(This is a delayed post. I have had a lot of trouble trying to upload my pictures into Photobucket, and Flickr is not doing any justice to me either!)
As some of you may know, I have recently travelled in Singapore with my mother. My mother suggested about the Singapore trip and proposed that we fly to Singapore instead of taking the bus or train there.
Therefore, I browsed through the AirAsia website to see if I could get any cheap air fares. Much to my disappointment, the deal was not good enough and I suddenly thought of Jetstar Asia Airways, a company which sounds new to me and my family. I came to know about it when I picked my mother up from the Kuala Lumpur International Airport at the end of November this year.
Much to my delight, I managed to secure ourselves quite a good deal. They were having some zero-airfare tickets, so I quickly grabbed two seats. The return ticket, however, would cost RM18 per person. Still, it is cheap! Of course, the airport tax is expensive. Nevertheless, the total price came to RM240 per person for a to-and-fro ticket, while AirAsia would cost a total of about RM310. Furthermore, we get to fly from the main terminal of KLIA, and not the Low Cost Carrier Terminal (LCCT).
The booking of the tickets had to be done via online using a credit card, and I even got the opportunity to select my seats beforehand. (This is something you will not get to do in AirAsia, if I am not mistaken!)
So, now, let the pictures tell the stories. I won’t be elaborating much about my travels.
Day 1 – 22nd of December 2008
The view opposite the Esplanade. Do you see the floating white balloons? Those are actually "wishing balloons", where people write their wishes onto them and then they are released onto the Singapore River. To those who have written their wishes there, may your wishes come true!
The Esplanade, nicknamed "the Durian" by the locals. It is inspired by the Sydney Opera Harbour where it is also located by the Singapore River which opens into the sea. The Esplanade is where concert performances are held. Siti Nurhaliza sang in the Esplanade on March 2008.
Parks are often seen in Singapore. It seems to be determined to be known as "the city within a garden" rather than "a garden city". It is nice to have parks like this where people can gather around here to have a stroll. In China, you can see lots of parks like this, too!
The Asian Civilisations Museum. I am happy to see that such old but unique structures with all the colonial architecture are being preserved by the government to reflect on its rich history. This building, which is now a museum, contains artifacts and articles pertaining on the Asian civilisations, from the West (Islamic) to the East. My mother and I never had the intention to visit this museum, but as we were already there and after knowing that entrance fee was just SGD5.00 per person, we thought we should have a look at what is inside it. And indeed, it had been a very insightful tour in the museum.
The stairway leading to the main exhibition gallery in the museum. With proper care and maintenance, these structures will continue to look new and good for many years to come!
An array of the "Little Red Book" containing the words of Mao Zedong, in some different languages such as English and Mandarin.
A closer look at one of the "Little Red Books". It's small, isn't it?
One of the Buddhist artifacts seen in the museum. There are many more artifacts like this, but it is quite difficult to capture pictures here. Although they permit non-flash photography, the lighting is such that you will not be able to take many good and clear pictures, unless you have a tripod.
The Victoria Theatre. This was where all concert performances were held before the Esplanade was built. It now houses the Singapore Symphony Orchestra. What I like most is its beautiful architecture being preserved till today. The one thing that Singapore should be credited about is its efforts in preserving its rich history in structures and archaeology. The statue in front of the theatre is the statue of Sir Stamford Raffles.
Day 2 – 23rd of December 2008
The Christmas tree at Suntec City. Honestly, I have been feasting my eyes with lots of Christmas trees wherever I go, so many that I got tired taking pictures of Christmas trees. We were here in Suntec City to join the DUCK-tours, where you could hop onto an amphibious transport that would take you on a one-hour trip on land and water.
The fountain just outside Suntec City Mall. It is the largest fountain in the world, and this was taken while I was sitting in the DUCK.
In the DUCK. We are now cruising on the Singapore River.
The Singapore Flyer, the tallest observation post in the world. Did you know that it broke down on the 24th of December? My aunt purchased tickets for us to sit in it on the 25th of December, and on Christmas Eve we received news that a short-circuit had caused the Flyer to stop operating, stranding passengers in it for six hours before rescue workers arrive. Now, the people are demanding to know why did it take so long for the stranded passengers to be rescued. A passenger, in particular, missed his flight because of the delayed emergency rescue response. And those who had their nature urges could not relieve themselves! The Singapore Flyer was shut down by the government pending investigations. Therefore, I did not get to sit in it. This picture was taken while it was still operational.
The Floating Stadium. It can seat about 25000 audiences, and this is where their Independence Day is being celebrated.
The view of the Esplanade from the river. You must be thinking about the weather. The clouds were dark, a sign of rain. However, during my six-day trip in Singapore, the weather has been always like this. When we were outdoors, it would not rain. But when we were indoors (at home), it showered heavily!
The infamous Merlion. People often say that you have not been to Singapore if you have not seen the Merlion. I hold no opinion on that, but I don't think of it as anything special, apart from the one chapter of Singapore's history which the Merlion is related to, indirectly.
Condominiums overseeing the Singapore River. SGD1.3 million per lot. Anyone interested?
The DUCK, after the tour. On land, it's like a bus. On water, it's a boat!
After the DUCK-tour and lunch, it was off to Sentosa Island for us. We were quite reluctant to go there as we had been there before, ten years ago. However, my aunt kept telling us that much has changed, so we went. I just love the green parks.
The Images of Singapore. We decided to see what was inside this building. We found it to display Singapore's rich culture, be it the Malay, Chinese, Indian or the Eurasian culture. There is a very interesting show in it.
The Skytower. We went up the Skytower after we had finished watching the exciting 4D Magix. The Skytower provided us with a panoramic view of Singapore.
Fancy seeing parrot shows in the Butterfly Farm! These parrots are very well-trained and obedient. They have a habit, however, of flying very low and near your heads, so be careful not to look upwards when the parrot is flying above you, and above all, do not open your mouth wide! You MIGHT be fed with some sort of unwanted food from above.
I did not know that butterflies are attracted to bananas.
Look! Beautiful, no? (I know, we can see these in the Butterfly Farm at Cameron Highlands, too.)
This is just a view taken from the monorail. The construction work that you see is actually to build casinos. This is how Singapore tries to generate more income through the tourism industry.
Songs of the Sea. This spectacular laser show makes use of water as an LCD screen, giving it a very unique taste. I was quite captivated by this show.
The show got better, and the ending of the show was much grander and colourful than I had ever imagined! The person who came up with this idea is indeed brilliant! Mind you, these pictures were not easy to be taken especially since the light moves and it was night. It was taken with High Sensitivity mode.
This view is quite nice, but I did not realise that my camera lens was quite wet due to the water that was carried by the wind from Songs of the Sea. At this moment, my trip to Sentosa Island was concluded.
There are many more pictures coming up, and a lot more to upload into Photobucket, bit by bit. I’ll post them up soon! Stay tuned!
Henry Yew
hey it’s nice reading it, got to know more about Singapore! =P
great photos, interesting statements.
looking forward to Episode 2! =)
“Although they permit non-flash photography, the lighting is such that you will not be able to take many good and clear pictures, unless you have a tripod.”
Or a camera/lens with anti-shake. Or higher ISO settings. Or lenses with bigger apertures. Or really steady hands, haha.
I went to Singapore twice to settle my student visa, but I didn’t go to Sentosa Island. I don’t know precisely why I am not that attracted to Sentosa. I spent most of my time in Orchard Road and the many malls located in Singapore- doing what else but shopping!
Higher ISO settings help, huh? I never really understood what ISO settings were for.
And all I have is just a Panasonic Lumix FS3 8.1-Megapixel camera. My lenses don’t have bigger apertures like your D90!
Anti-shake features… Hmmm… they do quite little to help actually, seriously.
Steady hands? Are you trying to say that my hands are not steady? OH!
Thank you. I received a great benefit to read the texts. And now I have a good mood. I am healed from major depression! ..