Introducing Singapore’s Marina Barrage
My friends wanted to visit Marina Barrage to see a dam and I thought that my ears had failed me when I heard what they said.
A dam? Singapore has a dam? I thought we only have reservoirs?
Nevertheless with friends who have level 99 influencing powers, I tagged along to explore Marina Barrage that was newly opened last November. I first thought that we were there to walk across (from one end to the other) the dam but I was in for a surprise.
Marina Barrage is inconvenient to visit if you don’t drive. The whole Marina Bay area is “ulu” (deserted); there is no public bus service and sand from construction site is flying everywhere. At a spot near Marina Bay MRT station, we queued for the shuttle bus. They were “mini shuttle buses” so we had to wait for our turn because a bus couldn’t fit all the passengers who were queuing there. But meh, free things, we shouldn’t complain.
There, we crossed half the dam and camped at a section to admire the sights. Other than the water and the sea, Singapore Flyer caught my attention. I had a bad hair day for the wind was strong. It blew against my hair, my face and my contacts and it could have blown away a piece of paper.
What shocked me was the one and only building there. I thought that the building was for official purpose (e.g. for the staff who work there) but soon realized that it is open to the public. Ground floor is spacious with man-made scenery and mini-fountains. When there are not many people around, it seems empty. Rest assured that you won’t starve nor dehydrate because there’s an air-con cafe on this level.
The gallery is located on the 2nd floor and it’s free admission and it has messages like water is precious, the history of Singapore River, water conservation, etc. But it’s so well decorated (e.g. neon lights, glass floor, LCD movie screen, etc) that I’m more interested in the gallery’s design than the messages its trying to bring across.
3rd floor is a huge open head land area where visitors can pose with the wind blowing their hair messy. Viewing the sea and the dam from the highest level will provide an alternate perspective.
My friends and I left at around 6pm so that we could avoid the crowd as the last shuttle service was at 7pm+ Overall it was an interesting experience to visit Marina Barrage. The gallery epsecially was an eye opener with special effects and clean designs. My perception of dams changed after visiting this place, visit the place if you have time over the weekends. (:
Lol my mom had a free visit to the place recently too via her company. I thought she had a mistake when she called it “barrage”. Guess not.
Seriously, I wonder why SG even really needs one. A dam more than likely loses more water on average, but then again, we are a small island. It could prove useful.
Panther´s last blog post..Hobby Complex 06
The network there is damned… keep gettin indonesia roaming
@Panther
I wasn’t paying attention to the part to why the dam was built when I was there.
Geez…I was a lazy student that day. XD
@Pauline
Yoo Pauline-姐, thanks for commenting. (:
When I was at Marina Barrage, I had no problem with my hp line. Perhaps I didn’t try calling anyone from there but I received no sms asking for activation of overseas call. That only happened to me when I was hiking a Chek Jawa (both sg and malaysia phone company sms me).
you’ve got some really nice shots!
especially the “tunnel” pathway into the sixth gallery where you can take pictures of yourself to be shown on the TV screens along the darkened walls
nice shot of the floor displays too!
wished I had captured these too!
@Geotacs
Thanks for the compliment. I just visited your site and the photos you captured are way more clearer than mine. Keep up the photographing spirit! XD