January 19 - Singapore part deux

After copying this here I realized how long this post is, but I wanted to remember it all, so here goes.

The first thing to know about visiting Singapore is to understand that it has two seasons – hot and wet and more hot and wet.  I’ve been here for four days and during that time it has been mainly overcast (probably a blessing because if the sun were out it would be brutal), and there have been showers intermittently.  They don’t last long but when they do they are downpours.  The humidity has stayed consistently around 80% and the temperature has been in the 80’s.  The upshot is that it is very, very muggy.

As I wrote when I arrived on Wednesday I’ve been staying at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel and it has been lovely.  I had a great view and the room I booked allowed me access to the hotel’s club which has been great.  I’ve had a cooked-to-order breakfast there every day and in the afternoon tea is served.  In the early evening complimentary cocktails and hors d’oeuvres are served.  In other words, there has been no shortage of food and beverages.  The only area in which I think the place falls a little short is in the restaurants in the hotel.  There are several with a variety of cuisines, but in only one did I think the food was really good.  That was the Chinese restaurant at which I had a lovely meal.

Thursday, my first full day here I woke up late and after breakfast I decided to walk around the marina bay area.  There is an esplanade that goes around part of the bay and I walked around a little of it and was able to get a good shot of the Marina Bay Sands hotel.  It is the tallest building in the city and the three towers are topped by a structure shaped like a massive ship.  On that thing there are apparently pools, bars, and restaurants and you can buy a ticket to go up there.  I’m a chicken when it comes to heights and I just couldn’t bring myself to go up there, no matter how great the view might have been.  It was hot and muggy and I decided to go inside so I walked over to the adjoining shopping mall by my hotel, Marina Square.

This mall like all the malls in this city and other Asian cities I’ve been to is glitzy and full of high-end stores.  There are shops with big names like Louis Vuitton, Dior and Hermès.  It’s interesting to walk by them and browse but they are definitely not my preferred places to shop.  I had hoped to find a tailor shop because I thought about having a dress made.  Last year when I was in Hong Kong I ordered a dress which was to be made and sent to me.  It’s a long story, but I never got it although I did recoup my money.  This time I thought I had enough time to have it made while I was here.  It was not to be.  I found a tailor shop and some beautiful fabric, but when the tailor told me he would make it and ship it, I declined.  Fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me.

After a few hours of walking and several miles I was hot and tired and decided it was time to go back to my hotel.  After a couple of cocktails I had dinner at the very good Chinese restaurant and then called it a night.  From my hotel I was able to see the nightly light show the Marina Bay puts on.  I took a few pictures  but they don’t really do it justice.

Actually I didn't catch any of the laser lights.  Too bad; it was very nice.

The rest of the city skyline I could see.

Friday morning I got up pretty early because I had booked a tour just for me of the sights of Singapore.  My driver, Alvin (he was ethnic Chinese so I’m pretty sure that’s not his actual name) picked me up and off we went.  As usual I sat in the front seat with him so we could talk.  The first place I asked to go was the Singapore Botanical Garden.  There are two big gardens here.  The other one is the Gardens by the Bay which I understand is spectacular but it’s a man-made, contrived garden whereas the botanical garden showcases local flora as they exist here naturally.  Had I known how beautiful the garden would be I would have arranged for more time there.  As it was Alvin had arranged to meet me at the entrance in about an hour and I barely had time to scratch the surface.  In the midst of this bustling, crowded city the garden is an oasis of quiet where you can actually here birds singing and chirping.  As I said I didn’t have much time at all but I did get a taste of how pretty this place is.  If I ever come back I will make sure I allocate at least a half day to visit.

The entrance of the gardens

I’m adding a few photos of things I particularly liked.  The first is of a common red stem-fig, one I’ve never heard of before.  I was intrigued by the great masses of small figs growing right on the trunk of the tree.  I’ve never seen anything quite like it.  As I walked I came across this bronze sculpture of Chopin playing a polonaise as a lady watches and listens.  There was a sign near the sculpture with a button to allow you to hear the music as you took in the statue and the scenery.  It was enchanting!  That statue overlooked a small amphitheater  next to a lake where concerts are apparently held.  It must be a wonderful place to come to for a performance.

The fig tree

and some clusters of figs up close

Chopin playing the Polonaise in F sharp minor

the little lake

a nice banyan tree

Alvin picked me up and we continued our tour of the city. The traffic is pretty awful here – too many cars and too many pedestrians.  As we drove down Orchard Road, one of the main thoroughfares, we passed shopping center after shopping center with signs for all kinds of famous stores.  If you’re a shopaholic this is the place to come.  Eventually we drove by the Raffles Hotel. The Raffles is an old historic hotel opened in 1887.  I think it kind of epitomizes the look of a British colonial gathering place.  The story goes that when the Japanese occupied Singapore in 1942 they found the guests in the hotel dancing one final waltz before they were captured.  When we came here 30 years ago we went to the Raffles and had dinner and a drink after at the famous Long Bar.  Because of lots of traffic we couldn’t stop for me to take a photo so I’ve lifted one from the internet.  It is a beautiful building which not long ago underwent a major renovation.

Chaotic traffic on Orchard Road

The Raffles Hotel. What marvelous old architecture!

Next we proceeded to Little India where Alvin dropped me off so I could walk around.  The place was bustling with people, many of them shopping at a little market. The street was decorated with lights and banners some of which I think were there for the Lunar New Year which is coming next week.  I passed a Hindu temple and a Buddhist temple.  At both people would stop and bow and clap their hands.  Some people stopped and lit incense sticks which were readily available in the market. I have to say that the Hindu temples are  by far the most interesting ones.  They have all kinds of colorful figures of people and gods decorating them.  I have no idea who they are, but they look fascinating.  The market was selling all kinds of good luck items, many of them red because red signifies happiness and good luck in Chinese culture.  There were also lots of golden cats with waving arms, just like the one I have as the mascot for our trivia team.  I know where to go to get one.

A Hindu temple

A few of the many figures on the temple wall

A Buddhist temple just down the street

These and the next few are all from the street market in Little India

The name of the café at a building across the street tickled me - who can resist a Cheerful Goat?

Our next stop was the downtown area where Singapore’s government buildings are.  The most interesting one is the new Supreme Court building which looks like a UFO has landed on it.  Alvin pointed out the old and new parliament buildings which look very British.  We stopped briefly so I could get a photo of the Victoria Theater and Concert Hall with its statue of Sir Stamford Raffles near the entrance.  Our next stop was Chinatown.  It had begun to rain so it was not as busy as Little India.  Honestly, I thought the latter seemed more excited about the upcoming New Year festivities than did Chinatown.  Alvin had given me an umbrella to use since I forgot mine and I walked a little and the rain stopped but the humidity level went up.  I passed another Buddhist temple where people were lighting incense.  There was also this old man playing some kind of string instrument.  I have no idea what it is and it didn’t sound like anything I’ve ever heard.

Looks like a UFO landed to me.

Victoria Theater and Concert Hall

That's Sir Raffles

A Buddhist temple in Chinatown

These next few are of Chinatown

This was the old musician

We left Chinatown behind and our next stop was the highest point on the island, Mount Faber.  At just about 350 feet high it’s really just a hill, but for here it’s tall.  There is a cable car system on which you can ride from here to the harbor front and to Sentosa Island which is a resort island with golf courses, a Universal Studios park, and a big casino.  Serious clouds had set in so the view wasn’t all that good but I could see that it would be on a nice day.

Mount Faber and some of the views from there

After we left Mt. Faber Alvin drove me to a part of Singapore where ordinary citizens live.  This section was very different from the mad rush in the areas I’d been to. The streets weren’t nearly as crowded and we drove by schools, local supermarkets and a variety of churches, temples, mosques and even a synagogue.  As he drove Alvin and I talked about the education system here.  School attendance is compulsory through high school and parents are jailed if their kids fail to attend.  All students take English, but they also have a class in whatever their ethnic tongue is, so Chinese take Chinese, Indians Indian, etc.  I was a little surprised at that because I encountered quite a few people whose English wasn’t very good at all.  But then who am I to say that because I can’t speak a word of either of those languages.

We also talked a lot about the multi-culturalism in Singapore.  Maybe because the government won’t tolerate any protests but evidently the various races and religions get along.  There is religious tolerance and apparently there have been no terror attacks.  Alvin said that everybody celebrates every holiday and goes all out doing so.  That’s why I saw all kinds of decorations for Chinese New Year in Little India. It’s why I remember when we came here 30 years ago right after Christmas, the city was decorated all over for that holiday with snowmen and reindeer which looked really out of place.  One odd thing I saw in this part of town was a newly opened Louis Vuitton store.  It was in the middle of a residential area with no other glamorous shops around.  LV was smart though because there was a line almost around the block of people waiting to go into the store.  Along the way  he showed me a video his son had made of the public housing flat he and his wife had bought just  last year.  It was small but quite nice looking.  I have no idea how much such a place costs and it wouldn’t have been nice to ask.

More serious rain was upon us so I told Alvin that we could end our tour for the day. We spent most of 6 hours seeing the city and I felt like I had a good taste of what Singapore is like.  The best part truthfully was being able to talk to Alvin for all that time.  My favorite part of traveling is having the opportunity to meet and get to know a little about ordinary people from that place.  At least for me that broadens my mind more than seeing the usual tourist sights.  He dropped me off at my hotel and I told him what an enjoyable trip it had been.

I had planned to take a night cruise to see the lights of Singapore, but when I learned the weather forecast I canceled.  It was a good thing because it rained buckets on and off.  I had dinner in another one of the hotel’s restaurants, a steakhouse this time.  It was good but not memorable.

Saturday morning I woke up to another gray and rainy day. After breakfast I took a taxi to the Raffles City Center which is in the middle of downtown.  I walked outside a little but it was very crowded (I guess because it was Saturday) and it kept raining off and on.  I retreated into a couple of the shopping complexes.  The malls here are multi-story (think six or seven levels) and all are glittering marble palaces. After walking through several I decided I’d seen enough.  I didn’t see a single store that looked like something uniquely Singaporean.  Actually they all began to look alike.  I’d walked a couple of miles and decided it was time to go back to the hotel. 

Hindsight is 20/20 and if I had it to do over again, and if the weather cooperated I would have spent one day at the botanical garden and a second at the Gardens by the Bay, the ones I mentioned earlier which are supposed to be very beautiful too.  Now I’m sitting in the lounge at the airport waiting to board my flight.  There are four terminals here and something called Jewel which is apparently where the world’s tallest waterfall is located along with about 300 shops and dining outlets spread out over ten floors.   After looking at the map of this place it looks like I would have to take a train to get there and I’m not up for that given the carry-on stuff I have with me. I’m just not as adventurous I used to be.

Anyway, I’ve gone on long enough so I’ll close for now.  I’ll have some final thoughts about the cruise, the places I’ve been and traveling in general.  Bye for now.