11. The different faces of Singapore....

Leaving Myanmar the next stop was Singapore. What a contrast! But also what a lot of variety in such a small island. There was the usual places to see.....

The Fullerton hotel which used to be the Post Office and also house some government offices.

Raffles Hotel at night. A Singapore Sling in the Long Bar was S$31 including taxes.... About £15! Very nice tho and had to be done!

The Merlion statue, the emblem of Singapore, at the entrance to the river.

The new Marina Bay Sands Resort.....

And the view from the top looking away from the city! Wow.... 57 floors up....

Fort Canning set on top of the hill and was the British colonial seat of power.

Then there is China Town....

And Little India...

And THEN...... some often not visited hidden gems......

I went to Changi Chapel and Museum which is very near the airport. The chapel was built by the POWs after Singapore fell in 1942 and the museum attached to it tells the story of the Japanese occupation. The atmosphere was very intense and moving.... 

There was immense cruelty and deprivation, but also acts of kindness by some of the local population to the POWs who had to work in extreme conditions while surviving on almost nothing each day.

One of the POWs was an army chaplain and he could paint.....

Then I caught the bus to Changi Village....

And the ferry to Pulau Ubin, a tiny forgotten island a short bumboat ride from Changi Pier. 

It was an amazing place, full of mangroves swamps and jungle, and what the whole area must have been like many many moons ago.

 

I met 3 lovely people and we shared a fabulous lunch. The students at the tables behind us were Singaporeans on a training course..... What a wonderful place to go for an Awayday!

Then to work off my lunch I hired a bike and rode around the island, finding tiny Muslim cemeteries hidden away in the jungle, and watching wonderful butterflies and dragonflies. It was pouring with rain but I was not deterred! I had the right clothing!