get off at the Marina Bay station will have to take a bus to reach the Sands.

A better way to reach the Sands is to get off at the Promenade station and walk across the Helix Pedestrian Bridge. A person can also walk through the City Link shopping mall from Raffle’s place. A walk from the MRT to the Sands sounds like a great way to begin a fun night on the town or an afternoon of gambling.

For those who want to stay at the Sands, shuttle bus service from the airport is available.

When you go on vacation it is always fun to go at a time that is special and unique to that place.  Mardi Gras is celebrated all over the world but the real place you want to be for it is (pre-Katrina) New Orleans.  At the beginning of May you want to be in Mexico for Cinco de Mayo.  If for some reason you have to go to Cincinnati you want to do it during baseball season to visit Wrigley Field.  Some times it is just a one time event like the Olympics.  For the US that means Lake Placid in the 70′s, Los Angeles in 1984 and Atlanta in 1996.  What if instead of trying to plan your vacation around an event, it just happened to be going on?  That would be so much easier.  Well, that is what is going to happen when you visit Singapore.  There is always a festival or major event going on.

Normally that would sound like you would have to fight crowed during your whole visit but that is not really the case at all.   Singapore was built around having a large number of visitors and has come to expect them so they easily handle it.  The Marina Bay Sands is only adding to it.  If you were to try to choose a week to visit, when would you go with so much to choose from?

Maybe you have a passion for gardening and have a small one yourself.  Sure enough, they have a Garden Festival.  Held in Suntec Singapore, you will get to see stunning land and garden scapes and even fantasy gardens.  Award-winning artist will be showing their floral displays and new gardening products will be displayed and sold.  The fact that they even have a full -blown Garden Festival tells you how Singapore likes to do things big and do them right.

Singapore is know around the world for its Food Festival.  There is no surprise there since Singapore has always been at the center of the East-West crossroads and has taken things from many cultures.  But the festivals don’t stop there.  They have the Mosaic Music Festival, an Arts Festival, the Audi Fashion Festival, the Hungry Ghost Festival (like Mexico’s Day of the Dead), and many other holiday events that merge east and west.  They have Christmas in the Tropics for example (Western) and Chinese New Year.

No matter what types of things you find fun, you can find it celebrated in Singapore.

Singapore is an amazing place to visit.  It has a little bit of every thing for everyone.  If you want history and culture you will find plenty.  The culture of Singapore is unique as history has blended the best of east and west.  If entertainment is what search for it is filled with that as well.  World class shopping and night life can be found here as well as some things for the adrenaline junkies. When the Marina Bay Sands fully opens soon it will stand out as a beacon to the world to come visit.  It will be like Milan, Monte Carlo, New York, with a touch of Las Vegas.

There is no reason to go to Milan for fashion because Singapore is the place to be.  The annual Fashion week has the whole fashion worlds attention once a year. But just one week is not enough time to contain it all and there are small shows sprinkled through out the calendar.  All this insures that shopping in Singapore is some of the best in the world.  You can find fashions there that Beverly Hills boutiques would die for.

Like to feel your heart pounding?  You might want to try the huge ropes course at the Nation park at the reservoir.  They even have an area for kids and the whole place is designed to Western safety specifications. If you want modern then try Universal Studios Singapore.  18 of the rides there can only be found there. Are you more passive in your need for adventure the you should visit one of the remarkable theaters.  These are as high-tech as they come with one of them being a 4-D experience.  If you like it with a little more luxury then you need to go during Formula 1 season.  Formula 1 racing has long been a spectator sport for the rich and powerful and Singapore has plenty of those types.  Why go to Monte Carlo when you can be here.  If you think you will miss out on the gambling then you just need to head to the Casino at the Marina Bay Sands.  Done by the same people who own the The Desert Sands in Las Vegas there is nothing about making a casino great that they do not know.

When you add to those the cultural sites that the city has and you will have rounded out you trip in Asia’s great city.

It is sad but true that some places are just not ready for growth and success.  For some of those places it is just not the right moment in time.  Other places lack the proper resources.  Then there are the saddest ones.  Those are the places hindered by geography.  Those places will forever have to deal with that hindrance.  Singapore is lucky because it has none of those issues.  It fact it has and abundance of keys for success and has used them well.  This has led the small island nation to become an economic power way beyond it’s size and help its economy boom while most of the rest of the world is floundering.  How did all of this happen?  Why did Singapore become so successful?

First it has geography.  That has been one of the most important factors for its current success although it also cause it to be used as a pawn through parts of history.  Sitting where it does, of the tip of what is now Malaysia, it would serve as a gateway for Europeans wanting to trade with Asia, specifically Indo-China and China.  What started out mostly as spices soon would grow to be much more.  This first made the Dutch interested in it then later the British.  Though much of the infrastructure was destroyed in WW II, the knowledge of how to build a city was still there.  Along with a little help from GB, Singapore moved to self rule then independence.

After independence and its brief union with Malaysia, Singapore was left to guild its own destiny.  Knowing what need to be done to make Singapore prosper, they set out to build manufacturing areas and made sure there was adequate housing.  They also firmly stressed education.  These were the seeds that started a rapid rise in Singapore’s economic clout.  The fact that China had yet to fully open its markets was a large help as well and investment money poured in and returned well.

Now Singapore has entered yet another new age with banking and businesses opening there.  The tourism trade is growing at an amazing rate with the Sands set to open its most ambitious project yet, Marina Bay Sands, soon. Once a group of small fishing villages, Singapore is now the home of millionaires and billionaires so it is a city but for luxury.  If the last few decades are a sign, Singapore is not done growing yet.

For a foreigner, a visit to Singapore show little evidence of parts of its history.  You would not know about its humble beginnings and how it grew to great wealth.  In fact in Asia, the average wage in Singapore is lower only to Japan in Asia.  Of course there are spots to see while you are there that celebrating its history but it is always good to have something to start with.

The first written accounts of the island come from China.  They referred to it as Pulau Ujong.  It is not a very grand name at all.  It simple means “The island at the end.”  The end in this case refers to Malay so while not grand it was at least accurate because it is at the end of the Malay peninsula.  The almost mystical tale of the origins of the name Singapore is much better.  Sometime in the 13^th century a Prince Srivijaya and was reportedly meet by a lion so he named the place Loin’s Island (Singapore).  It seems very unlikely there were ever lions on Singapore but it is an important symbol of the island.  In fact there is a huge fountain of a mythical creature near the port.  It is a Merlion, head of a lion and body of a fish.  Since it was simple an area of small fishing villages it combines both parts of their past.

To jump ahead, the colonial powers of Europe started to take a great interest in Asia.  First, the Portuguese came but they where quickly over come by the Dutch who would end up controlling most of Asia’s ports.  This forced the British to aide in a power struggle with the result of being given access to the port.  This became an important base for England’s  East India Company.  Later Singapore would become a British colony.  During World War II the Japaneses took control of the island but it reverted back to British control after the war.

After that Singapore was granted more and more autonomy.  This would lead to self government and then a brief union with Malaya to form Malaysia.  End the end it did not work out very well and Singapore became an independent nation.  Since then a great focus has be put into infrastructure and education.  The result is clear to see.

That was just the briefest of histories.  The whole tale is much deeper and more interesting.  That, however, is what you should explore on your visit to Singapore.

We all work hard for our money.  Sometimes so hard we don’t even have time to enjoy it.  We spend long hours at the office, weekend plans get interrupted by business trips and feel like we are just standing there as the world passes by.  We have earned our vacation so when we get a chance to take one it needs to be great.  You need a special place for that.  A place that seems like a modern Eden in a land of chaos.  Where can you find this?

Imagine a perfect, relaxing garden.  A place of total relaxation.  It would not be a tiny little garden, that would never do.  It needs to be large.  Large enough to park 3 jumbo jet and still have room.  12,400 square metres should be large enough.  Now the question is what to do first.

Maybe you just to take a stroll.  There are over 200 types of trees and over 600 types of plants to keep you interested as you stroll.  Maybe you should go for a little dip in the pool before you change for dinner.  At over 150 metres it is long enough for laps or to just splash and play with the other visitors to this garden.  You can do all of this while still seeing the skyline of a major city in the twilight.

All of this should bring out your appetite so to pop down to your room to change for dinner.  You room defines luxury but now it is time to return to the garden-park.  There are several restaurants, bars and cafes there but tonight you choose the nicest one, The Sky on 57.  You know the meal will be excellent with wold class chef Justin Quek running the show.  After dinner you return to marvel at the skyline again and try to decide if you want to head to the clubs or the casino.

Is there a place like this?  A place that offers everything?  Yes and it is called the Marina Bay Sands.  That Garden with the pool and restaurants?  Well that is above the three towers that make up this place and you were walking, swimming and dining above 55 stories, high in the sky.  The Marina Bay Sands is not quite open yet but it will be soon.  In fact you can already book your room.  What are you waiting for?

They say that every dog has his day and the same is true of cities.  It must have been quite impressive to see Athens, Greece or Rome, Italy at their peak.  How fun would it have in in Paris during the great World’s Fair that brought us the Eiffel Tower or New York City when the Statue of Liberty was being assembled?  If there is a city in the modern world that is reaching up and growing it is Singapore.  It is growing from just being a port city to an international hot spot and the best is yet to come.

To start with they have an economy that is making the rest of the world green with envy.  While the rest of the world is struggling through a long recession Singapore is booming.  Unemployment is running a muck in the western world but Singapore has the opposite problem.  The unemployment there is a mere 2% and soon they will need to import workers just to maintain growth.

It is not like Singapore is not already a modern city.  They have every thing you would expect to find in an international city.  For sports fans they have great Formula 1 racing.  Not only do they race but the entire city celebrates with events during that season.  The east is known for making clothes but Singapore is known for making fashion.  During the annual Fashion Week the world turns it eyes to Singapore making it the Malian or Paris of Asia.  You can just imagine how incredible the shopping is there.  The fashions you buy there will be ahead of the world by seasons.  All this is only the start.

When Maria Bay Sands opens it will shine like a beacon letting the world see the new Singapore.  There will be nothing like it anywhere in the world.  It will rise up 55 stories in three towers holding over 2500 rooms.  Spanning across them will be the breath taking Sky Park. At 12,400 square metres it will be huge.  That is enough space for 3 American football fields.  There you will be able to hang out a relax with 4,000 of your best friends. This one-of-a-kind place will be something you will never forget.

Everybody has some sort of plan for their vacation.  Some people want excitement.  Some are looking to experience a new culture and a new land.  Others just want to lay around and relax.  Nowadays, more and more people are looking at their vacation as a time to improve their health.  Maybe all of those sound good to you.  If that is the case then Singapore is just the place you are looking for.  It has something for every body and every type of vacationer.  In fact, you can have them all like you can nowhere else.

For your excitement you have the incredible Universal Studios Singapore.  Its a world class theme park with 18 rides that can be found nowhere else.  There is also an amazing 4D theater to let you do things and explore places like you have never had a chance to.  If you want things a little more active you have  the extreme skate park and the Ski360(degree) park.  BorderX provides the tallest indoor climbing wall.  Then there is one of the greatest ropes course in the world at Redok Reservoir Park.  Extreme as it is, however, it is designed to be totally safe and even has a special area for the younger adventure lover.

This is not to understate the cultural draws like Images of Singapore or Haw Par Villa.  You have to see Merlion Park to see Singapore’s tribute to its origins as a small fishing village.  You might want to take the 10 minute cable car ride to get a great view of the city until the grand Marina Bay Sands opens with its Sands Sky Park sitting 55 stories off the ground.

But if it is health you are looking there is little doubt that you are in the right city.  The city is teeming with spas to pamper you.  The are plenty of places to get acupuncture or acupressure and many other types of well being treatments.  There are restaurants that specialize in health foods that relie on traditional Chinese medicine. There is also the world famous Eu Yan Sang Integrative healthcare that brings this all together and is a favorite of the locals.

Singapore does not just give you a chance to do almost anything.  Many cities can do that.  There you can do anything and leave in better health.

When you go to New York city there are places you have to go.  You have to see The Statue of Liberty and Central Park.  If you are in Paris you will see the Eiffel Tower and visit the Louvre.  What would would London be without the Tower of London?  It seems that all great cities have a monument or building that is a symbol of the city.  These same cities also are filled with attractions to entertain tourist and locals alike.  Dose Singapore have such a monument?  Does it have attractions to entertain tourist or is it still the seedy city depicted in old movies.  The answer is that it has both monuments and attractions that make it rival the great world class cities around the globe.  It can be viewed as a gem in the Pacific crown both for its tourism, business and growth.

So what is the great monument of Singapore?  If you are from the west you might have never seen or heard of it but the concept will be familiar.  It is the Merlion.  “Mer” means from the sea and lion is simple enough.  The Merlion is a giant fountain with the head of a lion with the body of a fish.  The great Merlion Fountain sits in the middle of Merlion Park.  Merlion Park is a 2,500 square meter park in front of the Fullerton Hotel.  It stands 8.6 meters tall and weighing in at an impressive 70 metric tons.

The fountain is great and stand as a symbol of Singapore but you can only stand and look at a fountain for so long.  Is there any thing else to do?  The fountain is just the tip of the iceberg.  For the thrill seekers you have Universal Studios Singapore and all their movie themed attractions, some found only there.  If culture is more your style then you need to head to Haw Par Villa.  There you can learn about folklore from China through 1000′s of statues and dioramas.

If you want to learn more about the influences that shaped this land then you need to see Images of Singapore.  You can see how Malaysia, British Colonialism, and Japaneses influenced modern Singapore.

Singapore is a rising city on the world playing field and not one that should be over looked on your next trip to Asia.

Everybody has a place they like to vacation the most.  Maybe it is Vail in the winter or Miami in any season.  Maybe you like to head south of the border and do a little Rocky Point fishing.    That is a nice destination because of all the activities in Rocky Point.  Having a multitude of activities is important and not just for you.  When you are traveling with others, whether it is just with a companion or with a whole family it is important to have plenty of diverse activities for everyone.

Sometimes these activities are seasonal.  It is Christmas time there are activities in Rocky Point just like there are in Singapore.  Christmas in the tropics, however, is something to behold.  It is a wonderful blend of east and west with the paper lanterns decorated with a Christmas theme.

If it is holidays that you like then the version of Halloween should be seen.  In the US, it is Halloween, in Rocky Point it would be the Day of the Dead and in Singapore it is Getai Fever or Hungry Ghost Festival.  If you go make sure you watch the rites and dances but don’t sit in the front row because that row is reserved for “special guest.”

There is also Hong Boa.  You have heard of that festival for sure but just under a different name.  A hint would be the Chinese calendar.  That’s right, it is Chinese New Year.  Just from seeing the celebrations in San Francisco you can just guess how big it is in Singapore.  It is not a night to go to bed early!

Singapore has no shortages of festivals at all.  In addition to those there is also the River Festival, the Garden Festival, the Sun Festival, the Food Festival and the Arts Festival.  About the only festival they do not have is the Festival Festival.

The rest of the year is filled with summits and shows and even a Grand Prix season for the adrenalin junkies.  No matter what time of year you visit there is always going on.  When you combine that with all the things that are always there to do you have a great vacation spot.  As you can see, there is no place like Singapore.