Greetings from Surprising Singapore!
Well, it was indeed a surprising city, for me at least. Having seen Christmas in Bangkok last year, I decided to take a look at Christmas in Singapore this year.
What surprised me was the rain. While it was sizzling hot back home in Penang, here in Singapore it rained and rained for almost the entire two days that I was there. Nevertheless, I managed to capture some of the scenes, especially of the city's famous waterfront. Join me now on this armchair visit through Surprising Singapore!
Saturday, December 20, 2003
Coming here by bus was no big hassle. By bus left Kampungku station in Gelugor at around 9:40pm, and arrived at Golden Mile along Beach Road, Singapore at 9:25am the next morning. The Golden Mile complex is almost like a piece of Thailand that has somehow been transplanted into Singapore. You'd find anything Thai on sale here. Unfortunately, unlike the many spotless Bangkok shopping complexes, this particular example of Thailand is of the blue collar variety. And not only does it look Thailand, it also smelled Thailand as well!
Singapore AE Member Stanley Kay is playing host to my visit. There are a few other members and friends in Singapore, but due to my tight schedule, I didn't have the chance to meet up with them. Just a week earlier Stan had paid a visit to Penang, to attend the AE Christmas Party, so now I am reciprocating the visit.
After depositing my luggage at Stan's office nearby, we had breakfast at a hawker centre across the road. That's when I was introduced to spicy Wanton Mee. It tasted quite good! That's something we don't have back in Penang, and it's one of many other food items that I would come across in Singapore that is different from Penang. (But then again, Penang food is also unique, and different from those elsewhere in Malaysia, so this shouldn't come as too big a surprise to me.)
I have specified to Stanley that I wanted to taste the "real Singapore food", not the plastic fusion variety dished out by the many avant-garde restaurants. So this journey into real Singapore in an eye opener to my tastebuds.
After breakfast, we strolled along Bussorah Street, part of which has been converted into a pedestrian mall. The lovely Masjid Sultan stood elegantly at the end of the street. I tried to take some shots, but light was not encouraging. There was too much cloud in the sky, creating diffused light that tend to make photos appear rather flat.
We continued along Baghdad Street, admiring the recently redeveloped townhouses. They are not much different from those back home in Penang, but are certainly better maintained. From there, we continued along Ophir Road towards one of my favourite structures, the Gateway Building. Designed by the famous American Chinese architect, I.M. Pei, who also designed the Raffles City nearby, the Gateway looks like two pieces of giant
kuih lapis. When it was newly completed, a lot of people were against it because the sharp angles are supposed to be bad for
feng shui, but personally, I think it is a lovely set of twin buildings.
Stanley and I took several shots of the Gateway, even though the sky is becoming more and more overcast. If I had a choice, I would certainly sought for clear blue sky, but there wasn't much I could do, but make the best of the situation.
We continued on along Beach Road, and I began to get acquainted with a very Singaporean way of life: walking. It appears that Singaporeans walk a lot, often out of necessity. While quite a number of people do have cars, the majority don't. While the public transportation system is lauded as second to none in Southeast Asia, the distance between bus stops, taxi stands and MRT stations mean quite a lot of walking need to be done. Most people take the bus and the MRT, using the taxi only when choice requires. You even have to queue for taxis here - back home in Penang, you can simply call for a taxi, and it will be waiting for you when you are ready. Here, you join the queue. Dear me, this is not the type of life I am used to.
Before long, we were at the Raffles Hotel, the bastion of colonial charm in the Lion City. It was all dressed up with Christmas wreaths and poinsettias, looking much like a wedding cake. We collapsed onto the cosy chairs in the lobby, and someone immediately waltzed over to tell us that we were not allowed to use the tripod if we need to take photographs indoors. Thank you sir.
I wasn't going to let that stop me from coming up with a few shots of this charming hotel. So I used whatever props are available to keep my camera steady.
Timothy Tye
Founder, AsiaExplorers
