Viêt Nam in February, 2003, I stopped in Singapore for a day. Singapore is a unique country in Asia. It is governed by a benign dictatorship. This makes for a very organized city. They try to keep it very clean (even though it is not quite as fanatically clean as I was led to expect). They even outlawed chewing gum, because it makes such a mess! Singapore has a very strong economy. The building boom is going strong there, with high rises going up all over the place.
Most of the city is very modern, with very modern looking buildings. But there are also still old parts of the city left like the old river front and Chinatown. The symbol for Singapore is the Mer-lion. There is a large statue of a Mer-lion in the harbor, spewing a large water fountain into the harbor.
I was there just after the Chinese New Year. There were several groups of musicians and dancers going through Chinatown to celebrate the New year. The dancers were dragon costumes and dance to the music of their musicians. They visit local shops and dance there for a while, then move on to the next one.
Singapore has a very nice botanical garden with a huge collection of orchids. I have included a large number of pictures of orchids on this page since I found them quite remarkable. If you know the name of any of these orchids, please let me know and I will include it on this page.
All pictures are © Günther Eichhorn
View of the city from the harbor. (137k)
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Some of the modern buildings. (151k)
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River front with a whole section of the old two-story buildings preserved. (162k)
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Mer-lion statue in Singapore Harbour. (184k)
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Sculpture of children jumping in the river. (164k)
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Entrance to Chinatown. (157k)
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Hindu Temple in Chinatown. (118k)
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Chinese band celebrating Chinese New Year. (158k)
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Dragon dancers celebrating Chinese New Year. (172k)
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One of the dragon dancers. (176k)
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| Orchid Garden |
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Orchid 1. (189k)
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Heliconia. (96k)
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Orchid 3. (132k)
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Orchid 4. (110k)
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?? (124k)
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?? (114k)
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?? (111k)
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Orchid 5. (117k)
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Orchid 6. (114k)
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Orchid 7. (113k)
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Orchid 8. (108k)
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Orchid 9. (121k)
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Orchid 10. (107k)
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Orchid 11. (97k)
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Orchid 12. (121k)
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Orchid 13. (129k)
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Orchid 14. (107k)
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Orchid 15. (97k)
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Orchid 16. (134k)
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Orchid 17. (112k)
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Orchid 18. (116k)
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Orchid 19. (102k)
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Orchid 20. (118k)
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Orchid 21. (120k)
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Orchid 22. (101k)
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Orchid 23. (124k)
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Orchid 24. (129k)
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Orchid 25. (108k)
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Orchid 26. (78k)
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Orchid 27. (110k)
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Orchid 28. (103k)
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Orchid 29. (111k)
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Orchid 30. (111k)
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Orchid 31. (96k)
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© Günther Eichhorn
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