My elder brother, Manish (Dada – in bengali means older brother), is currently posted in Singapore. This provided the opportunity and the prefect excuse for a trip there over the Chinese New Year. Monjistha needed a fair bit of convincing as Mayank was only 3 months old, however with my brother’s family she felt a bit more reassured. We flew to India on 18th Jan via Dubai on an Emirates flight. Emirates have made a stunning new terminal in Dubai. We had to break there for a few hours before boarding our flight for India. However it felt that the terminal had been converted into Howrah or Shealdah station by Bangladeshi immigrant labourers who were sleeping on the ground just like passengers do on our railway platforms in India when trains are delayed. It was quite funny and sad at the same time. The funny bit was the way they were sleeping with a blanket/shawl drawn right over there heads. Some of them started chatting to me in Bengali and wanted to hold Mayank. To me it was apparent that they missed there families and many of them had small children and many mouths to feed at home in Bangladesh. It also seemed a bit of a lottery where some one was going. An agent had a list and he was calling out random names from the list and sending them to different planes, some went to Iraq, some to Qatar, some to Saudi Arabia. I wondered how much they got paid how much these middle men made and I started having that heavy feeling in my heart, enough to make me think, snap out of it, “In few hours I will be in India – so be Happy.” 19th to 23rd I did very little other than spending time with my parents and on 23rd night caught the flight to Singapore. It was the marriage season in India and the traffic jams on the bypass were endless. I had almost given up hope on catching the flight but we did make it. At the airport I bumped into a very old friend Shayantani. When I was in Medical College she was in Presidency. If I remember correctly she was flying to LA. This is the first time I met her in 13-14 years so we did some catching up and then boarded the flight. Once on board I remember having a conversation with Monjistha about the waist line of the air hostess on Singapore airlines. Each and every one of them we were convinced suffered from anorexia, but they do look smart. 24/01/2009: Arrival – The Singapore Airport in itself should be a tourist attraction. I am fairly certain I have never ever seen anything so clean. You worry about sitting down on a chair as you might leave fingerprints behind and spoil its pristine state. Dada was waiting, we jumped in a taxi and onto his flat in King’s Mansion in 15 minutes. Caught on the lost sleep during the day and then in the evening went to explore China Town and the Esplanade region with Dada and my nephew Arko. China town was extremely busy due to the festivities. We browsed around the stalls and some of the displays make nice subjects. It was the year of the ox and there were huge displays on the main road which were lit up. We then took the metro to Clarke Quay and strolled around the riverside, across the Cavenagh bridge towards the Merlion. Looking towards the Theatres on the Bay from across the river does provide a stunning photographic opportunity, so does the sky scrappers and there reflections on the river. I knew straight away that I would be visiting this place a number of times during my stay to catch the night skyline. 25/01/2009: Sentosa Trip – Next morning we went of to Sentosa. My sister in law (bowdi in bengali) offered to baby sit Mayank, so Monjistha could come along as well. So the party consisted of Dada, Arko, Monjistha, Mahi and myself. We took the rope way in to Sentosa. In Malay the term Sentosa means tranquility however with the Chinese New Year holidays, it was anything but tranquil. First they gave us a tour of the island. As part of this we went to the Underwater world and then attended “Meet the Dolphins” session at the Dolphin lagoon. The weather got a bit cloudy so it was not that great for photography but the dolphins did perform some stunning acrobatics. They also got some brave souls to get in the water with the dolphins. After that it was time to go to the 4D Magix and then the Sentosa Cineblast. In the 4D Magix Mahi sat on my lap and was fine for part of the show but once the seat started to go crazy as the logs fell down the stream and then through the electric saw she did scream her head of. After this we went to the Songs of the sea, it does get quite full and I will recommend getting there early for the best seats. This was the real highlight of the day out and the light and sound effect is quite something. If you want to take photographs during this you will need a tripod. After the show we wandered through the Sentosa flowers exhibition, by the Merlion on to the Mono rail and back into Singapore. According to bowdi, Mayank had been reasonable but towards the evening had started to get cranky. This was the first time he had stayed away from his mum for more than 12 hours. 26/01/2009: Republic day celebration at Indian High Commission – In the last 10 years, I have not attended any republic or independence day celebration. Being in Singapore on the 26th Jan provided this unique opportunity. Arko was due to receive a prize for Hindi essay writing competition. So this gave another reason to make the effort. I was quite surprised at the large turnout, there is quite large Indian population. So we watched the flag hoisting, sang Jana Gana Mana and watched all the performances by the children and then finally the prize distribution. In the evening we spent time in Little India visiting some of the temples and the Mustafa shopping centre. 27/01/2009: Phor Kark See Temple in the morning and Hong Bao Festival in the evening – Dada and I went of to Phor Kark See temple. If there is one temple to visit in Singapore this is the one. It is the largest in Singapore and one of the largest in Sout East Asia. Many a Chinese Kung Fu movie have used this as a backdrop. Multi tiered roofs bristle with ceramic dragons, phoenixes and human figures. It goes on and on. The sheer magnitude and the exuberant decor is breath taking. A new prayer hall houses a vast seated Buddha and is reputed to be the largest in South East Asia. In the evening all of us including Mayank went to the Theatres on the Bay and the Hong Bao festival by its side. Monjistha had just about recovered from the trip to Sentosa. It was quite nice to quitely sit by the waters and listen to the performers plaing in the background. I stayed back to photograph the props at the Hong Bao festival. 28/01/2009: Jurong Bird Park – This again was a trip on my own. Got on the metro and it took me from the East of Singapore to the West. While on the metro realized that even drinking water is forbidden. Not knowing the rules I had a sip and immediately had a number of stares from fellow passengers immediately followed by an announcement to the same effect. It did feel quite wierd, I guess such levels of cleanliness does have a cost in terms of human liberties. Anyway this was another amazing experience. Housing nine thousand birds and over six hundred species this is one of the World’s largest collection of birds. The waterfall aviary was the highlight. It is a specially created tropical rainforest with over 1500 birds flying around. Try and make it to one of the feeding times and one can get some amazing shots of our feathery friends. 29/01/2009: China Town and Future Buddha Temple, Fountain of Wealth, Suntec city in the evening – This was another trip with the whole family including Mayank. We went to China town and visited the Chinatown Heritage Centre which tries to replicate life in earlier years of Singapore. It does look quite authentic. We then visited the Sri Mariamman Temple followed by the posh and plush Future Buddha Temple. In the evening I went out on my own to Suntec city and spent a long time photographing the Fountain of Wealth. After that I took a long walk through the War Memorial park, Raffles City, St. Andrews Church and by the boat Quay and Esplanade. I also made a mental note of where I will position myself to photograph the Chingay parade from the next evening. 30/01/2009: Temples in Singapore, National Botanical Garden, Chingay Parade – I was almost coming up to the end of my trip. So this was one of those mop up days to see all the things I have not yet ticked of. I started of by visiting my dada’s office and seeing his desk from where he does Forex trading. After that I started a long walk. Fortunately just by chance I got to see one of the red lion dances outside the Aviva office building. This traditional dance is supposed to bring in good luck and is quite a sight to watch. After this I saw a number of temples, the most impressive amidst this was the Thian Hock Keng temple. Then I jumped into a taxi and off I went to the botanic gardens housing the national orchid gardens. This would have been a big miss if I would not have come here. Multi coloured orchids of various sizes can be seen, apparently there are 1000 species with 2000 hybrids. I did not count, not that obsessive. But those into floral photography will have a fantastic day. In the evening as planned the day before I took up a vantage point for the Chingay parade. The parade with its variety, showcasing every possible Asian community that one can think of was quite an expereince. With the attendance at Chingay it seemed that I had done everything one could possibly do in Singapore. Had lovely home cooked food by bowdi, personalised tours by dada, attendance at a republic day ceremony, the Hong Bao festival, the list is endless. Next day we caught the flight back to India. While Monjistha, Mahi and Mayank stayed back in India to enjoy the hospitality of our parents I made the lonely trip back to UK.
