Singapore

We had a long but fun day in Singapore. Then we followed it up with an even longer day in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. So I got behind in my blog. Fortunately today we spend the entire day at sea. I will get caught up.

Singapore’s symbol is called the Merlion which is a large statue of a fish or mermaids tail with a lion’s head spouting water. This photo is not the symbol but is called the baby Merlion. A much smaller version. The real symbol was under scaffolding and being cleaned. Oh well. The photos on line look just like this except bigger and spouting water into the bay.

One of the oldest buildings in the harbor area is this building built in 1928 as a government building (post office, library and who knows what). But the most interesting part to me was the lighthouse on the top. It was used to guide ships into the harbor until so many tall buildings were built around it to block the light. So it was turned into a 5 star beautiful hotel. The city is all tall buildings. But the architecture is the craziest I have ever seen. Lets see some of that.

This is the most photographed building called the Marina Bay Sands. Everyone calls the top a ship. The 3 towers have multiple uses. we didn’t get inside and it costs a few dollars to take an elevator to the top. I would have paid had there been time.

Right near the marina was this twisted bridge. What was the architect thinking?

But even worse. Many of the tall buildings have character built into them. How does the elevator work from the ground floor to the top floor? Do you get seasick on the way up.

Singapore was extremely clean as I expected. People were very polite. It was so much nicer than Indonesia and definitely very prosperous. We drove by an International School but so quickly that I couldn’t take a photo. And we drove around the Chinatown and the cathedral areas so I am certain we were near to where the Schon’s lived. It’s not like Ankeny!