Tag Archives: Light

Singapore

Rooftops and Gardens

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No, not rooftop gardens, though I love those!

This weekend I went to Lantern for dinner and drinks with a friend from school and one of her friends, who also works at school. School is massive so it’s no surprise that I’m still meeting my colleagues! In fact, I’ll probably never actually meet all of them. The teaching staff alone is twice the size of the entire student body of the school I attended as a kid.

Lantern is beautifully set on a hotel rooftop at Marina Bay, so we wined and dined overlooking the skyscrapers of Singapore’s business district, as well as some very fancy hotels. Marina Bay Sands, the casino, is in the distance. Our ferris wheel, the Singapore Flyer, was close by, too!

On Sunday, I visited the Botanic Gardens with the same friend. I’ve been there before with Mitch, but it was great to be back. It’s so beautiful there and it was an absolutely gorgeous day. It’s not sunny all the time here! Really! Just hot. All the time. As usual, the gardens were full of people engaging in some quality outdoor recreation. We passed picnics, birthday parties, runners, bikers, newly weds taking photos, and people playing various sports games. In an age (and a city) where people are so invested in handheld technology, it’s heartwarming to see people enjoying the exact opposite..

So far, my favorite part about Singapore is that there’s something for everyone, and always something new to experience.

Singapore

Lights and music are on my mind.

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Who gets the title reference? Anyone? Anyone? Answer: This song!

On Friday night, I joined two of my friends at the opening of the Night Festival here in Singapore. The Night Festival runs from 7pm-2am Friday and Saturday night for two weekends and consists of free museum admission to the Art Museum, National Museum, Peranakan Museum, and Philatelic Museum (that means stamp collecting!), as well as street performances, installation art having to do with light, dance performances, interactive stage performances, and food and drinks available on streets closed to cars. We were more than a little overwhelmed with options and choices, and largely unfamiliar with the wide area in which the festival was located, but we followed the crowds and the music, bought ourselves some strawberry margarita popsicles, and had a good time!

These drummers wove their way down the street and stopped to play right in front of us! I learned later that they're a group from the UK.
These drummers wove their way down the street and stopped to play right in front of us! I learned later that they’re a group from the UK.

The New Stream Brass Band claims to be a New Orleans-style jazz band, and the word style is key. Growing up in Rochester and attending the Jazz Festival regularly has introduced me to enough jazz to recognize authentic New Orleans jazz. This wasn’t, but the musicians played and sang and got quite a large crowd. They were a lot of fun to watch because they were clearly enjoying them, and the music did remind me of bands of I’ve heard in the past.

New Stream 1

New Stream 2

I couldn’t help but take a picture of the food truck offerings from a truck called Cow. It was painted white with black spots!

Food truck
These prices were so reasonable! We were shocked.

The light installations all involved music or sound in some way, too. There were even fire dancers at one show!

These guitarists were really good!
I completely understand why children are fascinated with mobiles. So were we!
This was just sort of fascinating. The birds looked like they’d been made of wire.
Light show with fire dancers at the Singapore Art Museum
This group’s name is Alchemy – cool, right?
French graphic designers put together this display to celebrate Singapore’s 50th birthday

I got a good laugh at the civility of this festival. No one was walking on the grass to get underneath the giant mobile, but my American friends and I looked around at the lack of barriers or explicit signs, and did just that. People waited at crosswalks to cross the street. Only some streets were blocked off and there were crossing guards with whistles positioned at the streets that were still open to traffic. Even though alcohol was available, very few people were drinking. There was no trash anywhere. No one was climbing trees or light poles for a better view. It was all very, very calm. How strange!

I might go back next weekend to go to the Art Museum. I haven’t been there and this would be a good (read: free) opportunity to see what it has to offer.

Singapore

Experience SG50: Check!

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Well, I’ve crossed SG50 off my “To Do” list. And what an experience! I went to the Gardens by the Bay with a friend to see what we could see of the fireworks. They were happening in Marina Bay, so we were located behind them. I thought we had a pretty good view until I saw photos from friends who spent way more time and energy than we did, managing to get into the Marina Bay area. However, we enjoyed seeing the Gardens by the Bay all lit up! I’ll have to go back soon in the daylight to tour and explore the Gardens. I think you’ll see why in a minute. Intriguing and unique, to say the least.

A quick note: These are iPhone photos taken in the dusk and then the dark. Quality is terrible. I should have brought my real camera, but alas, I forgot it.

For those wondering, this is Marina Bay Sands
Singapore Flyer (I wonder how much those pods cost for the night?!)
Hello, Singapore
Check out the flags! (Also the best way to tell that we’re on the backside)

If you’re still unsure, those mushroom things are the Gardens by the Bay. Mitch and I talked about going once but we never made it there. Looking forward to exploring further!

Happy Jubilee, Singapore!