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Published: June 20th 2005
Welcome to Singapore Visitors
Photo of the Singapore visitors center on Orchid Road.Hello Everyone,
First off I'd like to apologize to all our avid readers for slacking off on our entries so much. We shall try to do better in the future. So I'm going to start by catching up on our Singapore experiences.
On the 15th of June (wow, time flies), we had a very busy day. We started by visiting the famous Singapore Zoo. I can see why it's famous. Instead of cages or fences, it has moats filled with water or other obstructive materials, so you have a close-up view of the animals. There were even some animals that didn't have much of anything between them and the visitors. Monkeys, elephants, and bats were perfectly within reaching distance. We also learned a lot about tigers and the rapid destruction they face. For example, white tigers are completely extinct in the wild. Only captive animals have survived humanity.
After the zoo we visited Orchid Road for dinner. Singapore is a real shopping city, with a giant mall on about every corner. But none of these malls compare to Orchid Road. There are more stores than I could count and it's also the perfect place to find food from
Singapore Zoo
Going to the zoo every corner of the globe. So we ate at this restaurant that seemed to encompass just that. It was set up into many food stalls that you visited and took what you wanted from each one. Kind of like a buffet. The only difference was that they cook the food in front of you and you select the ingredients. I had a crepe with mozzarella and mushrooms and Jonathan had stir-fried rice. It was delicious!
After we had rested up at the restaurant, we were ready for another adventure. So we took off to the fountain of wealth. This is the largest fountain in the world. But no, it was not a mere display of dancing water, it was also a laser show and dance party. I think it's a show that is put together each night and we were really glad we got to see it. At the end of the show, they shut off the fountain except for the center and we got to walk around the center three times and make a wish. This was really special, because the fountain is in the shape of a circle that was very reminiscent of a wedding ring and
Bats
I have never seen bats this close up. since we just got married, maybe you can imagine what our wishes were.
The next day, we started out by visiting the Botanic Gardens. Specifically we checked out the National Orchid Gardens and the Evolution Forest. The Orchid Gardens were magnificent as the pictures will show. The evolution garden was like time traveling. The path begins with petrified trees, and then takes you on a journey through time, beginning with earth’s creation, volcanoes and all, continuing with actual specimens of the first plants on earth and ending with the forests we have today. The heat put a slight damper on our mood, however, and by the time we were finished with the gardens we were ready for a nap.
Jonathan's account:
We concluded the day with on of the best experiences we've had in Singapore, the food walk. I found out about this, months before we left for Singapore, and it turned out to be better than expected. Tony Tan, owner of the Betel Box hostel holds this walk every Thursday night and information can be found at http://www.betelbox.com/. We did not stay in his hostel, since they only offer dorm style accommodations and this is our honeymoon.
Giraffe
They could jump right out of the pen if they wanted to. But he did let us tag along on his FREE food walk. He took us on a tour of local cuisine from the different cultures in Singapore. Most of the food was of Chinese origin. We had sticky rice with meat or red beans wrapped in some kind of leaf, hand made pastries filled with carrots, bamboo, and some sauce, a seafood soup with coconut as the base, real spring rolls made with soft crepe shells not fried, char sou tofu pork, century eggs with ginger (this is the egg that contestants on Fear Factor had to eat they are not 100 years old they are black from being pickled in vinegar) Zara did not try them but I did not find them tasty. Tony also explained the architecture of the city along with the different cultures that they are styled by.
Zara again:
I probably learned more from this food walk than from any other experience I had in Singapore. I realized that some of my former assumptions were out of line. For example, those kids that I thought were defying cultural oppression were actually allowed to hang out there and Singapore people in general are encouraged to
Rhino
An impressive creature speak their mind. The catch is that they are supposed to do so with the utmost respect to the people they are addressing. There's really nothing wrong with that in my opinion, especially when I consider TV shows in the U.S. like Celebrity Roast, or most every political statement made on Fox News. There's nothing wrong with respecting other people, while still stating your opinion about what they are doing wrong. However, there is a fine, subjective line between respectful and not, that can be easily crossed. So I guess I can make up my mind about Singapore without living there (which I don't intend to do, don't worry). Culture is such a tricky think to understand, especially, when you compare those of different countries. I think what it comes down to is that every culture has something wonderful to offer, but at the same time, every culture has its problems.
Something else I learned from Tony was a basic lesson on Hinduism. He cleared up some myths for me. First of all, Hindu's do not worship the cow, they merely respect it because it is weak (therefore humble), yet giving (through its milk). Hindu's use cows milk to
Fountain of Fourtune
Best picture we could get. I was night and the camera was on self timer. wash the statues of deities each year. Secondly, Hindus do not believe in hundreds of Gods. Each religious figure is only a different representation of one God, different faces and personalities of the same One. That made a lot more sense to me.
So this has been a long journal and thank you to those of you who took the time to read it. I hope you are all doing well and I wish you the best.
Zara
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Rhonda Hastings
non-member comment
Thanks!
This great after reading this I feeling like I'm on this journey with you! Take care! Rhonda