After a good nights rest from our Langkawi trip, Jon and I were heading out to catch the nearby Coach as it left KL headed towards Singapore. By now, our intention was to stay one night with my friend Dave and see the sights and sounds of the city before heading back in time for Jon to catch his flight.
Once we arrived in Singapore, we set out sights to reach the Marina Bay before sunset in order to meet up with some friends who were just finishing work. For those who have been keeping apprised of my travels, I had visited Singapore roughly a year ago and not been back since then. In that short amount of time, I was not expecting a lot to have changed, and unsurprisingly I was right.
The Marina Bay Sands still amazed me for its dominance of the area, and for the view that it garnered while at the top. Up there in the bar called “KU DE TA” we saw the sunset and the majesty of the Singaporean skyline at night. To say that we were slightly under-dressed was an understatement. Jon made a quip that he half expected 007 to turn up and order his drink; such was the caliber of the clientele.
After a few drinks from there, my friend Dave had joined us and we proceeded to head to another bar opposite the Marina with its own Brewery. This was something of a repeat for Dave and I, as it was the same place we had gone to a year ago. However, I was not going to complain as I recalled the view. From across the Marina, you were able to gaze out towards the Marina Bay Sands and the Gardens by the Bay behind them (the one view you cannot get from Ku De Ta). Following a few more interesting places, we managed to stumble back to Dave’s apartment and retire for the night.
The next day, Dave had to work and so we agreed to meet up for lunch after Jon and I had seen some more sights. However, knowing that we needed to catch the coach back to KL today at some point, our main priority was securing the tickets. Something that I genuinely did not think would take as long as it did. After a few hours of wondering around in the heat, we finally managed to get tickets, however, they were due to leave in a few hours. Cutting the sightseeing down on our way to visit Dave, we came across what the local expats call the Batman Building – a standalone tower in the middle of low rises that feels like it has been taken directly from a Tim Burton-esque Gotham City.
After a short while we managed to get back in time to see Dave for lunch and have a proper good-bye before catching the Coach.
The journey back to KL was the shortest I could recall, mainly because I was passed out from exhaustion, waking up only to trudge through emigration and the odd snack breaks.
And then, just like that, a week had passed and it was time for my friend to return back to India, and for me to start planning my next holiday – Hong Kong…
