While waiting for photobucket to upload my photos, let me explain the outlines of an entirely new project (not another project!!)

hmm well i think i have aknack for history so i thought.. yeah why not do a research on Singapore during the war and compile it all for future references? I mean.. who noes.. maybe in a few years time some of these historical site will be giving way to lame things like malls or a skate park (wow.. that is original, Singapore.) yeah or maybe another "hub" for i dunno... computers (we have that already. it's called Funan IT Mall.) So these photos of the original place before "destruction" could really serve well for future generations eh ? (yeah like many of us youths would care). I found within my household a few books on old singapore and they included photos dating back to the 1800s. Surprising that Singapore actually had TRAMS running around.

Anyways what i'm laying out now is a detailed (help me God) research of the battle sites in Singapore. I've already got many pointers from books like "Fortress Singapore" as well as video footages. I happen to find someone who lived through the war and he was born in 1922 or sth like that. Happened to be my grandfather (and i didnt even noe). He happens to have a knack for war too (runs in the family i guess).

Ok ok first let me lay out the areas i'll visit first. I'll start from central Singapore.
  • Kent Ridge Park - This is where the Malay Regiment fought the Japanese in the famous Pasir Panjang Ridge battle; one of the fiercest battles (on the island). Reason they defended was cause of the main ammunitions depot behind them.
  • Labrador Park - The Brits built a battery (gun emplacements) up there. Artillery guns here helped the Malay Regiment in the Pasir Panjang Ridge battle and there are some pill-boxes littered around here. umm there is an underground bunker here too but hasnt been explored yet (WHY?!?!). People believe it links all the way to Sentosa and stuff. ( Actually its not sealed but still in use by the current Singapore military. Yeah.. the government and its cover-ups and me with my imagination.)
  • Alexandra Hospital - We all know what happenned here rite? The Massacre~~ Japs killed lotsa people here even those on hospital beds. I read somehwere that Yamashita was furious when he heard this and executed many of those responsible. *told u Yamashita was a good guy~~*
  • Singapore General Hospital - Back during the war, this was somehwat a medical school. A funeral was being held, attended by 25 friends of the student victim. Then all of a sudden the Japs shelled the area. Some ran into the building for cover, others dived into the trenches and a few actually took cover in the deceased's (?) grave! But still.... 11 of those 25 died. A memorial has been set up for these elven medical students...... with their pictures on it.
  • City Hall - Ooo yes.. this place has seen many things.. the invasion.. the surrender... the Brits coming back... the victory parade and soon... The New Paper Big Walk 2005~! Oh yeah there's this picture of the ENTIRE roof (including the dome and windows) filled with people watching the British Victory Parade.
  • Kandahar Street - One of the many concentration points the Japs used to screen the population for anti-Jap elements. Ooo a lot of backstabbing here frm spies and our Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew (all hail him~~!!) actually escaped death here ( I think ) after he ran from the Japs cause he "left sth at home".
  • Fort Canning Park - Now a place where inconsiderate couples come to have toot ( it isnt official though. but we all know~~), below this hill lay another underground bunker used by the Brits. Officially called the Battlebox, it now has been fitted with crap like audio and visual systems and an electronic tour guide system boombawakalakashooka to bring visitors around the tunnels. -.- . I dunno.. i just think new installment is crap.
  • Fort Siloso - Located on sunny Sentosa ( a place where desperate people go to see the opposite sex and possibly another whore-house, just island-size, and of course. a place where recreational activities can be done peacefully (IF ONLY theRE WASNT SO MANY PEOPLE!!).), this is the locaition of the main Singapore defences 60 years ago. Fort Siloso hold many gun emplacements and ooo.... that lesser-known story of the British Artillery Squad left there by their forgetful superiors after the surrender.
There is still the Eastern and Northwestern parts of the island which holds many places of interest like the Japanese cemetery, Ford Motor Factory and Changi Beach. But hey i think this Central portion is enough to make me busy for the next two weeks. :)

ooo ok the Photobucket thingy is done.... now for some PICTURES!!! *soon ill be opening another Photobucket account...*

p.s. These images were taken straight of a video recording so the picture quality is like... yeah.

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a closer view of the Supreme Court.

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The WWII portion of the memorial (called the Cenotaph). Interestingly i found out... this memorial has been standing since 1922!! whooo!!! the Japs saw this thing!!

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The clock tower of Victoria memorial hall taken from the Big Durian Thing. Compare. The older pic shows ppl building trenches. Frankly.. the towers look extremely diffferent! But i donno... they said it is the Victoria Memorial Hall... so... sui pien hor?

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Wootz~!!! Singapore City!! the CBD area.

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ok ok im not sure if these two pics show the same builidng. The Fullerton square has been there for quite sometime so there may be a possibility these are the same buildings. From another book on Singapore's history.. they showed that same brown roof thingy and called it eh... Keppel Harbour? sth like that. The harbour has been there since 1900. I dunno... might be wrong... i still can see sth like a pier near the Fullerton. It's located behind the Merlion.
Image hosted by Photobucket.com See those red lights? Those are light fixtures on top of the yellow cranes used to transfer containers in the harbour/pier. zzz but i dunno.. the Fullerton now doesnt have a curved roof design. (from what i can see at night)

Image hosted by Photobucket.com whooo Javis Ho Ding Ying.... yeah he's been sticcking around for a while helping me with my models and giving me the company so that i can actually come down here and record all these historic places. I couldnt carry two cameras and a tripod plus a bag of batteries on my own and WALKING around alone in City Hall rite?

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Vis loved the view of Explanade's fountains and yeah he took some pictures for his girl. :)

ooo and those framing, as i found out.. is for this Sunday's event; The New Paper Big Walk 2005. Also there happened to be a crane sitting in the midle of the Padang (field) infront of the Supreme Court. It grabbed my attention cos i saw sth it had that i wanted to take down... slowly, Vis and i crept along in the middle field, lit only by the other building in the area to the crane.. and i took this down.
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muahahaha!!! MUD!!! MUD!!! MUD!! TRACKS!!! MUD AND TRACKS!!! this is as close as i can get (for now) to a real tank! i Soaked in all the little details on video and left the area extemely happy. Vis wasnt. He stepped on not one, but three huge puddles of mud. there goes his shoes.

That's it from me. See u around.



EDIT POST: OH MY GOD!!! I SOLVED THE PUZZLE!!! now i know what that tower is in the trnches picture! It's the CENOTAPH!! omg how did i miss that?!!? ooo spooky~~
I apologise to the Victoria Memorial Clock Tower for the misidentification. I'll but a drink of grease oil ok?
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