Singapore

Singapore’s riveting skyline is in clear view from where you stand. Although Marina Bay is filled with high rises and high-density buildings, which make effective use of scarce land, the area is not short on interesting that the buildings had a variety of heights and uses. 

For instance, the buildings along the waterfront have lower heights, and the taller buildings in Marina Bay are placed to enhance their views of the water and to create open spaces. Imagine what the bay looks like at night with thousands of lights sparkling!

The red-roofed building on the waterfront is Clifford Pier. Sitting at the mouth of the Singapore River, it was built between 1927 and 1933. In decades past the pier bustled with sea-going traffic, both local travelers on their way to neighboring islands and arriving immigrants.

Starting in the 1970s, the pier underwent extensive transformation, with spaces for offices, stores, and restaurants added. All sea traffic was redirected to Marina South Pier in 2006, and Clifford Pier has hosted commercial businesses ever since.  

If you look to the left of the pier, you can see a white watch tower. This is the Customs House. It was built in the 1960s to allow the customs police to keep watch over the water."

Look to your right and your left. You are standing on the Waterfront Promenade, which circles the entire bay. 

If you walk away from the bridge, you’ll pass a building known as the Float, which has hosted New Year’s Eve events and parades, and the Youth Olympic Park, which honors the inaugural 2010 Summer Youth Olympics. 

Keep going—the Waterfront Promenade is 3.5 kilometers long—and you’ll arrive at the Helix Bridge, which takes its name and design from the double helix structure of DNA.

From the 1940s to about 1990, a granite quarry operated where you stand now. When the quarry closed, it was flooded, creating a shallow body of water and this special wetland habitat.

From the viewing platform, you can see plants and animals typical of Singapore’s freshwater areas. You might spot the little grebe, an endangered bird, or catch a glimpse of rare dragonflies. Naturalists also have attempted to reintroduce native plant species such as orchids to the ecosystem.

Stop and look around you. It’s hard to believe you are just a short distance from the bustling heart of Singapore and one of its busiest shopping streets! Where will you go next? You have a number of choices.

Take time to read the tags to learn more about the beautiful flowers here, or simply relax in one of the shelters like the one you see behind you, and enjoy the surrounding tranquility.

While the National Orchid Garden trail—which takes the average visitor 30–45 minutes to cover—bedazzles many visitors with its color and vibrancy, you can also follow the rain forest trail, the ginger garden trail, the evolution garden grail, or any of several heritage trails.