Evening with Marianne

I met up with Marianne in the evening - first, we went for dinner with another friend of mine here called Ching (who's looking for a job in the financial sector and is therefore a fellow 'professional' with me in residence at the hostel!) and then Marianne and I went to watch the first light show at the Merlion:

(which is unfortunate in the fact that it has no arms or flippers and is just a lion's head atop a fish's tail!) and then we went over to the Marina Bay Sands hotel iteslf to watch the second light show from the proper vantage point. And I was amazed.

Having seen the show 4 times already from various different vantage points, I didn't think it could be much improved by watching it from the 'correct' location. But I was quite mistaken! It was an amazing show telling 'the story of life, using water and light', used lasers and projectors and strobes and fire and so much more. Quite a show, no idea what the story was supposed to be though! But the most impressive parts for me were the very clever interactions between the spray and the light, sometimes using a fan of water as a project screen and sometimes projecting lasers through the spray to create a very 3-dimensional hologram (I'm not exaggerating). Entertaining stuff - highly recommended!

Then we walked over the Helix Bridge to the Singapore Flyer. I have included this pic too because I just can't get over how beautiful this city is at night...

We also saw a wild gecko on the ceiling of a bus stop, which was of course amusing.

So, to the flyer a second time (though I wanted to see the view at night), we again passed through the random display of facts and figures in the queuing area - which by coincidence we had reached 4 minutes before the last embarkation!

Up the flyer we went. Here are some views!

It was also much better to have someone to share it with this time, and I will agree that it was worth seeing again at night. The view is good, no better than that from Marina Bay Sands, though of course from the Flyer you can actually see the Sands hotel itself in all of its weirdness.

Talking of which, that was our next destination. I had been in Singapore nearly 2 weeks and had still not sampled a Singapore Sling! Marianne gamely joined in and here are our two beauties (only $30 each!). Once again, we avoided the $20 'observation deck' charge so really they were no worse value than the cocktails I'd had in Shanghai or Hong Kong.

Marianne also enjoyed the experience and the view!

And before we left, we were able to sneak towards the Sky Park and admire the much-advertised Infinity Pool. This swimming pool, overlooking Marina Bay, does not appear to have an edge (though in reality there is an overflow and a walkway on the other side, to catch those boisterous or stupid enough to go over the edge!

Much better photos (plus a nice explanation of MBS) can be seen at http://www.businessinsider.com/take-a-look-at-singapores-swankiest-infinity-pool-2010-7.

And finally, we were kicked out since they were closing down for the evening and, with the MRT shut down for the evening, continued the Royal life and taxied back to our Hostel. Certainly a very good evening out!

East Coast Park

Finally, on Sunday, I did manage to get myself to the East Coast Park! The bus from Bedok MRT station runs earlier on a Sunday (very unusual eh?!) so I elected to go this day instead.

First of all, though, I walked with Marianne in to the centre of town, showing her the Singapore River, Padang recreation area, the Esplanade, Marina Bay etc before parting ways at the MRT station. The journey took about an hour, and then I was dropped off beside a wakeboarding 'lagoon' where people seemed to be having lots of fun scooting round on a line pulley system - just like a drag lift.

So East Coast Park is a sort of beach resort, with lots of cycling and rollerblading trails, camping areas, some attractions and miles and miles of beach - some rocky, some sand, mostly imported. The locals come here to relax and being a sunny Sunday, there were many people here but I wouldn't say it was crowded! 

I had duck for lunch then hired a bicycle for a couple of hours, determined to see as much of the Park as possible. So I thought I'd ride half an hour in one direction (since the lagoon was right in the middle), then turn around and ride in the other direction for an hour, before riding back to the bike shop. And in essence, this worked just fine.

I spotted an RC car racetrack - Dave, what scale is this? There were nitro and electric models zipping round at incredible speed!

There was a sailing centre - here, lots of kids battled it out at the start line in Optimists - clearly there is a strong sailing movement here in Singapore!

There was a pier, and here's my bike:

And for the most part, this is the view from the saddle. Good cycle roads, not many people, partly shaded by trees, and the sea nearby (so you can't get lost!).

I also came across some sort of dog talent show / trade show. I was given an SPCA wristband (since donated onwards to Nicolette) and watched while dogs were summoned, stopped, danced and other random tricks. Though I've never really seen the appeal of dogs, especially the small useless variety!

And after two hours, I returned the bike. Simples!

I had noticed a dinghy hire location right near to the lagoon where I could have hired a dinghy - a Laser or similar. But, at $55 an hour, with an uninspiring stretch of dirty sea to explore, I didn't really fancy it! So I dipped my toes in the warm sea and, hearing lighting over the mainland, I headed back to the Hostel.

Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival

Well, on Saturday I gave my best efforts to taking public transport to East Coast Park (a park area on the East Coast... of course....) but, despite getting to the right MRT station and navigating to the bus interchange, I waited there for a full hour and a quarter before realising that the first bus of the day wasn't due for yet another hour (2pm). So I alerted the other unfortuante people who hadn't bothered to read the sign and were queuing expectantly, and so we all walked off. I was tempted to take a taxi to the Park but with engagements in the evening, and it was starting to rain, I got back on the MRT and went back to the hostel!

So I'm not going to try and explain mid-autumn festival, it was a complex tale of people shooting down the suns and a hare on the moon desperately trying to make drugs that make you fly. But have a read here! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mid-Autumn_Festival

Anyway, one of the centrepieces is a march with lanterns, originating from Chinatown. One of the hostel girls had organised for some of us to meet and then walk to Chinatown and march with lanterns ourselves! So at 6pm, off we went...

Chinatown in the evening

The Five Stones Hostel team in front of the massive pineapple-lantern. I look of here because I am trying not to accentuate the fact that I was about a foot taller than... well, everyone!

The march was opened by the Minister for Culture and also some celebrities from Taiwan (?) but shortly we were walking around the streets of Chinatown in a huge horde, swinging the lanterns that Nicolette had so kindly provided with us!

Later, after the march, we had a bite to eat at an outdoor hawker centre and I introduced Marianne (a new arrival to the Hostel, also from England) to the joys of Fried Carrot Cake. While Nicolette tried to introduce the rest of us to the 'joys' of pig organ soup. Yes I did have a slither of stomach and it was quite tasty, but I won't be ordering it for myself any time soon!

Back at the Hostel, it was revealed that we had been bought some genuine, and expensive, mooncake to celebrate the occasion! We all settled down to enjoy the delicious delicacies (very expensive, especially when purchased from the Marriott hotel) including some of the smaller snow-skin mooncakes with a softer filling. Here, Nicolette and I show off the goods...

It was a lovely evening! And I was so pleased to be part of the celebration. What a great coincidence it was that I was here in Singapore for the festival. I seem to time these things well.

More Marina Bay at Night-Time

Friday lunchtime, I met up with a friend of my parents', called Stuart, who gave me a really good insight into life as a British expat living in Singapore. He's just learnt to drive here as well, which was very interesting to discuss. He has got very used to the climate, as I am beginning to do, and I was able to quiz him on the entertainment options - sport, hobbies etc, and from our discussion it would seem that most places in Singapore are within 10 minutes of an Olympic-sized swimming pool. Which is great news!

We had lunch in a food court again. I had a sort of porridge which had pork ribs in it. Tasty, though not easy to eat with either chopsticks or a spoon, and I generally avoided the plankton which were sprinkled on top like a morbid sort of condiment.

Afterwards, I had another industry visit, so I was glad that there was only a small trace of porridge on my trousers.

In the evening, as part of the Mid-Autumn celebrations, I went along to the Esplanade for a very good drumming display by a local group. These guys (quite young, maybe teens - 25) were terrific and had some very innovative performances, including one depicting ducks splashing each other with water, and another which involved lots of throwing gongs upwards. But also impressive was the very bilingual talents of the members who introduced the pieces, switching between Mandarin and English with no effort at all!

After this I walked back to the hostel, taking in the lovely sight of the Esplanade (L) and the Merlion (R) which border Marina bay. 

And I was also able to catch another light display, this time from a slightly better viewpoint.

And then went home and Skyped quite a few people, including Dave who had this comedy expression frozen on the screen for some time, after our internet connection was dropped! As promised I have included it here, you're welcome :-)

Dancing in the Rain

Thursday, walking through Raffles place, I spotted a rather interesting scuplture by Salvador Dalí in the middle of Raffles Place. Yes, this person has lots of significant-sized holes in him.

I emerged in the middle of the Marina Bay Sands Mall and was amused, as ever by the extravagance in this enormous complex. Actually, I have now learnt, that much of its revenue has come from gambling. From the list of superlatives, I can tell you that cost $8 BILLION to build and develop and is part of the Singapore Government's intention to boost tourism - resulting in a GDP increase of 15% per year! Singapore is quickly moving past Las Vegas in terms of gambling revenue - but this sport is not aimed at the locals, who are charged a $100 levy before entering to put off the desperate gamblers. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marina_Bay_Sands

Anyway, here's a picture of the gondola lake!

From there, I walked around to the Gardens by the Bay, a large garden area which was developed very recently and only opened this year. I had a ticket for this as part of a Groupon deal with the Flyer flight I had done a couple of days previously. Now plants aren't really my thing, but the Park looked quite interesting and I had a good discount (as well as some days to kill) so I saw no reason why not to go!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gardens_by_the_bay

Inside, I must admit that it was a little unfinished. There were many areas with different themes, such as the Colonial garden, Fruits, Palm world etc etc. But what the plants and trees contributed in number, they lacked in information - there were few if any descriptions so I soon found myself wandering around (in perfect isolation, I must add) admiring the greenery with no idea what I was looking at...

At least topiary was easily deciphered...

These are the large Supertrees, designed to reject the heat of the Flower Dome and Cloud Forest (see later). There was also a walkway which, annoyingly, required payment to go round so I declined.

Then I went into the cloud forest dome, complete with 6-storey waterfall and an intense blast of chilled air as you walk through the doors! It reminded me somewhat of the Center Parcs plaza; unfortunately though, no swimming allowed...

There were large crystals etc but, as with the plants, no explanation!

Also the mountain which the waterfall tumbled down was very, very difficult to navigate round since the escalators only went downwards and the lifts were strictly for those with mobility needs and there were no stairs either! Very odd...

Then I found myself in the basement where I found an exhibit on climate change, trying to impress upon the visitors what dire straits we are in with the climate (while inside a huge, air-conditioned plant dome in Singapore). While I am sure it was a very expensive installation, most of the data and graphs made no sense (for instance, a pretty animation showing the sea level CO2 concentration change over time, with no idea about units, timescale, relevance etc etc...). So again, I was underwhelmed.

Then on to the Flower Dome. Even more like Center Parcs but more full of flowers:

I liked the cacti best, partly because there was a bit of explanation. But clearly they have been abused in the past :-(

So after a slightly underwhelming trip to the Gardens, I walked back to the hostel for some more blogging and spilling hot drinks upon myself.

Then, having spotted the opportunity with Larissa the previous evening, I watched some Chinese Opera in Speaker's Corner.

 

They did much flailing of sleeves. And no I didn't undestand a word, but it was clearly a romance, since there was much weeping from the female characters.

Part way through, someone started emptying a bath all over Singapore.



On my word I have never seen such heavy rain! It came down like a pressure washed for a good hour - accompanied by thunder and lightning and wind. The open air theatre, mercifully, had a good roof but we all had to cluster closer and closer to the stage to avoid the spray from outside. As soon as the performance had finished, people were up on the stage trying to avoid getting wet.

But luckily there were some elders giving out balloon sculptures, so (as a way of making sure I got one, since it is one of our hostel host's birthday) I asked to learn how to make a flower. And this amused me and them for at least 15 minutes or so.

And when the rain was still going on after this, people came on stage and started dancing in a rather impromptu way. Yes I got dragged in to that too! (but no photos)

Eventually everyone else wandered off and, despite me being about 1 minute's walk from the hotel, I waited it out and read my book (Swiss Family Robinson) on my phone until eventually the rain started to subside and I walked back to the hostel, where I met up with another chap here called Ching who came with me to get food at one of the local food courts.

We were blessed with live music and cheap Satay but I'm not going to start taking photos of every meal just to prove it!