Suntec: F.O.W. & Hippo Tour

Today, I was excited to bring everyone to Suntec City to visit the Fountain of Wealth, which is the largest fountain in the world. I know that my mom had already visited it, but no one else had seen it yet, including Jean. After our long MRT ride and walk through the City Link mall, we stopped for lunch and here we are!!

Jean and I enjoyed a drink together!

So here is the gorgeous fountain! They had the water running, so we couldn't walk out to the middle, but it was quite a sight to see.

After the fountain, Juliana was falling asleep, so she headed home with Jean while the four of us got tickets for the Heritage Hippo Tour. We got perfect seats, up top and in front!

The ride was an hour long, so we saw a lot, including Little India, the Mustafa Centre, the wholesale market, numerous well-known hotels, the civic district, peninsula plaza, boat quay, Chinatown, Kreta Ayer, the people's park centre, Fullerton hotel and so much more. I tried to take as many pictures as I could.

Here is the Sri Mariamman Temple in Chinatown and it is the oldest Hindu temple in the city, dating back to 1827.

Below is the Masjid Angullia, which is one of the city's few Tamil-speaking mosques. It was named after the late Ahmad bin Mohamed Salleh Angullia.

These colorful buildings are HDB flats, otherwise known as apartments in buildings owned by the government. They are all over the city and more affordable than other types of accommodations.

With hundreds of schools across the island, this one was pointed out by the guide as the oldest girls' school in Singapore and the island's first Muslim school.

This large building is the national library, the largest in Southeast Asia. It is located on an 11,304-square metre site with sixteen story blocks and three basements...wow!! When I did research on this building, I was amazed at how it was built and what it houses. Way too much information to share, but I will definitely have to pay it a visit!

Ah, the infamous Raffles Hotel! It opened in 1887 and is named after Singapore's founder, Sir Stamford Raffles. It's known for its luxurious accommodation and superb restaurants. The hotel houses a tropical garden courtyard, museum, and Victorian-style theatre. (Wikipedia) As the guide stated during the tour, rates begin at around $800 per night and guests have included Madonna, Queen Victoria, Michael Jackson and many other A-list celebrities.

The guide didn't say anything about this structure, but I thought it was fascinating and wanted to share!

These three buildings are the future home of Singapore's first casino! There is also one being built on Sentosa Island.

This bridge, which is a bit hard to see in this picture, is a $68 million dollar project (although, we know it always ends up being more in construction) built in the shape of a DNA double helix. It's meant to symbolize life and continuity.

This is the Civilian War monument, which was built as a reminder of the struggles of the major races of Singapore during World War II. It is dedicated to all the individuals who lost their lives during the Japanese Occupation of Singapore between February, 15 1942 and September 12, 1945. The monument is constructed with four identical pillars that rise to more than 60 metres high, symbolise the shared experiences of the four major races of Singapore - Chinese, Malay, Indian and other races.

Overall, it was a busy day, but lots of fun. I learned a lot more about the city that I didn't know yet and my family had a blast!

I can't believe it's already been 5 days and I wish I could just slow down time to enjoy them more. We have A LOT to do in the next week and a half, because I want to show them all the best sights of the city. Guess that means as much sleep as we can get and lots of caffeine!!!