The Future of Travel In Cartoons - Art To See On The Underground At Newton MRT station, Singapore

'Starfish' travel. Artwork on Newton underground MRT station. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

On closer inspection, I see that the windows are in a spiral, a bit like a seashell.

Jellyfish travel - or maybe inside a spider. Artwork photographed on Newton. Photo taken and named by Angela Lansbury.



Travelling in front of the fishtail. Photo by Angela Lansbury.

All over Newton underground train station walls on your way to and from the Downtown line are these cute little drawings. Teeny characters travel on a futuristic sci-fi means of transport, a cross between space travel and submarines. What does this picture remind you of? It reminds me of a starfish.

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Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer. See next post on the giant mural at Newton, as well as other posts about sttion artwork in Singapore, the UK, and worldwide. Please share links to your favourite posts.

Photo Contest On Tunnels - Artwork in Singapore; London, and stations worldwide

The three winning photos on the theme of tunnels are now on display not only at Newton MRT station in Singapore but also at Downtown station.

What more Art at Newton?

London's Tube
London, England, is all tunnels. That's why it is called The Tube. We also speak of tube trains, which is neatly alliterative.

Paddington station, London
From here you descend a staircase to the tube line.

The dimness of the tunnel at Baker Street station is relieved by the white tiles and the distraction of the attention grabbing evocative artwork showing Sherlock Holmes. The fictional detective, (based on a Scottish man) is shown with his pipe and deerstalker hat. 

Curves are always soothing. Notice here we have the London Underground symbol, red circle and white complete disc centre around the horizontal tube station name.

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Airline

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Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker.

I have many more posts on London and stations and singapore and stations you can see worldwide. Please bookmark and share links with your favourite family and friends.

National holidays - what's open and shut and why? A Singapore story.

Problem
I once took a holiday to a foreign city for a long weekend, hoping to visit a museum and a restaurant on my last day. Unfortunately, they both closed on Monday.

Singapore
In Singapore, on Tuesday 29th May 2018, I tried contacting people in Toastmasters. Nobody was answering. Why?

From the emails and chats with others I know that in the UK Monday was a bank holiday. America had Thanksgiving. Singapore has Vesak Day on Tuesday.

But surely there must be places which are open? What about other religions, such as church groups?

Answer
Finally, somebody texted me the answer. In Singapore, most Toastmasters clubs meet in Community Clubs. Two of the busiest are Braddell Heights Community Club near Serangoon MRT (train station) which has four clubs, Braddell Heights 1, Braddell Heights II, Braddell Heights Advanced, and Mandarin.

Cairnhill Community Club, almost adjacent to Newton MRT, has about eight clubs, a Mandarin speaking club, a bilingual Malay and English club, a French club, and several English speaking clubs including Cairnhill, Star Millenium Advanced, Filcom for the Filipinos keen to improve their English, and the Vietnamese club and IPA, the Indonesian Professional Association. I have been to the French Club, Francophone, and English speaking clubs.

You would think that like restaurants, Community Clubs would choose to open on National Holidays. Apparently not. Offices and public buildings are closed.

Community centres, although they have outdoor sports areas and open-sided indoor sports areas, are run by offices. Presumably, they also need cleaners to check the toilets every hour. So with those holding the keys to the room also on holiday with their families, the meeting rooms are locked and the clubs cannot meet.

Thanks to the person who enlightened me.

The moral is, don't wait until the holiday and try ringing around because you might get answerphones , recorded information, instructions to ring back after the holidays and phones not answered. When you see a holiday coming up, check in advance what will be open.

visitsingapore.com
singaporeair.com (Singapore Airlines)
https://www.ishopchangi.com
http://www.changiairport.com/en/shop-and-dine.html
http://www.goodwoodparkhotel.com/durian-fiesta-2018-,promotions_viewItem_1341-en.html

visittheusa.com

visitbritain.com

Author, Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker.

Newton Centre Photo

As you can see, despite the upgrade in 2016, it is still fairly basic with backless stools. I was surprised to discover that the place was upgraded in 2016 because my first thought was, this place could do with an upgrade!

Many people like to see the indoor and outdoor hawker centres and consider them the real Singapore. favourite foods are chicken rice and fish head or fish head curry.

Make sure you have ascertained prices in advance, especially for seafood as foreigners have been charged not just more than locals but huge amounts. I try to get locals to order for me. (Not those loitering around, who are relatives or employees of the nearby stall.)

I look for listed prices. One stall had colourful pictures of fruit drinks and the prices listed.

The place had some nice Chinese touches, such as the red Chinese lanterns overhead.

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Author, Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker. See my previous post on sugar cane juice.

Where Can You Spend Christmas For 'High' Tea With A View Over Singapore?

Problem
Where could we spend Christmas Day afternoon in Singapore (without booking a meal which breaks the diet and costs a fortune)?

Answers
Why Not Raffles Hotel?
Our first thought was Raffles Hotel. It has lots of restaurants and shops. I decided to check on line first.

It's a good thing I did. Raffles hotel has been closed since mid November 2017 for refubishment and won't open until later in 2018 - so not an option for New Year's Eve either.

Sheraton Towers Hotel
Our second thought was of the Sheraton Towers hotel because it is right next to Newton MRT station. But I've been there, seen the decorations, done that, already.

The same goes for the old Fullerton Hotel and the new Fullerton Bay Hotel.

Finally, a moment of inspiration, the glamorous new with a view Marina Bay Towers. A huge complex of shops and restaurants with a wonderful view from the top floors. Ultra-modern. Stunning views. Off we went.

The nearest MRT station was Bayfront. The station has a plaque explaining the mural showing ships.

Despite the threats of drizzle, we were able to walk along in the dry because an elegant underground passageway lined with upmarket shops leads from the station to the hotel complex.

The hotel complex consists of three towers. After looking around the shops, you will want to go up. You can buy a ticked for the observation deck to take photos.

Alternative pay $20 per person to go to the top floor, above the observation deck, where you have a choice of the indoor and outdoor restaurant area, or the bar area Cé La Vi.

We started at the bar, which has a smoking area and a non smoking area of bar stools overlooking Marina Bay.

You can look down and play spot the landmarks.

We saw:

The Merlion statue.
The coloured stands where spectators watch the formula one race.
The two pimply lumps of the domed Esplanade nicknamed the Durian.
Grand hotels.
The Bukit Timah mountain in the middle of the island in the distance.
The old Fullerton Hotel and the new Fullerton Bay Hotel.

Further in are red sofas overlooking the water or the rooftop swimming pool. It's an infinity pool, which means it looks like the water gushes over a cliff edge.

The pool is for residents only. A friend of ours was so impressed by the pool that when his family came over to Xmas he booked a bedroom for a night and day so the children could enjoy the novelty of the pool and view.

However, just sitting at the bar overlooking the pool give you a holiday feeling.

Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

The twenty dollars you have paid to go up to the bar gets you a voucher for twenty dollars to put towards drinks or food. The cocktails start at 22 dollars. I tried a cocktail with local kaya flavour, Kaya is a coconut jam. It was dee-licious! Delightful. Divine. I now want a jar of kaya jam or a kaya toasted open sandwich for breakfast - avalable in many hawker centres in shopping malls.

We spent another 22 dollars on a pizza. The pizza was flat on a crisp biscuity base. Great texture and taste.

A highly successful outing with a 'high' tea and view over Singapore.

When I got home I looked up the Celavi company and discovered that they have branches not just in Singapore but also in Hong Kong; Bangkok, Thailand; and St Tropez, France, Europe.

Cé La Vi
Level 57
Skypark
Marina Bay Sands
Hotel Tower 3
1 Bayfront Avenue
Singapore 018971
Tel: +65 6508 2188. Hotline operating hours 10 am-1 am.
Opening times:
Day lounge 12 noon - 5 pm (from 11 am on weekends)
Sunset sessions 5 pm-10 pm. Clu nights 10 pm until late.
New Year's Eve variety and cabaret and fireworks display
pre-sale tickets at sg.celavi.com

Useful Websites
celavi.com

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and phtographer, author and speaker.

Colourful Towers and Cars in the Sky in Singapore

Problem
I see a wonderful building changing colour as I watch on Scotts Road as we walk from the Orchard direction towards Newton MRT.

The two towers change colour as I stop to photograph the building. From royal blue through white to red. I love it. What is the building called?

Answer
I photograph the front with the name. Unfortunately when I get home I find that the picture of the facade across the road in dim light taken in the evening with a handphone is not clear. However, I know exactly where the structure is situated.

So I later look it up on the map. It's called the Hamilton. I remember the name. It reminds us of Lewis Hamilton, the racing car driver. No coincidence.

I decide to search and research the building. On their website I learned nothing about the light display. I was surprised to see that the twin towers of the building contained fewer than 60 flats.

Car Parking En Suite In The Sky
The big surprise was the ensuite garage in the sky for each flat.

Long ago I stayed at a hotel which was alongside a car park. They had arranged for the bays to be numbered so that if you reserved a car parking space it was on the same level as your hotel bedroom. I thought that was a novelty and a clever idea and a convenience. But the idea of matching car parking to the level of your home bedroom did not seem to catch on elsewhere and did not spread worldwide.

Have a look at the Hamilton website. You have to enjoy a really swanky car to want to have it parked visible beyond a glass window alongside your apartment's living room.

In Singapore just owning a car is a luxury. You have to be able to afford the Certificate of Entitlement as well as the cost of the car. Yet the roads are full of cars.

http://www.hamiltonscotts.com/en/latest-news
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lewis_Hamilton

Photos and video by Angela Lansbury. Copyright 2017.
Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker.

Community Clubs In Singapore - Please Copy

In England, Harrow is threatening to close down Harrow Arts Centre. But Community Clubs are being built and renovated all over Singapore. Mayor of London, please copy.

Singapore has numerous community clubs or community centres, called CC for short. From most maps inside an MRT station you can identify a nearby Community Centre. 

In the morning you can see the elderly doing tai chi snail-slow exercises like slow motion ballet dancers in the outdoor courts at the front. Children arrive for the creches and the music school lessons. The office at the entrance hall can direct you to activities. You pass the gym, the dance groups, the Mandarin classes. 

In the evening I go to toastmasters International Speakers groups. You can find English language groups, and bilingual groups where speeches and evaluations are given in in Mandarin and English.

Every few years each CC is upgraded. the latest in 2016 include Cairnhill near Newton MRT (underground railway) station.

A new CC is being built next to HillV2 mall, a few steps downhill from Hillview MRT station on the Downtown line.

A few opportunities:

Mandarin classes: Cairnhill CC.

Francophone French speaking Toastmasters club, Cairnhill CC.

Star Millenium Toastmasters club, Cairnhill CC.

community clubs in singapore

Angela Lansbury, BA Hons, CL, ACG, travel writer and photographer, English teacher, speaker. Please share links to your favourite posts.