|
  | |  |
Finishing with a Bang
Entry 36 of 37 | show all | print this entry |
Hi all,
Here we are at the very tail end of our wonderful whirlwind trip around the world. Once again at our favourite Singapore Changi Airport on the free internet I update you with the last events in Singapore.
After the internet session on Orchard Road, where I last left you, we travelled on the MRT (including the newer driverless line, featuring TVs showing a safety video) to Chinatown. Mum had wanted to make a purchase or two and we were interested in wondering the streets of a different part of town. Past stalls and markets we paused for a drink before catching another taxi to return to our parents' hotel to regroup and plan what we wanted to do during the rest of our stay in Singapore.
Following the cool down and rest we grabbed another taxi from the hotel and headed out for the zoo in the north of the island, to partake in the Night Safari.
After purchasing our tickets we headed to the Night Safari entrance where we entered into the tropical rainforest, lit with faint lights and fire lanterns. A brief stop in the jungle was made for a family dinner ahead of our adventure into the night to view the animals.
We hopped onboard a "tram" (tractor pulling some carriage) to enjoy the 45 minute tour in the darkness past various different animals, viewing their actions during the warm rainforest night. Quite a few of the animals were unfenced, causing us to pause as they crossed the road ahead of us. Others were only kept at bay by some electrified wire and large moats around their enclosures. The commentary was interesting and demonstrated the enthusiasm of our guide, who revelled in viewing the night animals.
After the tour we had our own chance to wander the paths through the enclosures, to discover the animals ourselves up close. We saw many variations of deer, pigs/boars, tigers, a few birds, bears and other animals. Mum's favourite was the largest rodent on earth, which resembled a huge guinea pig or rat.
MORE ADDED - 21:15, 27/2/05
The following day, the last with our parents, we woke late.
To begin we walked over to Suntec City, a large mall and office complex made up of 5 large skyscrapers. We were hoping to do the tour up to the top of one of the towers to check out the view, unfortunately this didn't open until 11am and we didn't fancy hanging around for over half an hour in a boring and half-closed shopping center.
We continued on by walking to the middle of the complex to check out the huge outdoor fountain, one of the world's biggest, but it wasn't operating.
Heading back into the airconditioned buildings we headed through the complex and into Citylink Mall which eventually brought us to the City Hall MRT station.
From here the ever efficient MRT, which resembles Hong Kong's MTR in both the design of trains and stations, excepting that HK's trains have all been refurbished, compared to only a few of Singapore's, though Singapore has the newer fully automated line.
We wound up further around town where we were off to visit the display about Singapore, with aerial view models, a brief history and information about it's demographic and development plans.
Prior to viewing the main part of the exhibition we were lucky enough to see a temporary set up about a certain impending waterfront redevelopment project, including more models, displays and propoganda videos telling us how great, fun and good for families the new area and housing developments were going to be. The media was pretty sick as it was just so rich with propoganda to brainwash the masses. The strong government in Singapore seems very intent on controlling the media and keeping propoganda levels very high.
Following this interesting exhibition we made the descision to head out into the suburbs more to visit the Science Museum. This was definately one of the more extensive and better science facilities we have visited on the trip, covering a large area covering many topics. We split our time there by seeing the IMAX film "Mystic India" at the OMNIMAX theatre (IMAX Dome) at the Museum. Whilst not one of the best IMAX movies, the dome experience provided enough thrill to keep us happy.
After the hours spent at the museum we hopped on a bus to the MRT station where we caught the train all the way back into town.
Our last meal together was at Ma Maison, a French/Japanese restaurant not far from our hotels.
We went our seperate ways after dinner, saying goodbye as Mum and Dad's flight was leaving early the next morning, so we wouldn't be seeing them until we got back the day after them.
Charles and my last proper day in Singapore was pretty cruisy. We woke late, checking the mass of brochures we had collected to make sure that we had covered everything that looked worth doing.
By this stage we had both come to the conclusion that the place marketted as "Uniquely Singapore" was infact pretty dull, with virtually no unique features over most other major cities, and lacking any real soul. If you are contemplating a holiday to Singapore, we suggest Hong Kong as a much more lively, interesting and fun destination. What Singapore claims as it's "fun" attractions are shopping, shopping and shopping, and it's not as if it's even cheap like Hong Kong or Bangkok!
Finally giving in to the endless array of shops around we made our way through the malls, stopping at a few shops along the way, down to the waterfront around Raffles Place.
From here we took a Bum boat cruise along the navigatable stretches of the river for 45 minutes. The boats are small and open, with a sun roof, making for a different way to get around an otherwise pretty sterile city.
After our late lunch and cool down we made our way back to the hotel for a quick rest before again walking down to the waterfront, where we would spend the evening.
After the 30 minute walk to Marina Promenade we explored the Singapore Hongbao, a festival/market area celebrating the Lunar New Year. Not only were there stalls, but rides and paper lanterns and statues all to do with the prospects and fortunes in store for the next lunar year. It was kind of like a Lunar New Year version of the German Christmas Markets we had seen at the beginning of our holiday.
We had read that there were to be fireworks to celebrate the end of the Hongbao this evening, thus we picked a spot on the waterfront overlooking the area that was fenced off and being watered down on the opposite side of the river.
After waiting for about 2 hours, during which time we almost left due to frustration, the fireworks (which I will add weren't advertised for a specific time) began at 9:30pm, for what would be a spectacular 5 mintue display.
It was a perfect way to end our massive holiday, with the bright colours and loud noises that really rattled your whole body.
The next morning we checked out and walked to the MRT, on which we travelled out to Changi Airport. We had planned everything well, allowing us to reduce our waiting time at the airport we had already seen too much of.
The flight went smoothly and we were back in Perth before we knew it.
Thanks,
Tom Pacy
|
|
If you like this entry, search for other entries by v1213, from Singapore or try a new search. |
| |
Back to Entry - Back to Home
|
33 votes 
