Singapore 2009 Day 1

Singapore has never really been one of our to-go places. Maybe it's because of the cultural similarity with Malaysia or because its just too near & within reach geographically. Or maybe it has always given us the impression that it wasn't very authentic, that everything was artificially constructed for the purpose of tourism.

Nevertheless, we've been over to Singapore a couple of times in recent years, more so for flight stopovers, & for meet up with old friends, rather than for an actual holiday. This time around, it was another stopover before we headed for Bintan island.

But this time we had more time on our own & were able to explore the Esplanade for the very FIRST TIME. I know. That is really so very the sua koo (mountain auntie). Some people like you probably have been there like 10 times already & we've never even seen the Merlion before. So very the sad.

We didn't really know what this building was. I just thought it looked good to photograph. By the way, all the photos in this post was taken handheld. So if they're not good enough, please be kind to me.

Oh, I forgot to mention that this was also the very FIRST TIME that we saw the Esplanade Theatres on the Bay a.k.a. The Big Durian.

It definitely looked like an expensive mega project that came out of Malaysia but the only difference was that things like this are always put to good use in Singapore.

Across the Bay, opposite from the Esplanade, were the three towering gargantuans which would soon be the Sands.

Strangely, they reminded me of the Macross alien ship that landed on earth. And at any time, Ultraman can just step into the picture & start fighting giant monsters.

Walking on the esplanade made us realise that Singapore was truly an international city & that Malaysia was 20 years behind time in terms of development (in policies, government, administration, economy & mentality of the people).

Tunku Abdul Rahman probably knew that he could never catch up with Lee Kuan Yew so he kicked Singapore out. And he was right. Right about not being able to catch up that is.

And finally, after more than two decades of growing up, I have come face to face with the Merlion once again, & wished that history could have been different for Malaysia.