Is that a boat up in the sky?

Not only are there impressive and innovative public projects in Singapore there are some interesting commercial buildings as well. One of the newer ones is the Marina Sands Hotel. It has three towers, and a big ship like structure balanced on the top. Guests of the hotel can use the infinity pool on the 57th floor, which gives the illusion that you would just float away over the roof edge.

If you aren't a guest of the hotel you can take an elevator to the 56th floor and enjoy the views of the city. Up there we were even way above the Singapore Flyer - the Ferris wheel across the river. We spent some time taking pictures and even could get a peek at the famous pool (from a vantage that shows no one is in danger of floating off the edge.)

Among other things Singapore is a city of shopping centres. Orchard Street, the high street is lined with them, luxury shop after luxury shop. The Marina Sands has an attached shopping and convention centre. Its not just that it is huge,nor that it has every luxury and mid-level shop you can think of. The scale is huge - it goes on for blocks and blocks. The interior spaces are vast. Oh - and there's a skating rink in the food court.

When we were in Japan we were impressed by the size and number of department stores. Here it is the shopping centres. And everyone is saying 'Hah! Wait until you see Dubai...'