Day 34: in Singapore

Singapore's artificial Merlion icon is fitting. Someone dreamed up the lion/fish mascot in the 1960s but that's sort of Singapore. The whole is the sum of its hybrid parts.We walked Chinatown and the renovated Victorian holdover open air market, Lau Pa Sat. At lunchtime, it was crammed full of people slurping noodles and shoveling rice. But then again, eating seems to be a day long affair in the Lion City.

The Thian Hock Keng Temple, the most ancient Hokkien building in Singapore, has been conserved in its original detail, rooftop dragons and all.

Worshippers were dutifully making offerings at their temples at lunchtime, too, or stepping into the neighboring mosque for midday prayer.

Onto Ann Siang Hill where wealthy merchants lived when the waterfront was where Chinatown is now, the Boat Quay (the quays are where Singapore loosens its tie and drinks), and across the Elgin Bridge into the Colonial District.

Elgin - J correctly hypothesized that this is the same Lord Elgin who purchased the Parthenon marbles from the Turkish government when it occupied Greece, the same Elgin who was viceroy in India. The bridge was built to connect traders on the Chinese southern side of the Singapore River to the Indian northern side of the river. Then to St. Andrew's Cathedral, Raffles Hotel-named after Sir Stamford Raffles, Singapore's British founder who helped to launch Singapore onto the international scene, a celebrated Armenian church (another example of tolerance)and...the Battle Box.

The British may be more aware of the fall of Singapore in 1942 during WWII but it preceded the Bhutan Death March during the Pacific campaign. The Battle Box was a warren of underground rooms that served as a British base on the tip of the Malaysian peninsula during the war. Our tour was conducted by a British army veteran of Indian nationality stationed in Singapore. Aside from placing the fort in time, our guide went on to interject personal subjective information in the unfolding of events. He is not alone in his assessment. Many felt the Japanese were grossly underestimated, the strength of the British stronghold grossly overestimated, the assumed preparedness faulty, and the British response an abandonment of the city. Our guide recounted many types of torture employed in the POW camps. The guide wasn't pulling any punches. He said that if the Americans hadn't dropped the bomb, they'd all be speaking Japanese in Singapore today.