Singapore - modern

NOTE:  If you would like less narrative and more pictures, please visit my website. 

Singapore is dominated by its busy business district.  Modern architectural feats everywhere you turn, and all of it seems bustling and prosperous.  The government is a sort of benevolent dictatorship that has managed to create a city-state where order is strictly maintained, crime is very low, and pretty much anything goes as long as it is good for tourism and business.  They've done some innovative things to keep traffic at a fairly reasonable level through taxation and fees coupled with an excellent public transport system.

Typical skyline

Pretty cool building

VERY cool building

It's going to rain!

  Eventually, after touring though the city, we had arrived at the Marina Bay Sands Resort.  Crazy building that looks like inverted Vs with a long cruise ship resting on top.  We made our way up to the observation deck with its panoramic views of Singapore, the busy harbor, and even some of the islands of Indonesia. 

Marina Bay Sands Resort

Marina Bay Sands Resort

Unusual structures near the resort

Skyline from the resort

View from the top of the resort.   I have NO idea what that thing that looks like a giant bra could be!

Floating athletic field--what a concept

Neat shot of that flower-like structure in the marina

Singapore from the Marina Bay Sands Resort

The Singapore Flyer--billed as the world's largest "observation wheel"--what most of us call a Ferris Wheel

Singapore - Little India

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Singapore also has a large Indian population, similarly clustered together in an interesting enclave amid the bustling modern city.  The temples are wonderful.  

Strange to see skyscrapers in the background.

You could look at this forever and still find something new

The figures seem so real that despite their sometimes unusual skin tones, you almost expect them to get up and stretch from time to time

This is a different, smaller temple

Singapore - Chinatown

NOTE:  If you would like less narrative and more pictures, please visit my website. 


Singapore's Chinatown is large, prosperous, and interesting.  Pagodas, temples, shops, housing.  Here is a sampling.

Striking building.  I don't know what it is.

Full service wellness center.  WHAT is ear candling???

We had to hike through construction to find this beautiful temple, but it was well worth it.

Too bad about the protective fence

Part of the shrine

Like the rest, we could be in China

This elevated walkway connects parts of Chinatown that are separated by a busy road

This is the same walkway

Singapore - hotels

NOTE:  If you would like less narrative and more pictures, please visit my website. 

Because of the JetStar mess in Darwin, instead of arriving in Singapore around nine, we didn't get in until 11 PM, then had to clear immigration, retrieve our luggage, clear customs, and find the hotels transfer bus.  We had an unscheduled tour of Singapore at night as we dropped other passengers off at their hotels on the way to ours.  A couple of them were in Chinatown, which was so busy with people eating in every single restaurant we passed that it might as well have been noon instead of nearly midnight.  Even the food markets were still open, and taxis were rushing around everywhere.  The first two hotels we stopped at were seedy at best, but eventually we arrived at the Intercontinental, which turned out to be a five star hotel in the heart of the business district.

Our room is on the second floor of the old section, which we could reach only by climbing a long flight of stairs from a beautiful lobby.  Our bags arrived shortly after we did, so I suppose there is a service elevator tucked away somewhere.  I was apparently so excited when I took this picture that it's blurry, but the lobby is truly lovely with lots of orchids everywhere.

Our room is wonderful.  I don't usually photograph hotel rooms, but really, this is charming.  FIVE floor to ceiling windows, attractive furniture that doesn't look like a hotel, and a bathroom with mosaic tile that gives it a sense of history you really don't see in modern hotels.

This is the old part of the hotel.  There is a modern tower attached, but I am so happy to be here.  There is nothing sterile about this hotel room.

  Our room is in the old part of the hotel and faces a busy street, but the powerful air conditioning system provides excellent white noise, so we could almost be in the country. In bed by two or three in the morning, and sound asleep minutes later.

Since I'm on the subject of hotels, I suppose I might as well mention Raffles, probably the most famous old hotel in Singapore.  We stopped in Raffles after our first-day bus tour in a drizzling rain.  We hopped off the bus to take some photos and check out the Long Bar where the Singapore Sling drink was invented.  Raffles is the shortest hotel in town, and behind it is the tallest.  I'm not sure if the building in the photo is that tall hotel or something else, however.

They don't let you into most of this hotel unless you are staying there.  The lobby, for example, is off limits to all but "residents" of the hotel, as is the place where they serve their famous hgh tea.  But they do let the riff-raff (people like us) see and use the bars.  This one is in an interior courtyard and was nearly empty because of the rain.

Their little historical display.  Raffles gets its name from Sir Stanford Raffles, the British "founder" of Singapore.  

Just outside the famous Long Bar. 

Inside.  I love the ceiling fans.  It was too dark and already sort of crowded to get a very good picture.

The Singapore Sling was invented here.  

Raffles rambles all over a large city block and contains several restful outdoor spaces.  This fountain was lovely, even in the rain.

This sheltered gazebo was delightful.

  Raffles was only a couple of blocks from the Intercontinental, so we enjoyed an easy walk home.  

Come back tomorrow for more of Singapore.

Singapore - intro

NOTE:  If you would like less narrative and more pictures, please visit my website. 

Singapore is many things.  It is an island.  It is a city.  It is a nation.  It is polyglot, It is apparently safe.  It is neat, clean and orderly.  It can seem harsh, thanks to laws unheard of elsewhere, such as a ban on chewing gum, and stern penalties for littering.  It is also cosmopolitan, beautiful, open, and mysterious.  Impossible to describe, really.

Our first day in Singapore was hot, humid, and threatening rain.  Later, the threat became real.  We decided to use the Hop-0n, Hop-off bus to see as much of the city as possible in the time we had.  It soon became apparent that this is a city that contains large ethnic groups who live together in peace while retaining the distinctive ways of their individual cultures.  I wouldn't say Singapore is a melting pot.  But it is definitely interesting!  Each group has its own neighborhood where residents live much as they would at "home" while still functioning in this new culture.  In addition, there is a large central business district that seems quite European.

The four-pronged monument is affectionately known as The Chopsticks, and the four "sticks" symbolize the four ethnic groups that dominate Singapore--Chinese, Malay, Indian, and "other".  The monument is actually a war memorial, built to honor the people of all ethnicities who lost their lives during the Japanese occupation in WWII.

As you can see, we are on the open top deck of the Hop On/Off bus, heading into the central business district.  It's still a pretty nice day, but those clouds are building.

I have no idea what this is supposed to represent, but it is large, colorful, and right in the center of the business district.  It looks to me as though it symbolizes the multi-ethnic, multi-cultural nature of Singapore.

So typical of this area--a building dating from the early days of European influence surrounded by modern skyscrapers.

Love the name of this hostel!

It's right on the edge of Chinatown.

Such a clean, modern city.  And that rain cloud is looking more ominous by the minute!

We spent pretty much the entire day on and off the bus tour, dodging rain, and eventually sheltering in the enclosed lower level of the bus to avoid getting drenched.  We had lunch in one of Singapore's many food courts that feature an array of small food shops offering fare of all ethnicities, from the ubiquitous chicken and rice that is supposed to be the national dish but comes in a hundred varieties, to curries, sandwiches, and much more.  Good beer, too.  We're becoming fans of Tiger beer, and starting to realize that American beers really ARE watery and bland by comparison with beer made almost anywhere else.


After lunch, we returned to the bus, but that's when the rain really set in.  We were happy that our ticket included another morning on the bus, and even happier when they gave us a full-day extension to make up for the rain of the first day.


There is so much diversity and so much to see in Singapore that I think I will continue this by sections.  Right now, let's look at a few photos I took of Muslim and Malay sights.

We didn't really get inside Little Arabia on the bus, but we did see a couple of things as we passed by.

The second afternoon, John walked through the Arab/Muslim district, but by that time, I was tired and decided just to go  back to the hotel, so I don't have more photos of that part of Singapore.

This is the entrance to a charming little space honoring early Maylasian settlements here.  If you click on the photo, you may be able to read the explanation.

This was once a fishing village.

Such a nice oasis in a busy modern city.

In future posts, I'll share my photos of Chinatown, a gorgeous Hindu temple, and more of the business district.