Unfortunately, it’s been far too long since I was able to visit Singapore. All the worse because quite a bit has happened in the last year are so, such as the opening of Terminal 3 at Changi, as well as the world’s biggest ferris wheel. To bad I just have a couple of days.

Contrasts of Singapore: Colonial buildings, space ships and modern sculptures.

One of the first big things I notice is the amount of construction. It seems to be going on everywhere, from the two new huge casino projects, to the circle line, to new buildings such as Ion at the Orchard intersection. You wouldn’t know that there’s a global economic crisis by looking at the city’s skyline, but Singapore has always been a city that looked ahead. The recovery will come, sooner or later, and when it does, they’ll be ready.

I went to have a look at Vivo City, a new shopping mall opened next to the Habourfront Center. The leasing agents who were handling this mall while it was still under construction made it sound like a very high end project, along the lines of Siam Paragon. Well, it’s a nice mall, but it’s nothing like a high end mall. It does have some interesting attractions. One is the monorail station to Sentosa. Given the mall’s accessibility from the subway, the monorail would make a convenient way of getting to Sentosa for the day. The top of the mall also has a roof-top garden – something of a trend it seems. The focal point of the garden is a large shallow puddle, which appears to be popular with shoppers, who like to take off their shoes and cool their feet off in.

View of Singapore from the Flyer

I made it a point to take a ride on the Singapore Flyer, the world’s largest observation wheel. An electrical problem put the ride out of business late last year, but it’s back in business, with some new safety measures. The wheel is located on the south end of the Marina district, with all of the Singapore’s center spread out below you. When you reach the top of the wheel 15 minutes into the ride, you’re 165 meters above the ground. In addition to the views of the city, whether by design or as an afterthought, the Flyer provides a great overview of the Marina Bay Sands mega project. There’s even a model of the project on the roof of the Flyer’s terminal building.

I was surprised there wasn’t more of a queue for the Flyer, but at S$29.50 per person, it’s not exactly a cheap thrill. There are a number of restaurants in the terminal building, so if there is a queue, there’s plenty of options for a bite to eat.