City Tour: Following breakfast we met our tour group and headed out to see the city by bus. We first drove past the Suntec Building Complex and Fountain of Wealth. The five buildings are arranged around a traffic circle and represent a left hand, with the four tall buildings representing the fingers and the short one the thumb. In the center of the traffic circle, or the palm of the hand, is the Fountain of Wealth. The largest fountain in the world at the end of its construction in 1995, it is also the centerpiece of the Suntec Shopping Mall. In addition to the shopping mall, the Suntec complex holds many offices. After a couple of laps around the circle, we headed on to Merlion Park.
Merlion Park: Our first stop of the tour was at Merlion Park, home to two of Singapore's most famous attraction - the Merlion. The Merlion is an imaginary creature with the head of a lion and body of a fish, first used as the logo for the Singapore Tourism Board in 1964. The original statue, which stands at the mouth of the Singapore River and overlooks Marina Bay, was erected in 1972. A second statue, referred to as the Merlion Cub, also sits in the park. Both the original Merlion and the Merlion Cub were moved from their original location following construction of the Esplanade Bridge, which blocked the view of the bay from the Merlion. Additionally, reclaimed land had moved the entrance to the Singapore River.
Thian Hock Keng Temple: After twenty minutes at Merlion Park, we re-boarded the bus and headed through Singapore's financial zone to Thian Hock Keng Temple, our second stop. Originally built in 1822 as a joss house, a small building used strictly for worship, Chinese immigrants would come here upon arrival to Singapore to give thanks to Matsu, the Taoist goddess of the sea, protector of all seamen. At that time, it was located right on the shore of the sea. In 1842 no expense was spared to bring the finest Chinese craftsman and materials to construct a new temple on the site, which was given the name Thian Hock Keng. Added to the original structure were shrines to the God of War, the Protector of Life, and the Goddess of Mercy. The sea can no longer be seen from the temple due to the many buildings constructed on reclaimed land in front of the temple.
Mount Faber: Out next stop was to be at the Sri Mariamman Temple, but extensive renovation was being undertaken at this Hindu temple, the oldest in Singapore, having been originally constructed in 1827. So, instead, we drove past the temple and continued on to, and up, Mount Faber. From atop Mount Faber panoramic views of the Central Area can be seen. A cable car connects the hill with Sentosa Island, a popular tourist destination, but was not operational as replacement cables were being installed. Also atop the hill was another Merlion. This was the third, and last, official Merlion statue we saw while in Singapore. There are a total of five.
Jewelry Factory: After descending Mount Faber, the next stop on our tour was at a jewelry factory. Peep and I walked around the showroom and then returned to the bus, awaiting the return of the few shoppers. Our time here was extended from the usual twenty minutes to thirty to give those interested more time to shop.
Singapore Botanic Gardens: The final stop of the tour was at the Singapore Botanic Gardens, a 64 hectare (157 acre) park with many gardens and lakes open free to the public. We were only allotted thirty minutes to explore the area, so Peep and I decided to not return to our hotel with the tour group and instead spend more time enjoying the gardens. Although we only took time to see less than half of the attractions, we did visit the Rainforest, Swan Lake, Ginger Park, and paid the entrance fee to tour the National Orchard Garden.
Jurong Bird Park: From the Singapore Botanic Gardens, we grabbed a taxi cab and rode to the Jurong Bird Park, with just enough time to eat some lunch before the start of the Birds n Buddies Show. Many different birds were showcased and some even did tricks, such as singing Happy Birthday or flying through hoops. From there we took our time getting to the Birds of Prey Show, stopping at a few of the exhibits on the way. After the show, we continued seeing the rest of the exhibits, entering a couple of enormous aviaries and stopping to feed the lories, eventually ending at the Penguin Expedition. We stayed until closing before taking the bus to the train depot for the ride back downtown.
Singapore at Night: We got off the subway a couple of stops before our hotel so we could get some night pictures in Merlion Park. The second, and last, battery for my camera was just about dead by that point, lasting just long enough to get all the pictures we wanted. We walked up the banks of the Singapore River looking for a place to stop and eat dinner. We ended up back at Clark Quay, where we had lunch the day before.
Getting Home: We had another early morning flight the next day to return to Laos via Bangkok. It was the end of another very busy, yet very enjoyable trip.