Tetiana Visit and Virtual Tour of Singapore

At the end of August (Aug. 26-30), our friend Tetiana came for a visit from Switzerland. 

As we have not posted that many pictures of Singapore and since we visited the city with Tetiana, I thought I would include a few of these pictures here. Below is a vegetable vendor in Little India (a principally Indian part of town). Singapore has four national languages: English, Malay, Tamil and Chinese and is a very diverse place with people from all over Asia as well as a pretty sizable expat community from all over the world.

As well as being diverse in its population, Singapore is diverse religiously. There is no majority religion. In fact on certain streets, you will find a Buddhist temple near a Hindu temple and a Muslim mosque. According to wikipedia, the religious landscape is as follows:

Religion in Singapore
religion			percentage
Buddhism			33%
Christianity			18%
No religion			17%
Islam			15%
Taoism			11%
Hinduism			5.1%
Others			0.9%

Buddhist, Christian, Islam and Hindu representatives each choose two important days for their religion and the 8 days chosen become National Holidays. For example, tomorrow is the national holiday of deepavali (or diwali), the Hindu Festival of Lights.  Below is a Hindu Temple in Little India.

Across the street from it is a little stall selling flowers and lays to be used in the ceremonies and the prayers. They smell amazingly good as you walk by.

The day after visiting Little India and Arab St. (which is the middle eastern headquarters), we celebrated Noah's birthday at Fidgets in the morning (see the 4th birthday celebration post) and went to the zoo with Tetiana and Audrey in the afternoon. Here Audrey carrying Noah.

Noah and I watching....

the orangutans...

After the orangutan sighting, we went to the elephant show which Noah really likes. When he was younger he would make the sign for elephant and then clap his hands to tell us he wanted to see the elephant show (now he just asks: "maman, je veux aller au show des elephants"... or mommy I want to go to the elephant show).

Probably my favorite animals at the zoo - the cheetahs. They are so powerful yet delicate and cute.

Zebras... 

Giraffes...

And Noah counting the flowers. It was very hard to pull him away from his flower counting. Audrey had to carry him away!

The next day, we explored the Marina area. Here lunch at the top of the Pan Pacific Hotel for some yummy Chinese food and an amazing view of the city (notice the Singapore flyer aka the big wheel in the background).

After lunch, we took a ride on the flyer. From the top you have a good overall view of the marina with the Marina Bay Sands Hotel (aka the boat) and the business district.

A close-up view of the boat.

... the Merlion fountain.

And the emerging structures of the new botanical gardens to open in the next year or so.

After all that visiting, Noah had his snack...

And we walked along the bay for another great view of the Marina Bay Sands area with the lotus flower Arts Science Museum and the waves which contain a big upscale shopping mall (with an indoor skating rink) and a casino.

Boat quay as the sun sets down. 

Clark quay - Noah loves to run around in these fountains. 

The lights for Hari Raya Puasa/Eid Al-Mubarak Al-Firtr or the breaking of the fast (a muslim holiday) which fell on August 30 this year. 

The Fullerton hotel with in the background the "durians". 

On Hari Raya, the president of Singapore opens the president's house and grounds for public visits... Here Tetiana, me, Noah and Audrey visiting the president's house.

 Noah in the president's park.

They had set up some activities for kids including face painting. Noah asked for a butterfly on his arm... (that way he can actually see it) and Audrey was a tiger.

That afternoon, we went to the botanical gardens. The gorgeous Swiss mountains and lakes have been replaced here by the amazing vegetation. I fell in love with it when we first visited Singapore in April 2009 and still can't believe I live in a country with banana trees and coconut trees and star fruit trees and orchids growing in the streets (Noah is also a big fan of spotting the fruit on the trees and pointing out the various trees he knows). A few close-ups. 

 

What a whirlwind tour of the city!