Christmas Decorations in Singapore, Free to see, Buy Paper Plates Or Gingerbread Houses

 Santa fallen over - after a heavy night in 2020. Cashew Heights condo in Singapore. Photo by Angela Lansbury.

Santa decorations and tree in Cashew Heights condo in Singapore in 2021. Photo by Angela Lansbury.

Looking carefully, I see that the Santa on the left is the same one as last year, presumably kept in storage.

Xmas decorations on sale in Fairprice supermarket, Bukit Panjang, Singapore. Photo by Trevor Sharot.

A friend in Singapore in a Whatsapp group told us that she created a lovely vase of decorations at an even better budget price from Daiso. I saw Xmas decorations in Daiso in Ion, at the central crossroads of Singapore in the middle of Orchard Road.

Free to see, decorations in Scotts Road leading to Ion Shopping Mall, far centre, at Orchard Road at lunch time in the rain. Photo by Angela Lansbury.

Ion, later the same day in the sun with Xmas lights. Corner of Orchard Road, adjoining Orchard MRT unerground railway station. Photo by Angela Lansbury.

On a budget? Paper plates for Xmas at Daiso. In Ion, Orchard Road, Singapore. Photo by Angela Lansbury.

Got cash to splash?

Gingerbread House in the Tanglin Club, Singapore. Photo by Angela Lansbury.

Useful Websites

https://www.daisosingapore.com.sg/

https://www.fairprice.com.sg/

About the Author of this blog, Author Angela Lansbury

BIOGRAPHY

Angela Lansbury B A Hons ACG ALB PM5 EH5 DL5 VC5 
The Author of several books, including  Etiquette For Every Occasion. Wedding Speeches & Toasts. How to be the Best Man. Quick Quotations. Who Said What When.

Blogs travelwithangelalansbury.blogspot.com

dressofthedayangela.blogspot.com

translateforfun.blogspot.com

Braddell Heights Advanced Toastmasters Speakers Club Vice President Public Relations (VPPR), Previous President

Join BHA 1st Wednesday 7pm and 3rd Saturday 2 pm Singapore time 

Vice President Public Relations (VP PR) of Tampines Changkat Advanced;

Secretary of weekly online Singapore International Dynamic Toastmasters Speakers’ Club;

Member and past president of Harrovians toastmasters club, UK; Past member of HOD Toastmasters, London. Past member in Singapore of: Toastmasters Club of Singapore (TCS); Tiarel; and Senja Cashew.

More details from Toastmasters International find a club.

Regular attendee at annual Swanwick Writers’ School, England.

Regular attendee at annual Writers’ Holiday, Wales.

Contributor to poetry readings, and after tea courses on: Speaking On Radio To Promote Books; and Plots And Character.

Winner of many club and area speaking contests in the UK and Singapore.

Language advisor to Empire Toastmasters club in Indonesia.

Language and speech workshops in Singapore.

Speaker on radio and TV in England, Scotland, the USA, and Australia.

Compiler of a school course on public speaking for teachers to prepare pupils for school open days with attending ceremonies before government ministers, Singapore.

Former member of Harrow Writers’ Circle, London, and two writing groups in Singapore.

Angela is on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Twitter. She would be delighted to link up with new friends.

I  also have a blog on comic poems.

 Please share links to your favourite posts.

Shelter For Shoppers Needed On Rainy Days In Singapore

Problem
Shelter from rain and sun is not a new idea. Raffles introduced the five foot way. Five foot wide, wide enough for two people to pass without forcing somebody out into the rain, the sun, the gutter.

I walk along the pavement and a pram, bicycle or scooter forces me against the wall which ladders my clothes, or out into the road and passing cars. I bump people with my bag or get bumbped by their when i walk along. A husband and wife with two children block the entire pavement. I am passing in the corridor. I reach the ladies toilet and there is a queue at the ladies toilet, no room to enter and exit and get to the wash basins. The idea of the five foot way was great.\

Waiting for a bus or a taxi, where are the benches with backs, and the shelter. Even the long shelters for bus passengers fill up fast.

Covered ways are being built between the stations of the MRT (mass transit railway) and the nearby housing estates and schools. That is excellent.

 But what about Orchard Road. Between the Paragon shopping mall (with Metro department store  and lots of upmarket shops), local people and foreign visitors are stranded or drenched.

I came out of Paragon and along with many tourists was stranded. Waited twenty minutes. Yes, if you can afford it you can get a taxi - but then you would be leaving the Orchard Road shops and denying them purchases of clothes, souvenirs, food and drinks. I eventually got drenched going back towards Orchard MRT via Tangs department store. Yes, Tangs is linked to the MRT. But the shoppers here at the Paragon are cut off from Tangs.

I thought: How about crossing the road from the Paragon to Ngee Ann City opposite? On second thoughts: I am not dashing across a busy road in the wet. Yes, there's an underpass from the next mall to Ngee Ann City. But how do I get from the Paragon to the next mall?

 Am I going to cross to Ngee Ann City to visit the Kinokunia boostore? No. My bags and clothes are soaking wet. I am not buying books to get soaking wet.

To attract shoppers from one end of Orchard Road to the other, and from one side to the other, the street needs covered ways all the way along.

The same applies to other cities. Pedestrian ways in London's Oxford Street,or Windsor, are no use in the rain. Shopkeepers know that on rainy days shoppers don't come out. Do they realize that shoppers who are already out won't stay out?

Come on, business associations,city planners, councils and governments. Do a favour to the shops, shoppers, tourists, economy, and the ordinary citizens. You only have to look at a rainfall calendar to see that cities worldwide need shelter for shoppers.

In England we say, if you want different weather, wait five minutes. If you want to visit England or Singapore, here are some useful websites:

Useful Websites
singaporeair.com (Singapore airlines)

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