Zit Seng's Blog

A Singaporean's technology and lifestyle blog

Frozen Wonderland in Singapore

_DSC3955Yes, it’s really hot in Singapore. We have three seasons, and they are hot, hotter, and hottest. Where can you find a place in Singapore where everything’s pretty much frozen over? Not the annual fake snow outside Tanglin Mall, but some place where the temperature is really sub-zero Celsius? It’s the 2Degree Ice Art exhibition, located beside the Marina Bay Sands Hotel. Hurry, the exhibition ends on 15 May 2014, so you have just a little over a month left to visit.

The exhibition takes place inside a hall that has been cooled down to -15°C. It’s cold in there, and sets the atmosphere for a nice winter paradise. The exhibition primarily showcases the work of 20 prominent ice carving masters from Harbin, China. You’ve probably heard of the Harbin Ice and Snow Festival. This exhibition will give you a taste of that experience. Just a tiny weenie bit.

At our 2Degree Ice Art exhibition here in Singapore, you’ll see a variety of iconic world landmarks. For example, the well known Eiffel Tower in Paris, France. Or the Four Face Buddha in Bangkok, Thailand.

2Degree #1The intricate carvings to produce replicas of these famous landmarks are pretty impressive. They are lit up in colourful LED lighting, giving depth and some intrigue to the carvings.

There are many Singapore landmarks in this exhibition. Here’s the Merlion and Sir Stamford Raffles.

2Degree #2

Then there’s a huge carving of the Raffles Hotel.

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The highlight, though, must be the playground at the far end of the hall. They’ve built a big slide out of ice. The kids, and perhaps even some adults, absolutely love this.

2Degree #3

Then, a couple of times a day (4:30pm is one of them), they make snow fall at one side of the playground. Now, it’s not exactly like snow, but it’s the closest you’d probably ever find in Singapore.

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There’s probably not enough loose ice (i.e. the “snow”) to build snowman or play snowball fights. But you can pick up the crumbled ice and still play something with it.  The snow fall doesn’t last very long though.

The exhibition area is, surprisingly, much smaller than I had expected. If you just walk through, without stopping, you can go from entrance to exit in 1 minute. If you stop to admire the carvings, take photos, I don’t see how you could take more than half an hour.

However, the playground would certainly be a great excitement to the kids, and I imagine they could stay there forever if parents don’t drag them out of it. Kids under 9 years are free. Check their website for ticket prices and promotions.

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