Yesterday, after much urging from local hotel staff and taxi drivers, we visited Singapore's latest and biggest development, The Marina Bay Sands. It consists of three 50+ story hotel towers that are the base for the Skypark, an interconnecting platform that is really just an observation deck on steroids (Think shallow bathtub in the sky).
Marina Bay Skypark from Shopping Mall Plaza
At ground level are miles of glass containing a Sands casino, a shopping mall that has hundreds of shops, etc., etc. And, in a small nod to the arts, the ArtScience Museum designed by Moshe Safdie.
It is the one spot of cultural light in a giant sea of manon (a la Las Vegas) mediocrity.
ArtScience Museum, Singapore
Safdie's design appears to have its origins in the lotus flower.
Reflecting Pool Lotus Flower
If you are interested in more detail, you can visit the museum's web site www.MarinaBaySands.com/ArtScienceMuseum.
J&E took in the main exhibit "Dali Mind of a Genius." Neither of us have ever been Dali enthusiasts, but we found his sculptures to be much more original and thought provoking than his prints, which were marketed to death in the 1970s and 1980s in the US.
Dali, "Snail and the Angel"
Dali, "The Centurion"
After the museum, we did the de rigueur visit to the Skypark, and Jerry took too many images of the city of Singapore's skyline and the Straits of Malacca with its 100s of ships laying at anchor. No, they are not all going to be included -- You are saved! But, as a final image of this visit to Singapore, here is a shot of The Fullerton Hotel and the Merlion from the Skypark.
The Fullerton Hotel and Merlion (bottom right) from the SkyPark
It was back to the hotel to check out and bid farewell to the staff, who had been most concerned about our welfare and entertainment. Then, the hotel car to the Sentosa Cruise Terminal, followed by boarding the Silver Shadow. At this point, we discovered that the Silver Shadow would be remaining in Singapore overnight, because the port we were to visit in Indonesia was not completed. So, as this is written, we are still tied up to the pier in Singapore.
In the realm of odd coincidence, Silversea has taken to selling art prints and sculptures on board (anything for money). And, what should be lurking all around the lobby, but miniatures of old Salvador's sculptures. The very ones on display at the Singapore ArtScience Museum. Maybe the comment about where money ends and culture begins should be re-thought in the light of these Dalis at sea.
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