Singapore-Day 3

The third day was a much slower day...it rained-believe it or not, a good thing as it brings the temperatures down.  We had scheduled the bus tour for this day which was a good way for mom to see the city.  We chose the historical tour which is more city central but hits all the really cool neighborhoods.  It is a good way to see the city and discover the places to go back to visit on foot.  I didn't take too many photos but here are a couple.

Mom and Margie on the bus-we laughed a lot...the bus is great because the tickets are good for 24 hours.  They run every 20 minutes or so and you can get off and on at various scheduled stops.  Many tourists use them for transportation because you can explore a neighborhood and get on  when you are done and go to the next place you want to see.

Not a good shot but this is Beach Street, which actually meant something before the land reclamation project in the '60's'. It was on the waterfront, but not anymore.

We went back to Margie's to rest and then headed out for a drink at Raffles, and old Singapore hotel and landmark.  It's in the heart of the Colonial District.  It's expensive  but has a great courtyard for drinks.  Margie says it's been ruined by the new management who established a pizza kitchen and have piped in elevator music.

There is beautiful iron work and twilight is magical there.

I love these palms and the fan palms.

On the way home we ate at the Singapore Art Museum, which serves food outside late.   There is always a lot of action at night because it's  so hot during the day and you can't really be outside.

The building is lovely.

  So for Day 3 there is one more story...since Margie lives in Little India, the street life is very wild.  The migrant workers get a half day off on Sunday and converge on the neighborhood from their outlying construction jobs.  There are hundreds of men, maybe thousands, who come here to her street and shop and eat and just hang out on the streets and vacant lots.  It's loud and joyful and all the vans/transports that bring them in are parked along Race Course Road. It all lasts until  midnight and then they all go back to the dormitories where they live.  I wanted a better picture of the crowds but it wasn't possible.  This was the best I could do.

The bigger crowds are on the corners.

Singapore: Day 2

Jet lag doesn't seem to be much of a problem..Margie's system works.  We started the morning going  to another ethnic neighborhood - Joo Chiat. This neighborhood is where Chinese and Malaysians who intermarried lived.  Many Eurasians lived here too.  There are many preserved and restored shophouses there.  Shophouses are 2-3 story buildings that had commercial space on the first floor and residential space on the second and third floors.  A family might have their shop below and live above.  Or, the people living above a shop might be unrelated to the shop owners.  There is also a "five-foot way", a covered walkway that protected the public from sun and rain.  Many of these buildings were destroyed by the government's development policies, but some are preserved in various neighborhoods.  These buildings are wonderful-colorful with tiles and bas relief designs on the facades.

These shophouses are so beautiful...lots of  Chinese signs but also other languages.

Some of the details on the buildings are incredible.

we walked around for awhile and then had iced coffee while watching the crowds.  

Mom made great progress with her walker and it has really made it possible for her to get around.

There are several tell-tale signs that let you know what neighborhood you are in.

  Halal on a sign in front of a restaurant means the food has been prepared according to Muslim dietary requirements so Muslims can eat there.  We ate Laksa for lunch-a Malaysian seafood and coconut milk broth with noodles-so good.

It's got lime and chile in it too.

Loved the old Chinese signs...a very colorful neighborhood located on the Eastern side of Singapore.

That evening we went on the Singapore flier, to see the city at twilight.  We had expected a clear night and full moon as we had had the night before but it was hazy and not great for photos.  Mom was given special treatment to get up to the flier. The procedure had us all laughing-sort of.  A young woman took us on a hike at breakneck speed all the way to the other side of the building-where the special ramps where. I ran after her so we wouldn't lose her while Margie tried to escort Mom.  The young woman stopped periodically to let them almost catch up before she took off again.  When we got to the front of the line, we were cordoned off while she took mom careening down a ramp and onto the flier.  Somehow she survived, but was exhausted.  It was obvious that they have a procedure and they were going to follow it no matter what.  

Shipping takes up a great deal of the coastline and there really isn't waterfront as much as river front and a sort of manufactured bay.

Lots of tall buildings in financial district and new buildings going up all the time.

These building are a stadium and hotels along this bay...it's lively at night with light shows and places to get drinks and a view.

There seem to be a lot of buildings with this shape-the ones from the first day and others being constructed.  These are at a waterfront park that we will visit after Bali.

The flier goes very slowly-the people jump off as  it is still moving though they did stop it for mom.

More later on Day 3.

Singapore Day One

It was a long flight:  11.5 hours to Tokyo and 6.5 hours to Singapore.   We followed Margie's plan of staying up till 3:30 am and sleeping till 10:30 and then going about our day. Lunch at a vegetarian restaurant in Little India-Margie lives there anyway.  Here street is so cool.  The view from her window is so cool.  Old buildings and new ones behind.   

  Love the roof tiles  - so irregular.

 Ok, so back to day one. We took a taxi to Little India and had lunch.  Then we headed to Esplanade shopping center for massages-Margie' treat.   Very cool rooms.  They give you hair nets and these "very attractive" mesh panties to put on. The shape reminds me of those old diaper covers I used to put on the kids.  The message was wonderful and got the circulation going so our feet would unswell from the flight.  The we headed up to the roof for view. 

You can get drinks from the top of this building - Marina Bay Sands. We will do this before we leave.  

Many  more beautiful views-it is a big modern city.

These buildings below are part of the Esplanade.  Built to resemble the durian fruit.  

There is tons of building going on.  Cranes are everywhere.  Singha means lion and there are lions represented everywhere.  Here is one on the harbor.

We then took another taxi to The Civic District-where old Singapore began-it's the seat of the old colonial government and the Asian Civilizations Museum is there-to be visited after Bali.  This is the old river front-so beautiful at twilight.  We had wine and appetizers on the River front at Siem Reap-another  twilight treat.

The day finished off with a full moon-so lovely.

More later...