Travel
I love Singapore. The place feels so vibrant. We’ve been a number of times so we started off in the Indian quarter. It was so colourful!!
Singapore from the sky – photos
Singapore by night – photos
We took a boat-ride along the waterways around Singapore. It gave a unique view of the new development that is the modern Singapore. All the bamboo shacks have been cleared. There is great prosperity in the air.
I enjoyed it greatly but a part of me hankered for the old days. It felt a little too sanitised.
Singapore by night – photos
Singapore – the Supertrees at night.
Singapore – vestiges of the old colonial times in among the modern.
Singapore – the amazing city.
In the mid 20th century Singapore was a run-down island full of slums, racial tension and poverty. In the second half of the 20th century, it transformed itself into an economic power (helped by its port and ability to trade).
Today it has been completely transformed. The slums are gone and a major building programme has transformed the place. It is pleasant to walk about and there is lots to see – including some architectural wonders – like the Marina Sands Bay hotel and the supertrees.
It still has some fairly quaint areas – though I would really have liked to have tasted the ‘colour’ and chaos of the old place. It has become a bit too touristy.
Inside the Marina Sands Bay hotel.
The incredible supertrees.
A show of affluence.
Into the city.
Singapore – The Buddha Tooth Relic Temple – Photos
Having looked at mosques and Hindu temples it was time to look at a Buddhist Temple. We visited the Buddha Tooth relic temple.
I was a bit bemused. Did they really have bits of the Buddha scattered all over the globe? Were there temples to the Buddha’s left big toe? Or the mighty lingam temple? Were they all going to be reassembled one day?
Or was it like the Christian relics? They reckon that in medieval times there were enough pieces of the cross to assemble a thousand crosses.
I decided to suspend my cynicism and focus on aesthetics. It was another stunning example of art and architecture.
