Glimpses of Singapore

Now, I realize that part of the allure of reading someone’s blog is the exposure to their pictures.  Stories are great, but a picture’s ability to complement is almost beyond words.  The picture can explain a thousand fold what some feeble words cannot.  One of the more astute readers asked me if I took the pictures myself, or if I “found them online.”  Unfortunately, due to a series of unfortunate events, I lost my camera.  The story is actually not entertaining at all, so I’ll spare you.  What is entertaining, or was for me at least, was this story:

          I was running in the park two nights ago, a very small park near my house, when I saw a man lying on the ground.  Immediately my experience in Korea pervaded my common sense, and I assumed he was blasted drunk and passed out.  When I ran by again twenty minutes later, and he was still there, I was worried.  He waved me over, so I jogged over.  A Chinese-Singaporean, he couldn’t speak much English.  What he did manage to say was “…police.. call police”.  I asked him “what’s wrong?”  To which he replied: “call…” and waved at the nearby community center.  Sprinting down, I grabbed the nearest person and we ran back into the park.  This guy happened to work at the community center, and could speak Chinese.  He spoke to the “Uncle” but we couldn’t find out what was wrong.  The community center guy disappeared to meet the ambulance, so I stayed with the Uncle, noting he wasn’t wearing shoes.  He couldn’t articulate what happened, so I checked his pulse, monitored his breathing, and waited.  I took off a little while after the ambulance came, so all I know is that he had tremendous pain in the right side of his body.  Suffice it to say, an interesting experience.  Outside of all the hospital trips I’ve taken with my accident prone brother, I’ve never had such a serious encounter.

          Anyway, I lost my camera, but I bought an iPhone, which has a fantastic camera.  So, here are some pictures I took on my day off.  Unfortunately, I didn’t get to take a lot of pictures.  Stay tuned for future pictures of Singapore’s famous skyline. 
      

I wasn't lying when I said it was hot here.

A row of traditional shop houses.

A Chinese lion, festively decorated for the New Year period.

        

The old colonial building at Fort Canning.

                                    A colonial era Roman Catholic church.