Welcome to Singapore

This morning was spent just traveling around the local area using public transportation and on foot. We finally left the Singapore airport around 3:30am after getting through immigration and customs and figuring out how get from terminal 1 to terminal 3 at the airport. Not trivial at that time of day due to things being shut down. These multi-colored building caught my eye as we were walking around town. You may notice that it is very hazy as there is a lot of smog from burning in Sumatra. Breathing the air is a real hazard.

The first stop was Arab Street where there were a lot of small shops under the residences. It was in the mid-90's all day long and well into the evening. The humidity was also pretty high all day.

Motorcycles and scooters are everywhere here in Singapore though I could probably count on one hand the bikes over 500cc. Here is bike parking in front of the mosque.

A better view of the Sultan Mosque.

The streets are a lot wider here but much more crowded. The vehicles are generally larger. You still see the micro-vans and trucks but you also see large, 5-ton delivery trucks and large tour buses navigating the city streets. We caught a double-decker city bus after we reached the end of Arab Street (the actual name of the street) and rode it to the Esplanade.

This is the financial district from the front window of the double-decker bus. It was fun being able to ride above the traffic and since we were in the very front of the bus, it is about 8' in front of the center of the front wheels which made going around corners interesting.

This striking building is the Marina Bay Sands. It is a hotel and casino and has what looks like a huge boat moored on top. The top has a park and a huge infinity pool on the left end. I'm told that you need to be a hotel guest to visit the park. It should be a great view.

This is the merlion, with the head of a lion and the body of a fish. And is the mascot and "national personification of Singapore". I must admit ignorance as I had not heard of this before today. There was quite a crowd around the statue and this picture is taken from across the harbor at the Esplanade, a grandstand and concert shell that hosts many free concerts.

Just one of many old motorcycles with utility sidecars. There have been a number with food carts attached. You may notice that the sidecar is on the opposite side from U.S. models as they drive on the opposite side of the street here as well. I'd think that I would have a really hard time getting used to that as even as a pedestrian, I find myself looking the wrong direction before crossing.

We walked through several shopping malls on our way back to my sister's apartment and what was obvious is that the primary pastime must be shopping and eating.

Just one of many flowers in the area. Overall, you can tell that you aren't in Japan anymore. Gone are the polite greetings and clean streets. The interior of the cabs look like cabs anywhere in the U.S. There is no conformity. Our introduction last night was on the shuttle bus at the airport. The bus pulled right behind another bus and most people got out except for us and another older couple from Nebraska. We were expecting the bus to go on to the next terminal. The bus driver turned to us and gruffly said "Get out. Next bus".  Welcome to Singapore...