Siewch's Guestbook



21st January 2024

Lovely Story
Lovely story, thank you Siewch. I got goose pimples when I read about the ray of light when you arrived. Great Grandma must have been pleased. I'm stopping off in Singapore twice on an upcoming trip to Australia this summer. Your blog entries always provide me with ideas for interesting and new places to visit for when I'm there. Thank you.
21st January 2024

Singapore
Thanks Alex. I am glad to be giving you new ideas since you've already lived in Singapore!
5th January 2024

Graveyards as history
There are some interesting stories in graveyards, not only family stories, but you can see when an epidemic has swet through an area, or some other catastrophic event that has cut short many lives. I'm glad you found your great grandmother's grave. It would be interesting if you could find out more about her education and how it came to be.
7th January 2024

Graveyards as History
Yes, I am for sure going to try and find out more about whether my great grandmother was educated. I’ve never been interested in cemeteries with the exception of the Okunoin Cemetery in Koyasan, but Bukit Brown is a close second now. My cousin and distant niece are currently trying to find out if we have other ancestors buried there.
5th July 2023

Sorry to hear about your dad
I'm sorry to hear that your dad passed away. /Ake
24th June 2023

Ramblings
I'm sorry to hear your sad news from Singapore Siewch, and my thoughts are with you. I enjoyed reading about your visits to unusual places of interest, and found the procession in Geylang fascinating reading. What a good idea it is to research these interesting places in Atlas Obscura, particularly places we think we may already know.
28th June 2023

Thanks
Thanks Alex. Yes, Atlas Obscura has been a gold mine of information and it has been fun exploring the sites listed. Geylang was a huge surprise for me, and it fed my inner wannabe cultural anthropologist. It's an old neighborhood, and one that has barely been touched by gentrification. I hope to uncover more such gems in my future explorations.
8th May 2023

Japan Research
Dave and I are going to Japan next year and I'm beginning our research. Your blog gave some good information and ideas.
8th May 2023

You’ll Love Japan!
I’ve visited several times and I’ve had a dozen or more long layovers en route to/from Singapore. Dig a little further back into my blogs for more Japan writeups. Japan is a fascinating country; you’ll love it.
30th April 2023

What a full day!
I like this long transit idea to quickly re-visit a place I love; but I think I'd be nervous doing this in a new place where I didn't know travel times to the airport etc. Hope all is well with your parents :)
1st May 2023

Layovers
Hi Ren. I was definitely anxious the first time I did a Tokyo layover well over a decade ago, but I’ve got it down to a T now!
13th November 2022

Helsinki and Layovers
Gosh, I would never have thought of looking to travel to Singapore from Hawaii by going eastwards! It looks like you bagged some good deals, but they were some seriously long flights and layovers! Well done on being able to do so many long journey legs, and great to hear you were able to take advantage of your times in Helsinki. I love the city's architecture in your photos, and I have a feeling the underground hillocks in the fortress would have been where they would have stored ammunition. English fortresses have these, so in case there was an accident and they caught fire, the exploding damage would be limited being underground. Nice to see you have seen some more insouciant birds, and I've also tried and failed to make a joke out of the SIN to HEL flight - there must be one, surely!
13th November 2022

Taking The Long Way
Hi Alex. I would not have done this trip in Economy Class… just thinking about it makes my back hurt LOL. I really enjoyed Helsinki and this was a fun introduction to a new country.
6th November 2022

Amazing Angkor
Great to read about your time in Angkor, Siewch. You certainly got to fit in a lot of temples! I was there in 2007, also on a short trip to Cambodia from Singapore. I remember the steep steps vividly, and the Lara Croft temple in particular - I loved the idea of nature reclaiming the land! I imagine it was amazing to be free of the tourist hordes, though I feel sad for the locals reliant on the tourist trade. I also much prefer touring without guides, just to contemplate and appreciate in my own time.
6th November 2022

No Tourists!
Angkor certainly was great without the tourists. As I had mentioned in the blog, this side trip was a bit of an afterthought and I bit off more than I could chew. I also didn’t connect with Cambodia as deeply as I wanted to, so I’ll have to do another trip to explore more of this country.
30th October 2022

Singapore
What a lovely read, Siewch. I enjoyed reading about your reconnections to your childhood home, and also being able to explore on a deeper level. I shall look into the Atlas Obscura, it sounds very interesting. I imagine that with its fast pace of change, Singapore is continually different each time you return. I hope to also return some day. I remember visiting Pulau Ubin, and although we saw many signs for the German Girl Shrine, I don't recall that we actually found it! You've given me a few ideas for what to visit should I return to Singapore at some point, thank you for this 😊
30th October 2022

Reconnecting
Wow, you’re the second commenter who knows about the German Girl Shrine - it certainly encapsulates the best of Singapore: multiracial identities converging over time. Atlas Obscura was a godsend. I will likely use Atlas Obscura for my future layovers in Tokyo. After three visits and nine long layovers, I’m running out of sights to explore there!
8th October 2022

With new eyes...
I love that you found a new way to experience a place so well known to you. I remember reading a friend writing about the German Girl Shrine, and I think he wrote that there were bottles of perfume… I just googled it and the suggestion is that they are bottles of Florida Water (which I’ve never heard of – apparently a close cousin of eau de cologne popular back then). The last time we were at the Botanical Gardens (in 2012), people were lining up to take a photo with the Princess Diana orchid! :)
8th October 2022

New Perspectives
Thanks Ren! Atlas Obscura has been a godsend. I really wish I’d thought about this years ago. I love that you, too, have somehow heard of the German Girl Shrine. Thanks for helping me figure out it was Florida Water.
7th October 2022

Business Class
We've never flown business class but it is on our bucket list. If the price was right I'd go to Helsinki also. Looks like you made the best of your short visit.
7th October 2022

Do it!
The trouble with flying premium classes - especially the ones with lie flat seats - is that you’ll never want to fly economy class again! But, you have to try it at least once :-)
7th October 2022

Siem Reap
Thanks for the memories. Your blog and photos reminded of us the pleasant times we had there in 2007.
7th October 2022

You’re Welcome
Glad I could help bring you down memory lane. I’m so grateful I got to experience this place without the tourist hordes.
4th October 2022

Credit Due to You!
Wow, I give you a lot of credit for venturing out of the airport during your layovers! You certainly saw and experienced quite a bit of the city between both layovers. It's been quite a few years since I visited Helsinki for a day as a port call, but I do recall ambling around the area at the waterfront, the long park near by, having lunch there and doing a tiny bit of shopping. Unfortunately I did not see the Suomenlinna Fortress but thankfully visited the Uspenski Cathedral, and a few other places you saw. Thanks for sharing your interesting photos and descriptions of what you were able to see --- I probably wouldn't even be able to understand the train schedule there!
4th October 2022

Thanks!
Thanks for complimenting my labeling of photos. Thanks to computers and mobile devices, many of us nowadays are visual learners, so the people who take the time to label their photos are the ones who get my clicks!

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