Diane Snider Photos

Singapore, often considered the most affluent city in Asia, has a tiny land mass. Thus newer housing is not built single-family style but rather in modern highrise communities which include a sense of total neighborhood. Within each such community are schools, playgrounds, shopping facilities, parks, public transportation, houses of worship, etc.

Imagine wandering through some 60,00 ravishing orchids of all colors and types! Not only will you be in the midst of great beauty but also shade for the most part. Shade is important in areas of great heat such as Singapore has.

Singapore's population is quite a mixture. The majority are of Chinese background, then Malaya, then India, and also from the United Kingdom or Australia.

Liittle India area shops in Singapore provide an amazing shopping experience for many visitors. Incense wafting through the shops, walls filled with displays of silk saris with their iridescent screaming colors, embroidered and beaded pillow covers, curry flavors enticing your taste buds, tables filled with beautifully carved art works, exotic jewelry styles, even Bollywood cds - so very much to see!

Between 1819 and 1942, when Japan invaded and took over the island of Singapore, this city state was part of the British Empire and an active trade hub for Southeast Asia. Various sights will remind visitors of this city's British history: St. Andrew's Cathedral, City Hall, the Old Parliament House, all which surround the Padang. Now what is the Padang? It is a famous cricket pitch (field) and even now, cricket fans gather to watch the game being played by teammates all dressed, of course, in their traditional whites.

Amazing carvings of colorful figures will catch your eye in this monument by Hindu artisans. In the Little India area of Singapore are several highly decorated temples dedicated to gods famous throughout Indian history.

Lots of year round sunshine and heat and abundant tropical rain provide an ideal growing environment for unusually beautiful and plentiful flowers of all kinds in Singapore's magnificent garden parks where visitors often enjoy a fine picnic out on welcoming manicured lawns.

Currently known as Singapore's arts centre, this imposing building was originally The Victoria Concert hall and Theatre during the days of British rule. Visitors here might also enjoy seeing art works in several neighboring museums and will find it easy to find these historical buildings which are located just north of the Singapore River in the Colonial District where there are many other points of interest as well.

In the Little India area located on the north side of the Singapore River near the Colonial District of the City, visitors will find spicy and plentiful mouth-watering foods, Hindu temples, silk saries, Indian carvings, exquisite fabrics for home decor, the latest films from Bollywood, and all aspects of Indian culture. Should you decide to enter a Hindu temple, be sure to remove your shoes and leave them outside amongst the hundreds of pairs you will likely find already there.

Many visistors are amazed at the exceptionally clean and orderly city of Singapore. What makes the city this way?