voyage-vista.com7 Wonders of Singapore: Captivating Places to Visit in Singapore!
Singapore, which can hardly be found on the map of the earth due to its insignificant area of 700 square kilometers, occupies a prominent position on the tourist map of the world. Singapore does not have natural beauty attractions that attract tourists, so it has created some believe it or not attractions through engineering. Welcome to Singapore, a land of ethereal escapes and captivating wonders waiting to be explored. In this article, let’s explore the places to visit in Singapore in detail.
The Rise of Srivijaya: Conquest and Unity in Ancient Indonesia
About 1,300 years ago, Java, Bali, Sumatra, and Borneo were separate and independent regions of Indonesia. In the eighth century, an Indian royal named Maharaja Shailendra reached those regions by sea and conquered them to establish his vast empire, which in time came to be known as Srivijaya.
Singapore: Myth and Majesty in the Realm of Srivijaya
It is said that when Maharaja Shailendra was sailing south of Malaya (present-day Malaysia) to expand Srivijaya’s geographical reach, he saw a lion on an island. Shailendra named this land Sinhapur (City of Lions). Who knows whether the animal the Maharaja saw was actually a lion or tiger, but the word ‘Sinhpur’ became famous for the island, Indonesia, Malaya, and Sinhpur (collectively Srivijaya).
Maharaja Shailendra ruled there for many years, during which his wealth and power increased immensely. According to the chronicles written by the Arab traders visiting Indonesia, the annual income of Shailendra’s kingdom was 4,000 kg of gold. Every morning, after performing worship, the king (Maharaja) used to throw a brick of gold into the lake near his palace as an offering (Naived).
The Shailendra dynasty ruled Indonesia, Malaya, and Sinhapur until the end of the 11th century. But after that, ‘Chola‘ king Rajendra of South India made several attacks with his navy, and crippled Shailendra’s Srivijaya empire. With the passage of time, the existence of Srivijaya was erased. Today’s 721 square kilometer Singapore is a reminder of yesterday’s Sinhapur, i.e., Srivijaya Empire and Maharaja Shailendra.
Singapore: A City, A Country, and an Architectural Wonder
The island nation of Singapore to the south of Malaysia is actually a city—or rather, the city of Singapore is actually a country. 90 percent of the country’s population has settled in the areas near the southern coast. Singapore is relatively large as a city, with a population of around 56,00,000, but small as a country.
Despite this, it has established its leading position on the tourist map of the world. Almost two million tourists visit Singapore every year. Many of the country’s tourist attractions are not natural; is artificial. It means that they have been raised with the help of engineering. But it is unique to every place-architecture. Let’s check out the list of some such wonderful places:
(1). Merlion: Head of a Lion, Body of a Fish!
The statue of Merlion is like Singapore’s identity card, similarly to the Eiffel Tower in Paris, the Tower Bridge in London, the Taj Mahal in Agra, and the Pyramids in Egypt. Tourists visiting Singapore therefore insist on visiting the Merlion erected at Marina Bay (Marina Bay) first. The first thing they do after arriving here is to take pictures standing in front of the Merlion in different poses.
The Merlion, with the head of a lion and the body of a fish, is carved out of solid stone. The height is eight and a half meters (about 28 feet), and the weight is at least 70,000 kilograms! Seeing this overwhelming statue, one might think, What is the relationship between the body of a fish and the head of a lion? But there is a special reason behind the combination of two completely different creatures.
The lion has been the symbol of the nation since Maharaja Shailendra named Singapore Sinhapur. On the other hand, Singapore was a major fishing center for years before it began to take off economically in the 20th century. Many of its inhabitants depended on fisheries. Therefore, the government of Singapore created a symbolic statue of a marlion in the 1970s to express the public’s gratitude for fish. Today, there are a total of seven such towers in different locations in Singapore, the tallest of which is 37 meters (121 feet) tall.
(2) Marina Bay Sands Hotel: an Engineering Marvel
The area around the Merlion statue, called Marina Bay, is known for its ultra-modern design buildings. One of the most famous (and tourist attractions) here is a 2,561-room luxury hotel called Marina Bay Sands, designed to resemble a vertically arranged pair of playing cards. A boat-shaped ‘Sky Park’ has been designed at the top of the hotel’s 200-meter (656ft) high towers, offering panoramic views of Marina Bay and the surrounding area. The ticket price for visiting ‘Sky Park’ is 23 Singapore dollars! Visiting Time: 9:30 am to 10:00 pm.
There is also a huge two-story shopping mall on the ground floor of the hotel, with a water canal in the middle and boats sailing in the canal—to relieve the tired feet of tourists walking in giant-sized malls! Marina Bay Sands Hotel has a casino for some enthusiasts, while for art or science lovers, say ArtScience, there is a cool museum on the hotel premises. (https://www.marinabaysands.com/museum.html).
Many parents and children flock to the museum to see the Future World section, as the high-tech combination of sound, light, and touch- screens creates some believe-it-or-not experiences.
(3) Gardens by the Bay: Jungle in a Glass House!
Just outside the Marina Bay Sands Hotel, the 1 square kilometer garden is a must visit! Here is a unique combination of engineering with the beauty of flowers and plants. For example, the 38 meter (125-foot) tall glass dome called the Flower Dome holds the Guinness World Record for the world’s thickest greenhouse (4262). It is constructed by gluing 3,332 glass panels over a steel framework.
Various species of flowers, trees, and vines found in the Americas, Africa, Europe, Central Asia, and Asia are housed in different sections in the Flower Dome. The Cloud Dome, located next to the Flower Dome and made up of 2,577 glass panels, is also full of variegated forests. The biggest attraction of this dome is the 35-meter (115-foot)-high waterfall, which holds the record for the world’s tallest indoor waterfall.
Around the Flower Dome and Cloud Dome, 18 trees known as Super Trees are also a wonder. Supertrees are artificial trees with a height of at least 25 meters (82 feet) and at most 50 meters (160 feet). In simple words, the ‘trunk’ of each Super Tree is made up of vertical concrete columns, and the upper part of the trees is framed by a metal frame.
However, a vertical garden of various types of plants and vines is found around the concrete pillar. In this way, a total of 1,62,900 vines of about 200 species have been grown on eighteen Super Tree poles. The real fun of watching this engineering feat is at night, when the beauty of each super tree blossoms in LED lights of different colors.
(4) Singapore Flyer: A slow, but fun ride!
When the Singapore Flyer was erected in 2008, it was considered the tallest giant wheel in the world, just opposite the Gardens by the Bay. Today, that record (by only two and a half meters) is in the name of High-Roller giant wheel in Las Vegas, USA. Despite falling to second place in the record books, the greatness of the Singapore Flyer has not diminished. The giant wheel takes its visitors 165 meters (541 feet) above the ground, from where one can see about 45 kilometers in all eight directions.
The Singapore Flyer has a total of 28 capsules measuring 4m x 8m (the size of a passenger bus). Each is air-conditioned and can accommodate a maximum of 28 guests. Ride in one of the capsules, reaching the highest level of 165 meters in the fifteenth minute. Like the well-known London Eye, the Singapore Flyer is slow moving.
The rotational speed is 0.76 km per hour, so it takes 32 minutes to complete one revolution. The fun of this giant wheel is not the speed, but the beautiful scenes seen on the 360-degree wide screen. After the sun has set, if you have taken a stroll in the Singapore Flyer, you will be overwhelmed by the dazzling lights of Marina Bay, Merlion Park, Super Tree, etc., one hundred percent guaranteed!
Singapore Flyer website: https://www.singaporeflyer.com/en
(5) Singapore Zoo: An Open-air creation of rare organisms
What else should I see in the zoo while traveling abroad? If such a thought comes to mind, at least reject it in the context of Singapore. Because there are very few countries in Asia that have such rich zoos as Singapore. Spread over 26 hectares, the zoo has around 2,400 animals of 300 different species. Some of these are those whose names have not been heard before. Some examples:
• The cotton-top tamarin, a monkey from the South American country of Colombia, is a major attraction at the Singapore Zoo. Weighing a little less than five hundred grams, the tamarin got the name cotton-top because of the woolly tufts of hair on its head.
• The pygmy marmoset, the most dwarf member of the ape family, requires digging through the Amazon rain-forest, and after days of searching, it’s not guaranteed to be found. But one can come face-to-face with a pygmy marmoset at the Singapore Zoo. Orangutans of Indonesia’s Sumatra and Borneo islands are rarely seen by normal people. They have a permanent residence at the Singapore Zoo. Also, in the zoo, you can have breakfast by’sitting’ with an orangutan called ‘Jungle Breakfast with Wildlife’!
One of the highlights of Singapore Zoo is its cute animals, another is the abundance of greenery. As you look around, you will see lush green trees and plants, so you feel like you are walking in a forest instead of a zoo. There is another reason for this feeling. Not a single animal is kept in cages in the Singapore Zoo. The entire zoo is open-air. (Website: https://www.mandai.com/en/singapore-zoo.html).
If you are interested in nocturnal animals, the night safari in the zoo is worth experiencing. The night safari starts around 7:30 every evening. (https://www.mandai.com/en/night-safari.html). Jurong Bird Park, located 20 kilometers south-east of the zoo, is the largest bird park in Asia. (https://www.mandai.com/en/bird-paradise.html). Around 400 species of birds from all over the world are found here. Total number of birds: 3,500!
(6) Sentosa Island: a Magical World
During Maharaja Shailendra’s Srivijaya Empire, the island of Singapore was known as ‘Santosh’ (satisfaction in English) because of its peaceful atmosphere. The word was eventually incorporated into the Malay language of Malaysia as Sentosa, and from then on, the island of Santosa came to be known as Sentosa. Years ago, there was nothing on the island of Sentosa, with an area of only five square kilometers. During World War II, the British Navy established its base there. Singapore was then a British colony.
Sentosa housed Japanese prisoners of war who had been captured in the wars fought against Japan on the Southeast Asian front. Sentosa remained barren for many years after the end of World War I. Two decades after Singapore became an independent nation in
August 1965, the government began developing Sentosa as a tourist destination. Local as well as foreign tourists, however, did not attract much interest in Sentosa. Instead, Sentosa: ‘So Expensive and Nothing To See Also’, slogan mocking the island became popular.
Today, Sentosa is no less than a world of magic. (https://www.sentosa.com.sg/) Casinos, five-star hotels, theme parks like iMagicaa, underwater aquariums, butterfly and insect parks, fountains, laser shows, zip-lines, rock-climbing, water sports, Hollywood’s famous Universal Studios, Madame Tussauds wax statues museum, etc. There are services like buses and taxis to reach Sentosa from the Singapore mainland, but the rope-way tour is more fun. (https://www.sentosa.com.sg/en/things-to-do/attractions/singapore-cable-car/).
Views of the Singapore city and dense forests below are found during the rope-way journey from Mount Faber to Via Harbor Front Sentosa. If you want to enjoy Sentosa at your leisure, you should spend time there from early morning until late at night.
(7) Science Center: Address of Knowledge with Fun
It is regrettable to note that out of the millions of Indian tourists who visit Singapore, only a few hundred visit the Science Center. This place ranked last on the list of Seven Wonders of Singapore, but it is Singapore’s top attraction, as per the opinion of many tourists. The Science Center of Singapore, equipped with devices that practically explain the (seemingly difficult) subject of science in seconds, is a strange city, a visit to which does not leave the slightest distaste for science in the unknown corner of the mind. Also, get a glimpse of how fun science is—practically, of course! This science center is an accurate model of what a science city should really look like.
Principles applicable to various branches of science are illustrated here in the form of various devices. Almost every working model is equipped with three different switches. Pressing the first arrow activates the model, and a basic explanation of its operation is read out in text on the screen.
When you press the second switch, you get to read the scientific theory behind the working of the model, and when you press the third switch, you get information about the inventor of that theory and in which devices that theory has been woven into human life in one way or another. In short, Singapore has adopted the educational system of explaining the subject not only through textbooks, but interactively. Visitors here are often greeted by hundreds of school students during their visit to the Science Center. Site: https://www.science.edu.sg/
The point at the heart of the list of places to visit in Singapore that we have given here is worth considering. Sprawled over barely seven hundred square kilometers, sprawling Singapore does not have a large landmass. But what happened then? What nature did not provide, the visionary rulers of Singapore have created artificially. Forests ‘grown’ in glass houses, waterfalls falling from a height of 115 feet, and wildlife created with animals and birds brought from different countries of the world are examples of this.
Singapore doesn’t have thousands of years of glorious history like most of the other countries in the world, no historical buildings like the witnesses of history, no mountain ranges like the Himalayas, or forests spread over thousands of square kilometers, yet the country has a place on the tourist map of the world.
Good to Know for a Perfect Trip…
- There are daily direct flights to Singapore from Mumbai, Chennai, and Delhi. Some flights from Ahmedabad to Singapore go via Chennai, Bengaluru, or Kolkata. Singapore Airlines (www.singaporeair.com) has started a direct flight between Ahmedabad and Singapore, but its tickets are a bit expensive.
Singapore_-_Marina_Bay_Sands_Hotel
- To go to Singapore, a visa has to be obtained in advance. All visa related information will be on the https://www.mfa.gov.sg/overseas-mission/mumbai site. If the visa procedure is to be done with an authorized travel/visa agent, then visit https://eregister.mfa.gov.sg/eregisterportal/common/preLoginEregisterView.action
- Like in Europe-America, tap water can be used as drinking water in Singapore as well. Instead of buying an expensive bottle of water, fill up a water bottle from the hotel before leaving for the trip.
- Singapore has very good metro, rail, and bus facilities. Public transport anywhere is convenient and cheaper than expensive taxis. Also, walking in Singapore is a different kind of fun. Especially Marina Bay and its surroundings are worth a walk.
- The area with an Indian majority, called Little India, is a must-see. There are temples for worshiping, and restaurants serving Indian food as well.
- Cleanliness is the nature of Singapore, as is discipline. Strict legal action is taken against those who break that discipline by throwing garbage on the road.
- Singapore’s Changi International Airport is a sight to behold in itself. So it would be fun if you reached the airport a few hours early on the return trip.
Conclusion: Discover the Magic of Singapore
In the tapestry of travel destinations, Singapore stands out as a masterpiece of enchantment and wonder. From its verdant gardens to its bustling streets, every corner of this city-state tells a story waiting to be discovered. Embark on a journey of exploration and immerse yourself in the ethereal escapes that await in the ‘Lion City’.
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