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Post by lugg on Dec 16, 2022 20:14:23 GMT
Yeah looks like I have a great thread to catch up on. Thank you K2 and enjoy your explorations.
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Post by kerouac2 on Dec 16, 2022 21:14:58 GMT
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Post by kerouac2 on Dec 16, 2022 21:24:49 GMT
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Post by kerouac2 on Dec 17, 2022 3:56:49 GMT
And then it was time to leave Haw Par Villa for my next destination of the day. The most amazing thing at Haw Par Villa is now a section ("The Gates of Hell") that requires buying a ticket, but you can see it in my previous Haw Par report in the Singapore section.
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Post by bixaorellana on Dec 17, 2022 5:34:47 GMT
As I scrolled I was thinking that I don't remember ever seeing a place that had so much familiar stuff -- shopping malls, high-rise buildings, busy streets, etc. -- but that managed to look so entirely alien. That was before seeing the Tiger Balm Gardens. I do remember your showing it before, quite long ago, but the newly renovated version is on another planet of weirdness. And I say this after looking at a picture of a grown man tufting a snowman holding a knife.
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Post by kerouac2 on Dec 17, 2022 6:32:59 GMT
I remember the Marina Bay MRT station as being a rather lengthy walk to the Gardens by the Bay. The MRT networks keeps expanding at top speed, and I saw that there was now a station called Gardens by the Bay on a different line. Wikipedia tells me the station just opened at the end of November 2022. Great, I thought, this was sure to be much closer. I was wrong. I expect the gardens are going to be expanded out in that direction before long, but at the moment there is a lot of walking on paths through fields. No big deal, I am always happy to discover new things. I finally arrived closer to the gardens.
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Post by kerouac2 on Dec 17, 2022 7:14:59 GMT
Since I also did not go in the greenhouses this time, I highly recommend taking a look at the report I made last time, because they are truly amazing: Gardens by the Bay greenhouses
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Post by kerouac2 on Dec 17, 2022 12:06:35 GMT
I will return to the Gardens by the Bay on a future trip to Singapore when it is not polluted with inappropriate Christmas decorations and piped music in the tropical heat about Frosty the Snowman, Rudoph the Red-nosed Reindeer or Jingle Bells. So I decided that I would just wander through the botanical forest back to Marina Bay.
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Post by kerouac2 on Dec 17, 2022 12:13:35 GMT
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Post by tod2 on Dec 17, 2022 12:24:57 GMT
More wonderfulness! The only thing I recognise in the Tiger Balm Gardens is the entrance/exit. They were at a very decrepit state and I kept thinking "What a load of tosh!" Now, with years of renovation they are something worth seeing - even if we don't understand all the weirdness! Looking forward to more wonderful Singapore.
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Post by kerouac2 on Dec 17, 2022 13:42:33 GMT
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Post by lugg on Dec 17, 2022 20:09:56 GMT
A veritable feast for the eyes. My sister is visiting in March and I am now quite ( even more) envious.Super photos . Do you have a favourite area to visit K2 ?
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Post by kerouac2 on Dec 18, 2022 1:20:04 GMT
There are so many different types of areas to see that I think that is what attracts me. You can completely change universe in just a few MRT stations.
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Post by kerouac2 on Dec 18, 2022 2:01:21 GMT
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Post by kerouac2 on Dec 18, 2022 2:11:36 GMT
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Post by kerouac2 on Dec 18, 2022 2:44:30 GMT
Before wandering too far, I needed to take care of a situation -- I had to buy a new transportation pass, but it turns out that Singapore is not as efficient as one might hope. Besides not accepting foreign bank cards and not selling the tourist pass in the machines, this ticket offices do not open until.... 9 a.m. And this even though the MRT runs from 05:30 to midnight. Being unsure that every station even had a ticket office, I decided that I needed to wait until the City Hall ticket office opened, which was an hour later. I knew of an endless walk through connected underground shopping malls, so I decided to spend the hour in air conditioned comfort even though all of the shops would be closed. I wasn't shopping anyway. So I went from Raffles City to Citywalk and finally to SunTec City. I would say that this is about 2.5 kilometres.
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Post by questa on Dec 18, 2022 4:20:46 GMT
S'pore is such an overload of the senses but looks relaxed and calm, it has a huge population for its size, but doesn't seem crowded. There is obvious wealth for public works and general incomes, yet the island produces no agriculture, mining or manufacturing. I love it when I'm there but can't be bothered to go there, What a puzzle!
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Post by kerouac2 on Dec 18, 2022 11:31:45 GMT
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Post by kerouac2 on Dec 18, 2022 15:07:40 GMT
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Post by fumobici on Dec 19, 2022 15:59:18 GMT
There's obviously tons of money there but to me it has a sterile, Potemkin village vibe. I'd like to see some unsanctioned street art or overt political dissent to make it seem less creepy.
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Post by kerouac2 on Dec 19, 2022 18:05:52 GMT
It is a 1st world quirk to start craving the sight of dirt and grime. Yes, it happenss to me, too.
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Post by kerouac2 on Dec 19, 2022 18:26:06 GMT
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Post by bjd on Dec 19, 2022 18:51:37 GMT
I'm not looking for some dirt, but those towering buildings are oppressive. This last place, Clarke Quay, looks almost real -- the other preserved places look fake.
The food place you show certainly has more attractive dishes and prices than the "French breakfast".
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Post by lugg on Dec 19, 2022 19:29:37 GMT
Such contrasts..fascinating.
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Post by kerouac2 on Dec 19, 2022 20:00:10 GMT
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Post by kerouac2 on Dec 20, 2022 6:16:13 GMT
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Post by bjd on Dec 20, 2022 8:11:59 GMT
From your pictures of Singapore, I get two impressions: 1.it must be hot and humid (people's clothes and the rainshowers/vegetation and 2. The whole place is geared to shopping and eating.
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Post by kerouac2 on Dec 20, 2022 16:09:05 GMT
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Post by kerouac2 on Dec 20, 2022 16:20:27 GMT
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Post by fumobici on Dec 20, 2022 19:18:42 GMT
Easily the nicest street in the entire report. Doesn't have that plastic shopping mall vibe.
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