A British Graffiti artist is wanted by Singapore to face charges of vandalism. Lloyd Dale Alexander sprayed his tags on a Singapore tube train, but fled the country after a warrant for his arrest was issued.
Singapore does not take kindly to graffiti – and if convicted, Alexander could face a $1500 fine, three years in jail and three to eight strokes of a cane.
The caning wouldn’t even be the first for a vandalism case – in 1994, American teenager Michael Fay was caned four times. His sentence was reduced from 6, after a plea by President Clinton. And don’t underestimate how effective caning is:
Fay revealed that, at the end of his punishment, his buttocks were bleeding only slightly, that he needed no immediate medical treatment, and that he was able to walk, albeit with “a lot of pain”.
So, next time you are guest in Singapore, remember to respect their laws or you too might be on the receiving end of a caning.
Grab your fairy dust and put on your glass slippers: the opening of Resorts World Sentosa four hotels at the site of Universal Studios Singapore will commence on Jan. 20, with the Festive Hotel, Hard Rock Hotel Singapore, Crockfords Tower and Hotel Michael. The hotel openings will set the stage for more reveal during the following 30 days.
Part of the Resorts World Sentosa, Universal Studios Singapore has been in production since 2006. The magic of movies will come to life in one of the seven ‘themed zones’: Hollywood, New York, Sci-fi City, Ancient Egypt, The Lost World, Far Far Away, Madagascar. In each zone will live a host of attractions and rides specific to the theme, such as:
Broadway-style theater and a Walk of Fame replica (Hollywood);
Pizza parlors, neon lights and city-scapes (New York);
Dueling roller-coasters and Battlestar Galactica facades (Sc-fi City);
Pyramids and mummy attractions (Ancient Egypt);
Water parks and dinosaurs (The Lost World);
Fairy tale characters comes to life in Far Far Away land and;
Zoo animals and river rides hit the streets in Madagascar.
Like any good theme park, guests of all ages will have the opportunity to go on wild rides, fight villains, channel their favorite celebrities and dine with your favorite animated character. The resort will feature 24 different attractions on the 120 acres and include six hotels upon completion. As you would expect, there’s plenty of shopping and dining to be had in this magic land of make-believe.
The cost to enter the new playground: Adult passes begin S$32 (approximately $23 USD) for a senior-citizen day pass to a S$118 (approximately $85 USD) for a two-day adult pass.
While Catherine has Halloween costume ideas that reflect different types of travelers–(there are more ideas coming throughout today), and Heather previously posted on how to dress up like an awesome flight attendant, here are other costume ideas. These wander into the unusual–possibly the obscure.
Each are based on travel and incorporate souvenirs you may have brought home with you, particularly if you have problems passing up purchases. All were thought of at the last minute for a past Halloween and were worn at a party.
As a note, you may have to explain what you are, although the responses to each were positive.
Also, as you travel this year, think of costume ideas as you go. In this picture I see items that might come in handy. Read on.
Costume 1: A Homonym
Costume 1 may or may not need an explanation. It depends upon how much people understand language. It’s easy to do.
If you purchased some sort of robe on your travels, dress like a homonym by doing this: My husband wore a colorful striped robe that he purchased in Bhutan and leather sandals. He made a tablet out of cardboard and painted it to look as if it had the Ten Commandments written on it. He carried that in one hand. The idea was to look sort of like Moses. Around his neck, he wore a chart showing the Dow Jones on an up trajectory.
Prophet–Profit. Get it?
Costume 2. A Souvenir Stand: If you purchased a large straw hat–mine was purchased in Mopti, Mali, turn it into souvenir stand by doing this. This costume seemed to look vaguely familiar to the party guests. People did like to look at it.
You’ll need strong thread, small objects that you bought during your travels and small price tags. Affix the objects to the hat by tying one end of a piece of thread to an object and then threading a needle with the other end in order to pass that end of the thread through the hat.
Tie a knot to attach the object to the hat. Keep adding objects around and on the brim. Then, add price tags. Name your souvenir stand and make a sign with the name on it. Put the sign around your neck or at the top of the hat. You can label where the objects are from as well.
Other ideas: You could alter this costume to be a museum exhibit. Or a postcard rack.
Costume 3. A Rain Forest. This one definitely is an attention grabber and people will know what you are. It is easier to create if you live near a rain forest, but it is doable if you live elsewhere. If you live right next door to the Bukit Timah Nature Reserve in Singapore, you won’t have any problems finding a few large leaves.
What you will need, in addition to leaves or some sort of palm fronds: rubber or plastic insects, snakes, flowers or what ever else you can think of that might be found in a rain forest. We added bananas and a stuffed animal monkey.
A small tape player with a tape of birds singing. We also had wooden instruments from Vietnam that sound like crickets and grasshoppers when clacked together. A rain stick would work for your audio portion of this costume.
Affix the leaves to your clothes–we wore black tee shirts and pants. Next, attach the other items in various spots. We used string and safety pins.
My husband slipped the tape into his pocket so when we arrived at the party, the birds singing and the instruments’ insect sounds created quite the entrance. We won 2nd prize.
If you don’t have large leaves, make some out of construction paper. I’m sure you could come up with a clever hat. I think we wore baseball caps with rain forest type things affixed to them.
You may be able to run 26 miles, but can you climb 73 stories? Singapore’s Swissötel is holding its annual vertical marathon next month to, once again, test human strength and endurance.
On November 22, 1,600 stair masters from across the world will gather in Singapore to race up 73 stories of glory. This year’s race will include 12 of Singapore’s top youth athletes as competitors, and there is an assortment of age and gender groupings for you to try and conquer.
1,336 steps. I don’t even do that on a gym machine. The world record is currently held by German stair climber Thomas Dold, who made it to the top in 6 minutes and 52 seconds in 2008.
There’s also a little something new this year:
“A brand-new category called the Lovebirds’ Challenge will witness more than 80 pairs of lovers taking their relationships to unexplored new heights, with potential marriage proposals awaiting atop the helipad, upon completion of the vertical race.”
Would you climb 73 stories to get someone to marry you? That’s love.
Adding insult to injury, the run takes place at 7:00 AM (but don’t worry, that’s 7 PM in New York). Click here for more information.
Singapore is not the first addition to most Westerners’ “countries to visit in Asia” list, but I urge you to give it a fair chance. They’re a major airline hub, so it’s easy to get there from almost anywhere — and here are a lot more reasons you should visit this young, developing-at-light-speed country.
The Lion City was named hundreds of years ago when an Indonesian prince passed by the untitled island on a ship and thought he saw a red animal, which he assumed to be a lion, on the beach. He called it Singa (lion) Pura (city). Unfortunately, archaeologists have found that there have never been lions in that part of the world, but Singapore has carried on — just as they’ve carried on through occupation, colonization, and finally achieved their own independence from Britain in 1965. This young country boasts low crime, low unemployment, low homelessness, and frequently their spokespeople declare that “Everything works.” In the midst of the global economic crisis, they are building a casino, major hotels, a Universal Studios, and more. Is that not fascinating? Don’t you want to see this magic kingdom for yourself?
Singapore has a mercantile history. Known as “The Gateway to Asia,” they’ve been a trading post for merchants around the world since before Shakespeare. Their reputation continues today; people all over Asia continue to visit Singapore to purchase their Louis Vuittons and Chanels (and The World’s Most Expensive Tea) at the best prices, as well as electronics — which has led Singapore to become a completely wireless island (a feat yet unachieved by the only slightly larger Manhattan).
Among other things, there is legendary shopping to be had in Singapore. Orchard Road is stocked with everything from the best haute couture lines to department stores like Tang’s, and savvy shoppers know the off-the-beaten-path malls like Far East Plaza, where you can get discounts on “non-discount” designers and locally-made fashions at rock-bottom prices. They even have stores like “Best of Blogshops,” which carry items from independent online distributors, allowing you to see their wares in-person at last. %Gallery-75377%I had the luck of meeting a 13-year-old insider named Gladys, who also told me about “my little secret, Haji Lane. It’s a small, secluded place, only known to a handful of people. Don’t give up if you only see fabric shops, go all the way in until you see something. It’s like a maze.”
Other tips from Gladys (and these are actual quotes from the .doc she sent me) include:
“Eat. Go to this hawker center called Maxwell Hawker Center and they have the longest queues for food at almost every stall.
Sentosa. Take the ski lift up to the top of the hill and take the luge down the hill and do not, I repeat do not, wear flip-flops. Also take the megazip, it includes abseiling, rock climbing and the longest flying fox.
The night safari is surely not to be missed. It’s the world’s first night safari.
You have to check out the Singapore Botanical Gardens. We are known as “The Garden City” for a reason. But please do not go in the afternoon, as it would be as hot as the Sahara Desert.”
For those of you who are over 13, you’ll also be impressed by Singapore’s nightlife. Clarke Quay, once a bunch of warehouses for the shipping industry and now a community of clubs, has ideas you’ve never heard of: outdoor air conditioning, and a bar which provides “shots” and IV drip bags full of booze, as well as outdoor seating with golden wheelchairs (see gallery — so wrong, but so right).
As for hotels, there are a number of wonderful places to stay. My favorites include The Fullerton (which used to be the post office), The Capella (a new, very fancy resort-style hotel on Sentosa) and The Quincy (which I dubbed The Best Hotel for Traveling Alone in Singapore). I don’t recommend the St. Regis; their customer service lags far behind that of the previous three, and you won’t find anything Singaporean there.
And what is “Singaporean”? Well, it’s many different things. Singapore only became an independent country in 1965, and is still establishing itself, both as a culture and as an international financial force, despite its overwhelming economic success. I would highly recommend a visit to the Peranakan Museum, which I wrote about here. One of my Singapore Tourism Board guides, Danny, told me that Singaporeans have to have “The Five C’s: cash, car, condominium, career and credit card.”
Despite all their by-the-rules behavior, Singaporeans are incredibly open with each other about their customs and holidays, even amongst a diverse assortment of religions. Different religious holidays are celebrated all over the country and, unlike in America and other Western cultures, everyone is invited to everything. No one says “Don’t invite them, they’re not Hindu;” instead, everyone invites their whole office or their whole network over for whatever holiday they’re celebrating, resulting in a lot of celebrating for everyone. And why not, right? It makes so much sense. I really, really loved that about Singapore.
I found Singapore to be one of the most well-behaved and cleanest countries I’ve ever been to, and perhaps that’s because of their famously strict government. According to Danny, things you can be arrested for in Singapore include:
Chewing gum in public
Not flushing the toilet
Being caught naked — even in your own apartment
Cutting plants that have grown larger than 8 cm
Eating durian fruit in public
Littering
With all these strict regulations, Singapore continues to boast practically no crime. Part of me wonders if that’s just “no crime we care to speak of.”
Still, as I said earlier, you should totally put Singapore on your list of Asian countries to visit. If nothing else, it’s really easy to get to — but I think you’ll find there’s a lot there to see, experience, and learn. This young city-country has such a unique history, acquiring forefathers from all over the map (again, see The Peranakan Museum). One thing we should take away from them? Their openness, as I mentioned above.
Even if you don’t get invited to Ramadan, The Hungry Ghost Festival and Deepavali in one afternoon, there’s a lot worth seeing in Singapore. Let us know if you get there, and tell us what you think!
Need to think about it? Allow yourself to be hypnotized by these swinging chandeliers at the National Museum of Singapore:
This trip was paid for by the Singapore Board of Tourism, but the views expressed within the post are 100% my own.