Singapore Tour

Today (Wednesday) we took the hop-on-hop-off bus tour to see the main sights of Singapore. One of the stops was only a short walk from our hotel, so we started there. We traveled the yellow route, which covered a good portion of the city. I wanted to continue on to the red route, but Dan was pretty tired and get off at our starting point. The red route circled Little India, the old Malay quarter, and Chinatown. I stayed on the bus for the full route, then kept on for a few more stops to get off at Little India. (I didn't want to do it the first round until I had a chance to see the several stops and which might be best for me.) I walked around a bit and found a restaurant, where I had a dosa and mango lassi. On my way back to the bus stop, I passed a fruit seller on the street and got a few bananas. We've gotten no Singapore currency, and even the street vendor took credit cards/ApplePay. Amazing!

As we expected, Singapore is very clean and efficient. When the HOHO bus got to stop zero, we all had to alight and then get in line for our choice of red or yellow route. The next bus rolled up and we were led right to the door.

We saw many many buildings, both old and modern. There is evidence everywhere of the colonial past, scattered among the modern skyscrapers. Most of the older buildings have been repurposed, except for the churches. There also is a lot of greenery. We went through the botanical gardens, Fort Canning Park, and the Gardens by the Bay.

A colonial building just down the street from our hotel

The iconic Marina Bay Sands Hotel. In front are the Helix Bridge (based on the DNA form) and the Welcoming Hand of the ArtScience Museum.

Another colonial building

The former Old Hill Police Station, now a government building -- over 99 windows with shutters the colors of the rainbow.

A tall tower

Hindu temple in Little India -- one of the official languages here is Tamil, so I'm guessing many of the Indian population are from the south.

Houses in the Malay quarter -- similar to many in Penang

The former Chinese opera house then theater

My dosa lunch

This image isn't from the tour, but it is just down the street from our hotel. A vending machine that squeezes apples and gives you the juice. You can see the apples inside. There is also one that makes sugar cane juice.