Singapore

On the road again, but this time in Singapore, the Lion City.  The "Merlion" that you see above is a statue representing the Lion City; thus the lion head, but the fish bottom represents the origins of Singapore as a fishing village.

A city-state of 268 square miles and over 5 million people, the city is very dense (over 17,000 people per square mile).  The weather was hot and humid, and at times almost stifling because of the humidity.  Taxis and drivers were a little chaotic, but they got the job done (they also drive on the left side of the road).  There are sky rises everywhere in order to conserve as much of the rainforest on the island as possible.  In fact, almost 25% of the land mass of Singapore has been reclaimed from the ocean.

 One of many sky rises in the city.

Singapore gained its independence from the British Empire in 1963 as part of Malaysia and then split off a couple years later to form its own country.  The government is similar to that of Britain, but seems to take a heavy social role in the country.  Much of the housing is public housing (subsidized by the government), but only a certain percentage of any one culture/race can occupy a housing district at a time.  This is another social policy meant to blend the cultures in Singapore quicker.  The country is a melting pot of several cultures: including the Malay, Chinese, Indians, Arabs, and many others.  This city was very interesting.

I only had a couple of days to experience Singapore.   I arrived 2 days before a training course was to begin, and I wanted to see as much of the city as possible.  I took a bus City Tour to hear some of the history and stop in at different places.  I went on a Night Safari to the Singapore Zoo.  And last of all, took a Hop-on, Hop-off bus to see the rest of Singapore.  Here is what I saw:

Merlion Statue

Random City Scapes

 This is a Hindu Temple

Downtown Singapore

 The "Chopsticks" in the foreground is a war memorial.  The locals really do call it "Chopsticks"

 A temple on the tour route

 Little India

 A mall

A mosque on Arab Street

 Singapore is famous for artistry with minerals.  This ship is made of hundreds of different shavings of minerals; and the stacking of the pieces is what provides it the depth.  This picture probably costs about $1000.

 Singapore built the "Singapore Flyer", an observation wheel larger then the London Eye.  I was too cheap to pay the money to ride it.

 Me on the Hop-on, Hop-off bus.  One of the best things I did.  The bus had a recording telling you about all of the areas.  When you saw a place you wanted off, you just got off.

 Again, the city is very dense.  The buildings are only 5 feet from the road sometimes.

This is famous Orchard Road.  Famous because of the shopping that takes place here.  There several malls hosting shops from Nike and Adidas to Gucci and Coach.  I tried to go into the malls and shop. . . that lasted about 15 minutes and then I felt like the life had been sucked from me.

China Town

 This Chinese temple (Thina Hock Keng Temple) contains relics for Buddhism, Hinduism, Confucianism, and others.  Mainly, it was a temple to the goddess of the sea.  A hundred years ago, I would have been in the water where I took the picture.  The Chinese would literally get off a dock where I am standing and go to thank the goddess of the sea for their safe passage.

 The building across the street is the organization that "watches over" the temple and pays for its upkeep.  Careful . . . they are watching (literally, that is why they designed the building like that)

 This is a Buddhist temple where they believe they have a tooth of Buddha.

 I actually arrived when they were doing some of their rituals, so I was not allowed into the main hall.

 I went to the Chinese Heritage Center and learned about the trials and tribulations of the Chinese who came to Singapore hoping to make a better life.  This is a picture of the main Chinese families that came to Singapore.

Picture of Chinatown

Botanic Gardens and the Orchid Gardens

 One of the most beautiful places in all of Singapore was the Botanical gardens, and specifically the Orchid gardens.  The Orchid is the national flower.

This couple took a lot of the pictures I am in.  They are from Pakistan.

 We arrived just before  a wedding.

 Me in a one of the Orchid gardens.

This part of the Botanical gardens is free to the public.  Singapore is literally a city inside of a jungle.  They are trying to coin the country as "the city within a garden"

The Night Safari

 Because I don't have the best camera, I was not able to take any good pictures of the Night Safari.  The best I shot is just below.  We saw 80% of the animals they have at the Singapore zoo; including lions, tigers, hippos, hyenas, and elephants.  It was a lot of fun.

After seeing the animals, the zoo has a local tribe that does a fire-eating dance routine.  I thought this was a tone of fun!

Whoa!  That's me.  During the show, while I was filming and taking pictures, they went into the audience and dragged a poor soul in front of everyone.  That poor soul was me.  Yes, I had to take my shirt off.  I only have 2 pictures of the whole event, which I had to purchase from the zoo so I would have proof that I am a fire-dancer.  (One of the downsides to traveling by yourself.)

Oh, the training was good.  I learned a lot and then I had to hope back on the plane for South Korea.  I left Singapore at 9:30 AM and didn't get back to my apartment until 9:30 PM.  Those are some long days.  Little did I know how far away Korea is from everything but China, Japan, and Russia.

That is the Phillipines!