Day 12 – The Amazing Marina Bay Sands

When in Singapore, you just have to splurge a little. How often would I be in Singapore especially since it’s a 20 hour flight? We checked out of Hotel Fort Canning and headed towards our final hotel of the trip – the famous Marina Bay Sands.

Marina Bay Sands is Singapore’s most iconic hotel with the world’s largest rooftop Infinity Pool. One of the reasons why we decided to stay here was because of the Infinity Pool since it was only for hotel guests.

Check in was at 3pm but we were still able to check in without getting our room until 3. When we arrived the line was quite long, but it didn’t matter too much since the staff was giving out drinks (water & mango juice) and icecream as you’re waiting in line. They sure know how to keep you happy while you wait!

We had 3 hours before we get our room and our luggage was stored away so we decided to explore the hotel a little bit before we went to get food. Marina Bay Sands is massive, I honestly think you can spend a solid 3 days walking around (including Gardens by the Bay and the surrounding area of the hotel) and finding new things to do.

Here are some pictures I took when we walked around:

Even though we didn’t have a room yet, we were given guest card keys that allowed us to access the elevators and check out the Infinity Pool at the roof, so that’s exactly what we did. Idea for an upcoming blog post after the end of this trip series: Tips/advice on maximizing your time and getting the most out of Marina Bay Sands.

The Infinity Pool is absolutely amazing. I was pretty excited to come up here ASAP once we get our room. Pics will be included below when I get to the part where we went to the pool, but here’s a teaser:

After checking out dinner options in the hotel, we decided to grab food outside and so that we can explore Singapore a little bit more before we spend our entire day I Marina Bay Sands. It just didn’t make sense to not stay in MBS the whole day after getting our room – there was so much we had to take advantage of!

We took a Grab to Chinatown to eat at the famous Liao Fan Hong Kong Soya Sauce Chicken Rice & Noodle known for the cheapest Michelin Star. We got the iconic chicken rice dish, char siew noodles, a herbal tea drink and a fresh coconut for around $15 Singaporean dollars – a steal.

I wanted to find the outdoor street stand but didn’t see it so we opted to eat at the indoor restaurant. The quality of the food is exceptional for the price. I personally think the char siew noodles is the real winner. Maybe the chicken rice taste better from the actual street stand.

After late breakfast/early lunch, we decided to check out an area called Yong Siak St, because I wanted to look at books at a bookstore, BooksActually. I was surprised to find so many unique books there, mostly poetry and probably self published or by a local publishing company. I kinda regret not getting anything now that I look back. I wish we spent more time around the area since there were so many quaint boutiques and hipster coffee shops.

We got back to MBS at 3pm but I still didn’t get an email about my room being ready yet. 30 minutes later, I just had to go ask about it since it was cutting into our day and mostly because we shouldn’t be having this problem since this place was so expensive! I talked to one of the employees and they apologized that it wasn’t ready yet and I was able to score a late check out for 1pm and got bumped up a couple of floors. I was excited since that meant we’ll get a better view of Garden by the Bay.

Garden view from our hotel balcony

Once our luggage got delivered to us, it was time to head to the infinity pool. It was late noon and the sun was beaming at us. Unfortunately for us, the view wasn’t too clear so I wasn’t too happy with my pictures.

It was great that the pool was divided into two sections, one for adults only and one for everyone else. Of course we stayed at the adult section, but I ended up going to the other section because it had a better view of the buildings. The water was surprisingly warm, but I wasn’t too surprised since we were so far up and close to the sun.

Pina colada in a pineapple

Normally, I’m not a big fan of pure R&R type of traveler. When I was at Blue Lagoon in Iceland, I was pretty much over it after half a hour. Here, we were chilling in the Infinity Pool for a good 3ish hours, soaking in some sun, enjoying the view and the amazing drinks. Honestly, just relaxing in the Infinity Pool felt like a once in a lifetime experience. I would say it’s probably the highlight of the trip.

After washing up from the pool, we walked over to Gardens by the Bay to walk the light show at the Supertree Grove. We sat on the floor waiting for it and it kinda felt like sitting at Disney’s magic kingdom for fireworks. There was music, opera music to be exact and it definitely set the mood.

When it was still bright outside

We walked over to where the Flower dome and Cloud Forest was, but by that time it was too late so we decided to go the next day. Instead of walking back, we took the trolley which was just way more efficient for only $3 Singapore dollars.

We didn’t want to go out for dinner so we opted in for a dinner buffet at one of the restaurants in Marina Bay Sands, Rise. The theme of the buffet was around the world, so it was pretty insane how many options there were. From Japanese and French food to Chinese, Indian and Italian. It was GOOD buffet food too. Like every other buffet meal I had in the past, I could never eat enough.

Japanese food section

After being defeated by the buffet, we wanted to check out the Infinity Pool at night since the view of the city would be lit up.

I can’t decide, the view in the morning and night are both worth it. It made me want to check out Merlion Park at night and since Jackie didn’t want to come. I took a Grab myself and took my time enjoying the view. I just wasn’t able to get good shots of the city and the Merlion at night. These were the only two pictures that would do..