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the locals tell-all

Discussion in 'Travel Forum' started by Su Wei, May 23, 2004.

  1. Su Wei

    Su Wei Active Member
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    Imagine you are describing the place where you live to a traveller who's visiting. I would love to hear. (I'll write about Singapore next time but i'm in a rush to get out of the house now.... )

    There should be a wealth of information here....
    Thanks!!!
     
  2. NaasPreacher (C4K)

    NaasPreacher (C4K) Well-Known Member

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    Wow! I am going to be gone for a few days, but will have to do this when I get back. How do I describe the most beautiful island in the world ;) ?
     
  3. Su Wei

    Su Wei Active Member
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    okay... now i have time to type since the kiddies are sleeping...

    Singapore: not somewhere in China. :rolleyes:

    location: small island, one degree north of the equator, (the sun rises and sets same time all year round, 7 pm/am)
    southern most tip of the Asian continent.

    weather: hot, wet. rainforesty kind of vegetation. very humid and muggy.
    All human economic activity will basically grind to a halt if airconditioners islandwide decided to go on strike.

    brief history: was a small fishing port before the British came. 1819, became a british controlled trade settlement because of it's location between India, China.. naturally deep harbours.

    So the trade brought in the immigrants: Chinese, Indians and Malays from the neighbouring Malaysia and Indonesia.

    Gained independance from the brits after WWII but wanted to be part of Malaysia because we're so small and no natural resources. (Like i mean zilch. no oil, no land, no nothing other than human captial.)

    but got removed from Malaysia 1965 because Malaysia was uncomfortable that our racial mix by proportion was very different from the rest of Malaysia (we are around 75% chinese).

    Strong govt leadership with great foresight made Singapore what it is today. "economic miracle". from third world to first within 35 years.

    Language: four offical languages, English, Mandarin, Malay and Tamil. But English is the language of instruction in school, the language for law, govt, commerce.

    Every public sign and poster is in English. That was part of the foresight of the govt to choose to stick to English after we gained independance.

    but singaporeans speak singlish to one another. it cuts across racial lines. It's a lingo that singaporeans understand.

    an example of it goes like this: "He got come meh? where got? don't have lah."

    Landscape: urban jungle. But a very pretty one. Very clean and orderly.

    85% (if i'm not wrong) of our population live in flats. we live very densely.

    the good thing about that is that our public transport is very efficient. I get impatient if i have to wait 15 minutes for a bus.

    (one bus stop would serve literally several hundred families, so it make good sense to have a good system going)

    Public transportation: is very convenient (and cheap) to get around just about anywhere. network of bus and train system (the MRT, Mass Rapid Transit). Payment is a tap and go stored value card.

    For example, from the airport (Changi airport, always voted among the best in the world by travellers) to the city centre by MRT is about 30 minutes. costs around US$1. And it's clean and comfortable. (I;ve been on the underground, so i can say, ours is CLEAN and COMFORTABLE....)

    What you can do here: Visit me!!! :D

    shopping is the greatest lure for tourists. Orchard Road is the (shopping) capital of Singapore. But most of the shops you could find in the major cities of the world. And if you want to get local stuff, it's too pricy on Orchard Road.

    To have a real taste of Singapore, go about where the singaporeans go. Just take a MRT and drop off on any stop and walk around housing estate to see the folks and hear the talk. (We still speak dialects of mandarin passed down from our parents. We (singaporean chinese) can trace our roots back to which part of china our ancestors came from.

    Whenever we host missionary families, (i've hosted several phillipino families on transit to the mission field, as well as 2 American families, the friendships we've made will be lifelong) we love to bring them to eat at our "coffeeshop" (also known as kopi tiam). It's free-for-all seating, and you can order your food from a choice of several stalls, each selling different food. Being multi-cultural, our food is also very very "international". I love indian curry but also teriyaki chicken.

    Singaporeans love their food. No occasion seems complete without the food. And because of our asian culture, it's always better to have more food than not enough (which is a loss of "face").

    Religious sites: there are hindu temples, mosques, catholic churches (stain glass and all, smoky chinese temples.

    Nature: the govt has taken care in preserving alot of land for the natural jungles. Our catchment area. There is a board-walk trail into virgin jungle somewhere.

    Lots of beach. lots of SUN..

    zoo: we love to bring visiting missionary familes to the zoo. I've never been to anyother zoo else where but our visitors seem impressed. The animals are kept in their enclosures with nayural barriers like bodies of water so there are no cages and stuff like that. there's a part of the lion enclosure that's glass and the lions can come up close to inspect you.

    there's probably more to tell but i can't think of any at the moment.
     
  4. Dr. Bob

    Dr. Bob Administrator
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    Think I'll but S'pore on my list! Was supposed to go there and Bankok but SARS changed that.

    ~~~~~~~~
    Casper, Wyoming.

    Okay, you come to Wyoming to see major scenery, not a little town. </font>
    • Yellowstone - first national park and absolutely worth the time to tour all around its lakes, falls, geysers, paint-pots</font>
    • Grand Tetons and Jackson Hole - some of the finest mountain scenery, lakes, trails you can imagine</font>
    • Devil's Tower - first national monument, just an hour off I-90 and worth walking around (and climbing - I'll loan you my pitons and rope)</font>
    • South Pass - historic oregon trail and gold rush area</font>
    • Thermopolis - world's largest hot springs (free) at the mouth of the Wind River Canyon (like driving at the bottom of the Grand Canyon).</font>
    But as long as you're going through the state, stop by in Casper.

    [​IMG]

    We offer:</font>
    • Casper Mountain - 26 miles owned by the county, open to year round sports, skiing, hiking, camping with 15 minutes from my house in the city</font>
    • Garden Creek Falls - natural hiking trails and falls (duh) at the base of the mountain</font>
    • Oregon Trail - new interpretive center on the hills overlooking the trail</font>
    • Ft Caspar - civil war era fort guarding the last crossing of the Platte by the Oregon, California, Mormon trails and Pony Express</font>
    • Museums - natural history (we dig dinosaurs), mineral (center of oil, uranium and coal), history, art gallery</font>
    • Natural Bridge - only rock arch bridge in continental US with river still flowing beneath it</font>
    • Platte - reservoirs, with trout/walleye fishing, boating, sailing</font>
    • Independence Rock - milestone marking 1/2 way on the Oregon Trail</font>
    • Pro sports - minor league baseball, indoor football, whitewater kayak olympic course</font>
    • Griffin's home - tiny bungalow with a big deck awaiting friends and family to drop by and give me a chance to bar-b-cue some buffalo burgers.</font>

    [​IMG] [​IMG] [​IMG]
     
  5. Melanie

    Melanie Active Member
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    Well, hey I am so glad of the map, for some reason I thought Wyoming was much further East. Well I am a dumb broad, it sounds fantastic, almost as gorgeous as my homeland. The pics I have seen of the Grand Tetons etc are awesome, must be so much more in the flesh so to speak. Is Devils Peak that peak that was featured in a movie, some sci-fi flick....

    Is that pic with the 4 footed thangs deer or moose or what....
     
  6. Melanie

    Melanie Active Member
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    Thank you Sue Wei for the potted Singapore. I spent a few days there years ago at the end of a holiday to Malaysia my birthplace and regrettably I was rather unwell so the humidity did me in and I stayed mostly in my hotel room....boring!
     
  7. Dr. Bob

    Dr. Bob Administrator
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    Yep, Bri - Close Encounters of the third Kind (Richard Dreyfus) features devil's tower. It's actually the core of a big volcanoe and the lava hardened, then the volcanoe eroded away. Number of smaller ones in the area, but this one is huge.

    I climbed it as a young man and here are some pix of some friends who climbed it.
    http://www.gdargaud.net/Climbing/DevilsTower.html

    The nearly vertical monolith known as Devils Tower rises 1,267 feet above the meandering Belle Fourche River. Once hidden below the earth's surface, erosion has stripped away the softer rock layers revealing Devils Tower.
    Known by several northern plains tribes as Bears Lodge, it is a sacred site of worship for many American Indians. The rolling hills of this 1,347 acre park are covered with pine forests, deciduous woodlands, and prairie grasslands. Deer, prairie dogs, and other wildlife are abundant.

    Proclaimed September 24, 1906 as the nation's first national monument by President Theodore Roosevelt.

    [​IMG]
     
  8. Joseph_Botwinick

    Joseph_Botwinick <img src=/532.jpg>Banned

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    Arkansas:

    1. Eureka Springs: The Great Passion Play, The Holy Land Tours, Bible Museum, Thorncrown Chapel, historic downtown shopping, about a hour away from Branson and an hour and half away from Lambert's Cafe in Springfield, and Ermillio's Italian restaraunt in Eureka.

    2. Pea Ridge National Battlefield

    3. Ozark Mountains, Lum's Mountain (from Lum and Abner fame).

    4. Mount Magazine complete with brand new cabins at the top of the mountain for rent.

    5. Petite Jean Mountain with waterfall that you can go underneath.

    6. Caves and caverns all over the state.

    7. Mount Nebo and Lake Dardanelle.

    8. Little Rock: Cultural Arts centers, Zoo (which honestly, isn't that great), River Market with Park and Ampitheater, Farmer's market, Clinton Library, and the Anti-Clinton Library, Museum of Discovery, Aerospace Center and Imax Theater, The Old Mill (One of the few strcutres that still stands that was used in the movie "Gone With the Wind"), Coming soon: Bass Pro Shop, WW2 submarine museums, Cock of the Walk restaraunt (try the fried Pickles, they're really good), Pinnacle Mountain State Park (with a hiking trail up to the top of the mountain), Wye Mountain Daffodill Field, Central High School Civil Rights Museum, Minor League Baseball and Arena Football, and the Greek Food Fest in May (Good food, music and entertainment).

    Joseph Botwinick
     
  9. Melanie

    Melanie Active Member
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    Joseph is Arkansas the home of the mountain dulcimer, an instrument I am devoted to, just love the sound.

    America sure has some mountains as I believe the Ozarks to be. Poor old Australia being an "old" land has a couple of pimples that we grandly call mountains.....
     
  10. Su Wei

    Su Wei Active Member
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    Pimples? the highest natural peak in S'pore is afew hundred meters, like you can walk up in half an hour... :rolleyes:
    We call it "Bukit Timah". Bukit in Malay is hill.

    That's why i crave mountains and natural scenery. Wyoming sounds like heaven to me.

    Here's a visit singapore website for everyone coz i don't know how to stick pics in my post... [​IMG]
     
  11. Melanie

    Melanie Active Member
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    See outback Oz Su Wei particularly big sky country where you can give the world oppressing you with its hugeness, it does send some folk screaming but it is truely amazing to experience it, for me it is like being in the presence of God, terrifying and exhilirating at the same time....
     
  12. Su Wei

    Su Wei Active Member
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    [​IMG]

    Bri, whereabouts in Queensland? it's my most visited Aussie state (coz i've an aunt who lives in Townsville.) been to Cairns, Brisbane, Gold Coast.
     
  13. Melanie

    Melanie Active Member
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    Su Wei, you turn left of Brisbane, or Cairns and travel for a thousand kilometers or so out to western Queensland where there is very little habitation and you will be there.

    Blue sky dome, huge blazing sun, red earth, scrubby khaiki gidgee, shimmering heat haze.....there!
     
  14. hactonv

    hactonv New Member

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    Sinful sinful Nevada!(Reno Area)

    LOCATION: We are located in the desert! West Coast! Next to Cali. Takes 20 mins to get to Cali from Reno! It only takes 1 1/2 to dive across the state and 8 hrs. to go from top to bottom. We are at a nice 5000 ft. and have nice mountains!

    Weather: IT can be anywhere from freezing to over 100 within the hr! It can snow in the morning and be sunny in the noon time, but have thunder and lighting for dinner!Be prepared! Right now it is breezy and partly sunny. Nice temp. thought!

    THINGS TO MAKE SURE YOU DO OR SEE:

    - Drive thru chapel
    - Drive thru divorce chapel
    - Casinos
    - Water park
    - Marinia (Renos version of lake)
    - Lake Tahoe ( everything from swimming to boating to para sailing and sky diving!!)
    - Movies with a run through fontian in front! (WE just got back from the fountain!NO MOVIE!)
    - Race-cares, rollar coasters and fun!
    - Zoo
    - 4th street
    - And lots of other things that I can't think of!

    So is Nevada a great place to visit....Don't Gamble with your answer!!!
    (lol)
     
  15. Su Wei

    Su Wei Active Member
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  16. Su Wei

    Su Wei Active Member
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    Christ4Kildare! I've been waiting for your entry! :eek:

    And other's too. UK? NY?

    Thanks!
    [​IMG]
     
  17. Bob Farnaby

    Bob Farnaby Active Member
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    Easy, the word 'AUSTRALIA' says it all.

    Great beaches, magnificent woodlands/forests, Huge deserts, high skies, mini mountains, and an outback that defies description. Remote, but truly civilised;) Large distances between areas of population
    Cities of millions that have just about everything, good and evil, country towns that have populations of less than 2000 but sometimes get put on world maps to fill in the space ...

    And a population capable of watching, participating and understanding just about any sport imaginable.
    The home of 'Hillsong" contemporary christian music.

    and a small true church ...

    Regards
    Bob
     
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