Friday, October 7, 2011

Skypark @ Marina Bay Sands

If you come to Singapore then you must visit this man made wonder named Marina Bay sands which is right at the heart of Marina Bay. Marina Bay sands is an integrated resort which consists of casinos,shopping malls , restaurants , hotels , infinity pool and a observation deck.

The Sands is 55 storey high. On the top of this 3 slant pillar shaped resort is the cherry on the icing -The Skypark.The Skypark is a boat shaped structure which sits on top of the building and is longer then the Eiffel tower.

On one side of sky park there is a observation deck and on the other side there is infinity pool. The entrance fee for the skypark is $ 20 per person. I was so excited that we finally are going to the skypark. I made naveen carry tripod all the way to realize that you cannot use them on the observation deck. That's pretty disappointing but I think its fair .Imagine if everyone starts bringing there own tripod.The place is already crowded minus the tripods esp on weekends.
The entrance to the ticket counter is pretty confusing. Its hidden in the ground floor so we had to ask for the direction at the information counter . Moreover after getting down from bus we dint know where was the entrance of the resort so we just followed others.

After you buy the tickets you are led to the observation deck. The deck is surrounded by open glass barriers which is amazing as you can get clear panoramic view of singapore unlike the minera tower is KL which is completely enclosed inside glass chamber!!


There is also a restaurant at the deck but we dint get a chance to go. We went there prior to National Day so you can imagine the crowd who were waiting to catch the glimpse of national day parade practise session and the fireworks.

The observation deck is only a tiny part of the skypark ,the remaining part is closed for general public viewing. We were most disappointed with the fact that the skypark looks so huge from outside but when you go to deck it is pretty small. The infinity pool occupies the rest of skypark and entry to the pool is allowed only for the hotel guests.

We would have loved to get a spectacular view of the infinity pool but I guess we have to be content with just a glimpse of it. This wont stop me from giving a bit of info about this pool.The pool although looks dangerous is a very safe one indeed. The water which looks as if they are going all the way down are actually falling into a barrier which is visible only from the side. This gives you an illusion that the swimming pool is located on the edge of the skypark.

Disclaimer - This pictures is not taken by me. I took them from some site.

The Marina Bay Sands resort is strategically located in such a place that you can see all the iconic structures of Singapore from the top.There is the Arts and Science Museum, Esplanade,Fullerton Hotel, Helix Bridge ,Marina Bay Boardwalk .You can have a closer look at them in my other article about Marina Bay.



In case you are wondering what are these in the below two images , well since National Day Parade practice was going on that is the marine ship, looks so small from top but its very huge.


These are some decorative boats which took part in the parade.

The flyer, still in our list of places to go in Singapore but we might give it a miss as sitting idle in the flyer for one hour just to get the view is no fun. I can get a better view from the skypark.

Singapore is constantly adding new iconic structures to its list and the latest one is Gardens by the Bay. We caught a glimpse of it from the top. The opening of a part of this iconic structure is supposed to be this year end.Its a themed garden which will host amazing plants and also is touted to be the next architectural wonder in Singapore.


So finally here it comes , the firework for which we all were waiting from 2 hours. We entered the deck at 6 pm and saw that it was crowded and people were waiting for something. I dint realise immediately that NDP practice was going on. Everyone was glued to that place and it was so hard for us to find a place near the glass barrier. So we stood behind some people and waited patiently for them to finish their admiration of the beauty of singapore. As soon as they left I squeezed my way to that position .

I am very quick in such things - I run towards an empty seat when we enter bus, I try to find a empty table in restaurant and sometimes wont mind standing behind a person to finish his food. I have to say I am pretty shameless in going for the kill in this first come first serve kind of things, hubby on the other hand is shy and thinks very low of such behaviour.

Anyway my behaviour got us a place to view the sight unobstructed from the Skypark. And we stood their for the next one hour in a hope that we will have the best view when the fireworks starts.Time passed and it was 8 still no signs of fireworks !! even the ang-moh(name given to caucasian in Singapore) couple will three kids next to us were not hesitant to declare there boundary.See when it comes to these kind of things every race is same. Why do you think people queue up for free gifts even in Singapore ??

Ok no fireworks till 8 so we left our guarded place and decided to explore the already small observation deck(remember entry to pool was closed that day ) . And then there it was BOOM BOOM BOOM.... fireworks for 10 min.Although I was not at the best possible location but the pictures turned out ok.



Finally it was time to leave . This time it was my turn to hold the tripod which we never used.Next time have to do some research before I make hubby carry it all the way .
We came down the elevator and entered the mall located opposite to the Sands. Good place for window shopping , I say this because this place has only high end brands with ridiculous price tags for everything.

Then there is food .The variety of food in Singapore is amazing and this place was no exception. We ate sandwich,curry puff and some cake.

This is a saucer shaped structure at the exit which has a water swirling down.

How to get there -The opening hours of Skypark is from 10Am to 10 PM daily and stretches till 11 PM on weekends. To get to Skypark get down at Promenade MRT station at yellow line and hop on to bus number 130. It will take 10 min to reach the Sands from there.


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5 comments:

bookjunkie said...

cool photo of the fountain that looks sort of like a sink :) I only saw it from the bottom, inside the mall but not from the top.

Chaithra and Naveen said...

Thanks for dropping by .
I am yet to visit the area beneath this huge sink !!

kranthi said...

nice photos. i will surely visit singapore in future,then i really want to visit these places

Chaithra and Naveen said...

Thanks Kranti.You can then refer to this blog and plan your itinerary :)

thebestofsingapore said...

Looks like you had an awesome adventure at Sands Skypark! I've linked you here http://kusuisland.wordpress.com/2012/03/22/sands-skypark-marina-bay-sands-singapore/ so that my readers can read about your wonderful experience too. Thanks for sharing!

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