Japan meteorologist dismisses July quake prediction
The head of Japan's meteorological agency has dismissed widespread rumours of a major earthquake in Japan next month as unscientific and a "hoax," urging people not to worry because even the most advanced science still cannot predict any quake or tsunami.
"At the moment, it is still impossible to predict an earthquake with specific timing, location or its magnitude," Japan Meteorological Agency director general Ryoichi Nomura told reporters.
"Any such prediction is a hoax, and there is absolutely no need to worry about such disinformation."
Nomura was referring to rumours in Hong Kong and other Asian cities of a major earthquake or a tsunami in July in Japan that have led to flight cancellations and reductions in service, affecting tourism.
He said it was "unfortunate" that many people are affected by the disinformation although he sympathised with the sense of unease that the people tend to develop toward something invisible.
The rumour originates from a 2022 Japanese comic book, titled The future I saw, which features a dream foreseeing a tsunami and is also available in Chinese.
The chatter began spreading earlier this year through social media, mainly in Hong Kong.
The author previously gained attention for allegedly predicting the 2011 quake and tsunami in northern Japan, which killed more than 18,000 people.
Japan, which sits on the Pacific "ring of fire," is one of the world's most quake-prone countries.
Last summer, a panel of seismologists noted a slight increase in the probability of a megaquake on Japan's Pacific coasts.
The government organised an awareness-raising week but only triggered panic buying, beach closures and other overreactions and complaints.
While it is important to inform people about the science, Nomura said, it is also necessary for everyone in this quake-prone country to take early precautions.
"In Japan, an earthquake can occur anytime, anywhere," Nomura said.
"So I ask everyone to take this opportunity to ensure your preparedness for a major quake."
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The Advertiser
6 hours ago
- The Advertiser
Hidden Hunter: it's time to take a swing by the lake
LAKE Macquarie is full of wonderful hidden places. The latest I've just stumbled across is the popular 'swing bridge' concealed in suburbia on Dora Creek, behind the Avondale Campus, at Cooranbong. But more about that later. My interest in such sites began several decades ago after searching for, and finding, some unusual concrete igloos from World War II in secluded bushland, high on a hill above Catherine Hill Bay. They were the remains of the once top-secret radar station 208, which acted as a shield, or early warning system, for the largest seaplane base in the southern hemisphere at Rathmines, south of Toronto The Catherine Hill Bay ridgeline site also once hid twin timber towers, reportedly standing about 45 metres, holding the actual radar installation. Beneath it, from memory, one of the two Nissen-style curved concrete huts, or igloos, housed a generator, while the other held the female radar operators from early 1943. The Bay radar station only came into existence after a Japanese enemy submarine shelled the sleeping city of Newcastle early one morning in June 1942. After the war, the timber towers were demolished and recycled into houses, while the solid concrete structures were simply stripped of anything valuable and abandoned. The last time I saw them, years ago, someone had managed to drive a small, presumably stolen car, up a steep, rough track high above the beach, drive it inside one structure, jam it sideways, then set it ablaze. Hiking up to the hilltop site had been memorable, as had the sight of the blackened interior with a car inside one igloo. Over the years, visits to other hidden Lake Macquarie sites have never been as memorable, but always interesting. For example, there was once the odd sight of a light aircraft, minus its wings, sandwiched into a Swansea coffee shop as a novelty. I had been recycled after it had crash-landed elsewhere. Or the Aboriginal legend on a plaque once at Reid's Mistake (Swansea Heads) telling the story of Malangbula. Two upright rocks here represented two women transformed into stone after an altercation with a native warrior. The silent sentinels were to forever guard the ocean entrance to Lake Macquarie to protect the lake from fierce sea monsters trying to enter. Going now towards the western side of the lake and passing Speers Point, we soon come to the Five Islands Road crossing Cockle Creek. Here, just to the north on the opposite shore, parallel to the northern railway line, is Racecourse Road. Only the road beside the creek now reminds us of the story once told around here. In 1927, intrepid aviators Charles Kingsford Smith (after whom Sydney's airport was named) and Charles Ulm made an emergency landing here on the then-existing racecourse after suffering engine trouble. The sight of their aircraft, temporarily left there, went down in lake folklore. Then further on, not far as the crow flies from the Fennell Bay bridge, lies a now-submerged petrified pine forest in the shallows, or at least what's left of it. Called Kurrur Kurran, it is reputed to be more than 250 million years old, but there are only petrified stumps left now on the silty lake floor. Much of the ancient, petrified wood was souvenired, pilfered, up to 60 years ago. Some of this prehistoric forest (once 500 trees) ended up as pieces of a household fence in nearby Blackalls Park. The water site is generally regarded as the biggest and best preserved in situ of the Permian period in NSW. On the edge of Toronto itself, we come to relics of the now lost Toronto-to-Fassifern 3 kilometre railway (now the Greenway Track) and the site of the once popular Stoney Creek Swimming Club started in the 1930s. Moving again, but west, going along Awaba Road before going south on Freemans Drive heading to Cooranbong. Here, opposite the Avondale College entrance, is another gem of a place - the Elephant Shop with its unusual wares. But a little before that, motorists might be diverted down a side street to the South Sea Island Museum with missionary artefacts, including drums and a full-size former islander war canoe. Back on the road, we come to my latest find. It's Cooranbong's suspension or historic 'swing bridge' (since 1934) off Freemans Drive. Today, the wobbly bridge is a local landmark, but maybe for many of us it's still a hidden place, until you get precise directions on how to find it. Weekender was alerted to the site recently by Valentine author and bushwalker Greg Powell, who pointed out the nearby, flat 2.4-kilometre Sandy Creek Walk loop on part of the Avondale Estate for those who want to immerse themselves in nature. The Cooranbong swing bridge is at the old Weet-Bix factory on Dora Creek. The bouncy walk over Dora Creek originally provided handy access for workers of the Sanitarium health food factory. Without the bridge, people had to either row or swim across the creek or face a long walk around. At the back of Avondale College, the bridge over Dora Creek can be a little hard to find initially. Access is via a cul-de-sac after leaving Freemans Drive at Victory Street, just before a bridge under the M1. The first swing bridge was designed and built in 1934 by Harry Tempest, a Sanitarium division manager. The bridge was said to be built to help teacher Oleta Leech, the wife of a Sanitarium scientist. Living south of the creek, she was terrified of deep water and local boats were often 'borrowed' by persons unknown. Initially, the college faculty said using the bridge was out of bounds for its indoor students. This rule was relaxed in 1965. A tall eucalypt on the college side of the waterway also became known as the 'Billy-can tree'. Customers of the college dairy would hang their milk cans (to be filled up later) on nails hammered into the tree trunk. The original swing bridge partially collapsed in the 1980s after surviving multiple floods. In 2006, it was feared the repaired bridge might be closed, but it has survived, a testimony to its workmanship, stout timbers and galvanised steel supports. But while walking over the old, swaying suspension bridge can add a touch of adventure to any journey, since 2023, a wider, stronger, more stable, flood-free concrete bridge opened alongside, providing a more stress-free crossing. LAKE Macquarie is full of wonderful hidden places. The latest I've just stumbled across is the popular 'swing bridge' concealed in suburbia on Dora Creek, behind the Avondale Campus, at Cooranbong. But more about that later. My interest in such sites began several decades ago after searching for, and finding, some unusual concrete igloos from World War II in secluded bushland, high on a hill above Catherine Hill Bay. They were the remains of the once top-secret radar station 208, which acted as a shield, or early warning system, for the largest seaplane base in the southern hemisphere at Rathmines, south of Toronto The Catherine Hill Bay ridgeline site also once hid twin timber towers, reportedly standing about 45 metres, holding the actual radar installation. Beneath it, from memory, one of the two Nissen-style curved concrete huts, or igloos, housed a generator, while the other held the female radar operators from early 1943. The Bay radar station only came into existence after a Japanese enemy submarine shelled the sleeping city of Newcastle early one morning in June 1942. After the war, the timber towers were demolished and recycled into houses, while the solid concrete structures were simply stripped of anything valuable and abandoned. The last time I saw them, years ago, someone had managed to drive a small, presumably stolen car, up a steep, rough track high above the beach, drive it inside one structure, jam it sideways, then set it ablaze. Hiking up to the hilltop site had been memorable, as had the sight of the blackened interior with a car inside one igloo. Over the years, visits to other hidden Lake Macquarie sites have never been as memorable, but always interesting. For example, there was once the odd sight of a light aircraft, minus its wings, sandwiched into a Swansea coffee shop as a novelty. I had been recycled after it had crash-landed elsewhere. Or the Aboriginal legend on a plaque once at Reid's Mistake (Swansea Heads) telling the story of Malangbula. Two upright rocks here represented two women transformed into stone after an altercation with a native warrior. The silent sentinels were to forever guard the ocean entrance to Lake Macquarie to protect the lake from fierce sea monsters trying to enter. Going now towards the western side of the lake and passing Speers Point, we soon come to the Five Islands Road crossing Cockle Creek. Here, just to the north on the opposite shore, parallel to the northern railway line, is Racecourse Road. Only the road beside the creek now reminds us of the story once told around here. In 1927, intrepid aviators Charles Kingsford Smith (after whom Sydney's airport was named) and Charles Ulm made an emergency landing here on the then-existing racecourse after suffering engine trouble. The sight of their aircraft, temporarily left there, went down in lake folklore. Then further on, not far as the crow flies from the Fennell Bay bridge, lies a now-submerged petrified pine forest in the shallows, or at least what's left of it. Called Kurrur Kurran, it is reputed to be more than 250 million years old, but there are only petrified stumps left now on the silty lake floor. Much of the ancient, petrified wood was souvenired, pilfered, up to 60 years ago. Some of this prehistoric forest (once 500 trees) ended up as pieces of a household fence in nearby Blackalls Park. The water site is generally regarded as the biggest and best preserved in situ of the Permian period in NSW. On the edge of Toronto itself, we come to relics of the now lost Toronto-to-Fassifern 3 kilometre railway (now the Greenway Track) and the site of the once popular Stoney Creek Swimming Club started in the 1930s. Moving again, but west, going along Awaba Road before going south on Freemans Drive heading to Cooranbong. Here, opposite the Avondale College entrance, is another gem of a place - the Elephant Shop with its unusual wares. But a little before that, motorists might be diverted down a side street to the South Sea Island Museum with missionary artefacts, including drums and a full-size former islander war canoe. Back on the road, we come to my latest find. It's Cooranbong's suspension or historic 'swing bridge' (since 1934) off Freemans Drive. Today, the wobbly bridge is a local landmark, but maybe for many of us it's still a hidden place, until you get precise directions on how to find it. Weekender was alerted to the site recently by Valentine author and bushwalker Greg Powell, who pointed out the nearby, flat 2.4-kilometre Sandy Creek Walk loop on part of the Avondale Estate for those who want to immerse themselves in nature. The Cooranbong swing bridge is at the old Weet-Bix factory on Dora Creek. The bouncy walk over Dora Creek originally provided handy access for workers of the Sanitarium health food factory. Without the bridge, people had to either row or swim across the creek or face a long walk around. At the back of Avondale College, the bridge over Dora Creek can be a little hard to find initially. Access is via a cul-de-sac after leaving Freemans Drive at Victory Street, just before a bridge under the M1. The first swing bridge was designed and built in 1934 by Harry Tempest, a Sanitarium division manager. The bridge was said to be built to help teacher Oleta Leech, the wife of a Sanitarium scientist. Living south of the creek, she was terrified of deep water and local boats were often 'borrowed' by persons unknown. Initially, the college faculty said using the bridge was out of bounds for its indoor students. This rule was relaxed in 1965. A tall eucalypt on the college side of the waterway also became known as the 'Billy-can tree'. Customers of the college dairy would hang their milk cans (to be filled up later) on nails hammered into the tree trunk. The original swing bridge partially collapsed in the 1980s after surviving multiple floods. In 2006, it was feared the repaired bridge might be closed, but it has survived, a testimony to its workmanship, stout timbers and galvanised steel supports. But while walking over the old, swaying suspension bridge can add a touch of adventure to any journey, since 2023, a wider, stronger, more stable, flood-free concrete bridge opened alongside, providing a more stress-free crossing. LAKE Macquarie is full of wonderful hidden places. The latest I've just stumbled across is the popular 'swing bridge' concealed in suburbia on Dora Creek, behind the Avondale Campus, at Cooranbong. But more about that later. My interest in such sites began several decades ago after searching for, and finding, some unusual concrete igloos from World War II in secluded bushland, high on a hill above Catherine Hill Bay. They were the remains of the once top-secret radar station 208, which acted as a shield, or early warning system, for the largest seaplane base in the southern hemisphere at Rathmines, south of Toronto The Catherine Hill Bay ridgeline site also once hid twin timber towers, reportedly standing about 45 metres, holding the actual radar installation. Beneath it, from memory, one of the two Nissen-style curved concrete huts, or igloos, housed a generator, while the other held the female radar operators from early 1943. The Bay radar station only came into existence after a Japanese enemy submarine shelled the sleeping city of Newcastle early one morning in June 1942. After the war, the timber towers were demolished and recycled into houses, while the solid concrete structures were simply stripped of anything valuable and abandoned. The last time I saw them, years ago, someone had managed to drive a small, presumably stolen car, up a steep, rough track high above the beach, drive it inside one structure, jam it sideways, then set it ablaze. Hiking up to the hilltop site had been memorable, as had the sight of the blackened interior with a car inside one igloo. Over the years, visits to other hidden Lake Macquarie sites have never been as memorable, but always interesting. For example, there was once the odd sight of a light aircraft, minus its wings, sandwiched into a Swansea coffee shop as a novelty. I had been recycled after it had crash-landed elsewhere. Or the Aboriginal legend on a plaque once at Reid's Mistake (Swansea Heads) telling the story of Malangbula. Two upright rocks here represented two women transformed into stone after an altercation with a native warrior. The silent sentinels were to forever guard the ocean entrance to Lake Macquarie to protect the lake from fierce sea monsters trying to enter. Going now towards the western side of the lake and passing Speers Point, we soon come to the Five Islands Road crossing Cockle Creek. Here, just to the north on the opposite shore, parallel to the northern railway line, is Racecourse Road. Only the road beside the creek now reminds us of the story once told around here. In 1927, intrepid aviators Charles Kingsford Smith (after whom Sydney's airport was named) and Charles Ulm made an emergency landing here on the then-existing racecourse after suffering engine trouble. The sight of their aircraft, temporarily left there, went down in lake folklore. Then further on, not far as the crow flies from the Fennell Bay bridge, lies a now-submerged petrified pine forest in the shallows, or at least what's left of it. Called Kurrur Kurran, it is reputed to be more than 250 million years old, but there are only petrified stumps left now on the silty lake floor. Much of the ancient, petrified wood was souvenired, pilfered, up to 60 years ago. Some of this prehistoric forest (once 500 trees) ended up as pieces of a household fence in nearby Blackalls Park. The water site is generally regarded as the biggest and best preserved in situ of the Permian period in NSW. On the edge of Toronto itself, we come to relics of the now lost Toronto-to-Fassifern 3 kilometre railway (now the Greenway Track) and the site of the once popular Stoney Creek Swimming Club started in the 1930s. Moving again, but west, going along Awaba Road before going south on Freemans Drive heading to Cooranbong. Here, opposite the Avondale College entrance, is another gem of a place - the Elephant Shop with its unusual wares. But a little before that, motorists might be diverted down a side street to the South Sea Island Museum with missionary artefacts, including drums and a full-size former islander war canoe. Back on the road, we come to my latest find. It's Cooranbong's suspension or historic 'swing bridge' (since 1934) off Freemans Drive. Today, the wobbly bridge is a local landmark, but maybe for many of us it's still a hidden place, until you get precise directions on how to find it. Weekender was alerted to the site recently by Valentine author and bushwalker Greg Powell, who pointed out the nearby, flat 2.4-kilometre Sandy Creek Walk loop on part of the Avondale Estate for those who want to immerse themselves in nature. The Cooranbong swing bridge is at the old Weet-Bix factory on Dora Creek. The bouncy walk over Dora Creek originally provided handy access for workers of the Sanitarium health food factory. Without the bridge, people had to either row or swim across the creek or face a long walk around. At the back of Avondale College, the bridge over Dora Creek can be a little hard to find initially. Access is via a cul-de-sac after leaving Freemans Drive at Victory Street, just before a bridge under the M1. The first swing bridge was designed and built in 1934 by Harry Tempest, a Sanitarium division manager. The bridge was said to be built to help teacher Oleta Leech, the wife of a Sanitarium scientist. Living south of the creek, she was terrified of deep water and local boats were often 'borrowed' by persons unknown. Initially, the college faculty said using the bridge was out of bounds for its indoor students. This rule was relaxed in 1965. A tall eucalypt on the college side of the waterway also became known as the 'Billy-can tree'. Customers of the college dairy would hang their milk cans (to be filled up later) on nails hammered into the tree trunk. The original swing bridge partially collapsed in the 1980s after surviving multiple floods. In 2006, it was feared the repaired bridge might be closed, but it has survived, a testimony to its workmanship, stout timbers and galvanised steel supports. But while walking over the old, swaying suspension bridge can add a touch of adventure to any journey, since 2023, a wider, stronger, more stable, flood-free concrete bridge opened alongside, providing a more stress-free crossing. LAKE Macquarie is full of wonderful hidden places. The latest I've just stumbled across is the popular 'swing bridge' concealed in suburbia on Dora Creek, behind the Avondale Campus, at Cooranbong. But more about that later. My interest in such sites began several decades ago after searching for, and finding, some unusual concrete igloos from World War II in secluded bushland, high on a hill above Catherine Hill Bay. They were the remains of the once top-secret radar station 208, which acted as a shield, or early warning system, for the largest seaplane base in the southern hemisphere at Rathmines, south of Toronto The Catherine Hill Bay ridgeline site also once hid twin timber towers, reportedly standing about 45 metres, holding the actual radar installation. Beneath it, from memory, one of the two Nissen-style curved concrete huts, or igloos, housed a generator, while the other held the female radar operators from early 1943. The Bay radar station only came into existence after a Japanese enemy submarine shelled the sleeping city of Newcastle early one morning in June 1942. After the war, the timber towers were demolished and recycled into houses, while the solid concrete structures were simply stripped of anything valuable and abandoned. The last time I saw them, years ago, someone had managed to drive a small, presumably stolen car, up a steep, rough track high above the beach, drive it inside one structure, jam it sideways, then set it ablaze. Hiking up to the hilltop site had been memorable, as had the sight of the blackened interior with a car inside one igloo. Over the years, visits to other hidden Lake Macquarie sites have never been as memorable, but always interesting. For example, there was once the odd sight of a light aircraft, minus its wings, sandwiched into a Swansea coffee shop as a novelty. I had been recycled after it had crash-landed elsewhere. Or the Aboriginal legend on a plaque once at Reid's Mistake (Swansea Heads) telling the story of Malangbula. Two upright rocks here represented two women transformed into stone after an altercation with a native warrior. The silent sentinels were to forever guard the ocean entrance to Lake Macquarie to protect the lake from fierce sea monsters trying to enter. Going now towards the western side of the lake and passing Speers Point, we soon come to the Five Islands Road crossing Cockle Creek. Here, just to the north on the opposite shore, parallel to the northern railway line, is Racecourse Road. Only the road beside the creek now reminds us of the story once told around here. In 1927, intrepid aviators Charles Kingsford Smith (after whom Sydney's airport was named) and Charles Ulm made an emergency landing here on the then-existing racecourse after suffering engine trouble. The sight of their aircraft, temporarily left there, went down in lake folklore. Then further on, not far as the crow flies from the Fennell Bay bridge, lies a now-submerged petrified pine forest in the shallows, or at least what's left of it. Called Kurrur Kurran, it is reputed to be more than 250 million years old, but there are only petrified stumps left now on the silty lake floor. Much of the ancient, petrified wood was souvenired, pilfered, up to 60 years ago. Some of this prehistoric forest (once 500 trees) ended up as pieces of a household fence in nearby Blackalls Park. The water site is generally regarded as the biggest and best preserved in situ of the Permian period in NSW. On the edge of Toronto itself, we come to relics of the now lost Toronto-to-Fassifern 3 kilometre railway (now the Greenway Track) and the site of the once popular Stoney Creek Swimming Club started in the 1930s. Moving again, but west, going along Awaba Road before going south on Freemans Drive heading to Cooranbong. Here, opposite the Avondale College entrance, is another gem of a place - the Elephant Shop with its unusual wares. But a little before that, motorists might be diverted down a side street to the South Sea Island Museum with missionary artefacts, including drums and a full-size former islander war canoe. Back on the road, we come to my latest find. It's Cooranbong's suspension or historic 'swing bridge' (since 1934) off Freemans Drive. Today, the wobbly bridge is a local landmark, but maybe for many of us it's still a hidden place, until you get precise directions on how to find it. Weekender was alerted to the site recently by Valentine author and bushwalker Greg Powell, who pointed out the nearby, flat 2.4-kilometre Sandy Creek Walk loop on part of the Avondale Estate for those who want to immerse themselves in nature. The Cooranbong swing bridge is at the old Weet-Bix factory on Dora Creek. The bouncy walk over Dora Creek originally provided handy access for workers of the Sanitarium health food factory. Without the bridge, people had to either row or swim across the creek or face a long walk around. At the back of Avondale College, the bridge over Dora Creek can be a little hard to find initially. Access is via a cul-de-sac after leaving Freemans Drive at Victory Street, just before a bridge under the M1. The first swing bridge was designed and built in 1934 by Harry Tempest, a Sanitarium division manager. The bridge was said to be built to help teacher Oleta Leech, the wife of a Sanitarium scientist. Living south of the creek, she was terrified of deep water and local boats were often 'borrowed' by persons unknown. Initially, the college faculty said using the bridge was out of bounds for its indoor students. This rule was relaxed in 1965. A tall eucalypt on the college side of the waterway also became known as the 'Billy-can tree'. Customers of the college dairy would hang their milk cans (to be filled up later) on nails hammered into the tree trunk. The original swing bridge partially collapsed in the 1980s after surviving multiple floods. In 2006, it was feared the repaired bridge might be closed, but it has survived, a testimony to its workmanship, stout timbers and galvanised steel supports. But while walking over the old, swaying suspension bridge can add a touch of adventure to any journey, since 2023, a wider, stronger, more stable, flood-free concrete bridge opened alongside, providing a more stress-free crossing.
West Australian
11 hours ago
- West Australian
Going solo in Singapore
Although having a companion to share your experience with is one of the many joys of travel, travelling alone has many advantages. For a start, you have no one else to please. You are in total control. You are free to do exactly what you want, and to do it at your pace. However, if you haven't done it before, striking out on your own can be a little intimidating. Factors such as loneliness, personal safety concerns, and cost are often at the top of the list of reasons not to fly solo. If you're up for a solo trip but hesitant about where to start, look no further than Singapore. It may be a tiny country but Singapore punches well above its weight when it comes to diverse travel experiences. It's clean, safe, and full of fun things to do, and Singaporeans are among the friendliest, most welcoming people you'll ever meet. If you can't find something to do here, you're simply not trying. Well-known attractions like Gardens by The Bay, Sentosa Island, and vibrant riverside areas such as Clarke Quay and Boat Quay are must-visit locations to tick off while visiting, but whatever you do, don't miss visiting some of the heritage-rich neighbourhoods like Kampong Glam (the Arab Quarter), Chinatown, and Little India. Each of them has their own distinctive look and feel with a mish-mash of cultures including Chinese, Malay, Indian and Peranakan all rolled into one vibrant package. UNESCO has recognised Singapore's hawker culture as an intangible cultural asset, and it's no wonder because food and hawker centres are close to the heart of every Singaporean. They simply love food, and dining out at a hawker centre is a daily occurrence for most of them. You'll find hawker centres everywhere. These food havens are always buzzing with life, and they are a feast for both your belly and your senses. They may look cheap and cheerful, but don't let that put you off — they are clean and safe places to eat, and the food is topnotch. The stallholders, colloquially know as aunties and uncles, have been perfecting their recipes for decades, and people will queue for the best laksa, chicken rice or nasi lemak. I've visited Singapore many times and always found new and exciting things to see and do. But this time I have an extra sense of anticipation because I'm about to visit some of the lesser-known neighbourhoods to learn a little more about what life is like for the average Singaporean. I join a food and bike tour around the Katong district at the south-east end of the island near Changi Airport. I meet my guide Derrick Koh from Bike Around Tour Singapore and a small group of fellow Australian travellers by the Dakota MRT station. Derrick is a good-humoured chap who immediately connects with all of us as he helps us set up our bikes. 'I have friends in Vic Park,' he says, when he learns I'm from Perth. He tells me he did a correspondence degree with Curtin University, and when he adds that he reads The West Australian from time to time, he has me won over straight away. Derrick explains Katong has a special place in the heart of Singaporeans because of the varied multicultural influences that have inspired many of the local foods we will experience during our tour. As we set off, I almost immediately get the feeling of being in the 'real Singapore'. Our leisurely cycle route takes us past public housing high-rise apartments, private condominiums and beautiful two-storey shophouses with colourful ornate facades, intricate motifs and ceramic tiles. Along the way we make frequent stops, and Derrick shares his knowledge of the area's history and anecdotes about immigrants who came here to make their fortunes. One is about Chew Joo Chiat who was known as the King of Katong. We criss-cross a street named in his honour several times during our ride. Derrick tells us Joo Chiat came from China in the late 1800s as a young man with only $20 in his pocket but ended up being a very successful businessman and one of the major landowners in the area. As we roll along the charming Katong streets we stop several times to taste local delicacies such as Katong laksa, Bak Chang (a sticky rice dumpling wrapped in a bamboo leaf), Hainanese chicken rice, and what is billed as the world's best curry puff from grandma Ow's recipe at Soon Soon Huat. My favourite stop is The Orignal Vadai on Joo Chiat Road, where I taste a delicious prawn vadai that is bursting with flavours. Fortunately for us ,the owner of the business, Stephen Suriyah is there to explain how this delicacy became such a success. The traditional vadai, which originates from India, is a deep-fried savoury snack but Stephen's mother Jumana Rani fine-tuned the recipe to make it more appealing to the tastes of Singaporeans. She began selling it at the night market in the neighbourhood and thanks to the popularity of the prawn vadai, and Stephen's business acumen, it has grown to include 11 outlets. I really enjoy this tour. It's a fascinating insight into Singaporean culture and history, and I feel like I have a much better understanding about how Singaporeans live their daily lives. The food stops are first-rate, and Derrick's explanations about the history behind each hawker and their recipes are fascinating — and his tips about how to eat the delicacies are very helpful. Just make sure you arrive at the tour hungry, because I guarantee you will leave full as a boot. The Katong food and bike tour cost $S120 (around $145 Australian). It includes bike hire and a local guide. It starts at the Dakota MRT station Exit B and takes around four hours. The distances for our tour added up to just under 15km. For more info, visit . Singapore has a ton of different accommodation options to suit most budgets. You can go five-star at an exclusive hotel around Marina Bay or the famed Orchard Road shopping precinct — or find something a little more affordable elsewhere. There are many very nice boutique hotels around the neighbourhoods, and as long as you are close to a MRT station, you can get to anywhere around the island in no time. This time I stay at the Quincy Hotel which is only a short 300m walk from the bustling Orchard Road. My 32 square metre room is well appointed with a comfortable king bed and a spacious bathroom with a separate shower and bath. The amenities includes a lounge and alfresco area with included all day light refreshments, a 12th floor infinity pool with adjoining sauna and steam rooms and a well-appointed gym. My favourite mode of transport is the MRT (Singapore's underground train network). It is modern and efficient and always spotlessly clean. Simply tap on and off using a credit or debit card, sit back and enjoy the ride, and emerge up into a different part of the city just minutes later. Disclaimer: Mogens Johansen was a guest of Singapore Tourism Board. They have not influenced or read this story prior to publication.
The Advertiser
2 days ago
- The Advertiser
Typhoon Wutip hits Hainan island, nears southern China
Authorities have relocated thousands of people, closed schools and cancelled flights as typhoon Wutip dumped heavy rain on parts of China's Hainan island and headed for the country's southern coast. It was upgraded from severe tropical storm to typhoon on Friday night and it was expected to bring "severe wind, rain and waves," according to the Department of Emergency Management in the southern Chinese province of Guangdong. Photos posted by a Chinese news outlet showed toppled trees and a strewn corrugated metal fence at a construction site in the city of Sanya, a popular beach resort on Hainan. All schools, construction sites and tourist attractions in Sanya were closed and flights were suspended at the city's airport, the official Xinhua News Agency said. A dozen crew members were rescued on Thursday night from a cargo ship that called for help, Xinhua said. The crew were transferred to a rescue vessel in rough seas with 3-metre waves. Typhoon Wutip had maximum sustained winds of 119 km/h as it headed northeast off Hainan's west coast. It was forecast to make landfall about noon on Saturday on the Chinese mainland near the border between Guangdong province and the Guangxi region. Guangdong activated rescue boats and helicopters, and more than 49,000 fishing boats returned to port, Xinhua said. The provincial meteorological agency forecast heavy rain and said tornadoes were possible. Wutip means "butterfly" in Cantonese, which is spoken in Macao. Countries and the Chinese regions of Hong Kong and Macao contribute the names for storms during the typhoon season. Authorities have relocated thousands of people, closed schools and cancelled flights as typhoon Wutip dumped heavy rain on parts of China's Hainan island and headed for the country's southern coast. It was upgraded from severe tropical storm to typhoon on Friday night and it was expected to bring "severe wind, rain and waves," according to the Department of Emergency Management in the southern Chinese province of Guangdong. Photos posted by a Chinese news outlet showed toppled trees and a strewn corrugated metal fence at a construction site in the city of Sanya, a popular beach resort on Hainan. All schools, construction sites and tourist attractions in Sanya were closed and flights were suspended at the city's airport, the official Xinhua News Agency said. A dozen crew members were rescued on Thursday night from a cargo ship that called for help, Xinhua said. The crew were transferred to a rescue vessel in rough seas with 3-metre waves. Typhoon Wutip had maximum sustained winds of 119 km/h as it headed northeast off Hainan's west coast. It was forecast to make landfall about noon on Saturday on the Chinese mainland near the border between Guangdong province and the Guangxi region. Guangdong activated rescue boats and helicopters, and more than 49,000 fishing boats returned to port, Xinhua said. The provincial meteorological agency forecast heavy rain and said tornadoes were possible. Wutip means "butterfly" in Cantonese, which is spoken in Macao. Countries and the Chinese regions of Hong Kong and Macao contribute the names for storms during the typhoon season. Authorities have relocated thousands of people, closed schools and cancelled flights as typhoon Wutip dumped heavy rain on parts of China's Hainan island and headed for the country's southern coast. It was upgraded from severe tropical storm to typhoon on Friday night and it was expected to bring "severe wind, rain and waves," according to the Department of Emergency Management in the southern Chinese province of Guangdong. Photos posted by a Chinese news outlet showed toppled trees and a strewn corrugated metal fence at a construction site in the city of Sanya, a popular beach resort on Hainan. All schools, construction sites and tourist attractions in Sanya were closed and flights were suspended at the city's airport, the official Xinhua News Agency said. A dozen crew members were rescued on Thursday night from a cargo ship that called for help, Xinhua said. The crew were transferred to a rescue vessel in rough seas with 3-metre waves. Typhoon Wutip had maximum sustained winds of 119 km/h as it headed northeast off Hainan's west coast. It was forecast to make landfall about noon on Saturday on the Chinese mainland near the border between Guangdong province and the Guangxi region. Guangdong activated rescue boats and helicopters, and more than 49,000 fishing boats returned to port, Xinhua said. The provincial meteorological agency forecast heavy rain and said tornadoes were possible. Wutip means "butterfly" in Cantonese, which is spoken in Macao. Countries and the Chinese regions of Hong Kong and Macao contribute the names for storms during the typhoon season. Authorities have relocated thousands of people, closed schools and cancelled flights as typhoon Wutip dumped heavy rain on parts of China's Hainan island and headed for the country's southern coast. It was upgraded from severe tropical storm to typhoon on Friday night and it was expected to bring "severe wind, rain and waves," according to the Department of Emergency Management in the southern Chinese province of Guangdong. Photos posted by a Chinese news outlet showed toppled trees and a strewn corrugated metal fence at a construction site in the city of Sanya, a popular beach resort on Hainan. All schools, construction sites and tourist attractions in Sanya were closed and flights were suspended at the city's airport, the official Xinhua News Agency said. A dozen crew members were rescued on Thursday night from a cargo ship that called for help, Xinhua said. The crew were transferred to a rescue vessel in rough seas with 3-metre waves. Typhoon Wutip had maximum sustained winds of 119 km/h as it headed northeast off Hainan's west coast. It was forecast to make landfall about noon on Saturday on the Chinese mainland near the border between Guangdong province and the Guangxi region. Guangdong activated rescue boats and helicopters, and more than 49,000 fishing boats returned to port, Xinhua said. The provincial meteorological agency forecast heavy rain and said tornadoes were possible. Wutip means "butterfly" in Cantonese, which is spoken in Macao. Countries and the Chinese regions of Hong Kong and Macao contribute the names for storms during the typhoon season.
