What is Singapore like? If you’ve ever imagined an open air sauna made of concrete then you know what Singapore is like. Or at least you know what the weather’s like. The simple act of putting on clothes makes you sweat so much that you need another shower. It’s even worse once you’re out of the air conditioning.
Yet that is what we four brave souls did, we plunged out into the heat to spend the evening at Gardens by the Bay. We watched light shows, saw fireworks, got attacked by the Singapore Air Force and listened to classical music. Ok maybe we didn’t get attacked by the Singapore Air Force but they certainly flew low enough to make it seem personal.
To prove we weren’t intimidated we went on a skywalk to look out over the gardens and enjoy a nighttime view of the city. At least three of us did, my fear of heights doesn’t really manifest itself unless I’m looking over an edge or something but our Transylvanian German companion suffered from genuine and severe vertigo. It was an act of impressive courage for her to make it from one end of the skywalk to the other mostly with her eyes clamped tightly shut. Kudos to you my dear.
After all this, being tourists, we went along to the Marina Bay Sands Hotel for drinks at one of the bars up on Level 57. This hotel must be one of the ugliest buildings I’ve ever seen. It gets better as you get closer because you can admire the skill which went into its construction without seeing the end result in its entirety. It is said that the building is shaped in a stylised version of the Chinese character for monstrosity. The very best viewing point is from a bar on the 57th floor because then you can’t see it at all.
And that was pretty much the end of the tour, we all went our separate ways leaving me with several days in Singapore before gaming began (although I did meet up with the Transylvanian German to visit the night zoo a couple of days later). I was all by myself in one of the greatest and most vibrant cities on earth. You know what that means; Musical Box Museum!
Yes I visited the Singapore Musical Box Museum for a guided tour of all things small and tinkly. First however I had an obligation to fulfill. My mother wanted a photo of Raffles Hotel so before immersing myself in all things musical box I went to find Raffles. To get to the hotel you go down Raffles Street, turn left onto Raffles Boulevard past the Raffles Hospital and the Raffles Home for Stray Dogs and you’re there. If you hit the Raffles Sewage Treatment Works you’ve gone too far. Raffles Raffles Raffles Raffles, dear Christ Singapore change the record. Sorry I think the heat is getting to me.
Anyway I made it there and took the photo before making my way to the Musical Box Museum. The museum was easy enough to find, it was right across the road from the Raffles Institute for Post Colonial Studies. Once there the first thing I learned was that musical boxes needn’t be small and tinkly. There was a huge one for use on ocean liners too cheap to hire a band. There were medium sized ones to fit in hotel rooms and small portable ones to take on picnics to frighten away ants. I think my favourite was a musical cigar holder which played music and simultaneously opened a series of doors in its sides which contained cigars for your enjoyment. You had to be quick though when the music stopped the doors closed and if you didn’t have your cigar you were out of luck. It was like a game of musical chairs where the prize was cancer.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment