Singapore: Chinatown, Little India, Arab Street

After a 5 month hiatus from my last post about my travels to Nanyang: Singapore, Malaysia and Brunei, I decided to continue where I left off by posting pictures from Singapore's ethnic areas.

The pictures are taken from May 5-8, 2008.

Here is a recap of what I posted so far with regards to my 3 week trip in May 2008.

Stopover in Seoul, Korea:

Nanyang Trip: Stopover in Seoul Day 1: Arrival and Namdaemun Night Markets

The Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) on the USO Korea Tour

Seoul Day 2: Seoul Station, Deoksugung Palace, N Seoul Tower

Seoul Day 3: Gyeongbokgung Palace, Namsangol Traditional Folk Village

Seoul Day 3: Insadong, Seoul Skyline from Han River

Seoul Day 3: Myeongdong at Night, Cheonggyecheon Stream

Seoul Day 4: Namdaemun Market

Seoul Day 4: Incheon International Airport

Singapore:

Singapore Day 1: Financial/Colonial District, Boat Quay

Singapore Day 1: Singapore City Gallery at the Urban Redevelopment Authority HQ

Singapore Day 2: The Singapore Flyer (The World's Largest Ferris Wheel as of 2009)

Because we stayed at my cousin's flat in Singapore, everyday when we went sightseeing we would commute via the train system from the suburbs to the city centre.

The suburbs are where the population of Singapore lives. They live in HDB - Housing and Development Board "new towns" where all the housing is built by the government.

Unlike in most countries, there is no "low income" sigma attached to public housing as almost all housing within Singapore is public. Therefore household ownership is affordable to people of all income levels.

Typical HDB block:

Canada Line Opening

On Monday, August 17, 2009, the Canada Line rapid transit project finally opened to the public after 4 years of construction and 3 months ahead of schedule.

I don't know why they choose to have the grand opening on a Monday (these kinds of grand infrastructure projects are usually open to the public on the weekends...) but because I had work, I unfortunately could not ride the train on the opening day. I tried going after work but the lines were just too crazy.

Instead after dinner I went biking down Cambie St. and across the Canada Line bridge to Richmond. While biking I passed by many stations and they were all packed with people. I had never seen Cambie St. so alive with pedestrians before!

Below are pictures of the craziness that ensued on opening day when an estimated 100,000 people rode the train from 1 pm to 9 pm.

(Note: The pictures are not mine and are from various sources)

Our illustrious leader, the one who knows best, Premier Gordon Campbell opening the system at the YVR-Airport station.

Club Nintendo Hanafuda Cards

Today I finally received by Nintendo-branded Hanafuda Cards from the Club Nintendo loyalty program.

It cost me 800 coins to "earn" this reward. For reference, the purchase of a new Wii game gives you 50 coins. I was lucky that Nintendo lets customers retroactively collect coins from before the Club Nintendo loyalty program launch or else I would have needed to buy 16 Wii games just to earn 800 coins. The cards are technically worth a whopping $800 (800 coins x Wii game/50 coins x $50/Wii game = $800).

I thought the cards would be made of cheap cardboard but they are actually made of plastic. Either way its a great collector's item.