On my only evening in Singapore I had pre-booked a tour to the zoo. The
zoo offers tours in the dark with their animals and I had heard that this is a
really nice thing to do. What I didn't know until we were on our way to the zoo
was that they had Halloween night... it was a nightmare but not because of the 'scares'
they had set up. If I had know that before I am not sure I would have booked
that tour. So here are a few impressions...
What you usually do in the zoo for the night safari is go on a tour by train to
see animals that can't be seen from the walkways. That night it was:
This woman was our tour guide and she was really good. I think she practiced her
scary laugh to perfection before she did the tour...
While being on the train there were actors hiding in the bushes and they would
come out to scare people on the train. Since it was dark and no flash allowed I
didn't get any good pics from the train ride. We actually DID see some animals
every now and then. But I would be interested to know how many of them died due
to heart attacks with all the shrieking going on... After the ride was over I
went to one of the two walking tours. But it was even worse there... just too
many people for me. I had expected a quiet tour in the dark and got all but...
That guy was real...even on the paths there were actors scaring people. I saw a
european looking woman (might have been australian too) who was trying to take
pictures of a scary looking guy while her daughter was terrified and was crying
because she wanted to go away. She could have told her daughter that he was not
real...
After about half of the way I gave up and turned around. Not my thing to do...
there was a second path and I decided to try that one and fortunately there was
no Halloween there and I finally found what I had come for in the first place.
Was able to take a couple of pics in the dark.
Then it was time to go back. While we waited for our guide to appear I took some
more pictures of the 'zoo in the zoo'.
Was back in the hotel around midnight and went to sleep immediately.
The next morning I took my time to enjoy the breakfast buffet which was really
great. After that I decided to walk around the area of the hotel a little bit
and walk over to an area close to the water where I hadn't managed to take too
many pictures from the coach the day before.
I was surprised to see an open air clinic in the middle of a shopping area.
Being in Asia nothing would have surprised me but finally even stupid me
realized that this was a bar...
Then I found a dragon boat race. To me it looked like dragon boat races are very
popular in Singapore as this was a major event and even company-teams
participated.
Ready.... GO!
I stayed to watch for some time then I continued. It was very hot so I was in
search for water while walking along. Hadn't thought about taking some with me
when I left the hotel. Don't remember what these buildings were. Maybe a museum
this one?
Well, this is a cathedral.
That morning there was a run... look at the time they start in the morning.
I think this is the opera. Or was it a congress center? Don't remember...
Liked that cute bridge
Came back to the canal of the dragon boat race. There were some sculptures along
the edge.
Dragon boat race still ongoing...
Seven eleven...
You DO need air condition in Singapore...
Finally I was back at the shopping center close to my hotel. Went to eat at
Billy Bo... again. Then I wondered what to do with the rest of the day. It
looked like rain so I decided I didn't wanna walk over to Chinatown again. So in
the end I decided to give the shopping area another try. I had gotten a map that
showed electronics shops so I decided on one mall... turned out that these shops
were mostly headsets-shops which I was not interested in at all... So I was in a
11 story shopping mall and there were about 3 or 4 shops that interested me. I
never found any shops for foto equipment... here are a few more pics from the
area...
Finally I got in another taxi and went back to my hotel. I have to say that I
was not too sad that I had to leave Singapore. And I am not very eager to return
to that city either. It just doesn't have a soul...
Finally it was time to check out, my driver came to get me and we were on the
way to the airport. Check-in went smoothly and I slept through most of the
flight. Had to connect to another flight in Munich and then I was back home.
Those 3.5 weeks have gone by in a heartbeat. I think it is pretty obvious from
this report that I had a great time. So it will probably not surprise you that I
have decided to go back to Indonesia next year in october. I intend to go to
islands called Raja Ampat that are part of the province of Papua which is close
to Sulawesi. On the way back I will be back with the Two Fish Divers for another
week . Can't wait....