Rediscover Singapore - Yan Kit Swimming Complex

The day before yesterday while I was roaming around Tanjong Pagar Road and came in contact with the Yan Kit Swimming Complex along Yan Kit Road which occupies a total of 14,859 sq-m plot of land built on an old railway site off Cantonment Road it was named after Mr Look Yan Kit a Canton born dentist who came to Singapore in 1877 and was involved in the founding of the Kwong Wai Shiu Free Hospital in 1910. The swimming complex was opened in 1952 user had to pay an amount of 15 cents per entry and it is also second to the Mount Emily Complex which was built in 1930. Finally, the curtain fall on Yan Kit Swimming Complex in 2001 due to falling attendance and the rest is history.

Rediscover Singapore - Island of Sentosa

Sentosa is an island resort off Singapore's southern coast and is accessible by road, cable car, monorail and a boardwalk to reach the island. Today the island had lost its main attraction such as the Tiger Tower, Underwater World and recently the giant Merlion. Although losing some attraction it also gains some new adventure type attraction such as bungy jumping, ifly, Luge and others with beautiful beaches with sands and sun. Now the main player is Resort World Sentosa with its Universal Studio, Sea Aquarium, hotels lodging complete with a Casino and numerous F&B outlets.

Rediscover Singapore - Cloud Forest

One of the two conservatories found at Garden by the Bay a tourist attraction, Cloud Forest mysterious world veiled in mist take in a mountain view surrounded by diverse vegetation and hidden forest gem and learn about rare plants and their fast-disappearing environment and had a made indoor waterfall in a soaring contemporary greenhouse.

Chin Swee Cave Temple

The Chin Swee Caves Temple is a Chinese temple in Genting Highlands, Pahang, Malaysia. It is situated in the most scenic site of Genting Highlands, on a 28-acre plot of rocky forested land donated by Genting Group founder the late Lim Goh Tong, it was officially opened in 1994.

Rediscover Singapore - Sun Yat Sen Nanyang Memorial Hall

Wan Ching Yuan also knew as Sun Yat-Sen Nanyang Memorial Hall from the former Sun Yat-Sen Villa is a two-storey colonial villa located in Balestier. It is now a museum commemorating Su Yat-Sen (1886 - 1925) the founding father of the Republic of China between 1900 - 1911 and played a crucial part in then 1911 Xinhai Revolution by serving as the Tongmenghui's in Nanyang, (South East Asia) in the 20th Century, there is a long list of history regarding about the villa.  The current status of the museum had a collection of nearly 400 artefacts of calligraphy works, photographs, old books, paintings and sculptures spanning five galleries.

Rediscover Singapore - Singapore Turf Club

The Singapore Turf Club as it is now called was founded in 1842 as Singapore Sporting Club to operate the Serangoon Road Race Course at Farrer Park Field. It is the only horse-racing club in Singapore and part of the Malaysian Racing Association (MRA) which also regulates the 3 turf clubs in Malaysia the Selangor Turf Club, Penang Turf Club and Perak Turf Club. The Singapore Turf Club is the only authorised operator of horse-racing and totalisator horse betting in Singapore. The Turf Club moved to  Bukit Timah in 1933 before relocating to present Singapore  Racecourse at Kranji in 1999 within a walking distance from the Kranji MRT Station. The major races held by the turf club are The Singapore Gold Cup, Raffles Cup, Singapore Derby, The Lion City Cup, Singapore Airline International Cup and Kris Flyer International Sprint.

Rediscover Singapore - Floral Fantasy

Floral Fantasy is the latest thematic attraction at Garden by the Bay, featuring flower artistry combine with technology to create a dream-like fantastical experience for visitors. It consists of four diverse gardens each showcasing a different concept as well as a  4D ride and also an enclosure for the poison dart frogs, and because of the pandemic the attraction had been closed for awhile and reopened 3 days ago.

Rediscover Singapore - Indian Heritage Centre

In the Indian enclave of Little India and along Cambell Road one can find the Indian Heritage Centre showcasing the Indian Singaporean cultural, heritage and its history, The centre eas launched in 2015 and under the management of the Singapore Heritage Board.

Rediscover Singapore - Malay Heritage Centre

The Malay Heritage Centre (Taman Warisan Melayu) located at Sultan Gate, the building was once the Istana Kampong Glam since the 1950s and the palace and compound were refurbished into the Malay Heritage Centre.  The centre organises Malay cultural programme and workshop together with other fundraising activities and additional funding by the Government and National Heritage Board is expected to give the centre a boost to become a museum of international standard and create opportunities for it to work with other top regional museum in Indonesia and Malaysia.

Rediscover Singapore - Oldest Teochew Temple

Built-in the  1850s the Yueh Hai Ching Temple is the oldest Teochew Temple, it begins with a makeshift shrine in 1820s by the seafarers and merchant to express their gratitude toward Mazu, the Goddess of the Sea for their safe travel. In 1899 the temple was bestowed with the wordings Peaceful clouds over the ocean at dawn by Emperor Guangxu of the Qing Dynasty. In 1996 the temple was gazetted as a national monument and undergo restorations in 2011 using authentic materials and traditional constructions technique from master craftsmen from China and the temple is famous for its ornate roof details and its reliefs. In 2014 the temple received the UNESCO Asia-Pacific Cultural Heritage Conversation Award-Merit for its commendable restoration efforts.

Rediscover Singapore - Peranakan Museum

The Peranakan Museum is the place to look into the Peranakan Culture in Singapore, and other Straits Settlement in  Malacca and Penang and is located in the former Tao Nan School building and is also a sister museum to Asian Civilisation  Museum. There are about 10 galleries in the museum from the introduction to their culture and various Peranakan communities around South East Asia where you can also learn the traditional 12 days of the Peranakan Wedding Ceremony beside that there are arts and crafts such as beadworks to the nonya kebaya to religion and faith and how they feel about their heritage and the future of their culture.

Rediscover Singapore - S. E A. Aquarium

The last aquarium we had was Van Kleef Aquarium is an oceanarium located in Fort Canning Park and was open to the public in 1955 and closed in 1991 and finally demolished in 1998. Then in 2012, a new Marine Life Park run by Resort World Sentosa opens in the island of Sentosa consist of SEA Aquarium and Adventure Cove Waterpark. The SEA Aquarium is the world's largest by total water volume by was later defeated to the record by the Chimelong Ocean Kingdom from China. The aquarium had a collection of 100,000 marine animals of over 1,000 species, across 50 different habitats.

Rediscover Singapore - Lorong 3 Geylang

Yesterday with a tinge of sadness, armed with the Nikkor 24-200mm on loan from Nikon Experience Hub I set out to record the last remaining 191 units of two-storey terrace house which was sold in 1960 with a lease of 60 years and is due to expires in 31st December 2020. The terrace houses were built to accommodate the residence of Kampong Kuchai which was destroyed in a fire in 1950. Most of the current owner had moved out and are letting out their premises to house foreign workers and other occupants who used them for religious activities the plot of land is slated for redevelopment with new public housing options in the Kallang as outlined in the master plan 2014.

Rediscover Singapore - Reflection at Bukit Chandu

Reflection of Bukit Chandu is a restored Black & White colonial bungalow closed to the battle site of the battle that took place at Opium Hill or Bukit Chandu as known to the Malays this is where the Malay Regiment led by Lt. Adnan Bin Saidi a man known for immerse leadership qualities and bravery, and is where they fought the Japanese who invaded Singapore on the 14th of  February 1942. The battle of Pasir Panjang was fought where 1,400 brave soldiers heroically defended the last stand against the 13,000 strong of the Japanese Army.  Today the centre is a place for visitors and tourists alike to reflect upon Singapore heritage and heroism with the presentation through artefacts, exhibits and multimedia to contemplate about our nation's war experience and to discover how far Singapore has come as a nation.   

Rediscover Singapore - Lorong Halus Wetland

Lorong Halus was once a night soil treatment facility referring to the bucket system used during the early years being processed here before the modern sanitation system, it was also the last disposal station for our garbage which was closed in 1987. During 1970 - 1999 the area was used a garbage landfill which covered an area of about 100 football field. Today the Lorong Halus Wetland was just a fraction of the original size roughly about 18 football field which in turn serve as a bio water treatment system and it serves as our 17th reservoir by damning up the Serangoon River now it attracts locals and foreigner alike to the wetland a long deep orange bridge takes visitors over the Serangoon River toward Coney Island, Punggol and Pasir Ris.

Rediscover Singapore - Pulau Ubin

This island lies in the northeast of Singapore it was simply called Ubin but the Malay named it Pulau Ubin which literally meant Granite Island. It is one of the last rural areas which is rich in flora and fauna and wildlife and also granite quarry,  in the early 1950 and 1970 there are about 2000 inhabitants living on the island but by 2012 the last headcount was 38 inhabitants. Present-day Ubin had been preserved from urban development and appeals had been made to have the Chek Jawa to retain its biodiversity. Today Pulau Ubin had been a tourist destination including the locals, there are temple, bicycle kiosk, a wayang stage F&B and mountain biking. For transportation on the island, one could rent a bicycle or hire a van.

Rediscover Singapore - Bukit Brown Cemetery

It was officially opened in 1922 in order to serve the needs of the Chinese Community for half a century before it ceased to be operational in 1973. This is a huge plot of land a total of 211 acres which belong to the Hokkien Seh Ong Clans. Bukit Brown was named after George Henry Brown who was a shipowner, trader, and broker in 1840. The cemetery was a burial grounds for most of the prominent and well known Singaporean in the business community, the plot of the burial ground was cut into two plots for the construction of the Pan Island Expressway the other is knows as Mount Pleasant Cemetery. Then in 2013, the cemetery was placed in 2014 World Monuments Watch which records global heritage site which is at risk of being destroyed. Before that, in 2011 the Land Transport Authority (LTA) announce the construction of a road and viaduct and it would build over the cemetery and some of the graves were due for exhumation for the project.

Rediscover Singapore - The Intan

The Intan is a private-owned Peranakan Collections Museum started by Alvin Mark Yapp and can be found in my neighbourhood in Joo Chiat. Alvin is an avid collector of things that got to do with the Peranakan Culture. His antique collection took him more than 20 years.  You have to make a booking in advance to view his collection with a small token after the tour you are invited to tea and some Nyonya snacks our photography group was host by him many years ago.