036_five-foot way

Five-foot ways are colonnaded walkways in front of shophouses. Sir Stamford Raffles stipulated this as part of his Town Plan of 1822 to provide shelter for pedestrians from sun and rain. It is one magical space that blurs the boundary between public and private. The ownership right belongs to the owner of the unit so various decorations and floor finishes can be found on the same stretch of the walkway. It is also an extension of what happening inside the shophouse. Coffee shops and eateries use this space as their alfresco dining area, which still allow people to walk through. It’s a nice experience eating there trying to avoid people walking right into you and also, the other way around, walking through meandering pathway crated by leftover space from dining tables.

035_coupon parking

There are two types of short-term parking in Singapore, coupon parking and electronic parking system. Parking coupons can be purchased from post office, 7-eleven and some other appointed sales outlets. There are several of different denominations but the common ones are $0.50, $1.00 and $2.00. Motorists are required to display coupons at prominent location in their vehicles for checking. The tabs on each coupon will have to be torn off to indicate date and commencement time of parking. Parking rates are varied by location. Hourly charges are $1.00 per half hour in restricted zone and $0.50 per half hour outside the zone. This car in the picture was parked in restricted zone. Mathematically, it’s obvious that the owner planned to hang around for 7 hours.

034_alley cat

In Singapore it’s very rare to find a stray dog. I guess because dogs sometimes can be rather harmful. If found, they will be either put to sleep or sent to SPCA (the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals) for future adoption by pet lovers. On the other hand, cats have a bit more privilege. They are allowed to stroll around. There are quite a lot of stray cats, especially around Chinatown area. However, they will be sterilized in order to control the number. Next time when you see a homeless cat, try to notice. The ones with a snipped ear are already sterilized.

033_ interiorisation of urban space_03

Clarke Quay is a must-see destination for tourists in Singapore. The Singapore River together with barge lighters, colonial-style shophouses and warehouses offer the area a perfect ambience for nightlife. The area has undergone a nip/tuck operation and reopened to public again in October 2006 with rookies like Hooters, Ministry of Sound, The Clinic, Kandi Bar, Fashion Bar, etc., reserving Singapore a spot on the world’s night-entertainment atlas. The architect, Will Alsop, inserted a new-roof with sophisticated shading and cooling system over the existing rows of shophouse to give the area a new visual icon. This giant umbrella has turned once-opened external streets into a sheltered and controlled environment. See a cool aerial view of the project at http://www.worldarchitecturenews.com/index.php?fuseaction=wanappln.projectview&upload_id=467

032_queuing

Queuing is a part of everyday life in Singapore, so as in other major cities around the world, see 004_excursion on density on this Singapore blog. Many times people even have to queue for parking space in department stores. Since the whole parking place is electronically controlled, when it is full, one car can only enter when the other car from inside getting out to avoid jamming. There will usually be a sign notifying that the parking is full but nobody cares. They just don’t mind queuing on the ramp like this.

031_yong tau foo

I like Yong Tau Foo. I think it is one of the coolest foods on earth. You pick your own recipe and the variety of choices is great. The usual ingredients provided are bean curd, crabsticks, cuttlefish, fish balls, ladies fingers, chilies, bitter gourds, kangkung (water morning-glory), tomatoes, and many more. Some of these items, such as chilli, and bitter gourd, are filled with surimi (fish paste). The rule is simple, first pick the ingredients you like, usually minimum 6 items, after that select type of noodles; rice noodles, egg noodles, or bee hoon (rice vermicelli) and then you can choose either to have it dry or with soup. Yong Tau Foo is usually served with chilli sauce and brown sauce. These sauces and the soup are keys to success for a good Yong Tau Foo stall.

030_no washing car here

Inside the HDB parking facility, there will be a sign warning people not to wash their car inside. Some residents must have done that before and the whole place would be flooded. Moreover I think the drainage system is designed only for rainwater. There may be no provision for wastewater with soap and grease washed off from the car. Note the use of elongated column to provide more room for parking and corner guards for protection.

029_mass production

Remember what I said about majority of Singaporean living in HDB flats? (see 009_public housing, on this Singapore blog for more info.) Each HDB (or a cluster of them) comes with a parking structure. There are some standard details for designing this facility such as floor-to-floor height, the length and gradient of ramps and the look of the building, which they all look like the one in the photo. The only factors to be determined differently for each project are the capacity, location, connection to the residential blocks, for example.

028_the great Singapore sale

Every year Singapore organises an event called the ‘Great Singapore Sale’, usually around May to July (mid-year sale). Numerous shops island wide participate with all kinds of special offer, some shops open until midnight. I still remember the first time I came to Singapore and I wanted to buy a computer. My friends* told me to wait for this event. It is quite a big thing in this small country. The advertisement can even be painted on the road surface during the festival. Learn more about the Great Singapore Sale at http://www.greatsingaporesale.com.

* I am grateful to these people as they picked me up from the airport, provided me accommodation and showed me around during my first few weeks in Singapore.

027_green structure 02

I’ve mentioned how infrastructure such as overhead pedestrian bridge could be soften by landscape. Please refer to 008_green structure 01, on this Singapore blog. A similar trick can also be applied to something like highway impact barrier. This picture was taken from a highway leading from the Changi airport to the city centre. It is easy to imagine how much time and money the Singapore government spent on maintaining these landscape features.

026_idol

An idol, as a person or a star, is someone we like (or worship). Someone who looks good from any angle even from behind. Someone who is always right in whatever shit he or she is doing. Have you ever asked yourself how far would you go for your idols? These loyal fans of a Taiwanese band, S.H.E., in the picture were waiting in the heat for their idols to show up. There is a very fine line between admiration and craze. Maturity is a common key used to distinguish the difference between these two. Well, not really actually, old folks do crazy things sometimes, too. However, teenagers have a higher tendency toward being overly obsessed with what they like. This is why nowadays TV programs with sms voting in Singapore require viewers under 18 to seek parents’ consent. I remember during my high school days I collected pictures and posters of Jennifer Connelly. Now I don’t even know where they are…

025_1/2 automatic

These two escalators are found in a shopping mall. For some strange reasons, in order to get up to or down from the escalators, you need to climb the staircases. I’ve discussed this with my friends and we came up with the following.
1. There is something from the lower floor at that particular location that requires high headroom.
2. The floor-to-floor height is higher than standard minimum length of the cheapest escalator available.
3. Since this is a renovation work, probably they couldn’t hack the existing floor because of some structural reason so there was no room to put the escalator’s motor.
4. The architect thought it’s cool and had never been done before.
5. Wrong purchase of escalator.
Until today we still don’t know the reason behind this.

024_happy meal

This is a good example for an influence of globalisation on local-scale economy. A Nasi Lemak stall in a hawker centre adopts the same sale technique as branded fast food chains. It is very good for foreigners who have no idea on what the heck to order. Just look at the pictures and say the number. Nasi Lemak is coconut rice having together with a few dishes, which normally are fried chicken, sunny side up, dried small fish, sausage, otak (some sort of fish cake originally from Malaysia) and more.

023_NEWater

Singapore buys water from Malaysia. To go more sustainable and more independent in the future, they need to have their own water supply. Recycling is an alternative. In 1998, Singapore has set up a study on possibility of using NEWater as a source of raw water for the whole country. NEWater is used water undergone purification process until it becomes usable or even potable again. Read more about NEWater at http://www.pub.gov.sg/NEWater_files/overview/index.html

022_magical door

This door in a popular department store in Orchard area is opened from and leading to nowhere. It’s just right in the middle of everybody’s way. Do not think that it’s Doraemon’s magical door that can lead you to the other mall opposite the road. Singapore is not that advanced yet. It’s actually part of emergency escape route. In case of fire, automatic shutters will close down to protect the open well. The door then becomes an access to the protected corridor and escalators will be used as mean of escape.

021_my prerogative

Citizens of the Republic of Singapore are well protected by the government. This picture was taken during the haze crisis caused by forest fire in Indonesia. Singaporeans had got privilege of monitoring PSI level live on local tv channels and the issue was brought up to the United Nations instead of being resolved within Asean countries. I’m sure if this ever happened in Thailand the government will come up with some suggestions for people to adapt their lifestyle to suit the haze, and that’s it. Nevermind, we are used to pollution, anyway.

020_condensing city

There are not so many places for tourists in Singapore. Boat Quay is one on the list not to be missed out. Nice restaurants serving chilled drinks and good food lining up along the Singapore River boasts to be one of the country’s best attractions. My Colombian classmate from Delft mentioned during his last visit to Singapore that when he typed in the keyword ‘market’ into Getty Images search engine, pictures of Boat Quay appeared on the first few pages. Step aside from the bustling flow of tourists to the back lanes of Boat Quay, you will find something really phenomenal, a city of air-con condensing unit. The narrow streets are filled with noise and hot air generating from those little flying boxes. These old shop houses were designed for residential or small business purposes, once converted to restaurants, discos or bars, you kinda need a good M&E engineer to keep the building looking good from every angle.

019_golden orange

Chinese people love to give each other tangerines during Chinese New Year because tangerine in Cantonese sounds exactly the same as the word for ‘gold’ in the same language. So giving away tangerines means giving away gold! It’s kind of a cute symbolic tradition. During the festive season, you may find tangerines everywhere from patterns on shopping bags to even tangerine-looking rice ball in Japanese restaurants.

018_maid in singapore

The majority of maids working in Singapore are from Indonesia and the Philippines. They are given an official day-off on every Sunday. Let’s imagine if you were one of them, what would you do in a very small country and you don’t have much money? How about enjoying free air-con in shopping centers checking the latest trends then meeting friends for lunch in a park? These people do not have much money but they sure have a lot of fun in their own ways. On Sundays these maids (and some male workers) transform Singapore urban landscape into their ephemeral hometowns. If you want to experience a more drastic impact of density, I recommend Hong Kong, especially the plaza underneath Lord Foster’s famous bank.

P.S. This photo is history as the park is now construction site for a big real estate development.