ION Orchard - Inside the mall - shops

ION Orchard is a branded mall. So all the shops from the ground floor up to the higher floors are shops that sell branded goods.

Shops like burberry, Prada, Cartier, Giorgio Armani, Louis Vuitton, etc

The above photo shows a father riding the escalator with his daughter on his shoulder (circled). This is a very dangerous act, one wrong slip, the child might fall many floors down. Not a wise act by the father.

I like this bookshop's window display of star trek's characters.

Below photo is the one of the basement (there are four levels in the basement) where the shops are not so expensive, we can all afford it.

Tomorrow I will showcase basement four where all the food are. :)

ION Orchard

This is ION Orchard, the latest new mall that opened recently in Singapore. ION Orchard comes from the phrase "I on orchard". Orchard is the name of the road - Orchard Road. Orchard Road used to be a Orchard that grows fruits, that's how the name of Orchard Road comes about.

ION Orchard is a mall that sells mainly branded goods but there's still hope for budget shopping. From B1 to B4 (i.e. the basement), there are shops that are affordable for the average shoppers. But from the ground floor up to the upper floors, are all shops that sell branded goods.

In a supermarket in one of the upper floors, I saw half a water melon selling for about $25 (faints*) and a rock melon for $29. OMG, it costs only a few dollars for these melons in the markets and local supermarkets. It looked the same to me, wondered if the melons are tastier.

I like this photo very much, this is the entrance to the Orchard MRT Station. Looked at the beautiful architectural designs of ION Orchard. I like the way the glass reflected all the images.

The entrance of the MRT Station looked like people going into a spaceship.

These red long benches are so cute and striking but not many are sitting during the daytime cause it is quite hot. I think it would be occupied during the night. I cannot imagine how beautiful this place would be during christmas time.

A short video of ION Orchard. Looked at the sculpture on the right, it is a fruit sculpture.

This video is nice. I like the reflection on the moving vehicles on the glass panels.

There are more new places of attractions coming up in Singapore in the next couple of years.

Singapore is going to be like a wonderland for people having fun and leisure and eat and shop.

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

Shophouses in Tanjong Pagar

More photos of shophouses in Tanjong Pagar. Shophouses are usually shops or office on the ground floor and the upper floors are living quarters for the owners.
These shophouses are restored and preserved, they are over 100 years old.
Love the beautiful architectural designs especially the windows.

Housing from the past, present and future

Continuing from yesterday's post. Today, I will talk about the future, present and past housing all in one district.

The background of the new flats in Tanjong Pagar are really very beautiful and expensive and they are government's flats (HDB) built by private developers. The bridge (circled) are heavier than an aeroplane and they are built as roof gardens. These HDB flats are even more expensive than some private condominiums.

And these flats are all taken up (if I am not mistaken), the flats should be ready by next year. I wondered if the roof garden are open to anyone besides residents there, then I can go up and take photo of the garden. It must be quite scary to be high up there.

The high rise flats are symbols of our future housing, builting upwards in land scared Singapore. The lower block of flats are present flats build at least 30 years ago.

Oh I like these old shophouses, they are restored and preserved. These old shophouses are at least more than 100 years old. They even survived the world war II. My late grandmother used to live in one of these shophouses and it was so old and infested with rats as huge as a cat. I remembered having to put my legs up the sofa cause the rats are running under the sofa...hahaha...very scary.

After all the restoring and preservation, these shophouses are now worth more than a million dollars.

You can read more about the history of these shophouses in wikipedia.

Although we are progressing very quickly, we dont forget our past and histories.

What type of housing do you like?

Skywatch Friday-Tanjong Pagar

Saw some cute sculptures in front of the building. Hope you can see the reflection of the sky on the glass panels.

In the background you can see few blocks of HDB Flats (government flats) still under construction. They are HDB Flats build by private developers. They are the most expensive HDB Flats so far. Gone are the days where HDB flats are considered alternative cheap housing. Nowadays HDB Flats can cost more expensive than private condominiums. As land is scare in tiny Singapore, properties over here are so expensive. You can no longer find any flats that are in the five figure sum, they are all over six figure sum for a decent flat. If you are interested to see how an HDB Flat look like, you can view the virtual showroom in here.

Noticed the bridge linking each block, they are supposed to be roof gardens. These bridge are so heavy and each weighed heavier than an aeroplane.

These flats are known as The Pinnacle @ Duxton, Singapore. I will tell you more in later post about these flats.

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