Day 3, Marina Bay & The Marina Bay Sands Hotel

 

Perhaps the most iconic structures in Singapore are those built around the Marina Bay. On this internet derived photo, from left to right are the Helix Walking Bridge, the hotel, and the science museum.

I took this photo just before we walked across the Helix Bridge toward the hotel. The bridge was constructed in 2007, modeled after the double helix that carries the genetic code of life on earth. At night, pairs of the illuminated red and green letters "c,g,a,t" appear in the darkness, symbolizing the amino acid bases of DNA cytosine, guanine, adenine, and thiamine. In whimsical fashion, the bridge was constructed as a left-handed helix rather than the right-handed helix that usually occurs in nature. Why? I have no idea. Perhaps the architect is left handed. Perhaps it is because Singaporeans drive and walk on the wrong side of the roads and paths.

    The enormity of the Marina Bay Sands Hotel is difficult to overstate. That big boat-looking thing on the top? - That is a 478 foot long swimming pool, almost the length of three olympic swimming pools end-to-end.

The hotel itself has 2,600 guest rooms in three 57-story towers. They are joined together throughout the bottom of all three buildings. This open complex space includes innumerable shops, restaurants, gardens, interactive light displays for children and much more.