Our first stop was the Jurong Bird Park. It is one of the largest in the world, home to over 600 species of birds. We were lucky with timing too, and we were able to attend 2 different shows. First however, we entered past the penguin exhibit. As many people know... I do love my penguins. So, the day was already off to a good start. Then, just around the bend we made our way to the first show, Fuji World of Hawks. Simply put... it was a hawk show. But we saw a variety of hawks, eagles, falcons and vultures all doing their own unique tricks. They varied from flipping rocks for food to catching bugs in the air, to swooping over heads of the audience. If nothing else... they are simply stunningly handsome birds.
Following that we had a bit of time to kill so we saw most of the water birds in the park. That list included a variety of flamingos, pelicans, swans and ducks. We also passed by the "African Grasslands" where there were many species of storks and herons. This led to one of my favorite moments when a stork on the monorail decided to play chicken with said monorail. It lost... not because it got hit but because he swerved first... Moving on, we then headed over to the central amphitheater for the Birds n Buddies Show. This was basically a non-birds-of-prey bird show. We saw Macaws fly through hoops, a cockatoo basically play fetch, two parrots race in collecting fruits, and a different type of parrot sing happy birthday to the crowd. It had a few aspects geared much more to small children, but it was still a lot of fun to watch the birds preform.
To keep things brief, we saw tons of parrots, toucans and great numbers of other various tropical birds. Other groups included birds of prey and the bald eagle, kingfishers, owls and more. The park is also home to a 30 meter man-made waterfall and included avery... though I found that section underwhelming. On the way out we stopped for lunch and each had some curry laksa. While the name is derived from chinese (I think) it is very popular here and can be considered a Singaporean dish. It was tasty and had just the right amount of spice to it.
We then headed into more cultural parts of the city, starting with Chinatown. According to Richard, the ethnic centers are a big part of the culture to the city. Anyway, in many ways the local Chinatown looks much like the Chinatown in any number of other cities. That said it still had the ability to appear stunningly clean and organized the way Singapore seems to do so well. Our first stop was Sri Mariamman Temple, one of the local Hindu temples. Having just been to Bali, the contrast between style in Hindu temples was Huge! While in Bali most temples seemed comprised of spires and were colored by black ash stone... this temple was elaborately painted. Every sculpture and every building surface seemed to be covered in as much color as possible. While it was so different from the Bali temples, it was still pretty in its own regard.
From there we saw Thian Hock Kent Temple and Wak Hai Cheng Bio Temple. They looked more similar so I will not describe them independently. They both had walls and roof lines crested with ornately carved decorations of men and dragons. Both were colorful but had emphasis on reds, blacks and gold. The scent of burning incense was strong, but not overwhelming. What I found most impressive was that these old and ornate structures could exist while surrounded my the most modernized architecture I've ever scene. As I looked at either temple, my eyes rose from the ground to the ornate carvings on the columns, to the ornate rooftops, to the geometric skyscrapers rising in the distance. It made for quite a contrast.
The next stop was Little India, so we walked across the river and headed through a park on the way. The park's name was Fort Cunningham Park. What we had not realized was that this park was a site itself. As we climbed the dozens of stairs to its elevated level we got great views out over the city. We still though not much of it until walking around the top level we noticed the barbed wire fence surrounding the next level up. We then noticed more and more to learn that this is and was a military site. While we caught glimpses of bunkers and cannons on our way through, the sky was quickly changing from blue to black, and we wished to be inside eating when the rain hit.
So, we hurried our way into Little India and found our way to Tekka Market. Tekka Market is what is known as a hawkers center. That is, its similar to a food court, but more shops, smaller spaces, lower prices, better food, more options and in some ways... chaos. That said, we had no trouble walking around and found a tasty looking indian place, grabbed our food and some mango lassis and went to grab a table. All the while we expected the thunderstorm to hit... but it sort of just vanished. Anyway, dinner was great.
We then headed south through the city and the rest of Little India. We found a small mosque, but could not go in. Luckily, it was not the mosque of greater interest. We worked our way south a bit further to Masjid Sultan, the largest mosque in the area with a giant golden dome rising above the local houses and shops. Again, it was unfortunately closed to us at the time but the outside views were great. The mosque was a gentle sky blue with golden workings giving it much color and style. It was very pretty.
So, for what was our last stop of the day we headed to Raffles Hotel. The name Raffle pops up a lot here as he was the first british dude land and was responsible for much of the cities set up. Anyway, this hotel is really pretty and every room is a suite. Having housed many prominent figures, different suites slowly get named after those who stay. Charlie Chaplin comes to mind. The hotel is also known as the location where Singapore's last wild tiger was shot, though it was reportedly escaped from a nearby fair. The hotel is also the origin of a cocktail known as the Singapore Sling. So, we headed into the Long Bar for a drink. Now, being a tourist attraction, the drink is way overpriced here... but lets not gripe. Based on gin and cherry brandy, but mixed with grenadine, sweet and sour, pineapple juice and others, it was very good, though close to too sweet. However, it was a lot of fun to have it at its place of first making. Also, in a city where littering comes with enormous fines, it was fun to hang out in a bar where you drop peanut shells on the floor.
As dusk approached we began the walk back up the river. I hope to get good views of some of the harbor at night tomorrow, but having walked the river at night... this city is stunning. The way it lights up at night while remaining so clean is just dazzling. I look forward to walking tomorrow night too.
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