And now for the Travel is Fatal Reader Question of the Week! [TiF's RQOTW starts--and likely ends--with this post.]
Well Ms. Judy, yes, my grandmother is an excellent mentor. She also told me she didn't think you'd mind if I gave you a shout out on the blog. Thanks for writing in!
Oh wait... maybe that wasn't the question I was supposed to be answering.
Ms. Judy got an email [not from us] with pictures of the Marina Bay Sands Hotel. The email read:
How timely! The week before I went to California, I had a tour of Marina Bay Sands. And if you think these pictures are impressive, you should see the ones in their promotional material. Wow.
Aside from the fact that the grammar is a bit questionable and I think the all-caps bit at the end is unnecessarily bossy, the email is basically correct. The Marina Bay Sands complex opened at the end of April 2010 and is convention space, a hotel, a casino, a theater, lots of shopping and restaurants, and the ArtScience museum, [which--tangent--has a Van Gogh exhibit right now that I'd like to see, but tickets are $30 each, which for a former DC girl, seems steep.] I'm not sure "the most expensive in the world" is much of a selling point, but it is fancy.
The three towers are hotel rooms, the SkyPark is across the top, and the museum, casino, shopping, etc are across the street in the much lower buildings on the water. There are gardens currently under construction on the opposite side of the hotel that will include a greenhouse for "temperate plants."
I was told this on my tour and it struck me as really funny. At home we build hot and steamy greenhouses for orchids and tropical plants. Here, they're building a greenhouse for the temperate plants: "Look, we really want some daffodils, so we're going to need a greenhouse with some air con!" Ha.
The SkyPark is 200 meters in the sky on top of the three hotel towers and features the world's highest and largest outdoor infinity pool along with a couple of restaurants and garden space. The curved end in this picture is the area that is open to the public for a $20 fee. The rest of the space is for hotel guests only and there's a club house and restaurant up there.
While I wasn't a hotel guest, I did get to see the pool on my tour. It does probably afford some of the best views of Singapore, but the day I was there the views were thus:
Still extremely nice, but a little hazy and Speedo-y for my taste.
The building is architecturally interesting, though, and does make an impressive addition to the Singapore skyline. This panorama was taken with the iPhone in mid-May, (the night of my birthday outing which I don't think we've mentioned), and I've been meaning to go out at night and take a real-camera better version. But in the meantime, here you go.
Shiny!
So yes, Ms. Judy, those pictures are an accurate representation and it is very nice. Especially on a clear day with a professional photographer. But I'm not sure the complex alone is bucket-list worthy.
Alli, is this a real depiction of the Sky Park there?
As I’ve told you, I enjoy your articles so very much and love and adore your grandmother. Isn’t she the greatest mentor of all time?
Look forward to your next writing.
God Bless,
Judy
Well Ms. Judy, yes, my grandmother is an excellent mentor. She also told me she didn't think you'd mind if I gave you a shout out on the blog. Thanks for writing in!
Oh wait... maybe that wasn't the question I was supposed to be answering.
Ms. Judy got an email [not from us] with pictures of the Marina Bay Sands Hotel. The email read:
June 24 in Singapore , opened a new wonder of the world. " Sky Park " Marina Bay Sands is located on the 200-meter height on the three skyscrapers, as if on three pillars. Here is the most expensive in the world of casinos, bars, restaurants, the largest outdoor swimming pool, 150 meters long and even the Museum of Modern Art. ADD TO YOUR BUCKET LIST!!!
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| Photo from original email. |
Aside from the fact that the grammar is a bit questionable and I think the all-caps bit at the end is unnecessarily bossy, the email is basically correct. The Marina Bay Sands complex opened at the end of April 2010 and is convention space, a hotel, a casino, a theater, lots of shopping and restaurants, and the ArtScience museum, [which--tangent--has a Van Gogh exhibit right now that I'd like to see, but tickets are $30 each, which for a former DC girl, seems steep.] I'm not sure "the most expensive in the world" is much of a selling point, but it is fancy.
The three towers are hotel rooms, the SkyPark is across the top, and the museum, casino, shopping, etc are across the street in the much lower buildings on the water. There are gardens currently under construction on the opposite side of the hotel that will include a greenhouse for "temperate plants."
I was told this on my tour and it struck me as really funny. At home we build hot and steamy greenhouses for orchids and tropical plants. Here, they're building a greenhouse for the temperate plants: "Look, we really want some daffodils, so we're going to need a greenhouse with some air con!" Ha.
 |
| Photo from the original email |
While I wasn't a hotel guest, I did get to see the pool on my tour. It does probably afford some of the best views of Singapore, but the day I was there the views were thus:
Still extremely nice, but a little hazy and Speedo-y for my taste.
The building is architecturally interesting, though, and does make an impressive addition to the Singapore skyline. This panorama was taken with the iPhone in mid-May, (the night of my birthday outing which I don't think we've mentioned), and I've been meaning to go out at night and take a real-camera better version. But in the meantime, here you go.
Shiny!
So yes, Ms. Judy, those pictures are an accurate representation and it is very nice. Especially on a clear day with a professional photographer. But I'm not sure the complex alone is bucket-list worthy.