July 22, Sunday & July 23, Monday

July 22, Sunday   &    July 23, Monday

July 22, Sunday

Second day of my 2-day pass on the Hop-on / Hop-off buses.   Caught the red route line across the road from the Hotel Rendez-Vous and drove past the Little India area and then Arab Street (I can walk to both of these destinations from my hotel) and hopped off at the Millennia Walk shopping centre, the last stop before the Singapore Flyer where all the tourist busses start and end their routes.  There would be a 45 minutes wait for the red route bus and only half an hour wait for the orange route bus.  I browsed through the mall only long enough to locate a bakery to purchase a lunch on the run and made my way on foot to the bus stop at the Singapore Flyer.  The orange route bus left at exactly 1:30 and I was off the bus again at the China Town stop 10 minutes later.

 Lots of green spaces in Singapore

 Old Fire Station.  Looks like candy!

 Older building, refitted to give it a modern look.  I like it.

 Lots of water canals in the city as well

 Arriving near the China Town area.  Colourful buildings and everything is CLEAN.

 China Town markets

and here again, older buildings have been colourfully restored.

While I was in the area, I also visited the Sri Mariamman Temple,  oldest Hindu temple in Singapore, very colourfully decorated as well.  (No photos allowed inside)

 Looks like space is limited in apartments here as well.  Laundry langing outside highrise buildings.

I figured that one hour would be sufficient time to walk around and I would catch the next bus when it came back around. The only problem with that plan was that the red route only ran every 2 hours and the orange route’s stop wasn’t anywhere near where I finished my walk. I ended up missing the orange route connection and by this time I was again soaked from sweat. Although it was only around 3 pm, I decided to call it a day and go back to the hotel. Finding the nearest MRT station wasn’t too difficult, only 2 short detours in China Town and I was on my way by metro to the Dhoby Ghout station near my hotel. Well, 15 minute walk from my hotel, but still close enough to avoid a 2nd metro switch. It also gave me the chance to walk a bit of the famous Orchard Road with all its expensive shopping malls.  

 One of the many Orchard Street shopping malls

 The historic Rendez-vous Grand Hotel. 

 The streets near my hotel

 Local market on the street behind the Ibis Hotel

 Just like on TV, they have all the new gadgets for sale

 Lots of people around, makes getting back to my hotel a bit more difficult.

 A big happy Buddha statue outside a temple behind my hotel

and you can buy inscense sticks as well

By 4 pm I was back in my room resting. My poor aching feet have never been the same since that foot massage in China. I will need some physiotherapy to set things right again. 


July 23, Monday

This is going to be a day of rest for me.  I spent time reading Romeo Dallaire’s book and pondered the UN’s lack of action during the Rwandan genocide.  Too much red tape, too many people not willing to make decisions.   Sound familiar?  Same thing seems to be happening in Syria, 20 years later.  The Asian expression of “Same, same but different” seems to apply.

I went out and found a nice restaurant to have an early dinner.