I arrived at Singapore's Changi Airport, and took the MRT (subway) to Chinatown where the hostel I'm staying at is. When I exited the MRT station, the elevator brought me smack dab into the middle of a Chinatown tourist market. I have a love-hate relationship with it: there are beautifully restored 19th century buildings, but the place is a tourist trap: tacky souvenir shops, overpriced restaurants, and a sanitized, artificial "Chinese" ambiance.
Tourist market
Beautifully restored 19th century buildings
So anyway, onto my first day's activities. The first thing I did was go to Fort Canning Park. This is the location of an old fort that stood ready to defend Singapore for generations. The park also has a lot of interesting vegetation.
Fort Canning cannon
A plant (some species of Heliconia, I believe)
In the northeast part of the park is Fort Canning Green, which was once a cemetery. Now, 12 graves still stand in the northeast corner. The remaining gravestones, around 250 of them, were removed and are now mounted in the walls of the green.
Fern-covered south wall of Fort Canning Green
Remaining standing graves
Twin cupolas
Just outside the southwest corner of the green, but still within Fort Canning Park, is another grave: the Tomb of Iskandar Shah, a 14th century king of Temasek (former name of Singapore).
Next stop on my itinerary was the Armenian Church of St. Gregory the Illuminator. Here, in the lawn behind the church, are the tombstones of members of famous families. One of the tombs is of the woman who discovered the national flower of Singapore, the Vanda Miss Joaquim. The stones had been moved here from elsewhere.
Armenian Church
Tombstones (with Ravenala madagascariensis, the Traveler's Palm)
Next is the Memorial to Lim Bo Seng, down by the Esplanade. He was a hero of the Resistance against the Japanese during WWII. While visiting the memorial, a family was there visiting too. The man told be Lim Bo Seng was his great great uncle. His cute little daughter then said, "He's my great great great uncle!" He told me that his actual grave is up at MacRitchie Reservoir Park.
Lim Bo Seng Memorial
Finally, to the Merlion. Half lion, half fish, it's the symbol of Singapore.
The Merlion
It was only around noon, so I had time to go visit Kranji War Cemetery and the State Cemetery. This will be my next entry.
