Steaming Jungles (Video)

We Were Wanderers On A Prehistoric Earth from James W Griffiths on Vimeo.

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.

Why y'all talk so funny?

"Turns out, like, people in England aren't rhotic anymore... or something."

Hat tip: The Dish

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.

Jolly Glee Pizza (from Pizza Hut)

Roast chicken, turkey bacon, mashed potatoes, and cranberry sauce make the Jolly Glee a festive pizza. Notice the cherry, too.

Pizza Hut has a new gimmick for Singaporean customers. Previous gimmick here. Instead of actually making tasty products, Pizza Hut now offers a Jolly Glee pizza. It has all the ingredients you might expect from a Christmas dinner – poultry, pseudo-pork, potatoes, cranberries – plus some you didn't know you wanted. Click the picture to see a larger image and guess what else lurks beneath the lattice of crust. I can spy red peppers and onions, but I am unable to swear that the yellow items are simply yellow peppers. The website says it's pineapple. Not satisfied? Apparently there is also cheese in the crust... and a glacé cherry! I knew this was missing something.

More Christmas Decor

Thidwick (YouTube link) the fiber-optic reindeer makes spirits bright along Marina Bay in Singapore.

As a complement to an earlier post about tropical Christmas decorations, check out the silver reindeer sculptures downtown in Singapore. These whimsical cervids are just outside the new Marina Bay Financial Centre (already colloquially MBFC), overlooking the same bay as the casino and the streets that host the Singapore Grand Prix.

I can see there is a silvery, tinsel-ly artistic attempt here, but on second glance the reindeer actually looks like a rabbit with an impossibly spindly neck and legs with an even more impossible silver lichen rinceaux spewing from his head.

Also it's been rainy in Singapore this month. Today it rained for more than twelve hours straight. Viewers might notice some damp, shiny streets.

Deck the Malls 2011: Sub-Zero

Welcome to another tropical Christmas.

Last year this blog showcased some of the festive decorations at our local mall, and the festooning this year is again baffling enough to warrant another post. I took some pictures on Saturday at Velocity in Novena, one of the numerous malls stationed atop an MRT (subway/underground/metro) station.

The mall starts Christmas season on 11 November. There is no Thanksgiving to hold back Xmas.

The theme at the mall this year is "Sub-Zero Christmas," an even chillier variation on 2010's "White is the Color of Christmas." I am continually bemused at the winter themes on display for customers in a tropical climate, and I am a still surprised by the pervasiveness of a Christian holiday within a country where the largest religion is Buddhism. Of course, Singapore has many, many Christians, and here we live next door to a church. Either credit the country for being inclusive or blame capitalism for cultivating a retail holiday in unlikely soil. I will opt for the latter given all the non-denominational  bedecking.

Shoppers on Level 2 are just about eye-level with a rather threatening penguin.

Alright, no more musing because once again the highlight of Velocity's decorations are the disturbing white animals. Several of them are perched on top of the main awning in the first photo above. Here are some more sculptures that dangle from the ceiling.

The tiny skating rink is back! In the ad copy this year it's called the Velocity Arctic Village. 

Click the link below left to behold a Photoshop disaster.

Ho Chi Minh City Traffic (Video)

Traffic in Frenetic HCMC, Vietnam from Rob Whitworth on Vimeo.

As readers might know, one of the Passengers' favorite discoveries in Southeast Asia has been the walkable, optimistic, fast-changing Ho Chi Minh City. The automotive traffic in the former Saigon – dominated by small motorbikes – is emblematic of the vibrant urban life of modern Vietnam. The above video, as featured on The Dish, captures some of that energy.