Here we go, my F1 weekend begins! Oh wait… I had to shift hostels first.
I really enjoyed my stay at WoW hostel, and today I had second thoughts of checking out and moving to the other location I had chosen (to be much closer to the F1 circuit). But since it was too late to cancel the other reservation, I collected my deposit and they wished me well. I told them I would definitely stay at WoW Hostel again, if I were to return to Singapore. (I seriously would, I really liked the place!)
I took the MRT and got off at Clarke Quay station, which is housed under Central MallNew Bridge Road, Clarke Quay is walking distance from hereCrossed over to the other sideCentral Mall is pretty hugeThe hostel I needed to get to was on this streetQuite a few other hostels in the area (The above were all taken on my phone)I arrived at the building which houses River City Inn… and I had been warned it’s a few flight of stairs upYou pass another hostel – Rucksack Inn, which is very popularAbove Rucksack Inn, on the 4th floor, is where River City Inn is located
I was tired! The staff at River City Inn greeted me with a glass of water (I’m sure it’s a common gesture now, with each guest appearing tired upon first arrival). Footwear must be kept outside, which I did, and I then entered the hostel to check in. First impressions? Very nice! Looked new, clean and well maintained. I had reserved a single bed in the 24-bed mixed dorm room, which cost SG$32 (Rs. 1,261/$25/€19) a night.Yes, it cost way more than WoW Hostel, but you’re paying the location.
Other than that, the hostel looked nice and it was the usual facilities. Complimentary breakfast and wi-fi, two desktop machines in the ‘living room,’ a decent kitchen with all the requisite quick-meal facilities, a large screen TV, XBOX 360 — and pretty much all the furniture is IKEA! 🙂
I would have shown you photographs of the interiors but the staff told me they didn’t allow anyone to take photos of the hostel. Oh well.
The yellow building on the right is where River City & Rucksack Inn are housedBang opposite is another hostel — City BackpackersAnother oneGiven you have a large shopping mall and an MRT station a short walk away, the location isn’t bad at allWent around the blockRucksack Inn has another branch in another lane
I was on my way to the Gate 4 entrance of the F1 circuitCross the road and you get to Boat Quay, in just 5 minutes from the hostel
Down the river is Clarke QuayOne of the River Cruise boats
Passed by the Singapore parliament
I walked towards the Gate 4 entrance, which was a right turn from up aheadIt was only 2pm, and gates weren’t going to open until 3… so I sat and waitedThere was a reason why the queue was this long an hour before the gates openedI patiently waited
At 3pm, the gates opened and people were slowly allowed in. First a security check. They saw my bag full of camera equipment and the staff asked me whether I was ‘Press’ — I said ‘no’. They still requested that I go up to the Press registration counter and sign a declaration saying I will not sell these photographs, to which I replied “sure”.
Once past the security check, I quickened my pace of walking. So did everybody else. Then as soon as I reached the Padang grounds, I ran — and so did the others!
You see, the reason why so many of us queued up so early is because they were handing out FanZone wristbands, so that we could get inside an enclosed section much closer to the main stageLuckily I managed to get mine, and so did the others who queued early — most of whom were VIPs* (I’ll explain later, they’re not *really* important people)Phew, well worth coming early for — but now I needed to grab something to eatI tried looking for the ‘Press’ tent, but couldn’t find it. Honestly, I wasn’t even too bothered to look for it, I wasn’t going to sell these images. Heck, I’m writing about a September 2011 event in January 2012!It was past 3pm and I hadn’t eaten yetI went in search of foodThe Cenotaph War MemorialAhhh, food!Ahhh, shawarma!
It’s expected food and beverages inside such events were going to be pricey but what to do, I was hungry. So I paid the SG$10 (Rs. 390/$7/€6) for the roll — the most I ever paid for a shawarma in my life, ha ha! (I grew up in the Middle East, so I’m used to having paid only a tenth of that)
Checked out the boothsPlenty of official merchandise on saleSingTel is the title sponsor of the Singapore F1, so they had a massive booth
Make-shift lounge bars
Tan Kim Seng fountain
You can walk under this bridge to get to the Theatres by the BayEsplanade Drive is a part of the F1 track — and thus closed from public use for an entire weekOn display were the classic cars the Formula 1 race drivers were going to be driven around the circuit for the Drivers Parade before Sunday’s raceVery classy line-upThey mention which car is assigned to which driver
Ah, my peopleIt was nearing 4:30pm, the Porsche Cup Asia practice session was about to startI took out my 70-200mm zoom lensThe safety cars were doing the roundsThe cameras were ready as the sound of the car engines grew louderHere they come!
I decided to walk to another viewing pointMind you, I was still behind barricades. You can’t simply walk closer to the circuit.
I had enough of cars zipping past, so I moved on
I exited the circuit areaI was going to meet my friend Aimee now
I waited for Aimee at the UOB buildingRemarkably, I got sunshine today!
After catching up with Aimee, a visit to the ATMWe set off on our walkGreat Eastern buildingAimee was going to take me to Chinatown
Even in Chinatown, there’s an Indian temple and a mosque
Chinatown food streetLike Little India, and Kampong Glam, Chinatown has its share of retro architectureAimee took me to this temple, the most famous in Chinatown it seemsThe name of this temple? Buddha Tooth Relic templeSeemed like a nice place to take photos of Aimee
There is a dress code, so they give shawls at the entrance to cover up
Inside, it was rather impressiveGo read up on the ‘Sacred Relic of the tooth of Buddha’ — it’s quite an interesting storyVery impressive designThis temple is in fact a newly built one, opened only in 2007
We left the temple
Aime and I then walked through the Chinatown bazaar
We had the urge to have some ice cream — bread ice cream in particular
Couldn’t get the kind of ice cream we were looking for, so we just had juice. I chose water chestnut – because it sounded weird, and I never had it before. It tasted okay though.
Aimee and I took the bus back to Central mall, as I wanted to reduce the weight of my camera bag by offloading equipment I didn’t need.
It was very cold inside the busEven though the distance wasn’t much, I experienced Singapore evening traffic today. It took some time to cover around a kilometre distance.
After giving our feet some rest at the hostel, we headed towards Boat Quay.
It was 7:30pm
It was Friday nightThe bankers and officer goers of Marina Bay were all out filling up the bars and eateriesWe sat by boat quayLook, Mithun!And we finally got bread ice cream!I had durian flavoured ice creamYayKids jumping in?Not reallyI still had some time before I needed to get back insideSo we goofed off in front of the camera
One final shot against the backdrop of Singapore’s famous skyline
Aimee and I said our goodbyes as she had to go meet her fiance and I had to head back to the Padang grounds.
I went back to the circuit
The JK Racing practice session was going onNothing exciting, until…… this guy crashed!Didn’t see the others cars race past until this car was lifted off the circuit and all the debris clearedI walked past the many hungry attendeesThe concerts on the main stage were about to begin, and lot of people had already gatheredBut since I already collected my FanZone band, I could walk straight up close to the stage!As the noise from the JK Racing series subsided, a band began to playWho was it for?Philippine songstress Charice!The many Filipinos in attendance surely showed the Glee-star some loveShe belted out her hits “Pyramid” and “One Day,” and even sang her (then) upcoming new single “Louder”
Charice and her band even took a dance break to do the “Dougie”Charice also sang covers of other popular hits like Jessie J’s “Price Tag”She maybe pint-sized, but her voice packs in quite a punch!Amazing singer — and a good show by her!After Charice’s performance, the Friday practice lap took place
Plenty of fangirls (VIPs* mostly) were awaiting the main acts for Friday’s concert. I didn’t go too close to the stage as many had already stuffed themselves as close as possible and I didn’t want to be in the midst of girls screaming their lungs out. Trust me, it’s not fun!The lights were readyThe balloons were readyThe fans… you get the ideaA DJ came on and began spinning some hip-hop jams, and then some 2NE1 — so we knew it was YG** time!
Past 11pm, the lights dimmed and the DJ introduced the first BIG BANG member to hit the stage…
… and VIPs screamed as loud as they could when Seungri hit the stage!Seungri kicked off his performance with “VVIP,” from his debut EP of the same nameSeungri obviously didn’t have too much material as his solo effort had just came out earlier in the yearBut he still performed his best
Seungri ended his brief set with his big solo hit “What Can I Do”Imagine dressed up in a suit and dancing under the stage lights in Singapore humidity!Feel free to caption this. Only thing I could think of was “Pew, pew.”We were well warmed up for the next act!
And when those two other boys from BIG BANG hit the stage — oh man, the screams!
GD & TOP leaped on to the stage and began their set with “Intro,” the first song on their albumFor those who don’t know: G-Dragon (Left) and T.O.P (Right) are two popular members of the hugely successful K-pop boyband BIG BANG, and as the sub-unit GD & TOP, released an impressive album in late 2010.T.O.P, the really good looking member of BIG BANGG-Dragon, the talented song writer and composer of BIG BANG — and one of the richest idols in S. Korea!For all his hip-hop swagger, I couldn’t help but laugh when G-Dragon would speak to the crowd in his limited English by saying something like “… you want to make crazy?!” 😀T.O.P on the other hand wasn’t too hyperactiveThey performed other great songs from their album like “Knock Out” and “Oh Yeah”
The boys spoke to the audience briefly before ending their set with everybody’s favourite “High, High”!Eventually a sweaty G-Dragon took off his overcoat and sunglassesSeungri then joined his group mates to close out the show with (what I believe) was a Big Bang song
Given what a tumultuous year 2011 was for Big Bang – with Daesung’s involvement in the rather unfortunate car accident and G-Dragon’s drug ‘scandal’ – it was still quite a thrill for me that I got to see 3/5th of Big Bang. If only Taeyang could have been there as well, because the K-pop concert only lasted around 45 minutes in length — Seungri and GD&TOP’s performances included.
Oh well, in some ways I was glad it was over — I was completely drenched in sweat! I was so hot, and my arms were aching as I struggled to hold my heavy Canon 7D with the even heavier 70-200mm lens mounted. I took photos the best I could.
I also managed to record some video but if you plan on watching it, I suggest you turn down the volume…
The bass was just too damn loud! I wasn’t even that close to the stage or the speakers, but even from where I was standing, my rib cage was trembling with every thump! I looked up YouTube for other fancams and most of them weren’t any better.
I left the Padang grounds and walked back to the hostelIt was well past midnight
I initially thought about reading a fan account of the K-pop concert but my body was just so damn tired after the long walks today and the heat at the concert. I had dinner, took a nice bath and just laid in bed.
And to think this was just the first day of the F1 weekend!
*VIPs are what BIG BANG fans call themselves
**YG Entertainment is the company BIG BANG is under
UNfortunately, it was raining (Taken on my phone)Fortunately, the rain was reduced to a slight drizzle a few minutes laterI took a bus and got down near the Singapore Post buildingI was on my way to the Geylang Serai hawker centre & fresh marketI wanted to check out the food stallsThis market was recently renovatedSo I didn’t really sense a “charm” to this place
I went upstairs to where the food stalls wereThey have a few other stores tooThis place is quite famous in Singapore — or at least it used to be in it’s original formI wondered what to eatThis ‘baryani’ stall seemed fairly popular as they were dishing out hot plates is quick successionAt $4 (Rs.160/$3/€2.4 ) a plate, the ‘bariyani’ was just about alright as far as taste went. Fairly similar to Hyderabadi biriyani in taste.
I shared my table with a local who began chatting with me after he asked me why I was taking photos of what I was going to eat. I told him about my website, and why I was taking many photos. He asked me whether I worked here, and I told him ‘no’. I gave him my brief life story and in the end, he complimented my English. He suggested I could try for a job in Singapore but all this while, my food was getting cold.
Sucks. The only reason I ordered the biriyani was because it looked piping hot as they served it. Most of the food served at these kind of stalls restaurants are rarely ever hot. They’re usually pre-cooked and served out of buffet trays as per order.
The local sat with me long after he finished his meal as he continued to make conversation with me. The only thing I asked him was “what other good hawker centres are there?” He told me a few, and I noted them down. I gave him the link to my website and we parted ways.
Post lunch, I headed straight to Funan IT mall to pick up my 70-200mm lens from John 3:16.
Fortunately my lens was fixed and I tested it by taking a few shots
They told me the Canon service center had to drill two holes on the filter and break the filter carefully so as not to touch the main lens glass. The lens was checked thoroughly and re-calibrated. Sadly, I had now lost my rather pricey HD filter, to which they said it’s not even required that I use those expensive filters, as even a standard UV filters would suffice. All said and done, the damage wasn’t over. The cost of all this repair: $130 (Rs. 5100!). I had no choice but to pay up. I was just glad to see my most expensive lens back in my bag in perfect working condition.
But when you’re unemployed and trying be very careful with your spending, losing $130 plus the $50 I spent day before yesterday at the clinic simply felt like unnecessary waste of money. Sigh…
I prefer shopping at Funan IT mall over Sim Lim Square
The shops here are good and slightly more trustworthyLeft Funan IT mall. This is the Central Fire Station bang opposite.MICA building
That’s the Singapore parliamentI walked to City Hall MRT and headed towards Marina BayMarina Bay was still buzzing with construction activity
Panorama comprised of 7 shots
Decided to see what was in hereInside were interactive displays showcasing Singapore’s development historySpecifically Marina BayMarina Bay was mostly developed by dredging and land reclamationThe Land Acquisition Act was passed in 1966The Merlion Statue at the mouth of Singapore River was installed in 1972It was in 1971, with the help of the UN, that the first major infrastructure plan of Singapore was laid outThey made some changes to the masterplan for Marina Bay in the early 1980sIt wasn’t until the mid 1990s that Singapore even thought about implementing a Common Service Tunnel, which would house piping and essential utilities. At least they did it. How many cities in Asia have such massive underground infrastructure?In 2003, another draw-up of Marina BayIf I had the time, I would have just sat there and read through it allI was really keen on learning about all this
This bunny is an art exhibit. He’s been spotted around Singapore.Had to crop this tight for a closer lookAudi had this impressive boat, but it was for invited guests onlySinga, the mascot for Singapore’s Happiness Movement. (Seriously).
They have placed these mist coolers to make the walk here more comfortableBut Singapore’s humidity being what it is, the mist had little cooling effectOne final panorama before going in
There was an exhibition of Salvador Dali’s work going onThis was the mallWhen I came here last year the mall was rather empty as Marina Bay Sands had just opened
The Shoppes has slowly started to fill upMarina Bay Sands Singapore is after all by same people behind The Venetian in Las Vegas
Enough of the mall. Time for the first thing on my to-do list – the casino!
I walked to towards the entrance, past the security and straight to the baggage counter. Last year when I came to Marina Bay Sands, I couldn’t enter the casino because I got wet in the rain and I was wearing shorts. There was a dress code and the casino was only open to foreign tourists. This time around, I came dressed in formal wear and now Singaporeans could enter — after paying a $100 entry fee (which is ridiculous!).
No bags are allowed, and more strictly – no photography… at all… not even using your mobile. Which sucked, because you should have seen how the casino looked! Man, the chandelier inside was huuuge! Hundreds of slot machines, and other games with each one with scores of people playing.
I had never been to a casino before this, and had only seen them in Hollywood movies, so this was quite a revelation for me. I came with the intention of gambling a little bit, because hey, I didn’t have a job — so I thought I’d try my luck at winning some money! I even set aside a $100 just for this, but obviously I wasn’t going plonk it all down in one easy shot. Since I had never gambled before, I didn’t even know how to play most of the games. Slots was easy, pull a lever and hope you get match. Or at least that’s what I thought, because now, slot machines have gone digital — and they had way more buttons than a single lever.
You can play for as little as $1 and that made it easy for everyone to get in and begin. I converted $30 into chips/tokens and started with the Wheel of Fortune. Waged $10, placed my bets on a ‘x 10’ multiplier and a number. The lady spun the wheel and the needle stopped… at a number three stops after mine. Damn, there goes my first $10. The lady smiled and asked if I would want to try again. I thought, “Yeah, why not?” and put down another $10. She spun the wheel again, it stopped and she smiled again. I walked away after losing another $10. Sigh.
I then moved on to the slot machines and sat down at Queen slot machine. I played for $10, and ended up winning $17! I could have played for more but I decided to cash in my winnings and printed the receipt. Besides cards and tokens, the machines can use the same receipts to begin play. I had $17 with me and I started to wonder if my luck was improving. I walked past the roulette table and asked the attendant how the game worked. After he told how the game worked, I had to go and buy some more tokens as I obviously couldn’t place a receipt print on the table. So I got chips for $30 more.
I placed $10 as that was the minimum bet for this table (there were tables with $20 and $30 minimum bets too, larger payouts obviously). He spun the wheel in one direction and then the ball in the opposite direction. As the ball slowly lost momentum, it did the bounce – just as in the movies. But in my present real world scenario, it finally dropped into a number I didn’t select. So I tried again, and believe it or not, the ball stopped at a number just one spot away from mine.
So another $20 lost. So much for my hopes of being on a winning streak. I just played the slots after that. I won, wagered my winnings and then lost it all. At the end of it all, I had spent $60 and not really won anything big. I decided to stop.
I had no regrets though. It was an experience I smiled through. Looking around, it’s amazing how many people (most of whom were Chinese tourists) were spending so much money and I could only imagine how much money the casino was making — daily! You would think playing for as little as $1 is simple, harmless fun. But as I experienced it myself, human greed is what makes gambling harmful. And it’s as though the casinos have figured how a gambler’s mind works. There is a science to gambling and it’s a good bet to assume, very few ever make it out of a casino with more than what they spent in the hopes of winning big. It’s fair to see why gambling, to this day, remains controversial and banned in many places. Just because I stopped after losing $60, doesn’t mean others will. I even saw labourers from the sub-continent playing, and imagine how much they make in a month here in Singapore.
That said, there were the high rollers too. Some Korean guy came to the roulette table I was playing at and just dumped chips worth $1000. $1000, just like that! And to think above the two floors I could walk around on, were private rooms meant for even bigger players. Now think of the kind of money they’re playing for!
In the end, this place was not for a middle-class guy who spent the last eight years working and trying to save up as much as possible. I left the casino and collected my camera bag from the counter.
If you’re a foreign passport holder in Singapore, I still recommend visiting the casino at the Marina Bay Sands, the place is really well done up. The chandelier alone is worth seeing, it’s one of the world’s largest and it really is impressive.
I made my way to the hotel towers
This is the lobby of Tower 3I walked towards Tower 1Took a left and went downstairs to the ticket counter of the Sands SkyPark
When I came here last year, I made it all the way to the ticket counter, but only told be told that the SkyPark was closed due to rains that day. It rained earlier today as well, but fortunately the observation deck was open! I bought my ticket, which cost SG$20 (Rs. 800/$15/€12).
Here we go…The views from up here, are needless to say, awesome!The first thing you see is this – the Gardens by the Bay project (still under construction)This Flower Dome will house plants and trees and re-create a Mediterranean climateThis is the Supertree Grove, another attraction part of the Gardens by the Bay
This is how many ships are anchored outside Singapore Port…… and some more. It goes all the way like this until the port.The Marina BarrageIt controls the flow of water in and out of the reservoirThat’s the Bay East gardensI guess that’s where East Coast beach is
The Zone 3 grandstand of the Singapore F1 circuit
I don’t think I’ll ever tire of this skylinePanorama comprised of 3 shots
The Fullerton Hotel & One Fullerton entertainment complexThe Merlion ParkThe Arts Science museum is one on the rightThe Louis Vuitton ‘floating’ storeI was disappointed to know the Avalon Club was down there since I had initially read it was up on the SkyParkBut I was really happy I got my 70-200mm lens backThe Shoppes down belowYou can tell the new from the old — by the use of glass mainly
Concrete jungle or what!The lawn in the back is the Padang stage, where the big concerts this F1 weekend were going to happenThe Esplanade theatres glow at night — imagine the sight from up here!Singapore river, passing through Boat and Clarke QuayThat’s Singapore port, in the backOne of the busiest ports in the worldOkay, now time to check out the coolest attraction at the Marina Bay Sands HotelThe infinity swimming pool!Quite possibly the most famous infinity pool in the worldThe swimming pool is accessible to hotel guests only. Damn, so there goes my plan to just sit by the pool and have a drink.How cool is this view!Sigh, one day. One day I will definitely stay at this hotel.And to those who think: “Oh my god, it looks so scary!”Don’t be, it’s just an illusion. There’s no way you are going to fall over. I mean, you could try…
Access is for hotel staff onlyWent back up to take one final look around
I had plans to even go on the Singapore FlyerA ride on this costs $29.50But look at the height difference!
I don’t mind checking out the Singapore Flyer now… but I decided to keep it for next time. If you had to choose between the two, I’d recommend the Sands SkyPark over the Flyer any day.
Evening traffic was starting to pile up, that too with the diversions due to F1 workTraffic, even at sea 🙂Wonder which hill that is in the backgroundTook the last few shots, just to make sure I got every view possibleWonder what they’re constructing over thereIt was 6pm, time for me to leaveOne final panoramaGot a picture of myself taken… (yeah, Mithun in formals, save it)… and I left the SkyParkMithun has left the buildingI tried to fix the distortion in this panorama as much as possiblePlanned to walk on the Helix Bridge nextThe Helix Bridge is closed during F1 weekend as it’s one of the entry points to the circuitStill, people were walking on it, so I figured I could check it out until a certain pointThe Helix Bridge lights up, and looks even more impressive at nightPedestrians couldn’t go beyond a few metres from here as there was a private event taking placeSo I walked back
You can take the river cruise from here too
The design of the ArtsScience museum is inspired from a lotus flowerThe signature melting clock artwork of Salvador DaliThere’s an entry ticket here too
Went back into the mall for some air-conditioning (Panorama comprised of 5 shots)
I guess there’s still more leasable space left‘The Lion King’ was in townWhat was that?Clever designPretty cool none the less
Again, I keep photographing this skyline
Felt like stepping in, just to see what the store looked like from the inside. Not like I could afford anything in there anyway.
Panorama comprised of 6 shotsAvalon ClubSunday night – The Chemical Brothers, it’s going to be one heck of a Sunday for me!Hippo River Cruise is another boat tour companyPanorama comprised of 5 shotsPretty impressive sail boatI guess a lot of wedding shoots happen at Marina BayInstead of taking the MRT, I decided to walk around the bay area a bit moreI guess this connects you straight to the MRT stationA lot of choice for the bankers in the area to hang out after work
I walked to Raffles Place MRT and boarded the train from there. Got down at Bugis, simply because I felt like walking through the area I first saw when I visited Singapore last year.
Did a bit of mall hoppingWalked through the Bugis Street Shopping market, where they had recently opened an upper levelAfter doing a bit of shopping at Bugis Street, I walked around the adjoining Chinese market
I somehow just enjoy walking and soaking up the local life, even if it isn’t always buzzingThe junction at Raffles HospitalI walked to Kampong Glam (the ‘Arab area’), which is where I stayed last yearDeer meat. As weird as it sounds… I felt the temptation to try it.The Grand Sultan Mosque
I decided to walk to Victoria MRT
Spotted a Wendy’s across the road, knew right away what I wanted for dinner.
Had a shrimp burger meal from Wendy’s, one of my favourites from the chain. Also picked up some donuts from a local bakery in the same block and then took the MRT back to Aljunied.
Today was a good day. I was really happy with the photographs I clicked, though I do wish I got a bit of sunshine, which seems to be something of a rarity in Singapore.
Tomorrow begins the first of my three day F1 weekend.
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!
I initially thought about reading a fan account of the K-pop concert but my body was just so damn tired after the long walks today and the heat at the concert. I had dinner, took a nice bath and just laid in bed.
