Friday, February 12, 2010

a city close to the equator


on a weekend with nothing to do, i took an island-hopper to a place i had never before travelled to - a magical place where every order of hainanese chicken comes with the most outrageously tasty chicken soup, garlic gailan, and a complimentary lonely planet city guide


an island city with a pretty downtown and a monstrosity of a new casino under construction


there are miles of waterfront by the financial district teeming with restaurant life


and wonderful displays of clouds, rain and the occasional patches of sunshine


a ferris wheel of enormous proportions fills out my camera's frame of view

a glittering downtown skyline at dusk

same view a few hours later


a view back over the river of the esplanade and concert hall


along the waterfront, a rock band played into the muggy friday night - cheered on by a large crowd


the restaurants along the river serves food and drinks of all nations late into the night


some might say that cross breeding a lion and a goldfish is perhaps unnatural but if not for that we would not have scenes such as this - of a merlion statue spewing a jet of water into the bay - to the delight of all the visiting tourists


a beer-promotion lady and costumed salesman entertain tourists behind glass walls that keep the dry cool air in and the humid hot air out


a street corner in kampong glam - an ethnic somewhat arabic section of town


vast expanses of concrete and steel in the heart of the city


another ethnic section of town - this one is known as little india - not sure why


in china town tourists and residents prepare for the upcoming new years activities


if there were such a contest, this apartment would win one for the nicest window dressing above a sign for live bullfrog porridge


a minister tends to a couple of his flock on the well attended grounds in front of his church


in every city there is a scene just like this - perhaps exhibiting various degrees of midriff display - of effervescent brides-to-be beaming with joy


something spooky about statues heads without bodies - for this entryway to a fusion restaurant one just wasnt enough

an old tourist peddler sleeps away the midday hours in an underground pedestrian pass


large stickers on small cars - car owners begging for attention


river-side dining - razor clams that are well worth the pretty penny that are charged for them


a young woman scooting around one of the larger mall food courts on a segway selling cold drinks


another hotel room to call home for a few days in another city