Showing posts with label singapore. Show all posts
Showing posts with label singapore. Show all posts
June 11, 2007
June 08, 2007
Historical images of Singapore
Dominik sent me an interesting link just now to a Google Maps mash up which includes amazing historical pictures at various sites of Singapore. Here's an example:
1969
2007
1969
2007
June 03, 2007
Home sweet home
Well... not really! I'm back in Germany and I must say I already miss Singapore and my folks over there!
The biggest difference between Germany and Singapore is noise! It is so quite here, the only thing I can here are birds singing. In Singapore, no matter where you go, you'll here cars or music. The noise is incredible and it's one of the biggest advantages of Germany. Another thing that really bugged me was the mass of people. They are everywhere and anytime! Even at about 2 am in the morning there are still a lot of people on the road, whereas here I'm looking out of my window and I can't see a single soul. But nevertheless I love Singapore for it's people, food and weather.
I have a lot to catch up with: emails to answer, bills to pay and news to read.
The biggest difference between Germany and Singapore is noise! It is so quite here, the only thing I can here are birds singing. In Singapore, no matter where you go, you'll here cars or music. The noise is incredible and it's one of the biggest advantages of Germany. Another thing that really bugged me was the mass of people. They are everywhere and anytime! Even at about 2 am in the morning there are still a lot of people on the road, whereas here I'm looking out of my window and I can't see a single soul. But nevertheless I love Singapore for it's people, food and weather.
I have a lot to catch up with: emails to answer, bills to pay and news to read.
June 01, 2007
History of Singapore
You probably won't find anything about the "Battle of Bukit Chandu" in a tourist guide, so I'm glad that I have people here in Singapore, that put a lot of effort into bringing the country and it's history closer to me.
The Battle of Bukit Chandu was one of many, taking place when the Japanese invaded Singapore during World War II. However this battle is special to the Malay, cause they fought with their bare hands until the very end and suffered a lot of casualties.
If you want to know more about the history of Singapore, I highly recommend visiting Changi Prison Museum and the place where the battle of Bukit Chandu took place.
The Battle of Bukit Chandu was one of many, taking place when the Japanese invaded Singapore during World War II. However this battle is special to the Malay, cause they fought with their bare hands until the very end and suffered a lot of casualties.
If you want to know more about the history of Singapore, I highly recommend visiting Changi Prison Museum and the place where the battle of Bukit Chandu took place.
Birdy Birdy Birdy
According to my planning I wanted to go to the Jurong Bird Park already two weeks ago. Unfortunately plans don't always work out the way they are supposed to. So yesterday Sutini and I went to watch birdies and it was kinda cool. Sutini took a lot of pics that I'm gonna upload asap.
Yesterday was also Vesak a public holiday for the Buddhist community here in Singapore. They are celebrating the birthday of Buddha. A lot of them, however, celebrated that birthday in Jurong Birdpark. It was so crowded in the little park, that I sometimes felt pity for the little birdies. So try not to go there on the weekends or public holidays.
Yesterday was also Vesak a public holiday for the Buddhist community here in Singapore. They are celebrating the birthday of Buddha. A lot of them, however, celebrated that birthday in Jurong Birdpark. It was so crowded in the little park, that I sometimes felt pity for the little birdies. So try not to go there on the weekends or public holidays.
May 26, 2007
Swimming or Running
As I wrote a couple of days ago, it's freaking hot here in Singapore and going for a run feels more like swimming to me. I'm soaking wet after only a couple of hundred meters and I cannot tell if I just went for a bath or a run.
Anyways, since everything is rather cheap here in Singapore, I got myself a new pair of running shoes. The "Nike Air Structure Triax 10" together with an iPod kit. I was never a fan of listening to music while running, but it seems to be okay. The iPod kit works well and it shows you a couple of neat stats about your run. I'll post a follow up on my thoughts about the Nike+iPod gear when I'm back in Germany. For now I guess it's a really cool toy to play around with.
The shoes are great! I tried about 4 different models of Nike and Adidas over the past two weeks and the Nike Structure Triax was very comfortable from the beginning. I'm a strong overpronator, so the model is perfect for me. It provides stability but quite good motion control at the same time. As I said before, more about it when I'm back.
Anyways, since everything is rather cheap here in Singapore, I got myself a new pair of running shoes. The "Nike Air Structure Triax 10" together with an iPod kit. I was never a fan of listening to music while running, but it seems to be okay. The iPod kit works well and it shows you a couple of neat stats about your run. I'll post a follow up on my thoughts about the Nike+iPod gear when I'm back in Germany. For now I guess it's a really cool toy to play around with.
The shoes are great! I tried about 4 different models of Nike and Adidas over the past two weeks and the Nike Structure Triax was very comfortable from the beginning. I'm a strong overpronator, so the model is perfect for me. It provides stability but quite good motion control at the same time. As I said before, more about it when I'm back.
May 22, 2007
Night Safari
If you are in Singapore I strongly suggest that you go on a Night Safari at the Singapore Zoo! Sutini and I were there yesterday and it was amazing, despite the fact that it was really hot. It takes some time to get there, so you should consider that when doing your planning. We were kinda late, so we missed one of the shows. Unfortunately you are not allowed to take pictures of the animals with your flash light turned on, so I only took a couple of pics. I'm gonna upload them sometime this week.
May 21, 2007
Finally
I found a place to upload the first stack of the picture, I took the past couple of days. There's more to follow...
May 20, 2007
Did you happen to know...
...that the smallest coin of Singapore's currency is 5 cent? No? Me neither, until I checked my receipt when I bought water at a supermarket. It says "CHANGE: $3.94" followed by "ROUNDED TO: $3.90". How strange is that? Well from a business perspective it is freaking cool! But from my perspective it sucks! I'm being cheated all the time!
May 19, 2007
Running in Singapore
Yesterday I took a short run along Singapore River and man was it hot! I totally underestimated the heat and the weather. I was completely beat after only 6 km. In addition to that I couldn't measure my heart rate, cause my watch doesn't work anymore. I don't know how that happened.
Since I didn't know where to run, I simply started at an MRT station. I then saw soldiers of the Singapore army having some kind of training run, so I thought I just follow them. We had some kind of Germany vs. Singapore competition going on there. I don't wanna brag or anything, but I guess Germany won :-)
Since I didn't know where to run, I simply started at an MRT station. I then saw soldiers of the Singapore army having some kind of training run, so I thought I just follow them. We had some kind of Germany vs. Singapore competition going on there. I don't wanna brag or anything, but I guess Germany won :-)
May 18, 2007
Finally Arrived
After a 14 hours flight, with an unplanned stop in Bangkok, I finally arrived in Singapore. It's my second day here and I'm at Vivo City, where Sutini works. It's a real hassle for me to get used to this keyboard layout, but I'll try my best.
Surprisingly I can take the heat here quite well! I'm still sweating, but it's okay. Yesterday Sutini and I took a bum boat ride along the Singapore river. It was really nice and I took a lot of pictures (which need to be uploaded sometimes). Unfortunately it started to rain in the afternoon, so we got pretty wet.
I have to admit, the hotel I'm staying at is a mess, literally! I wouldn't suggest it to anyone! Well, I will get through the 17 days. I'm trying to spend as less time as possible at the hotel!
Surprisingly I can take the heat here quite well! I'm still sweating, but it's okay. Yesterday Sutini and I took a bum boat ride along the Singapore river. It was really nice and I took a lot of pictures (which need to be uploaded sometimes). Unfortunately it started to rain in the afternoon, so we got pretty wet.
I have to admit, the hotel I'm staying at is a mess, literally! I wouldn't suggest it to anyone! Well, I will get through the 17 days. I'm trying to spend as less time as possible at the hotel!
May 13, 2007
Prepping my trip to Singapore
Today is all about packing, researching and getting ready for my trip to Singapore. I almost finished my planning over at Yahoo's trip planner. Since my last blog entry about it, I added destinations to Bangkok and changed a couple of places in Singapore.
This will be my last blog post before I leave, so next time I'll be blogging from Singapore.
This will be my last blog post before I leave, so next time I'll be blogging from Singapore.
May 09, 2007
Trip to Singapore
Next Tuesday I'll fly off to Singapore and I'm still pondering on what to do there. I started planning my trip using Yahoo's Trip Planner, which is not perfect, but quite handy.
I added a couple of things I'd like to do, for instance I definitely wanna go to Sentosa for swimming and I also wanna Night Safari in the Singapore Zoo. Furthermore there's Great Singapore Sale, which means shopping, shopping, shopping :-) It's like "Winterschlussverkauf" but without winter.
Anyways, I'm also planning to spend a day or two in Bangkok. If you have any tips for me, any suggestions what to do in Singapore or Bangkok, post a comment or send me an email.
I added a couple of things I'd like to do, for instance I definitely wanna go to Sentosa for swimming and I also wanna Night Safari in the Singapore Zoo. Furthermore there's Great Singapore Sale, which means shopping, shopping, shopping :-) It's like "Winterschlussverkauf" but without winter.
Anyways, I'm also planning to spend a day or two in Bangkok. If you have any tips for me, any suggestions what to do in Singapore or Bangkok, post a comment or send me an email.
May 04, 2007
Singapore has fastest walkers
Singapore has world's fastest walkers according to a study, which timed how long it took 35 people to walk 18 metres.
1) Singapore (Singapore): 10.55 sec
2) Copenhagen (Denmark): 10.82 sec
3) Madrid (Spain): 10.89 sec
...
7) Berlin (Germany): 11.16 sec
8) New York (USA): 12.00 sec
If they'd timed me, Karlsruhe would've leapfroged even Singapore!
1) Singapore (Singapore): 10.55 sec
2) Copenhagen (Denmark): 10.82 sec
3) Madrid (Spain): 10.89 sec
...
7) Berlin (Germany): 11.16 sec
8) New York (USA): 12.00 sec
If they'd timed me, Karlsruhe would've leapfroged even Singapore!
