City Lights

For my last full day in Singapore, I hoped to give myself a fitting finale by enjoying a few of the sights I had not been able to make my way to during my trip to date.

I had deliberately left the task of major sightseeing until my last day, to ensure that upon leaving Singapore, I would only be departing with fond memories. My stay in this country has been an interesting, eye-opening and varied one, and although I expected to be making my stay in Singapore a more permenant one, I don't really have to many bad words to say about this month long experience.

Enjoying another lie in this morning, I lazily made my way to the station in Yew Tee with the intention of heading towards the city. From my recently changed 'home' it takes about 45 minutes to get to Orchard (home of the shoppaholics), and this is where I figured I would start my sightseeing today.

Although I spent plenty of time in the surroundings or Orchard the other evening, it is a relatively confusing place to navigate your way around. With only hundreds of shops to use as waypointa, you would easily find yourself going around in a circle without realising! Thankfully I was quite fortunate to navigate to the place that I wanted to be, as I headed along a familiar road from Orchard Road to Marina Bay - a journey I had made on one of my first ventures into Singapore's skyscrapper laiden streets.

Even at the time of the afternoon that I arrived, the streets were teeming with people. For those unfamiliar with the frantic pace of Asian life I can imagine where this would be one of those times were it's difficult to take in your surroundings.

I walked past many familiar sights as I followed the mainly straight road towards the bay, only stopping for some quick refreshment, and a break from the punishing heat of the concrete jungle.

I decided to alter my route somewhat from the one which I had made on my first trip to Marina Bay, with the intention of coming out very close to the Singapore Flyer.

As one of the major tourist attractions in this country, the Singapore Flyer is Asia's answer to the London Eye. I believe it was the biggest ferris wheel in the world but I wouldn't be surprised if it had been usurped by another location close to this part of the world.

Whatever the case, it towers imposingly over the surrounding area, and I found it difficult to fit the whole thing in a picture to be honest.

Whilst walking along I was also intregued by the early stages of setting up taking place for this weekend's Singapore Grand Prix.

Although I am looking forward to returning to England I have to be honest and say that I am a bit devestated that I will not be in town when it takes place.

In recent years I have become a huge fan of F1 racing, and the race in Singapore has always been my favourite. Everytime I have ventured into the city I have been looking jelously at banners and electronic advertisments which show what those lucky enough to be going this weekend are likely to see.

I have a good idea of the numerous locations the street circuit race goes past, including the Singapore Flyer, and it was a hive of activity as I got close by with sections of the road being fenced off and teams preparing to set up for a busy weekend of action.

I managed to get a bit higher up to take some better photos of the Flyer, but at level 3 of the complex you had to be in possession of a ticket, so I descended and carried on following the fledgling stages of the track which had been constructed.

Some of the roads that will be used in Sunday's race are still being used by the public, so I followed the route as far as possible before finding a new interest.

My intention for today was to capture Singapore in all it's glory - at night. I had to retrace some old steps to do this, but returning to Marina Bay Sands and also the Esplanade Theater, but approaching from a different angle, I found a few surprises that I was not expecting.

After walking away from the Flyer and towards Marina Bay Sands I crossed over a flyover bridge to location that I believe will be used in the start finish-straight of the Grand Prix. I was able to take some good photos of there, showing the grandstand seating available for the public, but also I noticed that there was another famous sporting location in view.

Next to this section of the track was a football pitch which juts out into the water. I had seen photos of this place, and found it rather unique, so it was very fortunate when I stumbled upon it after continuing to walk towards Marina Bay. I decided to head instead of away from the football pitch, to go towards it, and then follow the path around past the Esplanade Theater and eventually to the Merlion Statue.

Despite having been in this area before, I was still pretty impressed by the skyscrapers located close to the water, and attempted to take some photos and get in as many of them as possible.

Around the Esplanades Theater is perhaps the most photogenic part of Singapore, but it is also the most difficult to capture. Someone needs to hurry up and develop a 360 panoramic camera for locations just like this.

Walking along down by the river I followed the road around towards the Merlion. If you imagine large square with the bay located in the middle and me standing at the bottom right hand angle, the Merlion is on the East Side, skyscrapers to the north, Marina Bay Sands to the west, and then the Singapore Flyer and the Esplanades on the southern side.

The Merlion is perhaps the most recognisable piece of architecture in the country as well as being the most reviered. Its a pretty strange structure, and as you will be able to compare from my two photos of Merlion-type structures, it is also not the largest one available for viewing in Singapore. There are lots of people fighting for photo space around the Merlion's base so I took a few pictures and then sat on some steps close by to the water waiting for the sun to set below it.

As time went on, the view got more and more impressive as I was able to see pretty much clearly across the water to Marina Bay Sands.

The number of people seemed to increase as the sun went down, and as soon as a few lights began to be switched on in the distance I decided to head towards the skyscrapers to get an excellent view of Singapore's sights.

I have to say that at sunset this is one of the most spectacular views I have ever seen. Singapore seems to be a country that comes alive when the lights are on, and all of a sudden bars and restaurants seemed to open their doors where before it seemed there was little life.

Walking around to the far side of the bay, I was treated to a spectacular view of the countries 'big four' sights, and with skyscrapers behind me also lit up, I was hugely spoilt for choice in terms of which direction to look and what to photograph.

I performed a circuit around the square of the bay, and ended up by returning to the side close to the flyer in a bid to get back to the MRT station.

As I followed the road around, the F1 track started to pick up again as floodlit streets were being changed into hairpin corners, and a number of cyclists (likely working for some of the competing teans) followed the route around to mark out the track.

My last day in Singapore has been a throughly enjoyable one, and being able to witness everything I have done today whilst walking around at night has only served as a reminder how lucky I am to have been able to get this experience.

Singapore is, in truth, Asia-lite, but it is different enough for me to remember why I love this continent so much. There seems to be so much to do even in a small place like Singapore, that I am disappointed to be leaving when I am, but also looking forward to coming back in the future.

I cannot recommend a visit highly enough, only insisting that you don't allow your experience to be solely conducted within the confinds of the downtown area.

This country has so much more to offer than expensive drinks, swanky condos and high-rise buildings, and I think it is important for me to remember that when I return home.

My experiences here have been mostly positive, and now I look forward to the next journey that awaits me. It took over a year between my last two trips - Oslo and Singapore - but yet another enjoyable visit abroad has once again given me a taste of life in a foreign country. With such positive experiences only breeds the enthusiasm to visit other 'new' and 'foreign' parts of the globe. Not all of them will be as modern and 1st world as Singapore, but I will be as enthusiastic to tackle their challenges, because of the excellent experiences that I have enjoyed in parts unknown throughout the world.

I started my visit to Singapore not knowing what to expect, and hoping it lived up to my expectations. I am pleased to confirm that it far-exceeded those expectations, and I look forward to experiencing new thrills on my next visit!

Tomorrow the birds will sing.