Singapore sights and more sights!

  We had a full set of tours during this port stop. Our included afternoon tour managed to take us to the MerLion, the river walk and china town.  On the way we also saw the Colonial buildings and many of the sky scrappers I shared earlier.  

 I loved the sculpture of the MerLion so it figures prominently in many pictures! 

While the afternoon tour was of the city, our night tour was the only night zoo in the world.  Night Safari started with a short program of animals flying, running and crawling across a stage to entertain us. The entire show was a message about conservation. 

After a 30 minute show, we boarded a tram and quietly drove through the zoo.  The animals were right beside us! The effective use of psychological barriers was wonderful. Because there was no flash photography allowed, my pictures were mostly crap, but I did manage to get a few…

Hippo

Elephant, the oldest one in the zoo… kept by himself since he is a bull

White lions NOT albinos, genuine white haired lions with normal pigmentation of their eyes …

It was a fabulous tram ride and then when done, those who wanted (Albert ) could walk through the park on designated trails. It was a wonderful experience and so much fun!

In the morning, our first tour took us to some of the same places that we visited before, but more in-depth. 

 We drove to the only mountain in Singapore, Mount Faber . For city that crams as many people into the area as possible, the fact that they recognize the need for this green space is wonderful. The views were outstanding!

 The sky scrappers are viewed everywhere you look.

What a delicate flower.

Intrepid explorers!

Singapore has more icon buildings than anywhere else we’ve been!

Off to China Town to visit the Buddha Tooth Temple

Entrance

Entrance foyer

The hall of a thousand dragons

The dragons are on a frieze around the room ceiling 

The front of the Hall. Along the sides of two rooms are the Ten thousand Buddhas. When we were there, there were many devotees praying.

The room of Wisdom

The back of the temple. 

This temple is home , on the fourth floor, to the right incisor of Buddha. We couldn’t see it as it is encased in a gold case and we weren’t able to go to that floor.  I find it interesting that another major religion venerates relics similar to how Catholics venerate relics of Saints. 

Street art

 Our second event of the day was a nighttime ride on the Singapore river to watch the city lights. 

Taken on the bow of the boat 

Sculpture of boys playing on the water front

The night lights did not disappoint!

When we were done it was time to head to the Raffles hotel, the home of the Singapore Sling drink!

In 1915 etiquette dictated that women could not consume alcohol in public. The bartender at Raffles created a cocktail that looked Ike fruit juice. Take it from me, the sling tastes fabulous!!!

Another invention was an automatic cocktail shaker. Now they could make multiple drinks at once to keep up with demand!

A bonus for the night was the find of a Snooker table at Raffles! What better place to play a game! Al and Steve were very excited!

A snooker table is 12x6…here’s the actual picture

It was a great evening for us all!