Let me take you by the hand and lead you through...

Early mornings are a lot more pleasant for a bike ride. The activity or revelry that took place the night before would usually leave behind in the crisp morning air a tale of some of its secrets.  It may be the litter from a wild scene of raucous partying by riotous youths or, it may be what I saw this morning as I climbed the steep slope towards Marina Bay Sands - a fat middle-aged foreign-looking man dragging his luggage, looking petulant, bedraggled and forlorn, a scene that conjured up in my mind a feverish night of gambling and drinking, of heavy losses and the despair that followed.  


I took a pic of what used to be Marina South but is now wholly occupied by Marina Bay Sands.  As you can see, there is always something respectable about Singapore; it's cleanliness and orderliness are second to no other city in the world.  

Shortly after taking this pic, I looked to my left through the supporting columns of a flyover and saw a strange building structure that I had not seen before.

I cycled on and after turning into a different road, there loomed ahead of me the imposing Marina Bay Sands building, seen from a different angle, complete with the Singapore Flyer further in the distance.

It didn't take long before I saw policemen on the road.  Don't forget - this is one of the safest countries in the world.  Nobody frets when criminals are locked away for ever.  There is no "unsafe neighbourhood" and you could take a stroll anywhere on the island at 3am and you wouldn't get mugged.  Those in the West can talk about personal liberties and the rights of a criminal but we don't care about these things.  We only want to be able to walk or bike anywhere we want without being threatened with harm.  Criminals who don't like it here are welcome to go to Norway where they can kill a hundred youths on an island camp and not have to face the gallows.  An Anders Breivik  would swing by his neck and we'd all be perfectly happy.

From Marina Bay Sands, I took a turn into the business district, and five minutes later, I was on the Esplanade bridge.

This photograph brings back a lot of memories. More of this in the future.

 Here's another photograph taken on the Esplanade Bridge.

The blissful ride was a little marred when I passed by what looks like a homeless man.  As far as I know, there are no homeless people in Singapore.  How can this be?  But I'm jumping to wild conclusions.  He may have been out late and drinking and since he was in a state of drunken stupor, he dozed off here.  As soon as he wakes up, he'll be heading home to his wife who is even now busily preparing  breakfast and a few harsh words to greet him with.

 

Speaking of breakfast, I soon headed for home and pedalled as quickly as my waning strength permitted me.