A sneak peek at Singapore

On my recent trip to India and back, I got to see a little bit of Singapore, thanks to the stopovers at the Island Country at the tip of the Malay Peninsula. It was only a sneak peak that I got, not quite fulfillling my wish to tour this city named after the lion. Now, who doesn’t want to pose for a picture pretending to take in the water coming out of the Merlion’s mouth, walk the impeccable streets, hop onto the Giant Flyer, get to see upclose the birds in Jurong and all that?

Although it was just a few hours that I got to spend there, I took in every bit of what I saw in scintillating Singapura.

It was around midnight that our flight from San Francisco landed in Singapore’s Changi International Airport. As friends picked us up from the airport and took us to their home in Serangoon, I saw that although the streets were quiet, it was not deserted considering the time; just what you would have prayed for if you were in a new city and all on your own.

After catching a few hours sleep in the wee hours we made our way to Suntec City: to see the huge fountain there and walk around the Mall. Called the Fountain of Wealth, this fountain is indeed a piece of Singapore’s wealth. Not only is it believed to bring in wealth (the waters that flow inward denote just that, in accordance with the rules of Feng Shui), but it is also supposed to be the world’s largest fountain, which found its way into the Guiness Book of Records in 1998.

This bronze structure has another small fountain in the middle. Walk around this little fountain three times and and make a wish; belief has it that your wish will be realised. Don’t ask me if it is true; the security person there did not let me do it. He said it that was only late in the evenings that one was allowed to go in. 🙁

 On the way to the Fountain, we made a brief stop at a Bosai Garden just outside Suntech City Mall that is home to the fountain. There I couldn’t help being impressed by the wooden furniture that had some seemingly authentic Chinese work on it.

We went on to stroll through some malls around there and finally stopped at Esplanade Mall and walked across to its waterfront to catch sight of the Merlion on the other side. So what, if it is a sight from afar? We were on a little stopover and I’m just glad I don’t have to be ashamed of having been to Singapore and not having set my eyes on `the’ landmark of Singapore.*

*Thank You Josna, Lyju and little Ayana for taking us around. More than anything else, thank you for the quality time we got to spend together.