The Singapore Zoo…a can’t miss if you’re in SG (picture heavy)

Posted on September 30, 2010 by Expat Bostonians

Elanor is easily made happy.  Being allowed to walk around, pointing at “Zebs, mon-KEES, and RAWRS (Lions)”, some KFC, and a water park…what more do you need in life?  She’s lucky, then, that all that and more can be found at the Singapore Zoo. Luckily, Ravi and I are also pretty big zoo fans ourselves, and are generally happy to indulge her.  Although it’s a bit remote (no MRT stop nearby, and I had to take 3 buses and over an hour the one time I attempted it via public transit….do yourself a favor and pay for the cab), it is a world class zoo and something no one should miss.

As a heads up, pictures in this post might have been taken at any number of trips between February (when we did our pre-acceptance visit) and yesterday, so Elanor’s age will not be consistent.

The Singapore Zoo (not to be confused with the Singapore Night Safari-an entirely separate zoo next door, or the Jurong Bird Park-a bird specific zoo) is a huge, open concept zoo.  The designers have minimized bars and barriers (beyond safety specific ones, of course) and the keepers try to interact as little as possible with the animals directly to create as comfortable and natural a habitat as possible.  This has resulted in things like the “Free Ranging Orang Utans exhibit, which is comprised of a central ground space for the Orang Utans and then branching out in the tree tops surrounding the ground space…at times the Orang Utans are literally walking over your head.  But when free-ranging, there are humane and quiet disincentives for the Orang Utans to leave the trees, keeping it safe for the tourists.  At the tiger exhibit (another big draw, especially at the daily 2:20 feeding time), the three tigers have both land and water to hang out in (I had no idea tigers loved to swim!).  Some exhibits (like the Kangaroo exhibit in Australia) mix friendly animal types, and others do not.

Free-Ranging Orang Utans (Feb 2010)

There’s a tram with 4 (maybe more) stops throughout the park.  It’s a nice ride, but with a toddler, you need to remove them from the stroller, and then expect them to sit still with you between stops, so we don’t often take it.  If you do take it, however, they have a fairly good script to learn more about the animals and to see the majority of the park without the giant hike it otherwise can be.

Tiger, Summer 2010

There are multiple shows every day, some with performing animals (Rainforest Strikes Back-which I’ve still yet to see, Splash Safari-with sea lions and other aquatic animals, The Elephant Working Show, and the Pet show-which is new and we haven’t seen yet either), and they also have scheduled feedings of a number of animals throughout the day.  The biggest draw is the Tigers (at 2:20), but there are also Pgymy Hippo feedings, Rhino Feedings, Jaguar feedings, and many others.  There are opportunities to interact with the animals, such a feeding a Rhino (daily at 1 and 4) or to have your picture with them (either with the birds, or several Orang Utans), or riding an Elephant (or a pony if you’re a kid).  If you’re really lucky, you may just walk past the elephants when they’re painting works of art you can buy in the gift shop.

Summer 2010

The keepers also specialize, and are often by the exhibits several times a day to talk to tourists.  When we visited on April 30th, it was just 2 days after a baby zebra had been born.  I had the chance to talk to the keeper at length, who told me about how they (medically) deal with a pregnancy, how the baby had been born (the mom jumped a barrier and spent the night pacing in the ditch between the exhibit and the pedestrians so she could give birth alone), how they coaxed them back into the exhibit (very carefully), and that they didn’t know what the sex of the baby was yet (as they do very little medical testing/intervention if they don’t need to).

April 30, 2010

Being a major zoo, the Singapore Zoo is full up to the brims with adorable zoo babies at this time of year.  From the baby zebra to the twin cotton top tamarinds to the itsy bitsy orang utans, if you’re gooey for babies…you’ll love April-August at the zoo.

May/June 2010

April 30, 2010

Food options are only just okay.  Outside the main gate is a bit of a food court, so you could always leave the zoo and then go back in.  But inside the zoo, there’s a KFC and Ben & Jerry’s inside Kidzworld, and a restaurant called “Ah Mengs.”  KFC is what you’d expect.  Ah Meng tries to have various kinds of food available (vegetarian, non veg, western, asian, etc) and it’s ok, but it’s not great.  Then again, I’m not sure I’ve ever had “good” zoo food.  Ah Meng is named after an Orang Utan of the same name, who was a long time fixture at the zoo, and was even presented with a special tourism award.  She passed away a few years ago, but is buried in a special garden at (Lookout Point) with a bronze statue to commemorate her (statue not pictured..apparently, I’ve never taken a photo of it).

February 2010

I’ve been a regular visitor for 5 months and I’m still finding new exhibits, or new things to photograph.  Yesterday, during E’s nap, I spent some time in the tropical garden with the plants and the orchids, and I’ve still yet to see every single exhibit.

If you have an older person with you, there are scooters to rent by the entrance.  However, don’t be shocked when they’re all being driven around the park by young people with no obvious need to use them other than they’re cool and keep you from walking so much.

WITH KIDS—

All but a tree-top walk are accessible by stroller, including underwater viewing areas for the Pgymy Hippo and the Polar Bear (although the Polar Bear is being moved to the new “River Safari” Zoo opening in 2012, and the exhibit is currently closed)  If you have a walking child, you need to be mindful of the trams, but there are clearly marked “sidewalks” as well.  In general though, it’s a great place to run a toddler with an overabundance of energy around.

Things that E especially loves are the buttons at the Tiger exhibit (they push the button and you hear different Tiger noises…Elanor has gotten into squabbles with her friends over who got to push the buttons, so keep an eye on them!), watching the Orangutans, the Flamingos (the “Mingos” according to E), and the Zebras (Zebah’s).

But beware that there are forces far more insidious at work…somehow, kids all are magnetically drawn to the back right corner of the zoo…to KidzWorld.

Kidzworld has pony rides and a carousel.  It has ice cream.  It has rabbits.  It has KFC.  It has…let’s cut to the chase…

THIS is where the party lives, in most kid’s opinions.  A mom I talked to yesterday told me her kids ask to NOT see the animals and just come straight to the water park.  E has thrown many a tantrum over leaving.

Basically it is a large area with water spraying, falling or spurting from a bunch of structures and sources.  The middle is a calf deep (for an adult) wading pool in the midst of all that.  There is a giant structure with small and mid-sized water slides.  Kids can pull/push a bunch of things to create or aim water.  You will both be soaked.  Every 10 or so minutes, the giant bucket on top of the biggest structure fills, a bell rings and it pours (see the first of the Kidzworld shots) creating a giant momentary waterfall–seeing kids react to that bell like Pavlov’s dogs is entertaining–they drop everything and RUN to be showered.  Elanor isn’t quite brave enough to go there yet, but she stops, watches and cheers each time.  Bring changes of clothes for everyone.

As a heads up–the place is packed on weekends, and if you have younger children, be very careful to keep an eye on them as many parents don’t bother and things can get a little “Lord of the Flies” in there.

If you live in Singapore, save yourself the time and effort and just buy the annual membership.  They’ll give you a half priced membership for your helper.  I’ve had my membership only 5 months and it’s already paid for itself.

Long long entry short—The Singapore Zoo is a can’t miss attraction if you’re a visitor, and if you’re a local (especially with a kid) there’s no reason not to have a membership.  This is truly one of the best zoos in the world.

Your reward for reading this long essay?  As I promised before, I did make a point of taking some pictures of the “open air” bathrooms.

It’s not glass….there’s just no wall

 

Filed under: Attractions, Funny Bathrooms, Pictures, Singapore, With Kids | 4 Comments »

Wordless Wednesday-Bridge Sign (not so wordless this week)

Posted on September 29, 2010 by Expat Bostonians

I was unaware the Singapore had a problem with wandering horses and livestock, thus making this a necessary sign.

If you’re curious-it was taken on the bridge crossing from the Boat Quay to the Fullerton Hotel.

Filed under: general places, Pictures, Singapore | 2 Comments »

F-1 Racing through the streets of Singapore

Posted on September 28, 2010 by Expat Bostonians

No, seriously…F-1 had races through the streets of Singapore.

Before I understood what that meant, I thought it was pretty cool.  Personally, the idea of watching someone else drive a car at 100 mph doesn’t really appeal to me…I’d rather be the one driving 100 mph.  But racing through the streets seemed kind of cool and unique as opposed to watching cars go around and around on an oval track.

Then last week I got a taste of what that ACTUALLY meant.  The road closures, the increased police presence (watching soldiers walk around Boat Quay with M-16′s doesn’t actually make me feels safer, it kind of just freaks me out), the fact that I had major issues getting to places I had to be multiple times, and the NOISE.

On Wednesday of last week, on impulse, I wanted to go to the Asian Civilizations Museum.  So we packed up Ella and got a cab.  Only to be dropped off a few blocks away because they were constructing the barriers on the roadside for F-1.

The road closures weren’t that big a deal…we had to keep asking people how to get to the museum, but we found it.  In the end, it was easier to walk behind the museum to the Boat Quay, over a bridge to Ravi’s work and take the MRT subway home.  Which ended up being a good thing as one of our summer deluges hit at some point in the one stop of the subway during which we were underground.  We camped out  in that mall for quite some time, and then got a cab home so I could get E organized before leaving for quiz night (when I get home after her bedtime).

On Thursday, we were trapped far from F-1 at the ION Orchard Mall by yet another rain storm.  But there were F-1 reps standing around the mall, handing out fans with glow stick handles to the little kids to advertise the event, and to entice parents into buying F-1 tickets.  While I was not convinced to do anything other than go on a shopping spree at KinoKuniya (the bookstore),  E thought this was among the best gifts ever.

On Friday, I wanted to go back and take pictures in the daylight of the lantern creatures, or at least of the signs (other than mouse, because as Paula pointed out, the sign should have read “rat” for Chinese Zodiac and I already had that one), but they were totally torn down.  Men were taking blow torches to the metal structures that had been holding up the lantern figures to further break them down.  But once we’d been wandering around, I decided to wait for Ravi to get off work and join and us for dinner.  So we just sort of hung out and people watched.

I played around with my shutter speed mode of my camera, and extended shots, and was super excited to get this next picture.  It’s taken from the opposite side of the river from Clarke Quay.  In the right hand corner, you’ll see four giant poles lit up…those provide the structure for a thrill ride.  A bungee cord is attached to each pole, and you sit in a seat in a thing attached to all four.  They then basically slingshot you into the sky.  If you look in the middle of the 4 poles, you’ll see two smaller vertical images…that is the pod people sit it (which is also lit up at night) and with the extended release, I was able to get an image that showed the up/down motion, which I think is really cool.  I did catch it at the end, so you should know it also goes much higher–I desperately want to go on this, but R won’t go with me.

Please click to embiggen…I’m very proud of this shot!

Around 8 or so, the noise started.  And while this will sound stupid, I was surprised at how much it sounds just like on television.  Only a LOT louder.  And with no mute switch.  We walked around a bit, waiting for Ravi, and some of the bars were showing the race.  It was fun, for about 10 seconds, to watch the view from the car as it raced through the city (from cameras either next to the driver or mounted on the car somewhere).  Then I was kind of over it.

After dinner Ravi needed to grab something from his work, which is right by part of the F-1 path.  So we shouted to each other as we walked there.  We could see the cars race across a bridge from near his work, but it was too dark and everything was far too fast for me to get off a good shot, although not for lack of trying.

My blog buddy “Suddenly in Asia” took this video from right around where we were walking to R’s work.  I mentioned to her that we probably walked by each other, and her (entirely accurate) response was that we probably walked by the entire population of Singapore that night.  This is exactly how it sounds if you put your volume on max and imagine it coming at you from every angle.

On Saturday I made up the photography class I’d missed because of Sesame Street Live.  Again, it was a bit difficult to get to the meeting point with road closures, but we also had to cut the class short as one of the sites we were going to photograph was inaccessible.  Such is life in the big city during F-1.  However, at one of the stops we did get to, I took this shot of the Stamford Raffles statue (Raffles is credited with having founded the city and you’ll find Raffles everything here…schools, MRT stops, malls, hotel, all named after him).

Yesterday, we had our class at the Merlion statue, which was also right by the grandstands.  We finished up just as the race was starting.  It goes without saying that I had trouble getting there, but after 3 days of hassles, I finally left early enough that I wasn’t late to anything.  So that’s something.  But I did take (along with other images, a shot that you only get to take when F-1 is in town, so maybe that makes the hassle worthwhile?).  That’s the Esplanade Theater, commonly called “The Durians” because of its resemblance to the fruit, with the F-1 flags in front of it.

So locals–is this an every year thing, too?

A different local blog buddy “Jeff and Flora: Living in Singapore” had great seats for F-1 and posted an entry full of far better (and very up close) pictures that you should go check out.  Below is the video they took of the start of the race, using an Android phone.

Filed under: Attractions, general places, Pictures, Singapore, Uniquely Singapore | 2 Comments »

Mid-Autumn Festival @ Clarke Quay, the final post…

Posted on September 27, 2010 by Expat Bostonians

So although I described our time at City Square Mall, and posted some strange lantern pictures (and answers), I didn’t really talk about the amazing lantern display at Clarke Quay itself.

Sadly, my class on nighttime photography was yesterday (the 26th) and these pictures were taken on the 18th, so if I could now magically go back in time, they might be slightly better photos.  On the other hand, better photos require the use of a stable tripod and a longer exposure, which would have been extremely difficult given the crushing crowds of people (either they would have accidentally jostled the tripod, walked through the frame, or I would have been a bit of a dick for asking for a 15 second exposure per picture, none of which would have really worked).

Having said that, we really enjoyed the walk through, and are sad that it was up for such a short time.  We managed to find the start of the lantern walk, and began there.

The lanterns (or so we were told) followed two themes–signs from the Chinese Zodiac or legends and myths from China.  I’m not terribly up on my Chinese myths and legends, so I just appreciated them for their aesthetic value, and how amazingly complex they were. We live very close to Clarke Quay and they were put in in a very short amount of time (and torn down in a day or two).

Although I took pictures of the zodiac animals, I found them to look like just popped out of an anime flick.  The three featured in the guess the animal contest were some of the most extreme examples of that.  But here are a few other zodiac animals.

The Bull

The Snake

The Horse (is missing a tooth?)

The Pig (looks like it’s possessed, and sticking it’s tongue out….why?)

Far more impressive (in my opinion) were the floating barges that depicted scenes from stories.  I kind of wish I knew the stories, so I could understand what was happening on a deeper level, but was also content just to be impressed by these lanterns.  The walk was along the bank of the Singapore River across from Clarke Quay (which is just restaurant after restaurant…there’s no room to do this sort of elaborate set=up).  The zodiac animals were on the sidewalk itself, but the barge scenes were floating on the river, tethered to the barriers (which is also where the sources of electricity were stationed).

I have mostly detail shots, and then some video that will show entire barges….

And video, because it’s hard to appreciate that the barges had moving parts and various patterns of light to make it look like fish were jumping or things were moving in a still shot…

Overall, a great date, and now I know next year to be looking forward to this!

Filed under: Attractions, Holidays, Pictures, Singapore, Video, With Kids | Leave a Comment »

Dear God, What is That Thing…Answers

Posted on September 25, 2010 by Expat Bostonians

Today I will tell you “What That Thing IS” in a rare 2nd post of the day.

No one got it right, sadly, but I was highly entertained by the answers.  I’ll pick a name out of a hat for the magnet, though, to be fair  as these were unguessable.  As we approached each animal Ravi and I would guess what it is, and then I’d go to the plaque and we’d go “HUH?”  All of theme are animals from Chinese Mythology and Zodiac.

MOUSE

DOG

RABBIT

We’re as confused as you.

Filed under: Attractions, Holidays, Pictures, Singapore | 11 Comments »

I’m apparently NOT a threat to American Security…

Posted on September 24, 2010 by Expat Bostonians

Because I’ve been invited to come and get a tour of the Embassy.

Considering the email notes at the end that it’s “unclassified” I figure I can share it with you guys…

Thank you for your letter of September 20 to Ambassador Adelman and to the American Citizens Services Section at the US Embassy regarding the experience you had in attempting to photograph the exterior of the US Embassy building in Singapore recently.  We very much regret the discourteous  treatment you received, particularly as there were no signs indicating that photographing the exterior of the Embassy is prohibited.  You make some very good points regarding what is available on Google (or Google Earth for that matter), but the prohibition against photographing US Embassy compounds is a worldwide policy that we are required to follow.

As you are probably aware, this policy is an outgrowth of the 1998 bombings of our Embassies in Nairobi Kenya and Dar es Salaam Tanzania, as well as attempted attacks on a number of our diplomatic facilities in the Middle East.  We have significantly tightened security at all of our Embassy facilities worldwide, an unfortunate consequence of the world we now live in. (Our Embassy Security Officer will be writing to you separately to explain a bit more about our security procedures.)

While we work behind heavy walls, we still try to be good citizens. In Singapore we have a very proactive, engaged diplomatic team as we support US foreign policy and commercial interests in Singapore and the wider ASEAN region.  Our Embassy officers speak at local secondary schools and universities; we have an Embassy social responsibility group that gets involved in local events including fundraising races, Ramadan-on-Wheels programs, and local environmental awareness and clean-up campaigns.  We also try to engage with the wider American community through a range of social events and programs sponsored by the American Chamber of Commerce, the American Women’s Association, and the American Association of Singapore.

While you had an unfortunate experience outside the Embassy I’d like to invite you inside for a tour of the Embassy and a short briefing on what the US Embassy does here in Singapore.  Please let me know if you will be available for a visit.

(By the way, I used to live in both Cambridge and Arlington, Massachusetts and I worked on Ed Markey’s first campaign for Congress.  I miss that area now, especially as we move into fall.)

I hope to hear from you soon and hope you will accept this offer to come visit us inside the Embassy.

-         Louis Mazel

Louis Mazel

Deputy Chief of Mission

American Embassy Singapore

This email is UNCLASSIFIED.

I still feel that a sign saying No Photography Please would solve a lot of their problems.  I’m going exercise my right to critique my own government and say that perhaps it’s an outdated policy given current technology as opposed to when the policy was put in place in 1998 following some bombing in August and Google wasn’t invented until September of 1998 (with the IPO in 2004), much less Google Earth, which dates to 2005.  Perhaps tourists taking pictures isn’t such a big deal and the policy might be worth eliminating or altering when it comes to Embassies in friendly nations?

Filed under: US | 7 Comments »

Dear God, What is that thing? (Mid-Autumn Festival, Clarke Quay version)

Posted on September 23, 2010 by Expat Bostonians

Today we’re going to play a little game I like to call “Dear God, what is that thing?”  Your goal is to correctly identify the creature pictured below (and yes, the post title is a nod to the Princess Bride because I’m a geek like that).  Locals, if you’ve been and actually KNOW the answers, please hold your tongues….otherwise, guess away as well.

If anyone can get all three right (honor system) I’ll get you a magnet or something and mail it (or give it to you) when I’m back in the States in early November and postage is cheaper.

#1

#2

#3

Filed under: Attractions, Holidays, Singapore | 7 Comments »

Wordless Wednesday (Botanic Garden)

Posted on September 23, 2010 by Expat Bostonians

I had a bit too much to drink at the Pub Quiz tonight, and it’s already Thursday here in Singapore.  Thus, rather than edit out my Mid-Autumn photos, I’ll share with you the best pictures from my Photography Class Trip to the Botanic Garden this past Sunday.

Filed under: Attractions, Pictures, Singapore | 4 Comments »

Mid-Autumn Festival @ City Square Mall and Clarke Quay

Posted on September 21, 2010 by Expat Bostonians

On Saturday, Ravi and I were trying to figure out what to do for a date.  Although there are several American movies out right now that I want to see, none of them are playing in Singapore.  We’ve had quiet date nights in for a few weeks running, so that wasn’t attractive.  And we both haven’t been spending as much time with E as we’d like to.  So I decided to go to a cool website that highlights all the stuff that’s going on in Singapore (called insing…creative, isn’t it?) and learned that it was the weekend of the Mid-Autumn Festival.

Let us all stop for a moment and be entertained that by the Western Calendar (the one I grew up using in New England, where we have all 4 seasons with a vengeance) Autumn hadn’t even started on September 18th.  “Mid-Autumn” struck me as odd, but I went with it, and hastily went to the lazy student’s favorite source of research….Wikipedia

The Mid-Autumn Festival is held on the 15th day of the eighth month in the Chinese calendar, which is usually around late September or early October in the Gregorian calendar. It is a date that parallels the autumnal equinox of the solar calendar, when the moon is supposedly at its fullest and roundest. The traditional food of this festival is the mooncake, of which there are many different varieties. The Mid-Autumn Festival is one of the few most important holidays in the Chinese calendar, the others being Chinese New Year and Winter Solstice, and is a legal holiday in several countries. Farmers celebrate the end of the summer harvesting season on this date. Traditionally on this day, Chinese family members and friends will gather to admire the bright mid-autumn harvest moon, and eat moon cakes and pomelos under the moon together.

read more about it in the Wikipedia article here

I’ve seen mooncakes, and I’ve read posts about mooncakes (Tiny Island has 3 great posts about mid-autumn festival and mooncakes here, here, and here….and my fellow expat American pal Suddenly in Asia posted about her less enthusiastic experience with mooncakes here) and because I am a giant baby about new foods, I did NOT try any, even if they are THE thing to eat for this moon-worship festival.

What I did find were two activities that might be fun with Elanor.  The first was held at the City Square Mall (which some of my friends will be interested to learn is an “eco-friendly mall”–see what that means here)…they were doing some kid friendly events, and were trying to make the largest lantern out of origami bunnies.

If E had been older, she could have made her own lantern, gone on a lantern procession and heard the story of the “moon fairy.”  As it was, she got a free goody bag, that included a paper lantern (sadly destroyed within a few minutes) and a giant lolly pop.

The tough part of having an (almost) 2 year old is that you want to take them out and teach them about the cool things going on, or important days, but they really are a bit too young to participate.

Having said that, the drummers who performed were a big hit with Ella.

But not long after we realized that we had exhausted the activities that E could participate in (and that it was getting late) and decided to move onto our second destination-Clarke Quay, where we could walk past some impressive lanterns and from where E and B could easily walk home while R and I had a nice dinner alone.

I’ll save most of the pics for tomorrow’s Wordless Wednesday, but I will say that this was one of the most crowded events I’ve been to in Singapore.  Obviously it shows that I’ve never been in town for any of the Chinese New Year events.  We inched forward at a glacial pace, and I was constantly worried about smacking the person in front of me with the stroller (sorry, when you stop that quickly, even if I’m going slow, I’m going to bump into you).  But it was well worth it, and E’s eyes got almost as big as they did when she Elmo at Sesame Street Live.

The lanterns are really something to see.  They range from flowers and details as small as your hand to large floating scenes, complete with motion.  The dragon (2nd picture) is easily the length of a city bus (perhaps even a small bit longer!).  These are (I think) the largest display of their kind (where the lanterns are characters) but there are equally impressive lantern displays throughout the city (and Chinatown will keep doing lantern related activities through early October–I’ll have to try to get down there at some point–it’s just not an easily navigated place with a stroller or a toddler–see the links to Tiny Island for some Chinatown pics if you can’t wait).

More pics for tomorrow’s Wordless Wednesday

Filed under: Holidays, Pictures, Shopping, Singapore, Uniquely Singapore, Video | 5 Comments »

I’m a threat to American Security…

Posted on September 20, 2010 by Expat Bostonians

Or at least according to the Singaporean guard outside the American Embassy, I am.

Let me back up.  I decided to walk to the Botanic Gardens from my condo.  On the walk, I pass tons of condos, shopping malls and government buildings, including the British High Council, the American Embassy, and the Australian High Commission, the latter three just about kitty corner from the entrance to the Botanic Garden.  I was walking on the sidewalk and saw the giant 20 foot high seal on the American Embassy and decided to take a picture as it makes a pretty image with the flag out front (there is no sign saying not to, for the record).  I was accosted by a security agent who verbally attacked me for doing something I had no reason to think I couldn’t and made to feel like a criminal.  I was repeatedly told to delete it for “the safety of the embassy,” although she was incapable of explaining how an exterior shot of a public building endangered anyone/anything.  She made me scroll through all my pictures, in case I had staged some shots of my daughter in between my 3 pictures of the exterior (3 because I was trying to get the right contrast to best highlight the seal engraved on the concrete exterior).

I was angry enough to notice that she was obviously NOT American, and considering I am, I found no shortage of irony in this.

I walked away feeling like a horrible criminal.

Here’s the thing.  I’ve been to DC and taken pictures of the Capitol and White House from a shorter distance away.  I’m sure if I scrolled through all the pictures I’ve taken in Boston the Federal Building would pop up in a few as it’s next to the Garden (TD North Garden?  Who’s sponsoring it these days?).

I would have empathy if I were blithely ignoring signs that said NO PHOTOGRAPHY.  Or maybe if it were a secret base…but considering the size of the giant American seal on the front of the building and the equally huge flag, it’s hard to see them being shocked when people know it’s where the Americans are.  Or maybe if I’d scaled the gate, or tried to enter or done anything suspicious like zoom in on a security camera or the gate details.  It was a picture of the seal and the flag.  And one of a sign that said “American Embassy Singapore.”

So, as someone who pays taxes to not only Singapore but the US…I feel I have a right to ask…WHAT THE FUCK, MAN?  Exactly where was the value in using my tax dollars to pay the salary of the person whose job it is to harass people on the street?  Their health benefits?

As to how secret the images I wanted to share are….I did some Googling…

  • Number of images that Google finds when I do an images search for “American Embassy Singapore”…99,100. But apparently mine would have blown the lid off their location and/or what they look like.
  • Number of results from Google when I search “American Embassy Singapore Address”….262,000  (SHHHH…wouldn’t want you to know where they are in case you need a visa)
  • Number of results from Google when I search “American Embassy Singapore” ….544,000  (The giant flag and eagle would never give it away where the Americans are)

Oh yeah…and they have a website of their own…http://singapore.usembassy.gov/ (Shhhhhh…it tells super secret stuff like where it is, what hours they’re open, and what it looks like)

If you live in the US, I’m going to have to encourage you to go to DC on October 30, 2010 to join the Daily Show’s Jon Stewart at the Rally to Restore Sanity. Because seriously American Embassy of Singapore…if you think that I’m quietly going to accept the fear mongering “safety of the embassy” excuse?  You must mistake me for a fan of FOX NEWS.  I’m calling bullshit, and I’m sharing my story as another example of why we need to take it down a notch, America.

One of the many images you can find on Google….

UPDATED—I emailed my senators, my congressman and the state department regarding today’s incident.  I truly doubt anyone will get back to me, but I feel better for having stood up for myself.  I’m frustrated that a moment that was supposed to be about American Pride turned into being treated like a criminal.

Filed under: US | 7 Comments »

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