Jogging in the City around Marina Bay in Singapore #marinabay #jogging

It's undeniable that I love my staycation at Pan Pacific Serviced Suites Beach Road and one of the activities I undertook was part of my usual routine; jogging! 

While I am happy to do the same thing around my neighborhood in Singapore's most infamous town; jogging around the the marina bay area is an entirely different level, especially with towering, awe-inspiring buildings like Duo as your companions.

I did plan a route, somewhat, with the main objective to circle around the reservoir of water that provides one of the city state's most beautiful city skyline. Above would be the Pan Pacific Serviced Suites behind me as I trudged along path leading to East Coast Parkway.

The F1 racing track; started in 2008, this was the "inaugural night race and first street circuit in Asia"! Thankfully, I am not a fan of car racing and despite its hype every year, I just don't see the need to spend so much money.

Nevertheless, it still felt surreal to stand in the middle of the track where the pit grandstand is. 

City skyline in front of us; coincidentally, I am going to visit one of the buildings shown in the above photograph, today. Hopefully, it wouldn't rain in the evening as I was thinking of blogging about the place! 

Despite its unflattering tag as a man-made compound that can't reflect what nature has provided for us, I am proud of the Gardens by the Bay. It's a beauty and for Singaporeans with a hatred for the hot and humid weather we have, the two air-conditioned conservatories (flower dome and cloud forest) were godsends! 

Eye of Singapore; the Singapore Flyer. 

Sculptures in the Youth Olympic Park; a commemorative park for the "inaugural Youth Olympic Games hosted by Singapore in August 2010". For Singaporeans, the thing we remember well was the overspending which was almost three times over budget.

Skyline with the floating platform in the foreground; for younger Singaporeans born from year 2000, this would be their memory for the locations of the annual national day parade. I attended once nine years ago and you may check out the photographs I took, here. 

Lotus of Marina Bay Sands, which houses the ArtScience Museum. Embarrassingly, I have never visited before as I am not so much a museum fan. Well, I might go if it is free! So cheapo me.

Helix Bridge; with a shape similar to a DNA strain, this bridge is way more beautiful at night! 

Right underneath the lotus shaped building is a lotus pond and I wasn't aware until then! I have visited Marina Bay Sands before but never quite explored its outdoors.

Said to host the second largest Louis Vuitton boutique in the world, the crystal pavilion appeared to be a standalone building surrounded by water. Oh well, don't think I would go in since I am neither a person who goes for branded goods nor could I afford them.

Although it was a weekday, the place was hardly deserted with people just sitting on the platform and marveling at the sights ahead of them and there were in fact quite a number of joggers, like me. Must be rich people as real estate prices in the area are not for common folks like myself.

Before the news broke, there were many rumors on which company would be housed within the 'ball' building that appeared to be a gigantic beach ball bobbing on the water surface. 

At least it's selling things I could somewhat afford; it's the "first Apple store in the world that sits on the water". You know what it really lacks? A stalk on top. 

In the past, the scenery here was different and many buildings on the left side were constructed and completed only in the last one or two decades. Man, I feel old.

Panorama! 

Couple enjoying together time; it wasn't that hot with an overcast sky and a light breeze. To be honest, I was totally enjoying the jog and fantasizing that it would be perfect if I were to stay in that area! 

Imagine jogging in the midst of such stunning landscape! There are disadvantages of course, pollution is likely higher with more vehicles around you and you don't really get that many trees in the Singapore's central business district.

View behind me. 

Marina Bay Sands; an integrated resort concept opened in year 2010, I have been thinking of staying at one of its 2,561 rooms for the past eleven years but the room rate just put me off! Think about it, I could cover my air ticket to Bangkok with hotel stay for 3 nights with the same price. 

Swissôtel The Stamford; previously known as the Westin hotel, it once took the spot as the tallest hotel in the world at 226-meter. Current record holder is Gevora Hotel in Dubai, which stands at 356.3 meters.

Many health-conscious individuals! I actually have one friend who would arrange with his former colleagues to jog in areas far from home; Marina Bay is one of them and another one is Kallang where the national stadium is. 

A long time ago, the 23-meter high control tower was where "customs personnel kept a round-the-clock vigil". Now, it's overshadowed by the buildings behind and I wouldn't be surprised many would know much of its history as time goes by.

I am just wondering if the tower would be accessible..

This might be mistaken as a spaceship; a revolving tower built in the 1970s that was part of the Change Alley Aerial Plaza, the occupant taking residence is now Tong Le Private Dinning.

View of Marina Bay Sands. 

Fullerton Pavilion; another building on water. I honest didn't know there were so many buildings on water in the bay. The next thing should be an underwater restaurant but visibility would be an issue. 

With social media exploding exponentially, instagram-worthy spots are always high in demand although travel curbs have curbed its influence somewhat. We should still remain positive for an opportunity to travel again in the near future. Fingers crossed.

Clifford Pier - I remember it fondly as the place where I could take a bumboat to Kusu Island during the year pilgrimmage when I was a child. Known affectionately as red-lantern pier in Chinese among the Chinese population, you can see its historical references by the red lanterns hung up outside the conserved building.

The Fullerton Hotel; used to be the General Post Office, it's said to cost a bomb for a night's stay! Whatever the case, the entire area is collectively known as the Fullerton Heritage precinct comprising of the hotel, clifford pier, customs house and the waterboat house.

Those unfamiliar with Singapore might assume we have a lot of land if they were shown the above photograph as everything looks so spaced out! Although there are land behind Marina Bay Sands, it's where Gardens by the Bay are. I can only think of the land towards the right, where there's potential for more buildings.

When would I have the chance to stay at Marina Bay Sands.....?

Most iconic feature of Singapore; the merlion! We all know it's not based on a mythical creature but this fish-lion beast took a special place in our hearts. We even used it as a verb; don't 'merlion' on us as an inference to vomiting.

Another Singapore icon; the durian! Even though it's officially known as Esplanade, the initial years were not easy as many people didn't know how to pronounce it! Durian, with references to the spikes on the roof, is much easier. 

Back view, where the city skyline of central business district is, and the front view, where I am jogging towards to the Marina Bay / Beach road / Bugis area. 

Once again Swissôtel The Stamford; that structure to the left is known as "the chopsticks" and is part of the War Memorial Park. A friend told me about an incident that happened when he was very young; his parents brought him there for a leisure walk at night and there wasn't many people but this friend of mine claimed there were many people and asked to go home. Creepy right? 

Suntec City Mall to the right! On the left is the oddly shaped JW Marriott Hotel that's part of the South Beach redevelopment used to house military blocks and the Non-Commissioned Officers' club.

Road works, road works; they never stop in Singapore. 

Can you spot the Pan Pacific Serviced Suites Beach Road in the above photograph? There were a few buildings with distinctive design in that region; one of which is The Gateway! With its sharp corners, said to be bad for feng-shui, there's a joke that it is the gateway to hell. 

Last photo - showing  the now closed Shaw Towers. It held a lot of memories for me; I love the humongous popcorn sold by the United Artists Cinema chain and its carpark which had the cheapest parking rate in the area when I used to have a car.