Sketching and Eating My Way Around Singapore’s Marina Bay

Day 81, 2024 Grand World Voyage

Sunday, March 24, 2024; Singapore.

After my fun day on my own in Saigon, I decided to treat myself again today. My sisters, who hadn’t been to Singapore before, took an Iconic Singapore ship excursion that included a riverboat cruise to Marina Bay, a bus tour through old Singapore past the Raffles Hotel and a walking tour of Chinatown.

I headed out early with a sketchbook and a larger sketch block in my backpack, along with paints, brushes and other paraphernalia. For the second time, I didn’t get out the paint, contenting myself with sketching in pencil and then in ink and leaving the painting until later on the ship. Singapore again was hot and humid, and the sun was relentless where trees didn’t offer shade. I was glad I had the neck fan I bought myself as a treat for Christmas.

After walking the half-mile to the MRT station, I rode the subway a couple of stops to Raffles Place and walked along the Singapore River, with its stunning city views and quirky statues and art.

My first objective was Merlion Park, where the river meets Marina Bay. In 2017 when I last followed this route – although on a riverboat — the iconic Merlion statue was shrouded in scaffolding. Today’s first objective was to see it revealed, with the Marina Bay Sands in the background across the bay. It would make a great painting.

The mythical merlion is the official symbol of Singapore, whose Malay name of Singa Pura means Lion City. A shipwrecked prince from Sumatra named it thus long ago after seeing a creature he thought was a lion. There’s no evidence that lions were ever on this peninsula, but the name stuck. The merlion combines the head of a lion with the body of a fish due to the city’s origin as a fishing village.

The first thing I realized was that I should have planned my day in reverse, traveling from east to west with the sun. By starting here, I was facing east. My pictures suffered from the backlighting of the sun. The sun’s position will be just one more data point to consider in future explorations.

No worries – I sat and sketched, reminding myself that a sketch isn’t a photograph. Just as I tightened the positioning of the merlion with the hotel (eliminating expanses of dead space), I changed the lighting of my watercolor to put sunlight on the scene.

First, I walked around the park, looking for the best angle. After waiting a few minutes, someone left one of the shaded concrete block seats in the plaza, and I plopped myself down. I’ve learned to keep wearing my crossbody purse and lace my foot through the straps of my backpack on the ground. I lose awareness of what is happening around me when my focus is on my sketching, and hundreds of tourists milled about the park, taking selfies and chasing down children.

After taking advantage of a beautiful ladies room in the Fullerton Hotel, I walked a mile around Marina Bay back to the Marina Bay Sands, arriving in the three-level mall full of designer brands. I was interested in lunch, not shopping.

One of the first restaurants was Din Tai Fung, at whose branch in Taipei in 2018 I failed miserably at “the fine art of making perfect dumplings.” It was one of my top 10 travel experiences, as I wrote in my blog at the time.

Once I joined the 15-minute wait via a posted QR code (how can anyone travel today without a smart phone?), a robot escorted me through the fast-casual restaurant to my table.

Of course, I ordered the Xiao Long Bao, the famous pork soup dumplings with 18 perfect folds, washed down with a locally brewed Tiger Beer.

Next it was through the hotel lobby and back to Gardens by the Bay, where I wandered the paths in the Supertree Grove until I found another shaded spot for sketching.

I hadn’t really intended another scene with the Marina Bay Sands hotel, but it does seem to be the iconic view of Singapore from the Marina Bay area where I spent the day.

Hot and tired, I arrived back at the pier by taxi (an $8 fare I was happy to pay) just as happy hour began in the Ocean Bar. From there we went to the Skyview Deck aft for another fun sail-away, with everyone crowded into the shaded section of the deck. We’re all looking forward to three sea days on the way to Sri Lanka.