My Stop Over in Singapore

I am soooo tired! We boarded our flight in Manchester in the early hours of the morning and arrived in Singapore at 7am. We were only on the plane for 14 hours , not a whole day so I don't know what's happened. My little bear brain can't work it out and any way I'm too tired. Perhaps you can explain to me where those hours went! 


No wonder I'm tired. We've done so much in Singapore. After having some breakfast, Mrs P and her family went for a boat ride on the river but I was too tired so I stayed in bed. They said the boatride was great but they got into trouble for letting their ice creams drip on the deck. Everyone in Singapore is clean and tidy and they hate mess. The cabin boy spent about half an hour mopping up just a few drips of icecream. No wonder the city is so spick and span! 

While they were gone, I took a photo of the view from my bedroom window. This sports field is called The Pandang and is part of the Singapore Sporting Club, which is where we stayed. 


After I had had my little rest, we walked along the side of the field to the museum, where there was an exhibition about the terracotta warriors that were found near the Great Wall of China. 

Here's the view from the edge of the field. Can you see those tall metal gantries along the side of the road? They were holding the lights for a big car race that was held in Singapore just before we arrived. I was a bit disappointed to have missed it but Mrs P said we would have had to have paid hundreds of dollars more for our hotel room because everyone wants a room with a view of the race. 

On the way into the museum, we saw some pupils from a primary school in Singapore who were going to see the same exhibition. Like everyone at Cobden, they were really well behaved and I've got to say that seeing them made me feel a bit homesick for you guys . . . but then I cheered up!




Once inside, we saw some art works based on the terracotta warriors. The artist took some ancient statues and gave them a modern twist. Can you see what he did? 

Here's another one:

Then we saw the real warriors. Everyone in Singapore was so polite and helpful. You couldn't take photos with a flash and the attendant kindly showed Mrs P how to switch the flash off her camera. She wasn't a bit cross when Mrs P made a mistake and used the flash again. She just patiently showed Mrs P what to do again and explained that the flash comes back on again when you've switched the camera off and then switch it on again. Mrs P said that that lady would make a great teacher. Here's the photo we eventually managed to take!

After looking around the museum, we had some lunch and then we went for a walk around the city. It's hard to believe that this huge modern city started life as a little fishing village. These statues show the riverside merchants who first started trading in Singapore. After a while they began to build 'shophouses'. These are shops with accommodation above for the merchant's family. You can still see some examples today. The upper stories stick out over the street just like the old buildings in York. 

The next thing we did was to go and see the top of the Sky Park. It's a park that is right at the top of a giant sky-scraper hotel. The hotel has been designed to look like some massive pillars with a boat balanced on top. here I am at the bottom:

 And here I am at the top with  the view you can see of the city. 

Can you see all the building work they are doing? They are building a huge park with loads of tourist attractions. if you are wondering how they can afford it, just look at all the ships queueing up to enter the port. There is still a lot of trade going on in Singapore.  

We just had time for one last thing before it was time to catch the plane for Australia. We decided to go to the modern art museum because it had caught our eye earlier. What do you think it looks like? Apparently it's supposed to be a clam shell. What do you think? 

When we got there, we decided to look at the Dali exhibition. 

Dali seemed to have a thing about clocks.

This is what he had to say about them:

He made some very weird statues. This is a space elephant:

Soon it was time to catch the plane and as I sat in the taxi driving to the airport, I thought how much Mrs Head would like Singapore. No one throws litter or makes a mess, everyone crosses the road safely using the crossing (there are huge fines if you don't) and everyone is friendly, polite and helpful. 
Next stop Brisbane. I wonder what it will be like there? I hope I will be able to make some friends because I'll be there for quite a while.


Speak to you soon!