Images of Singapore - Week 2

Pictures from the last week in Singapore

The Singapore River... I wouldn't recommend taking a dip (plus swimming in that water carries a hefty fine).

Singaporeans universally acknowledge that this building looks like a spaceship landing in the middle of the city (perhaps the Starship Enterprise?), but in actuality, it's the country's Supreme Court building.

We saw these signs a couple times, and the pictogram of a man (with his hands in the air while another man is pointing a large gun at him) was enough to quell my curiosity.


On the NUS (National University of Singapore) campus, where we attended classes for two weeks. The campus was adjacent to the Singapore Botanical Gardens, which are filled with tropical plants and peaceful paths.


Another view of the Singapore River. You can see the Esplanade arts center in the distance.

This spiky-domed building, which locals say looks like a durian fruit, is the Esplanade theatre and arts center. One of our NUS professors told us that the building originally had glass dome ceilings, but the tropical sun made the buildings too hot to enjoy (a greenhouse effect), so the metal spikes were added all over the roof to keep the building cool while still allowing some natural light inside. The story goes that when it came time to clean the roof, the spikes where a dangerous impediment for the regular window washers, so they were forced to hire ex-military commandos to repel down the roof and clean the glass underneath the spikes without impaling themselves. As you can imagine, it was an expensive job.

The merlion statue on the water is several stories tall and sprays water from its mouth. The mist drifts over the throngs of tourists who are snapping pictures, so everyone walks away coated in a fine film of merlion spit. :)

This American-style diner served something called "Obama's American Burger." As you can see it was a bit pricey (though the amount is listed in Singapore dollars, not U.S.), but we were afraid this would be one of our last opportunities for Western food. So, we splurged, and it was a tasty choice.

Clark Quay (pronounced "key"). This is a large commercial development featuring restaurants and bars. The colors and architectural accents look like Dr. Seuss designs.

Ian and Cole settling in before being *voluntarily* catapulted skyward on the bungee ride.

Ian and Cole enjoying the view from their bungee-suspended capsule high above the ground.

A gorgeous Buddha statute in the Buddha Tooth Relic Temple and Museum in Chinatown.

The garden on the roof of the Buddha Tooth Relic Temple.

The walls of the rooftop garden were lined with 10,000 miniature Buddhas.

A pretty sunset on one of our last evenings in Singapore.

The Clark Quay area, all lit up at night.

Unfortunately, Ian and I chose the rainiest day to go to Sentosa Island, which is a commercially developed island featuring amusement park-like attractions. It was far too wet to enjoy the Sentosa beaches, so we chose the indoor attractions instead.

Sentosa also had a large merlion statue.

We toured Fort Siloso on Sentosa Island. Siloso was one of a number of British batteries installed around Singapore to protect the island in the mid to late 1800s. British soldiers remained at Fort Siloso until the Japanese invasion during WWII.

We rode the cable car back from Sentosa.

The cable cars dangle fairly high above the water.

On our last day in Singapore, we visited the Battle Box, an underground military installation in the middle of Singapore. The Battle Box was the where British commanders were forced to make the decision to surrender to the advancing Japanese forces. The message on this poster was a bit offensive, but I suppose the sentiment was deadly serious.

The underground Battle Box had an eery feel to it, and it didn't help that the bunker was peppered with maniquins dressed like British soldiers.

The Summer Tavern was our Singapore home. Khalil, the friendly owner, was constantly calling me "Katerina" and upgraded us to the Summer Tavern hotel for our last night's stay.