Tag: travel

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Top Must-See Attractions to Visit in Singapore

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At the mention of the Lion City – Singapore – lots of attractions come to mind! Here’s a recommendation of top 10 attractive places to visit in Singapore.

This list is in no particular order of ranking or rating, but it’ll be a useful guide for a trip in the future.

Even though the photos are from 2017 but they hold memories and the places visited are still relevant today.

10. Merlion

Let’s start off with the iconic, 8.5m-tall statue with the body of a fish & head of a lion, shooting water from its mouth into Marina Bay. The Merlion is the official mascot of Singapore.

Left and Right views of Merlion

9. Orchard Road

A must-walk-place in Singapore is Orchard Road. At Orchard Central, you’ll find a touch of modern in Orchard Central and a trip back to past across the mall and along Emerald Hill Road.

Orchard Central in 2017
Apple Orchard Road
Shophouses in Emerald Hill Road

8. Marina Bay

Marina Bay is a waterway and entertainment district noted for modern skyscrapers and landmarks, plus dining and shopping. A stroll along Marina Boulevard to the Marina Bay Waterfront Promenade will give you a beautiful panoramic view of the bay area. To get a panoramic overview, go up to the Marina Bay Sands SkyPark Observation Deck.

View of Marina Bay from the Marina Bay Waterfront Promenade in 2017
View of Marina Bay from the Marina Bay Sands SkyPark Observation Deck in 2017

7. Marina Bay Sands SkyPark Observation Deck

After purchasing the ticket, take the elevator up to the observation deck. The SkyPark Observation Deck is at level 56.

In 2017, tickets costed SGD$23 per person.

From the observation deck, you’ve a beautiful overview of the bay and it’s surroundings. You can see how smooth the flow is from the central business district to the arts, entertainment, and leisure area, and then nature and greenery on the other end.

You can enjoy a meal and drink on the deck.
To the West and South are views of the Promontory @ Marina Bay and the office towers towering over the bay
To the NorthWest is views of the Esplanade, Fullerton Road, museums and beyond
To the North is The Float @ Marina Bay, The Ritz Carlton, The Esplanade, Raffles and beyond
To the East is the view of Gardens by the Bay and Singapore Strait
To the North is the Singapore Flyer

6. ArtScience Museum

Just below SkyPark and next to Marina Bay Sands is the ArtScience Museum: design, science, and technology exhibits in a distinctive, modern, flower-shaped building.

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Throwback to my trip to the ArtScience Museum in 2017, when tickets costed SGD$17.00.

5. Gardens by the Bay

Set in the heart of Singapore’s downtown, Gardens by the Bay is home to a diverse collection of over 1.5 million plants that hail from every continent except Antarctica. It spans 101 hectares (250 acres) and is adjacent to the Marina Reservoir.  Gardens by the Bay consists of three waterfront gardens: Bay South Garden (in Marina South), Bay East Garden (in Marina East) and Bay Central Garden (in Downtown Core and Kallang).

The largest of the gardens is the Bay South Garden at 54 hectares (130 acres) designed by Grant Associates. Its Flower Dome is the largest glass greenhouse in the world.

This is a throwback to Gardens by the Bay in December 2017. It was a Christmas Wonderland at Gardens by the Bay. I wonder how will be the Christmas theme in December this year?

In the Flower Dome
Flower Dome
Flower Dome
Christmas cottage
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Supertree Grove

Festive Market @ Supertree Grove
Supertree Grove in the evening
Supertree Grove at night
Supertree Grove light show

Stay back at night and enjoy the themed light and music shows. Choreographed bayside spectacles of coloured lights set to classical music, pop songs, and show tunes.

4. Little India

Little India is a vibrant cultural enclave with temples and mosques, street art and brightly painted shophouses. Along the main drag, Serangoon Road, unfussy canteens and hip eateries sit next to shops selling gold jewelry, colourful silks and fresh flower garlands. Nearby, Mustafa Centre welcomes shoppers 24/7. The ethnic district is liveliest during Hindu celebrations like the Deepavali festival of lights.

3. HarbourFront and VivoCity

At the heart of family-friendly Harbourfront is the massive VivoCity mall, which has a scenic rooftop playground and monorail access to recreation on Sentosa Island. Sentosa-bound cable cars depart from Mount Faber, home to hilltop bars and eateries, while the Singapore Cruise Centre offers trips to the Indonesian islands of Batam and Bintan.

2. Clarke Quay

Clarke Quay is a historical riverside quay in Singapore. There is a mall with restaurants and nightlife in the redeveloped, 19th-century, riverside commercial district.

Singapore River fronting Clarke Quay
Clarke Quay Jetty
Inside Clarke Quay
Ice Cream Sandwich on Read Bridge
Clarke Quay at night
Underpass
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1. Changi Airport

Last but not least. Let’s not forget the first tourist attraction when touching down into Singapore and the last attraction when departing from Singapore.

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Christ Church Oxford

This is a throwback post to my trip in Oxford in 2016 and photos posted go back to then.

Located at St Aldate’s street on the grounds of the University of Oxford in Oxford is Christ Church. 

Christ Church sits in approximately 175 acres (71 hectares) of land. Its grounds contain a number of architecturally significant buildings including Tom Tower (designed by Sir Christopher Wren), Tom Quad (the largest quadrangle in Oxford), and the Great Dining Hall, which was the seat of the parliament assembled by King Charles I during the English Civil War. 

Tom Tower

Tom Tower is a bell tower in Oxford, England, named after its bell, Great Tom. Great Tom, housed in the tower, is the loudest bell in Oxford.

Tom Tower is over Tom Gate, on St Aldates, the main entrance of Christ Church, Oxford, which leads into Tom Quad. This square tower with an octagonal lantern and facetted ogee dome was designed by Christopher Wren and built 1681–82.

Tom Quad (Great Quadrangle)

The Great Quadrangle, more popularly known as Tom Quad, is one of the quadrangles of Christ Church, Oxford, England. It is the largest college quad in Oxford, measuring 264 by 261 feet.

In the centre of the quad, there is an ornamental pond with a statue of Mercury.

Great Dining Hall

Christ Church Cathedral

This Medieval Gothic and Romanesque cathedral – Christ Church Cathedral – of the Anglican diocese of Oxford, serves Christ Church college and the local parish. This dual role as cathedral and college chapel is unique in the Church of England.

The nave, choir, main tower and transepts are late Norman. There are architectural features ranging from Norman to the Perpendicular style and a large rose window of the ten-part (i.e. botanical) type.

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Oxford University Museum of Natural History

This is a throwback post to my trip in Oxford in 2016 and photos posted go back to then.

Located on Parks Road in Oxford, England is the Oxford University Museum of Natural History, or sometimes known simply as the Oxford University Museum or OUMNH. It is a museum displaying many of the University of Oxford’s natural history specimens.

In the main court, you’ll find a parade of skeletons or also known as the skeleton parade, which is one of the Museum’s most photogenic displays. Even just a quick glance at the line-up reveals some of the great diversity of evolutionary adaptations of these large mammals.

In the middle aisle, you’ll see a Sperm Whale Jaw (Physeter macrocephalus), Iguanodon, and Tyrannosaurusrex skeletons.

On the right aisle, there were a lot of exhibits on display which you can touch and you’re encouraged to touch them.

On the left aisle, there were a row of skeletons.

Through out the museum there were a lot of other exhibits.

Pitt Rivers Museum

The Pitt Rivers Museum is a museum displaying the archaeological and anthropological collections of the University of Oxford in England. The museum is located to the east of the Oxford University Museum of Natural History, and can only be accessed through that building.

For more information for your visit to the Museum, below is a downloadable map and guide.

Oxford-University-Museum-Map-and-GuideDownload

Normal Opening Hours

Monday
10:00 AM – 5:00 PM
Tuesday
10:00 AM – 5:00 PM
Wednesday
10:00 AM – 5:00 PM
Thursday
10:00 AM – 5:00 PM
Friday
10:00 AM – 5:00 PM
Saturday
10:00 AM – 5:00 PM
Sunday
10:00 AM – 5:00 PM

Entry is free. However, if there is a group of 10 or more visitors (including educational and commercial groups) – booking is required in advance.

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Radcliffe Camera @ Radcliffe Square in the University of Oxford, England

This is a throwback post to my trip in Oxford in 2016 and photos posted go back to then.

Sited to the south of the Old Bodleian, north of the Church of St Mary the Virgin, and between Brasenose College to the west and All Souls College to the east in the University of Oxford is Radcliffe Camera.

Circular in design, positioned in the heart of Oxford, and separated from other buildings; makes Radcliffe Camera a focal point of the University of Oxford. It was designed by James Gibbs in neo-classical style and built in 1737–49 to house the Radcliffe Science Library.

To the south of Radcliffe Camera is the University Church of St Mary the Virgin. St Mary’s possesses an eccentric baroque porch, designed by Nicholas Stone, facing High Street, and a spire which is claimed by some church historians to be one of the most beautiful in England.

Then to the east of Radcliffe Camera is All Souls College. It is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England.

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Oxford Covered Market

This is a throwback post to my trip in Oxford in 2016 and photos posted go back to then.

The Covered Market is a historic market with permanent stalls and shops in a large covered structure in central Oxford, England. 

The market is located to the north of the High Street towards the western end between Cornmarket Street and Turl Street. To the north is Market Street. Most of the entrances are from the High Street and Market Street (with four entrances from each street). It is also possible to gain access from Cornmarket via the Golden Cross alley, with its small up-market shops.

The Covered Market is home to numerous traders, around half being food retailers, including market shops selling fresh food such as greengrocers and butchers (including some producing the Oxford sausage). There are also other shops, such as gift shops, bakeries and sandwich shops.

The market opens daily with the opening times stated below. Yet, we recommend checking with individual shops for their specific trading hours.

Monday
8:00 AM – 5:30 PM
Tuesday
8:00 AM – 5:30 PM
Wednesday
8:00 AM – 5:30 PM
Thursday
8:00 AM – 5:30 PM
Friday
8:00 AM – 5:30 PM
Saturday
8:00 AM – 5:30 PM
Sunday
10:00 AM – 4:00 PM

Below is a link to the Oxford-Covered Market and list of traders.

Oxford Covered Market Traders

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The British Museum in London

This is a throwback post to my trip in London in 2016 and photos posted go back to then.

Explore the British Museum, a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture on Great Russell St in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It documents the story of human culture from its beginnings to the present. The British Museum was the first public national museum in the world.

The Reading Room and Great Court

Upon entering the main entrance, you’ll be greeted by a big round building in the middle of the museum. The domed Reading Room at the heart of the Museum was completed in 1857 and originally housed the Museum’s library.

The Reading Room is now enclosed by the Great Court, which was added in 2000. Lord Norman Foster designed the space, which transformed the Museum’s inner courtyard into the largest covered public square in Europe.

Reading Room
Great Court

Explore more than 60 galleries in 5 sections in the museum: Africa, Americas, Ancient Egypt, Ancient Greece and Rome, Asia, Europe, Middle East, and Themes.

Due to time constraints, I could only cover a few galleries.

Ancient Egypt

The Ancient Egypt section is in Room 4 on the ground floor or level 0.

The collection from ancient Egypt and Sudan illustrates every aspect of the ancient Nile Valley culture from Neolithic times (about 10,000 BC), down to Late Antiquity when Christianity became the main religion in Egypt (around AD 400-800).

Statue of Ramesses II

Middle East

Next to Ancient Egypt on the ground floor is the Middle East section. Rooms 6 to 10 hold collections and galleries from the Middle East.

This collection covers the ancient and contemporary civilisations and cultures of the Middle East from the Neolithic period until the present. There is a wide range of archaeological material and ancient art from Mesopotamia (Iraq), Iran, the Levant (Syria, Jordan, Lebanon and Israel), Anatolia (Turkey), Arabia, Central Asia and the Caucasus. Highlights of the collection include Assyrian reliefs, treasure from the Royal Cemetery of Ur, the Oxus Treasure, Phoenician ivories and King Ashurbanipal’s library of cuneiform tablets from Nineveh in northern Iraq. 

Statue of a human-headed winged lion
The Black Obelisk of Shalmaneser III

Ancient Greece and Rome

Moving on from the Middle East in Room 6 is Ancient Greece and Rome galleries.

The Greek and Roman galleries display objects from the Bronze Age until the fall of Rome (about 3200 BC to AD 476). They show the expansion of the Greek world across the Mediterranean and beyond the growth of increasingly powerful Italian cultures, and their coming together in the Roman Empire.

The displays of Greek art span over 1500 years. They illustrate the development of sophisticated ceramics, showing scenes from myth and daily life, and the emergence of realism in sculpting the human form.

Greece: Minoans and Mycenaeans in Room 12
Greece: Minoans and Mycenaeans in Room 12
Athens and Lycia in Room 15
Greece: Bassai sculptures in Room 16
Nereid Monument in Room 17
The world of Alexander in Room 22

Asia

From the North stairs and the lift, we head up to level 2 and 5, where a part of the Asia section are.

The British Museum holds one of the richest collections of Chinese antiquities in Europe, containing many examples of Chinese painting, calligraphy, jades, bronzes and ceramics. The Chinese collection ranges from 4000 BC to the present.

The Japanese collections are particularly strong in paintings, prints and decorative arts from AD 1600 to the present.

Chinese ceramics – Sir Percival David Collection in Room 95
Korea in Room 67
Korea in Room 67
Korea in Room 67
Japan in Rooms 92-94
Japan in Rooms 92-94
Japan in Rooms 92-94

The British Museum in open daily. For full opening hours of the museum, exhibitions, shops, cafes, restaurants, library, archive, and study room – click here.

Monday
10:00 AM – 5:00 PM
Tuesday
10:00 AM – 5:00 PM
Wednesday
10:00 AM – 5:00 PM
Thursday
10:00 AM – 5:00 PM
Friday
10:00 AM – 8:30 PM
Saturday
10:00 AM – 5:00 PM
Sunday
10:00 AM – 5:00 PM

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Madame Tussauds London

This is a throwback post to my trip in the Uk in 2016 and photos posted go back to then.

If you did not know, now you know. Madame Tussauds is a major tourist attraction in many cities, displaying the waxworks of famous and historical figures, as well as popular film and television characters.

We visited Madame Tussauds in London, which is on Marylebone Road.

Other Madame Tussauds around the world are in the US, Europe, Asia, Middle East, and Australia.

Zones

Explore the different zones to find your favourite celebrities, role models, or superstars! Here are some of the notable wax figures in the Madame Tussauds London.

Film

Sport

Royale

Culture

Music

World Leaders

Movie Experience

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Shakespeare’s Birthplace in Stratford, England

This is a throwback post to my trip in the UK in 2016 and photos posted go back to then. On one of the days, we visited the Cotswold and Stratford via a 1-day tour package. 

The first stop was Burford town. The second stop was Arlington Row. The third stop was Bourton-on-the-Water. The fourth stop was Anne Hathaway’s Cottage and Gardens. The next and fifth stop was Shakespeare’s Birthplace.

Shakespeare’s Birthplace is a restored 16th-century half-timbered house situated in Henley Street, Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England, where it is believed that William Shakespeare was born in 1564 and spent his childhood years. It is now a small museum open to the public and a popular visitor attraction, owned and managed by the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust.

The house itself is relatively simple, but for the late 16th century it would have been considered quite a substantial dwelling. John Shakespeare, William’s father, was a glove maker and wool dealer, and the house was originally divided in two parts to allow him to carry out his business from the same premises.

The building is not outstanding architecturally, and typical of the times was constructed in wattle and daub around a wooden frame. Local oak from the Forest of Arden and blue-grey stone from Wilmcote were used in its construction, while the large fireplaces were made from an unusual combination of early brick and stone, and the ground-floor level has stone-flagged floors.

The plan of the building was originally a simple rectangle. From north-west to south-east, the ground-floor consisted of a parlour with fireplace, an adjoining hall with a large open hearth, a cross passage, and finally a room which probably served as John Shakespeare’s workshop. This arrangement was mirrored on the first-floor by three chambers accessed by a staircase from the hall, probably where the present stairs are sited. Traditionally, the chamber over the parlour is the birthroom.

The view towards Henley Street from the upper floor of Shakespeare’s Stratford upon Avon birthplace.
Upper floor of Shakespeare’s Birthplace
“Birth Room” of William Shakespeare

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Anne Hathaway’s Cottage and Gardens

This is a throwback post to my trip in the UK in 2016 and photos posted go back to then. On one of the days, we visited the Cotswold and Stratford via a 1-day tour package. 

The first stop was Burford town. The second stop was Arlington Row. The third stop was Bourton-on-the-Water. The next and fourth stop was Anne Hathaway’s Cottage and Gardens

Anne Hathaway’s Cottage and Gardens is a twelve-roomed farmhouse where Anne Hathaway, the wife of William Shakespeare, lived as a child in the village of Shottery, Warwickshire, England, about 1 mile (1.6 km) west of Stratford-upon-Avon.

As in many houses of the period, it has multiple chimneys to spread the heat evenly throughout the house during winter. The largest chimney was used for cooking. It also has visible timber framing, typical of vernacular Tudor architecture.

Shakespeare’s Courting Chair in Bedchamber 1 (click to learn more)
Tester Bed in Bedchamber 3 (click to learn more)
Hathaway Bed in Bedchamber 2 (click to learn more)

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Bourton-on-the-Water village in Cotswold, England

This is a throwback post to my trip in the UK in 2016 and photos posted go back to then. On one of the days, we visited the Cotswold and Stratford via a 1-day tour package. 

The first stop was Burford town. The second stop was Arlington Row. The next and third stop was Bourton-on-the-Water.

Bourton-on-the-Water is a village in the rural Cotswolds area of south central England. It is about 90 miles west of London.

Straddling the River Windrush, Bourton-on-the-Water is known for its low bridges and traditional stone houses. 

Chestnuts Fashion Fix
The Dial House
Old Manse Hotel

The Cotswold Motoring Museum features vintage cars and a toy collection. 

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