Super Impressed with Singapore

Singapore is super coo! Not in temperature, but in it's urban design. 

This city - this country - has embraced such impressive design feats that it's not surprising so many people want to come here to work, live and explore.

Today we strolled from our hostel along the river towards the Bay Gardens. Along the way I continued to be impressed at the way this place has woven together such industrious history with today's modern financial and globalized needs and wants. We walked by a statue honouring Sir Thomas Raffles, the British man who is credited for "founding Singapore in 1819" and his "genius and perception changed the destiny of Singapore from an obscure fishing village to a  great seaport and modern metropolis." Obviously, this Brit led the way in developing something that has certainly not given up it's desire to be great. I'm also impressed that there doesn't seem to be a stench of resentment towards the colonizers here (or maybe there is and I don't see it).

This modern land of opportunity has the most impressive building I've ever seen. It's called Marina Bay. You can pay to take the elevator up to see the city, but it wasn't a priority...maybe it should have been.

Marina Bay and the Merlion - the mythical Singapore creature

I'm not sure if I'm more impressed by the design of the building - three towers with a ship on top, or if I'm more impressed with the fact that some city planners actually approved it. I'm sure there are thousands of imaginative architects out there, but not as many creative people in city offices who are willing to see ideas actually completed.

Anyway, once we were done being impressed by this, we walked to the other side of it and visited Singapore's top rated attraction, Gardens by the Bay. 

I have never been more moved by a park. The contemporary geniuses of Singapore have found a way to beautifully blend human creation with Godly creation. Plants, water, stone, steel, lights, plastic, and throngs of visitors mesh together into something really graceful. It's like the Haliburton Sculpture Forest on steroids. Super steroids!
​
​The light today was incredibly flat, so the pictures lack a lot of colour. The scale is also a challenge to capture, but here are few images anyway.

​These tall structures are called the Super Grove - human made "trees" covered in real plants. They might not look like much, but they are really cool.

I won't bore you with more photos, but I will say I'd really like to come back here to fully explore the park, including the indoor section and the skywalk which were too busy due to Lunar New Year national holiday today.

This evening I saw some more beautiful sculptures in the city when I had a private walk. 

Anyway, I'll be sad to leave Singapore tomorrow because  I feel like there's still so much to explore here.
​We'll be back.