Singapore

---

Awoke early and met up with one of my colleagues, an irish girl named Elaine. We walked down to Suntec City which is a massive complex, including a hotel, shopping mall and convention centre, to catch the hop on, hop off sightseeing bus. Our first stop was Little India where the sights and smells made it hard to believe you were actually in Singapore. Had a look around the little india arcade at the many stalls selling spices, fabrics, garlands of jasmine flowers (for use in the Hindu Temples) and various other handicrafts. Made the mistake of going to Tekka Mall which is a 6 storey shopping complex, most of it junk. Whatever you do, don't go to the basement supermarket. We weren't even off the escalator before the stenching smell of fish guts hit us. It was so overpowering i seriously thought i would throw up. Needless to say we got out of there pretty quickly!

Next stop was chinatown where we walked through the markets selling traditional chinese furniture, herbs, silk items, kites, handmade puppets and masks. The architecture in this area is amazing as the shophouses are characterised by these brightly coloured classic style facades. Beside this market is Sri Mariamman Temple, the oldest Hindu shrine in Singapore. Inside were brightly coloured figurines and frescoes on the ceiling and shrines devoted to the various gods/godesses. I can't understand why people pray to these scary looking half-human, half-elephant figurines, especially the ones holding bloody decapitated heads!

Next stop was the Esplanade on the waterfront which is also known as the performing arts centre. The prickly hedgehog appearance of the Esplanade is quite unusual with its distinctive sharp-edged metal sunshades. From here you can get amzing views of the skyscrapers in the financial district. We walked across esplanade bridge which was adorned with beautiful flowers over to Merlion Park. Legend has it that this half-fish, half-lion creature was first seen by Prince Sang Nila Utama when he first discovered Tamasek (original name for Singapore) in the 13th century. Believing it be a lion (singa), it inspired him to rename Tamasek to Singapura (Lion City). The name stuck and the merlion is now Singapore's tourism mascot.

From here we took the underpass below esplanade bridge to esplanade park. Here you can find the centograph which is a memorial built to remember the soldiers who died during the first and second world war. Across the other side of this park is a huge expanse of land which is a frequent venue for the annual National Day celebrations and other events. It has also been the site of the Singapore Cricket Club for the last 150 years.

Adjacent to the cricket club is the old Supreme Court characterised by its columns and green dome and right next to this is City Hall. Across the road from here is St Andrews Cathedral, which interestingly enough was made in 1862 out of egg white, egg shell, lime, sugar, coconut husk and water. Im surprised to see its still standing!!!

Went back to Suntec City Mall to wander around the shops before making our way to Bugis Junction. This is another shopping mall but specialising in electronics. If you need to buy electronics of any kind this is the place to go. I bought some speakers for my ipod which i got for about half the price of what they usually retail for. Spotted the golden arches where i had dinner before going back to my hotel....it had been a long day!!

---