I mentioned in the last note that we could see lightening from nearby thunderstorms in our last hour approaching Singapore. Being in the tropics (just shy of 2 degrees north of the equator), most of the annual rainfall comes during the northeast monsoon (November to January). They have a second, shorter rainy season in the late summer. April isn’t the driest month of the year, but neither is it in the top 6 wettest months.I headed out of the hotel mid-morning on the say I arrived and found that the thunderstorms I had seen while our flight was approaching Singapore had arrived and it was pouring. If April is supposed to be the beginning of the dry season, what is the wet season like? I had a
n umbrella but it didn’t survive the day – my first Singapore purchase was a new umbrella. I spent most of the rest of the morning and early afternoon in one of Singapore’s huge shopping malls and between malls in the underground connectors which are also lined with shops. Walking through the crowded malls can be a challenge as there doesn’t seem to be any predictable pattern to the traffic flow. No semi-organized walk on the right (or on the left) – people just wander, travel in large slowly moving groups, or suddenly change direction or stop when directly in front of you. They are very polite, however, and will always say “Sorry” as you bounce off of them.
n umbrella but it didn’t survive the day – my first Singapore purchase was a new umbrella. I spent most of the rest of the morning and early afternoon in one of Singapore’s huge shopping malls and between malls in the underground connectors which are also lined with shops. Walking through the crowded malls can be a challenge as there doesn’t seem to be any predictable pattern to the traffic flow. No semi-organized walk on the right (or on the left) – people just wander, travel in large slowly moving groups, or suddenly change direction or stop when directly in front of you. They are very polite, however, and will always say “Sorry” as you bounce off of them.One mall was adjacent to the convention center which was hosting several weekend events. One event was a Food and Travel show. Admission was free, so all I had to do was wander about and pick which vendor to buy my lunch from. All around me were kiosks hawking and selling Thai, Chinese, Korean, Malay, Indonesian, Japanese, and Indian food, including many, many ways to serve noodles and rice with chicken, pork, or fish.
It had stopped raining by mid-afternoon, so I ventured above ground to Fort Canning Hill. The British fortified this hill near the Singapore River when they first occupied the island. During World War 2, an underground bunker, called the Battle Box, in the center of the fort served as their headquarters during the battle with the Japanese for the island in early 1942. The Japanese took over the bunker after the British surrender in February 1942 and held it until the end of the war. The bunker was sealed up after the war and forgotten until rediscovered in 1988. It has been restored to the way it looked on the day the British decided to surrender, 15th February, 1942. The tour was very moving and each room included animatronics’ re-creations of those last few hours. The door in one room included the phrase, “Last Day” with the date scrawled on the metal by a departing British soldier, and in another room Japanese military notes on the walls could still be seen.
I went back to the hotel to rest a bit and was so tired that I seriously considered just skipping dinner and staying in the hotel the rest of the afternoon and evening. A knock on the door persuaded me otherwise. Housekeeping wanted to come in a freshen up the room, so I headed out for dinner after all.
The next morning – after waking up often during the night – I felt better rested so went for a walk. It was sunny and the sky was cloud free. The Singapore Botanic Gardens are nearby, and that was my destination for the morning. The gardens are over 150 acres and were established in the late 1850s. Much like a public park, the gardens are popular with families on picnics, joggers, walkers (with and without their dogs), photographers, and just people like me who want to explore something different than the routine day-to-day stuff. The park has several distinct sections including a rain forest (making this and Rio de Janeiro, where I have also visited, as the only two major cities in the world with a rain forest fully within the city limits), a tropical stream and ponds, bamboo tree gardens, a large expanse lined with towering palm trees, a ginger garden, a bonsai tree garden, and the star attraction - the National Orchid Garden.
The National Orchid Garden has over 7 acres of gardens featuring over
1000 species of orchids and over 2000 hybrids. It is a color and aroma extravaganza. I must have taken close to a hundred pictures just in this garden. The garden has several special sections for the hybrids, a mist house for one species, an area dedicated to the bromeliad family (most famous member is the pineapple), and my personal favorite, the cool house (air-conditioned to mimic a tropical highland). The pictures on the website at the end of the journal will tell the tale better than my words can.I could spent all day here, but it was getting hotter (the heat index – temperature + humidity - was over 105*) and I could almost feel the energy draining out of me. So I grabbed some lunch at the food court (like the Food and Travel Show the day before, these are in all of the malls and features dozens of Asian and a few Western food choices).
Part of me wanted to use more of the daylight hours to sight-see, but the goal this weekend was to adjust for the jet-lag and be rested for work. Being out all day in the heat would not have accomplished this. The weekend was a good reminder that activity and rest combined are best for the spirit and body.
The work week had its own adventures, and I’ll write more in that later.
Pictures of the trip are at http://scottshots4.shutterfly.com/593
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