Day 3: Singapore

Day 3: Singapore

Hotel mascots

Hotel mascot caricatures on cappuccinos 

Quote of the Day: 

Please allow me to introduce myself
I'm a man of wealth and taste
Been around for a long, long year
Stole many a man's soul to waste

Weather: Same-same except hotter since there is more direct sun; 91 and humid (feels like 101)

Dept of Announcements: Mick and Keith license their song, Sympathy For the Devil, to world leaders all around the place: DJT, Putin, autocrats in Brazil, Poland, Hungary, Myanmar, Chine…everywhere. The agreement: it has to be played at every public event the leader attends, in its entirety. No need for translation. If you haven’t seen it, there’s a great documentary from 1968 of the Stones making the song, done by Jean Luc Godard, also called One Plus One.

Now back to your regularly scheduled show.

Congee and toppings

Fruit and yogurt

Sweet bao

THB does his 7 minute workout this morning. Skipping the late, spicy meal didn’t work, he was up for an hour in the middle of the night. So it goes. Breakfast in the main restaurant downstairs (same as spot for dinner last night). Congee, a real croissant, fruit for THB; DB has chicken noodle soup and yogurt with fruit; both have a decaf cappuccino with the hotel mascot’s face on the foam.

Half of the theater/concert hall

The other half

Up and out at 8:30, we won’t return until 12:30, that 4 hour stretch is a long one for THB. First up:  a tour of the two “halls” at the Esplanade, about 12 minutges walk from the Fullerton. It may be early, it is hot! This is a sub-specialty for DB and THB, having done tours at least in Copenhagen (awesome) and Reykjavik (excellent, with a huge Eliasson installation). There are only four of us, cost is around $15/pp, and the guide is very informative. The tour lasts almost exactly an hour.

The metal strip shows where the two "buildings" are floated with the outer structure being used to absorb vibrations from the street and the inner structure is protected from external noises 

Guide and other two tour members. For some reason, this is an exceptionally small tour....coronavirus worries? The woman is an Indian architect and her precocious fourth grader is off school. She's an ex-pat, has been in Singapore for about 2.5 years 

These aluminum "shields" were added about 6 months after construction was completed, without them it was like a greenhouse inside  

Not easy to see, that's a trench that separates the inside building from the outside building

Sound is crystal clear, the pianist plays a bit and we can hear it (without any reverberation) in the rear balcony very distinctly

The sun shields come with a maintenance cost: crew of three is constantly cleaning off the individual elements

 From there we hit the National Art Gallery, in the converted City Hall/Supreme Court building for one of the two locations housing the majority of the Singapore Biennale art exhibition, Every Step in the Right Direction; $22 per person which includes access to the rest of the art museum (and THB and DB don’t visit, choosing to spend as much time with the Biennale show as we can handle).

The view from the observation deck: city hall/supreme court structure is now the National Art Gallery. Supreme Court is now in the building behind with the flying saucer on top 

The art isn’t all that great; however, to be a great show there only has to be one fascinating piece, so you keep chasing, there’s a big reward at the end of the chase. Lots of video work, not too interesting.

A few of the artists that THB and DB liked:

A large number of pieces by Villa....is this him below?

Raymundo Albano

More video being shot

Lunch in the Gallery café: we each have halibut lightly simmered and served in a mild soy broth with a second bowl of lightly dusted rice, and iced tea, $33. Excellent meal! Back to the room for a rest-up before heading out for the rest of the day. Interesting coincidence: the café in the Jeu De Paume was also Japanese.

Small piece of halibut moved from broth to rice

Tourist time: we head to the top of that 3 legged beast with a boat on top. 

Far left observation deck

Singapore Slings, only $6 after taking "credit" for access to the top floor

The infinity pool for hotel guests...THB thought being well back from the edge was much preferred

It turns out that there are three separate 55 story hotels and a shared infinity pool on the top with a casino across the street. One of the hotels has a bar above the  observation deck (the infinity pool doesn’t go from end-to-end) and the bar takes your $16/pp and applies it as a credit. THB and DB have Singapore Slings: sweet and fortunately very low alcohol.

THB and DB needed those giant napkins from the cafe at top of the Pompidou

From there we walk about 20-25 minutes in the heat to Palm Beach for chili crab (the place we cancelled last night) for dinner starting at 5:30. One large crab smothered in mild chili/tomato sauce, one Tiger beer, one glass of rose’, one bottle of still water, one order of dark greens with soft garlic cloves, several baskets of fried soft rolls, and 5-7 wet towels, $235. As the twins would say about eating the crab: It’s a mess, andma!

An easy walk back to the Fullerton, in the room for more cleanup by 7pm and asleep by 8pm. THB sleeps right through the nightly fireworks. So maybe skipping the 8pm version the night before was a mistake. 

Pics from around town

Lots of shots of twin buildings

Teaching young woman how to squeegee off a skylight

The twins again

There's a lone flower about 8 feet up

Ships awaiting loading/unloading in Singapore Strait (at least, that what THB thinks is happening)

Football stadium

The burbs

The twins

It's a blow-up in front of a small set-up for New Years celebration