The Grand Marina Bay Sands Blog: The Shoppes

The Shoppes at Marina Bay Sands is one of the best looking malls in Singapore. It's just the right size, sprawling yet still luxurious in feel. Of course, most of the stores here are high end, but there are your regular favorites as well. 

At first, I thought the Shoppes would just be a promenade, so I was surprised to see that it was a full fledged mall. We were rushing around the mall to locate the theater. It was quite odd that the mall didn't have clear signs to the Lion King theater. 

This was the lobby of the Sands theater, where we watched Lion King. No photo taking was allowed inside the theater so I don't have anything to share on stage. I was quite disappointed though with Lion King, mainly because of the size of the theater. I imagined it to be bigger, grander, with a set like theirs. I also found the acting bland, the singing uninspired and the dancing, well, like their were practicing. Hence, having high expectations, I really felt short changed with the Singapore production. 

I was more amazed when I stepped out of the theater. I appreciated the mall more. But what made me gasp was the presence of this restaurant:

Daniel Boulud is a famous French chef based in New York. He has several restaurants located all over the world, from Beijing to Canada to Miami. But he is best known for his 3 tar Michelin restaurant, Daniel, found in New York.

Then, next door, I saw another restaurant that caught my strong sense of smell. It was an Italian restaurant called Mozza. Upon closer inspection, I took another gasp. It was Mario Batalli's restaurant. Need I say more?

Then opposite Mozza, closer to the theater, was Cut by Wolfgang Puck. I was getting hungry so we decided to go into the posh steakhouse. However, it was already closed, just like the other celebrity chef restaurants. I remember seeing a space with the name Wolfgang Puck in Gateway Mall in Cubao. I wonder what happened to that supposed restaurant.

We were staying in Marina Bay Sands, so the next day, we decided to explore the Shoppes more. Turns out that the mall had a canal as well, similar to the Venetian. They called it something else, I forgot.

I loved this fountain concept. It was a tornado of water gushing down to the interior of the mall from a monstrous wave from the ground level. Amazing indeed. There were cafes surrounding this work of art, and the angry splash of water seemed to be surprisingly calming.

There was an interesting tea house called High Society. It served delicious pastries as well. Oddly beside it was a boutique CD store. 

Beside the busy food court was an ice skating rink. I don't know why Marina Bay Sands built this, since only a few were skating. I don't see the value of a rink inside a supposed luxurious mall.

We stepped outside to check out the Lotus we have been seeing from our hotel window. Turned oit that the unique structure was an Arts Science Museum. Well, we will be having a world-class science museum soon, the Mind Museum, so I do hope that one can rival the Lotus.

And it was an inspiring structure indeed, especially from below. From above, it looked normal. Form here, it looked like it would be taking off for space. I hear that a laser light beams from the center at night during a lights and sounds show at the bay. Too bad we weren't able to catch that.

Our quick trip to Singapore and Malaysia was not the best of trips abroad. It wasn't as memorable as my escape to Lombok and the Gilis (which occurred at the same period last year). I was happy though that I was able to reach Redang, closing the gap further to my conquest of the beaches of Malaysia.

I was glad we decided to stay at the Marina Bay Sands. It was a new experience indeed in Singapore. That also allowed me to skip beach lazing in Sentosa for once. I will be back soon in Marina Bay Sands when our family invades Singapore. I will try the celebrity chef restaurants for sure, and will finally be able to swim in that amazing pool. So, the trip doesn't end here...more to come soon.

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Marina Bay Sands Singapore
Rates start at P15,000 a night.
You may also book via Agoda's website.
Tickets to the Lion King cost SGD 68 for the cheapest one.
We got the Reserve B section for SGD 168, yes, quite expensive.