Catching the Vegas Vibe in Singapore

Landing in Singapore after traveling throughout the rest of south east Asia was an eye opener. The city’s strategic location between the Indian Ocean and the South China Sea has turned it into an international financial center. It's sophisticated, orderly, and wealthy - a hotbed of enterprise and capitalism.

And it’s clean. Yes, I heard the stories about getting arrested if you leave chewing gum on the sidewalk. I never saw anyone carted off to the slammer but then I never saw any litter on the streets either. Singaporeans are proud of their city, after all it’s an Asian showcase, and they want to keep it that way.

And another thing, everybody was so darn nice. And happy. True, first impressions can be misleading but they can also color perception. Did I pick up a Vegas vibe? It may not be Disneyland, “the happiest place on earth,” but Singapore reminded us of Las Vegas. I guess it was the sampans carrying people down a fake canal from one end of the Marine Bay Sands shopping center to the other. The Venetian in Vegas also has a fake canal and replica gondolas that take you into the hotel and their casino. The Marine Bay canal does pretty much the same thing.

The epicenter of all this activity was the Marine Bay Sands - a downtown resort consisting of a hotel, a shopping center, and a casino. The hotel itself is an architectural marvel, three towers splayed at the bottom and capped with a 1,120 foot long skyway. It’s an international icon. You’ll recognize it. The view from the top, if you’re lucky enough to swim in the skyway’s infinity pool, overlooks the downtown core and on the other side of the hotel, Singapore’s harbor.

The multi-level shopping emporium, The Shoppes at Marine Bay Sands, features high end brand names, the indoor canal, and leads to other nearby attractions, all within walking distance. The magnificent Gardens by the Bay, 260 acres of lush gardens and biospheres sandwiched between the hotel and the water, was 15 minutes away.

Singapore thinks big. Yes, there are rhododendrons and orchids and other Gardens by the Bay plants to admire but why leave nature to nature? Singapore has embraced technology big time and what better place to see it at work than at the Supertree Grove. The Grove consists of 18 tree-like structures ranging in height from 82 to 160 feet tall. Except they’re not trees but steel and concrete pillars wrapped with native foliage, tubing, and sensors to emulate the real thing. Photovoltaic cells harness solar energy, mimicking photosynthesis while receptacles capture enough rainwater to irrigate the gardens. It was a weird feeling looking at what are essentially living sculptures.

And then there were the biospheres. Cloud Forest, is a cleverly reconstructed rain forest encased in steel and glass. The entrance was stunning. We were met by the largest indoor waterfall in the world, a torrent of water falling 98 feet to the floor when suddenly a screeching roar filled the room. We turned our heads to find a life-sized animatronic T-Rex towering above us. As we continued walking through the dome, other prehistoric dinos came to life. Cloud Forest has worked a deal with the Jurassic Park franchise and the Jurassic branding was everywhere. It was cute but I felt the attraction could have cut back on repeating that ubiquitous movie theme. Enough already.

We climbed the stairs (there are elevators too) to the next level, one of six in the structure, each level representing a different milestone in the life of the planet. Once we reached the top, we descended a circular walkway that wrapped itself around and under the waterfall. A fine mist was released to water the plants and we really did feel like walking in the clouds.

The other biosphere, the Flower Dome, a collection of plants from around the world was colorful and calming.

The nearby ArtScience Museum, housed in the shape of a stylized lotus flower, continued Singapore’s love affair with technology. Lights, projectors, and VR headsets re-created both pre-programmed and user-generated interactive artworks.

Other calling cards included the Singapore Flyer, 100 feet taller than the London Eye (why does every city on earth have its own Ferris wheel) and SuperPark, an indoor theme park consisting of trampolines, slides, climbing walls and a games area where visitors can play things like air hockey and super pinball. Fun for the kids but we headed to the opulent Raffles Hotel for another kind of entertainment.

Named after British colonial officer Sir Stamford Raffles, the man credited with founding modern Singapore, the Raffles Hotel is a Singapore landmark. It's lavish, opulent, and expensive. It's also the place where the Singapore Sling, a mixture of gin, fruit juices, and bitters, comes from. Sir Raffles didn’t create the Sling himself; it was concocted by the hotel’s bartender in 1915 but somehow the drink travelled the world and the Singapore Sling took on a mythic quality.

Raffles makes a big deal of having created the original Sling and the hotel's Long Bar, where it originated, is ground zero. Like sheep primed for fleecing we stood outside the Long Bar with other obedient tourists, waiting for the chance to enter hallowed ground. After all, the Long Bar is the place where diplomats, emigres and famous novelists like Somerset Maugham came to rest, converse and share tales of Blighty. And of course drink Singapore Slings.

Fifteen minutes later, we were escorted to a table and immediately presented with a bag of peanuts. Eating peanuts and throwing the shells on the floor is a Raffles tradition. Somehow littering the floor with a carpet of shells seemed out of place in this revered, austere, dark-paneled room but who were we to question tradition? The Sling itself was pleasant if a little sweet. At $35 dollars each, it was overpriced. Yep, overpriced just like Vegas. Tomorrow we would hunker down for a deeper dive into other Singaporean delights but for now we were having fun in Fun City money be damned.