Asian backpacker

On friday the 24th of august, several museums in Singapore organised the Night Lights 2012 festival. We were lucky enough to catch the opening on friday and check out what the fuss is all about. It’s presented by the Singapore Art Museum and features light installations around Singapore Art Museum and School of the Arts. Visitors can enjoy a series of art works and light installations in and around the museums. They also have projections on the walls of the museums accompanied by music.

We actually have a similar festival in Belgium called “Licht Festival” a similar concept using light and shadows. I checked out the festival a few years ago with a friend and so, I wasn’t really that stunned by what they had to show. It was still a nice experience though because both museums opened their doors to artworks and installations for Night Lights, but also their other collections.

Eventhough I took pictures, I think think the organisation’s promo clip covers it better than I did.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vefsA2lOSmQ

Eventhough I may sound anti-climatic about the whole festival, it was a nice event to attend and see tons of people who are actually interested in art. Also maybe there are pretty lights everywhere as well. 😉

A few days after Night Lights festival, I kinda dragged Phae Sia along with me to visit the Southern Ridges Walk. It a nice and easy scenic 9km stroll through the hills and jungles of southern Singapore. In my previous post I already said that Singapore is really man-made and developed, but despite this, Singapore has a lot of stretches of forest and greenery. It’s an enchanting garden city.

The entire route is nice signaled, so it’s kinda hard to get lost. The trail consists of 4 parks stretching across the western half of Singapore with impresses bridges allowing pedestrians to cross busy highways.

One of the main touristic hot spots is the Marina Bay Area. Here you can find several attractions and of course many places to shop at. One of the most prominent buildings must be the Esplanade Theatres on the bay which is shaped like a giant durian, a fruit similar to the jackfruit. During the weekends you can find several free shows on the outdoor riverside stage.

But the main attraction must be the Sands hotel and casino. This huge landmark in Singapore has been the billboard for tourisme for several years now. Visitors can enter the Marina Bay Sands Casino for free, but locals and residents have to pay a whopping $100 just to get in. On top of the Sands you can find the Sands SkyPark, 55 stories above the ground like a surfboard on top of the 3 hotel towers. Aside from the amazing view, there’s not much to do up there, there’s a bar on top and a swimming pool. Although the swimming pool is open to guests only. You might have seen pictures of the infinity pool on top. There’s an entrance fee if you want to go to the top and take some pictures, but you can also visit the restaurant and afterwards you can explore the SkyPark for free.

Every night there’s a light and laser show to view in front of the Sands hotel. I actually visited the area on 2 different occasions. The first time I was on the opposite side of the hotel across the lake. This way you could see the giant lasers shooting out from the hotel but you’d miss the water show right in front of the hotel though. The lasers were quite impressive to see even from a huge distance as you can see on the pictures. The following day I went to the hotel and they weren’t kidding about luxury stores there. Tons of luxury brand flagstores there and expensive high class restaurants and bars. They even have a Louis Vuitton store that’s submerged under the lake! I didn’t go in though, but let me know how it is if you’ve been there.

The water show itself was pretty impressive as well, eventhough there weren’t any lasers, it was nice to see how they managed to project images and videos on water. Definately a nice place to bring a date and wind down after a day of walking and shopping. Afterwards I walked all the way around to other side of the lake to catch my train.

All in all, maybe I did stay a long time in Singapore compared to other travelers, but there’s actually a lot of different things to do and see. But the majority of the things are commercial things nonetheless. Depending on what kind of traveler you are, you might enjoy it or you might not. Personally I see myself as more adventurous traveler who’d rather see more nature and historical stuff, but Singapore doesn’t have much of that despite their numerous parks. I think for the traveler with a bigger budget and shopping desire, Singapore would be a paradise. I would think Singapore is a nice weekend getaway rather than long term vacation destination. To sum it up for me, Singapore is a place to have good food and get some shopping done for the traveler who’s willing to spend a little extra for luxury and fine dining.