[ Singapore ] The Barrack, the Clinic and the Marina Bay Sands

[ Singapore ] The Barrack, the Clinic and the Marina Bay Sands,Barracks,Clarke Quay,餐廳,酒吧-3

[ Singapore ] The Barrack, the Clinic and the Marina Bay Sands,Barracks,Clarke Quay,餐廳,酒吧-4

[ 每天都在趕場的超級緊湊行程］

I was on in Singapore for about 4 days. Some were surprised that I could be there for that long. But I had some difficulty fitting everything from sightseeing to friends\' gatherings into the schedule. I would never be able to fit a wedding, banquet, country-style afternoon tea, afternoon cocktail at the "Clinic" and a chocolate buffet at.... (continue reading....)

這此在新加坡只有短短的四天，卻有好多好多的 gathering 或景點遊覽把行程表擠到爆，每天早出晚歸，真的很 OMG，有點後悔沒多待一天，但想到家鄉還有堆得比喜馬拉雅山還高的牽掛，還是乖乖把全部塞進去啦。在新加坡的最後一天有教堂婚禮, 婚宴, 鄉村 cafe, 搞怪診所酒吧和濱海灣金沙酒店空中花園的巧克力....

..... buffet, 現在我想了又想，這天還真是特別啊！

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.... Marina Bay Sands all in one day if I were somewhere else. But it was definitely quite a special day with lots of celebrations and enjoyable time.

The Wedding

[ Singapore ] The Barrack, the Clinic and the Marina Bay Sands,Barracks,Clarke Quay,餐廳,酒吧-5

這此很高興能參加朋友這麼溫馨和浪漫的婚禮，像電影裡才看得到的夢幻佈置。
Attended friend\'s beautiful and cozy wedding while I was visiting. It was so much like the perfect weddings you see only in movies. Lots of good company and had a wonderful time!

[ Singapore ] The Barrack, the Clinic and the Marina Bay Sands,Barracks,Clarke Quay,餐廳,酒吧-6

婚宴在很有氣質的四季酒店舉行，料理的擺盤也很漂亮。
At the Four Seasons banquet hall after the church wedding ceremony. Much attention was paid to details. :)

Dempsey The Barracks

[ Singapore ] The Barrack, the Clinic and the Marina Bay Sands,Barracks,Clarke Quay,餐廳,酒吧-7

這次很開心能和加拿大的朋友meet up，大家在畢業後都變得很忙，而且許多也是繞著地球跑。
Also managed to meet up with a friend from Vancouver! People nowadays are so busy and so all over the place but we have to find some time to catch up nevertheless! :)

[ Singapore ] The Barrack, the Clinic and the Marina Bay Sands,Barracks,Clarke Quay,餐廳,酒吧-8

我一定要來說一下這個 menu, 實在是太酷了，簡直就像那些居家設計或烘培的雜誌或報紙，看起來一點都不像菜單！前面哪張 High Tea Buffet 那張也是。 I like I like.
Z. took me to a cafe/restaurant in Dempsey. The little village/town like place reminds very much of Vancouver. The menu at this restaurant is one of the coolest I\'ve seen. It looks like a magazine or newspaper on cooking or pastry that you can find in stores. It looks nothing like conventional restaurant menu. You can find the menu on the restaurant website.

[ Singapore ] The Barrack, the Clinic and the Marina Bay Sands,Barracks,Clarke Quay,餐廳,酒吧-12

這此去的 cafe 在 Dempsey, 十幾年前這邊也只有個賣酒的，現在有許多餐廳, cafe, 和古董家飾店。
這是個讓人感覺好像到了國外的地方。
The Dempsey area used to only have a wine store about 10 years ago. But now it\'s filled with restaurants, cafe and lots of antique stores.

[ Singapore ] The Barrack, the Clinic and the Marina Bay Sands,Barracks,Clarke Quay,餐廳,酒吧-14

下午的甜點 lemon ricotta cheesecake 和 lemon macadamia crumble. 兩個都很棒，但是要配茶比較不會太甜。
We ordered a lemon ricotta cheesecake and lemon macadmia crumble. Both were delicious and go well with tea.

[ Singapore ] The Barrack, the Clinic and the Marina Bay Sands,Barracks,Clarke Quay,餐廳,酒吧-16

Mint Berry Fix - 這個是 Mocktail, 也就是沒有酒精的 cocktail. 我覺得這光看就覺得很棒了！
A mocktail - a cocktail without alcohol. It looks so refreshing, especially for hot summer days!

[ Singapore ] The Barrack, the Clinic and the Marina Bay Sands,Barracks,Clarke Quay,餐廳,酒吧-17

Barracks Cafe @ The House: http://www.dempseyhouse.com/

Clarke Quay - The Clinic // 診所酒吧

[ Singapore ] The Barrack, the Clinic and the Marina Bay Sands,Barracks,Clarke Quay,餐廳,酒吧-18

好了，我承認看到很怪的地方我就有點想嘗試，這算半室外的酒吧以診所/醫院為主題（可以看到酒吧的燈用得像是手術室的燈), 許多 travel guides 上也都有介紹。台北有間酒吧好像也是走醫院的style，那間我是沒去過，不過聽說很瘋狂，這間我覺得比較低調一些。

Alright, so I insisted on visiting this place in Clarke Quay because it\'s just so weird and different (the website looked pretty cool too; a bit too artsy for a business \'though. :p ) The bar has a theme that you can see pretty clearly here. There a restaurant/bar in Taipei that also has the hospital theme but I heard it\'s a pretty crazy place (with some special "shows" going on at night).

[ Singapore ] The Barrack, the Clinic and the Marina Bay Sands,Barracks,Clarke Quay,餐廳,酒吧-19

大家只不過是坐輪椅，喝點滴調酒之類的. 這地區 (Clarke Quay) 是個很熱鬧的地方，沿著岸邊有許多酒吧和餐廳。
Everyone gets to sit on a wheel chair or some hospital bed outside in the open space. The bar is located in Clarke Quay, a place bustling with people with alcohol and loud music.

它這邊的 menu 沒什麼東西，只有幾樣可選。
Then you order their special "cocktail" or "Clinic drinks" here. There\'s not much stuff on the menu that you can order otherwise.

[ Singapore ] The Barrack, the Clinic and the Marina Bay Sands,Barracks,Clarke Quay,餐廳,酒吧-22

這個看起來像血袋裡的是喝起來有點像感冒糖漿的酒，而且是用 IV 管吸，真的是有點怪。
Nutrimix - This is some alcohol you can order for 50 SGP. Looks like blood and tastes like cough syrup.

[ Singapore ] The Barrack, the Clinic and the Marina Bay Sands,Barracks,Clarke Quay,餐廳,酒吧-23

桌子椅子都是醫院的 style.
The tables and chairs.

可以來看一下它的網站，個人覺得滿有創意的; The Cinic Bar Official Website： http://www.theclinic.sg/

Marina Bay Sands // 濱海灣金沙酒店

[ Singapore ] The Barrack, the Clinic and the Marina Bay Sands,Barracks,Clarke Quay,餐廳,酒吧-25

晚上前進濱海灣金沙酒店，這有著全球最高的游泳池, 還有聽說可容納 4 架 A380 飛機的空中花園 (指的是面積 only 啦). 後來在飛機上剛好有關於建造這新加坡新地標的報導，才瞭解這建築建造的困難和它所代表的意義。
After a long day, we headed straight for the Marina Bay Sands. It is one of the major landmarks in Singapore and represents the new development and transformation the city/country is going through. The "sky park" that runs across the top of three skyscrapers is a architectural wonder. I saw a special feature on the construction of the hotel and the sky park later on my flight to NYC.

[ Singapore ] The Barrack, the Clinic and the Marina Bay Sands,Barracks,Clarke Quay,餐廳,酒吧-26

濱海灣金沙綜合娛樂城裡除了有 2,600 多間客房, 還有會議中心, 購物廣場, 賭場, 劇院, 科博館等設施，裡面的建築會讓人想到杜拜的那些像帆船酒店和阿布達比的酋長飯店的奢華建築，不過據說這棟就是造價比世界第二高的酋長飯店還高的新酒店 complex.
The Marina Bay Sands complex is not just a hotel or a group of hotels. It also has a convention center, shopping mall, casino, theatre, museum, etc. The interior of the complex looks a bit like the Burj Al Arab in Dubai but minus all the colours and fancy decor. The cost of building this complex ranks number 1 in the world now, with The Emirates Palace in Abu Dhabi (my previous post on this golden palace) coming in second.

[ Singapore ] The Barrack, the Clinic and the Marina Bay Sands,Barracks,Clarke Quay,餐廳,酒吧-27

頂樓是個有游泳池，餐廳，酒吧和公園的空中花園。而這就是酒店有名的無邊際游泳池，也是世界上最高和最長的無邊際游泳池，可以扒在那邊看新加坡的全景，只不過你必須是房客才能使用這泳池。
The sky park has the largest infinity swimming pool in the world where you can have a beautiful view of the cityscape from there. But you can only use this pool if you\'re staying at this hotel. Other than the swimming pool, there are also restaurants, bars and a park here.

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用鋼鐵橫跨了三棟50幾層高的摩天大廈，還另外延伸出個懸空的類似超大跳板的公園，這也是這棟建築最引以為傲的技術突破。在這空中花園我們則是到了朋友預約了的游泳池旁的 chocolate bar.
The sky park is basically a park suspended over the top of 3 sky scrapers + a cantilever hanging off the edge of the building. It was definitely quite a challenge to lift all that steel required to build it (the building had a sort of curve and there was also the wind to consider) and all the calculations required for sustaining that cantilever without it falling off the edge. Of course, I didn\'t know any of these when i went up there because we were there for a celebration at the Singapore\'s highest Chocolate Bar.

[ Singapore ] The Barrack, the Clinic and the Marina Bay Sands,Barracks,Clarke Quay,餐廳,酒吧-29

晚餐後的 chocolate bar 的甜點多多，看起來都十分可口，超棒！不過要把胃先空一點位置，不然真的不用幾塊小蛋糕就會開始有點撐了。
There were lots of chocolate desert (also some without chocolate just in case you get sick of chocolates). All look very delicious and it\'s a buffet actually. So if you decide to come here next time, you should leave some room for these sweets.

[ Singapore ] The Barrack, the Clinic and the Marina Bay Sands,Barracks,Clarke Quay,餐廳,酒吧-30

Chocolate bar 裡面看起來很典雅，來這也是要先預約不然可能不能上來。
The interior of the chocolate bar. It\'s best to reserve.

Marina Bay Sands Chocolate Bar 巧克力吧 - http://www.marinabaysands.com/Singapore-Restaurants/Casual-Dining/The-Chocolate-Bar/

p.s. 這天出門就沒帶 D90 大炮了，前一天背到肩膀快瘀青 (這次沒用相機包), 所以照片畫質有點差真是殘念... T...T
Didn\'t bring my Nikon D90 for this day because it almost gave my shoulder a bruise the day before (must bring the proper camera bag next time!). So the photos you see on this post were taken with Canon S90.

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新加坡是最近國際許多媒體爭相報導的對象，飛機上有它的專題報導，CNN 電視節目提到亞洲的崛起也是拿新加坡當其中的例子。一個人口小於 570 萬人的國家，是亞洲最富有的國家之一，政府要花 30 年徹底改造新加坡，建造世界獨一無二和具有挑戰性的建築只是其中之一，降低稅吸引外資也只是其中一環，還有發展及提高創新力。當然，新加坡不是沒有其他因此發展或政治現況而產生的問題，但不可否認的是，這個充滿野心的國家在世界已經佔了個重要的位置。

Recently Singapore has become a star in the international media. There was a special feature on the airplane (that I mentioned) on the changes in Singapore and their plans for transformation and redevelopment (starting with construction of the Marina Bay Sands). For a country wish a population of less than 5.7 million, this is one of the richest countries in Asia. The government has a 30 year plan to transform Singapore. New buildings, tax benefits for foreign investment and investment in innovation are just some of the few on the agenda. Like other flourishing Asian cities, Singapore is not without its own problems (with politics or with immigrants, etc.). But what can be denied is that this small country definitely has established its significance on the international stage.

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