November 18th Hop On & Hop Off Bus Tour

For any country that you visit for a short time, in our experience, the best way of seeing the main attractions and understanding its orientation is to have a Hop On & Off Bus Tour.

After an amazing breakfast, with so many choices, this was to be our day. We only had to cross the road from the hotel and before too long we were off on our tour. We had decided to get off at The Marina Bay Sands Hotel, Raffles & The Botanical Gardens.
Marina Bay Sands Hotel
 


Singapore is a rather compact city and it was rather peculiar at one point to be alongside the pit lane on the Formula 1 Track. Our first stop was at The Marina Bay Sands Hotel. A very imposing and iconic structure and the world's largest rooftop infinity pool. It has a staggering 2,500 rooms, and an underground shopping mall where you can take a gondola ride!! Gardens by The Bay is a vast nature reserve of reclaimed land. It is home to over half a million plants and the giant futuristic trees which are made from concrete and steel. A great place to stop and marvel at these larger than life structures - both the hotel and garden.  Next stop was to be The Botanical Gardens. The gardens are over 150 year old and are on the edge of Orchard Road shopping area. In 2015 it was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site.The Gardens have been split into various sections which include a Rain Forest, Ginger Garden, Children's Garden and the National Orchid Garden. It is here there are over a thousand species on display - quite a sight. We took so many photographs here!! We had lunch in the Halia Restaurant at one end of the Ginger Garden. the shade was a welcome respite from a very hot and humid day. We next travelled along Orchard Road to Raffles, where you just have to go to savour the majesty of the old colonial style building. an amazing haven of tranquillity which is housed on a very busy traffic crossroads - unlike when it was built.
To jump back to Orchard Road, here we were on a very hot and humid day, November 18th, sitting upstairs on an open top bus with all Christmas decorations around us!!  The Royal Thai Embassy is sited on this  vast multi lane designer shopping area, and is the most expensive piece of real estate around.

Royal Thai Embassy
Orchard Road
View from hotel room
 

Raffles, was a step back into a grand colonial era. Built in 1887 by Armenian hoteliers, it was named after the British statesman, Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles. Now surrounded by skyscrapers, I could imagine the grandeur of its heyday. The famous Long Bar was closed for renovation but at another lounge plenty of people were animatedly chatting and enjoying the Singapore Sling experience.

Once leaving the splendour of Raffles it was time to rejoin the bus for the return to our hotel: Hotel Miramar.  Unfortunately, we interpreted the stops incorrectly on our guide map!!  This resulted in us having to catch a taxi back from the forecourt of the rather splendid Fairmont Hotel, which was across the road.  We arrived on the forecourt in shorts and tee shirts and asked one of the concierges if he could hale a taxi for us.   Never has one man moved so quickly to spirit us away --- all manner of guests were standing in finery awaiting the arrival of a bride to be!! A great moment.
That evening after a couple of drinks, taking advantage of the "BogOff" 20% off deal, we had dinner at the Intercontinental's Publico Restaurant across the road.

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