Singapore : Knight Riders In The Lion City

Wednesday, May 8, 2013

Singapore : Knight Riders In The Lion City

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Singapore : Knight Riders In The Lion City

Night Reflections Of Marina Sands Hotel & the Greenhouse.

Singapore City : 26th April 2013

Duo Ride - Carmen Street>Mounbatten Road>Nicole Highway>Republic Avenue>Raffles Avenue>Lau Pa Sat>Super Trees Park>Marina Barrage>Tanjung Rhu>Mounbatten Road>Carmen Street

Distance covered : approx. 28.02 km.

Time : 9:45 pm - 1:30 am
Time Taken : approx. 3 hrs. 45 mins. (including stops for supper, photo shoots, etc.)

Route Recommendations :
1. A portion of the ride was along busy Singapore streets, so do light up yourselves and your bicycles.
2. Ride by the Singapore old Central Business District to view the many office towers well lit at night.
3. Taking street food supper at Lau Pa Sat one can view the everyday Singaporean in their relaxed mood.
4. The Marina Barrage at night is a must. From here, one has a scenic view of the Marina Bay Sands Hotel, the Greenhouse and the Singapore Flyer with their beauty reflected by the waters of Marina Bay.

PRE-RIDE

In the morning, I rode my Brompton over to the 1-Utama Transportation Hub for my ride with the Five Stars bus down to Singapore. My C-bag almost full to the brim with luggage for three nights.

I folded my Brompton and put it into an Ikea Dimpa Bag (see Bagging My Brompton) before putting it into the bus hold. The bus will be stopping at the Golden Mile Complex; the return fare is RM150 and estimated time of travel 6 hours.

Arriving in Singapore, I took a bus from the Golden Mile Complex to the Siglap area, where I unfolded my bike and rode to my cousin's place (that's where I will be staying for two nights) at Carmen Street.
My cousin was a very warm host, even cooking dinner for me. After dinner, her husband Thomas took me on a night bike tour of Singapore City, the Lion City.
Woooohoooooo! Riding time!

THE RIDE

Cycling Route : Siglap>Republic Avenue>Lau Pat Sat>Marina Barrage>Siglap
The two of us will ride from the Siglap suburbs down to Republic Avenue then onwards to Lau Pa Sat for supper. We will return via the Marina Barrage back to Siglap.

We started off at around 9:45 pm and headed out towards East Coast Road. Thomas here keeping a watchful eye on me to make sure that I don't get lost.

At Katong, passing by the 112 Katong Mall.

On the Merdeka Bridge overlooking Marina Bay and the Singapore Flyer.

Riding into Republic Boulevard, we passed by the foot of the Singapore Flyer.

And then the Theaters On The Bay.

The Marina Bay Sands Hotel would normally look like a ship on top of the buildings. But viewed form the bottom up, it looked like a zeppelin balloon moored to the top of the buildings.

We moved on to Shenton Way, the former Central Business District of Singapore. The DBS (Development Bank of Singapore) Building standing tall & strong.

Well, time for a break & some eats; and where better than at Lau Pa Sat.
"Lau Pa Sat" in Hokkein literally means "Old Market". The old market here has been refurbished with up-market boutique style shops & eateries.

But at night, it is the streets on a couple of sides that come to live with food stalls, and open air dining on the streets.

We ordered some Roti Prata (in Malaysia it's called Roti Chanai) from this stall. The food is made there and then.
Thomas went to the drinks stall to get some iced milked tea. Yes, in Singapore the drinks stall are semi-self-serviced, one has to bring the drinks back to one's table.

Over here, I could not help but admire the full moon peeping through the clouds.

Finished with supper, we rode to the Marina Barrage From there the view of the Marina Bay is really panoramic.

More views from the Barrage (Gardens side) :-

Office towers.

Closer view of Marina Bay Sands Hotel, the Singapore Flyer and the Theaters On The Bay.

Close-up of the Singapore Flyer and the Theaters On The Bay.

The Marina Bay Sands Hotel.

Further along, we rode to the Super Trees Park at the Gardens By The Bay.
One of the entrance to the park is a psychedelic lit corridor.

Blue-violet Super Trees with the Marina Bay Sands Hotel in the background.

Red Super Trees with the Singapore Flyer in the background.

The AhPek Biker Brompton among the Blue-violet Super Trees.

A red Super Tree with the green house behind. I wonder what these super trees function as? Are they vents for heat from air-conditioning equipment for the green houses?

We rode onto the Barrage itself, the rows of lights here making it look like an airport landing strip. Intermittently space out on the left are "fingers" viewing platforms.

Somehow, from here the water of the Marina Bay seem calmer, and the reflections of the Marina Greenhouse onto the bay was superbly distinct.

Reflections of the Singapore Flyer onto Marina Bay.

Reflections of the Benjamin Shears Bridge onto the Marina Bay the lighting effect making them seems like disjointed platforms.

A closer look at the reflections of the Benjamin Shears Bridge.

With that we made our way to Mounbatten Road and rode home. It is close to 1:30 am in the morning. Time does fly when one is having fun, thanks to Thomas.

Good night!

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