A sweeping, panoramic view of Singapore from 50 stories up is not just a breathtaking sight; it’s also a kind of living history spread out before you, charting the rise of the tiny, ever-growing city-state.

To your south is the enormous, bustling port which gave Singapore its original reason to exist. It’s one of the busiest in the world, servicing around 1,000 ships a day, with one arriving or departing every few minutes. Just beyond that is a bay teeming with cargo vessels, entering, leaving or just hanging around. They make the sea look like a giant, congested car park, and it seems miraculous they don’t collide.

Shift your gaze north east and you find the roofs of Chinatown, whose streets of traditional two-story shop houses in pastel hues run like multi-colored ribbons between the tower blocks of downtown. Beyond that, to the east, is the swanky Marina Sands district and the Durian — a building whose nickname comes from its resemblance to the famously fragrant local fruit.