2010 Asian odyssey: Shanghai World Expo, Kuala Lumpur, and more! (Part 12)

This entry is part 12 of 12 in the series 2010 Asian odyssey: Shanghai World Expo, Kuala Lumpur, and more!

July 8, 2010

2010 Asian odyssey: Shanghai World Expo, Kuala Lumpur, and more! (Part 12)

By Simon J. Lau

Today, I’m leaving Singapore and will be returning home to San Francisco. I’ve had a wonderful vacation, and in all regards, this trip has exceeded my expectations. I’ve been able to connect, and in some cases, reconnect with so many great people and see so many great things. More importantly, this vacation has provided me time to consider my plans for the future and prepare for this next phase of my life. So although it’s sad that this is coming to an end, I’m looking forward to jump-starting my plans when I get home. With this in mind, here are the last of my pictures from Singapore and the last of the pictures from my Asia trip.

I’m so glad I made it to the Singapore Zoo! At the time, my impression of Singapore had started to take the form of different versions of the same thing – one city center followed by another. However, visiting this zoo has prompted me to question whether there were other areas I hadn’t seen on the island that could have changed my impression of Singapore earlier.

In any case, this place is 3 Star Michelin rated, and for those who know Michelin ratings, that’s no joke. To put this into perspective, Michelin is best known for its restaurant ratings and there are no restaurants in San Francisco that have earned a Michelin star. So although San Francisco is a global city and has arguably some of the best culinary experts in the world, it’s still not good enough for Michelin.

What makes this zoo particularly special is that there are very few caged exhibits. For instance, this feeding area where these orangutans were sitting was part of their exhibit and wasn’t fenced off. In fact, all it took for them to come visit us on the ground was some food. Soon after I took this picture, they had people sitting on a bench right below them taking pictures. It’s amazing they don’t try to escape!

Clearly, some exhibits have to be fenced off. But of the ones that are, the zoo still provides a great view into the exhibit. In this case, had there not been glass between me and this cheetah, I could have pet him. By the way, he’s just stretching!

These two were really excited because people were feeding them carrots. Watching them eat kind of reminded me of my guinea pigs, Boris and Heffer, since they like carrots too!

I forgot to mention this in my other post regarding my trip from KL to Singapore, but this picture reminded me of what I was going to say. Most of Malaysia is made up of lush jungle, similar to the island region across the shore, and it’s really quite a sight to see! So although I wasn’t initially impressed by KL, seeing even a glimpse of the beautiful Asian Pacific rainforest in Singapore made me reconsider my hasty impression of KL, and Malaysia in general.

This picture was taken at the Buddha Tooth Relic Temple in Chinatown. This temple was both the best and the only free temple I’ve been to during my whole trip. The building was recently completed in 2007 and has now become a popular tourist attraction in Singapore.

These next few night pictures are long exposure shots I took of Clarke Quay and the surrounding areas. This particular building was right by my hostel and just along the Singapore River.

This is a picture of the Fullerton Hotel. It is now a 5-star hotel but it once served as the general post office of Singapore. This is also one of the most iconic buildings in Singapore and it is situated along the mouth of the Singapore River.

This is a photo of Esplanade-Theatres, a building that houses both a concert hall and theater, just along Marina Bay. Some say the structure of the main building resembles that of a durian. Why Singaporeans both love and hate durian, I don’t know. But all I can say is that this building is quite nice to see at night!

This is One Fullerton, an area just adjacent to Merloin Park. This area provides the best views of Marina Bay, and arguably the best views of Singapore overall. I was lucky enough to live not too far away from here and visited this area nearly every night I was in Singapore.

Meet Shu, a classmate of mine from UCLA. I haven’t seen her since she graduated in 2006, but it was good to catch up with her again. It was also fun exploring the Clarke Quay area with her. Since college, she’s been busy at Credit Suisse and just recently relocated back to Singapore after a 2-year stint in Hong Kong.

Finally, here’s the entrance to Rucksack Inn, the second hostel where I stayed in Singapore. It’s garnered numerous awards, including being named “Top 3 in Asia” by hostelbookers.com, among others. Once I met some people, the experience became quite enjoyable.

Interestingly, the owner, Jacqui, is a contestant on a Singaporean reality TV show called “Can You Serve.” Currently in its first season, Jacqui has made it to the top 3 finalists! If you’re curious, you can catch her profiled in the first episode around the 3:15 mark here.