26 September 2012

Singapore Time Lapse and Pledge


Keith Loutit is a filmmaker who lives in Singapore. "The Lion City" features those crazy new sky trees at Gardens By the Bay near the Marina Bay Sands casino. It also dwells at length on the city's ubiquitous shophouses and HDB towers with real affection for MRT trains. The public spectacles come the most recent National Day celebrations in August. Use the links above to see more of his work.

Scenes from National Day show the arrival of dignitaries, the trooping of armed servicemen and civil guards, and a large display of the stage as citizens recite Singapore's National Pledge, which reads:
We, the citizens of Singapore
Pledge ourselves as one united people
Regardless of race, language, or religion
To build a democratic society on justice and equality
So as to achieve happiness, prosperity, and progress for our nation.

25 September 2012

Singapore Grand Prix 2012: Friday Practice


The grandstand along the pit straight of the Marina Bay street circuit.
The Passengers were privileged to score tickets to the Formula One hullabaloo in Singapore last weekend. We only got the chance to see the Friday night practice sessions before Sebastian Vettel raced to victory on Sunday night. However, we did have a perch in the corporate hospitality Sky Suites along the pit straight.

Sebastian Vettel navigates the Marina Bay street circuit during Friday's first practice session.
Though not really relevant to Friday practice sessions our perch had a good look at the eventual finish line and podium. More interestingly, we sat directly opposite the garages for teams Red Bull, McLaren, and Scuderia Ferrari. We could watch the machinations of three of the best racing teams this year. We stayed late and did our best to soak up as much hospitality (read: alcohol) as we could.

Crew attend to Sebastian Vettel's car on Friday night.
Crew attend to Lewis Hamilton's car on Friday night.
  
Only the dedicated remain in the hospitality suite after the second Formula One practice session last Friday night in Singapore.


24 September 2012

Healthy Signage

Here's a photo one of our mates snapped while walking by Freshness Burger on the ground floor of the Central mall at Clarke Quay here in Singapore. An establishment that promotes its "healthy meals" will sell you a "Butter & Sugar Burger" plus coffee for less than S$2 (1.63 USD/1.00 GBP).

This is the Singapore outlet of the Japanese burger chain that is currently promoting a vinegar drink. I will have to stop in and compare their wares with their Nipponese competitors Mos Burger. If I bring a ten-dollar note to Freshness, I might be able to sample breakfast, lunch, and dinner.


12 September 2012

Countdown to the Singapore Grand Prix 2012

The only nighttime race of the Formula 1 season returns to Singapore in less than two weeks. The SingTel Singapore Grand Prix will run on 23 September 2012. The circuit goes around the Marina Bay area, and the Passengers will undoubtedly be able to hear the scream of high-powered engines all weekend at our nearby gaffe in Club Street. For photos of the action in 2010 click here.

Singapore MRT etiquette: Don't be a hussy

This public awareness poster has appeared on the Northeast MRT line this year:

10 September 2012

(Sustainable) Fishy Advice

Dining advice along the Atlantic seaboards.
Here's an amusing collection of silhouettes I received with my order from The Book Depository. Charming, informative, and green, the two bookmarks indicate fishes and marine life that should or should not be eaten according to the Marine Conservation Societies. Unsustainable fishing practices have threatened a number of species with extinction, but numerous tasty morsels still swim in our oceans or can be farmed. Bring on the mackerels and winkles. The Atlantic species are above (beware the Kraken!). The Pacific/Worldwide examples are below (beware the Kraken still!).

This is also my endorsement of the Book Depository, a great site for those looking to buy academic or literary material in Singapore. Free shipping.

What to eat when on the Pacific Rim.

31 August 2012

Hong Kong: There Be Dragons

And now for some regional humor. Time Out Hong Kong recently created an insightful map of the Special Administrative Region (SAR). This should explain a little of what-happens-where in one of the world's most cosmopolitan cities. Click to enlarge the image above.

The island at left, home of "Buddha, Buffalo and Boars" is Lantau, where a giant Buddha sculpture looks out from a hilltop. The Passengers visited in 2009. The island just above is the international airport. You get to the monastery and sculpture via a cable car that departs from the remote suburb of Tung Chung Town, the area of Lantau for "People Who Have Given up on Life."

Up north the Angry Villagers live next to the mainland boomtown of Shenzen. They are even further north than where more centrally located  Hong Kongers go to the racecourse – there be "Horses." For comparison, here's a map that's a little less atmospheric and names some actual districts. This comes from the local census department, where you can look up all sorts of other data and actual facts.


24 August 2012

An Aptly Named Owl

The spectacled owl at the London Zoo is, of course, named Elton. More pictures of zookeepers checking up on their charges at the Guardian.

14 August 2012

Urban Density of Singapore

If the entire population of earth was squeezed into a city as dense as [blank], how much land would it need Click the image to enlarge. Source: Per Square Mile.
I have been known to complain about the suburban nature of life in Singapore, especially when we lived near the malls of Novena. Among air-conditioned palaces of commerce complete with multi-story parking garages one misses the thrill of discovery that comes from strolling along the streets from neighborhood to neighborhood. Here in a wealthy city-state where many families own cars and the weather makes it unpleasant to walk too far outdoors pedestrians often get second-tier status. The island can seem like a boring, sprawling landscape to someone familiar with the walkable streets of Manhattan and Central London.

However, as the above graphic from Tim de Chant at Per Square Mile illustrates, Singapore houses a population of 5.35 million on less than 700 square kilometers, making it more dense than London or the five boroughs of New York City. As a modern city the urban fabric simply has better provision for automobile traffic, and the government tries hard to ensure that cars don't overrun the island.


Actually, the population density of Singapore is even more intense than expressed by Per Square Mile, as Tim de Chant acknowledges in comments below his post, because the island maintains a number of nature reserves, reservoirs, and military installations that have not been planted with the ubiquitous government-sponsored, tenant-owned HDB apartment towers. The map above from the CIA Factbook shows built-up areas in grey. The Factobook also provide this satellite view, which shows distribution of settlement.

13 August 2012

Japanese Cookies

Couque D'asses cookies on the shelf in Singapore.
Spotted this box of cookies at a Japanese food specialty store underneath MBFC a few months back. The double entendre is probably most quickly apparent to Americans, but I think everyone can join the fun, really. I have no ability to read Japanese so I couldn't possibly comment on the ingredients.



09 August 2012

Mashed Potato Machine


ZOMG! I have been in Europe and the US for most of June and July. I totally missed the introduction of mashed potato machines to Singapore. They are in 7-Eleven stores around the island. $1.00 buys a cup of steaming Maggi-brand instant potatoes topped with gravy. I'm sure a device that spouts hot gravy poses no hazards to customers whatsoever. Strangely in our local 7-Eleven on Erskine Road the button for barbecue-flavored potatoes looks like it receives more attention than its regular-flavored counterpart.

At 7-Eleven in Singapore I can buy an ice cream, settle my electric bill, top up my mobile phone, and pay for Jetstar flights I reserved online. Now I can go there for nearly palatable mashed potatoes at the push of a button.

06 August 2012

Missouri Float Trip

Canoes on the Current River in Shannon County, Missouri.
The Passengers went to Missouri in July because J's brother got married in Columbia. After the celebrations we headed south into the Ozarks for some outdoor recreation. Southern Missouri is a beautiful karst landscape dominated by forested bluffs, riddled with caves, and laced with spring-fed streams. It's a great place for gentle canoe trips, and there are few better streams than the Current River, part of the protected Ozark National Scenic Riverways.

The Current River in the morning.
For weeks temperatures have been unbearable in the Midwest with routine highs around 104 F/40 C during our visit. Fortunately, our river was fed by springs with water temperatures below 70 F. A quick dip in the water always kept us cool during a ten-mile float downstream. There are more details and pictures after the jump.

05 August 2012

"National Night" in Singapore, says Mentos

It's a viral marketing video fabricated to entice bloggers and news services, but it is funny. Family warning: This video does explain how babies are made. 

In fact, making babies is the entire joke because Singapore, which turns 46 years-old on 9 August 2012, has very publicly been wringing its hands about low birthrates for a while now. Last year after learning that the total fertility rate for 2010 stood at only 1.16 – nowhere near the replacement level of 2.1 – Lee Kuan Yew (Prime Minister of Singapore for its first 25 years) famously warned that an aging Singapore would face Japanese-style stagnation after the burgeoning economic expansion that marked the country's history since independence. Mentos has given the nation's adults a new civic duty.

Update (8 Aug 2012): James Fallows one of our favorite American writers about China and East Asia has picked up on the ad sensation for the Atlantic. Hat tip: The Dish.

04 August 2012

Returning to (ir)regular service

I finished my PhD. Maybe now I can think about adding some posts to the blog again. Stay tuned.

09 June 2012

MRT Hair-loss Advertisement

Saw this advertisement for Beijing 101 Hair Consultants on the MRT (subway).
Healthy hair brings me closer to my children.
Really?

18 January 2012

Steaming Jungles (Video)


Here's a view of the rainforest in neighboring Malaysia narrated by Heart of Darkness. It's compelling, despite the literary and geographic slippage.

You might also enjoy Griffiths's other video on the paradise islands of Langkawi.

13 January 2012

US Politics via Singapore

Former House Speaker and Georgia congressman Newt Gingrich. Image via NewsOne.
For anyone who didn't believe the 2012 presidential election in the United States was charging full steam ahead in 2011, votes are now underway in the Republican presidential primary. The next round of voting happens in South Carolina on 21 January, and big money is being spent on behalf of candidates jockeying for the nomination. Some of it comes from Singapore.


The casino magnate Sheldon Adelson, CEO of Las Vegas Sands, the company behind the Marina Bay Sands "integrated resort" in Singapore, has put $5 million (£3.26m) of support behind Newt Gingrich, the former Speaker of the House of Representatives. The billionaire's company faced dire economic times in 2008, but the company's gambling ventures here and elsewhere in Asia have proven massively profitable.

Adelson has been transparently active in both American and Israeli politics for several years, and he undoubtedly will not cap his political spending at just $5 million this year.