River Safari

By StanleySobari

Featuring the Adventure Cove Waterpark with Southeast Asia’s first hydro-magnetic coaster and the SEA aquarium, which is the world’s largest, the Marine Life Park offers a plethora of sights and experiences. Boasting over 100,000 animals and over 800 species, this nature park is also home to Dolphin Island, which offers six different interaction programmes, including Asia’s first underwater Dophin Trek. Visitors to Adventure Cove Warerpark, SEA and Universal Studios Singapore can enjoy a one-day pass discounted rate for one adult of these parks.

Come the weekend, the three beaches of this tiny island just off Singapore’s shores are packed with sun worshippers. Tourists and locals alike also flock to this playground for adventurous experiences such as zipping, luge-ing dn the flying trapeze, as well as simulated sky-diving and surfing. Resorts World Sentosa, encompassing Universal Studios and various world-class themed hotels, can also be found here.

Singapore’s fourth and latest zoological innovation, this river safari offers a unique perspective from a boat, with the opportunity to observe over 5,000 animals, out of which 42 species are endangered. One of the highlights is the Amazon River, which allows visitors to catch a glimpse of the jaguar, Brazilian tapir and giant anteater. Various ecosystems and themed rivers such as America’s Mississippi, India’s Ganges, China’s Yangtze, Egypt’s River nile, Africa’s congo and Australia’s Murray await visitors. Singapore’s two resident giant pandas, on a 10-year loan from China, can be found in the Giant Panda forest as well.

The Paragon is one of the original high-end shopping centres in Singapore, this shopping centre was one of the first to offer a posh retail and dining experience. The jewels in its string of world-class brands include Gucci, ermenegildo zegna and burberry. Anchor tenants include British lifestyle powerhouse, Marks & Spencer and Metro department store. Food lovers will enjoy the feast of choices and the range of price points, including popular Taiwanese Din Tai Fung and local eatery Thai Express.

Wisma Atria Shopping Centre located right beside Orchad MRT station offers a wide variety of mid-end brands. Japanese department store isetan has a presence here, as do Lacoste, Dorothy Perkinds, and Victoria’s Secret. The dining options make this shopping centre a top draw, including Korean Bakery, Paris Baguette and the country’s first food republic food court, done up in a retro interior recalling the good old days of Singapore.

Tourists come here to check out suntec city’s fountain of wealth, purported at one time to be the largest fountain in the world. After a major facelifts. Suntec now encompasses an interconnected mall, an international convention and exhibition centre and five office towers, making this sprawling seven million square feet building a city within a city. Shoppers will find it a retail haven at Suntec, with fashion brands such as H&M and Uniqio taking on anchor tenant status.

Flight Centre’s expansion in Singapore has continued with the opening of its store in the newly built wing of Plaza Singapura. This is Flight Centre’s fourth retail shop in the country. The expansion also signifies the company’s intention to establish a strong foothold in Asia. The introduction of the Flight Centre brand in Singapore has been well-received because it filled a niche in the local market for specialist leisure travel services and products a globally competitive rates. The retailer’s experienced and well-traveled consultants – both native English speaking and bilingual – offer a full range of airfares, accommodation, car hire, tours, insurance, cruises and other travel products.

Singaporean & Malaysian Travellers influenced by food. According to the results of a poll initiated by travel metasearch site Wego, almost 60 percent of Singaporean and Malaysian travelers choose their destination based on local food experiences. A closer look at the poll revealed even more interesting responses. Between the gardens, all male respondents said they would select holiday destination based on culinary offering, while 74 percent of women denied that food was a factor when choosing a destination. In addition, almost all the respondents over the age of 35 claimed dining was an important factor in their choice. When asked to identity their favourite culinary destinations, respondents named Thailand, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, Indonesia, Malaysia, South Korea and Europe.

Madame Tussauds to Open in Sentosa. Singapore is set to have its own version of Madame Tussauds, the well known wax attraction, in 2014. The product of a partnership between Sentosa development Corporation and Merlin Entertainments, Madame Tussauds Singapore will be situated at Imbiah Lookout on Sentosa Island. The wax museum will showcase lifelike wax figures of famous individuals and groups in an interactive set, allowing visitors to pose with them and scrutinize them up close. The figures will be carefully chosen and will feature a combination of historical and contemporary figures from the region and the world. The museum will also be the first outside of London to incorporated a ride.

Tigerair Flies to Ningbao. Tigerair has launched three flights every fortnight to the seaport city of Ningbo, making it the airline’s eight destination in Greater China after Guangzhou, Haikou, Hong Kong, Lijiang, Macau, Shenzhen and Taipei. Besides being endowed with variety of tourist attractions, Ningbo has a well-developed transport infrastructure and offers easy access to other major Chinese cities such as Shanghai, Hangzhou, Suzhou, Wenzhou and Nanjing.