Singapore - Part 1

The Hong Kong Temple was closed for maintenance in November so we took the opportunity to go to Singapore with Elder and Sister Chiu who also serve as missionaries in the temple and live in Singapore.  We had a wonderful experience in Singapore and seeing another part of the world.  Singapore (the main Island) is a small Island on the southern tip of Malaysia.  It is only about 25 kilometers wide and 45 kilometers long.  We found it to be a very modern city with more green areas and cleaner air than Hong Kong.  There were lots of places to visit but since we were there only one week we only saw part of it.  Below are a few facts about Singapore.

·         Singapore is made up of one main island and 63 other tiny islands. Most of the islands of the country are uninhabited.  ·The main religions of Singapore are Buddhism, Islam, Christianity, Taoism and Hindusim.  ·Singapore's residents are mainly descendants of immigrants from the Malay Peninsula, China and the Indian sub-continent.   ·The symbol of Singapore is ‘The Merlion’, half-fish and half-lion beast.   ·English is the official working language as well as the most widely spoken language of Singapore. Malay, Mandarin (Chinese) and Tamil form the other official languages of the country.  ·Bukit Timah Hill, 164 meters (538 feet) high, forms the highest natural point in Singapore.   ·Singapore is counted amongst the 20 smallest countries of the world. However, it is the second most densely populated country in the world, after Monaco.   ·         Around 90 percent of the people in Singapore live in public housing flats.

   Sitting in Hong Kong International Airport getting ready for our flight.  From left to right, Josephine (Chiu's daughter), Joann (granddaughter), Elder Chiu (Sister Chiu took the photo) and Elder & Sister Sorensen.  Josephine and Joann came to visit Elder & Sister Chiu for awhile and are currently living in Orem, Utah.

Sister & Elder Chiu & Sister & Elder Sorensen.  Food was a big part of the trip.

   More of Chiu's family.  The boy on the left in red is Hyrum, Chiu's oldest grandson, and was baptized while we were there.  We enjoyed attending his baptism and joining the family after for a special meal at the Mariott.

The Merlion is the national personification of Singapore.

Its name combines "mer", meaning the sea, and "lion". The fish body represents Singapore's origin as a fishing village when it was called Temasek, which means "sea town" in Javanese. The lion head represents Singapore's original name—Singapura—meaning "lion city" or "kota singa".

  We are standing in front of the gate to the residence of the President of Singapore.  We were not invited in.

       Sister Sorensen can make friends with anyone in the universe.  (These were part of the advertising campaign for the release of the new Star Wars Movie in Singapore).

   Trying different foods was a big part of the adventure and Chius knew the best places to go.  This small cafe was very popular for Chinese food.  The pot in the middle has charcoal under it to keep the soup warm.  It was all really good.  Notice Sister Sorensen's hand on the left of the picture with chopsticks.

This was an Indian meal with rice, meat, bread and curry.

  We tried a bite of this stingray.  The stingray wasn't bad but the spice on top was way to hot.

We didn't try this but thought it was an interesting food for sale.  There were several other flavors of fish skin available.

    Young coconut.  You get to drink the water and eat the coconut flesh which is lots better than the old coconuts you buy in the states.  The green drink is made from raw sugar cane and very good.

   This is Durian fruit which some people call the king of fruits.  People either hate it or love it.  It has a very strong odor and has been described as rotten onions, turpentine and raw sewage.  The odor can last quite awhile and you are not allowed to take durian on public transportation such as trains or buses.

    Members in the Philippines had tried to get us to try Durian but we always declined but since Sister Chiu had been so good as our guide we gave in and tried it.  She told us that after the third bite we would be hooked.  My impression was that it got worse with each bite.  All Sister Sorensen would say was "mmmmmmmmm".  When asked if that meant good or bad all she would say was "mmmmmmmmm".

   Singapore is very multicultural.  This was a group of Muslim school children.  The girls are wearing a Hijab on their heads.  The minority groups seem to fit into Singapore's society quite well.  In Hong Kong if we saw a woman wearing a Hijab she would only be a domestic worker (maid) but in Singapore we saw them working in a wide variety of jobs.

The food street in Little China.

This is in Little India.  There were more elephants than these.

We visited an Indian temple.

A part of the Indian Temple where marriages take place.

A sign in the train station indicating which stop we are at in both English and Chinese.

Same train stop only with English and Tamil (Indian).

This is how far south Singapore is in Asia.

Loved being on the beach, we didn't get to go snorkeling though.

A view of the ocean showing lots of ships.

This is the vehicle that we rode in during our Duck Tour, so named because we toured on land and water.  It is actually an American Amphibious vehicle that was used during the Vietnam War.  We rode down the roads of Singapore then right into a reservoir where we saw some of the sights from the water.  We then drove back onto the land and saw more sights.  It was a fun tour.   Below is a video of a Duck Boat going into the water right after we did.

   This is the Marina Bay Sands Casino.  There are only two Casinos in Singapore but they are still third in the world for gambling.  It was interesting to find out that if you live in Singapore you have to pay S$100 per day to gamble but there is no charge if you live outside Singapore.  Almost like the government is discouraging people from Singapore against gambling.

  All of these buildings are government housing.  As mentioned before close to 90% of the people in Singapore live in government housing.  New buildings are under construction in the center of this picture.  When buildings are 30 to 40 years old they are torn down and new ones built so about the only old buildings we saw were historical buildings that had been preserved.

This is a park we walked through on our way to church.  Even with the dense population there were plenty of green spaces and parks interspersed between buildings. 

One view of night lights over the water.

Typhoon Hato

It is Typhoon season in Hong Kong and we have experienced a few already this year.   The strongest one was Typhoon Hato hitting Hong Kong on August 23, 2017.  The storm hit at high tide and a full moon causing increased flooding.  We have been safe in our apartment next to Kowloon bay.  

For a clarification of terms, here are the two scales used to categorize storms.  

The Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale is used to rank tropical cyclone wind strength in many parts of the world.  This is the scale that is used for the hurricanes that have been hitting the United States this year.

• Category 1 - sustained wind speeds of 74 to 95 m.p.h

• Category 2 - sustained wind speeds of 96 to 110 m.p.h

• Category 3 - sustained wind speeds of 111 to 129 m.p.h

• Category 4 - sustained wind speeds of 130 to 156 m.p.h

• Category 5 - sustained wind speeds greater than 156 m.p.h

This is the scale that is used for Typhoons hitting Hong Kong.  (Note that wind speed is in kilometers/hour not miles/hour.)

Tropical cyclone classes	Maximum sustained winds near the centre (km/h)	Highest tropical cyclone signal in case of a direct hit at Hong Kong
Tropical Depression	62 or below	No. 3
Tropical Storm	63-87	No. 8
Severe Tropical Storm	88-117	No. 9
Typhoon	118-149	No. 10
Severe Typhoon	150-184	No. 10
Super Typhoon	185 or above	No. 10

A category 10 storm in Hong Kong is roughly equivalent to a category 3 hurricane on the Saffir–Simpson hurricane wind scale widely used in the Western Hemisphere.  When a storm in Hong Kong is upgraded to a  No. 8 signal or higher schools, businesses, and transportation begin shutting down.  The temple is closed and if it is a Sunday church meetings are cancelled.

Local weather authorities designated Hato a category 10 storm. It passed within 37 miles of the city with maximum sustained winds of 78 miles per hour and gusts of up to 129 mph. Hong Kong last experienced a storm of Hato's strength in 2012, with Typhoon Vicente.  The No 10 signal has been hoisted only 14 times since 1946, or once every 72 storms, according to the Hong Kong Observatory.

There were reports of 34 people injured in Hong Kong while more than 450 flights were cancelled, financial markets suspended and schools closed as Hato bore down.

In residential districts such as Heng Fa Chuen on densely populated Hong Kong island, waves smashed against the sides of oceanfront buildings and surged over a promenade, sweeping away walls and benches and swamping vehicles parked nearby.

The storm affected more than just Hong Kong.  China’s weather service said the storm made landfall about noon in the Pearl river delta city of Zhuhai, in Guangdong province. At least four people died and 26,817 people evacuated to temporary shelters, the official Xinhua news agency said. Nearly two million households were briefly without power.  Eight people were killed in the gambling mecca of Macau, where local media showed cars underwater and people swimming along what are normally streets.

This is looking out our apartment window.  We know a storm is coming because before it ever gets here they put tape on the lower windows and barricades in front of the windows. 

This hotel down the bay from us puts up nets in front of the lower windows when storms are approaching.  Notice part way up one of the panes was still broken during Typhoon Hato.

A tree torn apart by the winds.

This tree is part of our apartment complex.  They stood it back up, trimmed it and it now looks like it is still alive.

This tree is leaning as well as this branch torn off.

              This is the promenade by our apartment where we like to walk.

This is what it looked like during the typhoon.

After the typhoon.  Poor little trees didn't endure the storm very well.

Also on the promenade by our apartment.

Same spot during the typhoon.  Notice how much higher the water was during the storm.

Elder Jenson on the promenade during Typhoon Hato.

Below is a video I pieced together from the internet showing what Typhoon Hato was like.  The video contains scenes from Hong Kong, China and Macau.  The first part is Hong Kong by our apartment.  The last part where the narration mentions "Gambling Hub" is Macau.  Not sure where the rest of the videos were taken.

A Higher view of Hong Kong

Yes there a lots of tall buildings in Hong Kong.  The following information was found on the internet:

"The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR) of China has at least 7,840 high-rise buildings, with no fewer than 1,303 skyscrapers standing taller than 100 m (328 ft) and at least 316 buildings over 150 m (492 ft) in height. The tallest of these skyscrapers is the 108-storey International Commerce Centre, completed in 2010, which stands 484 m (1,588 ft) and is the ninth tallest building in the world. The total built-up height (combined heights) of these skyscrapers is approximately 333.8 km (207 mi), making Hong Kong the world's tallest urban agglomeration. Furthermore, reflective of the SAR's high population densities, Hong Kong has more people living at the 15th floor or higher, and more buildings of at least 100 m (328 ft) and 150 m (492 ft) height than any other place in the world."

There is so much to see in Hong Kong and looking up at tall buildings doesn't let you get a good idea of what is really around.  There are several options to get a higher view of Hong Kong so we are posting three that we have been to which are all located on Hong Kong Island.

Hong Kong Observation Wheel (Ferris Wheel)

The Hong Kong Observation wheel is 60 meters (197 Ft) high and provides 20 minutes of unobstructed 360 degree views of one of the world’s most iconic skylines and its stunning harbor.  If you didn’t get that perfect shot first time around, don’t worry, you have two more chances as the gondolas make three rounds in every ride.

Sister Sorensen enjoying the view from the observation wheel.  The white building with the wavy roof in the right window is the Convention Center. 

View at the top of the observation wheel.

This is the ferry dock in Central as seen from the observationa wheel.  The ferry on the right is just coming in from TST (Tsim Sha Tsui) across the harbour.

This is the International Finance Centre 2 seen from the Observation Wheel.

Central Plaza Hong Kong

Built upon reclaimed land in Wan Chai North, the 78-story Central Plaza stands 374 meters tall (1,227 feet).  After dusk, the bright neon rods at the top of the building change color each quarter-hour,  fashioning the city’s most visible and attractive timepiece.  The plaza’s vast lobby is a palatial picture of marble, paintings and real palm trees.  Sky City Church on the 75^th floor is the world’s highest church located inside a skyscraper.  The Observation area is on the 46th floor.

Looking down on the Hong Kong Area Office Building, the red brick building in the center.

Cars are pretty small from this high.

Looking across Victoria Harbour.  If you draw a line between the large cruise ship in the center and the 2 small ships slightly to the right of it then straight across to the other side you would hit our apartment building right on the water front.

With all of the tall buildings so close together where you put a tennis court or a swimming pool?  On the roof of a building of course.

How many buildings are there in this view.

International Finance Centre 2

Soaring 420 meters (1,378 Ft) above the Central waterfront, this commanding landmark is the tallest building on Hong Kong Island, the second-tallest in the city and one of the tallest in the world.      Observation area is on 55^th floor.

Buildings towering into the clouds.  The building just left of center with the lines crossing is the Bank of China Tower.

The first of 2 pictures showing what the buildings in this area of Hong Kong Island looked like years ago.

Second picture 28 years later.

What a difference 94 years has made with most of the changes coming in the last 40 years.

This is how you put over 8 million people in a relatively small area like Hong Kong.

The circle in front of the white building in the center is the Observation Wheel we went on.  The Tallest building is the International Finance Centre 2 building.

At night many of the buildings are lit up but we haven't seen them at night from above. 

Even at ground level the buildings are quite beautiful at night.  This picture was taken next to the bay close to our apartment.