Sunday, July 4, 2010

Beauty every where you look!

Warning! Picture Heavy Posting!
grab a cup of tea first ;)

(all of the images are clickable, which means if you click on them, they get larger and then you can click on them again and get an even larger image)


Some glimses of Chinatown. :)



I'd say there were about three major highlights of my trip of staying with Sans! in Singapore.
First, the first full day I was there, we had dinner with Cindy, Asuka and Pei Li. All delightful women and the chicken rice was very good!


Then of course, getting to meet San's mom. She made her famous chicken curry for us and she even made some mild for me. All of her cooking was just delicious! It was a pleasure to meet her and get to see her lovely home.


There are pictures of San's mom's home as you scroll down, don't worry, there's much to see!


I loved her home, it had wind chimes and Chinese laterns and just like Singapore, there was beauty every where you looked. :)


The third highlight of the trip was visiting the bird park, which I just loved immensely!
You can tell by the amount of pictures I took!


More pictures are on my facebook page, for you facebookers out there. ;)



This is a park right next to Sans' house. Nope, I never climbed all those steps!

Singapore Bird Park

San's has such a lovely home and she put me at ease right away. It was like being at a resort, between the warm weather, beautiful locale and lovely, cosy home. :)


We did a lot of shopping! I'll show next time the treasures I brought back. :)

We did a lot of walking! By the end, my feet and legs ached, but it was all so worth getting to see all that we did.


And we did a lot of eating! Every meal was like a buffet, as San's wanted me to try a bit of this and try a bit of that. I felt like they were fattening me up like a Christmas goose. lol ;)


Even Cindy's Bf joined us one day.
He's a real cutie and suits her just perfectly. :)


Cindy did a great job of showing me around even if we did meander off from our agenda. ;)

Such a beautiful country!
I felt very safe there and most people spoke English. Which was good for me!

The MRT which is their transit line, is written in English, Mandarin and Indian.
I thought that was pretty cool.

This guy scared the bajeebers out of me!

A very rich and diverse population, there seems like there's a little bit of everyone in Singapore.
A very international, metropolitan city. Very modern!

Oy and so many escalaters! They were every where.
I guess their malls tend to be more up and down from what I am used to, hence the escalaters.

It was fun looking at all of San's minis! The tribal house is so cool, much better in person.

I loved looking at all of her ladies and the fruit/veg market. All the hookah pipes.

Fun to see the different things that starred on her blog over time, like the wrong way and stop signs. They were just hanging out on the bookcase and I was like, "hey! I recognise these!"

I highly recommend visiting Singapore, it's just such a beautiful place to be!
Thank you so much Sans!
And thank mom again for me! :)
Thanks Cindy!
and Asuka!
and Pei Li!

Thank you all for showing me such a delightful time. :)

At the Malay Heritage Center, the grounds were phenominal!

Bali Lane to the left.

Bali Lane to the right.

The night sky, one night as I was walking up Sans' street back to her home.
Gorgeous, gorgeous sky!
High above the roof tops, is where San's mom lives. :)

Four girls heading into mom's place. :)

The view of the patio, soon after our arrival.

A peak at the grandchildren and their little toys in the containers on the right.

Beauty in every corner. :)

I wished I had asked to take pictures earlier when it was lighter out. The sun sets around 7pm there and rises at about the same time in the morning.

There's a koi pond in there!

Her alter.


On our way out, I snapped some more pictures, as I didn't realise on the way in that San's mom was responsible for all of this greenery!
Fini! :)
I hope you enjoyed the show and I didn't wear you out too, too much! ;)
slumish?

33 comments:

  1. great post!! i remember going to the bird park when i was in singapore 15 years ago!

    ReplyDelete
  2. What a great trip you had. The photographs are wonderful.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Wonderful pictures, what a beautiful place!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Beautiful photos thank you for sharing! It is soo obvious you had a great time there!:D

    ReplyDelete
  5. Muchisimas gracias por esas bellas fotografias!!!!
    Un lugar precioso!!
    besitos ascension

    ReplyDelete
  6. How wonderful! Travel opens your eyes and mind to different realities, and yet you can feel so close ...
    Thanks for the report, I traveled with you :-)
    Flora

    ReplyDelete
  7. Your depiction of the rich bird species and lush plant forms really shows how exotic a place it is. What a wonderful trip! CM

    ReplyDelete
  8. Lovely photos! I'm glad you had such a great time. The bird park is simply beautimous! :)

    ReplyDelete
  9. Thank you all so much, this very much was a trip of a life time and I will relish in the splendor for a long time to come. The pictures will bring me great comfort. :)

    ReplyDelete
  10. I am not exaggerating , Dale, but these are some of the most spectacular photos I have seen of my country. I am not talking about technique but rather how you made all these otherwise pretty mundane places look so interesting. I am seeing Singapore through your eyes and my pride that this is my country just welled up. The sky , omg, I have seen them in so many ways and this one is finally captured forever :). Are they all in my hard drive, Dearie?

    I AM GOING to that bird park!! Rosanna, if you are reading this, WE ARE GOING :).

    LOVE LOVE LOVE your pics :)

    Thank you, my dear, for such lovely words to describe your trip here. I am very moved :).

    ReplyDelete
  11. (((Sans!))) you are very sweet. :)

    Yup, I'm pretty sure they are all in your puter, there's more that I haven't published any where.

    There's some cute ones of the girls and a a really good one of Cindy at the bird park. :)

    Sadly, I just got back from South Street in Philly (the second most popular tourist destination in Philly). Oy, Philly looks so dirty now! Enjoy being in your clean city! With no gum on the ground. ;)

    ReplyDelete
  12. Wow!!! Fantastic pictures, but I think that see these places in person is better... Thank you very much for sharing us this wonderful place...
    I want to thank you for your precious words too, I love my job, and I think when one person works on what you like, that transmits it to everyone, especially students ... kisses

    ReplyDelete
  13. Paky, I am sure, seeing things in person is way better than in pictures!

    I've been looking at the pictures my nephew and his wife are posting of Hawaii. We are going there next!

    The best thing to do when you go some where new is to walk, walk and walk some more. That is the best way to see any new country/place. :)

    Sorry for getting all mushy on your blog, but, it is so obvious how much you care about your students and you leave such a great impact on their lives and seldom do they get to come back to you and tell you the impact you have made on their lives. I am sure, you are one of those teachers. :)

    ReplyDelete
  14. ^ ^ i agree with Sans, looking at Singapore through your eyes makes me appreciate my home alot more *purrs*

    hey, that awesomely huge lizard was the highlight of the trip!! XD XD XD i know you kept an eye out for him! ;P or her. HRM.

    so did you lose weight with all that walking? i know i didn't, i had to finish up so much food AHHH

    ReplyDelete
  15. Awww...Cindy thank you! I didn't post the picture of the slums, though I thought it quite beautiful with all of the green foliage.

    It is an immensely beautiful country and you and Sans should be quite proud of where you live. And, it's clean, lol, if you saw my earlier comment, lol. ;)

    That lizard was gunning for me and he was going to flip me, I know it! lol, dan says he's a vegetarian, he was probably hoping for vegetables in my bag! ;)

    Cindy (hush child) yes, I think I actually lost weight with all of the walking. Now... if you had all let me actually get hungry once in a while! too funny!!! I can eat when I'm hungry, I ate good at San's mom's :) But, then again, her food was really good. :)

    ReplyDelete
  16. what absolutely gorgeous pictures- I wanted to just climb into every single one! Lucky you with all the food too-yummy! I'm so glad you took pictures and we could share a little bit of Singapore with you Dale!

    ReplyDelete
  17. Thanks, Kim! :) I'm so happy to share this with all of you. :)

    ReplyDelete
  18. Dale, my comment disappeared, you were talking to yourself!!!

    *whines and rests head on your shoulder*

    yes! Sans' mom is an incredible cook! mmmmm curry.....

    ok maybe not "mmmmm curry...." in my current state, but eh . you get what i mean XD

    that lizard is amazing. i like lizards, and given a chance, i'm sure it'd like me too XD XD XD

    ReplyDelete
  19. Cindy, I see your comment, unless you had posted another one...

    (pets Cindy's head) Mostly all better now? :)

    Lizard was too scary, I'm just glad I didn't scream (could be blood curddling).

    He really had me an a panic and there was no where to run.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Welcome back Dale, seems like you hada wodnerful time! Thanks for sharing the pictures, especially from the apartment of Sans' mother! It must have been such an experience to meet her, she seems like such a lovely person both on the inside and outside! (And Sans, Cindy, Asuka and Pei Li too of course! :-))

    ReplyDelete
  21. Dale, I"LL PROTECT YOU!

    XD

    hrm odd. ah well at least the comments are mostly behaving now.

    i hadn't realised what you were referring to when you said 'slums', cos i don't recall any 'slum' area in Singapore XD those are part of the older public housing estate...i certainly do not think it qualifies as slums XD XD XD

    i think those buildings are pretty colourful, one of the first few art schools used to be in that estate! i'm glad they did not tear it down, even if by today's standards it can be considered an eyesore? hrm. maybe i'm just really into old buildings :P

    ReplyDelete
  22. Hello Helene! Welcome back to you as well, you've been quite the world traveler yourself! :)

    It was wonderful meeting Sans! mom and all of the other Singapore gals. :)

    I'm glad you enjoyed the pictures. :)

    ReplyDelete
  23. Thanks, CINDY! lol ;)

    No, not the apartment buildings, I like how they were painted and I like old buildings, too. :)

    It was when we were in Little India, I guess it was backs of buildings, where the front buildings were no more and it was grass and foliage in front of tin roofs and colorful buildings... sheesh! I'll send you the picture! ;)

    I think all of the comments are showing up now... (me thinks)

    ReplyDelete
  24. LOL, yup, me curious about the slums too. I thought you were talking about the temporary zinc shack they constructed near the park! :)

    Old buildings, yes. Abandoned houses maybe, but no slums here, babe ! :):)

    ReplyDelete
  25. Haha, it looks like you enjoy your trip to the Bird Park (and to Chinatown! XD)

    Dale, you're not the only one who is stuffed! I gained few kgs when you (and my cousin) come! XD
    But how come you lose weight?

    ReplyDelete
  26. Okay, I added two pictures to my post. Maybe the wrong choice of words?

    ReplyDelete
  27. Thanks for the tour, it looks like an amazing place to visit, especially because you had such a wonderful host!
    Mercedes

    ReplyDelete
  28. You're very welcome, Mercedes! Indeed, I did. :)

    ReplyDelete
  29. Ahh! Yup, they look "slummish" alright! :). The back of my office look something like this !! hahaha.

    You said these were shophouses in Little India? I know you won't believe it, I don't believe it myself but each of these shophouse is worth no less than S$1m++, closer to S$3m or at least S$600 per sq ft. These are gazetted for "conservation" but of course,they will have to be done up properly if people submit their building plans to the government for approval :). It is very expensive to buy a property here as we have limited land.

    ReplyDelete
  30. Sans! I am actually not really surprised! Land is a limited quantity no matter where you are, that's why real estate is always a good investment. As long as it's not swamp lands. lol (I'll explain that if I have to)

    I'm sure being on the conservation list is not an easy thing at all.

    Probably why we bought on the block after the historic district. While it's nice to have that designation, I know, when refurbishing our home, we'll do more than most, we just don't want to have to ask them what kind of nails we have to use. ;) No, it's not that bad, but close! ;)

    Who would not want to live in Singapore? That's why the price is so high.

    Given the choice of NJ where the temperatures can fluctuate 90 degrees over the course of a year, or Singapore that is at my optimum temperature... guess what I'd choose?

    Granted, I haven't been to Bali. ;) or Nevis, or Hawaii... lol, I do dream! :)

    ReplyDelete
  31. I wanna go! Neat variety of pictures, sites and teeny sites! :)

    ReplyDelete
  32. Thank you so much for all your beautiful pictures. It was obviously a great trip and stay.
    Geneviève

    ReplyDelete
  33. You are very welcome, Geneviève.

    I like looking back over them, too! :)

    ReplyDelete

I love to hear what you have to say! Thank you so much for taking the time to comment. :)