let me count the ways...

i know that i've been likening singapore to disneyland time and again, but i've never really explained what i mean by that. so i've composed a little list of ways in which singapore is exactly like disneyland:

1. it's extremely artificial, tho' well-done artificial.

at the aquarium on sentosa, someone swimming in the tank reminds you of the artificiality.

oh, and that you're on a moving, rolling walkway, tho' that doesn't show in the picture.

this is a little artificial swimming area for children that is ON THE BEACH.

because it's not enough that you can go into the south china sea, RIGHT THERE.

2. it's very safe.

i believe this sign bears no explanation.

3. it's incredibly clean and even sanitized - example, you cannot buy chewing gum in singapore. it's illegal to import it and sell it there. if you have some in your bag when you come in, that's ok, but don't try to sell it to anyone! and for odin's sake, do NOT spit it out on the ground.

these capsules on the singapore flyer are sanitized by a team of cleaners between when one group gets off and the next gets on. it's astonishing to watch. and i was so astonished, i failed to photograph the three guys doing the cleaning. 

4. it's all surface and if you scratch that surface, you find that what's below it is totally artificial (this is kind of a repeat of 1, but it's so marked it bears repeating).

this is a fake tree, made of concrete. of course, a real tree has grown up around it, but the tree trunk in the picture is a well-made fake concrete tree that supports the little bridge over to the point that claims to be the farthest southern point of the asian continent. tho' it's probably a fake little manmade island. and i'm not sure that counts.

5. you can be entertained at every moment if you choose that.

one of the ways we chose to be entertained...the fish-touching tank at the aquarium on sentosa.

sabin touching a little shark.

6. the landscaping is lovely.

in the butterfly garden on sentosa

7. they both have the death penalty (ok, not so sure disneyland has the death penalty, but i did get kicked out once for wearing a bikini top).

i had no picture that went with this, so this is just another gratuitous shot of clarke quay since y'all liked the other one so well.

8. both are climate-controlled.

you can see the umbrella-like roofs which keep in the outdoor airconditioning at clarke quay.

and it's not just misters, it's actual giant air-conditioning units.

i can't get over it!

9. pink dolphins. admittedly, i don't know if disney has any pink dolphins, but it would be kinda disney-esque.

yes, this photo is a bit grainy, i forgot to reset the ISO from inside the aquarium. my bad.

10. there's lots of drama in any performance, whether it's the dolphin show on sentosa island or the disembodied voice when you reach the top of the singapore flyer or the animal show at the night safari and the singapore zoo--they're all over-dramatized.

even the birds were overly dramatic!

three of them hopped onto sabin's hand to get the sweet liquid. she wasn't entirely pleased about that.

the drama was especially evident in the announcers at the various shows we attended--night safari animal show, dolphin show, etc. but there are no pictures that do it justice.

11. it's all about consumerism, baby!

in the vivo mall at harbor front

fancy new ion mall on orchard road next to wisma atria (another mall)

12. there is a shocking lack of awareness of the issues facing the world (global warming, global financial crisis, you get the picture).

and while i think it's undoubtedly an excellent place to be an ex-pat, i don't think i could live there long-term. i'd have to know that it was a specific, pre-defined amount of time, or i'd go crazy. but it is a nice place to visit. there's lots to do and it's clean and safe and the taxis are cheap and the food is great, but we are definitely glad to be home.

an extraordinary tolerance for madness

it seems that people will tolerate and even be charmed by your madness if you've already established yourself with them. like by hanging out for endless hours every evening at the pool and eating dinner at their restaurant several two nights in a row. so that they kinda know you and your proclivity for ordering a fruit plate with only dragon fruit. because the child does so adore dragon fruit. so when you come with a little bag containing your nikon, a magazine and yes, a little red robot of which you may have bought two three four different models (because husband says you need a critical mass of something in order to have a collection (tidy little blame assessment there, eh?)). and although it's really quite dark, you are attempting to photograph your robot, and then there's that thing where you really hate to use the flash, so you don't. and then the staff begins to assist, by suggesting new places where the robot would look fetching. like next to the candle and your wine. with the pool in the background. and a lovely flower that had fallen from one of the nearby trees.

don't you just love robots? and when people tolerate your eccentricities? next time, you bring a tripod. but you still refuse to use flash...

are you afraid of heights?

i'm not so keen on heights, but i did manage these stairs yesterday no problem (just don't look down). i guess if you're a motivated ship geek (which should have been one of my secrets, since it's rather out of character), you'll do whatever you have to.

headache now gone, thank you all for your headache-go-away vibes, i think they helped.

and now i'm off to fika so that i have pictures to contribute here. any excuse for a starbucks, i tell you...

if you can't stand the heat...

...lie down until the headache you got traipsing all around an LNG carrier that was in a dry dock at a shipyard passes and then go out for sushi.

more tomorrow when the headache aura has faded...

p.s. this shot is taken at Clarke Quay, Singapore

if you give a child a camera...

we handed the little pink sony cybershot over to sabin today and i hereby give you what she came up with...all shots from onboard the singapore flyer (the world's largest ferris wheel)...

i'm pretty proud of this one.

it seems she IS watching.

far's new shoes are cool too!

singapore flyer - from the inside

construction all around.

it's almost as if they don't know there's a financial crisis.

more views of below.

hmm, wonder how these photos w/the 60 mm macro lens are going to turn out?

far's got the "little" nikon w/the BIG lens

she's got a good eye.

i wonder when she's going to demand a "big" camera?

yup, she's got an eye.

going to bed now. big day ahead tomorrow. back to work for me.

butterflies, dolphins and birds, oh my

although singapore is like disneyland with nationhood in more ways that i can even enumerate at the moment (but promise to when i get home and am on a proper (read: not slow hotel) connection again and have time (to myself) to think) we had a completely and utterly brilliant day today. it's 11 p.m. as i write this and the day was so wonderful i don't want it to end (which is why room service brings you wine, but i digress). but, for now, a few pictures (what a surprise that is, eh?)...

that is indeed a pink dolphin. they were so cute.

but kinda artificial-seeming, tho' they're not, they're real. 

(one of the few things in singapore.)

(more about that later.)

and one more bird...

i was very nearly an authentic bird doo head.

thankfully tho' not in the end.

(no cracks about the wrinkles, please.)