SINGAPORE, SINGAPORE. Since I hit the sack early the previous night, I was able to wake up at around 6 am the next day. I did not waste time and head on right ahead to the 57th floor of the hotel where the Skypark and Infinity pool are. I was in a mission to swim the whole morning until it is already time to check out and good thing that fate is on my side as I found the infinity pool devoid of the crowd present the previous day. It had been easy to find a chaise lounge and I got one placed on those pavements that are higher than the others and closer to the pool.

The swim was amazing as I felt like I was literally swimming on top of the world and with the clouds. It gave me a different high to see myself frolicking and lounging in a place where I can see the top of almost all the buildings ahead of me. It was literally a piece of heaven on Earth, a definite first in the history of mankind. It was both an amazing and humbling experience because though this building was a testament on how genius men have became, nothing of our creations could still topple or even comes close to what God had done.

Time goes by when you are having fun and that’s what I felt when I saw the number of people grow in number as the clock goes tick-a-tock. The sun was already hurting my eyes and it was then that I knew that it is already time to go.

The impeccable service is something that I greatly commend about the hotel and like any of our interactions with them, the check-out process was also amazingly fast. It was fast that it was already later on that it dawned on me that it would be years from now when we’ll get the chance again to swim on top. Nonetheless, the experience was already enough to give me the motivation and zest to work harder and save more for me to experience more of this.

GARDENS BY THE BAY: FLOWER DOME, CLOUD FOREST AND SUPERTREE GROVE

With our backpacks and luggage in tow, we head on to the next big attraction in the vicinity, the Gardens by the Bay. If there was something that I ultimately love about Singapore it would be that they make commuting and walking such easy tasks! Thanks to the connecting bridges and walkway to it the stroll to the attraction was a breeze. Two big domes and a garden with Supertrees await us when we got there. A visitor has the option to visit either one or both of the big domes. Since we are not sure when we would be back again in this amazing city, we got a ticket to both the big domes.

FLOWER DOME

The first dome is called the Flower Dome and you will immediately see why when you get in. The dome was filled with flowers and plants from around the world. I was able to see flowers that I bet I might not see in my lifetime. However, this dome made that far-off vision a reality. It was like I had an around-the-world flower sighting in just a few hours minus the roundtrip tickets and the high cost.

CLOUD FOREST

Nearby is the Cloud Forest that features a huge man-made waterfall that can unfailingly be seen once you step inside the dome. It was the main attraction there as you can see from the number of visitors who scramble just to have their pictures taken in front of it, not minding the mist. Ascending the mountaintop through a lift, we were able to access the walkways in the clouds. Walking through those was just magnificent as we were able to see from above how they recaptured a jungle and put it in a dome for the city people to enjoy.

SUPERTREE GROVE

Outside of the domes is the Supertree Grove which houses 12 Supertrees that have amazing capabilities and powers. The Supertrees have environmentally sustainable funtions like photovoltaic cells to harvest solar energy. When night falls, the Supertrees become fireworks planted in the ground and coming alive with dazzling light displays that everyone will absolutely enjoy.

CHINATOWN: MAXWELL HAWKER CENTER, ERSKINE ROAD AND ANN SIANG HILL

We would have took in more sights and information that the attractions in the Gardens by the Bay could offer but we do not have that much time left before our flight so we headed to the infamous Maxwell Hawker Centre in Chinatown to have a feast of their local delights. Some of the stalls were closed when we came in but those operational that day were already enough to satisfy our craving bellies. We ordered platefuls of the Prawn Mee, Kway Chap, Hainanese Chicken/Chicken rice from Tian Tian and White Carrot Cake. Nothing was left off when we finished our meal, that’s how hungry we were!

After our hearty meal, we roam around a little along Erskine Road and Ann Siang Hill, two of the go-to hip places up to this day in Singapore. Almost all of the establishments were still close when we went there because it was still too early. Next time I will definitely dedicate a day to experience the nightlife that Chinatown has to offer; a check-in in the Scarlet Hotel and a dinner at Screening Room maybe?

CLARKE QUAY: GMAX AND SOME HOKKAIDO ICE CREAM

It was already sun down when we finished roaming around the vicinity but since we still had time to spare we went directly to Clarke Quay. My brother was itching to ride the G-Max as he had not tried it yet. Once is enough for us so it was a good thing that there were still a lot of people who wanted to try the said extreme ride so he was paired up with the two Indian men in front of him! After which, we sighted a long line on the other side of the river which perked up our curiosity. We found out that the long line was caused by this little store in Clarke Quay Riverside that sells different flavors of Hokkaido Ice Cream. We had some, each of us got flavours that already skipped my mind, and this helped us cool ourselves on a hot night before heading down to the airport and bidding this little red dot in Asia another goodbye.