Hi there all and sorry for my long hiatus from writing but the end of school came upon me and swamped me so fast, it was enough to be able to finish the year with drowning....so here's a long overdue installment from my spring break trip to lovely singapore.....
school at this point has ended and my vacation has started...i am still in shanghai at the moment, but head to seattle on my way back to pennsylvania...woot!!!! first time in four years.....for those folks in pennsylvania, i really will be in touch about getting together, i just haven't had time to work out details....so keep an eye out for emails and facebook messages....
the last few months of school here have been insane...but all teachers know the end of the year is crazy, just like the beginning....and for some odd reason it just kept getting crazier here...we had our china trips with classes...and i went to a lovely island here - hainan - they refer to it here in shanghai as china's hawaii...it was a blast with the kids....and then it was dissections in 8th grade and solving a crime in sixth grade and then writing comments and grades for 120 kids.....we ended the year with sports day and graduation for 8th grade and an amazing race around the city that rocked....plus we had all of the goodbyes.....we are actually losing around 50 teachers this year from just our campus....so its been busy, busy, busy......but back to singapore....
what a country/city.....singapore is both the name of the capital and the name of the country....boy what a clean and green place it is....but rather expensive.....easy to get around and noted for all of the amazing food....plus the singapore sling was named and drunk here and yes, you can still get one at the famous raffles hotel.....old world and new world collide here in so many ways and it makes for a relaxing, easy, warm, clean, green place to visit....and there is no sound of spitting.....and the airport is one of the best in the world in my opinion.....just remember to not chew gum there or litter or jay walk.....you could get caned....but enough chatter...on with the pictures....
one of the many things i loved about singapore was the architecture....the buildings were modern and set up in a green style or old world like something out of new orleans....the one thing that was really noticeable, besides the very blue sky, was how many buildings and homes incorporated plants into the building....the one you see above is a green building...both literally and figuratively....it is at one of the universities in the city and uses the plants as a cooling mechanism as well as a water filtering system....it was cool to read about what they were doing to deal with being green and clean....
and then just down the street was a building dedicated to stamp collecting....no not a post office...literally a museum dedicated to stamps...what i loved about this building was that the pillars in the front were rockets....red ones....so of course i had to take a picture....you will also notice that the people in front of this building are carrying umbrellas...i have come to find that in many places in asia, this is used to keep the sun off of one's face....because the paler you are here, the higher in status you are...because it means you do not work outside as a laborer....its true here in shanghai too...i had to be careful when buying face cream that it did not contain whitener....i think i am white enough already ;)
as i wandered through the city, one of the most amazing things is how much water is here...its everywhere and people are near it at all times.....the bridge above is the cavenagh bridge that links two parts of the city together.....between these two parts is a river with lots of boats and restaurants and such along it....a fun place to be at night.....
another thing i really liked about this town was all of the public art...they have many, many statues around that are action statues...like the one above....these show the life of the past here in singapore...whether it be kids jumping off the side of the river bank or people trading in the past or architects looking at how to make the city more beautiful....and they are everywhere...it's cool....
after going across the cavenagh bridge i came across this sign....do not worry, its just a pedestrian bridge now...but i liked the humor :)
singapore's most known sight is the one above - the merlion - a cross between a fish and a lion...it is the mascot and "personification" of singapore...the fish represents that singapore started as a simple fishing village and the lion is because the city was previously referred to as the "lion city" - but i am not really sure why...the merlion is male and has been the national symbol of singapore since 1966....i thought it was stunning with the water coming out of its mouth and the blue sky and the bay that it looks over....just a cool place to hang on a sunny day :)
now....the building above is crazy in my opinion....but it has become an icon of this city....it is the marina bay sands casino and hotel....it is said to be the most expensive casino in the world that stands alone....the three buildings are topped with something that looks like a canoe....and its really a swimming pool, club and restaurant up there....not something you would want to "fall off of"....it actually has a shopping mall "canal"....yes like venice...on the inside....i wandered over to check it out...but couldn't get in the door with paying a cover charge just to check it out....needless to say, i passed on that....but what a place....maybe when i am rich and famous i will return here and stay...ha!
as i was wandering away from the merlion...i wanted to get a picture with it and the commercial banking area that makes up singapore...i loved the contrast of the white merlion and the glass buildings in the background....just a pretty city....even if it is one of the top 10 most expensive places to live and visit.....
singapore has an interesting mix of people who live there....there is huge number of singaporean-chinese - so i got to practice my chinese taxi knowledge.....and a large population of malay that live here...plus a ton of foreign workers....about 37% of the population....because of this many different religions are represented here....for example hinduism...like at the temple above....this and the picture below are of the sri mariamman temple
its from 1843 and has had many additions since it was built....i was really lucky and got there later in the day, so it was not packed with tourists....its just in the middle of chinatown....and really stands out where it is located....it was a cool place to visit and wander around.....
just down the street from the hindu temple is a chinese buddhist temple....called the buddha tooth relic temple & museum....its from 2007 and is kept up quite well...it holds a a buddha tooth relic in a solid gold stupha....plus it has a rooftop garden, and a pavilion of 10,000 buddhas....
here's one of the 10,000 buddhas...they all look different and are about the height of a 500 ml bottle of water....width is a bit more...but there are 10,000 of them...its really impressive to walk through....
one of the things singapore is most noted for is its food and really, you could spend a fortune there on food alone...and its really good...however, one of the things i loved was the hawker stalls....you see one above....its kind of like being at an indoor fairgrounds and being able to sample lots of different tasty foods and drinks...lots of fruit juices and seafood to be had...i drank a lot of watermelon juice and ate a bunch of mango...plus they have noodle and crepes and rice and pretty much everything asian you can think of - thai food, chinese food, malay food, and of course singaporean food....YUMMY!!! the best part was you save a seat wherever, at a table with others, by putting down a packet of tissues...that means the seat is reserved while you go pick out what you want....i learned this from some nice lady...but luckily when i was here it wasn't too crowded.....
again here is a shot of some of the architecture....i loved this building, as it reminded me of new orleans with the wooden shutters...but it was a bit more colorful and clean....
chinese influence is everywhere in singapore....i love the red lanterns here in china, and found them outside of one of the most important chinese temples that was being re-constructed in singapore....each one of these contained a wish and a prayer for the temple....which i thought was cool.....
why did i take this picture you might be wondering....well, i liked the trunk and the old piece of furniture and the bikes....i guess i was just trying to be artsy....the walkways in front of the buildings and stores are generally tiles like this and very, very clean....i was very impressed with just how clean this place was...and again....no sounds of spitting....woot!!!!
one last shot of architecture....outside of the metro station...as you can see, tons of stalls to eat at....and the shuttered second and third stories of the buildings....in certain parts of town you can only have buildings that are three stories tall...i thought was that kind of cool too...again....preserving old world and ushering in new world...can't beat it!!! and i love how colorful this city truly is.....
so that's the trip to singapore....again, so sorry it took so long to get out....i am hoping over the summer to also get off one from my trip to beijing with my friend kat....we actually ate fried snake and fried scorpions.....and visited the wall....plus, i have some funny shots of course from shanghai from the last few months...hopefully i will have time to get them done this summer...i am in the states until the beginning of august and then will be back in shanghai to do it another year.....should be interesting next year as i am ONLY teaching 8th grade science...all six classes....could either be fantastic or kill me with boredom....keep your fingers crossed for the fantastic...i know i am :)
i hope all of you are well and happy and are enjoying whatever season you are in....i know i will be happy to get out of the smog and humidity...and look forward to catching up with some of you in person wherever i may roam.....drop a line and say hi and all the best for the next month or so.....
