Around Christmas-time extravagant decorations begin to appear around the shopping and entertainment districts of Singapore. This is part of the reason that I decided it would be fun to spend Christmas 2011 in this exotic locale!!! Hopefully will be posting updates more frequently during this trip!!
[Left] Outside one of the shopping malls on Orchard Road
[Top] Crowds watching performers sing and dance to African
Christmas songs
Singapore's Changi International airport is merely a two hour flight away from Bangkok.. quite a relaxing flight, actually, if the weather is fine and there's a good view from the plane. On this trip, I was seated by random next to a fellow traveler! I've rarely run across the breed of adventurer who travels around for the sake of new experiences in my travels. After finishing college, this Australian guy took a year off to travel around Europe and Asia, staying in hostels and traveling around with various tour groups. Conversation passed on to various cultures relative to ethnicity (he is Filipino, but only speaks English with an Australian accent), English slang, and favorite travel locations.
After passing through customs and navigating my luggage via the SMRT to an apartment and after a short nap, I decided to go explore the financial, entertainment, and shopping districts of Singapore in the evening. These random trips can often end up being quite fun. On the dock by Marina Bay, I stopped for a brief chat with a lady from New Zealand; another traveler who planned on Christmas-ing in Taiwan and who had volunteered to help me take some pictures. Later on, met a nice Chinese couple as we were taking pictures from the footbridge by Marina Bay.
Feeling in the mood for some entertainment, I strolled down the Esplanade to take in some a capella performances with the bay as a backdrop. The group "Micapella" was performing, and I was quite impressed by their vocal abilities (to say nothing of the fact that they perform in both Mandarin and English). Many Christmas carol choirs and other performers abounded in virtually every venue and shopping district.
For shopping, Orchard Road in Singapore is ALWAYS the place to be. Even if you shop every hour of every day for a week, I doubt you could visit every shop along this road. During the weekend, and especially during this season, crowds upon crowds upon crowds of people jostle, push, walk, and trot around. At Christmas, the entire street is decorated with hundreds of thousands of lights. Looking for a lit-up fake Christmas tree with an elevator INSIDE that will take you up three stories to an observation deck? Go to Orchard road! Looking for street performers singing songs, performing magic tricks, or doing stunts? Look no further! Indeed, I saw contortionists (always freaks me out to see them bend), African singing groups, parades of Roman soldiers, and so many other forms of entertainment.
Oh yes, and I was interviewed once again - probably my seventh or eighth time since coming to Asia - regarding what an American thought of the fair city of Singapore (I've been interviewed with similar questions by schoolchildren in Macau, Hong Kong, and Bangkok).
1. 2. 3. 4.
Legend:
(1) Performance at the Marina Bay Esplanade by the group "Micappella" (quite good actually!) (2) Christmas carols sung by a group at Esplanade - Theatres on the Bay (sometimes called "the durian") (3) A couple singing in the Marina Bayfront shopping complex (4) Street performers on Orchard Road singing Feliz Navidad
I always like saving some of the best photographs for last. Below is a night scene of the Marina Bay Sands, left, with the Art Science Museum, right (just for reference, a footbridge is in the foreground, and a shopping complex is between Marina Bay and the museum). This area almost doesn't look real at night, haha. A light and laser show commences at dusk from all these structures.
[Left] Outside one of the shopping malls on Orchard Road
[Top] Crowds watching performers sing and dance to African
Christmas songs
Singapore's Changi International airport is merely a two hour flight away from Bangkok.. quite a relaxing flight, actually, if the weather is fine and there's a good view from the plane. On this trip, I was seated by random next to a fellow traveler! I've rarely run across the breed of adventurer who travels around for the sake of new experiences in my travels. After finishing college, this Australian guy took a year off to travel around Europe and Asia, staying in hostels and traveling around with various tour groups. Conversation passed on to various cultures relative to ethnicity (he is Filipino, but only speaks English with an Australian accent), English slang, and favorite travel locations.
After passing through customs and navigating my luggage via the SMRT to an apartment and after a short nap, I decided to go explore the financial, entertainment, and shopping districts of Singapore in the evening. These random trips can often end up being quite fun. On the dock by Marina Bay, I stopped for a brief chat with a lady from New Zealand; another traveler who planned on Christmas-ing in Taiwan and who had volunteered to help me take some pictures. Later on, met a nice Chinese couple as we were taking pictures from the footbridge by Marina Bay.
Feeling in the mood for some entertainment, I strolled down the Esplanade to take in some a capella performances with the bay as a backdrop. The group "Micapella" was performing, and I was quite impressed by their vocal abilities (to say nothing of the fact that they perform in both Mandarin and English). Many Christmas carol choirs and other performers abounded in virtually every venue and shopping district.
For shopping, Orchard Road in Singapore is ALWAYS the place to be. Even if you shop every hour of every day for a week, I doubt you could visit every shop along this road. During the weekend, and especially during this season, crowds upon crowds upon crowds of people jostle, push, walk, and trot around. At Christmas, the entire street is decorated with hundreds of thousands of lights. Looking for a lit-up fake Christmas tree with an elevator INSIDE that will take you up three stories to an observation deck? Go to Orchard road! Looking for street performers singing songs, performing magic tricks, or doing stunts? Look no further! Indeed, I saw contortionists (always freaks me out to see them bend), African singing groups, parades of Roman soldiers, and so many other forms of entertainment.
Oh yes, and I was interviewed once again - probably my seventh or eighth time since coming to Asia - regarding what an American thought of the fair city of Singapore (I've been interviewed with similar questions by schoolchildren in Macau, Hong Kong, and Bangkok).
1. 2. 3. 4.
(1) Performance at the Marina Bay Esplanade by the group "Micappella" (quite good actually!) (2) Christmas carols sung by a group at Esplanade - Theatres on the Bay (sometimes called "the durian") (3) A couple singing in the Marina Bayfront shopping complex (4) Street performers on Orchard Road singing Feliz Navidad
I always like saving some of the best photographs for last. Below is a night scene of the Marina Bay Sands, left, with the Art Science Museum, right (just for reference, a footbridge is in the foreground, and a shopping complex is between Marina Bay and the museum). This area almost doesn't look real at night, haha. A light and laser show commences at dusk from all these structures.
Marina Bay at night
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