Leaving Singapore
It’s been a whole week since I left Singapore, marking the halfway point of my Asian adventure, I had meant … Continue reading Leaving Singapore
Tag: Singapore
Christmas in Singapore
I’m not actually spending my Christmas in Singapore having flown south of the equator to Adelaide to spend time with some friends (posts and pictures coming up!) but I wanted to share some of my pictures of the preparations for Christmas festivities in Singapore itself.
Exploring the wrong island
Undoubtedly one of the best things about Singapore is its location in close proximity to so many other countries. As a European accustomed to being able to hop between countries taking short flights or even train journeys this certainly makes me feel at home to some extent. I came over here from the UK armed with several kilos of guide books, and sadly as my stay here will be a bit shorter than anticipated I won’t get chance to explore many of the places I’d intended to go. However I am trying to make the most of the limited time I have by booking trips to Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand. I was meant to go to Bintan Island in Indonesia last weekend however just at the moment I was meant to board the ferry I realised I was about to have a migraine and decided to retire home to bed for the rest of the day.
To make up for it I decided to have a trip to Pulau Ubin on Sunday. This is an island about 15 mins from Singapore by boat which is still undeveloped and to some extent represents what Singapore was like before urbanisation. The boats leave from the east coast of Singapore but only when they are full with 12 passengers. The view on the way is pretty nice.
A trip to the Botanic(al) Gardens
To start with a linguistic note I was certain that I would usually say botanical gardens and I was surprised the one here seems to be firmly a botanic garden. After checking it seems even Kew is actually a botanic garden. But thankfully Birmingham Botanical Gardens have come to the rescue to convince me that I’m not going mad.
Neighbourhood walk
I love photography and I’m rarely without my camera when travelling so I can snap away at exotic landscapes or unusual architecture. But I find I’m a bit deficient at taking pictures of my usual surroundings. I was lucky enough to live in York, one of the most beautiful cities in the UK, for four years but have hardly any pictures to show for it. I know lots of friends and family back home are reading this so I thought you’d appreciate a tour around my local area.
My food experiences so far….
Food is something central to Singaporean culture and I think it would be fair to say it is a nation of people who love to eat. However, most of the traditional favourites are most certainly not vegetarian friendly and this might be the only place I’ve visited where you can’t expect there to be at least one veggie dish on a menu, even France usually had at least the perennial omelette or goats cheese salad to offer. I think it’s easy to forget what a paradise the UK is for us non-carnivorous types and especially when faced with cooking facilities which comprise a hot plate and a microwave eating has been proving challenging but thankfully not impossible.
A day of wandering and temples…
After moving into my new apartment on Friday and finally unpacking I spent a lazy Saturday stocking up on food and other essentials for the next few months.
Today I was ready to go exploring and see some Singapore outside of the MRT stations and shopping malls I’ve seen so far. My new place is located in an area called Kampong Glam which is just south of Litle India and not too far from Chinatown so I decided to do a bit of wandering in these two areas. Armed with a copy of the Lonely Planet guide to Singapore, my camera and several pints of water I set off for Raffles Place for a walk around Chinatown. The first few stops on the walk were Taoist Temples which share their streets with modern skyscrapers.
First days
I often get to Wednesday and wonder where most of the week has gone but I have literally lost 8 hours this week so it’s worst than most! After a lovely (apart from a dreadful cold which made me somewhat grumpy) couple of days celebrating an early Christmas and getting to see some friends I left the UK early on Monday morning to travel to Singapore.
outofyorkshire 