I initially planned on waking up really early to avoid the crowds that would be thronging Lal Bagh in the days leading up to 26th January (India’s Republic Day), but given the cold weather, throwing aside my cozy blanket and getting out of bed early morning seemed near impossible.
So post lunch, I set off.
I parked my bike inside, paid the Rs. 30 entry fee and walked towards the glasshouseIt was 3pm -- and crowded!I walked around the glasshouse to get to the starting pointEvery year the organizers have one major attraction that's the signature showpieceThis flower show's main attraction was a Peace Pagoda, a Buddhist StupaThis one was modelled on the Buddha Sharira Stupa in Jeju Island, South Korea
Group of Annuals at the corner
Recognized some of the flowers from my last visitRight next to the Geraniums were the DahliasThey - were - pretty
These flowers were quite the hit among the public
Dhalias?
They had a section for orchids
Needless to say the orchids on display were nowhere near the orchid collection I saw in Singapore’s Orchid Garden.
This was the other part of the main attractionI don't know what the inspiration behind this piece of work wasLook, a flower swan too
Wonder what flowers they used
I would say the big attraction was quite impressive his yearThis section was being arranged by a floral arts schoolIt wasn't just flowers they were usingThey had floral arrangements inspired by select Indian states and their respective cultural contributions
This arrangement inspired by Indian classical dance
Inspired by Kerala's symbolic kathakali dance
These rose-like flowers looked really niceWhat the flower is actually called
The ever so interesting cockscomb plant
The Indian flag made using coloured rice grains and our national anthem written using mustard seedsA portrait of the Taj Mahal made using rice grains
It was time to leave
I actually did two rounds — first with my wide angle lens mounted on the camera, and then a second round with my Tamron 28-75mm macro lens.
This is why I need the Tamron lens for such occasionsI love taking such shotsTook the final few shots of the main attraction at this year's flower show
I had spent well over an hour inside the glasshouse
There weren’t many new flower varieties on display inside, many of which I had seen in the last flower show I attended. Still, I got my money’s worth of photographs.
Saw a kid outside blowing soap bubbles and I had the spontaneous instinct to just click this bubbleI'm glad I did -- check out that reflection!Followed the bubble as the wind lifted it up in the sky -- until it burstHistory of the glasshouse at Lal BaghWent up to the fountain
Played around with shutter speedsSlow shutter speedFast shutter speedI was quite enjoying thisOkay fine, I'll stopI stepped away from the fountain
It was nearing 5pmI walked backMade a quick visit in here before leaving
What's a visit to an attraction in India without the presence of these guysInside here, this was drawing a lot nearSo was this sand sculpture paying homage to one of India's greatest epics
The branches look like reindeer antlersAll in all, a good photo session
I wonder what the organizers have in store for this year’s Independence Day Flower Show.
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After a depressing yesterday, I got up knowing there was little I could do today. With my right hand slightly injured, enjoying the rides at Universal Studios Sentosa was ruled out. I couldn’t go to Marina Bay Sands either because I needed my 70-200mm lens, which I had to give for repair.
After freshening up, I sat at the dining table to have a cup of coffee. I picked up a newspaper and decided to actually read about what goes on in this tiny city state. I couldn’t help but notice the real estate property ads, not because of how good the properties looked, but mainly because just about every condominium advertised cost over a million dollars! And I thought to myself: “How on earth do the locals even afford to buy property here?”
Surely not everybody lives in the posh condos being advertised. That’s when I decided on what to do today – take the bus and see inner Singapore. Now, I didn’t know where exactly to go, but today I didn’t have anything else planned until I got the call from John 3:16 to come pick up my lens from their store.
I laid open my map of Singapore and just pointed to the centre of the island. My finger landed on some area called Bukit Timah. So Bukit Timah it was. Off to the nearest bus stop I went (the MRT doesn’t cover every nook and cranny of Singapore, thus the decision to ride the bus)
I hopped on a bus at around 12:30pm after an early lunchDidn’t seem like many were on their way to Buikt TimahI know wages in Singapore are obviously higher than say, India, but the cost of living here is extremely high too. Extremely high is also how you can describe most residential buildings. They have to be, developmental land is scarce in Singapore.I honestly had no clue if I was even on the right way or where to get down
These all looked like privately built apartment buildingsAnd they’re building moreThe Housing Development Board apartment buildings often look like that red and white building in the photoThat said, I did notice that there is still a lot of open land space still available. It’s just that government ensures there’s enough greenery in every district — which is nice.Looked like we were on an expressway to Bukit Timah
I didn’t really know where to get down, so when I saw a sign pointing to Bukit Timah Shopping Center, I got down at the next stop.
The area didn’t look that exciting. To the left was the construction of a new MRT station.I presumed malls in inner Singapore weren’t going to be as flashy as the ones in the CBD, but this was Bukit Timah PlazaWent all the way up to the food court/open area where the hawkers wereI don’t quite remember if this section was another part of the Bukit Timah Shopping Centre, but every floor had nothing but maid service businesses — most maids being from Indonesia and PhilippinesI was honestly quite bored hereI just walked around the area to soak up what life in these parts must be like. Not quite the residential area I hoped I would see, but it was okay.
Unlike the Geylang area, which has a sizable Malay population, I’m guessing inner Singapore has a lot more of citizens of Chinese descent
Just then my friend Aimee called, saying she might be coming to Orchard Road and that we could meet in the evening. But since I still had a few more hours to kill, I wondered how to spend it.
I hopped on a bus going towards the Orchard Road sideNanyang Girls High schoolDrove past what looked like a rather posh area. Very few people in Singapore live in villas.
The bus drove around and as it neared Orchard road, it passed by the Singapore Botanical Gardens. In a split second, I decided to get down at the very next bus stop.
Singapore’s Botanic Gardens wasn’t on my list-of-things-to-see actually… but I had to see something!
There is no entrance fee, it’s like a public parkIt’s a public park, but there are quite a few no-no’sI hadn’t even shot enough photographs today, so I needed to justify carrying my camera around
No feeding allowedThis is called the Swan LakeShot on my Canon 450D
Turtles
Sadly, because my telephoto lens was undergoing repair, I couldn’t zoom in much
Oh look Pacmen…
The Tembusu tree
I saw a way in
You have a few restaurants hereWent in hereThere’s a SG$5 (Rs.200/$3.8/€3) entry ticketDidn’t really know what to expect as I know as much about flowers as I do about neurology
Went inside this huge cage
Walked up towards that bungalow, named Burkill Hall
Orchids here are in honour of special guestsThis orchid was named in honour of Jean Chretien, former Prime Minister of CanadaGhastly looking flower…Oh that’s whyThis one is honour of Princess Masako of Japan
This one is in honour of some royals from QatarThese flowers were in honour of former Indian president K.R. Narayanan’s visit
The designs by Mother Nature I tell you
The plant was named in honour of the great Nelson Mandela
I left the VIP Orchid house
Sigh, even in Singapore there are idiots who do this
Went in here next
Coolhouse? Sounds promising!
Oh my god it was SO relaxing in here!It was so cool in here… Singapore’s humidity was killing me!But just then I get an SMS from Aimee informing me she’s on her way to Orchard Road. Damn, I had to leave this place.I quickened my paceBut I just had to stop to take a snap of myself
This is a park for everybodyThere’s even a huge picnic area
Dogs walk, humans jog… cats… sit and do nothing. Typical!
They have concerts here every week
I wasn’t the only photographer there
I was trying to figure out how to get out of the park
I was trying to get out as quickly as possible, Aimee had already reached Ion Orchard
I was finally out!
But this exit didn’t have a bus stop anywhere nearby, so I hailed a taxi and made it to ION Orchard mall.
Aimee, a reader turned dear friend, who was of great help to me in PhilippinesAimee introduced me to Daiso, and I quite liked the offerings. Picked up a mini-vaccum.
After checking out a few stores, we stepped out on to Orchard Road. I promised Aimee I would make her look good this time, as neither of us were happy with the photos I took of her in Manila.
So here’s Aimee at Orchard Road
Went in here to collect my ticket for the Chemical Brothers show after the Sunday raceAimee took thisWent to Ngee Ann City next
Here’s Aimee at Lucky Plaza, where I went to exchange some currency
Here’s Aimee going down an escalatorWe walked to Suntec City towers where Aimee’s fiance was waiting to meet usHere’s Aimee.. oh, the camera focused on the background. Oops.
The view from one of the floors at Suntec
Given how the day began, I quite liked how it eventually ended. I’m glad I visited the Singapore Botanic Gardens, it was actually quite nice! I hadn’t done much macro photography since my visit to the 2010 Lal Bagh Botanical Garden Flower Show and I liked how most of my photographs turned out today. It would have been nice if I had my 70-200mm lens but I wasn’t going to get it until tomorrow.
Once back in my area, I had dinner at the Malay Indian restaurant in my block. Had a few pratas and beef curry, cost SG$6.20 (Rs. 250/$4.7/€3.7)
I felt better knowing, despite my injury, I wasn’t going to leave Singapore without some great photos. I wasn’t going to give up. Tomorrow, I visit the Marina Bay Sands Casino – my first time gambling!
In the 7 1/2 years I have been in Bangalore, I’ve never seen the annual flower show held at Lal Bagh Botanical Gardens leading up to August 15th (India’s Independence Day). So this time, I told myself I wasn’t going to miss it.
Also, I haven’t clicked in a while.
So on a bright Sunday morning, I actually forced myself to get up at 7:30am and made my way to Lal Bagh with my Canon 7D and Tamron 28-75 f2.8 lens in tow.
Lal Bagh had it’s usual early morning joggers but I wanted to make it here early before it got too crowded.
Lal Bagh on a rather calm Sunday morning
I paid the entrance fee of Rs. 40 (it’s Rs. 30 on weekdays and I didn’t qualify for the Rs. 10 ticket for children either). As I made my way in, first up was a vegetables.
Boring. Then I realized the main flower show was inside the glasshouse.
The Lal Bagh glasshouse
Every year, the organizers put up one big show piece all done up using flowers. Last year’s big attraction was a dinosaur but this year, the organizers paid tribute to our soldiers.
India Gate
And with that, I began clicking…
There were a lot of 1st prize signs, so I'm not sure who the clear winner was
From a distance, these looked like sushi rolls to meIndia Gate was sprinkled with water internally from time to time
This is a panorama comprised of 7 shots
With the dripping paint, more like 'Saliva'
I don't think this was real
If only sharpening pencils produced such beauty
Not to be confused with Bangalore Muncipality's 'malaria'
This was the most interesting looking flower they had at the show -- called the CockscombEverybody wanted to touch it
From a distance, this looked like cauliflower flower(?)*
The good old fashioned rose
Spent a long time shooting this bee
There were a LOT of photographers...... and I wasn't the only one enjoying macro photography If I had my Canon 10-22, I could have got this photo in just one frame -- but this is comprised of 8 shots
All in all, I was very happy with the photos I took. I don’t usually shoot macro, simply because before I bought the Tamron 28-75mm, I couldn’t have been bothered. But now, I’m hooked!
Man's best friend couldn't be bothered. Sunday after all...
*if you are wondering whether I often have food on my mind, the answer is ‘yes’
Needless to say the orchids on display were nowhere near the orchid collection I saw in Singapore’s Orchid Garden.
There weren’t many new flower varieties on display inside, many of which I had seen in the last flower show I attended. Still, I got my money’s worth of photographs.
