Colonial Singapore

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Today I finally got around to doing the thing I most wanted to do in Singapore: visit the riverfront and the old colonial area. Singapore is an island located at a critical intersection between China (and the Far East) and India (and the Middle East and Europe). It has served as a trading port for centuries. It was a British colony from 1818 to 1959 (I think). Since independence it has become an economic powerhouse through trade and attracting high tech jobs through corporate tax breaks. Despite its modernizations, the old colonial center is still mostly intact. So I started my day at the grand old hotel know as The Fullerton. (See photos, including one that shows the koi pond under the main stairs.) Across the street from the hotel is the Merlion fountain. (See photo) The sea is Singapore's lifeblood and its symbol is the lion, hence the "mer-lion". There are still colony-era bridges over the Singapore River, including the Cavanaugh Bridge with this sign clearly left over from that time. (See photo with sign that forbids cattle and horses from using it.) Nearby is the Asian Civilizations Museum which traces the history of man throughout the Asian continent. It is housed in a colonial building that was renovated and re-purposed for the museum. (I'm sorry that I failed to take a picture of it.) I had lunch in the museum overlooking the river and I had a Vietnamese dish that features duck, sweet potato, rice, and greens, but I can't tell you the name of it. (See photo) After lunch I walked along the Padang, the old green space used by the English for cricket. The exclusive Singapore Cricket Club still occupies one end of the Padang. (See photo - clearly they play tennis there now, too.) I stopped at the Raffles Hotel (See photo) and even visited the Long Bar (See photo of the Long Bar sign), but didn't stick around. Every table was taken, at three in the afternoon, by obvious tourists. It is not a locals hangout. BTW, Sir Stamford Raffles was the Englishman who, in 1818, landed here and claimed Singapore for Great Britain. The area around the hotel is now mostly corporate towers with huge shopping malls on the first few floors. In middle of it all is the Fountain of Wealth. (See photo) The fountain is supposed to aid in accumulation of money via feng shui influence and, not incidentally, it is in the Guinness Book of Records as the largest fountain in the world. After seeing the fountain, I headed back to the subway and back to the hotel. The subway system here is very good - clean, safe, modern - and people are polite and helpful, even obeying the instructions to keep behind the lines until the departing passengers are off the train. (See photo).

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