Kwan Im Tong Hood Cho Chinese temple in Singapore

Singapore is a city of many religions, what with the mix of Chinese, Malay and Indians living in the city. One of the prominent temples is the Kwan Im Tong Hood Cho Chinese temple in Singapore, located on Waterloo Street in Singapore. It is a very prominent site for the Chinese in Singapore, and as you can see, the front of the temple is very colorful indeed. The temple has been there for a long time, from 1884, and was reconstructed in 1895. The prominent deity in the temple is Avalokiteśvara, a buddhist bodhisattva, also known as Kuan Yin. The temple has other religious places in the vicinity, such as the Sri Krishnan temple located right next door, the Church of Saints Peter and Paul at Queen Street, Maghain Aboth synagogue and the Malabar mosque.

Kwan Im Tong Hood Cho Chinese temple in Singapore (Print this photo /  More photos)

In 1982, the temple was reconstructed due to a large number of visitors, with the multiple deities in the temple placed on a single altar, with the Sakyamuni Buddha located behind Kuan Yin. The temple is a prominent temple, and sees thousands of visitors. During the Chinese New Year celebrations, people try to visit on the first or the fifteenth day.

Entrance gate for the Night Safari in Singapore

Singapore has a large number of tourist attractions. It is a fairly small city (or city state to be accurate), but has tried to make itself as a very attractive tourist attraction. The city is very attractive for tourists, with the infrastructure geared for the same. There is excellent public transport, taxis are well regulated and not very expensive; there are tourist circuits geared for people who want to see multiple tourist attractions and so on. As a part of that, there is the need to prepare tourist attractions throughout the day; after all, you want people to also enjoy during the evening and night. So, for the night, you have some incredible laser shows in multiple parts of the city, you have the night life at Clarke Quay, and then you have the Night Safari.

Entrance gate for the Night Safari in Singapore (Prints/ More photos)

The Night Safari is a superb experience. It is like watching a zoo in low light. The Night Safari is actually located pretty close to the Singapore Zoo; what happens is that there are animals in their habitats, disguised perfectly so that it seems that they are in the open although the dangerous ones are located behind different safety mechanism. The interesting part of the Night Safari is that there are battery operated long train kind of vehicles operating on the trails, which take you to see the different animals that are inside the Night Safari. In fact, some of the more safer animals actually come pretty close to the vehicle and can be watched from very close. And there are trails where one can actually walk through the Night Safari rather than taking the vehicle.

Amphibious vehicle used for ducktour in Singapore

In any large city, there are many different types of tours available. The most common are guided tours as well as hop-on-hop-off tours (basically buses that travel on tourist circuits, where you can get off at a tourist stop, see it, and then take the first next bus that comes), Some of these buses offer more attractions, such as double decker buses, half open top buses and so on. However, in Singapore (and in many other cities as well), there are additional tour options. One of these is these vehicles, looking not too much like a tourist attraction. However, they come with an additional attraction, being amphibian and can be very interesting. The moment when the vehicle leaves the land and jumps into the water is an interesting moment, there is a big splash and you hope that this is not the moment when the vehicle develops a leak.

Amphibious vehicle used for ducktour in Singapore (More photos / Prints)

These are supposed to be surplus military amphibian vehicles, although given the number of cities around the world that these vehicles operate in, there must be more such vehicles being made than there are military surplus available.
This vehicle is part of a tour that starts at Suntec City in Singapore, takes one around for a quick tour of the city streets and then enters the water for a total trip of 60 hours. You get to see some of the major landmarks such as the Marina Bay Sands, Gardens by the Bay, and Singapore Flyer from the water, and it is a wonderful trip. 60 minutes is just right, because more than that might make one to start feeling bored.

Entrance gate for Sentosa island in Singapore

Sentosa is a tourist pleasure, meant to be an island of fun and leisure. Just off the Central region of Singapore, it is designed to be a place full of thrills, rides, water parks, aquariums, and other such stuff. For visitors from outside Singapore, and even for Singapore residents, it is a fun place. Sentosa is accessible through road (taxis or buses), walking (on a short boardwalk), a small train, or a cable car (am not sure whether you can arrive there by helicopter though; but if you are important enough, then maybe you can also get there by helicopter). Many of these transport methods are also attractions by itself, with the cable car and the elevated train called Sentosa Express being the prime attractions. Entry to Sentosa is not free, with a charge being levied no matter whatever method you employ to get there, but once there, internal transportation is all free.

Entrance gate for Sentosa island in Singapore (More photos / Print) 

Sentosa has a number of tourist attractions that draw visitors around the year, although times such as the Chinese New Year and Christmas being more important; and as you would expect, weekends are much more busy than weekdays, so if you can schedule your trip, try to make it on weekdays rather than on weekends. One of the prime attractions inside Sentosa is the Universal Studios Park, which is a full day activity with plenty of rides, shows, and other such stuff. You may not find gigantic roller coasters such as in some amusement parks such as in the US, but the roller coasters here are also fun. Besides Universal Studios, you have a water park, you have a sky tower that provides a high view of the city, there is a replica of the Merlion that allows you to climb inside, there is an excellent laser show in the evening, 4d rides, an aquarium, and so on.