New Year’s Eve

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Save a spot early because later there will be no room to even stand.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The New Year’s celebration on the streets of Providence, Rhode Island and in Boston, called First Night, was always a bitter cold affair in subfreezing temperatures. Inside a restaurant or bar, where fingers and bodies could thaw was a much better place to be, especially if you had a view to the fireworks. One degree, fifteen minutes, 75 miles, north of the equator in Singapore, the place is made for outdoor, nighttime celebrations.
Tripods were set up very early along the water to save a spot.

 

The blue area is the outdoor stadium. That is not a Ferris Wheel in the background. That is a viewing wheel which rotates very slowly. You can pay a lot of money to have a revolving dinner

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thousands of people payed to fill the tiers of the outdoor stadium to watch a long list of musicians who looked much better on the Jumbotron. Standing off to the side of the stadium, we could just see the speck of a human on stage but could easily see the on screen person.
We settled for free grab seats at the band-shell to watch very good bar bands. As it got dark, every hour on the hour there were teaser fireworks shot from the floating platform in the middle of Marina Bay. As the evening progressed it became far more difficult to walk around the public areas and thread through the crowds. On the hour, Rebecca and I took turns guarding our seats at the band-shell so the other could duck around the corner to see the short burst of fireworks. But near midnight, we gave up our seats to thread into the crowd and find a spot with a clear view to the fireworks. By this time, there was hardly a place to stand along the waterfront but I was able to work my way into some manicured shrubs and hug a tree and use a branch to steady the camera.
The main show lasted only 8 minutes but it was an intense, nonstop fireworks. a display accented with colored laser lights, that we will never forget. And the best part, we were in shorts and thin shirts.

Happy New Year!

Killing time till the fireworks begin. It is amazing how many people have their faces in their mobile devise while riding on the train and walking around in public, bumping into things.

 

 

 

No picture can explain the loud kaboom that goes with the lights. At times, there were so many fireworks the sky was more filled with smoke s lights.
Laser lights were a big part of the show. I’d love to have one of those super lasers on our bot to shine on the wheel house of a fishing boat or ship who does not respect the right of way rules. That should get their attention.

Singapore

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Singapore

 

Singapore is not that big of an island especially when you consider it is a country unto itself. It has no natural resources, except people, and people with good management skills. It is amazing how a place like this can work, especially when we consider a country like Cambodia which has a lot of varied natural resources but will never be anything more than a grimy place to stay away from.
We are living on the far north end of the island. It takes a bus 20 minutes to get us to the train station. The train takes 25 minutes to get into downtown. At 11:00 in the morning the train is easy. Any earlier or well afternoon, it is crowded with hardly any room to stand. There are a lot of busses, a lot of trains and it is cheap so getting around the island is fairly easy once you learn the routs.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tis the season so the colored lights are full on….and in Singapore, we hear and see Merry Christmas everywhere.
At Gardens By The Bay, we listened to Christmas carols at the bandstand. We continued to sit on the grass to catch the spectacular light show. Then we mozied over to the waterfront and listened to the symphony. No Strauss or Bach, but some good upbeat MoTown and other pop songs that few people under 50 would recognize…but it had everyone moving their feet. Then we strolled over to one of the main city streets where there is a decoration competition amongst the big stores. We finally got home after midnight. Tired.

 

 

 

So you can pay $15 to ride the tourist elevator to the 57th floor rooftop bar. But locals, like us, know to ride the hotel guest elevator to the same elevation for free. There, we walked into the very open aired bar/disco, and found a vacant table overlooking the city. Our waitress was very personable. Eventually I asked her if she thought tourists were nuts for paying $11 for a bottle of water or a can of soda, items which cost no more than $2 on the street. A mixed drink will cost $30. Her response was “that is nothing” then showed us a drink menu, the Champaign page. Regular Dom Perignon was the cheapest at $650, Cristal and some others went up to $2,500 a bottle. “But who pays this?” I asked. She responded, “Oh, the Chinese. They really like to impress each other with their wealth.” She told us of one Chinese woman who celebrated her 23rd birthday and spent $30,000 and gave a $1,000 tip. But the next day she realized she over spent and wanted the tip back! At this same bar, the table we were sitting at was free, for now. At 10PM there becomes a $150 charge, but the table seats up to 8.

There is no charge for standing at the little chest high tables. On New Year Eve, the same sitting table charge is $2,500. But 57 floors up is a great place to watch the fireworks show over the water centerpiece of the city called Marina Bay. Even now, over the weekends, there is lots going on around Marina Bay. Live music performances, light shows…. We couldn’t have picked a better city for the holidays.

 

Remember when the ACLU, American Civil Liberties Union, was all a flutter because a few municipalities had plans to install police cameras on city streets? “It is a violation of privacy and civil rights!” “Big Brother, Orwellian!!” Certainly the criminals in America would agree.
In two weeks in Singapore, I have not seen one police car or policeman on the city streets, bus or subway terminals. So I had to wonder just how safe is Singapore? Whether a cab driver or a commuter on the MRT (Mass Rapid Transit, or subway), when I mention my curiosity, they always respond “It is very safe in Singapore. There is hardly any crime here.” Yet Singapore is the second most densely populated country in the world. There are miles and miles of government owned high rise public housing that are clean and well maintained. No one gets stabbed or assaulted in the stair wells. As part of his response, one cab driver pointed out another closed circuit TV along the roadway. “The police are there.” So I ask, “What if the police see something happen on their CCTV, how fast can they get there?” “They will be there in two minutes if not faster. Plus there are plain clothes policemen always patrolling.” And few drivers speed on the streets of Singapore. There are speed cams everywhere and within 3 days a speeder will receive a ticket in the mail. If you become distracted and leave your backpack on a bus stop bench, it will still be there hours later when you return. People have told us this has happened to them. If someone does have a transgression of the law, along with a bit of jail time they get a certain number of strokes with a cane. No time out in a corner here. Singapore is one of the largest, safest, cleanest most pleasant and modern cities we have ever been to.
People who work in restaurants in the U.S. and complain about not making big bucks an hour might want to consider what can happen. It is not unusual in restaurants in Singapore to be handed an electronic menu on which you do your own ordering.

 

 

 

Here is one for PETA. This is a typical alleyway in Singapore. There are no slippery, grungy, perpetually wet spots on the ground, no spilled food, no trash, even the outside of the dumpsters are clean. How can a city rat survive in an environment like this?