Gardens By The Bay

After much procrastination, I finally visited the much acclaimed Singapore Premier Botanical Garden: Gardens By The Bay. I initially had doubts whether this garden is any better than the conventional botanical gardens found around the world. Well, depending on what kind of themes you are looking for, you may like or hate it. This garden is very much an artificial garden with huge man-made structures like the Supertrees and conservatories. It is more extra-terrestrial than you would expect from a botanical garden. The conservatories are worth the visit especially the Tropical Forest conservatory. The gigantic man-made waterfall is magnificent. Outdoor gardens are free for the public but there is nothing much to expect from a hot tropical country except trees and more gigantic trees; the Supertrees. Should you visit this garden, plan your visit to start around 4pm. You'd have ample time to visit both conservatories and then walk around outside. Go to the central Supertrees around 6.30-7.30pm to see the Supertrees come to life with the beautiful sunset city as backdrop. After all this, you can cross the pedestrian bridge over to Marina Bay Sands Shopping Center. You can watch the musical fountain at 8pm right at the wooden deck facing the city.

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I Survived... Yet Another Apocalypse

Hey, so the world didn't end on the 21st Dec. So it's time to celebrate. Merry Christmas everyone! Here are some lights from Orchard Road, Singapore.

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Jurong Bird Park

The Jurong Bird Park is a perfect family getaway for the weekend. I was very impressed after my visit to the park. This worldly acclaimed park is in a class of it's own. You can find almost every bird species there are in every continents of the world. The birds are very lively and well kept in beautiful landscapes that mimic the natural habitats of every bird. The park has the usual bird shows at selected times and the monorail ride around the huge park. If you plan to spend a long weekend, the kids can have a wonderful time at the water theme park while you and your partner spend some romantic time strolling the park.

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Singapore NDP 2011 + Fireworks

Happy birthday to Singapore and my fellow Singaporean friends. Even though many young people have grouses and not happy with all the old men of the country, this country did achieved many great things. Success today doesn't come easily from barking like a mad dog in the self destruction and hate mongering forum like TR. If you don't like certain things and complain about the many social problems, why not you step out from that abomination first and not stoop to such a low life tard like them? If you are educated and talented, then walk the talk and do your part in the society. Go join the WP or NSP and be a servant to the people. If you can't even do what your preach and serve the people from the grass-root level, then you are only putting your foot in your mouth and giving the old men more ammo to shoot you. I don't mean to disrespect any of you, but like everyone says, respect has got to be earned. Another financial shock is coming. So sit back and enjoy your beer. Be merry, you'll live longer rather than being angry and depressed reading TR.

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Singapore Street/Night Photography, V4

Although Singapore is small, photography opportunities are endless. Being a young city, it is undergoing major transformation everyday. There are always new attractions and places popping up. And all these are carefully planned and artistically built to give Singapore such a beautiful yet futuristic city landscape. The recently completed Marina Bay Sands and the Helix Bridge is a testament to that. The rooftop garden of Marina Bay Sands is an engineering marvel.

I wrapped up my day with an ice cold beer on the rooftop garden. While enjoying the sunset, I can also see the city basking under the golden rays from the sun. Singapore has definitely come a long way to reach where she is today. As she will be celebrating the National Day soon; Happy Birthday.

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Related links:
Singapore Street/Night Photography, V3
Singapore Street/Night Photography, V2
Singapore Street/Night Photography, V1

Singapore Botanic Garden, V2

I had an outing at the Botanic Garden last year in my dog photography project. As mentioned earlier, it was cut short by an unexpected rain. I made a promise to return to this beautiful garden due to some "unfinished" business. Haha, actually I wanted to explore the entire garden. On a sunny Monday morning, I made my trip to the garden. While everyone else is stuck in the morning rush hour and Monday blues, I take the slow lane in the park. Breathing fresh air and having picnic in the lush greenery is definitely the way of life.

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Related link:
Singapore Botanic Garden, V1
A walk in the park with "Celebrities"

Singapore Street/Night Photography, V3

Photography is the best thing to happen in my life. During my darkest and saddest moment, it was my best friend. Through it, I was able to see beautiful things the world has to offer. And I'm gonna enjoy every minute of it. The best thing is, it can be enjoyed alone, or shared with those who also appreciate the beauty of it.

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Related links:
Singapore Street/Night Photography, V2
Singapore Street/Night Photography, V1

Happy Chinese New Year

Went to Chinatown to shop for Chinese New Year goodies and gifts. It is a sea of red with all the red decorations decked out. It is quite hard to differentiate which is which as almost everything is in red color. Armed with my camera, it suddenly struck my mind to have an interesting photo-shooting theme.

Happy Lunar New Year/Chinese New Year and Gong Xi Fatt Chai!!!

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Greetings from Taiwan


Greetings from Malaysia


Greetings from Hong Kong


Greetings from Singapore

NYE 2009/10 Singapore

I was home alone for the past week and couldn't believe my luck when I came home from my flight still to find none of my housemates around. There's no one I could gather for the NYE celebration. I decided to head down to the city for a change. I've been spending my time at home for the past few NYEs. I was glad I made the right decision as I had the most wonderful time of my life seeing such an awesome fireworks display behind the beautiful city backdrop. Nightmares began after the celebration as throngs of people were trying to get home. The authorities are a big letdown for their poor planning that caused a MASSIVE jam on all roads. It took almost 2 hours for the jam to clear. Public transport is bullshit as buses were caught in the jam. By the time they arrive, they were already full to the brim. The subway was no better. And the taxi drivers were the biggest punk for not picking any passengers as they wanted to earn extra charges by picking up only phone call passengers. All over the city you can see empty cabs but with the red ON-CALL signs. But most of them get caught in the jam anyway and were stationary for more than an hour. I'd say serve them right for being greedy. So my advice to party goers next year: drive your own car. Head down to the clubs after countdown and relax. Drive home after 3 hours later to save you from the nightmare.

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Sentosa

When I visited Sentosa during my childhood, all I remember is there's only the musical fountain, Underwater World and some resort overlooking the main city island. Fast forward, the island has turned into one giant tourist trap with so many new attractions. Now there's a Siloso beach with Cafe del Mar popular for its beach and foam party. There's also a giant integrated casino and resort coming up to cash in on those gambler uncle and aunties' savings. To the east of the island, new residential areas are popping up for the rich and famous. Every lawn is never short of exotic cars like Ferrari and Lamborghini. Get the best deal in town if you're a Singaporean or PR by getting the discounted package ticket that allows you to visit and play in a number of attractions. If you're a foreigner visiting with some Singaporean friends, chances are the cashier will just close one eye and sell you the same package. Give it a try. On the island, I highly recommend you to play the Luge; a free-wheeling cart going downhill at insane speed.

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It was a "Hort" day

The Indonesian haze is back and shrouding the whole Singapore with toxic fumes. The weather is already hot, and now the haze is creating a greenhouse effect by trapping all the heat. It was certainly hot during my photography outing with my friends to Hort Park and few other places last weekend. Not contempt with the previous outing at Henderson Waves, we made another trip to the same place. This time we explored even further to the Alexandra Arch and Hort Park. The arch resembles a leaf. Hort Park is a great place for flower lovers. At night, we strolled down Boat Quay for yet another round of night photography. At this rate, I think we will run out of places to take pictures in Singapore soon.


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Ride With The Waves

Henderson Waves, is a bridge connecting Mt. Faber and Telok Blangah Hill park. This beautifully crafted bridge resembles the ocean waves, blending perfectly into the lush forest greens and parks nearby. This place is quite secluded and isolated, therefore not well known even to the locals. A must visit for nature lovers. For those more adventurous, complete the full 9km trail starting from Mt. Faber to West Coast Park which brings you through thick jungles and numerous themed parks rich in flora. If roller blades and skate boards are allowed at this bridge, I bet it's going to be the most exciting place on earth. With all the unique curves, imagine the crazy and extreme stunts one can do; hanging 26-storey high up in mid air.

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Marina Barrage, another man-made structure recently completed and open to the public. It is actually a dam blocking out the river from the sea, thus creating another fresh water reservoir for the thirsty Singaporeans. I'm really amazed on how clever the authorities are that came up with this plan of turning it into an attraction for tourists. And I must say this place IS beautiful. The huge grass lawn is perfect for picnic; while watching the sunset of the city from the distant. Unfortunately it's scorching hot in Singapore, so you won't see many people picnicking in the day. Therefore, the people have night picnic instead. What a genius. It's wonderful to see the full moon and the brightly lit city being reflected on the water, as well as the walk across the beautifully lit dam which resembles an airport runway.

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Autumn in Singapore

Continuing on with my photography journey around Singapore; here are the new series taken with creative filters and experimental techniques. I had a great outing with my friend to Keppel Bay, Sentosa and Mt. Faber. Inspired by the work of a photographer in infra red photography, I managed to recreate an autumn feeling in one of my picture. I like that picture very much and I certainly love the technique too as it opens the door to endless possibilities in a picture.

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Singapore Street/Night Photography, V2

They say people change no matter how pure or tough-nut they are. I have to agree on that. I've changed as well after going through chapters in my life with ups and downs. I'm not the same person as I was 10 years ago, 5 years ago and even a week ago. Everyday I discover and learn new things; come in contact with positive and negative circumstances; good and bad people. Well, for better or worse, I have no idea. But all these are reflected in the way I take pictures, the way I speak and write, and the music of my choice.

Recently my style has changed drastically. This collection features more shots from abnormal angles and experiments with colors/contrast. The collection from the first series can be found here: Singapore Street/Night Photography, V1. Perhaps you can tell me who am I now from the pictures? Complicated huh?

When things in life go a little too slow,
sit back, relax and have a cup of coffee.
When things in life go a little too fast,
stop and take some time off to reorganize.
And sometimes it's OK to take a step back or turn around;
don't just follow the crowd.
Have or no time, enjoy life as if there's no tomorrow,
because you'll never know what will happen the next day.

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Singapore Street/Night Photography

I was bored. And my D90 is collecting dust. I've tried very hard to get friends to visit places but they chose to hook on the internet at home or drink away their life instead. I have the urge for photography and so I screw the group outing and went lone ranger. I decided to walk the streets of Singapore to hone my skills in street+night photography. Feeling charitable and environmental conscious, I headed down to the WWF office and got myself an Earth Hour t-shirt. From there, I walked the Chinatown, Clarke Quay, the Esplanade and the Flyer. I was surprised to find so many interesting elements and subjects on the streets to be photographed. And all these small little details can really turn up a masterpiece in pictures. I really learned a lot and glad I went out for this. I've mastered a few tricks on my new camera which will be very useful for my Japan trip tomorrow. I'm all ready and looking forward to that.

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Singapore F1 2008

I joined the crowd to be part of Singapore's historic first F1 night race. Watching monstrous F1 cars zooming down the street circuit in deafening noise just few meters away from the barrier was exhilarating. After decades of absence, sparks firing from under the cars made a return to F1 scene as they thundered down the bumpy street and scratching with their metal underbellies. Set around the wonderful backdrop of lit city buildings and ferris wheel, Alonso took the chequered flag while the Ferrari had their worst nightmare with Kimi kissing the concrete wall and Massa launching away from pit with fuel hose still attached. The whole race was exciting but the crowd atmosphere was not there. Too big of the playground, too many and scattered side shows, too few crowds ---> Disaster. While there were security concerns, the organizer should actually find alternatives to let more of the public to walk into open space for free; therefore filling it for a huge F1 street party. Nevermind, there's always next year. Hopefully it will improve.

Mika Hakkinen in Singapore

First post of the year from Singapore. Back in the concrete jungle, there isn't many nice places of natural sceneries to hang out. No nice beaches and no countryside views like those in Perth. There are tonnes of people everywhere I go. Took me quite a while too to adjust back to the hectic lifestyle in Singapore. As usual, my weekend activities are shopping in the city and hunting for good food all over the place. Yesterday, I was in Suntec shopping all the way till City Hall. Had a quick pit-stop at the Padang to check out former F1 world champion Mika Hakkinen doing few laps in his Mclaren Vodafone Mercedes; to promote the upcoming night F1 race of Singapore.