Another day in Singapore

One of the darkest periods in Singapore's history was the nearly four years of the Japanese occupation during WW2. The British finally surrendered in February of 1942, less than 2 months after the Japanese army landed on the Malay peninsula.

That surrender was signed in what was then the Ford Motor Factory. It had only been open for a few months and was promptly requisitioned by the occupying force for producing war requisites.

I checked before I left and discovered that I could get a bus almost door-to-door. The problem was that the museum is up in the north of the city and my map didn't extend that far so there was a certain amount of guesswork involved in where to get off. As it turned out, I only missed it by one stop so it was easy to walk back.

The museum itself is, not surprisingly, somewhat harrowing. There were numerous atrocities committed by the Japanese. Some are well known - the Burma to Siam railway, for example. Some are less well known - thousands of Chinese were rounded up and executed (often horrifically) just for being suspected of having anti-Japanese sympathies.


Feeling rather sober, I caught a different bus to an MRT station. You see more from a bus but the MRT (trains) are much easier to navigate. I stopped in a hawker centre for lunch before heading for the Marina Bay area - near the mouth of the Singapore River.

The area is dominated by the Marina Bay Sands resort.

That picture was taken from the roof of the neighbouring shopping mall. The mall itself is chock full of very expensive shops; I'm not sure I'm really rich enough to even be allowed to walk through the doors! In the end, all I bought was a, surprisingly reasonably-priced, coffee.

The coffee was the Singapore speciality Nanyang, or Kopi coffee. The coffee is roasted with sugar and margarine, giving it a very sweet, caramel flavour. If you set aside your expectations of how coffee is going to taste, then it's very pleasant.

Also from the roof of the shopping mall, here is a shot back towards the CBD. The green dome is the Old Parliament House, whilst the flying saucer to its right is the Supreme Court.

A little to the left, the Old Customs House (the white tower a little to the left of centre) is dwarfed by the new construction:

Adjacent to the mall is the Helix bridge. Inspired by the DNA molecule, the bridge is enclosed in a double-helix of steelwork.

In the background is the Singapore Flyer - the tallest Ferris wheel in the world.

I took a tour on it last time I was here, and the weather was even worse this time so I gave it a miss.

From the shopping mall, you cut through one of the towers of the Marina Bay Sands hotel. Looking down (a long way down!) on the reception area:

My destination was the Gardens in the Bay - a huge park on the reclaimed land that makes up the Marina Bay area. The Gardens have various areas representing the different cultures of Singapore.

It also houses the so called "Supertrees"

These are giant metal structures providing a vertical framework for some of the climbing plants. The tallest also houses a restaurant.

Rather bizarrely, the Gardens are also home to Planet - a giant sculpture by UK artist Marc Quinn.

Apparently it's his son Lucas and is supposed to represent the interaction between humans and nature. Quite what Lucas will make of it when he's older is anyone's guess. After all, those baby pictures on the piano rather pale into insignificance by comparison.

A little further along again, you find the causeway to Sentosa - an island mostly devoted to pleasure.

Looking to the right, you see the Cruise Terminal

The cable cars in the background weren't running when I was last here, but the weather was so awful this time, I didn't see the need to ride over and back again.

I spent a while just wandering, ending back in the CBD as night fell for a final ice cream.

Before heading back to my hotel to collect my bag and get out to the airport to begin the journey home.

Singapore

Given that I was routeing through Singapore anyway, I decided to add a couple of days, both to break the journey and to re-visit a place I grew to like last time I was here. Unfortunately, the weather was pretty grim - I mean, who'd expect tropical downpours in a place like this?

Without any real plans, I spent the first morning just wandering around the city, getting used to the heat again and finding my bearings. Last time I was here, I visited Raffles for afternoon tea, but decided to give it a miss this time. The hotel's still worth a look, though:

The interior courtyard is rather splendid.

And then, by accident, I chanced upon Orchard Road Presbyterian Church:

Until the war, this was an outpost of the Church of Scotland and was where my mother was Christened.

From here, I strolled past the Philatelic Museum:

To the Peranakan Museum. The Peranakans are the descendants of the mixed marriages between traders and local Malay women. The museum concentrates on the Chinese Peranakans and tells something of their culture and influence.

The building was originally a Chinese-language school and was later used for the Asian Cultures Museum before being renovated and refitted as the Peranakan Museum.

After visiting the museum, my route took me past Canning Park - the site of numerous fortifications over the centuries but, most recently, was where the British Army was headquartered before the surrender in 1942. This rather splendid building is part of the National Park Service:

The park contains numerous beautifully maintained paths and gardens:

Last time I was here, I rather neglected Chinatown so this time, I made sure to spend some time there:

A similar scene by night:

One of the things Singapore is known for are the numerous hawker centres - essentially large food courts where all manner of food is available from little stalls. This one is the Maxwell Road Hawker Centre:

One particularly iconic dish is Hainanese Chicken Rice - basically boiled rice with boiled chicken with a bowl of chicken broth. It's nicer than it sounds (or looks, for that matter):

Back in the CBD, this is the Anglican Cathedral - St Andrews:

In the evening, I took a boat trip on the Singapore River. We passed this rather remarkable statue:

The boys are frozen in time in the act of jumping into the river.

This is Boat Quay:

One of the original quays where trading took place after Sir Stamford Raffles set up the colony as a free-trading post.

Near the mouth of the river is the statue of a merlion - half lion, half fish:

This amazing, gravity-defying structure is the Marina Bay Sands - a purpose built resort hotel incorporating theatres, a casino, numerous shops (spelt "shoppes" for some reason) and the amazing Skypark. Given the general weather conditions, there didn't seem to be any point in paying to go up to it.

More of this in another post.

Melbourne

It’s probably true to say that Sydney is the best known Australian city for foreigners. Its magnificent setting and the Harbour Bridge and Opera House are iconic images around the world.

Having visited both, though, I think I’d choose to live in Melbourne, should the choice ever be offered. The setting may not be quite so perfect, but the overall effect is of a city with an open centre, with plenty of green space, a good mix of old and new buildings, and, of course, the Yarra River flowing through the middle.

Along the South Bank of the river, there are many cafes and restaurants, which give the area a great atmosphere in good weather.

Directly across the river, the railway connects Southern Cross and Flinders Street Stations on a viaduct:

 If you zoom right in, in the centre-right, you can see the long, ochre-coloured expanse of Flinders Street Station with its clock tower at the near end, and green dome at the far end. In between the two, you can see the spires of the Anglican Cathedral.

Here is almost the same view, but taken at night. The blue line in the middle is the viaduct.

Next to Flinder Street, this bridge carries St Kilda Road over the Yarra. Melbourne has the largest tram network in the world, and you can see some of them here.

Immediately behind the trams is Federation Square, once the site of yet another railway station but now an open area with exhibition spaces around it, as well as the tourist information office. The tracks of the station are now connected, under the bridge, to Flinders Street.

Going a little further upstream on the south side of the river, you come to Alexandra Gardens. There are several boat sheds here – bases of school, university and city rowing clubs. The river bank has special landing stages for the boats as well.

Across the road from Alexandra Gardens, here is Alex modelling the Queen Victoria Gardens, with the CBD in the background.

A little further upstream and back on the north bank, you come to two famous sporting venues. This is part of the Rod Laver Tennis Centre where the Australian Open is played:

And, right next door, perhaps the most internationally famous venue of all, the Melbourne Cricket Ground – home of the Melbourne Cricket Club:

What you may not know is that the MCG is used during the winter to play Australian Rules Football (or just “footie” as it’s called here). The AFL actually started as the Victoria Football League and the sport is far and away the most popular in the state.

We were very fortunate that a friend of Alex and Brock’s had season passes that he couldn’t use so we managed to see a game from excellent seats:

The umpire is about to bounce the ball high into the air to start the game:

You don’t need me to explain the significance of the four goal posts:

North Melbourne (in blue and white) have just scored.

The actual owner of our seats is an ardent Collingwood (also in Melbourne) fan so we felt obliged to cheer (or barrack) for them. Unfortunately, our cheering did no good. The final score was 125-114 in favour of North Melbourne.

In fact, the result didn’t matter as Collingwood had already qualified for the finals and North Melbourne had already failed to qualify, but it would have been nice to see a “home” win.

A little to the south of the city centre, is the seaside town of St Kilda. By about the mid-nineteenth century, St Kilda was popular amongst the wealthy as a place to get away from the heat of the city. After the railway arrived, so did the riff-raff like me! By the end of the century, it was rather more down-at-heel, with many of the grand mansions converted to rooming houses for the working classes.

Now, it’s a nice, beach-side resort within easy reach of the city centre. The seafront is tidy with lovely gardens in places. These are the Catani gardens (named after the chief engineer of the Department of Works):

You would be forgiven for thinking that that is a nice, Victorian band stand there – I thought so myself, but, on closer inspection:

it seems that it’s a venue for some kind of outdoor ironing event. I’m only sorry I missed it – there’s not enough competitive housework if you ask me.

From the pier, you look over Port Phillip Bay to the city centre:

Or you can look the other way, down the coast:

In the middle of the shore in that picture, you can see the large, grey structure that is the Palais Theatre – it kind of looks like it’s seen better days but it’s still in use for concerts.

It's another of Catani's designs.

Next door to the theatre is Luna Park - based on the original in New York. Frankly, I think most kids would be terrified just getting through the gates:

Having had a quick lunch in St Kilda, I headed back into the city to visit the Aquarium. This is pretty much what you might expect, but is quite a good example of the breed. They do demonstrations at feeding time, for example:

They have huge tanks in which you can see all kinds of fish including some pretty big sharks and rays, as well as hundreds of smaller fish and other animals.

I obviously don’t need to tell you that this:

is a Weedy Seadragon, but did you know that it’s the official marine faunal emblem of the State of Victoria? I bet you didn’t. You can drop that sort of information into any conversation that seems to be flagging.

As well as the usual fish and other sea creatures, Melbourne’s Aquarium also has a good-sized collection of penguins which you can see either above or below water:

In fact, though, I was not staying in Melbourne, but in Mount Macedon, some 60km north of the city. The road climbs steadily as you go north, but the mountain itself rises well above the surrounding countryside – reaching a little over 1000m.

The day after I went down the Great Ocean Road, I felt the need for a little exercise to make up for sitting down for most of the previous day. I got a lift to Macedon and then walked from there up to the top of the Mount Macedon and down into the village of Mount Macedon and back to the house.

It was a glorious day, and there were lovely views from the mountain. Bang in the middle of this one, though you have to look carefully, is hanging rock – not nearly as prominent as it seems from the general land level:

Mount Macedon also houses a memorial to the fallen of the 1914-1918 war. The original request to buy the land was to construct “a cross, illuminated at night, and visible from Melbourne”. Well the cross is there:

 

And it is, indeed, illuminated at night, but you’d need a pretty good telescope to see it from Melbourne…

The trees around the mountain are, theoretically, home to koalas, but I didn’t spot any. Alex and I did, on a later trip, though, spot an Echidna – one of only two species of mammal that lays eggs (called monotremes). You might just have to take my word for what it is, though:

 

It was about the size of a small cat, or large rabbit and rolled its nose in underneath when we got too close so we went off and left it in peace.

Despite appearances, echidnas are not soft at all – those are sharp quills it’s covered with. For cuddly, you really want one of these:

Who lives with Brock and Alex.

Finally, though, it was time to leave Australia – a very sad parting. Here are some of the dried-up salt lakes which are scattered across the outback:

Nearly 4 hours after leaving Melbourne, we finally crossed the Australian coast, near the town of Derby, about 200km west of Broome.