#515 Moshe Safdie - Wow!

Sometimes a building just makes me say Wow!

A few days ago I watched Charlie Rose interview architect Moshe Safdie.  I was shocked to learn how many Wow! Safdie buildings we've recently encountered in our travels without knowing their common architect. 

Singapore: Marina Bay Sands

National Mall: Unites States Institute of Peace

 Arkansas: Crystal Bridges Museum of Art

Kansas City: Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts

Montreal: Habitat '67

all images: msafdie.com

Architecture, it's my one weakness.  And maps.

Yours in enjoying the Wow! and the maps,
Kelly

#483 No Singapore Sling

What to do with only one day in Singapore?

Many of our shipboard companions head off to Raffles Hotel to sample the Singapore Sling where it was first concocted. The Sling's "original recipe used original recipe used gin, Cherry Heering, Bénédictine, and fresh pineapple juice, primarily from Sarawak pineapples which enhance the flavour and create a foamy top."

But not us. On tap for us are the National Orchid Garden, the National Library of Singapore, and the Kinokuniya Bookstore. What a fabulous day!

First, we stop by to see the magnificent orchids at the National Orchid Garden.

Then after lunch at the Maxwell Food Centre, we walk all the way from Chinatown to the National Library of Singapore, admiring Singapore's architectural wonders along the way. 

The architectural wonder of the 16-story National Library of Singapore fits right in.

Our shipboard novelist P. F. Kluge recommends Kinokuniya Bookstore as the world's greatest bookstore.  And it does not disappoint.  See that shopping bag?

Yours in loving our brief stop in Singapore,

Mary