DUCK Tour and Sultan Mosque

For our last full day in Singapore, Reed and I decided to go on a land/water tour of the Marina area. After riding the bus and train, then walking down to the marina, we found DUCK Tours.

On our way to the marina, we saw the Singapore Flyer and the War Memorial. The Flyer takes 37 minutes to complete one circle, we decided the pictures of the flyer would be sufficient. The War Memorial represents the civilians who died during World War II. The four towers symbolize the four nationalities of Singapore, Chinese, Malay, Indian and minorities.

The DUCK tour was fun. The vehicle was used during WWII as a land/water assault vehicle. We went into the river first and saw the Esplanade Theatres which boast over 7000 spikes on the roofline. It is Singapore's equivalent of Sydney's famous Opera House, except that the two-lobed spiky Singaporean version deliberately bears a striking resemblance to durian. The Merlion reminds the Singaporeans of their history as a small fishing village (fish) and then the modernization (lion) of Singapore by Sir Raffles. As Singapore's official symbol, it is 28.2 feet tall and weighing 70 tons, spouts water daily on the south bank of the mouth of the Singapore river.
(info source)

Ms. A loved the water part of the tour. The breeze felt so wonderful and she loves the water.

We visited the Sultan Mosque after a scenic walk from the Suntec City Mall (one of MANY malls in Singapore). It was very impressive. I loved the massive gold onion-like dome.

Chinatown and Little India

This is the Buddha Tooth Relic Temple. We were impressed by the size of the building. It was huge. The doors inside were closed, so we couldn't enter. The interior opens every day at 4:30AM, 10:30AM and 7:30PM for the monks to pray. We enjoyed looking at the exterior.


Sri Mariamman Temple is a Hindu temple built in 1827. It is the oldest Indian Temple in Singapore. the statuary on the exterior is typical of Hindu temples, but still very impressive.











" The Masjid Abdul Gafoor contains a sundial above its entrance. It is the only mosque with a sundial throughout the Islamic world. The sunburst has 25 rays decorated with Arabic calligraphy which denotes the names of 25 chosen Prophets. It was completed in 1907 and has a unique blend of Moorish-Islamic and South Indian architectural styles. I loved the green, yellow and white color combination. All the stars and crescents adorned the mosque beautifully.