As this is the Year of the Rooster and, according to the Chinese Zodiac, being a Rooster myself, thought that I should check out Singapore’s Chinatown Chinese New Year displays.

On the night we visited Chinatown it was fairly quiet, mainly tourists were out and about as most locals, who were not working, were probably with their families at a reunion or three.

2017 Lunar New Year, 2017 Chinese New Year, Singapore

In the middle of Chinatown there is the Sri Mariamman Temple it was founded in 1827, today it provides religious services and functions, as well as the temple promotes various social, cultural and educational activities. It is also a very interesting place to photograph.

When in Chinatown you must do one thing, EAT, so we did! Old Chengdu is apparently the best Szechuan Restaurant in Chinatown, not sure if that is case but the food was pretty good, so would go back again. BTW, what wine do you pair with Szechuan food? My favourite is a Sauternes, unfortunately there wasn’t any on the wine list, so I behaved and drank lime juice.

After dinner as it was a nice night, so we walked back via Boat Quay. One of the heavy tourist areas of Singapore, we stayed on the opposite side of the river so had a great view of the shop-houses along the water. The food there is “Ok”, but if you are in Singapore and looking for somewhere to go, there a plenty of other areas and restaurants that offer better quality food and at better prices. Boat Quay is not a bad spot for a drink and people watching though! Just my humble opinion!

One building that does dominate the Singapore Skyline is Marina Bay Sands, do you like the look? What do you think the architect was using as a basis for his design?

Singapore was the site of some very costly battles and massacres during World War II and the fall of Singapore was due to, IMHO, the incompetence of the British leadership at time. Whilst Singapore would have fallen, it should not have been the disaster it was, a lot more people could have escaped. (I can rant on about this for a considerable amount of time, maybe another post!)

In order to commemorate the lives lost there are a number of monuments around the island including:

The Cenotaph Singapore. The Cenotaph was built in memory of the 124 British soldiers born or resident in Singapore who gave their lives in World War I (1914–1918), with a second dedication (but no names) added in remembrance of those who died in World War II (1941–1945). Thanks Wikipedia

The Civilian War Memorial the memorial to the Civilian Victims of the Japanese Occupation

BTW, Churchill called the fall of Singapore to the Japanese shameful the “worst disaster” and “largest capitulation” in British military history. If you are interested in Churchill’s thoughts on the fall of Singapore, check out the great article written by Fred Glueckstein on winstonchurchill.org .

15 Feb 2017 is the 75th Anniversary of the Fall of Singapore