A few views of St Paul’s Church, Gas Street Basin, the Library and the Cube. The sunlight always gives the local landmarks an added boost.
Next stop Singapore and it is 6 years since I have visited so I was interested to see what had changed. Looking out from the airplane window flying into the country, the success of Singapore’s trade is seen by the numerous ships waiting to enter the port. The flower lined drive from Changhi airport to the city brought back memories of previous times. For this visit, I was participating in a conference at Nanyang Technical University (NTU) which is to the west of the island. To the taxi drivers, it is the furthest distance from the airport taking 40 minutes and occasionally during my stay, there would be the occasional grumble that NTU was too far out for them. The University Campus is well planned and even in the heat and humidity, most of the places are easily accessible. There are some interesting buildings including the Hive (a student learning hub), and the School of Art, Design and Media with its curving double buildings. Other interesting NTU departments that I visited included the Medical School which had a mixture of old and new architecture. If you are interested, the conference that I attended was organised jointly by the University of Birmingham and Nanyang Technical University.
During the conference, there was also some downtime and I visited an old friend, Gareth Pearson, for a drink in the Marina Bay at night. He also arranged for me to visit Altitude which is the highest bar in Singapore with spectacular views over all the city and the Island. Following this I came down to Sea Level and caught a taxi from the Fullerton Hotel to an evening reception at the Tanglin Club which is one of Singapore’s oldest and prominent social clubs. The meal and company were great and the bar was well stocked as can be seen from the pictures.
In between my numerous meetings and the conference, there was also a chance to briefly visit Clarke Quay and the surrounding area of the Singapore Cricket club which not had not changed much since my last visit. The weather at midday is hot and humid so I took some photographs but did not linger very long.
On my last night in Singapore we had a reception at the National Art Gallery. The bar in the Gallery is called Smoke and Mirrors and has commanding views over the Cricket club and the Marina Bay Sands Hotel. Its central position allows for great photographic opportunities of the skyscrapers around the city both day and night.
Singapore is one of THE places to visit in the world and it does not disappoint. The place is always changing yet retains that British charm that made the place what it is today.
Visiting São Paulo is an experience. It is the third largest city in the world with 17 million inhabitants. As soon as you leave Guarulhos International Airport, you enter into wide multi lane (10 to 12 lanes each way) freeway which straddles both sides of the Tietê river. Slowly you do become aware of the smell from the polluted River as you drive into the city. The amount of traffic is incredible and they all drive as if they were Ayrton Senna. This was a business trip for the University of Birmingham and we had three dental schools to visit across the centre and outlying suburbs of São Paulo. We stayed in a small boutique hotel, Estanplaza Paulista on the Alameda Jaú near to Paulista Avenue. The hotel’s position gave us access to local restaurants and shops in the area. We arrived very tired on the Saturday night and woke up to sunshine in the morning.
Paulista Avenue
We wandered up to Paulista avenue and found that the whole road was closed to traffic and there was a large street party taking place. People were dancing and generally having a great time. We walked along the length of the avenue chilling out and enjoying the atmosphere. There were many good photographic opportunities.
São Paulo Museum of Art
We also took time to visit the unique São Paulo Museum of Art. There is a wide range of interesting paintings and the Museum Web site on provides a good source of information. There was an exhibition “Imagens do Aleijadinho” which displayed statues of the African-Portuguese influence on the development of Brazil. Some of the exhibits were disturbing although the photographic record of the area the statues were found was fascinating. The Museum is on several floors and the paintings were imaginatively exhibited in a large exhibition area. There were canvases by both well-known artists plus fun contemporary exhibits such as “the Table”, where the blackboard was under the table.
Jungle Park
We spent time in the “Jungle Park “called Parque Trianon (officially Parque Tenente Siqueira Campos) which is only small in area but is key how the Atlantic Forrest would have been in São Paulo. The high tree canopy with the dense vegetation makes it dark and gives respite from the noise of the large city around it. Then it was back out to the street party and we returned later in the afternoon and it had become even more crowded. Bikes, dancing, skateboarding on normally busy roads and underpasses and lots of street stalls. When there is an excuse for a party then Brazilians know what is needed to make it a success.
Reflections on São Paulo
Take home memories from this time in Brazil. The food and the drinks especially the Ciprihania made with cachaça (sugarcane hard liquor), sugar and fruit. The traffic congestion around the city, the picturesque University Sao Paulo campus with Capybara roaming free (previously I had only seen them in zoos). The Brazilian friendliness and positive view on life is also refreshing.
Hope you enjoy all the pictures as well. I may have taken a few too many!!!
