Now, tired and happy, we’re cruising the Malacca Straits, ships all around us are moving at 17 knots. The water is calm but full of all sorts of floating crap. I am sitting in a deck chair with my computer … Continue reading Singapore Miscellany
Hong Kong has Disneyland. Singapore IS Disneyland. Like Disneyland it’s clean, well ordered, and controlled. Disney employees have to follow a strict code of behavior. It’s like everyone in Singapore is a Disney employee and is expected to follow the … Continue reading Asia for Beginners — Singapore
About 23% of Singapore, almost a quarter of the country, is reclaimed land. I’ve always wondered about that term “reclaimed.” Since Earth is “the water planet” shouldn’t we just say claimed? Much of this land is used for industry or … Continue reading Merlion Found, Singapore’s “Reclaimed” Land.
When traveling I’m struck by how tied together we are and always have been. Three years ago on a trip up the Amazon we learned how rubber trees were smuggled out of Brazil to Kew Gardens in London, and from … Continue reading Hanging Gardens of Singapore
I’ve written about how clean and well-ordered Singapore is. Little India is a bit of an exception. It is clean, especially compared with India, but the wet market has a wet floor, the houses and shop houses are more colorful … Continue reading Little India — Singapore
Tiger Balm Gardens in Singapore has been rebranded as the Har Par Villa. It’s a favorite in Singapore. It was built by Har Par and opened to the public to teach young people Chinese moral lessons. (See Courts of Hell.) … Continue reading Tiger Balm Gardens Rebranded.
Har Par was a business man from Rangoon. He and his brother invented s salve called “Tiger Balm.” I use it myself. In the 1930s they moved to Singapore and were very successful. Har par built a mansion for … Continue reading The Courts of Hell with a Trigger Warning.