A Short Break In Singapore

Caroline and I needed to get away. We love travelling and going to new places and we'd both only ever transited through Singapore before. Admittedly, Changi airport is an amazing place, but that's still not the same as visiting the place! We had a short break for 6 days going somewhere warm and interesting.

Firstly Singapore was very warm, and the heat and humidity took its toll on both of us. At the end of each day we were thoroughly exhausted from sightseeing around the town in averagely 30C+ days. We stayed in an area just south of the Singapore River, slightly north of Chinatown, and 5 minutes walk to Clarke Quay. The city is pretty flat so walking isn't the biggest problem, but the transport system is pretty good, so we used that a fair bit.

Singapore isn't as old as I thought it was, at least not in its recent history. Modern Singapore can be dated back tot he 1800's, when Sir Stamford Raffles landed on the island and negotiated a treaty which made Singapore part of the British Empire. There is a colonial feel as you wander the streets of central Singapore, and Raffles name isn't usually far away.

Raffles Hotel at the heart of Singapore Colonial District

While there is a heavy colonial feel tot he city, there are also distinct ethnic sections to the city that are rich in cultural heritage. We visited Chinatown (more than once), Little India and Kampong Glam, or Arab Street Quarter to experience some of this culture. Chinatown is fantastic, bustling, loads of food places and, of course, a distinctly Chinese feel to it. Oddly enough our first stop was at the Hindu Sri Mariamman Temple. It was strangely coincidental that our last port of call in Little India was at the Sakya Muni Buddha Gaya Temple. All the religious buildings we saw, including the Sultan Mosque and Buddha Tooth Relic Temple were ornately decorated both inside and out.

Ceiling art at the Sri Mariamman Temple

At the doors to the Buddha Tooth Relic Temple

Sakya Muni Buddha Gaya Temple

Sultan Masjid Mosque at the end Bussorah Street

Buddha Tooth Relic Temple

A visit to these areas should include some ethnic dining. I guess our favourite restaurants were the Eight Treasures Vegetarian Restaurant in Chinatown, and Kailash Parbat in Little India but there was definitely something for everyone.

Singapore has a very modern feel to the Marina area. We arrived the day after the Grand Prix was held and they were clearing up the city centre course. By the end of the week, you'd hardly have known a Grand Prix had been held there. The city is very clean, and even though the humidity was high, I thought the air quality was pretty good. We spent a little time in the Marina area, and watched the free evening concert and light show in the Gardens By The Bay.

The massive Marina Park Sands Hotel dominates the Marina

The Helix Bridge

Science Museum in front of the business district

The mix of old and new was nicely explained at the Chinese Cultural Heritage Centre, which gives a great feel for how tough life must have been for early Chinese immigrants to the settlement. Interestingly, I learned that most of what you see in the picture above would not have been visible 100 years ago, as that is reclaimed land built upon much later.

The Gardens were magnificent, and I intend to write a further post about them. It was a great short break in the tropical warmth after a wet and cold Victorian winter, and I'd certainly recommend Singapore as a place to visit.

View from Marina Bay Hotel Skydeck across Gardens By The Bay to the Straits

Singapore Flyer from Gardens By The Bay

Supertrees at Gardens By The Bay

The First Post of the Year

Rays of Illumination to start the New Year

As the first post of the year, talking about milestones seems fairly appropriate. So let me blow my own trumpet. This is the 500th post of this current incarnation of my blog. Most of the posts have been about chess, but there have been varying others talking about things such as travel, food and being an expat in Australia. Talking of being an expat, it is coming up to 10 years since I moved to Melbourne, so I will warn of some possible nostalgic posts coming up to celebrate that milestone. Later this year will also mark the 10th anniversary of my employment as a chess coach in Australia, as I sort of fell into that in my first year here. But before everything else...

Who knows anything about Twelfth Night? Not the play by Shakespeare, the night by which all your Christmas decorations should come down? It coincides with the Christian feast of Epiphany or the birth of Christ, or possibly his baptism. Epiphany falls on the 6th January in our calendar and it is debated whether twelfth night falls on Epiphany or on it's eve. Now I always thought of twelfth night as falling on 6th January, but I'm not too bothered either way. It all depends what you think of as the first day of Christmas, Christmas Day or Boxing Day.

One of the most interesting things about looking at religions is the shared ideas and borrowed customs. In England, for instance, Christianity originally had to compete with other pagan religions, and some of these have survived. Easter, for instance, took it's name from the pagan festival of Eostre. Well, I found a new day that I'd never heard of before: Plough Monday. Dating back to the 1400's the first Monday after Epiphany is considered the start of the agricultural year in England and was the first day back to work after the Christmas holiday. That means that next week is Plough Sunday and traditionally it is a day when ploughs and agriculture were blessed. Ploughs were even taken into churches to be blessed.

Plough Monday (from Millington's excellent page)

Next Sunday is not only Plough Sunday, but here in Melbourne, it is the Blessing of the Waters festival. I don't know if this has any connection to the Plough Festival, or is just coincidence. The main event is when the Greek Bishop of Melbourne throws a cross into the sea, and a load of men jump into the water and try to get to the cross first. I first stumbled across this festival a couple of years by accident and it was a great spectacle, so I might just head down to Port Melbourne again next Sunday to see it again.

Port Melbourne is a favourite jaunt for Caroline and I. We enjoy the walks along the bay, and the cafe scene. Saying that, we've spent this holiday period taking in some Melbourne scenery when we have been able to (the 41C day was not a day we were able to). Melbourne is great to daytrip whether it's beaches, bush or inner city destinations you're looking for. Today we drove down the Mornington Peninsula while a few days ago we were in the Dandenongs. One of the first things I remember thinking when I first landed in Australia was that it wasn't all desert. That was how much I knew! But also I was surprised by the amount of vegetation and flora in the region. I've had the pleasure of finding out about new plants, especially gum trees, though I still only know about 5 varieties! Anyway, here are pictures I've taken during the holiday period, because unlike the plough folk of old, I'm back to work this week.

Lilies in the Dandenongs

English Garden at Sky High Mt Dandenong

Spot the cocky Cockatoo

Self portrait on steaming hot day by Port Phillip Bay

Blairgowrie back beach

Clear waters of Sorrento

Let's talk about Love

Well it is Valentine's Day! That amazing day when we celebrate being in love, or wanting to be in love. Contrary to popular belief, Valentine's Day was not invented by a florist, chocolatier, or a card maker. Much like other religious festivals, Valentine's Day has become commercialised, though this is not a particularly recent thing. The sending of Valentine's dates back probably to the 1300's.

St Valentine (Bassano)

The Christian calendar is made up of a number of festivals and feast days of saints. Some are more commonly known than others, others haven't a fixed date each year, and some days celebrate more than one saint. St Valentine's is annually celebrated on 14th February. At least that is the date for the Western branch of the Christian Church. The Eastern Orthodox Church celebrates Valentine's on 6th July. It's bizarre that the same religion should have denominations which can't agree on specific dates to celebrate their martyrs or even important festivals. You'd have thought an issue such as the resurrection would bind all Christians together, but in 2013 Easter Sunday is March 31st in the west, and Sunday May 5th in the east

Frank Dicksee's Pre Raphaelite classic, Belle Dame Sans Merci

Anyway, I'm not going to get into a religion bashing post. I'm actually interested in the history of Valentine's Day, the Western version celebrated on 14th February. There is quite some information on him, and due to excavations in Rome which have unearthed a catacomb and a Church dedicated to him, it is assumed that he was a real person. Valentine was sainted and given his feast day of February 14th as that was the day he was allegedly killed. He is supposed to have cured his jailor's daughter of blindness, and on the eve of his execution, wrote her a letter signed, "From Your Valentine".  Valentine may have been a Priest who performed illegal Christian weddings in pre Christian Rome, which would explain why he was in prison. This isn't the whole story, but it's pretty romantic so I guess it fits the bill.

So he was martyred on 14th February 269 AD in Rome. He is the patron saint of betrothed couples, but so much more. Valentine is also patron saint of bee keepers, engaged couples, epilepsy, fainting, greetings, happy marriages, love, lovers, plague, travellers and young people. Quite a diverse patronage! But then again, "Love is a many splendored thing"!

Shakespeare's Star Cross'd Lovers, Romeo and Juliet

Happy Valentine's to you all whether you are seeking love, are with you absolute soul mate, or anywhere between.