Welcome to Rick's Roadshow from Singapore! The Republic of Singapore is an island country on the southern tip of the Malay peninsula. It borders Malaysia and Indonesia; the flight from Kuala Lumpur was a short 55 minutes south. Being so close to the equator, it has a tropical rain forest climate year round. With a diverse population of 5 million, it consists of Chinese, Indians, Malays, Caucasians, and a mix of various other Asians too. Singapore (the city) is vibrant, with lots of activity. Many businesses are open very late, or even open 24 hours. From my first day here in Singapore, I was struck by the nice bright colors of many buildings. I notice these cool spiral stairways (above left) painted in different colors; I thought it was a nice touch. So for something different, I thought I'd lead off this post showing the many colors of a few buildings I encountered:
above: I also love the real shutters on the windows. You see them everywhere.
above: these are retail shops and restaurants, yet they all have such nice colors.
above: this wall was so cheery. It was just a side ally, yet they had it painted nicely and had a row of potted trees along the way.
above: just a nice pedestrian side street with lush plants.
above: Arab Street, with a variety of wonderful shops.
above...like these slippers. They kind of remind me of "The King and I"
above: I ate here at the Sultan restaurant
above: The Sultan's Mosque
above: The Istana Kampong Guam temple
above: Famous Bugis Street Market, the largest street shopping in Singapore.
above: Bugis had this cool stand with fresh fruit drinks. Click on it ti Biggify to see the neat-o flavors of drinks.
above: Bugis Street market isn't like other Asian street markets I've visited. It has a huge variety of goods, mixed with produce, food and services. Plus, there are flat screen TVs overhead!
above: the market has several bakery stand. I love these Chinese steamed buns (the white ones in the case)
above: Not to mention the other Chinese sweets, like these sesame ball things among others. No idea what the deal is with the green waffles...
above: later I encountered this Buddha statue, and yes, I did rub his belly for good luck.
above: later I visited the Goddess of Mercy Temple. I went in to pray and make an incense offering too.
above: I loved the tile walls out front of the temple.
above: another view of the tile walls in front of the temple.
above: I was admonished for taking this photo of the wall inside the temple area. I missed the sign that said "no photos". Whoops.
above: I passed through Heritage Park on my way to a pet shop. It was so serene, and offered views of life in Singapore early in its history.
above: I especially liked this model they had of the traditional Singaporean Palace
above: I had dinner at the famous Raffles Hotel. Its sort of historic and has really nice grounds.
above: I also visited the Indian Sri Krishnan Temple. I had a tough time getting a good angle to take a photo.
above: it had a long line of Hindus waiting to get in to pray, so I did not enter.
above: lest you think Singapore is all just colorful buildings and temples, here is an example of its modern architecture too.
above: I loved this building. The white things are hexagonal tiles, which give it wonderful texture. My first day in Singapore was enjoyable. Between visiting pet shops I was able to see quite a bit. I have a very busy Monday at work planned, so hopefully I will be able to have some additional photos of Singapore again tomorrow. I hope you can stop by again.
-Rick Rockhill
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