Raffles Place
Had the Sculptor tinted the hair a natural dark brown or black color, people would easily mistake this picture to be a photoshoot of real boys frolicking on the River Bank! Surely, this is ample proof Singapore is not short of artistic talent!
Esplanade Theatre
Under certain light conditions, the Esplanade Theatre has an ethereal glow that is simply breathtakingly beautiful!
Bugis Street
Bugis Street -- which used to be Singapore's transvestite haunt -- was the place to go to for delicious food and snacks when the rest of Singapore sleeps. Few could resist the tantalising chunks of juicy beef bathed in hot steaming soup of quo tiow, especially when a huge bowl filled to the brim cost a measly S$0.50!! Those surely were the good old days of the 70s and 80s!
Now transformed and sanitized, Bugis Street today is usually identified with Bugis Junction, a totally cool and hip place for youths and families.
After walking thorugh the various levels of Bugis Junction, I was attacked by hunger pangs. I decided to go up to the Food Junction on the 3rd level, where I had a bird's eye view of the streetscape below:
The Food Junction was one of the better food courts I've patronized. The interior layout of the place was attractive, neat and clean. The quality and presentation of the food served was noticeably several notches better than at other food courts.
It was tough deciding which stall to patronize, but with my stomach growling, I quickly settled on a familiar and evergreen dish: Hainan chicken rice!!
The portion served was more than ample for one person. With a plate of veggies ($2.00), the Hainan chicken rice ($3.80) came with a bowl of steaming hot chicken soup flavored with spring onions, though a few sprigs of fresh coriander leaves would give it more flavor.
Now transformed and sanitized, Bugis Street today is usually identified with Bugis Junction, a totally cool and hip place for youths and families.
After walking thorugh the various levels of Bugis Junction, I was attacked by hunger pangs. I decided to go up to the Food Junction on the 3rd level, where I had a bird's eye view of the streetscape below:
The Food Junction was one of the better food courts I've patronized. The interior layout of the place was attractive, neat and clean. The quality and presentation of the food served was noticeably several notches better than at other food courts.
It was tough deciding which stall to patronize, but with my stomach growling, I quickly settled on a familiar and evergreen dish: Hainan chicken rice!!
The portion served was more than ample for one person. With a plate of veggies ($2.00), the Hainan chicken rice ($3.80) came with a bowl of steaming hot chicken soup flavored with spring onions, though a few sprigs of fresh coriander leaves would give it more flavor.
Sentosa
We re-visited Sentosa to see what has changed, after a lapse of twenty years -- and we were surprised! The whole place has been transformed, and now looks like a beautiful tourist island resort, right at our doorsteps!
We made a point to look out for the army barracks that served as the basecamp for our batch of army engineers, and there it was:
Now operated as a resort hotel, the above building is probably the only remaining structure of the army barracks that once stood on Blakang Mati -- the old name before it was changed to Sentosa.
Sentosa would be even more enchanting if the whole island is fully planted with the flora and fauna of the region, including giant ferns that once flourished there.
After a tiring but wonderful day at Sentosa, we hop onto the monorail to head back to HarborFront, just in time to join the dinner crowd at the Republic Food Court at the top floor of Vivocity.
Although it was barely 8 pm, most of the stalls were already bereft of food and had closed for the day.
In the end we settled for a spread of bbq'ed chicken wings (crispy & yummy!), steamed pork ribs soup (equally tasty), fried kai lan with mushrooms, and steaming hot rice.
Around the Esplanade
The magnificent Merlion spewing out a stream of water... this is a sight to behold, not only because the giant-sized statue is proportionately faultless to the eye, it is a unique creation that one day may join the ranks of famous sculptures around the world.
The Merlion was designed by Fraser Brunner for the Singapore Tourism Board in 1964 and has been an icon of Singapore since then.
The original Merlion statue was built from cement fondue by the late Singapore craftsman, Lim Nang Seng.[1]
Bumboats plied the Singapore River for hundreds of years, carrying cargoes of rice, rubber, and spices on their daily trips between ships anchored offshore and warehouses that dotted the banks of the River. Today they still do their trade, only this time the cargo is boatloads of tourists from all over the world.
The Esplanade Bridge was completed in 1997. It spans 260m across the mouth of the Singapore River and has 2 four-lane carriageways and pedestrian walkways along both sides.
Going to the Esplanade is incomplete without taking in the sights of the Grand Old Lady of the Padang -- the venerable City Hall and the (old) Supreme Court alongside it.
After dark the Esplanade area lights up like a magical place with prominent buildings in the area around Marina Bay, Raffles Place and the Singapore River artistically lighted up, such as the Asian Civilization Museum at Empress Place, which formerly was the old Immigration Building:
As we enjoy travelling light, we did not bring along our tripod. Hence all the photos taken for the blog were without a tripod. If anything, the pictures showed the prowess of the Nikon D40, a remarkable little camera very forgiving on aching shoulders -- especially after a long, tiring day of photo-shoot and walk-about. The D40 with its kit lens is so light you aren't conscious of its weight at all!
The Merlion was designed by Fraser Brunner for the Singapore Tourism Board in 1964 and has been an icon of Singapore since then.
The original Merlion statue was built from cement fondue by the late Singapore craftsman, Lim Nang Seng.[1]
Bumboats plied the Singapore River for hundreds of years, carrying cargoes of rice, rubber, and spices on their daily trips between ships anchored offshore and warehouses that dotted the banks of the River. Today they still do their trade, only this time the cargo is boatloads of tourists from all over the world.
The Esplanade Bridge was completed in 1997. It spans 260m across the mouth of the Singapore River and has 2 four-lane carriageways and pedestrian walkways along both sides.
Going to the Esplanade is incomplete without taking in the sights of the Grand Old Lady of the Padang -- the venerable City Hall and the (old) Supreme Court alongside it.
After dark the Esplanade area lights up like a magical place with prominent buildings in the area around Marina Bay, Raffles Place and the Singapore River artistically lighted up, such as the Asian Civilization Museum at Empress Place, which formerly was the old Immigration Building:
As we enjoy travelling light, we did not bring along our tripod. Hence all the photos taken for the blog were without a tripod. If anything, the pictures showed the prowess of the Nikon D40, a remarkable little camera very forgiving on aching shoulders -- especially after a long, tiring day of photo-shoot and walk-about. The D40 with its kit lens is so light you aren't conscious of its weight at all!
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