Roger and Stephen in Singapore: October 2013

Thursday 31 October 2013

Gardens By the Bay celebrates Deepavali

Deepavali is being celebrated in the Flower Dome at Gardens By the Bay. The display features decorated elephants amongst the flowers of Amaranths, Cone Flowers and Cockscombs. Throughout the Flower Dome there are educational signs with information about Deepavali and the customs associated with the festival.

Wooden Elephants

Elephant planter boxes

The main display

Lotus flower lights ( Lotus flowers are the national flower of India )

Elephants amongst the Chrysanthemums

Traditional Indian fabric lanterns

Colourful umbrella

The main display

Educational sign

A festive Rangoli - a traditional folk art made with different coloured rice

Traditional Indian fabric lanterns

Indian spices amongst the display

Educational sign

Sunday 27 October 2013

Deepavali decorations 2013

The main roads around Little India in Singapore are decorated to celebrate Deepavali or Dirwali. Deepavali is one of the most important religious festivals for Hindus who celebrate the Festival of Lights with family and friends.
This year marks the 25th anniversary of the decorations in Little India. The central theme this year is Radha and Krishna, the divine lovers of the Hindu mythology. The arches that span the roads are decorated with over 55,000 recycled CDs that have been decorated.
Deepavali is on Saturday the 2nd of November and Deepavali Eve will see fireworks in Little India to mark the countdown.

The main arch featuring Radha and Krishna

Part of the main arch

Radha and Krishna

Celebrating dance

Different images grace the archways

Light symbols feature heavily in the display

CDs on the arches

The lights along Serangoon Rd

Garlands of flowers also feature on the archways

Wednesday 23 October 2013

Brooklyn weekend

We spent a weekend in Brooklyn as we had read a lot of reports of how Brooklyn is being gentrified and how the dining scene is changing causing many New Yorkers to drive across the bridge.
During the summer months Brooklyn has weekend food markets that showcase many local eateries and food suppliers. One market is on the Saturday in East Brooklyn and the other is on Sunday in the shadow of the Brooklyn Bridge along the waterfront. With over 60 or so food stands it was hard to make a choice for what we were going to try for lunch. The weather was perfect on both days to sit on the grass picnicking and admiring the views of Manhattan across the East River.
Walking through different neighbourhoods it was quite evident of old Brownstone houses being restored and cafes and boutique coffee shops opening. The newly constructed Barclays Center is striking in design and our taxi driver said it is a great venue for sports and concerts.

Empire State building viewed from Brooklyn

Barclays Center

The Saturday food market

Signs on trees

Restored homes

Wall murals

Food truck in the streets of Brooklyn

Sundays Food market in old warehouse.

Brooklyn Bridge

Great spot to eat our lunch and admire the view of Manhattan.

Thursday 17 October 2013

Baseball in New York

A night at the Yankee Stadium watching the New York Yankees playing the San Francisco Giants was certainly a fantastic experience.
We had pre-purchased the tickets online in Singapore and caught the packed subway train from Times Square to the Yankee Stadium in the Bronx. The stadium was easy to navigate and was was able to cope with the 40,000 fans easily.
The prematch entertainment included presentations to players past and present. The National Anthem was sung and the coin toss was conducted with a returned serviceman tossing the coin.
Throughout the match, certain members of the crowd would be featured on the big screen scoreboard as well as messages to encourage cheering for the teams. Also during the break on the seventh innings a song from 1908 - "Take me out to the Ball Game " was played and to which most of the audience sung along to. At one stage the ground staff came out to sweep the diamond and dance to the 'YMCA ' which was very funny.
The Yankees won on the night 5-1.