Chinese New Year in Singapore

I've organised a few more of the 500 or so photos we took on the tiny, basic but very convenient digital camera. Being a fan of SLR cameras and 35mm slides and sceptical about the digital I'm amazed at how well they've come out.

So here are a few of the Singapore part of the holiday, which coincided with the first few days of the Year of the Golden Pig. Rather than being too 'arty' I try to get some of the atmosphere of the places in my photos, so they end up as just street scenes or close-ups of bits I like such as windows or roofs. I get nagged about it all the time - according to my wife/self-appointed art director I should take shots of people. Well I do sometimes, but not a lot.

The temples were decorated for the festivities and were busy all day long.











Changi is a great airport, deservedly winning endless awards. Clean, efficient, well-designed. There are now two main terminals plus a budget airline terminal. In the departure lounge of Terminal2 there's a beautiful restful area with palm trees and hundreds of orchids around a koi carp pool. Inevitably you have to sit around an airport, waiting, and this is as good a place to relax for a while as any.





Plenty of fruit stalls around the local areas of course with a good selection of quality fruit available.



Durian, The King of Fruit - an obsession with Singaporeans - which you can smell from kilometres away. It's banned from hotels and on public transport including taxis because of the smell.


It's a very modern city of course, but it's good to see older places still exist, many of them now renovated and preserved.








Herbal tea - they swear it's good for you but I'm not game to try it, it smells like medicine.


As is traditional for New Year there were lion dancers all over the city perfoming in the streets, the housing estates, the shopping malls.


The 'music' is just clashing cymbals and thudding drums. There's a distinct rhythm to it and obviously a 'tune' of sorts because you hear the same thing from different troupes. In the closed space of shopping malls with the noise bouncing off the hard surfaces it can be just a little uncomfortable!


So that's it for Singapore, now on to sort out the photos from the Aussie part of the holiday and I'll post some later.