On my last full day in Singapore, I endeavoured to check out a few places I had never been before. My flight to Sri Lanka wasn’t scheduled until 11 pm, but I had to check out of my hotel by noon. Fortunately, the hotel was happy to look after my bags while I hopped around town.
The first place I wanted to check out was a new old place. That is, an old historic home known as the Baba House, recently bequeathed to the National University of Singapore, restored and furnished to its 1920s splendour, and recently opened to the public by reservation only. I have long admired these old colonial-style homes from the outside, but it was really interesting to see what they were originally designed like on the inside. Unfortunately, I wasn’t permitted to take photographs inside.
Lots of old teak floors, walls, and furnishings show influences from trading partners around the world, reflecting affluence. Among the surprises was an open area in the middle of the house for airflow in the tropics, probably 12 feet by 12 feet, with no ceiling or windows, so rain would pour into the house and drain out through the marble base at the bottom. The house also had several listening and spy holes built into the design so parents could keep tabs on who was trying to visit (including a spy hole in the floor of the master bedroom) or what children were talking about downstairs in the front room. A long line of Chinese descendants owned this house and ran a steam shipping company.
Afterwards, I made a crazy attempt to visit Singapore’s Zoo, which some consider one of the world’s best. Unfortunately, it isn’t on a subway line and requires a bus ride from a distant subway stop. The bus ride took much longer than I expected, so my visit was brief. Overall, I had about an hour to make a quick loop of the place. It sits on a small peninsula surrounded by water, right next door to another peninsula with an all-nocturnal zoo (which I visited several years ago). The zoo was very nice, with lots of lush green vegetation and animals roaming outside of cages that seemed to appreciate it.
Afterwards, I had to high-tail it back to my hotel to grab my bags and head to the airport for my late-night flight to Sri Lanka.
