Singapore Walkabout: Cenotaph back to the Hotel

This is the final set of photographs of my midnight walkabout.

I got quite excited to see the sign. FInally.




Here is the Tan Kim Seng Fountain. Quite an extraordinary colour scheme, eh? This fountain was constructed to commemorate the philanthropist Tan Kim Seng. Good man.

Walking on and then you can see the Cenotaph on the left.



  

The front of the monument which shows the dead from the first world war.

The back side is the Second World War.

And here’s the Indian National Army Monument. Fascinating history. This is a copy, but the previous monument was laid down by one of my hero’s, Subash Chandra Bose. Mountbatten destroyed that monument to the unknown soldier, but in 1995, this was reconstructed.

The major places during the war in Singapore.

And that of Malaya. Fascinating indeed. What a wonderful feeling to stand where Netaji once stood. I looked around and I so wanted to hear and feel him but for some reason, it simply wasnt the same. Plus there were tents and stuff from a fair scattered around. Not the same thing and I felt quite bad about it. After a last lingering caress and a small prayer to those brave men, I walked on.

The Marina Sands Hotel.

The Anderson Bridge and there’s the Fullerton Hotel in the middle where I want to get to.

Lovely looking bridge with colourful highlights.

The Anderson Bridge.

Nice sidewalk.

The two arches of the Bridge.

It has a plaque on the side.

Two views of the hotel, one with and without flash. Interesting, eh?



Walking up the sidewalk.

The Cavendish Bridge.

Looking back at the bridge.





 

This very unobtrusive monument was laid in 1970 to commemorate the early founders of Singapore. Amazing, eh? I like, very much indeed.

And by this time, i was totally shagged and wanted to hit the bed so crawled into the hotel and desperately wanted to sleep but found my boss wanting to have a chat. lol. Best laid plans of mice and men, eh?

This brings me to the end of the Singapore Sojourn, next stop Hong Kong.

Singapore Walkabout–Cathedral to Civilian War Memorial

This is the second lot of photographs that I took at night.

Here is St. Andrew’s Cathedral. Looks like a rocket ready to take off. St. Andrew was an interesting character. I didnt know he was the brother of St. Peter or that Andrew means manly or valorous. St. Peter is for Rome and St. Andrew is for Constantinople, eh?

I loved this. Now this is wonderful. See the different languages? English, Filipino, Bhasa Indonesia, Little Myanmar. So many different languages, same old God. There is something called as a New Life Service. Not clear what this is all about. Very nice.

A covered walkway.

The beam of light on the spire.

Looks beautiful, no?

Nice imagery and connections with the batteries, mobile phone, sms and instant messaging. Talk about being on the ball with modern technology.

Keeping on walking, here’s the main entrance to the Cathedral. I think.

A lovely little building on the corner. Capital Building. One of the first air conditioned buildings in Singapore. At this moment, I believe nobody is in the building but its meant to be conserved. Nice one.

Crossing the street. Pretty safe for the moment, hardly any traffic after midnight.

Crossing the road into Raffles City. This was in front of it and says, “would that i could infuse into the institution a portion of that spirit and soul by which I would have it animated, as easily as I endow it with lands, &c.” Thomas Stamford Raffles, 23rd April 1823. Raffles was the founder of Singapore. Interesting connections, he started work at the East India Company. Some more snippets. He was the person responsible for changing the way Indonesians drove, previously the Dutchmen drove on the right and he moved this to the left. Which is why they drive on the left. Fascinating totally amazing, what a man. The history of formation of Singapore is amazing.

The man had huge vision, energy and amazing dedication. At this site, he laid the foundation stone of a building called as The Institution which would basically educate and research into the languages and cultures of the region back in 1835. Then renamed as Raffles Institution.

Keeping on going, I wouldn't go down the left one. Nice play on the words.

There is a ministry? lol

Keep Calm and Carry on, and then all these, lol.

The intersection between North Bridge Road and Bras Basan Road.

Walking back, started to get very tired. But Pure Blonde Beer? I wish I could have a snootful.



That, if I am not wrong, is the Raffles Hotel. But no time to pop in there.

And then moving to the right, this is the Civilian War Memorial in the memory of civilians killed by the Japanese. Thousands of Chinese were killed. This was constructed in 1967. There are 4 pillars, representing the Chinese, Malay, Indian and other races. Fascinating, eh? The remains of the unidentified war victims are buried below this monument. How poignant as well.

    

Couple of more views of this fascinating monument.

Peeking around the monument at the skyscrapers. The next is the last one where I see the cenotaph, the Indian War memorial and then back at the hotel.

Walkabout–Hotel to the Supreme Court #1

Came back to the hotel at midnight but couldnt give up the chance to go for a walkabout. The day was long and I was tired but hey, come on, Singapore here I come. So this is the first bit

The famous fly on the urinal in the hotel. Well, all trips start with a trip to the loo, no? :)

The moon is out, its about 1AM at night, hot and muggy as usual.

The waterfront is quite well lit up, even at night.

The Andersen Bridge, more about that later.

Walking out over the Cavendish Bridge and then noticed this fashion shoot happening. The lady was absolutely deadly. Beautiful.

This is the Asian Civilisation Museum.

Looking back at the Fullerton Hotel all lit up.

This is the Dalhousie Obelisk built to commemorate the visit of the Governor General Of India, Lord Dalhousie in 1850. The plaque says that the Obelisk was constructed by public subscriptions from the merchants who hoped that the visit will push for improvements in public infrastructure. But guess what? zilch.



This is the Victoria Concert Hall.

The Marina Sands Hotel. Extraordinary architecture. Really amazing. The road leads through the Anderson Bridge.

The winding road with two types of street lights, one Neon and the other fluorescent white.

Work in progress, the Victoria Concert Hall was being fixed I guess.

This rather interesting pathway was constructed right to the side of the Concert Hall. Interesting structure. Why this way?

This is the Singapore Cricket Club.

Gosh, some heavy duty warnings there.

This is the Singapore Supreme Court. Interesting shadows.

This is the Arts House at the Old Parliament and in front of it, there is this Elephant topped Pillar which commemorates the visit of His Majesty Somdech Phra Paramindr Maha Chulalonkorn, the Supreme King of Siam who landed at Singapore in 1871. These merchants seem to be busy constructing all this stuff, eh?



The four sides are covered with these plaques in different languages, English, mandarin, Arabic and another one which i dont understand.

One of the alleyways next to the Parliament.

The Facade of the Parliament Building with a lovely fence.

Looking back up the road and the Marina Sands Hotel in the background. It looks so incongruous with a space age hotel nestled in this old colonial area.

Here’s the public entrance

And the security really amazes me, specially for one coming from India and the UK. Just walk in, eh?



The fence.





And here’s the Supreme Court. With a warning. lol.

The next bit is when i visit the cathedral