A stress-free getaway
It’s easy to turn your Rotary International Convention trip to Singapore into a no-hassle vacation. The two convention sites give you ready access to much of the island’s most loved gardens, recreation, food, and sightseeing spots. And traveling between venues and nearby sites is simple on the MRT rail system.
Between breakout sessions in the Marina Bay Sands complex, a vast vacationland in itself, enjoy being a tourist next door. A short walk brings you to Gardens by the Bay with its towering steel “supertree” art garden and mega-greenhouse of the world’s flowers.
Credit: Wen Huang
Cross the twisted-steel Helix Bridge for a 20-minute walk to the Singapore Flyer Ferris wheel for skyline views or to one of the city’s hawker centers. The usually inexpensive and open-air food courts are cultural touchstones. Stalls at Makansutra Gluttons Bay sell local culinary delights including meat satay skewers, char kway teow noodles stir-fried in lard, and fried carrot cake that’s no dessert — savory cubes are made with daikon radish (white “carrot”) and rice flour.
General sessions at National Stadium put you in the middle of the Singapore Sports Hub. You or your guests could surf a simulated wave, rent a kayak, or visit Shimano Cycling World for bicycle history exhibits, to name a few activities.
Malls are a big deal in Singapore. The convention grounds have two: Marina Bay Sands’ luxe shops and the Sports Hub’s Kallang Wave Mall, including sporty stores, golfing simulators, a virtual reality arcade, and a rock climbing wall that cuts through the mall’s levels.
Join us 25-29 May in Sharing Hope With the World. — EVA REMIJAN-TOBA
This story originally appeared in the October 2023 issue of Rotary magazine.