|
Nov 30 2008
We have put away our winter wear
and gone back to sandals and shorts. It is hot in Singapore, especially
yesterday when we got more than our allotment of Vitamin D.
Our flights from Paris to
Singapore were boring and long, especially the last 11.5 hours from
Frankfurt, but at least the food was better. They even served a little
cheese sandwich on the short Paris-Frankfurt leg. Not many airlines serve
anything on flights less than 3 hours.
We got into Singapore about 5:30
PM, took the hotel shuttle service for S$8 each (approx $6.40 CAD) and
were in the South East Asia Hotel by 6:45 PM, just in time to to go out
again for dinner. We are on pedestrian mall right next to two very popular
temples, one Buddhist and one Hindu, so are souls are being well looked
after. Hawkers set up outside the temple each day selling flowers and
insense sticks to the many worshippers.
Within one block of our hotel are
3-4 food court areas selling very inexpensive, mostly Chinese food. You
choose either noodles or rice and then extra side dishes of veggies, tofu,
fish or meat. It is quite good, especially washed down with a Tiger or
Singha beer.
To get over jet lag, we have been walking the streets
taking in the sights. Our first stop was the famous Raffles Hotel. After
falling into disrepair in the 1970s and 1980s, it closed and underwent an
extensive 2 1/2 year reconstruction, reopening in 1991. It is certainly
sumptuous now, definitely out of our league at S$750 up a night. We were
free to wander about the courtyards and the famous Long Bar where the
Singapore Sling was born. If we are feeling flush, they cost $22 each, we
may even return to sample one of those libations.
Posters near the Asian Cultural
Museum advertised a special sound and light show that night to celebrate
the opening of a new display called "Asia on the Edge". It sounded
interesting so at 8 PM were were back to the museum to watch about 40-50
dancers dressed in elaborate costumes representing all the Asians cultures
that make up Singapore. The performance took place outside on the Cavanagh
Bridge, a short span across the Singapore River in front of the Museum. A
big circular screen above the dancers projected a video while music and
coloured lights played upon the performers as they danced their way from
end to end on the bridge. The audience, including us were very
appreciative.
The next day we made our way to the Asian Cultural Museum in between cloud bursts. These are regular
occurrences in the tropics so many of the buildings have canopies over the
sidewalks. Otherwise wise Singaporeans always carry an umbrella to protect
themselves from both the sun and the rain.
The museum is packed with
information. You aren't supposed to take in a museum like this all in one
day but we did, skipping only a few of the exhibits. We did take a break
for lunch which revived us enough to carry on. The displays tell the
history of Singapore as well as highlight all the cultures brought to the
city by its immigrants. We recognized many of the artifacts from our
previous travels in Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Malaysia and India. It
was a 'must see' stop.
We had time in Singapore for one last museum visit before leaving. The
Singapore Art Gallery, just two blocks from our hotel, is housed in two
buildings, a beautiful colonial building and a former Jesuit boys school
across the street. It specializes in contemporary art about which we
know nothing, but the writeups accompanying each display were very
helpful. There were two special exhibits. The former school site
featured Japanese Media Art, which was an interesting and often amusing
collection. The colonial building had works from the Daimler Auto
Company collection. There were examples from all the founders of modern
art and parts of their car oriented collection, including some Andy
Warhol works.
Return to
Malaysia-Thailand Intro
Return to Travels
Return to Introduction |
