Singapore
Sungai Lanchar

Discover travel destinations of travelers writing a travel journal on FindPenguins.
Travelers at this place
    • Day 176

      Garden City Singapur

      August 20, 2023 in Singapore ⋅ ⛅ 31 °C

      Erstmal ausschlafen um für den Tag bereit zu sein war mein Plan. Da ich noch immer kein early bird bin ging es um 11 Uhr los in den Trubel. Zuerst wollte ich zum chinesischen und japanischen Garten. Die hatte ich letztes Mal nicht mehr geschafft. Gesagt getan. Angekommen stand ich dann vor hunderten Metern wunderschöner grüner Absperrung. Hier werden wohl grade die Brücken und co erneuert. Muss ich wohl nochmal wiederkommen.
      Danach bin ich dann etwas umher und bin abends wieder im Garden of the bay gelandet.
      Zwischendurch habe ich mich in den Shopping Malls zum Abkühlen aufgehalten. Allerdings besteht da wirklich reine Reizüberflutung und man kann sich sehr schnell bei den hunderten Stockwerken verlaufen.
      In einer Mall gab es ein Kinderparadies, wie in Bremen . Mit Raumfahrt als Thema und als stolzes Mitglied der Astronauten habe ich es mir mit leuchtenden Kinderaugen nochmal angeschaut.
      Read more

    • Day 4

      Salutations from Singapore

      May 26, 2015 in Singapore ⋅ ⛅ 25 °C

      Finally got to my residence after a 3.5 hour flight, 1 hour subway ride across the city, a 10 minute cab-ride that ended up in an hour-long backtrack walk. Today I learned that when you don't exactly know where you're going, ask MANY people for directions. Whether it's the officer at the neighbourhood police post, a construction worker on his lunch break, or a highschool secretary, it's always good to get a second opinion to make sure you're (still) going in the right direction.

      My room is fantastic: small but comfortable, furnished with a double bed, night table, two (!) desks with chairs, functional AC and fan, and more than enough closet space. The view from my 12th-story balcony is fantastic (see pictures below)! Bathroom, kitchen and living area are shared with the rest of the floor (up to 5 people, I know there are at least 3 others already).

      I just got back from a little excursion at a nearby shopping mall and picked up an outlet adapter for my laptop. It is ridiculous how many food shops there are in that place, probably more than I could cover if I only ate there my entire stay! Tomorrow's mission is to buy a towel and an unbrella and do some more exploring. Time to go eat some hawker food (for those of you who aren't familiar: http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawker_centre
      )!
      Read more

    • Day 5

      Day 2: more exploring...and getting lost

      May 27, 2015 in Singapore ⋅ ⛅ 28 °C

      Today started off with a bowl of laksa, one of Singapore's signature dishes. I then headed out on the path along the Jurong River to find a shopping mall. The fastest way to cross is through the Chinese gardens, where I climbed the twin towers (no, not the ones in LOTR) and read up on Confucius and other Chinese heroes. I know this makes me sound incredibly uncultured, but Mulan isn't just a Disney movie.

      I was able to pick up my toiletries at the mall, which was actually a mega-mall comprised of three Eaton-Centre-sized malls linked together, (one of which I didn't even have the time to explore). I also toured some more of the city and got lost again, so I think I'm going to stick near the MRT (subway) stations for the time being. I also met some of my floor mates: a girl doing her PhD in Biology at NTU (same school I'll be working at) and her husband who just came back from Rio (he's a cargo ship navigator). They seem very friendly and I think we'll get along fine. Maybe tomorrow I'll take the MRT with her and get a campus tour.
      Read more

    • Day 6

      Day 3: more adventures and exploring

      May 28, 2015 in Singapore ⋅ ⛅ 28 °C

      Today I decided to take my mom's advice and go check out the Singapore Rowing Association (SRA). It is located on the edge of the Pandam Reservoir which provides water to the city's inhabitants (and incidentally a great area to row). It took a while to get there: first a MRT ride 3 stations east and then a 5km bus ride. An interesting part about transportation in Singapore is that the fares are variable, unlike in Canada where bus/metro tickets are fixed rates. Every station here has tables of fees for different distances and passenger types; there is usually a flat rate of around 0.70$ and about 0.10$ per additional km. The SRA itself wasn't too exciting (unless you're a rower, in which case it was phenomenal), basically just a bunch of shells and oars of all sizes: single, double, quad and eight. The reservoir provided a cool breeze as I walked along it to get back into town, which was well appreciated considering it hit 42C with humidity today.

      After lunch I picked up a cable to upload pictures from my camera onto my laptop in yet another megalodon of a shopping centre. The highlight though was dinner, pictures of which are included below. It consisted of noodles with mushrooms in chili sauce and a bowl of soup containing minced meat, crab and fish balls. As I was served the cook cracked an egg into the broth and then lit a candle under the bowl. It was very tasty and by far the coolest thing I have eaten yet. While on the subject, here are a few culinary tips I have picked up and would like to share:

      1. Pointing to something is the universal sign for "I want that"; comes in very handy when you can't pronounce/don't what you're ordering.

      2. If the cook asks you something and you don't know what they said, just nod and smile. Chances are they just asking you if you want all the ingredients (fine for me since I'm not picky) or extra chili sauce.

      3. If there is something in your food that you don't think you should eat, show your bowl to the cook. If it's a stone or something inedible, you'll get another free meal.

      4. Do NOT stabs your chopsticks in rice, or anything for that matter. Everyone will stare at you weirdly. Same thing goes for eating with your hands, unless your a eating Indian food, in which case it's okay (make sure they are clean first though).
      Read more

    • Day 7

      Day 4: NTU campus tour

      May 29, 2015 in Singapore ⋅ ⛅ 29 °C

      Today I met my supervising professor italian Dr. Cesare Soci (believe it or not, I'm actually here to work). He showed me around the state of the facilities and introduced me to his other graduate students. After eating lunch in their canteen I spent the afternoon exploring the rest of campus. It is so big though that I only managed to cover about a third of the map in 3 hours. They have a beautiful campus and one of the biggest sports rec facilities I have ever seen. I meant to take more pictures but both my ipod and camera died so I'll have to go again sometime just so that you get an idea of it all. In the meantime you can always check out the google maps street view if you're interested. Hope you all enjoy your Friday, bye for now!Read more

    • Day 9

      Day 6: CBD and Colonial District (Part1)

      May 31, 2015 in Singapore ⋅ ⛅ 27 °C

      If you want to have a good day, start it off with a bowl of piping-hot laksa: noodles, bean sprouts, sliced fish, muscles and deep-fried scrambled egg (or at least that's what it tastes like), all in a spicy yet creamy broth seasoned with coriander and chili paste. It's a Singaporean signature dish and is now officially my favorite breakfast food! I spent most of the morning making my way through the Central Business District, but it was difficult to orient myself at times with all the skyscrapers looming over. I eventually stumbled upon the luxurious Fullerton Hotel, which featured a jade waterfall trickling into a koi fish pond, as well as what I think was a Model 290 Imperial Bosendorfor concert grand piano. I played a few songs (only Chopin though so as not to disrupt the atmosphere or attract too much attention to myself) and it was by far the nicest-sounding piano I have ever touched!

      Exiting the hotel and crossing the street, I entered the tourist-packed Merlion Park. After taking pictures of the Marina Bay Sands Casino, Singapore Flyer and Merlion statue, which is a cross between Disney's Mufasa and Ariel (see next post's pictures), I stuck around for a bit to watch the DFS dragon-boat races which happened to be taking place.

      I then crossed the river onto the northern bank and visited the Asian Civilizations Museum. Besides the wonderful exhibits depicting the various influences on Singaporean culture, I listened to a live performance put on by about a dozen young children playing various traditional Asian instruments. By then I was starving so I grabbed a bit to eat and then started to search for a good napping spot.

      I found a nice shaded area in a park near a war memorial. When I woke up I crossed the street to the beautiful St. Andrew's Cathedral and was able to make their afternoon service. After that I perused through the Colonial District admiring the architecture until I hit Clarke Quay. Apparently this area has a buzzing nightlife and is best visited after dark. I spent the rest of the afternoon strolling farther up north toward the Canning Park area, but most of the sights were closed, which is why there will hopefully be a Part 2 to this area. I took that as my queue to head back, tomorrow marks the beginning of my research at NTU and so is a big day, hopefully things aren't too busy and that posts still make it your way!
      Read more

    • Day 44

      Visit to Joo Chiat

      July 5, 2015 in Singapore ⋅ ⛅ 32 °C

      Hello everyone and happy belated Canada Day and Independence Day (to those living in the US)! Yesterday was quite the adventure as I visited Joo Chiat, also known as the Peranakan District. This area used to be a Malay fishing village, and Peranakan refers to the Straits Chinese, the descendants of the early intermarried Chinese and Malay community who settled here a while ago. I visited the old ruins of the Grand Hotel as well as a number of conserved shophouses, temples, churches and confectioneries. I tried out some of the local specialties such as 'nonya chang' (rice dumplings wrapped in fragrant pandan leaves with minced pork, winter melon cubes and spices) and 'soon keuh' (turnip and minced meat dumplings). But by far the most interesting place was the Joo Chiat Complex and Malay Village, where locals come out at night to shop for everything from fabrics to rare Malay and Indonesian spices, Persian carpets and household goods. It's also a great place to buy traditional Malay clothes, called 'baju kurang' for ladies (an elegant loose-fitting long-sleeved dress over a long skirt or sarong of the same fabric) and 'baju kebaya' for men (a full shirt and sarong of identical material). The shops went on for miles and miles, and I guess in all the excitement and confusion of following the masses I lost myself in one of the shadier neighborhoods, Geylang. It took me almost an hour to re-orient myself, needless to say I now know where not to go. Still, it was fascinating to see this darker, poorer side of Singapore, standing in stark contrast to the squeaky-clean ideas most people have about the 'Garden City'.Read more

    • Day 2,227

      Familiar faces

      January 2, 2022 in Singapore ⋅ 🌧 24 °C

      I wake early and do my daily covid test before making way over to meet up with Charlie who stayed with me as a guest for 3 months during the summer when he couldn't get back to Singapore to see his family. I jump the tube for 40 minutes and Charlie meets me at the metro. They live in a condo apartment with it own pool gym and hot tub in the centre .
      We spend the morning catching up before heading a few stops to share lunch with his mum. After lunch we make an effort to try and get Charlie a sim, I can't believe I'm one step ahead of him when he's been here 3 weeks. The shopping malls here are crazy, they stretch over floors and basements , each shop having the number of the floor it's on followed by the number of the shop eg 2.56 so you would think the numbers run in order but that's not necessarily the case and Google maps is no good indoors. I send myself dizzy just trying to find where I am. The difference it makes being with someone I know has really raised my spirits a familiar face makes such a difference. Late afternoon we part company and when I disembark the tube I head to find the LFC shop hoping someone can advise me where I might be able to see the game, but to no avail. I've messaged the lfc supporters singapore club who usually meet at The Marriot Riverside but since covid that's been knocked on the head.
      I make an enquiry to Muddy Murphys Irish bar but they advise me that they aren't allowed to show any live TV. I accept the fact I'm going to have to head back to my room to stream it. After realising the game doesn't start for another 2 hours I go down to the foyer for a ciggie and get chatting to a dad and his son who is a liverpool supporter who says it might be on at the pool 🎱 bar round the corner, I laugh and say I'm a hustler and the young lad says he's good 🤣🤣 I beat him 5-3 😉 before heading back for the game let's hope we get the same result 👍
      Read more

    You might also know this place by the following names:

    Sungai Lanchar

    Join us:

    FindPenguins for iOSFindPenguins for Android