Around Singapore

Nice scenes from my hotel room in Grand Hyatt, Beijing - 2009 visit.

The slender front of the renowned Khong Guan Biscuits Factory takes us back to the 1950s. The primary entrance features a RED star. One might have assumed that this was once the headquarters of a Communist Party, were it not for the sign above that reads "Khong Guan Biscuits". How nostalgic!

This plant with beautiful "trumpet" flowers is known by various names: Firecracker Plant or coral plan. It belongs to the famly of: Scrophulariaceae : synoym: R. juncea And this plant originates from Mexico.. And it's family consists of pink or white flowers. It loves direct sunlight. That is why,you can see the plant trying to face sunlight. It only needs minimal water to grow.

In Singapore, in many clusters of estates that have landed properities; the most popular ornaments are a pair each of the lions on the gates of many Chinese homes. This estate is in Paya Lebar called Tai Keng Gardens. The most remarkable thing is that there are two homes that have large sized lions. I do mean large ones that can only be placed on the floor: one set is found beside each front gate pillar and there is another set placed behind the main gate (beside the porch pillar..) As usual, there are the white lions and some homes have the ceramic glazed "brownish" type...

Elephants are revered in Thailand. And considered a workhorse in India. Elephants symbolises great strength and astuteness (shrewdness). And an animal of high moral standards... Recently... we hear of a prominent golf legend....let's hope his home does not have this twin elephants on any of his home's porch pillars... as only those with high moral standards aka.. elephants should ever display them. Thus for those who is considered loose... please forget about placing these items!

AnEagle is a symbol of power & strength to the Chinese. And a lone eagle is symbolic of a lone hero fighting for justice.

This intricate Jade Flower and fruit basket appeals more to the Cantonese dialect group and to the european market....

1. This shop is located at Pan Pacific Hotel - linked to the Marina Square Shopping centre. It has been operating at this location for several years already. 2. This shop is in full view of the up and down escalator...

A recent visit to Thomson Three

Hi Everyone, This message is a follow-up, part II of the exhibit in the Fuk Tak Chi Museum. It has some interesting exhibits about Chinese culture. If you have the time, do "drop-by" this URL:- http://my.geomancy.net/mypictures/cgi-bin/imagefolio.cgi?direct=Chinese_Arts_and_Crafts/Singapore_in_1800s_to_1950s

Snap-shots of more pictures of the above temple. Lion statue: There are two Lion statues `guarding' the main entrance to the temple. Lion statues are very common found on traditional Chinese buildings to guard the front door. Lots of buildings in Singapore have the two Lion statues similar to the one shown in the picture. The Hong Kong Shanghai Bank or HSBC commonly has two bronze Lions outside the main entrance of their branches. The burning receptacles are used for burning of paper `money', paper offerings etc... `Hell' notes refers to paper money burned/offered to the dead in the hope that they can make use of the money in the after life.

The Gardens at Bishan Condo Site plan

Queens Condo at Queenstown Site Plan

HDB Buangkok Vale BTO launched in 2010 site plan and floor plans buangkok-vale.pdf Completed 2014

Maplewoods Condo Site plan

More pictures (Pictures taken in Nov 2007)

Location: Mountbatten Road. (Used to be the main road connecting the East Coast to the city. That was before the ECP came into being) It is a pity that we can only see the Ang sana trees that were planted at least 30 to 50 years ago. What a pity, they are no longer planted on most of today's roads. As HDB estate roads are both narrow and does not have a road side divider; such trees are no longer seen in new HDB estates like Sengkang, Punggol, Choa Chu Kang etc... This tree has low branches and as they radiate towards the road; the branches were often trimmed. Even so, the tree managed to retain a balanced "umbrella" shape. The ang sana trees we…

The White Frangipani Tree flowers, often associated with cemeteries, continue to thrive in significant numbers near Parry Rd Playground. This highlights their enduring presence in the local landscape. [Below: Highlighted in green on the map] The Japanese Cemetery Park is located @ Yio Chu Kang. Pinkish

Garden Vista Condo at Bukit Timah / Dunearn Road Site plan

More auspicious patterns

This could be another reason one can state in the divorce papers for separation & divorce!

1. Characteristics of charms (in this case for protection): Often they are "written" on yellow paper or on yellow coloured cloths. 2. In this photo; the charm is faded so cannot clearly see the yellow background. 3. For this charm, the paper charm is often written in RED colour. Although black wordings may be used. I discovered this charm at a condominiumaround Lorong Sarinaarea.

Attached please find a picture showing an `inauspicious' shop house...

1. Got this off a Bank Credit Brochure: The Millennium Dragon Coins Series showing the motifs of three common dragon motifs. 2. Credit and Source: United Overseas Bank (UOB) Mail Boutique & German Mint, B.H. Meyer's Mint [For the dragon coin]. For the Bank's Credit Card Customer.