Singapore Recap: Gardens by the Bay (Mid Autumn Festival)
Saturday, September 24, 2016
Close to the end of my trip, one of my friends came to visit me! She came for four days and three nights (well, including flight time it was more like two half days and two full days). It's not enough to see Singapore, but if you're not from Singapore and taking a quick trip, this is was the itinerary I planned:
4D3N Stay in Singapore
Day 1: Arrival (evening)
- Dinner by Satay by the Bay (can be swapped with Satay at Lau Pa Sat, if you're "hardworking")
- Gardens by the Bay Super Tree show + Mid-Autumn Festival (obviously the latter is a seasonal thing)
- Drive through Chinatown to see the shows
Day 2:
- Singapore Museum
- Lunch at Bugis area, Bugis street.
- Gardens by the Bay (yes, again) - This time we entered the two domes
Day 3:
- Singapore Zoo (full day)
Day 4:
- Toast Box breakfast
- Merlion/MBS
- Drive around town on the way to the airport.
Now, my friend wanted a more historical/nature focused thing, and we didn't really want to tire ourselves out, so our itinerary was rather leisurely (though we still felt exhausted at the end of each day!). If you don't mind rushing/staying out later, I'd add in Little India and/or Chinatown on Day 2 (to be explored by foot). And perhaps the Botanical Garden on the last day, although you'd have to rush through.
Anyway, recapping the trip.
Gardens by the Bay
We actually went twice: The first was at night, for the Mid-Autumn Festival celebrations.
We actually came here straight from the airport, and well, was a bit too early. So we decided to go eat satay first.
We did manage to see the Singapore otters though! So that was good. And at night, the lanterns were really cool!
I remember seeing a Chang Er one, and a Houyi one, though I can't remember if I took photos.
We also managed to catch the Supertree light show, which was a trip through Asia, and ended up including a Japanese song (plus many local favourites)!
Since it was Mid-Autumn, there were tons of things, like lanterns:
It might actually be a good idea to check the website to see what they have, because we got this cool lanterns for free, but we needed a selfish stick that we didn't have. Basically, if you download the app (they provide free wifi for that, and it was pretty fast) and stick your phone into the lantern, the light will change colours depending on your location.
Since we didn't have a selfie stick, I ended up looking as though my hand was a lantern.
Lots of activities too, from riddles (which I never will be able to guess because my Chinese isn't that good)
To Chinese tea (with homemade cookies!):
Ok, found the Houyi Lantern! It's Houyi shooting down nine suns!
On the plus side, there are some pretty awesome views:
We even thought we saw a rafflesia, then we realised there was no smell.
When we got closer, we realised the entire exhibit was made of legos!
The two domes were a nice, cool relief compared to the outside.
Complete with a petrified Smaug.
We actually considered going to the supertree grove to walk on the OCBC skyway, but it got nixed because we were too tired. Perhaps we did stay up too late talking the night before :p
Next post: Singapore Zoo
4D3N Stay in Singapore
Day 1: Arrival (evening)
- Dinner by Satay by the Bay (can be swapped with Satay at Lau Pa Sat, if you're "hardworking")
- Gardens by the Bay Super Tree show + Mid-Autumn Festival (obviously the latter is a seasonal thing)
- Drive through Chinatown to see the shows
Day 2:
- Singapore Museum
- Lunch at Bugis area, Bugis street.
- Gardens by the Bay (yes, again) - This time we entered the two domes
Day 3:
- Singapore Zoo (full day)
Day 4:
- Toast Box breakfast
- Merlion/MBS
- Drive around town on the way to the airport.
Now, my friend wanted a more historical/nature focused thing, and we didn't really want to tire ourselves out, so our itinerary was rather leisurely (though we still felt exhausted at the end of each day!). If you don't mind rushing/staying out later, I'd add in Little India and/or Chinatown on Day 2 (to be explored by foot). And perhaps the Botanical Garden on the last day, although you'd have to rush through.
Anyway, recapping the trip.
Gardens by the Bay
We actually went twice: The first was at night, for the Mid-Autumn Festival celebrations.
We actually came here straight from the airport, and well, was a bit too early. So we decided to go eat satay first.
We did manage to see the Singapore otters though! So that was good. And at night, the lanterns were really cool!
I remember seeing a Chang Er one, and a Houyi one, though I can't remember if I took photos.
We also managed to catch the Supertree light show, which was a trip through Asia, and ended up including a Japanese song (plus many local favourites)!
Since it was Mid-Autumn, there were tons of things, like lanterns:
It might actually be a good idea to check the website to see what they have, because we got this cool lanterns for free, but we needed a selfish stick that we didn't have. Basically, if you download the app (they provide free wifi for that, and it was pretty fast) and stick your phone into the lantern, the light will change colours depending on your location.
Since we didn't have a selfie stick, I ended up looking as though my hand was a lantern.
Lots of activities too, from riddles (which I never will be able to guess because my Chinese isn't that good)
To Chinese tea (with homemade cookies!):
 |
| My friend loved the tie guanyin. |
The next day, we went back to enter the domes. Beware: the walk from the station can be pretty far. It is interesting (with all the different gardens), but if it's hot... it just feels far. You can get the tram, but we didn't really want to spend the money.
On the plus side, there are some pretty awesome views:
We even thought we saw a rafflesia, then we realised there was no smell.
When we got closer, we realised the entire exhibit was made of legos!
The two domes were a nice, cool relief compared to the outside.
Complete with a petrified Smaug.
Next post: Singapore Zoo