Well, the Sultan Mosque in Kampung Glam may have a bigger gold dome, but I like this mosque better: The Abdul Gafoor Mosque. Sorry about the lighting in the first picture – it shows the general detail and design. The second shows you the actual colors, but against a more typically Singaporean background of cranes […]
A grandmother and her young charges. The kids are very cute at this time of year.
We have finally gotten around to exploring this part of Singapore; it’s where the old Malaysian rulers of Singapore used to live, next to the Sultan Mosque, below: There’s a network of streets with traditional shop houses on them (very long houses about half a block deep, that are/were shops or warehouses on the first […]
Who says pink clashes with red and orange? These are the decorations at our local giant mall, and I like them! In fact, I’m trying to design a house in which I’d have light fixtures like this in every room. Chinese New Year is a 15-day period in which you stage many family reunions and […]
Monkey Forest Road in Ubud terminates at the Monkey Forest Reserve – well actually it doesn’t terminate, but joins Jalan Hanoman (the monkey hero of the Ramayana) and swings back into town. But at this southern end of the town you can enter the reserve, paying a modest price to do so, and with the […]
After a few days at the beach we went to Ubud, which is supposed to be the cultural hub of Bali. There are temple dances of several flavors offered every night there, and extensive arts and crafts shopping. There are also art museums, but some in our party are generally opposed to them so we […]
I went to this temple in 1993. It’s still there, but there are a lot more Buddha statues. Now the whole trail up the mountain (some 460 stairs) is lined with life-sized gold-painted Buddhas in astonishing variety: These are the ones you can see from the main pavilion about two thirds of the way up. […]
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, […]