Tiger Riding for Beginners

Traveling Poet Philosopher & Occasional Wiseacre

DAILY PHOTO: Thian Hock Keng

Posted on November 11, 2016 by B Gourley

Confucius; Taken on October 29, 2016 in Singapore

This Chinese temple sits in the heart of Singapore’s Chinatown. It’s said to be the oldest Hokkien or Hoklo temple (i.e. Han Chinese) in Singapore. It’s a temple related to Han Chinese culture generally, rather than to a particular sect or religion. While the main deity is Mazu (a.k.a. Ma Cho Po,) a maritime goddess from Chinese folklore that is sometimes associated with Taoism, there is also a Confucian shrine as well as homages to several Buddhist Bodhisattvas (a Bodhisattva is one who has achieved enlightenment but sticks around to help others out of compassion.)

DAILY PHOTO: Port of Singapore

Posted on November 10, 2016 by B Gourley

Taken on November 1, 2016 in Singapore

I’ve been posting pics of Singapore’s tourist haunts, but it’s time for a glimpse into work-a-day Singapore.

The Port of Singapore is the world’s busiest transshipment port. Transshipment refers to a port that is neither the origin nor the destination of goods, but rather where they get shuffled between ships. And 20% of the world’s containers and half of the world’s crude oil travel through this port. It’s the second busiest port in the world by tonnage (FYI- Shanghai is #1, but at least in 2005 Singapore beat out Shanghai.)

I don’t have the best pics of this important aspect of the city because they were shots of opportunity. One shot that I didn’t even get a poor picture of was the ship-strewn seas viewed on descent into the airport. I’ve never seen such a high density of ships at anchor. Phenomenal.