Trip to Singapore July 2004
15 July 2004
Jurong Bird park
Home to over 8000 birds,one is awed by their elegance,savagery,comedy and ethereal beauty. There are 2 main shows not to be missed-Fuji Hawk Walk(Birds of Prey Show) and All star Birdshow.They include performances by macaus,toucans and hornbills. There is no denying that the trainers have done an excellent job of putting up a world class show act. Looking around,I came across flightless birds-I used to know about emu,ostrich(who wouldn't!!) and kiwis. But there was this new (to me) interesting bird called cassowery.An unusual feature is the presence of 'folds' in their necks that change colour according to their moods! Hmm...much like humans when one would know to keep a distance from a person with fuming ears!
16 July 2004
Singapore Zoological gardens
This is one of the best zoos in the world showing animals with an 'open concept'..You can stand pretty upclose with the animals and no big 'fences ' or gates around..it houses over 3600 animals (75% endangered) of 460 species. There are a couple of shows-the sealion show, the elephants of asia show..but I felt I would have enjoyed them more had I been half my age!
18 July 2004
Singapore Botanical gardens
It is spread over 52 hectares of lush green area (something that's becoming scarce even in Bangalore) and the enormous, never ending variety of flora left me 'lost in the wilderness).The garden is host to the National Orchid garden containing over 60,000 orchid plants and colourful foliage. Orchids are the largest group of flowering plants and they definitely do their job well of displaying and attracting not only insects but also homosapiens!
A separate enclosure called the VIP orchid garden houses orchids bred specially to commemorate visits made by dignitories from foreign nations (notably a step to improve the 'bond' between that country and Singapore. A word about the national flower- Chosen to be the National Flower of Singapore in 1980 due to its all-time blooming capacity, the exquisite orchid- Vanda Miss Jacquain was discovered by Miss Agnes Jacquain in her garden in 1893.
20th July 2004
Singapore Science Centre
This is no place to see if a day's time.It demands atleast two if not more days.A nonstop experience for the young and old alike, it houses more than 850 interactive exhibits devoted to science.
This centre offers a few mind boggling programmes one should not miss- CAVE (Computer Automated Virtual Environment) is a 15 minutes show where you enter a 3-D virtual environment (wearing the goggles of course)of a green grassland.Flying above the grasses as bee I got to see huge trees (much smaller by human dimensions) and fly among flowers and to 'sit' among them.
Thnderbolt Show (15 minutes)-allows me to watch flashes of lightning strike right before my eyes! Much similar but more electrifying is the Tesla Coil Show where a 3.5 million volt coil generates spectacular 5m long electric sparks that is akin to natural lightning.
Dramatic indeed! This is an example of how technology can make to dream....the ultimate giant screen experience came alive at the Omni-theatre with a gigantic hemispherical screen 5-storeys high and 23m in diameter. Hemispherical because of the range of our vision.This makes you feel as though you are a part of the movie itself! This brings me to the show I watched-
The Grand Canyon, The hidden secrets-
One of the seven natural wonders of the world, Grand Canyon is unmatched in the uncomparable vistas it offers. It is home to 5 different Indian tribes,70 species of mammals, 250 species of birds, 25 species of reptiles, 5 species of amphibians and numerous wild flowers(phew!)..I could hardly guess so much was 'hidden'.. The film follows the history of man's exploration ; from a recreation of the 1869 Powell expedition to modern adventurers who glide above the canyon's monolith, in ultralight aircrafts and raft the thundering rapids of the mighty colorado river. An awesome experience, the hemispherical screen brought alive the characters on the screen not to mention the jolting ride among the rapids and a dive in the air among the cliffs in the 'eyes of the
beholder'. This not only left me dazed but also made me realise something- The amount of technology that goes into research is just a drop in the ocean of technology that is utilised in entertainment industry! Little can I list the consequences of such advances on the academic front!
Planetary Landscpapes exhibition-
The sculptures and photographs beckon you to investigate natural phenomena and the interplay between chaos and order that continues to shape the planetary landscape of our solar system. The classic forms of nature- spirals,branches and eruptions occur both on a small scale in the sculptures and on a large scale on the planets,moons and comets in the photographs. Here are a few of them-
Faults-Tectonic Basin- A vibrating steel plate under a rubber membrane at the bottom of 'Tectonic Basin' causes rhythmic dunes to form on the surface of the garnet sand.The dunes form as the sound waves move back and forth across the plate. The patterns that emerge suggest the ceaseless largescale movement of thin,rigid plates that is gradually reshaping the earth..(reminds of the one big 'panacea'). comets-Icy bodies- Ever seen a miniature comet? Here's the place to see it. A small piece of dry ice is slid into a basin of still water.Striking the water, the 'ice' begins to vapourise instantly and tiny gas jets spin across the surface of water. They propel themselves around leaving trailing wisps of water vapour similar in appearance to that of a tail comet.
23 July 2004
Singapore Discovery Centre
It is yet another truly world-class 'edutainment' centre that offers a combination of education and entertainment through the use of multimedia and interactive electronic equipment. A number of shows -both 2-D and 3-D including motion simulation rides leaves one with a never-before felt thrill and enjoyment. The motion simulator is the largest in South-east asia. It has 6 degrees of freedom and the simulator moves and swerves in tandem to the visuals on the screen which makes you feel as though you are really going to 'bang ' on to the rock in front of you or fall down a steep cliff...(a real cliffhanger at that!) I went for 2 shows- the first one was a futuristic adventure with Captain Ryu on a mission to recover the stolen colours from the earth! Bizzare as it may sound,the theme is purely fictional and a giant screen experience came alive at the Omnitheatre with a gigantic hemispherical screen 5-storeys high and 23m in diameter.
Hemispherical because of the range of our vision.This makes you feel as though you are a part of the movie itself! This brings me to the show I watched-
The Grand Canyon, The hidden secrets-
One of the seven natural wonders of the world, Grand Canyon is unmatched in the uncomparable vistas it offers. It is home to 5 different Indian tribes,70 species of mammals, 250 species of birds, 25 species of reptiles, 5 species of amphibians and numerous wild flowers(phew!)..I could hardly guess so much was 'hidden'.. The film follows the history of man's exploration ; from a recreation of the 1869 Powell expedition to modern adventurers who glide above the canyon's monolith, in ultralight aircrafts and raft the thundering rapids of the mighty colorado river. An awesome experience, the hemispherical screen brought alive the characters on the screen not to mention the jolting ride among the rapids and a dive in the air among the cliffs in the 'eyes of the
beholder'. This not only left me dazed but also made me realise something- The amount of technology that goes into research is just a drop in the ocean of technology that is utilised in entertainment industry! Little can I list the consequences of such advances on the academic front!
Planetary Landscpapes exhibition-
The sculptures and photographs beckon you to investigate natural phenomena and the interplay between chaos and order that continues to shape the planetary landscape of our solar system. The classic forms of nature-spirals, branches and eruptions occur both on a small scale in the sculptures and on a large scale on the planets, moons and comets in the photographs.Here are a few of them-
Faults-Tectonic Basin- A vibrating steel plate under a rubber membrane at the bottom of 'Tectonic Basin' causes rhythmic dunes to form on the surface of the garnet sand.The dunes form as the sound waves move back and forth across the plate. The patterns that emerge suggest the ceaseless largescale movement of thin,rigid plates that is gradually reshaping the earth..(reminds of the one big 'panacea'). comets-Icy bodies- Ever seen a miniature comet? Here's the place to see it. A small piece of dry ice is slid into a basin of still water.Striking the water, the 'ice' begins to vapourise instantly and tiny gas jets spin across the surface of water. They propel themselves around leaving trailing wisps of water vapour similar in appearance to that of a tail comet.
23 July 2004
Singapore Discovery Centre
It is yet another truly world-class 'edutainment' centre that offers a combination of education and entertainment through the use of multimedia and interactive electronic equipment. A number of shows -both 2-D and 3-D including motion simulation rides leaves one with a never-before felt thrill and enjoyment. The motion simulator is the largest in South-east asia. It has 6 degrees of freedom and the simulator moves and swerves in tandem to the visuals on the screen which makes you feel as though you are really going to 'bang ' on to the rock in front of you or fall down a steep cliff...(a real cliffhanger at that!) I went for 2 shows- the first one was a futuristic adventure with Captain Ryu on a mission to recover the stolen colours from the earth!
Bizzare as it may sound,the theme is purely fictional and a reason to 'get involved'. The second one was called 'strike force'. It puts you in a F-16 fighter plane and a battle tank and makes you feel the force of a torpedo! I guess this is the only place where you can fly spaceships before you even learn to fly a fighter plane!
Another amazing attraction is the IWERKS theatre.This is a 350 seater world-class theatre eqiupped with a 5-storey high screen and is capable of projecting 2-D and 3-D movies right at you! of course, goggles are there for the 3-D ones and it does make a difference if you don't wear them! I had the wonderful opportunity of watching all the 3 shows shown throughout the day. Two of them were 2-D shows and the third-a 3-D show .The shows are –
'ON GUARD' is a story that revolves around the mobilisation of National Servicemen for a large-scale military exercise and gives a glimpse of the Singapore Armed forces capabilities when mobilised for combat. 'Shackleton's Antarctic Adventure' more appropriately called 'an ordeal' tells the extraordinarily true story of polar explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton's ill-fated expedition to cross the Antarctica in 1914.His ship was trapped and crushed in the pack of ice of the
Wedell sea. What followed was 17month struggle for survival through a series of astonishing and fascinating travails.There were 27 people on board and none died- such is the great captaincy of Shackleton who through his practical thinking and bold strategies lead his team back to civilization literally from the cold hands of death.I felt it was a very well-documented show.
The 3-D show is called 'Lego Racers'.It is a computer animated tale based on the popular LegoRacers toy line.It centres around the Drome, an auto-sport metropolis that has seven different changeable environment zones. Remember,ultimately the handsome hero has to win!
A 3rd attraction is the military institute housed inside the centre-SAFTI.I took a 40 minutes bus ride to go around the Institute. The SAFTI tower is a triangular tower measuring 60m in height and symbolizes the 3 services,Army Navy and Airforce.The parade ground is unique in the sense that the surface is made up of granite slabs and exposed granite aggregate instead of asphalt which is typically used elsewhere.(I wonder why?)well,it did take me a full day to 'discover' the place and a truly memorable one it was.. and wait! more is on the way.......
25 July 2004
Asian Civilisations museum,Armenian Street
Housed in the historical Tao-Nan school(1st chinese school to conduct its curriculum in Hokkein,a chinese dialect),this neo-classical structure focusses on the heritage of the Peranakan(straits chinese)population whose fore-fathers migrated to singapore in the 1600s. Peranakan is a malay term meaning 'locally born'. The Peranakan culture is an eclectic blend of chinese,malay and european influences. What is striking about their culture is their tendency 'to fill up' every bit of space in their homes,garments,dishes etc.They are said to possess 'fear of empty space' or 'kenophobia'. The museum houses displays of the textile,beadwork,silver,porcelain,betel-chewing and jewellery traditions of the Peranakans. This includes the practise of wearing gold and diamond jewellery as a wedded woman and platinum jewellery as a widow. 'Tok' is Hokkein for 'table'. 'Panjang' is malay for 'long'. It refers to the long rectangular table often found in Peranakan chinese homes. A look at the table shows the table filled with innumerable number of small cups,dishesand of course plates.Not an inch of space is wasted and I am sure every
meal would be a 'fulfilling' experience!
museum shop- well, if one is as wealthy as a wealthy peranakan, one can definitely hope to 'own a piece of their history'! Things are frightfully expensive here even in terms of dollars.
Singapore Philatelic Museum
It is South-East Asia's first philatelic museum. A peach coloured building,it carries a fine collection of local and international stamps as well as first day covers,each of works of art in miniature and a moment of history frozen in time. A look at gallery on how stamps are designed and printed and how commemorative stamps are made is worth the time. For diehard philatelists(I came across a chinese grandpa who had a huge list written in chinese)there is a man who sells 'used' stamps from every nook and corner of the world. I,being a beginner chose to pick stamps from different countries to 'represent' a 'collection'.It must be a very convenient and 'easy' hobby to be a philatelist in singapore!
26 July 2004
Little India Self-Walking Tour
A little history of Little India- Little India(LI) evolved from a plantation.In the early 19th century chinese immigrants cultivated betel leaves or 'sireh',rice,vegetables and sugarcane in the area. It was at this time that the cattle trade started in the neighbourhood. The cattle were engaged mostly by Indians and by the early 20th century, cattle stables were converted into shophouses and new roads were built. By 1940's and 60's LI became largely a commercial centre for Indian food, spices and religious items. My walking route starts at Serangoon road,the oldest street in LI. One version of how the name came about tells of travellers along the road bringing gongs with them to scare off the wild animals and snakes. This led to the malay phrase 'di-serang dengan gong' which means to attack with gongs or drums. As I walk along, I stop and look at the two-storey pre-war shophouses of the Art Deco-style. Textiles, groceries and religious paraphernalia
are sold here.
I then took a right into campbell lane to look at a 4-storey shophouse said to house one of
the earliset saree shops in singapore.
My third place of visit is further on the right of Dunlop street all the way to Abdul Gaffar
Mosque.Everything here is very much India-like with the hustle-bustle of people and
vehicles except that it was unusually clean. The other places of visit on my walking tour
were -Church of the True Light(a 3-storey building built in 1952 serving the Foochow
Chinese community), Kempong Kapor Methodist Church, Veeramakaliamman temple(!).
27 July 2004
Chinatown Guided Walking Tour--Red Clogs down the five foot way Chinatown comprises of 4 sub-districts-Kreta Ayer,Tanjong Pagar,Bukit Pasoh,Telok Ayer. The tour is guided by 'Helena'-described by her organisation as a flora and fauna nut and brewer of secret herbal concoctions and it began at Tanjong pagar MRT station. 1st stop- Thian Hock Keng temple- This temple took me by surprise from the very instant of entrance- footwear allowed inside!.I suppose the belief of leaving behind ones sin outside the holy shrine has been relaxed by the Chinese! There seems to be more of a convenience strategy followed by the Chinese regarding this practise..The temple of Heavenly Bliss is the oldest Hokkein temples in Singapore. Also known as the Temple of the Sea Goddess early immigrants to Singapore offered their thanks for a safe journey from home.
About Chinatown- The first group of immigrants arrived in Singapore from Xiamen, China. Incidentally this word is pronounced as Amon and evolved into Amoy with the British and hence the name of the Amoy shopping center in Chinatown! Sago street is named after sago(a tropical crop) factories that used to operate therein. This area is infamous for its funeral parlours and dark,dingy death houses(!). Shophouses, so called because the ground floor would be used as shop space and while the owners lived on upper levels.A number of interesting details regarding the architecture are presence of bamboo half moon tiles to direct the rainfall (and not let in drain away) and presence of pintupagar-cowboy style swing doors that let in the breeze but keep prying eyes out. Another interesting place is the Ming Village-where original Chinese pottery work is done by craftsman and painters. A tour of the place includes description of the complete
process of making a ceramic decorated (in Chinese style with plenty of dragon paintings) piece.
Well, now what is left is trip to Sentosa..not great but deceiving alright! There is nothing new there and it was a bit disappointing.So not much to describe there!Well,that’s just about it!!
So I hope you enjoyed the written tour of Singapore!!
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