As you could probably see from my previous post, we saw a lot of Hong Kong from the surface of the surrounding water. Hong Kong is a bunch of islands, some of which are largely uninhabited. We visited Lamma Island to do some hiking, swimming and sightseeing. Pix below. One thing I didn’t get pictures […]
Singapore is always comparing itself to Hong Kong, and imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. Singapore’s train system is the MRT; Hong Kong’s is the MTR. I haven’t been to Hong Kong since 1993. It’s changed a bit. For instance, these buildings used to be on the waterfront. Now, thanks to land reclamation and […]
The Mid-Autumn Moon Festival is also the Lantern Festival. The lanterns are traditionally made of silk over a wire frame, and little towns have parades and contests to see who produces the best one. Here’s Singapore’s version of that tradition, based in the main tourist district along the river downtown, with sponsorship from many companies. […]
Here are some pictures of Chinese Gardens on a rainy afternoon, with the lanterns in place but not lit. They’re still terrific – a spot of red really brightens the place up. Singapore’s version of the terracotta soldiers, with cheerful decorations. The bridge from the main entrance. The building in the background is an apartment […]
There are many lanterns down at the Esplanade, but last night we saw these 4 characters there as well: From left to right: The woodcutter in the moon, who must cut down a cassia tree there, although it keeps regenerating branches; the irrascible archer, Hou Yi, who shot down the nine extra suns; his wife, […]
Yup, it’s that time of year again. The end of Ramadan, the middle of Yom Kippur, and the delightful Chinese frenzy of the Mid-Autumn Moon Festival. It’s also the big lantern festival, so here are some sights from our very own Chinese Gardens in Jurong East. This is the Stone Boat on the left, on […]
Nothing like a few rolls of barbed wire to make your day. Thus endeth the evil fence. The Youth Olympic Games were finished on Saturday, their dorms were dismantled on Sunday so the NTU students could move in, and on Monday classes started and the fences started to come down. Soon all we’ll have left […]
I took unpaid leave to accompany our offspring on an extended summer vacation. As required, I filled in the requisite application, got the requisite signatures on it, and received confirmation from HR that I would indeed be on unpaid leave. But they paid me anyway. In fact, I think they paid me twice as much […]
Now on, big yawn. So the young athletes are scattered all over campus, and the local kiddies can meet them and get little pins from them. I did see a few athletes about 13 years old, but most of them look at least 16 to me – hard to see why they get their own […]
I returned to Singapore yesterday, just in time for the Hungry Ghosts season, otherwise known as the Seventh Month festival. (If you don’t mention the word “ghost” you won’t scare away customers.) I went to Jurong Point mall to stock up on food, and found myself in the midst of seasonal festivities. Well, it’s not […]