Going Om
Last day in Singapore, and my last day in Asia. As we speak, I’m somewhere over Istanbul, searching for a WiFi signal…
By the time you read this, I will have already landed in Geneva, but you, dear reader, must understand that I couldn’t write this post earlier on account of only getting 2 hours of sleep last night…
So. My last day was relatively simple, but ended blissfully. For lunch, I met my good friend from university who moved to Singapore after graduation, similarily to how I moved to Switzerland. She took me around Arab street, where I managed to snap some great shots through Haji Lane and beyond.
I ate some Indonesian food, and as we walked our way through the bustling streets, my friend pointed to me a a most peculiar building nearby that she called the “Batman” building. Now, having seen all the movies, I didn’t recognize it. (Sidenote: funnily enough, there is an actual “Batman” building in Hong Kong (you know, where I was two weeks ago (damn, that was two weeks ago? Feels like a year…)). Recall:
Christian Bale jumps off it in search of criminals. Anyways.
This is the building I saw in Singapore:
The building is called Parkview Square and has this extremely creepy, Gotham-city-like vibe to it. Inside is a tremendous gin bar called Atlas (hence why the statues are fashioned after the Titan from Greek mythology, Atlas, typically seen carrying the sky on his shoulders). In any case, the architecture was spectacular but it reminded me of something else than Batman…
This is where it gets interesting.
In the evening, my former classmate suggested we meet back at the same spot to try out the aforementioned Atlas bar. Here’s a shot of that building at night:
Those upward facing floodlights, the grandiose statues, the weird artwork, again reminded me of something but I couldn’t put my hand on what. Upon entering and seeing its interior, it hit me.
Bioshock.
The video game whose story is inspired by Ayn Rand’s novel Atlas Shrugged, and whose gameplay also contains a character named Atlas… Bioshock’s artwork, as well as Gotham city from Batman or pretty much everything from The Great Gatsby all share similar artistic traits in their imagery, and they are heavily inspired by Art Deco.
Speaking of The Great Gatsby, let’s talk about gin. The Atlas bar in Singapore houses one of the largest collection of gin in the world, as well as other rare collections dating back to the early 1900s. Cool stuff!
Later, as we left the bar, I couldn’t help but look up and see a creature who clearly was loving the whole vibe:
A bit heavy-handed on that theme, no?
I met with my other Parisian friends from yesterday, and together, we visited Haji Lane, but this time, at night. And then the emotions started. Sad, bittersweet, “going home” emotions. It’s fitting then, that we found a cocktail bar called “Going Om”, named after Nepalese monks.
We stayed there until 3 in the morning, and it was the perfect conclusion to my trip.
I’d love to stay and chat, but I’ve just landed back home and I’m exhausted. Stay tuned for my final thoughts, as well as a selection of my favorite photographs.