Rebranding The Old

Allson Hotel & Grand Pacific Hotel Victoria Street, Bugis, Singapore  December 2009    31 December 2009 was the last day of Allson Hotel's operations.    On 1 January 2010, the hotel would be renamed as Hotel Grand Pacific, in line with the name of its parent company. This is the hotel's 4th name change after New Hong Kong Hotel (1970) and Hotel Tai-Pan (1981), before Hotel Tai-Pan Ramada was sold in 1989.    Having...

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The Railway Ran Through It

Duxton Plain ParkChinatown, SingaporeDecember 2009 Duxton Plain Park is a long, narrow and curved park between New Bridge Road and the former Yan Kit Swimming Pool.  Formerly known as Duxton Park, it got its unusual shape from the fact that it was once a railway track. The railway once passed through here on its way from Tanjong Pagar towards Orchard Road.  When the Malayan Railway realigned its tracks in the 1930s, the railway tracks...

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Cracks In The Wall

Cathedral of the Good Shepherd Queen Street, Bugis, Singapore December 2009    The Cathedral of the Good Shepherd, stands at the junction of Queen Street and Bras Basah Road. The oldest Catholic church in Singapore, its foundation stone for the Cathedral was laid on 18 June 1843 and construction was completed by 1847. It was gazetted a national monument on 06 July 1973. On 08 September 2009, the Straits Times ran a report on the church's...

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