Singapore: Chinese Garden & Discovery Centre

Plans for Friday were to go to Chinese Garden and Discovery Centre. Again I left the house later than planned but it wasn’t because I woke up late. It was coz the bathroom was in use and I did not calculate the time I needed for breakfast. Stupid huh? I was supposed to reach Chinese Garden at 9.45AM but at that time I was only leaving the house.

Because I was late the Chinese Garden visit had to be cut short. The Chinese part of the garden was nice but the Japanese part was, well, a little boring. Maybe that’s why many places only referred to it as Chinese Garden although it is supposed to be Chinese and Japanese Garden.


Cheng Ho

Climbing up the pagoda.

It felt like I was climbing Rapunzel’s tower and I lost count of how many levels I’ve climbed. When I reached the top I did find Singapore’s own Rapunzel and her prince sitting there blocking part of the path, flirting like it’s nobody’s business. Ok so maybe it’s not our business.

View from the top:



Bonsai Garden
The website said you have to pay for it but when I went there nobody was there to collect money. I didn't see any counters there too.

I missed the twin pagoda but I hope I’ll be going back there again.

By the time I was walking around the Japanese part of the garden, it was almost noon, freaking hot, and I would be late for Discovery Centre if I don’t move soon. Unfortunately for me, the path in Japanese Garden was long, winding, boring, and “shadeless”. So maybe the fact that it’s noon is why I can’t find shade. It was a torturous walk back to the entrance. I’m pretty sure I’m one shade darker now.

Luckily I was able to reach Discovery Centre in time for the SAFTI Bus tour which takes you around well, the SAFTI Military Institute. After the 20 minute ride I was back in Discovery centre to catch 2 shows, one 3D Sharks and one 2D Everest at the iWERKS theatre. You’ll have to plan your trip so that you have enough time for the movies, bus tour and the Discovery Centre. However, if you can do the Night Safari (which I will talk about in the next post), you can easily do this.

Robot that sings Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star.

After that I walked across to the Army Museum, still in the same grounds but on another side of the lake. The Army Museum is free and they have 2 short shows inside which is about 7-8 minutes each. One of the show is really cool. I’m not gonna spoil it for those who are planning to go there but if you really wanna know, you can

(click to show/hide)

The story is (ok I’m not even sure if there’s a story but the main thing to look out for are the effects. You kinda forget about what the show is really about. The first effect is the helicopter landing and there’s a really strong wind blowing at you with flying leaves. Other effects include firing tanks and drizzles. The only thing I didn’t like was that the screen is really high and you have to tilt your head up to watch it all through the show. You can go up to the second level if you want to though.

I went into the show feeling like I was entering a haunted house because I earlier eavesdropped on another visitor who had seen the show before, saying it’s pretty scary. The girl at the reception asked if I was brave enough to watch the show as well. Psychology in effect!

How the cadet does his uniform. Almost like cooking.

It was not a bad visit. If you are planning on going you better go before lunch coz the shows take time and the place closes at 6PM.

Singapore: Chinatown "revisited"

It rained again yesterday and for fear of having to stay in the house again, I decided to start my journey earlier. At 8.30AM the alarm clock rang and I without a care in the world, turned it off. I woke up late but it was still earlier than the other days. Before my suspected curse of waking up at 11 and having the sky turn grey by 12 becomes confirmed, I hurriedly left the house just a little after 11.

By 12, I was in Chinatown and the sky is anything but grey. Actually it was burning hot. After walking through Pagoda St. and Terengganu St., I reached the Buddha Tooth Relic Temple & Museum.

I sought refuge from the menacing sun in the 6-level temple (basement and rooftop included). It was the first temple equipped with air-con and lifts that I’ve ever visited.

Lanterns are hung around the temple in celebration of Wesak Day.

More lanterns! Wesak Day will be celebrated here until 1st June.

100 Dragons Hall. A hundred Buddhas are enshrined on both sides of the hall wall.

More pictures of the temple at the bottom.

After a walk around thePagoda-Terengganu-Sago St. market, I proceeded to Chinatown’s Oasis of Cool. I’ve been wanting to walk up Ann Siang Hill Park and I tell you, what a great disappointment it was.

Basically, this “hill park” is nothing but a short 3-minute path. Oh well, I’ll treat that as a cool path to go to other streets it connects.

Walking down the park, I turned into Telok Ayer St. and visited another temple, the Thian Hock Keng temple.
There’s a mosque on that road too, but you can forget about it coz it looks like nothing but a shophouse. Just like the mosque and Hindu temple on South Bridge Road, it’s not worth a visit. There’s nothing! Ok fine, I admit I didn’t go into Masjid Jamae on South Bridge Road coz it looks uninviting. Don’t shoot me if I’m wrong about it being boring. I did go in the Hindu temple and you need to pay for your camera though I don’t see why you even need to take pictures. ‘Nuff said.

I had soft bun on Boon Tat St. (it’s supposed to be famous for satay but I don’t see any. Maybe just at night?). It’s a bun with kaya and butter in it (and I think that’s all). After that my friend came to meet me. Well, actually, he came and I had to go to the MRT station to pick him up. Not long after that it started to rain. Hmm…who brought the rain?

Because it started to rain I thought it’d be good to seek refuge in the Tooth Relic Temple again…and got my friend to take pictures for me hehe.

The Ten Thousand Buddhas Pavilion on the roof. In the pavillion is a gigantic cloisonne Vairocana Buddha Prayer Wheel (fui~that was long. Got it from the brochure :P)



Every turn of the cylindrical wheel represents a single recital of the scripture and mantra of the Dharma sutras that are placed inside the wheel.



Wheel of sutras! Oh my big face.

Singapore: Chinatown escapade (right...)

Today’s my first time traveling as a tourist alone. I’ve always wondered how those lone backpackers feel when they walk in a foreign land. And…unfortunately, I still don’t quite know. That’s coz it was raining the whole day! I took a bus to the nearest shopping mall (for some reason my cousin kept telling me to go there, so I went) and after getting a sim card I immediately went to the bus stop. And I thought the buses are systematic. There’s a board that shows you the time the next bus will arrive but surprisingly the time can change. Sometimes it’s just stuck there. Oh well. At least you know it’s coming soon and not hours away.

While waiting, the rain started to pour. It started with a drizzle but soon, water was flowing in onto the bus stop grounds. I took the bus to Chinatown and when I got there something like an hour later, it was still drizzling. Great. There goes my afternoon walk around Chinatown and up Ann Siang Hill Park. For the rest of my 2 hours as a lone tourist, I was in McD eating its expensive fries (S$ 2.15 for a medium fries) and making plans for the rest of my days here. I now have tour packages set out haha. So much for my trip.

My cousin came to find me after that and we went for dinner at Central and took a walk along Clarke Quay.

I like the creativeness of that place. Oh I like it. I simply love the creativity of the restaurants and bars there. That’s like what I wanna do if I own a shop. I love it.

Check this one out. It’s called Clinic and the settings are made to look like a hospital. How cool is that?

The pictures are incredibly blurred. I refused to use flash because the picture would lose its night feel but a blur image doesn’t give much feel either huh? I’m itching to go back there. Maybe I’ll go during the day and get a better picture. I didn’t check the menu but if it’s not too expensive, I’m definitely gonna register there as a patient :)

This is one cool store selling puppets (If I’m not wrong)

Later we walked to Boat Quay and at its end we reached the business district (well, which part of Singapore isn’t? Ok, ok, I’m just exaggerating) I saw this statue.

My cousin told me to be careful coz it will pee on you if you get too close and I totally believed her. I even considered walking closer. Then she said, “Go over there to take the picture of the bird. But be careful not to go too near. It will poop.”

That’s when I realized she was pulling my leg. Damn. She even asked if it pooped. But hey, the peeing statue, it’d be cool right?

Constipated bird.

Finally, a little treat. My cousin let me try this little cookie in what looks like a pantyliner pack :P

It sure doesn’t taste like a pantyliner (god knows how a pantyliner tastes like, I don’t even wanna know), instead it tasted like heaven (Ok fine, so I like to exaggerate. Sue me). I think she bought it in Japan and one box containing only 12 pieces costs S$10. Swallow that.

P.S.: I didn't even finish the Vietnam post yet and here I am talking about Singapore. The Vietnam photos are in my laptop; when I can go online with it, I'll blog. Too lazy to ask for my cuz's password. And maybe I need to install things too. Nevermind. In the meantime I'm using my cuz's com. Her com is in the room I'm sleeping in. Thank god!!!