| Singapore
is a small country by anyone's measure. The main island is a mere
26 miles from east to west and 14 miles north to south. Even though
it is small the city planners have done an excellent job by allocating
space for some beautiful parks. Merlion Park would be the first
park we visited and is located next to Marina Bay on the city's edge.
It is named for Singapore's tourism symbol the Merlion, half fish,
half lion, and contains a statue of the Merlion overlooking Marina
Bay. |
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| Leaving
Chinatown we proceeded a short distance along the edge of Marina Bay
to Merlion Park. On our way we again enjoyed the marvels of Singapore's
cityscape. |
Modern
Skyscrapers |
Singapore's
Post Office |
A
Traveler Palm |
Our
first view of the Merlion |
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Merlion
Park |
Merlion
Statue |
Anne
standing next to
the War Memorial |
Miniature
of the
Merlion Statue |
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Once
a favorite means of transportation in Singapore this rickshaw was
permanently anchored in Merlion Park for tourists to enjoy. Having
taken several pictures in the park I noticed the rickshaw and asked
Anne to jump in so I could take her picture. She immediately objected
stating that whoever it belonged to might object to her sitting
in it. That's when I pointed out the brackets locking the rickshaw
in its place. She laughed and then jumped in for the picture.
Leaving
Merlion Park Anne and I headed toward the U. S. Embassy to apply
for new passports. Leaving San Francisco there was some discussion
as to the validity of our passports as they had barely six months
left before they expired. While it presented no problems for us
getting into Singapore and some other countries there could have
been a problem getting into mainland China. So off we went to get
new passports. On the way, walking along the Singapore River, we
noticed several "Bumboats" on the river. Their bright
colors caught our attention and we went for a closer look. These
bumboats were used to give tourists a tour of Colonial Singapore
from the river. Anne and I jumped on board and enjoyed the short
tour of colonial Singapore.
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Bumboat
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As
you can see in the photo (left) bumboats are brightly painted and
include a pair of eyes on the bow. All of the boats on the Singapore
River had these painted eyes in the belief they can help the boat
see where it was going.
Touring the Singapore River we had a view of the oldest sections of
Singapore which have been restored now. The pictures from this short
river cruise were not spectacular by any means in terms of what was
seen. It did, however, give us a better view of the Merlion statue
as we entered Marina Bay. During the evening the statue is floodlit
and water pours from the statue's mouth. Unfortunately we did not
get to see it at night. |
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| Arriving
at the U. S. Embassy we completed the applications for our new passports
and were directed across the street to a photo shop to get our new
passport photos. Anne was not terribly happy with
the thought of getting photos taken after a hard day of walking and
being in the Sun. For that reason I did not include them here on this
page. I don't want her getting mad at me. But, no matter what the
pictures looked like (like we were having a good time!) having the
new passport was an advantage. We had no problems getting into mainland
China. The only disappointing thing was that our old passports, which
contained many stamps from Europe, Asia, Egypt and the Middle East
were canceled. I had hoped to continue collecting more stamps from
the current trip, but that was not to be. We'd have to start anew
with these new passports. There is one advantage though. Whenever
we travel now and fill out an immigration card we get to state that
our passports were issued in Singapore, and that brings back many
fond memories of this trip. |
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Singapore's
Merlion |
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St. Andrew's Cathedral |
After
leaving the embassy we headed toward St. Andrew's Cathedral. St. Andrew's
is surrounded by beautiful parkland. |
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Originally
constructed in 1832 the cathedral was struck by lightning twice and
demolished in 1852. The new cathedral, completed in 1862, was built
in the English Gothic style by Indian convicts. The cathedral's bells
were cast by the same company that cast the bells for London's Big
Ben.
It was now late afternoon and Anne and I were beginning to feel the
effects of being on our feet all day running from one place to another
in the hot, beating Sun. It was time to find our way back to the MRT
and the air-conditioned ride back to Orchard St. Arriving at the Orchard
St. station and being unsure which exit to choose we ended up inside
a large department store. We spent some time just walking around comparing
prices to see how they compared with home. Then we stumbled onto this
little cart that was selling some kind of Japanese cake. We bought
several, along with something to drink and thoroughly enjoyed them.
This became an "end of day" ritual for the remainder of
our stay in Singapore. |
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With
our first full day of sightseeing behind us and an understanding
of Singapore's MRT we were definitely prepared for our remaining
days in Singapore.
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