Merlion Park ~ well-knowed tourist icon of Singapore

One Fullerton 
Singapore 049213

Singapore is internationally recognized as a garden city where nature and manmade landscape goes along harmoniously. Your visit to South East Asia is incomplete if Singapore is not on your bucket list as this country maybe small, yet there are so many things you can do in here. We only stayed for 7 days; however, it was a complete and very well planned itinerary as we visited successfully most of the tourist spot we intended to.

View of Merlion Park surrounded by stunning skyline.

If we talked about Singapore, pretty sure first thing that comes to mind is of course the infamous icon of ‘merlion’. Well, you never had been here if you haven’t seen for real this proud statue that’s well-known as a tourist trademark of this lion city.  Lion’s probably never lived here unless you go to their pristinely maintained animal sanctuary in Mandai Lake where ‘Singapore Zoological Garden’ and Night Safari is located. The zoo is homed to white tigers, one of the most popular attractions they have because of their rarity and exceptional beauty. 

View of Singapore Central Business District from the double helix bridge.

Since the renowned merlion park is situated in the heart of marina bay, we spent one whole day in here starting from 9:00am until 8:00pm before we headed to Clark Quay for a drink night out. I am not really ‘a drinker’ but I don’t want to deprived Balong, Lemwuel, and Llowel to have a dose of alcohol, noh! (ahahaha!).

Tourists trying to have a piece of potong ice cream.

Most of the known tourist spot can be found mushrooming here which includes Art Science Museum, Esplanade Park, Asian Civilization Museum, Gardens by the Bay, Marina Barage, Sands Skypark, Singapore Flyer, The Art House, The Float, The Fullerton Heritage Gallery, the Helix, Victoria Theatre and Victoria Concert hall, Youth Olympic Park and a lot more.

Uncle may I have a slice of durian flavor, pleaseeee .... :)

We would like to visit all these attractions but because of time constraints, we only resolute on spot that we can accommodate for a day. We started an early morning walk to ‘Fountain of Wealth’ in Suntec City, then a 30-minute flight of ‘The Flyer’ in Raffles Avenue at noon time, passing through the pedestrian of ‘Helix Bridge’ in Bayfrount Avenue and an afternoon ‘siesta’ in ‘Marina Bay Sands and Skypark (MBS)’. We wanted to stay in the ‘Public Observation Deck’ in the 57^th floor of MBS till sunset but there are no benches available to sit-on unless you'll order something in Ku De Ta restaurant. Sitting on the wooden floorboards is strictly prohibited too; thus, we decided to leave the tower and headed directly to Merlion Park.

Singapore Skyline from the Float at Marina Bay.

Merlion Park is situated at the mouth of Singapore River that connects with Marina Bay. From 'The Shoppe' of Marina Bay Sands, no need for you to hire a taxi or ride a bus as this spot is situated just opposite of the bay that can be travelled ‘on foot’ merely around 10 - 15 minutes. You will pass through the ‘double helix bridge’ where spectacular panoramic view of Singapore's skyscape that comprises the central business district is truly impeccable. The Merlion figure may be dwarfed from afar but this is a must-stop and not to be missed site for all visitors. This is the proud symbol of Singapore’s tourism board which the intricate design is so distinct and conspicuous. 

Close and closer to our main goal! The Merlion.

On our way to the park, we were too busy taking snaps of the vicinity and seen an ice cream push cart in the junction of Bay Front and Raffles Avenue. We stopped for a while and were curious how it differs from ‘sorbetes’ of the Philippines. Locally, they called this [‘potong' (cut) ice cream] where a block of ice cream are sliced around 1-inch thick and wrapped by either bread or wafer of your choice. There were already so many tourists from different nationalities surrounding the brightly colored parasol; thus, we queued as well. Chocolate, vanilla, sweet corn, yam, red bean, mango, durian, and lots more are available just in case you wanted to have a taste of tropical and classic flavours.

Balong at the underground bridge near Esplanade.

At first, I thought it was ‘Selecta’ (known ice cream brand in the Philippines) as the logo quite resembles, but I was mistaken as they named it ‘Wall’s’. We ordered durian, mango and vanilla that cost us SGD 1 each that is equivalent to P33.00 per slice. Quite expensive, huh? Well, to treat yourself a portion of frozen delight to fight one hot/humid afternoon, it's worth every penny. And know what the verdict comparing to 'sorbetes' in the Philippines? It taste absolutely the same, the difference is solely the price.

Crowd of tourists trying to have a picture with the 'Merlion'.

After almost an hour of wandering, at last we arrived at the archetypal symbol of Singapore the Merlion. The vicinity is already flocked with tourist from around the world and we need to wait for a few minutes just to have a nice view and background of the sculpture. 

Signage direction to Merlion park located in Fullerton Road.

This iconic structure represents the head of the lion and the body of the fish.  Its name Merlion is a combined word of ‘mer’ (sea) and lion which translates as 'singa' in Sanskrit. It is a mythical creature used as a mascot and national personifications of Singapore. The fish body signifies the humble past of the country when it was a fishing village called “Temasek” while the lion head represents the present Singapore's original name ~ Singapura: meaning Lion City. The Merlion is housed here in the 2,500 square meter park just opposite of Fullerton Hotel surrounded by humongous skyline of Marina Bay. 

Edwin Thumboo's poem on display beside the Merlion Statue.

While waiting for our turn to have a photo of the perpetually-regurgitating national icon, I took the camera from Balong and have panoramic shots of all the spots that surrounds the bay. Please don’t get confused with another replica of a much larger Merlion that resides in Sentosa Island; this Merlion is the original design that has been watching over Singapore River since 1972! The sculpture is 8.6 meters high and weighing around 70 tons and was designed by Alec Fraser-Brunner. Kwan Sai Kheong is the one who conceptualized this merlion where an endless jet of water sprouts from its jaws which was then created by Nah Seng in 1972.  There is a cub at the back that is around 2 meters high, but unfortunately it was under construction when we visit.

One of the river tour station is just beside the Merlion Park.

Locating this place wherever you maybe is very easy, take an MRT and get off at Raffles Place. Walk towards Fullerton hotel then cross the road and voila! You are in merlion park in about 5 minutes. This is an excellent place to just sit around and unwind. There is a long cemented podium to sit-on in the bay promenade should you want to have a chit chat just don't forget to bring a bag of chips and a bottle of drinks if you may. 

There are five merlion statues that are officially recognized by the Singapore Tourism board. 1) this original statue that face the marina bay, 2) the 2 meter cub behind the original statue, 3) the 37-meter tall replica in Sentosa, 4) the 3 meter tall glazed polymarble statue at Tourism court, and 5) the 3 meter tall polymarble statue on Mount Faber.

After few hours of wandering and as darkness about to set, we left the park and headed to our hotel for a power nap and getting ready for a night out in Clark Quay. So there you go, just in case you are in Singapore, this is a stopover not to forget. Happy traveling everyone!

Have a great day and night too.

Enan signing off..

Cheeeeeeerrrrrrrrrriooossss

SMILE :)