Sunday, February 11, 2007

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.

Saturday, February 03, 2007

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.