Accidental Tourist - Taking a Bus ride

Taking a bus is easily one of the most mundane and uninspiring tasks that one has to undertake in everyday life. However, through the help of Allan of the Singapore ShutterJourney PhotographyGroup, I have re-discovered an old liking for bus rides when the bus ride itself was  an adventure & the destination un-important.  

On 31 October 2012, after a hearty dinner at Seah Imm Food Centre (a food icon in itself), a bunch of 17 camera strapping individuals boarded bus no. 30  from Harbourfront, home of Sentosa, our fun filled island before riding past the former Tanjong Pagar Railway Station at Keppel Road and accessing Singapore's beautiful cityscape with Marina Bay Sands and Singapore Flyer flanking on each side of the bus. 

From there, it heads down to Fort Road via the East Coast exPressway (ECP). Thereafter it will weave past the roads of Tanjong Katong and Sims Avenue before reaching its final destination at Bedok interchange (one of the suburban areas of Singapore). 

The bus traveled slowly but surely filled with commuters who are more interested in sleeping than admiring the views of the nation. However, on this fateful evening, they had in their company an extra 17 of us and making hell of a lot of noise in getting our paparazzi pictures of everything & everyone that happens to be on that same bus. We did a roundabout & went back to Harbourfront the same way as we came before bidding our friendly bus driver adieus! 

Will definitely encourage this frivolous & lovely excursion for those who feel that they are all too familiar with Singapore or even for our overseas friends as nothing beats a bus ride around town. 

Till the next time, onto the world & beyond! 

Accidental Tourist- Singapore Flyer at Dawn

Was adventurous & decided to take some dawn pictures…the best photo opportunity came along with the “First Light” festival that was organized by The Arts House over the weekend at the Singapore Flyer.

After a groggy wake up at 4.20a.m. followed by a quick taxi ride - I actually considered taking a bus until I found out that nothing moves on the road at that time except for the taxis…I reached the Flyer at 5a.m. We managed to get our tickets almost immediately & proceeded to queue for the capsule. Figured that will be able to catch the break of dawn on top of the Flyer if I only board the capsule at 6.15a.m. At first, thought I had miscalculated as the sky was still dark when we boarded the capsule. Then, the sunrise came from the east & it was beautiful….I picked 4 photos this time as this is my 1^st attempt at dawn….

1st picture -the view of the CBD & MBS casino at dawn. At first I thought it looked like my night shots but I think the blue sky made the difference!!

2nd picture -the sea view. I LOVE the blue sky & how it reflects on the water!

3rd picture – view of the boardwalk along the F1 circuit. I LOVE the sky (no longer blue but a few shades of orange & how the (to be completed) building on the right side of the photo seems to fit in - just in-between the railings...

4th picture – There's something about the reflective view of the CBD & MBS casino

in this picture that speaks to me...

Onto the world and beyond!

Accidental tourist - Singapore from the sky: The Singapore Flyer

I have been on the Singapore Flyer several times....yes, I know it is a tourist thing but hey! Where else can one view the Singapore city skyline?

It is definitely not a cheap expedition because it costs approximately S$1 for every minute you are on the ride….but the other 2 occasions was subsidized fares (due to company sponsored trips) so this is my 1^st real full-fare ride…

Having gone on for both the day and night rides, I will definitely take the night ride anytime! Here are the reasons why…

1. There are basically 2 sections when you are in your little capsule going round the giant wheel– the sea section and the land section. Small trivia: originally, the spinning of the wheel starts from the land view and ends with the sea view. In 2008, for feng shui reasons, the turning changed to start from the sea view section and ending with the land view section. For more information about this trivia, hop over to http://www.singaporeflyer.com/en/media-releases/singapore-flyer-flying-high-with-feng-shui.html
2. Personally, I think you can get a nicer city skyline at night. This is especially if there is construction going on (which in Singapore’s case, it is almost an everyday affair). In the day, it is just boring construction sites but in the night, even the lights surrounding the construction site make the area more "fairy like".
3. If you are up there anytime during the day (worst time is high noon), it can get quite hot inside the capsule even though it is air-conditioned. Personally, being a pampered soul, I prefer a cool environment than a heated up capsule.
4. From the sea-view section, twinkling lights on the ships look great to me…

There a many places that you can see whilst riding on the Flyer – the official website has a great summary: http://www.singaporeflyer.com/en/visitor-guide/views-from-the-top.html

My expedition is to try to capture Singapore skyline @ night whilst on the Flyer – unfortunately for me, there will be some challenges:

1. night scene – I am at best a struggling amateur on DLSR so this is going to be tricky
2. no tripod – I did my preparations but frankly, it turned out not enough as I forgot the catch that is needed to place the camera on the tripod
3. since I will be in the capsule that moves ever so slowly, I will basically be in-motion AND trying to take night shots. *sigh*

Here’s my 3 best efforts of the Singapore skyline from the Singapore Flyer:

Skyline @ Night

Skyline @ Night.2

Skyline & Singapore Flyer Capsule - *sigh* the irritating blue/ white lights of capsule

Onto the world and beyond!