There were monks singing and playing instruments here. There is a huge shrine to what people believe to be one of Buddha’s teeth. It rests on a tiny pillow in a golden pagoda type structure behind thick glass. You have to take your shoes off to enter. You need to be quiet and not take pictures. It was hard for us to be quiet, but we did it!
The food at these places is killer! You can get any kind of food you want. It is authentic and cheap. Jesse did order some laksa the other day that wasn’t so yummy, though. Maddux said “your food smells like Ripley (our doggy friend from Hong Kong.)” Someone else chimed in with “yeah, like Ripley’s butt.” No offense to Ripley’s hygiene but, man, it was stinky. Jesse only had one bite, but gave the lady a big tip because he didn’t want to offend her.
In Singapore, we stayed in a one room hut with two bunk beds. We had to walk to the luxury toilet which was pretty much a hole in the ground. There usually wasn’t toilet paper, but there was a hose that you could fashion into a bidet (sp?) Thank you mom and dad for taking jeff and me camping a lot when we were young. hee
This is where we put Em when she’s acting like crazy-like. Just kidding.
These were pretty cool to look at. You could view the fountain from above and in the picture where we are having coffee you can see how the fountain acts like a funnel and empties into a pool where you can take boat rides though the shopping mall. The other picture is of a Supertree which I think are incredible. They help reduce carbon emissions and produce energy. Singapore is very progressive. I saw a lot of monuments and sculptures dedicated to taking care of the earth and people. They use windmill and solar power everywhere.
If the previous posts of pictures of us in front of BubbaGump weren’t convincing enough, here I’m having a Singapore Sling!! A little fruity but pretty refreshing after a full day of the sweltering heat.
You can’t help but compare the two cities when you come straight from Hong Kong to Singapore. Hong Kong slaps you in the face with culture shock and the energy of the city is literally electric. However, Singapore amazes because of its beauty combined with its technology. The Marina Sands Hotel has 3 towers with a “boat” on top of it. It looks like its going to fall over, which is why we are holding it up…
People here say that Singapore wants to be Hong Kong, but I think it has a lot to be proud of. You can’t spit, chew gum, litter, and you definitely don’t want to do drugs here(10 Australian tourists were executed some years back for bringing heroin.) But, the cleanliness, kindness, multiculturalism, order, technology, and heat are enough to marvel at.
Here we are defiantly spitting by the symbol of Singapore!(Not really) The Merlion is a blend of a mermaid and a lion. Singapore translates to “lion city.” The story goes that Colonel Raffles of the British Royal Navy was looking for a seaway to connect Malaysia and Indonesia. He sailed past the island of Singapore and saw a lion on its shores. He took that as a good omen and settled here. The mermaid part of the Merlion represents the great fishing in the region. A little strange but cool nonetheless.
By the by, I did inadvertently spit once and no one arrested me!
marschmadness 