If you like reading you can get free e-books at Project Gutenberg. These are books with expired copyrights so they are free to download and print. Since their copyright are all expired most of these books are old classics. Having books to read can be a great way to pass the time while traveling between places. Load the e-books in your latop, smartphone, or just print it out and toss it when you're done.
http://www.gutenberg.org/
Saturday, August 8, 2009
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Singapore Day 4: Just wandering around now
Having finished off the temples fairly quickly I decided just to spend the day wandering about. I came across the Chinatown Heritage Center and decided to check it out. No photos were allowed so no pictures. I met a girl from the Philippines who had gotten a free ticket or something. I don't understand why but she was afraid to go in by herself and asked me to go with her. It turns out she was a java programmer and so I talked a little bit about her job, just out of curiosity. It's not so clear to me anymore but I think whatever she was working on used J2EE... yikes. Why anyone would still want to use that overly complicated architecture and technology is beyond me when there are other lightweight ways to do the same thing... but I'm getting off topic here.
The Chinatown Heritage Center was ok if you've got nothing to do. It told the story of the Chinese immigrants that came to Singapore and what their living conditions were like. I'll let you guess.... yep, not so good. I think I probably had the most fun checking out their replica toilets from the old days. It was about the size of a portapotty but made of..... concrete or stone... something heavy. Anyway you stood on a platform about 2-3 feet above the ground and there was a hole under you. I don't think you're supposed to touch it, but since nobody was around I jumped up on it and squatted just for fun. No photos for you... too bad! Maybe I didn't really do it then!
A random sign I saw while walking around... I did not get any since I already had crocodile in Cambodia.
After this it was off the Esplanade again. There was some fair going on, maybe a motorcycle trade show or something so I got to snap a few pictures of import models. There wasn't much to do there, and I think I ended up eating Popeyes of all places because it was right there and I was lazy, hungry, and tired.
The Ferris Wheel at the Esplanade. It's quite expensive and I think it takes 30 minutes to go around once.
Some fair was going on, I got there just as it was ending.
Import models.
Import Models
Tired I returned back to the hostel only to find the most interesting thing I saw in Singapore. A bunch of Chinese people line dancing in front the of the Chinatown Complex in Chinatown. Yes, Line Dancing... to country music. They were really into it, and I guess they do it once a month. Quite a spectacle. Enjoy the footage.
The Chinatown Heritage Center was ok if you've got nothing to do. It told the story of the Chinese immigrants that came to Singapore and what their living conditions were like. I'll let you guess.... yep, not so good. I think I probably had the most fun checking out their replica toilets from the old days. It was about the size of a portapotty but made of..... concrete or stone... something heavy. Anyway you stood on a platform about 2-3 feet above the ground and there was a hole under you. I don't think you're supposed to touch it, but since nobody was around I jumped up on it and squatted just for fun. No photos for you... too bad! Maybe I didn't really do it then!
A random sign I saw while walking around... I did not get any since I already had crocodile in Cambodia.After this it was off the Esplanade again. There was some fair going on, maybe a motorcycle trade show or something so I got to snap a few pictures of import models. There wasn't much to do there, and I think I ended up eating Popeyes of all places because it was right there and I was lazy, hungry, and tired.
The Ferris Wheel at the Esplanade. It's quite expensive and I think it takes 30 minutes to go around once.
Some fair was going on, I got there just as it was ending.
Import models.
Import ModelsTired I returned back to the hostel only to find the most interesting thing I saw in Singapore. A bunch of Chinese people line dancing in front the of the Chinatown Complex in Chinatown. Yes, Line Dancing... to country music. They were really into it, and I guess they do it once a month. Quite a spectacle. Enjoy the footage.
Singapore Day 4: Chinatown Temples
Almost a month between posts... and my asia tour trip has been over for quite some time now. Sorry for the delays... if you're still following me. I promise to finish it all up soon.
My 4th day in Singapore was pretty relaxing. I felt I had seen most of what I wanted to already so my plan was just to explored two temples: The Buddha Tooth Relic Temple and The Sri Marianmman Temple. Both of these temples were in Chinatown and only minutes away from my hostel. I had walked by them plenty of times already by this point, so it was about time I dropped in for a visit.
The Buddha Tooth Relic Temple & Museum
The Buddha Tooth Relic Temple .... eh, I didn't think it really stood out. I also some how missed the Buddha Tooth Relic. Hahahaa. Oh well.
The Buddha Tooth Relic Temple & Museum
100 Buddhas
Monks Chanting
Sri Marianmman Temple
The Sri Mariamman Temple is the oldest Hindu Temple in Singapore, having been constructed in 1827. It has played an important role in the history of Hindus in Singapore. Early on it was a shelter for Indian immigrants. It was also the only Hindu temple who priests were vested wit the authority to marry people. The temple is dedicated to the Mother Goddess Sri Mariamman so people come here for her healing powers.
My 4th day in Singapore was pretty relaxing. I felt I had seen most of what I wanted to already so my plan was just to explored two temples: The Buddha Tooth Relic Temple and The Sri Marianmman Temple. Both of these temples were in Chinatown and only minutes away from my hostel. I had walked by them plenty of times already by this point, so it was about time I dropped in for a visit.
The Buddha Tooth Relic Temple & Museum
The Buddha Tooth Relic Temple .... eh, I didn't think it really stood out. I also some how missed the Buddha Tooth Relic. Hahahaa. Oh well.
The Buddha Tooth Relic Temple & Museum
100 Buddhas
Monks ChantingSri Marianmman Temple
The Sri Mariamman Temple is the oldest Hindu Temple in Singapore, having been constructed in 1827. It has played an important role in the history of Hindus in Singapore. Early on it was a shelter for Indian immigrants. It was also the only Hindu temple who priests were vested wit the authority to marry people. The temple is dedicated to the Mother Goddess Sri Mariamman so people come here for her healing powers.
Warning the next picture is NSFW
Notice anything inappropriate by western standards in this ceiling art? How about his um...
Notice anything inappropriate by western standards in this ceiling art? How about his um...
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Litter in Singapore
Singapore is the cleanest city/country I have ever been to. The streets are so clean you can practically eat off of them. Well, that is except for two places. The first I saw was Little India.
The other place? Why, Chinatown of course! Hahahaha. Has there ever been a clean Chinatown anywhere in the world? I don't know. Not in my experience. "Clean Chinatown" is like an oxymoron.
Not litter free in Chinatown.
As for Little India... I'm reminded of a joke told to me by a Malaysian I met in Tokyo and again in Kuala Lumpur.
The Prime Minister of Singapore, Lee Kuan Yew (LKY), once visited India. He was warmly welcomed by Gandhi, who took him to view many places in India. After sightseeing, LKY has this to say to Gandhi, 'All the places I have visited in India are dirty, filthy and untidy. you should see how clean Singapore is!'
A month later, Gandhi made a visit to Singapore. LKY brought him to Compass Rose for dinner. Gandhi who was unhappy with LKY insult, tried to find some dirty places in Singapore to return the insult.
He took a pair of binoculars and look all around singapore to find a place which is dirty, but could find none. Finally, Gandhi after 10 mins of searching, saw a place which is very dirty and untidy.
He signaled to LKY and ask him to take a look. Gandhi said, 'This particular place is extremely dirty and untidy. Can you tell me where it is?'
LKY took a look from the binos and said with a smile, 'Oh, that is Little India.'
In defense of both Little India and Chinatown, most of the areas were indeed litter free, I just found a few spots where it was dirty. ;-)
The other place? Why, Chinatown of course! Hahahaha. Has there ever been a clean Chinatown anywhere in the world? I don't know. Not in my experience. "Clean Chinatown" is like an oxymoron.
Not litter free in Chinatown.As for Little India... I'm reminded of a joke told to me by a Malaysian I met in Tokyo and again in Kuala Lumpur.
The Prime Minister of Singapore, Lee Kuan Yew (LKY), once visited India. He was warmly welcomed by Gandhi, who took him to view many places in India. After sightseeing, LKY has this to say to Gandhi, 'All the places I have visited in India are dirty, filthy and untidy. you should see how clean Singapore is!'
A month later, Gandhi made a visit to Singapore. LKY brought him to Compass Rose for dinner. Gandhi who was unhappy with LKY insult, tried to find some dirty places in Singapore to return the insult.
He took a pair of binoculars and look all around singapore to find a place which is dirty, but could find none. Finally, Gandhi after 10 mins of searching, saw a place which is very dirty and untidy.
He signaled to LKY and ask him to take a look. Gandhi said, 'This particular place is extremely dirty and untidy. Can you tell me where it is?'
LKY took a look from the binos and said with a smile, 'Oh, that is Little India.'
In defense of both Little India and Chinatown, most of the areas were indeed litter free, I just found a few spots where it was dirty. ;-)
Singapore Day 3: Singapore Zoo
I really enjoyed going to the zoo as a child (so thanks Mom and Dad if you read this). I grew up in the Los Angeles area, so during the summer my parents would take the family down to SD for little outings. Sea World, San Diego Zoo, and The San Diego Wild Animal Park were always popular destinations for us. I suppose Southern Californians like myself are quite spoiled to have such attractions like the world famous San Diego Zoo close enough that we can visit them without traveling too far.
Now the San Diego Zoo is world famous for a reason; it is one of the largest and most progressive zoos in the world. With over 800 species and 4000 animals it really dwarfs nearly all zoos. So I was lucky enough to be exposed to so many different animals from all over the world as a child, from animals in my backyard like raccoons to exotics species like white tigers from Asia. Same goes for the Wild Animal Park, generally a free roaming area for the animals.
Well, that was great as a child, but as an adult I've largely lost interest in going to zoos. So why did I go to visit the Singapore Zoo at the end of my 3rd day in Singapore? Well, it was highly suggested to me, and it was supposed to be one of the tops zoos in Southeast Asia. I figure, why not?
The Singapore Zoo is famous for basically being a free roaming zoo. Animals are basically allowed to go wherever they want. However natural barriers have been erected to prevent, say, the tigers from eating the gazelles, or the elephants from trampling people.
It's also famous for its night safari ride. It's just a tram that takes you on a tour of the zoo at night when the animals come out and are generally more active.
I decided to take the tram ride. You remember earlier in this blog entry where I said Southern Californians are spoiled? Yeah... the zoo was kind of a let down for me. It wasn't all the interesting since I had seen pretty much everything before as a child back home. Also as it was night I didn't bring my regular camera cuz I figured it'd be useless, I just used my phone. Hence why there are so few pictures in this entry.
After the ride I stayed for their show: Creatures of the Night! Sounds exciting eh? I did walk away impressed with one thing. It wasn't really the show, it was the people there. During the show the main stage handler would ask for volunteers from the audience to come onto the stage. They would always ask where you were from. The stage handler was of Indian decent. One of the volunteers was a young girl of Chinese decent, and the other was a middle aged man of European decent. They all identified themselves as Singaporean, and it was accepted right away. When the stage handler ask for all the Singaporeans in the crowd to give it up for their fellow countrymen a loud applause followed from Singaporeans of all different ethnic backgrounds. Was it just because of the show or was it really real? I don't know, but I liked it.
Creatures of the Night Show.
The creatures of the night show was pretty boring to me. The shows at the San Diego Zoo are of much higher caliber in my opinion. The only excitement came when a python had escaped. One of the handlers rushed on to the stage and whispered something into the main stage handler's ear. She then told the crowd not to panic and said there's a huge python loose. Ha. Well, people were scared but the handlers prevent panic. They eventually found him hiding in some space under the seats of some audience members. I believe it really wasn't part of the show because after they found him no attempt was really made to show him off like other animals from the show.
The handlers found the escaped python hiding under the seats of some audience members.
You'd think being in Southeast Asia, in a show featuring creatures of the night they would show something exotic. That's what I thought. At the finale of the show I figured, ok, here it comes.... And sure enough they delivered something exotic alright. The handler said "And....... ALL THE WAY FROM NORTH AMERICA!!!! THE MOUNTAIN LION!!!!!!"
What?!?!?! A mountain lion? You know, I could find those things in the park not far from the house I grew up in! What the heck! Ok, maybe they're exotic to people in Southeast Asia but not me. Man, talk about a let down. Where were the tigers, panthers, or whatever?
Just after exiting the zoo I saw a massage place called Nibbles. They have Doctor Fish there that eat dead skin from your body. You just place the part of your body you want cleaned in a tank full of the fish, and they'll come up to you and start eating you dead skin leaving you nice and clean.
Dr. Fish eating dead skin.
Of course I had to try it. I mean.... it's a nasty concept to me, but still..... I HAD to give it a shot. It doesn't hurt, it kind of tickles, but it's really a very strange sensation.
People trying Dr. Fish.
The embarrassing thing though.... well, there were some people sitting next to me with their legs in the tank. Fish were nibbling away at their skin. As soon as I put my legs in the tank all the fish came over to my legs. I pretty much monopolized the fish... damn... what does that say about my skin?????? =P
Dr. Fish eating my dead skin.
Video Clip of the Dr. Fish eating my dead skin. I move in the video because I was forced to by the people working there, so sorry for the blurriness.
If you're lucky enough to be from So Cal and been to the SD Zoo before I would totally skip the Singapore Zoo. If you haven't been to many zoos then check it out.
Now the San Diego Zoo is world famous for a reason; it is one of the largest and most progressive zoos in the world. With over 800 species and 4000 animals it really dwarfs nearly all zoos. So I was lucky enough to be exposed to so many different animals from all over the world as a child, from animals in my backyard like raccoons to exotics species like white tigers from Asia. Same goes for the Wild Animal Park, generally a free roaming area for the animals.
Well, that was great as a child, but as an adult I've largely lost interest in going to zoos. So why did I go to visit the Singapore Zoo at the end of my 3rd day in Singapore? Well, it was highly suggested to me, and it was supposed to be one of the tops zoos in Southeast Asia. I figure, why not?
The Singapore Zoo is famous for basically being a free roaming zoo. Animals are basically allowed to go wherever they want. However natural barriers have been erected to prevent, say, the tigers from eating the gazelles, or the elephants from trampling people.
It's also famous for its night safari ride. It's just a tram that takes you on a tour of the zoo at night when the animals come out and are generally more active.
I decided to take the tram ride. You remember earlier in this blog entry where I said Southern Californians are spoiled? Yeah... the zoo was kind of a let down for me. It wasn't all the interesting since I had seen pretty much everything before as a child back home. Also as it was night I didn't bring my regular camera cuz I figured it'd be useless, I just used my phone. Hence why there are so few pictures in this entry.
After the ride I stayed for their show: Creatures of the Night! Sounds exciting eh? I did walk away impressed with one thing. It wasn't really the show, it was the people there. During the show the main stage handler would ask for volunteers from the audience to come onto the stage. They would always ask where you were from. The stage handler was of Indian decent. One of the volunteers was a young girl of Chinese decent, and the other was a middle aged man of European decent. They all identified themselves as Singaporean, and it was accepted right away. When the stage handler ask for all the Singaporeans in the crowd to give it up for their fellow countrymen a loud applause followed from Singaporeans of all different ethnic backgrounds. Was it just because of the show or was it really real? I don't know, but I liked it.
Creatures of the Night Show.The creatures of the night show was pretty boring to me. The shows at the San Diego Zoo are of much higher caliber in my opinion. The only excitement came when a python had escaped. One of the handlers rushed on to the stage and whispered something into the main stage handler's ear. She then told the crowd not to panic and said there's a huge python loose. Ha. Well, people were scared but the handlers prevent panic. They eventually found him hiding in some space under the seats of some audience members. I believe it really wasn't part of the show because after they found him no attempt was really made to show him off like other animals from the show.
The handlers found the escaped python hiding under the seats of some audience members.What?!?!?! A mountain lion? You know, I could find those things in the park not far from the house I grew up in! What the heck! Ok, maybe they're exotic to people in Southeast Asia but not me. Man, talk about a let down. Where were the tigers, panthers, or whatever?
Just after exiting the zoo I saw a massage place called Nibbles. They have Doctor Fish there that eat dead skin from your body. You just place the part of your body you want cleaned in a tank full of the fish, and they'll come up to you and start eating you dead skin leaving you nice and clean.
Dr. Fish eating dead skin.Of course I had to try it. I mean.... it's a nasty concept to me, but still..... I HAD to give it a shot. It doesn't hurt, it kind of tickles, but it's really a very strange sensation.
People trying Dr. Fish.The embarrassing thing though.... well, there were some people sitting next to me with their legs in the tank. Fish were nibbling away at their skin. As soon as I put my legs in the tank all the fish came over to my legs. I pretty much monopolized the fish... damn... what does that say about my skin?????? =P
Dr. Fish eating my dead skin.Video Clip of the Dr. Fish eating my dead skin. I move in the video because I was forced to by the people working there, so sorry for the blurriness.
If you're lucky enough to be from So Cal and been to the SD Zoo before I would totally skip the Singapore Zoo. If you haven't been to many zoos then check it out.
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Singapore Day 3: Sentosa
Sentosa is a small island resort just off Singapore. There are beaches, little rides, etc. There are talks to add some casinos to the island making it sort of like Macau.
Sentosa Island Map
Though Sentosa was highly recommended to me I found it extremely boring. There's nothing special about the beaches. There are tons of better ones in SE Asia. The rides are kind of lame, and the shows not that interesting.
Some girls working for Sentosa Island.
How you get to Sentosa.
View from the Sky Tram.
Wanna dress like a flight attendent from Singapore Airlines?
Merlion Statue
A snack for a hot and humid afternoon.
Water wadding area.
Insect Kingdom. I skipped this but thought I might as well take a picture.
A resort at Sentosa.
Sentosa Beach.
Beach at Sentosa.
Beach at Sentosa.
Sentosa Beach.
Dude in speedo.... nasty.
Sky ride.
View from Sky ride.
Singapore from Sentosa.
Luge ride.
Sentosa Island Map
Some girls working for Sentosa Island.
How you get to Sentosa.
View from the Sky Tram.
Wanna dress like a flight attendent from Singapore Airlines?
Merlion Statue
A snack for a hot and humid afternoon.
Water wadding area.
Insect Kingdom. I skipped this but thought I might as well take a picture.
A resort at Sentosa.
Sentosa Beach.
Beach at Sentosa.
Beach at Sentosa.
Sentosa Beach.
Dude in speedo.... nasty.
Sky ride.
View from Sky ride.
Singapore from Sentosa.
Luge ride.
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