Singapore by night

I am sitting in the lounge in Singapore, having just drunk a good cup of coffee from the automatic machine.  I am so pleased we have access, via our bank, to use the lounges in most airports.  A chance for a little bit of relaxation before boarding the plane.  Unfortunately we do not have access to lounges in Australia.   

After getting out of the taxi we basked for a few minutes in the warm sunshine.  It will be quite different when we step out of the terminal in London.  It will be good to be home though, and to see Emma, Steve, Jackson and Isabel.

The last few photos of Singapore before we leave.  A very well lit up Singapore at night.  

The Merlion lit up with everchanging lights, all to the sound of music. All part of the Festival of Light.

The Marina Sands Bay Hotel, lit up at night.

The view from our window, looking towardsthe Anglican Cathedral, and the Singapore Eye.

The other view from the window, looking towards the business district.

One evening we walked to Clarke Quay, on the Singapore River.  An area that was once warehouses, and is now an upmarket area of bars and restaurants.

Tour boats on the Singapore River.

The view up river towards Riverside Point.

Riverside Point.

The centre of Clarke Quay with plenty of sparkly lights.

Looking up at the roof, lit with everchanging lights.

One of the busy streets leading to the centre of Clarke Quay.

We never tire of visiting Singapore, as it is everchanging.  It is also a vibrant, cosmopolitan and positive place to be in.  When Singapore broke away from Malaysia and became an independent country in 1963 there was much to change.  The Prime Minister and his cabinet brought in tough measures, some of which we saw when we lived here.

When we lived here, during the early 1970s, the government forced people out of their Kampongs and run down urban streets, and into flats in high rise buildings, where all the different ethnic groups had to live as neighbours.  Areas of jungle were cleared away, almost overnight, in order to build high rise apartments.  People were told to have two children only, any more children meant no free education or medical treatment.   As new laws were brought in, they were implemented immediately.  It was a tough time.

Consequently Singapore is now a spotlessly clean and successful country, with an upbeat atmosphere.  There appears to be employment for everyone and a good quality lifestyle for the people.

So goodbye Singapore, until we return again.

National Gallery Singapore

Today we visited the National Gallery of Singapore.  And what a showcase.  The buildings used to be the City Hall and the Supreme Court.   Absolutely magnificent buildings.  They face the Padang and the Cricket Club so the setting was also very  grand.

The buildings were joined together, with a glass roof, and wooden floors.  The centre is a huge atrium.   There were two walkways between the buildings, on the 3rd and 4th floors.   The National Gallery opened in 2007.

We were especially interested in the temporary exhibition titled 'Artist and Empire', which explores art from the British Empire over the past 400 years, and its impact on the rise of modern art in former colonies such as Singapore.

Interestingly there was a different version of this exhibition which was presented at Tate Britain, in November 2015.  A much more positive exhibition, from Britain's point of view.

There was no doubt that the message in this exhibition focussed on the consequences and the impact on the people who lived in the colonies under British rule.  As well as artworks produced by British artists for British patrons, which reflected  Empire-centric viewpoints of the time, there were also contemporary artworks which offered a counter prospective.

I found the sculpture of four soldiers, in the photograph below very thought provoking.  The sign explained that in the late 1800s, British soldiers killed Zula tribesmen in a war, which was celebrated as a success in England.   Yet how would the people of London feel if Zulu tribesmen had stormed into their city and killed the men there.  The sign asked people to think about the justifications of invading countries.

Two statues in England, photographed and embellished (painted on) with the men's wealth, mainly gold coins and gold artifacts.  The one on the left was a slave trader.   My apologies, as I have forgotten their names.

We continued around the general exhibitions which focussed mainly on artists from Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and China.  Some pieces were very modern, some traditional.  They were all very interesting.

We also were quite taken in by the building itself.

The room where the Prime Minister, Lee Kuan Yew, and his cabinet, were sworn into office.

The atrium between the two buildings.

The law library,  when the building was the supreme court.

Long corridors with magnificent tiled floors.

We went up to the top of the building where there are now restaurants.  We sat and drank our coffee, which was all we could afford, and admired the view.  

The photograph below shows the city buildings on the right and the Marina Bay Sands Hotel in the background.  In the centre of the photo is the padang  where there was an international hockey tournament taking place.   The low building on the right is the Cricket Club.

Singapore schools were participating in a music presentation in the artium.  We were very impressed with the high quality of instrumentalists taking part in the presentation.

 Today we walked 14,763 steps (11 kms), mostly around the huge National Gallery.  It was a very interesting day, and we certainly went away very impressed with the gallery, and with more of an understanding of different ways of looking at the British Empire.

A long walk around Marina Bay

Yesterday we walked around Marina Bay, plus an extension, Gardens by the Bay.  All on reclaimed land.  The bay in the centre is all that is left of the open ocean, where once ships unloaded their cargo into the small boats which then made their way to the warehouses on the banks of the Singapore River.  

It was a very impressive development, and we were amazed at the ideas and creativity that went into the planning of the area plus the massive engineering programme that was needed to put the planning into action.

We set off towards Collyer Quay, and Clifford Pier, where passenger ships once berthed.

The Marina Bay Sands Hotel, with the Skypark on top.  

We passed many old landmarks.

The old Parliament House.

The Cricket Club, on the edge of the Padang.

Walter posing on the old bridge on Fullerton Road.

The view towards the Esplanade Theatre and Mall, shaped like durians.  The new bridge and road over the entrance to the Singapore River.

Clifford Pier is now part of the Fullerton Hotel.

Opposite Clifford Pier was the revamped Change Alley, where the money changers used to offer their services.  They were not official, but sometimes you could get a better rate of exchange for your money. But often they were dishonest, so it was best to avoid using them.  It was always crowded with people.

Now the alley is lined with chain restaurants and cafes.

Once into Raffles Square, the first building we used to see was Robinsons on the opposite side of the square.  It was burnt down in 1972, purposely or not was left to one's own perception.  But quite a few people got trapped in the lifts and died a horrible death.  The event is still etched in my memory.

The shopping centre where Robinson's once stood.

Raffles Place is now the business part of Singapore, as all the main banks are here.  Tall buildings everywhere.

But the money changers are still in the square, but I guess they are now official.

The sculpture at the edge of Raffles Place.

We crossed Collyer Quay and walk along an avenue of trees.  Lovely and shady.  So many interesting sculptures

A solar operated fan.

Solar windmills.

The view back towards Collyer Quay and the business district.  Clifford Pier is the very small red roofed building at the bottom.  Our hotel is to the right, but is not in the photograph.

Handcrochet sculptures which light up at night.

Marina Bay Sands shopping centre.  A masterpiece of curved glass, shiny surfaces and exclusive shops.  The flashest shopping centre I have ever visited.

We walked through Marina Bay Sands Hotel, where we thought a visit to the restrooms was a must, and they were certainly luxurious.  Even the paper towels were folded into a point.

Then it was down to the MRT station, where we walked through the underpass until we reached the Gardens by the Bay.

The Supertrees, connected together with a 22 metre walkway.  We walked along there on our last visit.  Eventually the ferns and plants will over the structures.  I think they are also used as exhausts for the Domes.

I could have taken many photos of the garden.  There are gardens representing the different ethnic groups in Singapore, plus gardens that focus on plant relationships and ecosystems.  There are also children's play areas.

A stream travelling down a walkway.

The Chinese garden.

The Bunyan tree, in the Indian garden.

We did not visit the Domes this year.  Instead we went on a motorised tour of the gardens, so learnt a bit more about the history and the making of the gardens.

The sculpture by Marc Quinn, of The Giant Sleeping Baby.  Although it is on a very strong pole, it appears to be suspended in the air.

We walked back to the bridge entrance, where there is a high walkway over the motorway, through the hotel and then over the next motorway and into the shopping centre.  Amazing views if you like heights.

A view of Marina Bay Sands Hotel, from the gardens.

A view over the gardens with the Supertrees taking a prominent position.

This is not a hotel I would like to stay in.  The slope and narrowness of the walls, plus the height.  Not for me.  Not that I could afford to stay here anyway.

The next motorway.

And then back into the shopping centre.

We walked back over The Helix bridge in the rain, then along the footpath in front of the grandstand, through the Esplanade Theatre, down through an underpass, past the Padang, and past Raffles Shopping Centre until we came to our hotel.

We were exhausted but very happy with our day.

A revamped Chinatown

Yesterday we visited Chinatown, which is only a short walk from our hotel.   However we still managed to stop, half way along, at a cafe in Clark Quay.   We thought Chinatown would look much better after a dose of caffeine.

The entry to Chinatown.  A giant rooster.  The Year of the Rooster, for sure.

We visited Chinatown a few years ago so were prepared for a spruced up looking place.  Some of the streets were paved, buildings renovated and repaired and painted bright colours, and roofs over some streets.  Plus shop after shop selling tourist tat.  Of course we could not resist and bought some of it too.

I look happy after I made my purchases, which are weighing heavily in my bag.

Thank goodness that the powers to be here decided in the early 1980s to save the shops, as most of them were very run down and dilapidated by then.  A restoration programme was put into place and most of the area was saved.

We walked past the Hindu temple.

There were also plenty of small restaurants, and food stalls.  The streets had clear roofs, which makes eating possible during a monsoon downpour.

The old meeting place was still the same, with clusters of older men playing Mahjong and Draughts.  Nothing has changed there.

The Buddhist Temple.  We arrived just in time for the daily service.  There were queues of people waiting to receive a blessing from one of the monks, and more monks were chanting, with the assistance of a large choir of ordinary people.  It was such a privilege to watch the service.  And the similarities with a Catholic Mass were quite remarkable.

We remember Chinatown, in the early 1970s, when it was a bustling place, full of small stores selling dried fish, meat hanging from hooks, fruit and vegetables and various other goods, plus small food stalls. And the washing hanging between the upper stories of the buildings. It was crowded with people, a bit grubby but so interesting.  We loved visiting Chinatown.

Walter walking along the street, reminicsing, no doubt.

The old flats bave been spruced up too, and painted in pastel colours.

A Chinese medicine shop.  Plenty of dried fish there, plus dried lizards.

I was amazed at the number of coaches parked on the edge of Chinatown.

Another temple.

As we walked away from Chinatown we noticed a very smart hotel, the Park Royal, with its shrubs, small trees and flowers decorating the balconies.

We ate lunch in a quiet foodhall, in a small shopping centre which had not opened yet.  We both ate a small plate of fried mee, and felt very pleased with our fairly healthy choice.  Then we went directly to the cafe, where drank our morning coffee, and ordered an Affogato each.  It was so delicious.

A view of the Marina Bay Sands Hotel, as we crossed over the Singapore River.

We are definitely going on a diet soon.  No ice creams or cakes.