Singapore Central Business District

These two night shots were taken from the Equinox Restaurant in the 70th floor of the Swissôtel The Stamford, 226 meters above ground.

Clark Quay can be distinguished by the bright yellow lights near the center and the red, arched sign Riverside Point that connects the triangular pattern of roofs to form a symmetry. A few hotels are also recognizable: Peninsula at the front and Novotel and Somerset at the back.


Here, the five-star Fullerton Hotel, identifiable by the glowing, huge white pillars, stands out at the left while the Riverside Quay at the right is made evident by the long trail of bright lights that follow the contour of the river.


The Parkview Square in Bugis is a favorite by many. The building's cladding of brown and black granite, bronze, lacquer and glass, plus several gargoyles found along the building's exteriors make some refer to it as the Gotham building.



With the skyscrapers found in the Tanjong Pagar district, it's not easy to imagine its origin as a fishing village. In Malay, tanjong pagar means cape of stakes.

This is along Robinson's Road, a few meters from the Tanjong Pagar MRT station.


The building on the left is the 254-meter Capital Tower, which is among the tallest in Singapore. I learned from a visit to Singapore's URA Centre along Maxwell Rd., no more than 30 meters away from this area, that the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore permits buildings to be constructed only up to a maximum height of 280 meters due to aviation reasons.

Here's a closer look at the Capital Tower:


At the middle of the picture below is the CPF Building, the headquarters of the Central Provident Fund board. The CPF is a compulsory comprehensive social security savings plan for Singaporeans.

The structure on the right is DBS Building Tower 1, marked by the bank's red logo at the top-left part of the building. DBS Bank is the largest bank in Southeast Asia.


One MRT station away from Tanjong Pagar is Raffles, named after Singapore's founder, Sir Thomas Stamford Bingley Raffles.


The wide open space just outside the Raffles MRT station, surrounded by tall buildings that cast a friendly shade, make a perfect place for people to sit down and relax. The video showing on the huge screen is just an added bonus. Some people prefer to read books or newspapers while some just while their time away chatting with colleagues or friends.

I remember during my second visit to Singapore that we designated this area to be our meeting point before we proceeded to have dinner somewhere. We had Singapore Chili Crab at the Riverside Quay, a mere 3-minute walk away from here. Truly memorable!

Below are some other skyscrapers that caught my attention. I shall revisit this post when I have more info.