Skywatch - Financial District

This is the view from The Helix Bridge. The buildings are all in the financial district.

The sky looked clear and healthy and not polluted. The platform on the right of the photo will be the opening ceremony for the coming Youth Olympic Games in August.

Did you spot The Merlion in the background?

For other sky watchers, please hop over to Skywatch blog.

Singapore River-Clarke Quay

This looked like a huge umbrella.

This is Clarke Quay, formerly where all these buildings in the above photos are warehouses. They are now mostly pubs and restaurants. It will be crowded at night especially during the weekends.

All these UFOs looking shelters are outdoor eateries.

Warehouses along Singapore River

Most of the old warehouses along Singapore River have been converted to restaurants and pubs.

Even the bumboats are used as restaurants.

Some of the bumboats are used as river taxis to ferry tourists to sightsee the scenery of Singapore along the Singapore River.

This waterfront restaurant is Indochine,it has a very nice view of the Singapore River. There are many terracotta soldiers at the front of their restaurants. But they are not the real thing, just replicas.

Warehouses along Singapore River

These warehouses along Singapore River have a very long history. It used to be very dirty and filled with many cargoes. Many bum boats would arrived through the river and coolies (workers) would carried all these cargoes on their backs and carried them from the boats to the warehouses. I used to watch them cause these warehouses were near my late grandparents home.

In modern Singapore, bum boats dont come through the Singapore River anymore. Instead all the cargoes are shipped through huge ship berthed along the busy port in Pasir Panjang and Jurong. Nowadays bumboats are used to ferry tourists to view the sights of Singapore River.

I used the same photo to be printed as a sketch through a software. It really looked like a sketch by someone. I am not talented hahaha...cant sketch like the above. But am sure Mable can sketch better than the above. Mable is very good in drawing and sketching. She is so talented. You can view her drawings by clicking her name and looked at her sidebar for her sketches.

Pink Saturday-Singapore River Hongbao 2009

My contribution for pink saturday are these pink flowers and the pink stage, photo taken during the Singapore River Hongbao 2009. These will be my last photos for the Singapore River Hongbao 2009 series of photos.

These pink flowers are not the real thing, they are artificial.

The peacockis cute and lovely and trying to just snap the peacock is difficult cause there are so many people waiting to take photo with the peacock so I ended up taking photo of the peacock and a stranger...lol

The stage is decorated and lighted with pink lights.

For more pinky participants, please visit Beverly of How Sweet The Sound.

Singapore River Hongbao 2009 - Chinese Pavilion

More lighted displays at the Singapore River Hongbao 2009. Everyone wanted to take photos of these beautiful displays.

There are many birds in in this cage. You have to click the photo to enlarge it.
Cute mandarin ducks. They are all made of paper and lighted by bulbs inside them.

Just a short video to show you the crowds taking photos.

Skywatch-Singapore River Hongbao 2009-God of Fortune and The Singapore Flyer

The Singapore Flyer in the background. It was just reopened on the first day of chinese new year after closing for more than a month due to a electrical fire which stranded more than 170 people. Now it is fixed with a back up winch system. Hope all will be fine now. Maybe the location of the God of Fortune will bless the flyer. :)

A short video of the flyer in the night.

For other sky watchers, please hop over to Skywatch blog.

My World-Singapore River Hongbao 2009 - God of Fortune

These photos are fresh from my camera. :) Took them last night at the Singapore River Hong Bao 2009. This is the giant God of Fortune.

He is holding a couplet that read zhao cai jin bao which means attracts/usher in money and valuables. Now I wish the God of Fortune will visit me. :)

Why are these people sitting here? If you find this place familar, yes, it is the floating platform used during the national day celebration You can find another photo of it in my previous post in here. You have to return to visit to see why these people are sitting here.

Now I am stuck in this queue but not very long, the whole area is very big so the queue moves very fast. As the floating platform is on top of the Singapore River, the breeze from the sea made the whole place cooling and not stuffy. You have to return to see if it is worth the queue, I have so many beautiful photos of the Singapore River Hongbao Show.

Please visit "That's my World" for other parts of the world.

Skywatch-Lion Dance

This is so beautiful. I was strolling along Singapore River with hubby when I heard the sound of drums. So I hurried to where the sound comes from cause I knew there must be a lion dance somewhere.

The background of shophouses are restaurants and pubs. They used to be warehouses during the earlier days of Singapore. You might like to read an article about the warehouses which were also used by the Japanese as screening centres during WWII. (Source: Loyang Primary School )

The building in the background with colourful windows was once upon a time "Hill Street police station" which was also Singapore first jail during the Japanese Occupation. To know more about the building you could read it at Wikipedia.

A short video of the lion dance. These lion dancers are from Hongkong, they were rehearsing for a lion dance competition. This is the southern lion dance.

Types of Lion Dances

There are two types of lion dances, namely the Northern and Southern lion dance which differs in the appearance of the lion and the performance style.

Northern Lion Dance

The Northern school, practised in Beijing, is more acrobatic with the lion balancing on balls and on see-saws whilst being enticed by a pugilist dressed as a 'warrior'. The pugilist teasing the lion uses a fan or a ball and the interplay between him and the lion is the focus of the dance. The Northern Lion evolved from a Mongolian animal puppet placed on a post and paraded during festivals. The Northern Lion is furry with an orange and yellow, woollen coat.

Southern Lion Dance

The Southern school, which is more popularly performed in Singapore, originated in Guangdong. It involves a less hairy Lion which is taunted by a big-headed clown. They traditionally perform outdoors, the cai qing or literally "plucking the green", referring to the acrobatic act of picking up a sprig of lettuce from as high as three storeys, achieved only by using a pole or forming a human pyramid. The Southern lion has a 'skin' of white/yellow and brown/ black patterns. Whilst the Northern Lion is reputedly fierce, with a serious temperament, the Southern Lion is tame and playful. (Source: infopedia )

For other sky watchers, please hop over to Skywatch blog.

Merlion from boat view

This is the famous Merlion. I took many photos of the Merlion previously but were taken from land. These two photos of the Merlion were taken from a boat. You could see my other photos of the Merlion in here.



The Merlion was first designed as an emblem for the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) in 1964 – the lion head with a fish body resting on a crest of waves quickly became Singapore’s icon to the rest of the world.The fish tail of the Merlion symbolises the ancient city of Temasek (meaning “sea” in Javanese) by which Singapore was known before the Prince named it “Singapura” (meaning “lion” (singa) “city” (pura) in Sanskrit), and represents Singapore’s humble beginnings as a fishing village. (Source: Uniquely Singapore).

Please visit "That's my World" for other parts of the world.

The Singapore Flyer

This is the Singapore Flyer is a giant observation wheel equivalent to the London Eye.

The Flyer comprises a 150 m (492 ft) diameter wheel, built over a three-story terminal building, giving it a total height of 165 m (541 ft). This exceeds The Star of Nanchang by 5 m (16 ft) and the London Eye by 30 m (98 ft). Each of the 28 air-conditioned capsules are capable of holding 28 passengers each, and a complete rotation of the wheel takes approximately 30 minutes. For more information you can view from source:Wikipedia.



I have yet gone for the ride in the flyer, will post more photos when I actually go for the ride. :)

For more information, you can view them at the website:http://www.singaporeflyer.com/

Skywatch-Colourful cranes

These colourful cranes found at the Sands Casino at Marina. They looked like Lego Sets.

Thanks to Tom for hosting Sky Watch. For other sky watchers, you can go to Tom's website.

The Benjamin Sheares Bridge

The Benjamin Sheares Bridge is the longest bridge in Singapore. It is named after Dr Benjamin Henry Sheares, the 2nd president of the Republic.

Another view of the bridge.

Double Helix Bridge at Marina

There are so many constructions going on in Marina and Singapore River. To see the map of Marina, click here. Singapore is undergoing a make over, so lots of construction all over the island.

The new bridge at marina is known as the double helix bridge. When completed, it would looked very pretty and one can walk from the esplanade to the yet to be completed Sands Casino. (Note the flyer in the background (equivalent of the London Eye)-I will post photos of the Flyer in later posts.)

To see how the completed bridge would look like, you can see it at this website.

Marina Bay Sands Casino at Marina South

If you think the above construction looked ugly in Singapore River. I agreed too. It spoilt the view of the financial district buildings. But in a few years it would looked pretty.

Many colourful cranes - so much construction going along Singapore River.

All the digging and banging are for the future Sands Casino in Marina Bay. It would be the first casino to be allowed on Singapore, the other casino will be at Sentosa.

The Marina Bay Sands is Singapore's first casino developed by Las Vegas Sands at Marina South and expected to be completed in 2009. To see how the casino looked like when completed, click here.

The second casino being constructed is in Sentosa. See my earlier post.

Tourists and foreigners get to gamble free in the casino while Singaporean needed to pay an entrance fee of S$100 or $2000 annual fee to gamble in the casino. Families can banned their family members from gambling in the casinos.

UOB Plaza

These two tall buildings are very beautiful. They are UOB Plaza Buildings . UOB stands for United Overseas Bank.

You can see another wide angle of Singapore River here.