We decided to spend a few days in Singapore as it was one of the cheapest ways to go from Asia to Australia. In fact the island is a regional transport hub and an international financial pole.
Part of the Malay influence zone, Singapore became a British colony after Thomas Stamford Raffles landed near the mouth of the Singapore River in January 1819 and established a British trading post there to compete with the Dutch monopoly in this area. The island was a strategic spot in the traffic between the Arab and Indian traders and the Chinese ones, on the Straights of Melacca.
Singapore retains a touch of British charm from colonization for example the City Hall, the Supreme Court or the lovely Raffles Hotel:
We had the chance to be in Singapore just before the 46th anniversary of Independance. To celebrate national day a lot of events are organized. The palace of the president, Istana, is open to the public and entrance fees takings are entirely collected for charity. This palace has stylish decorated rooms where are exhibited gifts received from foreign delegations and heads of state. It is a surrounded by a huge park which looks like a private presidential golf course right in the city centre.
Istana park
In the framework of the national celebration was also organized a series of local music concerts in the outdoor theatre of the Esplanade. The Esplanade offers a wonderful sidewalk around a marina with a nice panorama over some skyscrapers and especially Marina Bay Sands: three 56 floors towers holding a boat in the air with a swimming pool and a restaurant on the top. Impressive and a great viewpoint!
Marina Bay Sands
View from Marina Bay Sands front deck
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Singapore is a strange state with four official languages (Malay, Tamil, Mandarin and English) and no official religion. Or maybe the official religion is multiculturalism! Actually the city has its Little India, Arab Street and Chinatown. But you can find a mosque in Chinatown and so on. It seems also that there is no such thing as a Singaporean cooking but a juxtaposition of Malay/Chinese/Indonesian/Western food.
Chinatown
Buddha Tooth Relic Temple
Little India
Little India
Sultan Mosque
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