Singapore: Day 2 – Jurong Bird Park and… ouch!

By Mithun Divakaran
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Dec 15, 2011
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Singapore, Travel

Date: 20th September, 2011

Woke up around 8am today as I planned to get to Jurong Bird Park by at least 9:45am. The first show I was interested in seeing was at 10am.

HDB flats Singapore view from MRT train window — To get to Jurong Bird Park from Aljunied, I first needed to get down at Boon Lay station. No need to switch trains as I was already on the East West Line (the green line).

Highways near Chinese Garden Singapore — This was the first time I was going towards the Jurong side

Chinese Gardens pagoda Singapore — Chinese Gardens (a.k.a Jurong Gardens, in the distance)

Chinese Gardens lake Singapore — Hmm, maybe I should add the gardens to my list of places to see as well

New building construction Singapore — Saw quite a few construction activity along the way

McDonald's drive-in restaurant Singapore — Nice looking drive-in

The ride to Boon Lay took nearly 30 minutes. I walked through Jurong Point mall to get to the SBS bus station.

Jurong bus station Singapore — I now had to take bus no. 194 to get to Jurong Bird Park

Inside SBS bus to Jurong bird park Singapore — You can use the same MRT card to pay for SBS (Singapore Bus Service) buses too

ST Kinetics office Boon Lay Singapore — Jurong has a lot of industries

Caterpillar factory Jurong East Singapore — Caterpillar’s factory

Jurong bird park sign Singapore — Unfortunately, by the time I go to the Bird Park, it was already 10am

Jurong bird park entrance Singapore — I walked faster to get in

Jurong bird park parrot macaws Singapore — These macaws welcome visitors at the entrance

Jurong bird park way ticketing booth Singapore — I bought my ticket, which cost SG$18 (Rs. 700/$13/€10)

Jurong bird park flowers entrance — I asked the staff which way the Kings of the Skies Show was

Jurong bird park vulture snake Singapore — By the time I got to the Hawk Walk venue, I had already missed the first half of the show

Jurong bird park show school children Singapore — Today being a Monday, a lot of school children were on their field trip

Jurong bird park white owl Singapore — They brought out some owls to the crowd

Jurong bird park owl show Singapore — They have a variety of owls here

White owl Jurong bird park Singapore — “You, with the fancy lens, what… you think I LIKE being here?!”

Jurong bird park birds of prey show Singapore — As with such shows, audience participation is encouraged

Jurong bird park vulture show with volunteer Singapore — This vulture came sweeping in from a higher platform

Jurong bird park vulture with Indian volunteer — The volunteers are instructed to stay completely still

Jurong bird park vultures Singapore — All the vultures surround a fake carcass

Eagles flying Jurong bird park Singapore — Next, the eagles make a grand entrance

Eagle in tree Jurong bird park Singapore — I don’t think this is where the eagle was supposed to land…

After the host talked a bit about the eagles, the Kings of the Skies Show came to an end. Damn, I missed the falconry segment. The next show was only at 4pm, which meant I could catch the show again by the time I managed to finished seeing all the birds in the park.

Pink flamingos waterfall Jurong Bird Park Singapore — Next up, pink flamingos

Parrots macaws Jurong bird park Singapore — After flamingos, macaw parrots

Parrots macaw rock Jurong bird park Singapore — They had all the common colours – red, blue & yellow, and a few green macaws

Jurong bird park cockatoo Singapore — A few cocatoos and cockatiels

Cockatoo dancing Singapore Jurong bird park — “Cockatoo sliiiiide…”

Jurong bird park monorail track panorama — I then walked to the next show

Pools amphitheatre seating Jurong bird park Singapore — Birds ‘n Buddies show at the Pools Amphitheatre (Shot this using my phone; panorama comprised of 3 shots)

Pools amphitheatre Jurong bird park Singapore — Visitors filled up the chairs quickly

Flamingos entrance pools amphitheatre show Jurong Singapore — The show began with flamingos making a grand entrance

Birds n buddies show host Jurong bird park Singapore — The host brought out a yellow-crested cockatoo

Flamingos leaving Jurong bird park Singapore show — It was time for the flamingos to leave

Cockatoo Jurong bird park show Singapore — Time for some audience participation

Birds n buddies yellow-crest cockatoo Jurong bird park Singapore — The cockatoo had a note to deliver

Great hornbill flying Jurong bird park Singapore — We were all asked to look up above…

Great hornbill flying Jurong bird park Singapore show — This great hornbill came sweeping in from behind

Jurong bird park staff with hornbill Singapore — The host talks about each bird, its rarity, about conservation and such

Jurong bird park costume bird show Singapore — Obviously this show is mostly catered to kids, so they have costumed birds for the funny bits

Toucans Jurong bird park Singapore — They brought out toucans next

Toucans on boy Jurong bird park Singapore — More audience fun

Parrots ball game Jurong bird park show Singapore — They brought out macaws to play a game

But in round two, one of the macaws simply decided he wasn’t going to play…

Macaw parrots playing game Jurong bird park Singapore — … for a while anyway 🙂

After the parrots, it was time for another audience participation game.

Cockatoo taking money Jurong bird park Singapore — The good old ‘using bird to take money’ gag

Cockatoo returning money Jurong Bird Park Singapore — Don’t worry, they give it back

Vulture costume Jurong bird park Singapore — No guesses for what bird was next

Black vulture Jurong bird park Singapore — Black vulture

Pelicans fountain Jurong bird park Singapore — Pelicans were next

Amigo talking Amazon parrot Jurong Bird Park Singapore — This next bird was a very interesting one, he was going to talk. Which is why I took a video…

Macaws flying in Jurong bird park Singapore — Time for one final audience participation

Jurong bird park school children Singapore — Kids were desperate to take to part. Sadly for them, only adults allowed for this one.

Jurong bird park parrot breaking through hoop Singapore — I wonder how they train animals to do all this

Parrots show end Jurong bird park Singapore — With that, the Birds n Buddies show came to an end. The host announced the sale of merchandise and that we could now come closer to have a good look at the parrots.

Red macaw parrot Jurong bird park Singapore — Beautiful design of nature

I bought a pair of stuffed toy souvenirs, which at $15, the staff said was lower than what the stores were selling them for.

World of darkness Jurong bird park Singapore — Went in here next

World of darkness hall Jurong bird park Singapore — It was fairly chilly in here

Owl instructions Jurong bird park Singapore — No flash allowed, meaning it was going to be a challenge to shoot inside here. I wasn’t carrying my tripod either.

Snow owl Jurong bird park Singapore — Snow owl (I know the photo is slightly out of focus — it was hard trying to shoot handheld in near darkness)

Common barn owls Jurong bird park Singapore — Common barn owls

Common barn owl Jurong Bird Park Singapore — I had to stabilize my camera lens against the glass (gently) to take a steady shot

Malay Buffy fish owl Jurong bird park Singapore — Malay or Buffy fish owl

Great grey owl Jurong bird park Singapore — Check out this fella – the great grey owl

Eurasian eagle owl Jurong bird park Singapore — Eurasian eagle owl

I left the ‘World of Darkness’ and stepped back out into the light.

Jurong bird park walkway Singapore — I continued my walk

Monorail train Jurong Bird Park Singapore — The monorail train service (not included in the $18 ticket)

I walked to the section dedicated to smaller (and the none too exciting) birds.

Blue white Kingfisher bird Jurong Singapore — The lighting conditions weren’t getting better

White breasted kingfisher Jurong bird park Singapore — The clouds were getting darker and darker

Cockatiel cage Jurong bird park Singapore — And I was trying to shoot behind the cages

Blue breasted kingfisher Jurong bird park Singapore — These photos appeared darker, I made the adjustments in Photoshop as much as I could

And then… it began to rain!

Jurong bird park heavy dark rain Singapore — It rained so hard that the skies were really dark grey for quite some time (Took this photo on the phone as I kept my camera back in the bag)

Fortunately I was carrying an umbrella, which helped me protect myself from getting too wet. Unfortunately, many other hapless visitors were running for cover. I sat there on the bench waiting for the rain to stop. In some ways I was glad I chose to wear shorts and slippers. My feet got wet regardless of how much I tried to shield my whole body from the rain.

The rain didn’t stop, but after nearly half-an-hour, the heavy rain was reduced to a drizzle and I decided I move again. I couldn’t sit there all day. I needed to see everything else before the 4pm showing of ‘Kings of the Skies’.

Red legged seriema Jurong bird park Singapore — Water droplets kept hitting my DSLR even as I tried taking photos under the umbrella, so I kept my camera back in and tried taking photos using my phone instead…

Red fronted macaw Jurong bird park Singapore — … which wasn’t going to work out

Scarlet Ibis section Jurong bird park Singapore — Fortunately the next section I went to had a roof over it

Ibis section Jurong bird park Singapore — This section is mainly home to three species of birds

Scarlet ibis Jurong bird park Singapore — The Scarlet ibis

Straw necked ibis Jurong bird park Singapore — Straw necked ibis

Scarlet ibis behind glass Jurong bird park Singapore — Just because the hall had a roof, didn’t mean the birds had one too. The glass was still wet.

Scarlet ibis next Jurong bird park Singapore — I tried my best to shoot behind the glass

Raining Jurong bird park Singapore — It was 1:30pm and I still had a lot more ground to cover

Jurong bird park after rain Singapore — It was a constant drizzle

Royal ramble Jurong bird park Singapore — Went in here next

Common crowned pigeons Jurong bird park Singapore — Crowned pigeons

Chain door Jurong bird park Singapore — It such a bitch to pass through these doors, given I was holding my umbrella with my left hand, my camera on my right and rain dripping from above

Bag umbrella Jurong bird park Singapore — This section fortunately had a proper roof and I could finally put down my bag and umbrella

Crowned pigeons Jurong bird park Singapore — They have three species of crowned pigeons here

Victoria crowned pigeons Jurong bird park Singapore — But unless you look closely at the design patterns above their heads, you can’t really tell them apart

Birds of paradise section Jurong bird park Singapore — I came to this elevated section next, dedicated to Bird of Paradise

Lesser bird of paradise tree Singapore bird park — It took me a while to spot it, but what a beautiful bird!

Lesser bird of paradise Jurong bird park Singapore — Had to take out the 70-200 lens for a closer look

Rain drops tree leaves Jurong bird park Singapore — It was still wet

Red bird of paradise Jurong bird park Singapore — I tried spotting this bird but I just couldn’t find it among the trees and plants

Hornbill toucan section Jurong bird park Singapore — Went to the hornbill section next

Rhinoceros hornbill Jurong bird park Singapore — Rhinoceros hornbill

Toucan caged Jurong bird park Singapore — Lighting conditions weren’t ideal in here and I was trying to take slightly longer shutter speeds while holding my heavy camera with the even heavier 70-200 lens mounted — with just one hand!

Hornbill variety Jurong bird park Singapore — There were many other hornbill varieties, I just couldn’t manage to get good shots of them

Pied hornbill Jurong bird park Singapore — These were the few good shots I managed to capture

Lory loft Jurong bird park Singapore — Went there next

Yellow flowers peacock statue Jurong bird park Singapore — Saw this at the train station across the Lory Loft

Jurong bird park lory loft parrots — Lories and lorikeets

Lories Jurong bird park Singapore — This section had a roof above, so I could put my umbrella down and take photos properly, using both hands!

Lory loft netted bridge Jurong bird park Singapore — I decided to walk the plank. This whole loft is netted. (Shot on the phone, panorama comprised of 4 shots)

Lory loft hanging bridge Jurong bird park Singapore — You come down via a spiral staircase to this hanging bridge

Lory loft Australia Jurong bird park Singapore — The Lory Loft seems to have been sponsored by the Australian Government

Lory loft outback life Jurong bird park Singapore — So they have facts and trivia about life in the Outback

Lories on visitor Jurong bird park Singapore — You can pay extra to feed the birds, but it means the lories are surely going to be all over you

Since it was past 2:30pm, I was more concerned about feeding myself. As per the map of the park, I was nearly done and I wanted to quickly see the remaining attractions and make my way to the restaurants before catching the 4pm show of Kings of the Skies.

Eagle section Jurong bird park Singapore — This section was for eagles

African fish eagle Jurong bird park Singapore — African fish eagles

Eagles like a boss Singapore — Sorry, I just had to

Hawk eagle Jurong bird park Singapore — I tried my best to shoot through these thick cage wires

Steller's sea eagle Jurong bird park Singapore — Steller’s sea eagle – the largest sea eagle in the world

They had a few other species of eagles but the photos came out dark because of the lighting conditions and the positions the birds were in. At this point I realized I would have to come back another day if I were to get any good shots and vibrant colours.

Dinosaur descendants ostrich Jurong bird park Singapore — ‘Dinosaur Descendants’ – oooh, sounds exciting doesn’t it?

Ostrich sitting Jurong bird park Singapore — Ostriches, that’s all

Ostriches feeding bananas Jurong bird park Singapore — It was feeding time for them

I didn’t linger around much with the ostriches. I walked down the slope and towards the restaurants. And then… I slipped and fell on the ground!

It was a pretty nasty fall too. Happened in a split of a second. As I tried to get up on my feet again, I looked at my fingers and they were bleeding. With the rain hitting my hands, it made the bleeding look worse than it was. Since I was going down a sloping road, my right leg slipped and I tried to stop my fall with my right hand — the hand I held my camera with (I was holding the umbrella with my left hand) Even more painful was the sight of my camera, which was mounted with the 70-200 lens — my most expensive lens. There was a very bad dent on the filter and it was tightly lodged in. I tried to unscrew it by hand and I couldn’t!

As I got up, the lady you see in the above photo along with her staff mate ran towards me and asked if I was alright. But they could see I was bleeding quite badly and told me they would take care of me. They brought the golf car they were driving and took me back to their station. There, they called other staff members to help me, they wiped my blood and bandaged me up.

All this while, I was rather speechless, wondering how (and why on god’s earth) this had to happen on just my second day of visit in Singapore. The rains ruined the bird park experience and now this! I kept looking at my dented lens filter and I felt even worse.

Test shot — I took this shot just to test the camera if anything else was wrong. The auto-focus worked fine which meants the lens wasn’t damaged internally.

The staff asked me where I was from, among other questions, and told me not to worry about how my experience at Jurong Bird Park went today. I told them I hadn’t eaten yet, and that I had planned to watch the 4pm show… but now, I just felt like leaving. The staff adviced me it’s best I visit a clinic and get a tetanus shot since I scraped the tarmac. I was thinking the same since the clean-up work the staff performed was using whatever they had in their first-aid kit.

They asked me for my contact information and I handed them my business card. One of the staff escorted me back to the bus station and I took the bus back to Jurong Point shopping center. Once there, I visited one of the clinics they suggested. I waited for my turn alongside what looked like labourers here for some check-up. Once the doctor called me in, he inspected my injuries and told me there was nothing serious and all it needed was a proper clean up.

The nurse then escorted me to another room and she performed the proper clean up. She began talking to me, asking me where I was from and if I was working here in Singapore. I told her ‘no’ and that I was just visiting, this only being my second day in the city-state. Since she was a native Singaporean, I used the opportunity to ask her some questions to learn more about the country. When I asked her when was the best time visit Singapore, she smiled and told me Singapore only has one season. It rains pretty much throughout the year, she said.

With just about everything in Singapore being expensive, I asked the nurse if healthcare too was quite expensive. She told me it’s subsidized by the government for its citizens, but since I didn’t have a health card, my rates would obviously be higher. (Gulp!)

I was properly bandaged up and she gave me some extra band-aids along with some prescribed anti-biotics. The cost for all this – SG$52 (Rs. 2000/$38/€29).

I wasn’t feeling good at all. I walked around Jurong Point checking out the restaurants and felt a little bit better when I saw the mall had a Mosburger outlet — the not-so ubiquitous Japanese burger joint. I really like their food (and their fries), so I sat down and ate to comfort myself. (It often works). I looked at my lens again and tried repeatedly to unscrew the lens filter but it just wouldn’t budge. I had no choice now but to go back to John 3:16 and hand it over to the Canon service center.

I took the metro and headed back to City Hall MRT, from where I then walked to Funan IT mall. As soon as I walked into the store, the staff at John 3:16, who had just seen me yesterday when I bought my Kata bag from them, exclaimed as they asked me what happened to my hand. I told them my sob story, and then showed them the 70-200mm lens. They tried by hand to unscrew the filter but gave up and said it’s better to just hand it over to the Canon service center.

I had no choice. I couldn’t do without this lens, and so I did. They told me I would get it back tomorrow. I said fine, and left, with my camera bag feeling like it was missing something.

Singapore central fire station — The Central Fire Station, right opposite Funan IT mall

There was nothing else for me to do besides go home. But as I sat in the train, I told myself I wasn’t going to let this incident ruin my trip. So instead of alighting at Aljunied, I got down at Paya Lebar MRT instead. I decided to check out the Geylang Serai hawker centre and thought I could have my dinner from there.

Singapore Post building at night — The Singapore Post building, right next to Paya Lebar MRT

Geylang towards hawker centre Singapore — After asking a few people for directions (some of whom who just plain ignored me), I made my way towards the Geylang Serai market

Hawker centre closed tables Geylang Singapore — This hawker centre was closed… and it wasn’t even 8pm yet

Muslim converts association building Singapore — Muslim Converts Association of Singapore

Geylang Serai market at night road Singapore — Across the road is the Geylang Serai Market and Food Centre

Geylang Serai market at night Singapore — But as I walked towards it, some men who were loitering about there told me it was closed, and that it’s open only from morning until afternoon.

I can understand the markets, but do all hawker centres in Singapore close early? As in, you can’t go to such places for dinner?

Disappointed, I just roamed around the area to see how the people on this side of town go about their lives. Noticed a lot of Malays and people of Indonesian descent live in this part of Singapore.

Building behind spiral staircase chimney Singapore — Walked around some apartments

Hotel 81 Geylang classic building Singapore — Hotel 81 has quite a few branches in the area, this one looked rather nice though

Geylang road sign Singapore — After walking around a bit, I took the bus back to my area

Geylang football court Singapore at night — Saw this football field after I got down from the bus and walked back towards Aljunied MRT

Back at Aljunied, I had dinner at an Indian restaurant in the same block as WoW Hostel. I looked at my hand and wondered how I could to Sentosa tomorrow in this condition…

Mithun Divakaran injured hand Singapore — It wasn’t hurting much, but I couldn’t bend my fingers or my arm

Even having dinner was a challenge. I went back and felt better after taking a warm shower. I informed my folks back in India and my friend in Singapore of what happened.

I went online and saw an e-mail from one of the staff at Jurong Bird Park who wrote to me saying if I felt like visiting the bird park again this week, my ticket would be free. I told them with the weather conditions tomorrow and the fact I was mainly here for the F1 weekend, I couldn’t devote another day for Jurong. I asked if I could come back in February next year, to which they replied saying it’s fine and I could just bring a print-out of this e-mail to get a free entry.

Still, I couldn’t stop thinking about how my Rs. 60,000 ($1,100 ) lens was now getting operated on and it hadn’t even been one year since I bought it from Bangkok last year. As with all accidents, I kept thinking of the ‘shoulda, coulda, woulda’: I shouldn’t have worn slippers, I could have simply left the lens hood on the 70-200 lens, the lens hood would have protected the tip by absorbing much of the impact. But alas, what’s done was done.

Plans were obviously going to change for tomorrow and day after.

Next posts in this series:

Singapore 2011: Day 3 – Bukit Timah and Singapore Botanic Gardens

Singapore 2011: Day 4 – Marina Bay Sands Casino and views from the SkyPark observation deck

Singapore 2011: Day 5 – Chinatown, F1 Friday (Charice, Seungri and GD&TOP concerts)

Singapore 2011: Day 6 – F1 Saturday (Rick Astley, Shakira and Shaggy concerts)

Singapore 2011: Day 7 – Little India, F1 Sunday race, Linkin Park concert and Avalon Club

Leaving Singapore, and discovering certain truths about this famous city state

Previous post in this series:

Singapore 2011: Day 1 – Landing a second time; walking around CBD

Re-living the 90s: My favourite songs from 1992

This is the third in a series of ten posts. One post for every year of the decade that was the 1990s. For an introduction into this series and why I felt like doing these blog posts, read this first.

From cheesy pop in 1990, my interest in rap music kept growing from 1991 and into 1992.

1992 music chart hits Genesis Khaled Kriss Kross Das EFX — Clockwise L-R: Das EFX, Snow, Kriss Kross, Tasmin Archer, Khaled, Genesis

John Secada – “Just Another Day”

This Cuban-American singer was fairly popular in the early 1990s. “Just Another Day” was top ten hit for John Secada, and I have fond memories of listening to “Just Another Day” in the evenings of Bahrain. Somehow, it seems to be best time to listen to this song.

Naughty by Nature – “Hip Hop Hooray“

From the album 19 Naughty III, this was another favourite of mine growing up in the ‘golden era’ of hip-hop (in my opinion). This song was everything I liked (or wanted) in hip-hop. Heavy beats, the bass, slick rhymes… it was all I needed to bob my head wearing a hoodie! 🙂

Kris Kross – “Jump”

For every bit of the real gangsta hip-hop there was, there were the mainstream silly acts too. Kid ‘N Play had the dude with the funny hair, and then there was Kriss Kross. Two young black kids – Mac Daddy and Daddy Mac – whose unqiue concept was wearing their clothes backwards! Funny as it all sounds, “Jump” was a massive hit when it came out and Kriss Kross’ only number 1 song. “Warm It Up,” their follow up single did alright, but “Jump” is still their most memorable song. I loved it then — and I still do!

Vanessa Williams – “Save The Best For Last”

I don’t remember when exactly this song came but I remember listening to this song on chilly days, be it in early months of the year or towards Christmas. The first number one for this former Miss America-turned-singer-turned-actress, “Save the Best for Last” is still one of the best ballads from the 1990s.

Arrested Development – “Mr. Wendal”

As a kid, I guess I always remembered this song as the one that began with the “Arrhh-ahhh-ahhhh” scream. I club Arrested Development and Tribe Called Quest in the same bucket because both groups made hip-hop with social conscious. Arrested Development’s sound was also quite different from the other hip-hop groups at the time.

House of Pain – “Jump Around”

Still regarded as one of the greatest hip-hop songs of all time! It’s the one song House of Pain will be always remembered for (also, they didn’t have many other hits). Among the few respected hip-hop groups not fronted by a black man, but instead, by an Irish-American named Everlast.

Wreckx-N-Effect feat. Teddy Riley – “Rump Shaker”

Produced by ‘new jack swing’ pioneer Teddy Riley (who is now contributing to K-pop), “Rump Shaker” is another hip-hop classic. And another one-hit wonder. Reasons for liking this song? Thumping bass, hard-ass beats and a catchy trumpet hook. Hip-hop was so simple back in the day 🙂 No over-producing, no auto-tune.

Funny, just read up on this song on Wiki and turns out, even a young Pharrell Williams helped out with the lyrics when working with Teddy Riley then.

Das EFX – “They Want EFX”

I remember my brother owning their album ‘Dead Serious’ on cassette. (Ahhhh, cassette tapes :)) One highly influential hip-hop group, Das EFX were especially renowned for their lyrical delivery and the ending words with “-iggidy”. Loved their rapping style and the album was pretty good too. “Mic Checka” was another good song off the same album.

Snow – “Informer”

Ahh, the “a-lickey boom boom down” song! 🙂 Or at least that’s how most people remembered it. One of the most unintentionally hilarious songs ever made. Even to this day many can’t figure out the lyrics. Snow was a white rapper and reggae performer from Canada (of all the places!) and “Informer” was his only no. 1 smash hit. If you actually read the lyrics, you will realize it is English that he’s speaking… but the song is still mostly gibberish 😀

Snow disappeared for much of the 1990s, but he got my attention again back in the early 2000s when he made a comeback in his native Canada with a new musical style. Check out “The Plumb Song” and “Everybody Wants to Be Like You” — they’re both really good, and vastly different from “Informer”!

Genesis – “I Can’t Dance”

As a kid, I didn’t know much about the history and legacy of Genesis (for that matter, Phil Collins too), but I fondly remember this song and especially its video. The simple ‘walking dance’ behind the white background… it’s just iconic Gensis now. As I grew older and learnt more about Genesis, it’s only then I realized this same album produced some of my favourite Genesis songs: “No Son of Mine,” “Jesus He Knows Me” (another brilliant Genesis video) and “Hold on My Heart“.

The Shamen – “Ebeneezer Goode”

Despite the growing influence of American hip-hop, radio airplay was still mostly British chart music. And this no. 1 song was one of my favourites! I still know the lyrics to the first verse by heart and love rapping along as I listen to it 🙂 Of course, when I was 10, I didn’t know what the song was even about. Only now did I learn “Eezer Goode, ‘Eezer Goode …” is basically saying “Es are good, Es are good”. (E = ecstasy)

Take That – “It Only Takes a Minute”

If there was one boy band that dominated the British charts in the early 1990s, it was Take That. The then 5-member group were at the early stages of their stardom and this was their first top 10 hit. The video was constantly played at night on Channel 55 (Bahrain’s local English channel) to fill up airtime before ending transmission. It’s still remains one of my favourite Take That songs, even though it’s actually a cover of a Tavares hit.

Jimmy Nail – “Ain’t No Doubt”

There were quite a few British actors and soap stars coming out with pop records in the 1990s, and this chap was one such example. I don’t know what show he was on or how famous he was back in England, but the reason I knew Jimmy Nail was because of this no. 1 hit (and his other hit “Crocodile Shoes“). This was British pop back in the day, a style of music lost in many of today’s British popstars attempting to sound American.

Tasmin Archer – “Sleeping Satellite”

A British one-hit wonder. Beautiful song though, went to no. 1 upon release and it was her first single too. Never heard much from Tasmin Archer after that.

Charles & Eddie – “Would I Lie To You”

The one hit wonders continued. This time a New York duo, who had a worldwide hit with this song. When you think about, a duo like Charles & Eddie would hardly ever get a record deal from a big label these days. Something I miss about music from decades past.

Cheb – “Khaled”

I end this post with one of the biggest hits of the 1990s… if you grew up in the Arab world in those days! 🙂 Cheb Khaled is an Algerian singer and, man, when this song came out – it was everywhere! It was so popular, and not just among Arabs. Indians, Pakistanis, Bangladeshis, Africans … everybody covered it in their own language (unofficially I’m sure). Khaled is a musical legend in the Arab world, one of the highest selling Arab musicians in history. His other great classics include “Aicha” and the phenomenal live performance of “Abdel Kader“.

—-

Other songs that came out in 1992 that I only ended up liking as I grew older were:

Red Hot Chili Peppers – “Under the Bridge”

Mr. Big – “To Be With You”

Guns N’ Roses – “November Rain”

Nirvana – “Smells Like Teen Spirit”

U2 – “One”

Richard Marx – “Hazard”

Bryan Adams – “Do I Have to Say the Words?”

The Cure – “Friday I’m In Love”

Some of the biggest names in adult contemporary and rock. I guess it would take me a few more years to finally appreciate rock music 🙂

Previous posts in this series:

Re-living the 90s: My favourite songs from 1991

Re-living the 90s: My favourite songs from 1990

Non-veg meal Singapore airlines bangalore flight

Singapore: Day 1 – Landing a second time; walking around CBD

By Mithun Divakaran
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Dec 09, 2011
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Singapore, Travel

Date: 19th September, 2011

By landing a second time I meant, this was my second visit to Singapore. Not that the plane failed in its first attempt to land successfully. After all, I wasn’t going to be flying Tiger Airways this time.

I first visited Singapore last year, along with two of my friends. We assumed 3 days & 2 nights would have been ‘okay’ for such a small city-state, and though we did manage to see a lot, there were still many popular attractions left unvisited. Plus, we underestimated just how expensive Singapore is! It was a learning experience, but we all told ourselves we would go back a second time. Unfortunately… due to the circumstances at work (hint: the lack of it), plans changed. Only one of us booked a flight to Singapore this time — me.

I told myself if at all I planned on visiting Singapore again, it would be during the F1 week, and the decision to book early was easy when the organizers announced Linkin Park was going to headline this year! I saw them perform at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix last November but being the fan that I am, I made no hesitation to see them perform again.

When it came time to make a decision on which flight to take, it wasn’t an easy one. As much as I derided Tiger Airways, the fact they had temporarily stopped flying from Bangalore was a bit of a downer. Because the only option left to fly direct to Singapore from Bangalore was Singapore Airlines — and there’s obviously quite a price difference! I considered other premium carriers such Sri Lankan Airlines, Jet Airways and Air India — but all of them had stop-overs in excess of 2 hours.

I also wanted to try Singapore Airlines, just to see for myself why it’s rated as one of the best airlines in the world. Despite the fact SIA cost more than Sri Lankan Airlines, Jet Airways, Air India and Malaysia Airlines, I still went ahead and booked a direct flight via Cleartrip.com. Using a voucher I had, I got my ticket for Rs. 19k.

Inside Singapore Airlines Boeing plane Bangalore flight — On 18th night, I boarded my Singapore Airlines flight from Bangalore

Bangalore city lights from night sky — The flight left at 11:05pm

Singapore Airlines food menu card inflight service — The first time I ever got a menu in an economy class flight

Singapore Airlines inflight service bar menu — Pretty impressive beverages list

Singapore sling inflight drink Singapore airlines — I had a few of these — the Singapore Sling

I know I can’t even start to compare a budget carrier to Singapore Airlines, but compared to all the legacy carriers I’ve flown so far, I must say I really like the in-flight service in SIA more than Emirates. I don’t know if it’s attributed to the training the stewards receive, but the air hostesses were really good at the whole ‘service with a smile’. They looked upbeat and happy to serve you (at least me), and overall do a good job of embodying the image of the ‘Singapore Girl’ — a concept the airline has been using in it’s marketing campaign for decades.

Krisworld menu inflight entertainment Singapore Airlines — Their in-flight entertainment service, called KrisWorld, though not as exhaustive as Emirates, was still alright

Krisworld inflight movies Singapore Airlines — Quality over quantity I guess

Flying over Singapore night lights — Four and half hours later…

Landing at Changi airport Singapore — Landing at Changi airport at 6:05am

Overall, I had a good first impression of Singapore Airlines. The airplane wasn’t old, the service was very good, and quality was seen in just about every other aspect of the airline.

Another reason why I wanted to fly a legacy carrier (and not budget) was because I wanted to see Changi Airport. Last year I landed at Changi Airport too, but I wouldn’t call the budget terminal a worthy addition to the ‘Changi’ repute.

Changi airport terminal 2 gates Singapore — But first impressions when I entered Terminal 2 were “Hmm, this doesn’t look that new”

Changi Airport terminal 2 walkalator Singapore — It didn’t look any fancier than, say, Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi or KLIA

Singapore Airport Changi Terminal 2 arrivals — I made my way to immigration

Singapore Changi Terminal 2 escalator to immigration counters — I wasn’t WOW-ed by the airport or anything

Changi Airport way to MRT station Singapore — Immigration took a couple of minutes, collected my bag and then made my way to the MRT station

I still had my MRT (metro) card from last year, which still had SG$6 on it, but I bought an additional SGD20 (Rs. 800/$15/€11) worth of credit anyway. I boarded the train and made my way to Aljunied.

I had booked a dorm bed for four nights at WoW Hostel, which after much deliberation, seemed like one of the best hostels right next to an MRT station — which was of absolute importance to me. Last year I stayed at ABC Hostel, though nice, was a bit of a walk to get to a MRT station. But after stepping out of Aljunied MRT station, finding WoW Hostel proved a bit of a challenge.

I first walked into a building which had ‘WOW’ written on it assuming that’s where the hostel was. But I went upstairs to a grumpy woman who woke up on the wrong side of bed, slamming the door on me after she asked me to look at the address once again.

I did. And tried looking across the road and noticed another sign, this time, saying ‘WoW Hostel’. (As you’ll see below, it’s not easy to notice that sign). I climbed four flights of stairs to finally reach a door. I rang the bell, got in and sat on the couch, tired from all the climbing early morning.

WoW hostel interiors Geylang Singapore — Like many hostels, this was another one of those houses-turned-hostel. I sat on the couch in the living room/reception. They have a big screen TV and a computer for use to the right.

I had to wait nearly half-an-hour for somebody to come and help me ‘check-in’… because everybody was asleep. After the guy in charge of the flat finally woke, I paid up and he showed me to my room.

Wow hostel dorm bed Singapore — Like a lot of hostels, most of the furniture was IKEA

Wow hostel mixed dorm room Singapore — This room had two split A/Cs and included in the price were lockers in the room

The beds were really comfy and you get two fluffy pillows per bed, which was nice. The place was quite clean and I feel like I made the right choice booking a room here.

I stepped out soon after checking in to get a local SIM card (there’s a 7-11 in the same block). After informing my parents about my safe arrival, I then freshened up and caught some sleep. I barely slept on the flight.

I woke up around noon. It had drizzled it a bit in the morning and I was hoping rain wouldn’t ruin my day as I had two important things to do today. First, I had to collect my F1 ticket. Second, I had to buy a camera bag.

Mixed dorm room Wow hostel Aljunied Singapore — Took out the Canon 7D. The lockers are to the right where I was standing.

Aljunied MRT station from WoW hostel Singapore — That’s Aljunied MRT station

Wow hostel hallway rooms Singapore — The hallway just outside my room

Inside the Swissotel The Stamford Singapore — The ticket collection center was located inside the Swissotel The Stamford

Stamford Raffles mall interiors Singapore — Collecting my Zone 4 passes didn’t take much time

Cafe Swiss at Swissotel Singapore — I left the Swissotel. Next up, Funan IT Mall.

Singapore GP preparations work — As I stepped out, work was on-going for this weekend’s Singapore F1

They had cordoned off many roads and diverted traffic as the unique thing about the Singapore Grand Prix is that the race happens on the city streets! The roads were barricaded, meaning I had to walk all along the F1 track.

Esplanade theatres by the bay cbd Singapore — Which meant passing by The Esplanade theatres by the bay

The Esplanade theatres entrance Singapore — ‘Richard III’ starring Kevin Spacey and directed by his ‘American Beauty’ director, Sam Mendes, was playing here

The Esplanade theatre domes Singapore panorama — Panorama comprised of 9 shots

Esplanade Marina Bay panorama view Singapore — Panorama comprised of 7 shots

Esplanade theatres by the bay Marina flyer Singapore — The race track starts all the way there

Marina Bay Sands casino hotel Singapore — Last year, because of rains, the sky deck at the Marina Bay Sands was closed. But I planned to go again.

Fullerton Hotel Maybank building financial centre Singapore — The financial centre looks even better at night

Merlion Park Marina Bay Sands Singapore — I decided to check out the Merlion Park, since I couldn’t go up close due to lack of time last year

Merlion Park statue fountain Singapore — This is the mini-Merlion

Merlion park fountain statue Singapore — This is the big one, the symbol of Singapore

Merlion fountain statue Marina Bay Sands Singapore — Though, now there are newer and more sophisticated symbols in Singapore

Looking around, you could see the bus loads of Korean, Chinese and other tourists from across the globe. Everyone that is, except a local Singaporean! 🙂

Merlion park near Marina bay bridge Singapore — I moved on

Under marina bridge Starbucks Singapore — Walked under the bridge

Marina river bridge F1 track Singapore — The bridge is also a part of the F1 circuit

Underpass tunnel Esplanade Park Singapore — See, not everyone follows the rules in Singapore

Singapore financial centre buildings skyscrapers — The murky skies weren’t helping with today’s photography

Old supreme court building Singapore — This is the Old Supreme Court building

Old Supreme Court building dome Singapore — It’s getting refurbished to be turned into the National Art Gallery in a few years time

Singapore Cricket Club ground — The Singapore Cricket Club (Do any Singaporeans besides the Indians even play cricket?)

Singapore GP zone 4 seats track — This is the Zone 4 grandstand seating, right in front of the Old Supreme Court building

Way to Funan IT mall Singapore — The pink building is Funan IT mall

Funan IT mall inside Nokia Samsung Singapore — When I came here last year, I barely got much time to visit all the stores I wanted to. It may be slightly pricier than say, Sim Lim Square, but there’s little of the grey market dealing here.

Since it was nearing 3pm, I had lunch from McDonalds before going upstairs.

Gears of War 3 launch Singapore — Microsoft held a Gears of War 3 launch event. Singaporeans could get their hands on the game a few hours ahead of their Western counterparts.

Gears of War 3 Singapore release Funan IT hall — It may look like a joke to the mainstream, to see young folks sit and wait for a videogame to be launched, but in the world of gaming, being the few to go online first is quite the bragging right! 🙂

Even though I knew which store stocked the bag I had in my mind, I still went to pretty much all the other photography and electronics stores to have a look at the other models before finally picking up a bag.

I saw a lot of camera backpacks, but none of the other stores stocked the bag I had strongly considered – the Kata Owl 272. So I went to John 3:16, and lo and behold, he had it in stock. At SGD185 (Rs. 7k+), it cost Rs. 2000 lesser than it did in India. I checked it out and after feeling quite satisfied with its features, abused my credit card and bought it.

With backpack in tow, I left Funan IT mall after chatting with the sales staff at John 3:16 for a while. I was happy. I finally had a good camera backpack of my own for all my camera equipment.

Gears of War 3 launch party shot from up Funan IT mall Singapore — Still a few hours left

I left Funan IT mall and walked right next door to Peninsula Plaza, an old but famous shopping complex, which also houses quite a few photography stores. But once inside, the place looked more like ‘Little Myanmar’.

Peninsula Plaza interior floors Singapore — (I kept the Canon 7D inside and just shot using the lighter 450D from here on)

A lot of the businesses here were owned by and cater to the Burmese population in Singapore. Restaurants, Myanmar clothing and plenty of money transfer shops. With all the troubles back in their homeland, I’m not surprised to see thousands of them in Singapore, seeking a better life. There was a distinct stench in the air too… I don’t know what it was, but it was like being reminded of the fish sauce stench in Bangkok.

I left Peninsula Plaza because I couldn’t take the smell anymore.

St. Andrews cathedral Singapore art effect — When I was working on this photograph of St. Andrews cathedral, I was playing around with the Levels tool in Photoshop. Accidentally went to the extremes, and then paused when I saw the result. I liked how the right side looked like a painting, while the left looked like an etching.

Suntec city building lights interior Singapore — I walked through Suntec City

Suntec City giant water wheel fountain Singapore — Saw this giant wheel fountain at Suntec

Air Asia Lotus F1 car display Suntec City Singapore — Air Asia had their sponsored Team Lotus car on display in another building at Suntec

Suntec city mall stores Singapore — Suntec City is one massive commercial complex: malls, offices, exhibition centres — all right in the central business district

Suntec City expo center lobby Singapore — This is the Convention Hall building

Suntec City library food court Singapore — I love the looks of this food court

Pedestrian bridge Suntec City Singapore — It was past 6pm

Suntec city atrium Singapore — You can spend a lot of time in Suntec City

Suntec City beauty stores mall Singapore — Walked to Raffles MRT

Aljunied MRT station Singapore — This is Aljunied MRT station, and now I’m going to show you how to get to WoW Hostel from here

Hostel building outside Aljunied MRT station — Once you exit the station, to your left is this building. Plenty of restaurants, a 7-11 and other stores on that block as well.

98SG hostel building near Aljunied mrt station — Walking straight up will lead you to this road which is in between two blocks. In the morning, when I came here, I saw the WOW written below the 98SG and assumed this is the right building. It’s not.

Jas Medical WoW hostel building Singapore — Turn around and look for the store named Jas Medical. Walk up closer to those steps you see beside it.

Wow hostel Urban hostel building Singapore — This is how you will arrive at the right entrance to WoW Hostel (and another hostel)

WoW hostel level 3 entrance Singapore — Climb up past Urban Hostel and you arrive at WoW Hostel

Once back in my room, I dumped my bag and decided to roam free while checking out my surroundings.

Chinese procession Geylang evening prayers Singapore — This was happening nearby (Took this photo earlier)

Chinese procession prayers Geylang Singapore — I don’t know what it was about, but the stage looked nice

Geylang road Singapore market evening — There are markets and plenty of restaurants around. Down this road is the Geylang Serai Market & Food Centre — a hawker centre I planned to check out.

I stopped by a supermarket to pick up some water. One lesson learnt from last year’s trip was not to waste money buying small bottles, that too from 7-Eleven, who price their goods higher than most convenience stores. While a small bottle of water at 7-Eleven costs more than SG$1 (Rs.38/$0.77/€0.58), I picked up a 1.5 litre of water from this supermarket for SGD1 and a 500ml bottle for just SGD0.60. You may think I’m just penny-pinching, but trust me, it all adds up in Singapore. The humidity here will see you drinking so much water, you’ll be spending a lot more on water than you think!

Geylang road nightlife Singapore — I was near the bustling Geylang area, famed for its street food and nightlife (This and the below were all taken on my phone)

Khadijah Mosque Aljunied Geylang Singapore — This area has a significant Malay population too

Lor 28 Geylang apartment night Singapore — I kept walking around in the hopes of finding the Geyalng Serai hawker centre, but it looked like it was much further down the road than I earlier presumed it would be

Geylang road night Singapore — This looked like a decent residential area not to far from the CBD

No Signboard seafood Geylang Singapore — Nice name 🙂

Sims Avenue Geylang road Aljunied Singapore — I eventually walked back to my block

I sat down at a Malay-Indian restaurant to have some piping hot prata with some not-so-piping hot chicken curry.

Pokka carrot juice can Singapore — For drink, I chose canned carrot juice

The satisfying dinner cost me SGD5.60 (Rs. 223/$4.3/€3.2), which cost less than the SGD7.40 (Rs. 295) my McDs Quarter Pounder meal cost in the afternoon. (I know you can’t always compare prices in Singapore but, man, nearly Rs. 300 for a McDonalds meal! :-/)

I was satisfied after a productive first day in Singapore. Tomorrow, Jurong Bird Park.

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