Singapore Marina Barrage

A warm welcome to the latest edition of my blog.

Yesterday afternoon (Sat 29 Aug.) we went to visit, for the first time, the Marina Barrage. The Barrage is a dam built across the Marina Channel. It was officially opened on 1 November 2008.

The purpose of the dam is to keep out seawater, creating Singapore's first city reservoir and 15th reservoir in total. Singapore has no natural water sources and takes its supply of water very seriously.

This is the fountain that greets you as you arrive at the Barrage. I hope you enjoy the pictures. Click on the title for more information about the Barrage.

I will update again in 3 weeks as I will be travelling for work. I hope to see you then.

Alan
















Daniela, my wife, looking remarkably fresh
considering the heat.
















You can walk up the roof to a grassy recreation
area. The designers have done a fantastic job
in making it a beautiful place as well as an
engineering feat.
















There were lots of young, fresh and very hot
graduates celebrating their success!
















3 very happy youngsters
















Here we are on the roof of the Barrage centre.
Singaporeans love picnics, but umbrellas are
needed to keep off the sun.
















The graduates watcing the kite flyers
















The Marina Barrage. It was conferred the
Superior Achievement Award^[4] - the highest
honour of the competition for the best project
entry - at the AAEE Annual Awards held in
Washington, DC, USA on 6 May 2009
















Work is still going on. The crane makes a great
'frame' for the Chinese junk
















Bees are dying around the world but the bee
kite is going strong






















Very cute little girl with
Mickey Mouse hat flying her
kite string













The 3 tallest buildings on the skyline are the
new Singapore Integrated Resort It will be
a resort and casino with conference facilities,
restaurants and exhibition facilities,
and an art/science museum.















A view of the Singapore flyer. We haven't been
on it yet. Singapore is proud of it and makes
the point that it is bigger than the London
Eye!
















The Marina Barrage centre
















The views out to sea are always 'busy' with
ships. Singapore has a huge port that receives
on average 1000 ships a day



















These young ladies have their feet firmly on
the ground..........



















.......but not for long! We saw lots of people
and graduates jumping. A new craze?
















The sun is making its way to the horizon.
We are hoping for a beautiful sunset
















I hope the little girl stops running when she
reaches the water!






















Chinese Restaurant with a view
















Traditional Chinese food being served at the
restaurant. Kids seem keen!













Soon it will be too dark to fly kites.














The remaing photos are of the sunset. It
was a lovely close to a fun afternoon. I'll stop
talking and leave you to enjoy the sunset

Batam Island, Indonesia

Welcome to Batam Island!

Occasionally we organise a short break for the British Council Professional Development Centre, Singapore team. In 2007 we went to Bintan Island.

Batam is a 30 minute ferry trip from Singapore. The first picture shows you one of the many ferries that go frequently between Singapore & Batam We stayed at the Turi Beach Resort.


















The weather was a bit of a photographic
challenge. The light was bright but hazy.
The sky a whiteout, but on Saturday late
afternoon it improved a little.
















We stayed in a room on the hill. This shot
looks down on the entrance to the resort.
















Daniela reclining, protected by 2 Balinese type
Statues. In fact the feel of the resort was quite
Balinese. More Hindu than Muslim.













Traditional accommodation. These huts are
quite old now. They look much better in the
publicity photos on the Resort website!
















The East wing is traditional. Recently the West
has been built in a more modern style.














The Resort has two swimming pools.
This is the original one.
















Part of the Resort foyer














And this is the new pool. You can see the
new rooms. They are more expensive,
of course.











There are two piers. Always a boon for a
photographer looking for something to
shoot.......












.......from different angles.
















When you come to a resort straight from
Singapore you don't realise that Batam is
an industrial island.















Just 20 Kms from Singapore, Indonesia and
Singapore have invested heavily into the
development of Batam.














Can you see the little bird on the rock?
Ship building and electronics are the main
industries. It is a trade free zone



















The resort has water sports and you can
get a boat to a snorkelling site off a very
small island called No Man's Island close to
Batam
















Batam is not famous for its coral and fish but I
did manage to spot my favourite clown fish
hanging out in an anenome
















Close up of one of the traditional huts






















This is the second pier. It was closed.
You can see there is nothing to stop you
falling in on the left side. Not good after
a few beers!






















Tourists share the resort with
monkeys.













Local game. Object of the game is to hit the
steeple of flip flops and make it collapse. So
simple but everyone was having a great time.











In case you were having withdrawal
symptoms, one last shot of the pier before
nightfall. Two bathers in the bottom left
hand corner.














The sun doesn't set in the sea but I managed
to catch it just before it disappeared behind
the trees. Goodnight! Hope to see you again
soon.