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| Blessings from the "Fortune God"! During the Chinese Lunar New Year, one of the most important festivals to Chinese in Singapore, most Chinese wish for blessings from the Fortune God for a bountiful year ahead. Peony Jade Restaurant @ Keppel Club, Singapore (12 February 2014) |
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| The higher, the better! Doing the "Lo Hei" (tossing of the salad which contains raw fish, pomelo, shredded carrot/radish, plum sauce, golden crackers, sesame seeds, pepper, cinnamon) during the 15 days of Lunar New Year is one of Singaporean Chinese's tradition at mealtimes! This is accompanied by auspicious wishes of prosperity, health, career, happiness etc as you toss the salad. The higher you toss, the better your chances of achieving what you wish for! This dish is only available during the 15 days. It's fun to make and delicious! =) Peony Jade Restaurant @ Keppel Club, Singapore (12 February 2014) |
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| Hazy sun day on a Sunday! Haze is back in Singapore again! Although the sun had risen not too long before I took this shot (about 7.15 a.m.), it was struggling to penetrate through the thick layer of haze. I could take a photo of the sun directly without it damaging my eyes, and without the bright sun flares appearing in my photo, all thanks to the natural filter, the haze! Not that I am happy that the haze is back (I am coughing & sneezing from it) but it did something for the photos at least while out at sea. =D Enroute from Singapore mainland to Kusu Island, Singapore (19 October 2014) |
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| Kusu, the Turtle island This is Kusu island, a southern island of Singapore, in hazy weather in the early morning. If you notice, the island is shaped like a turtle. Legend has it that a magical tortoise turned itself into an island to save two shipwrecked sailors - a Malay and a Chinese. People come to this island every Lunar 9th month for pilgrimage. Kusu Island, Singapore (19 October 2014) |
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| The ghost ship While out at sea, I could not see anything beyond the horizon due to the bad haze. Even for this big ship, I could only see its silhouette, which seemed to be floating above the water, like a ghost ship. Not a ripple could be seen beneath it. Enroute from Kusu Island to Singapore mainland, Singapore (19 October 2014) |
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| The makings of fine dining... Intense concentration on food preparation by the chefs of L'Atelier de Joël Robuchon, Singapore (28 November 2014). We get to watch our French cuisine being prepared by the chefs in the kitchen in front of us while we eat. =) |
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| Exploding wine bottles! I was dining in the L'Atelier de Joël Robuchon restaurant and was on my way out from the ladies when I saw this wonderful display...Wine bottles, seemingly suspended in mid-air, in a 2-way glass cabinet in Joël Robuchon Restaurant, Singapore (28 November 2014). |
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| The rising of the Supertrees! Man-made Supertree Grove in Gardens by the Bay, Singapore (5 December 2014). This was taken freehand without a tripod. I forgot that I turned on the shutter speed to be much slower than I thought I had set and just at the last split second when the photo was about to be processed, my hands moved and hence the trailing lights. Hahaha somehow for my next photo of the same trees and angle, though it was much sharper (I didn't move! =D) and details of the tree trunks were clear, it didn't look as nice as this one. I like the trailing lights... feel that they sort of give the effect of spaceships taking off! =D |
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| On board the Starship Enterprise! =D Cloud Forest Conservatory, Gardens by the Bay, Singapore (5 December 2014) |
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| The galaxy within the pond This is a reflection of a reflection of a reflection in a pond. Within the pond, you see a reflection of the glass panelled rooftop, and within that reflection, it contained a reflection of the pond and surrounding lights in the pond. I like how the 2 structures on the left look like crocodiles in a pond. =) Cloud Forest Conservatory, Gardens by the Bay, Singapore (5 December 2014). |
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| Battleship Galactica! A futuristic look of Marina Bay Sands hotel as seen through the windows of the Cloud Forest Conservatory in Gardens by the Bay, Singapore (5 December 2014). The purplish blue light reflection on the glass panel, which is like light beaming from a spaceship, is courtesy of the waterfall in the conservatory. =) |
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| Thunderstorm! This is actually a waterfall in the Cloud Forest Conservatory in Gardens by the Bay, Singapore (5 December 2014), and not a real thunderstorm. I just thought it looks like one. =) |
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| Dot matrix! I was outside the ballroom looking in through the glass. There was a company dinner and dance, hence the ballroom was lit by small multi-coloured balls of light. This is a juxtaposition of a reflection of a tall blue column of Christmas lighting (outside the ballroom) on the glass & the numerous balls of lights hanging from the ceiling inside the ballroom. The blue lines are part of the electrical installation of the round lights. Very "Matrix" like! Flower Dome, Gardens by the Bay, Singapore (5 December 2014) |
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| "You raise me up!" Supertree Grove at Gardens by the Bay against the backdrop of Marina Bay Sands Hotel, Singapore (5 December 2014) |
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| Dynamite candles! A cake filled with dynamite candles for a frenemy? =D Actually this is a huge Chinese-style light hanging from the ceiling of the hotel's main ballroom. Ramada Hotel, Singapore (31 January 2015) |
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| Have a seat... Bird's eye view of the grandstand seats from one of the function rooms in the Singapore Turf Club, Singapore (10 February 2015) on a non-race day. |
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| Trapped between two parallel universes! This scene reminds me of what is behind the Morse Code Bookshelf in the movie "Interstellar". This is actually the upper front and right walls plus the ceiling of a ballroom in Parkroyal on Pickering hotel, Singapore (12 February 2015) |
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| Watercolour run... As Chinese New Year approaches, there are lots of events going on to celebrate the upcoming lunar new year. To Chinese, red is an auspicious colour. Over here, the red in the middle ground is an abstract version of a "Fortune God" who is bringing prosperity and cheer to people around. This is actually the mirrored ceiling mirroring the Chinese New Year celebration scene below. Parkroyal on Pickering hotel, Singapore (12 February 2015) |
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| Up! Was at Chinatown soaking up the Chinese New Year atmosphere on the weekend before Chinese New Year. It was extremely crowded, and my direction was dictated by the crowd. As I was pushed along by the crowd, I ended up right behind a man who was selling balloons. He was bracing himself against the crowd, and holding tightly onto his balloons at the same time. I quickly took a shot upwards before I was pushed along once more. Chinatown, Singapore (14 February 2015) |
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| "Buying or not?" Was walking past this striking bright red stall in Chinatown, which specialises in Chinese sausages, otherwise known as "Lap Cheong" in Cantonese. The Chinese sausage, which is waxed cured meat, is prominently featured in the dishes eaten during reunion dinners on the eve of the Chinese New Year. While I was taking this photo, I intentionally included the side profile of the stallholder while he wasn't looking, but as he was moving forward to attend to his potential customers, he suddenly turned his head and looked straight at me! Chinatown, Singapore (14 February 2015) |
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| Ingredients to a sweet year! As part of Chinese New Year customs, a sweet dessert soup "Tong Sui", which means sweet water in Cantonese, is drank on the first day of the Chinese New Year to get all the auspicious benefits for the new year. Here is a stall in Chinatown, Singapore (14 February 2015), selling the ingredients to the soup. The words in the red and yellow labels are auspicious meanings for each of the ingredient... ranging from fertility to prosperity. =) |
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| The most auspicious salad in the world! Yusheng, a salad with raw fish, is the quintessential dish of every Chinese household during Chinese New Year in Singapore. Prior to eating, there is a ritual, Lo Hei, to "bless" & toss the salad. This "blessing" involves saying auspicious wishes associated with each ingredient while pouring it over vegetables. Once done, every member at the table uses his/her chopsticks to toss the ingredients as high as possible and continue to "bless" the salad until the salad is fully and messily mixed! =) At home, Singapore (18 February 2015) |
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| Early bird catches the worm! At the break of dawn, a Great Blue Heron caught a worm while others watched in envy. Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve, Singapore (21 February 2015) |
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| First-come, first-served! Great Blue Heron was not prepared to share his worm with the Little Egret. Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve, Singapore (21 February 2015) |
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| Fishing for compliments! All the migratory birds were searching for food in the tidal flats of Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve, Singapore (21 February 2015) |
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| Getting their feet wet... In life, sometimes you have to take risks. Though there are crocodiles lurking in these waters, the birds (Great Blue Heron and Grey Heron) in their bid to survive has to wade in these waters at the break of dawn to find food. Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve, Singapore (21 February 2015) |
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| Jumping for joy! While other birds are searching for their breakfast, the milky stork starts off with 50 jumping jacks as part of his healthy early morning routine! =D Haha well... actually I got a shock when the bird suddenly started to lift off from the water and fly in my direction. Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve, Singapore (21 February 2015) |
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| 3 of a kind! This photo of 2 herons and 1 egret was taken at the break of dawn. They happened to be standing in the same manner and looking in the same direction. I quickly took this photo before the birds started to walk once again. Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve, Singapore (21 February 2015) |
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| Itchy fingers! Milky stork scratching his itchy "fingers" with his beak. Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve, Singapore (21 February 2015) |
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| Dejected stork... Thought that the back view of this milky stork walking away in low lighting gives it a very forlorn look. Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve, Singapore (21 February 2015) |
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| Shattered glass... It looks like the Golden Orb Web Spider was treading on a piece of shattered glass instead of the web she weaves. Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve, Singapore (21 February 2015) |
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| The Harpist! Took a cross-sectional view of the spiderweb with its owner such that it looks like the Golden Orb Web Spider is spinning its web in a way like it is playing the harp. You can see that the spider is wearing his best concert Batik clothing to perform for his audience. =) Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve, Singapore (21 February 2015) |
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| Welcome to the home of Spiderman! Just look at the size of the web! I think insects are not the spider's intended prey but humans! =D Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve, Singapore (21 February 2015) |
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| Bridal veil.. Gossamer lace spinned by a master weaver. I have never seen a more intricate spiderweb than this, which has a pattern of 3 straight lines and 1 zig zag line. This was less than a quarter of the huge web the spider had spun against the background of trees. Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve, Singapore (21 February 2015) |
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| From the rising of the sun... View of sunrise and the rooftops of the public housing from my home's balcony, Singapore (27 February 2015) |
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| Seeing red! In Western culture, seeing red means being angry but in Chinese culture, red symbolises luck and prosperity! What a world of difference the colour makes in different cultures! =) The word written on the lanterns stands for wealth. Guess you can call these, lucky lanterns. =) Buddha Tooth Relic Temple, Chinatown, Singapore (27 February 2015) |
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| Blessings from above... The row of red lanterns and colourful stalks of plastic flowers are offerings by people with hopes that their wishes would be granted by the heavens above for this Chinese New Year. Buddha Relic Tooth Temple, Chinatown, Singapore (27 February 2015) |
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| Still early... Early morning scene at the Buddha Tooth Relic Temple in Chinatown, Singapore (27 February 2015). Shops were still closed at this timing. |
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| The breakfast route... An elderly man carrying his breakfast to work or home. Buddha Relic Tooth Temple, Chinatown, Singapore (27 February 2015) |
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| The everyday life... For some, this route is a tourist attraction, but for others, this is just a route that they pass through every day of their lives. Buddha Relic Tooth Temple, Chinatown, Singapore (27 February 2015) |
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| The Concrete Jungle! This is the cityscape of Singapore, a garden city where land is scarce. It is filled with high-rise residential and commercial buildings. The unique thing about Singapore is that the city is built around the primary rainforest (see the green areas in the photo), with trees and flowering shrubs grown to supplement the garden look. This photo is taken from one of the newest high-rise residential buildings, SkyTerrace@Dawson, Singapore (27 February 2015). |
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| Giant toothpicks! Saw this circular arrangement of wooden sticks in the water surrounding the "Eagle Point Boardwalk" in Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve, Singapore (15 March 2015). Really like how they look in the early morning. |
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| The water and light show... Really like how the water around the "Eagle Point Boardwalk" looked in the early morning... shimmering as the water moved, and looking more blue and black than silver under the boardwalk. Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve, Singapore (15 March 2015) |
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| The swamp thing... Mangrove trees in Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve, Singapore (15 March 2015) at high tide. |
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| Pure indulgence! Golden Orb Web Spider devouring his breakfast. This spider web spanned more than 10 metres wide from the railing of a boardwalk to a tree, with nothing in between to support the building of the web. I am so intrigued how that was done! Simply magic! You can see that this web was made up of 2 layers. I suppose it would double the web power! =D Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve, Singapore (15 March 2015) |
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| A stroll in the wetlands... Grey Heron standing out from the reeds in the mangrove swamp. Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve, Singapore (15 March 2015) |
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| Learning to be Tarzan! "First you need find a strong vine. Then you hold onto it and swing as hard as you can while doing the Tarzan Yell." "No, Mr Grey, you cannot hold onto to the vine with your mouth while doing the Tarzan Yell." Grey Heron at Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve, Singapore (15 March 2015) |
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| Spiders in the sky! I looked upwards and saw a big spider dangling from its web. Together with the big spider were some baby spiders and their food.This is not a black and white photo but their silhouettes against the cloudy sky. Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve, Singapore (15 March 2015) |
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| Ornamental spider? This Golden Orb Web Spider spider looked like it was part of the mural on the blue painted wooden fence. I could have brushed against it with my sleeve as I walked by and not noticed it until an eagle-eyed nature-lover spotted this. This spider had its paparazzi moment for the next few minutes as everyone who passed by started taking photos of it, including me of course. =D Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve, Singapore (15 March 2015) |
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| I spy a bird... This Grey Heron never had a chance, he did not even notice that he was being spied upon. =) This shot gives me the feeling of a predator stalking its prey. =D Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve, Singapore (15 March 2015) |
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| Big catch! Milky Stork had caught a big fish from the water. He was trying to eat it but the slimy fish fell into the water several times. I can imagine how difficult it is to eat something this big with its beak. It must be akin to eating fishballs with a pair of chopsticks. Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve, Singapore (15 March 2015) |
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| A gloomy day for all Singaporeans... 23 March 2015 is a gloomy day for all Singaporeans, both sentiments and weather. The sun has set on our nation's founding father, Mr Lee Kuan Yew. He slipped away quietly into the night while we were still sleeping... ironically the rest of the world heard the news before the Singaporeans majority. It was he who built the nation from a poor village with no natural resources to what it is today. Although he was quite a Machiavellian figure but great respect to what he had done for us. RIP LKY. Taken from my home's bathroom window, Singapore (23 March 2015) |
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| One taller than the other... Behind every tall building, there is an even taller building. This is how the cityscape of Singapore is like. Taken from my home's bathroom window, Singapore (24 March 2015) |
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| Silhouettes in the sun... As the sun dipped from beneath the clouds, the whole sky turned a marvellous shade of orange. No photoshop or whatsoever, just nature putting on a good light show. =) As seen from my home's bathroom window which has great unblocked views for kilometres away, Singapore (26 March 2015) |
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| Home is where the heart is... No matter east or west, wherever far I travel, home is still the sweetest place to be. =) Sunset viewed from my home's bathroom window, Singapore (26 March 2015) |
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| When the sun makes everything dark... I think the sun looks the brightest when the surroundings are at their darkest. Shooting against the sun does that, and there is no better time than sunset. Sunset viewed from my home's bathroom window (26 March 2015) |
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| Bloody Mary! Sunset, the colour of Bloody Mary. The colour of the sky got more intense as the sun dipped. Sunset viewed from my home's bathroom window (26 March 2015) |
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| Volcanic eruption in my own backyard? This is when the sky decides to have its own volcanic eruption, with its own "ash cloud". View as seen from my home's bathroom window, Singapore (8 April 2015) |
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| A bird's eye view! That is Sassy the Sulphur-Crested Cockatoo flying overhead during the "High Flyers Show" at the Jurong Bird Park, Singapore (10 April 2015). |
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| "Where's the cage entrance?" Iguana finding his way into the Scarlet Ibis enclosure... he heard that there was free food and clean lodging inside. =) Jurong Bird Park, Singapore (10 April 2015) |
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| Dreaming of freedom... White-Throated Kingfisher thinking what freedom is like while listening to the sounds of the non-captive birds. Jurong Bird Park, Singapore (10 April 2015) |
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| Ruffled feathers... This green-cheeked conure seemed to know that I was taking photos of him, without his permission of course, and this got his feathers all ruffled up. =P Jurong Bird Park, Singapore (10 April 2015) |
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| Reading between the lines... Saffron Finch trying to decipher what those lines on the rock pavement represent. Jurong Bird Park, Singapore (10 April 2015) |
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| The Spring Look! Saffron Finch knows what colour complements his feathers best. Jurong Bird Park, Singapore (10 April 2015) |
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| Fifty Shades of Yellow... A mild silhouette of the buildings (including Sky Habitat by renowned architect, Moshe Safdie) against the yellow sky. Sunset as seen from my kitchen window, Singapore (13 April 2015) |
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| Building for the future! Sky Habitat, a condominium designed by renowned architect, Moshe Safdie, in the final stages of construction at sunset. Sunset as seen from my kitchen window, Singapore (13 April 2015) |
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| Shaken into confusion! This is the Shaker Room at the Singapore Botanical Gardens, Singapore (14 April 2015) where plant tissues are being shaken to confuse them from growing shoots and roots. |
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| Bright and shiny windows! Nothing can make the windows shine like the setting sun... some more shinier than others. Taken at sunset from my home's balcony, Singapore (14 April 2015) |
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| False alarm... Is there or is there not a raging fire from this building which is still under construction? This photo is taken using a telephoto lens camera to capture the sky behind this 38-storey high building. Coincidentally there was a hole in the clouds as the sun set behind the clouds and that illuminated the hole, making it looked like a raging fire. =) View as seen from my kitchen window at sunset, Singapore (14 April 2015) |
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| At the end of the day... Such a scene means "It's time to go home" after a long day at work for most people. =) View of the evening sky and the cityscape from my home's staircase, Singapore (16 April 2015) |
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| The Gold Standard! Every cloud has a silver lining, but not every one has a golden lining... as it is more elusive, finding it is more difficult. =) I included a bit of the rooftop of a 38-storey high building to show how low the cloud was to earth. Sunset view as seen from my home's staircase, Singapore (16 April 2015) |
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| Haywire! Was at a hotel ballroom, and one of its selling points was the little twinkling LED lights overhead that represent the night sky's constellations. These lights change colours every now and then. I decided to do a little shakeup of how the lights would look like when they go haywire. I set a slow shutter speed in my camera, and moved it to draw a pic. I am not good at drawing at all, so if my drawing of a bear can look like a monkey, I think you can call that "abstract", just like this! =D Amara Singapore Hotel, Singapore (25 April 2015) |
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| Chemical warfare in a flower pot! In my fight against the pesky, disease-causing, bloodsucking Aedes mosquitoes, I spray some insecticide in my flowerpot after I water each day. Being a victim of dengue fever (which I have since recovered), I can attest that the feeling is no joke. There is no medication for this, nothing, besides drinking lots and lots of water and praying you will be ok. Although I wasn't bitten in my own home, my fight against the mosquitoes starts right here. This is how a "battlefield" looks like. My home, Singapore (28 April 2015) |
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