From September 19th to 26th, I visited Singapore for a second time. Here are a few photos:
First order of business, collect my Singapore GP ticket from the Swissôtel The StamfordI then walked all the way to the Merlion Park for the obligatory ‘Yes, I’m in Singapore’ shotSecond order of business – head to Funan IT mall to buy a camera backpack. There was a Gear of War 3 launch event going on as Singapore was going to get the game a few hours before the rest of the world did. A few hours early is a big deal to gamers when you go online dammit!
Day 1 went according to plan. Got my Kata Owl DL-272 from John 3:16 for SGD185, nearly Rs. 2000 cheaper.
Day 2, I decided to go to Jurong Bird Park, which I couldn’t do last yearUnfortunately, it began raining heavily (dark clouds and all). This was taken on my phone.But eventually the heavy rain subsided and I continued shooting. It wasn’t easy though. Holding my Canon 7D with the heavy 70-200mm lens in one hand and an umbrella in the other hand. I tried my best.
I was nearly done with the park when disaster struck. Because of the wet grounds, I slipped on a downward slope and fell on the ground. I tried to break my fall as I didn’t want to damage my camera… but …
Long story short, this is what my hand looked like at the end of the day. It hurt. But what hurt more was that the filter on my 70-200mm lens dented in so badly that nobody could remove it by hand. Eventually Canon service had to carefully drill two holes on the side without touching the main lens and remove it. Cost SGD130 though.
Day 2, obviously not according to plan then.
Day 3 was supposed to be Sentosa & Universal Studios but with my 70-200mm lens still at the service center, so I couldn’t go there without it. So instead, I hopped on a bus and see where it would take me.I basically wanted to see the inner parts of Singapore and the more residential areas. Not just the usual commercial areas every tourist sees.The weather looked gloomy today as wellIn the afternoon, ended up going to the Botanic gardens because I told myself I can’t justify this trip unless I take a lot of photos!Even though such places aren’t really my thing, I ended up liking the gardens a lotThen ended up clicking quite a lot of photos once inside the Orchid Park. Really worth the SG$5 fee!Left the gardens and met my friend Aimee on Orchard Road. She’s no angel, that’s just Photoshop.
Day 4, I got my lens back and decided to go to the Marina Bay Sands Hotel & Casino. Played $65 at the casino — and lost it all Photography isn’t allowed inside the casino, so I have no photos, but take my word for it — it was impressive!
After the casino, went up to the skybridgeThe views from up here… worth the $20 fee! The Marina Bay Sands Skypark is even higher than the Singapore Flyer.Didn’t feel like going to the Singapore Flyer after thisFrom up here, you can see why Singapore Port is one of the busiest in the world. Oh, they’re also constructing more attractions at Marina Bay.The famous pool at the hotel. Hopefully one day I can afford to stay in this hotel, just so I can use the swimming pool
Day 5, met up with Aimee again as she showed me around Chinatown.
Last year, myself & Loiyumba only strolled through Chinatown at night, so I didn’t even know about this Buddhist templeFinally had bread ice cream by the Quay. Durian flavoured ice cream that too!Oprah loved her, David Foster promoted her and ‘Glee’ made her even more famous. It was Pinoy fever as Charice kicked off the concerts on Friday night. What a voice she has!Then I got my K-pop fix with Seungri first taking the stageAnd later, fellow BIG BANG members GD&TOP ended the night with a stellar (albeit short) performance
Day 6, had lunch at Boat Quay and had my first taste of Singapore Chili Crab.
BeforeAfter (Disclaimer/just saying: There were three of us at the table)I was in no rush to enter the gates when it opened at 3pm just to get fanzone passes to be closer to the stage today. But I still ended up getting them at 3:30pm.Waited for this man to perform at the Marina Bay stage. Yes, Rick Astley. He still sounds great!He was also quite funny. Drenched in sweat (like the rest of us) he asked for some chilled beer for him and his band. The organizers handed him one bottle of beer, to which he pointed out that it looked like something else Rick Astley was later joined by racing supremo Eddie Jordan on drumsMithun Divakaran, officially ‘Rick-Rolled’Next up, the incredibly sexy, talented Shakira. But all her writhing about and moaning got a bit annoying for me after a while.Four lucky Singaporean girls got a chance to shake their hips with Shakira as wellThey also flew in a Brazilian samba dance troupe. Never seen hips being shaken so violently before! I don’t know how they do it, but I hope to see the Rio Carnival in person one day.Finally, closing out Saturday’s entertainment…wait for it…“Singapore! Remember me?…. No? Aw, come on!…”I didn’t bother staying too long for Shaggy’s set. As with all rap/reggae/urban artists, half the time it was instructions: “throw your hands in the air!” “say woahhh” “do this, do that!” -_-“Oh just give it up Shaggy”
Day 7 was the big race on Sunday.
Sunday’s entertainment for me began with the off-broadway show Forbidden Broadway. A musical spoofing pretty much every popular hit broadway show from The Lion King to Wicked and more. Pretty funny, if you got the jokes that is!They mostly made fun of Disney’s infiltration of broadway with their properties and how Disney fool people into thinking everything from The Little Mermaid to Mary Poppins (both of which they also spoofed) are any good on live theatre.Watched a bit of the race from the corners where I could manage to take a few decent snapsBut I headed back to the concert stage so I could get close enough to see the main reason why I booked my tickets in May itself: Linkin Park!Chester actually had a cast on his arm but performed on stage without it. Needless to say, he was his screaming best. What an incredible vocalist!This is why I can’t do without my 70-200mm lens. Hardly did any adjustments to make this photo look any better.
After feeling great about getting my SGD138 worth of entertainment, I took the last train to Marina Bay to go see The Chemical Brothers perform at the Avalon Club.
After dancing for more than hour to hits like “Star Guitar” “Don’t Think” and “Do it Again,” I kept wondering why the smoke machine was on until Boy George began his set. Made me question if The Chemical Brothers were even there! I felt cheated in some ways.
Day 8, I went to IKEA for some shopping before heading to the airport at 5:30pm.
Finally had lunch from an IKEA and tasted their famed Swedish meatballs
Anyway, there’s a lot more to say and hundreds more photographs to put up. I will begin this Singapore series once I complete my Philippines series.
Sunday, the concluding seventh day of my first week in Philippines. Today’s itinerary involved meeting my friend Aimee, and then letting her show me around Manila’s famous landmarks.
Aimee asked me to get down at U.N. Avenue MRT station (taken on my Nokia E72)
After meeting her at a nearby 7-11, we stocked up on fluids and Aimee told me why its named U.N. Avenue.
The World Health Organization has an office here
Aimee first took me to Rizal Park, one of Manila’s largest public parks.
It's also called Luneta ParkThis used to be filled with water. When viewed from higher ground, it's the geography of the Philippines
We just walked through the parkThe National Museum buildingThat's a statue honouring Lapu Lapu, considered to be Philippines' first national heroThe Orchidarium and Butterfly Pavilion
More national heroesThe Chinese Gardens. They have a Japanese garden too.This monument is in honour of Philippines' greatest patriot, Jose Rizal. It was on these grounds the revolutionary was executed by the Spanish, who colonized Philippines at the time.
Aimee checks where we are
It was time to leave Rizal ParkAimee took one of photo of me and we moved onThe clock structure you see on the left is called Kilometer Zero. It serves as a point from which every road is measured.They have horse cart rides around this area, in which they take you all the way to Intramuros and other tourist attractionsThe oldest hotel in Manila. Manila Hotel has seen everybody from The Beatles to John F. Kennedy among other famous guests. In other words, a very expensive place to people like you and me.We walked to Intramuros nextThere's a golf course just outside IntramurosIt was scorching hot by the way
There is no entrance fee for IntramurosPanorama comprised of 9 shots
Intramuros literally means “walled city” and was created during Spanish colonial rule. It’s the oldest district in Manila and one of the city’s biggest tourist attractions. It was built to keep invaders away, although, it eventually failed to do so as years progressed).
There are many colleges and other educational institutions in Intramuros
This building was formerly the Colegio De Santa Potenciana, the first girl's college in Manila. Now it's used as the office for the Philippines Red Cross.This is a really popular venue for weddings and eventsOffice of the National Commission for Culture and the ArtsA few people still call Intramuros their homeThere are two main attractions inside Intramuros. One, the Manila Cathedral and two, the above -- San Agustin Church, the oldest church in Manila.
Intramuros still retains many of the colonial architecture
Despite the modern offerings, the overall classic look is still retained
I wanted to check out San Agustin church, but unfortunately (for me) there was a wedding scheduled for today, being a Sunday that too.San Agustin church is a UNESCO World Heritage SiteHotel Intramuros inside
We walked towards the Manila Cathedral
We went inWhile Aimee prayed, I continued shootingI love gothic architecture. Heck, I like all good architecture.
Panorama comprised of 8 shotsPanorama comprised of 4 shots
Panorama comprised of 6 shotsI have always been enamored by glass art like thisA little bit of history about the very old pipe organThere's a section of the church dedicated to historical trivia and relics
More wonderful glass paintings
Panorama comprised of 5 shots
We decided to leaveCarvings on the heavy wooden doors of the cathedral
Attempted the fish-eye look
Walking out of the cathedral and past some of the ‘No to RH Bill’ banners around, I couldn’t help but turn the conversation about the controversial RH bill. Aimee told me how, even to this day, the Catholic church has such an influence over the people and policies in Philippines. The RH bill is basically aiming to promote the use of contraceptives and family planning in a bid to control population growth.
But what was even more shocking news to me was when Aimee told me divorce is yet to be legalized in Philippines! I mean, I considered a predominantly Christian country to be far more progressive in many regards, besides being educated. Clearly that wasn’t the case in Philippines. Now all the single pregnant women I saw across Philippines made sense. It’s like men abuse the law (or the lack of it) because they know there is little the woman can do.
Aimee took me next to Fort Santiago. Entrance fee was a steep PHP75.
The fort is of historical importance because it was where national hero Jose Rizal was imprisoned before his death
We walked along the wallsThe view from the FortChambers used to hold prisonersGot distracted by Pasig riverThere were children jumping into the river for a swim
Anyway, back to Fort Santiago.
People throw coins into these chambers now... I don't know whyWalked around to the side where you had these dungeons
The man himself, Jose Rizal
They re-trace Rizal's final steps before he was executed by the Spaniards
We left Fort Santiago
We walked past Manila Cathedral again
We walked back to San Agustin church hoping the wedding would have been over by now…
... but it wasn't. So I took a photo of the door and left.HQ of the Associated Marine Officers and Seamen's Union of the PhilippinesWe decided to have lunchStepped inside a small eatery and had some Filipino food. Totally came to PHP62 ($1.4/€1)We resumed our walk
We finally decided to leave IntramurosWe left via another exitManila Post Office buildingThe Manila Metropolitan Theater, renovated many times over but hardly in use nowadaysAimee and I now walked towards 'Chinatown,' known locally as BinondoWe walked across a bridge
The bridge was decorated with lights...and graffitiPasig riverNot a very glamorous entrance, but apparently Manila's Chinatown is the oldest in the worldThis is the most famous street in ChinatownOngpin is what it's calledA lot of jewelry stores hereBetting on horse races is a popular pass time for many (broke) locals
We (okay, okay... I) got distracted by the sweet smell of fresh hopias (mooncakes) being made at this bakery. Ended up buying a pack.Aimee, my wonderful 'guide' throughout Manila. She enjoys walking a lot just as much as I do.
Those photos make them look like wanted criminals. Oh wait, politicians, same thing.One shot of yours truly before leaving Chinatown
Chinatown gets cool looking purple fire trucks!Since a lot of affluent businessmen in Manila are Chinese, kidnappings are high. Aimee told me they have security cameras installed on this street.At the end of Ongpin street is Binondo church, also known as Minor Basilica of St. Lorenzo RuizToday was Easter SundayThe church was first erected in 1596, making it one of the oldest churches in Manila
Aimee decided it was enough of walking. She and I got into a jeepney and we thought of watching the sunset at Manila Bay.
We got down near Pedro Gil MRT and walked up the roadPassed by the Supreme CourtWe went inside one of Manila's most popular mallsPlus we felt like soaking up some a/cDespite being a few years old, Robinsons Place is still very popularWe stepped out of the mall and made our way towards the bayRoxas boulevard
We sat on the ledge and gave our feet a break.
The white building is the United States EmbassyA big thanks to this girl for making the most of my day. I don't think I could have seen everything that I saw today for less than 100 pesos if it weren't for her.That's Hotel H2O, part of Manila Ocean ParkThe sunset was wonderful, as always. Look how golden the water is.The whole experience is a nice one, even for dogs
Except for a tiny incident which abruptly disappointed me… but I promised Aimee I wouldn’t mention it in the blog. So anyway, time to leave.
We walked back to Malate.
Malate ChurchEaster Sunday prayers still going onWe went back to Robinsons Place because I now needed to look for something for my lens *cough*Aimee'sfault*cough*Scanned a lot of electronics stores but no luckBy the way, saw this at some store at Robinsons. I get everything mentioned here... except for the 'chicken' part. Could somebody tell me what it is?
We eventually left the mall as it was getting late for Aimee. We said our goodbyes and she told me which jeepney to get into to head back to Pasay, where I was staying at the Kabayan Hotel.
So that was my Sunday in Manila. Lots of photos, I know! Tomorrow, I begin the second leg of my journey across the Philippines and for the next seven days, it’s all islands. So here come the blue waters!
Photography isn’t allowed inside the casino, so I have no photos, but take my word for it — it was impressive!
