More things to love about Singapore

First of all, the one thing I don't like.. the weather. Being a winter-person, it's a struggle with the tropical heat... pretty much over 30 celsius and nearly 100% humidity all year round in Singapore.

But I'll brave that (and stick in air conditioned buildings wherever possible) for the sake of all the things I DO love about Singapore.


First impressions... it's so green, so alive. Plants everywhere.


The food is brilliant. Loads of variety, so many great, fresh ingredients and food is soooo cheap for the quality. No wonder there are so many foodies here. I did a review of our favourite restaurant at the brilliant UGC site Yum.sg.

Then there's technology, and the way it's being used to create really interactive, value-adding experiences for both locals and visitors alike. Here's the LED wall at the National Museum of Singapore that I mentioned in a previous post - I really like this shot of a couple posing with a kiss for their tripod during the wall's camera-phase (which alternates with historic and contemporary images of Singapore as well).

The incredible Nanyang Technological University's Art Design and Media building. We visited the school with a friend who's lecturing in animation there. This is a really world-class facility, although spookily empty inside when we were there. I think it was a bit early in the morning for students :P Nanyang is right at the northern tip of the Island - "stop before you get to Malaysia" were our instructions to give the cab driver, and we were told it was a LONG way out. Although 20 minutes or so, and a cabfare of about $25 seems nothing when you come from Australia where most people commute at least twice as far as that daily.

Another beautiful new arts facility - Lasalle School of Art. This one's right in the heart of the city and is just stunning. I think it just opened when we were there, as when we took these shots (the image is a stitch of about 15 photos) there were workers inside with ladders etc, and by the end of the week, it was teeming with students with folios. Funnily enough, one person at Nanyang (not our lecturer friend) had scoffed that Lasalle wasn't a 'real' university and that it was just for people who couldn't afford to go to Nanyang. Having taught at a TAFE (tech college) in Australia though, I know we had more university graduates coming to TAFE after they'd finished uni than the other way around - so I think there's room for both. And geez, I'd want to study at Lasalle just for the building :P

Every day when we walked past this building, we'd look up at that beautiful white canopy and fantasise about projecting abstract video-paintings onto it. How beautiful would that be? I wonder if the college would be up for that next time we come back to Singapore.... hmmm...

Speaking of the arts, Singapore has some really cool street art. Our local friends were complaining that it had all recently been cleaned up, but we still managed to find quite a bit tucked away in alleys and on street poles.

Singaporeans are SO friendly. After we'd been back to the Yogi Hub (soon to be renamed 7 Sensations) a few times, we became friendly with the owners. Here's Florence. That's Dr Florence, now retired although still very interested in her field of early childhood education and language. She and a few of her friends run the restaurant to express their passion for food. Each of them has their own specialty - Florence gave us some cake that was the result of some recent experimentation. Hard to believe it's all healthy ingredients like tofu and very little sugar.

We went to Yogi Hub for our farewell lunch, and then as we were heading off to the airport we were having difficulty getting a cab due to the huge crowds of foreign workers assembled in Little India on a Sunday evening. So, the restaurant owners insisted on driving us to the airport! How's that for Singaporean hospitality???

Some of our wonderful friends in Singapore - not all of our friends could come, as there was a big arts festival on that weekend. L>R Melanie (animation lecturer at Nanyang uni), Chris (Word Forward arts org), Ghost (Firebrands bass), Mo Selle (Ministry of Sound VJ), Jachin (Firebrands drummer and our unpaid Singapore manager!), me (Kat from VJzoo), Noelle (Publicist for a movie distributor), and Alex (animator at Lucas Arts).

So sad to be leaving, want to come back to Singapore as often as we can. Really looking forward to running some workshops.. maybe even fostering the Plug n Play franchise to open in Singapore!