Singapore

On the road or – up in the air – again

Yes. I’m out on the road again. This time I stopped over for a couple of nights in Singapore before going to Indonesia. I’ve been at the airport in Singapore a couple of times but always in transit. It’s a great airport that has the nicest smoking areas when it comes to those. Yes. I know. Smoking is not good for you. But I do, and doubt I’ll ever quit. And smoking in airports is getting more and more difficult so I thought I’d show some appreciation to those airports where you actually can. But. In the city of Singapore you can’t smoke wherever you want to. There are designated areas where you can have a cigarette. If you break those rules you can get a hefty fine. But there are many areas for smoking in the city so I didn’t feel like it was a problem. Didn’t get fined either. And, instead of just transiting through the airport, I decided to visit the city this time. A city I’ve heard so much about.

I really enjoyed myself in Singapore. It’s a city where the old and the new meet and mix very well. My favourite kind of city. There’s also a lot of green areas in the city. Like in the photo above. It’s taken from Marina Bay Sands Observation deck from where you have excellent views of the city. And, if you look really closely, in the lower left corner, you can see a road and on the road there are cyclist. There was a triathlon going on in the city. But. I took the photo before I knew the race was going on, and looked at the photo after I knew about the triathlon. That’s a photo tip too, always look very closely at your photos. There’s always something new to discover. Just like there is so much to discover in Singapore and I feel like I’ve just scratched the surface during my short stay. There’s lots to see and do in the city and I hope I get a chance to come back and continue my discoveries.

I was also quite jet lagged when I was in Singapore even though I was sleeping when I was supposed to. I have no idea how to beat jet lag. My body and mind is still in a different time zone and even if my body behaved like it was in Singapore my whole being hadn’t adjusted to the change in time zones. I’ve heard that it takes one week until you’re fully adjusted so I’m not really where I am yet. I guess my best advice to myself is to remember that I’m jet lagged and give myself some time to adjust. That’s also one reason why I stay away for a while when I’m travelling.

There are magnificent sky scrapers in the city like the ones above. They are on Marina Boulevard close to the Marina Bay Sands. It was just about to start raining so the photo got dramatic. That’s a reason to love what’s considered to be “bad” weather if you’re a photographer. More dramatic photos and the colours become stronger when it rains. I love straight lines and modern buildings as much as I love greenery and blue water. These buildings are next to the bay too, which makes them bluer.

You don’t have to choose either, between greenery and modern buildings, in Singapore. I saw so many amazing skyscrapers where lots of greenery and colour were incorporated. Like in the photo above, who wouldn’t like to take a break from work in such a nice garden. I spent a lot of time looking up at the buildings and they presented a new challenge as a photographer on the ground. I had a tele lens and was quite far away when I took this photo. And my best advice is not trying to fit everything into one frame. You have to choose what’s most important in the photo you want to take.

But. There is one place in the city which is just pure greenery, with dots of colour, and that’s The Botanical Garden. I spent lots of time in The Orchid Garden looking at, and photographing, orchids. When it comes to orchids, I actually enjoyed them more when I looked at my photos. I used a macro lens and there I could see the amazing detail in the flowers. Which are not really visible when you look at them with your eyes. But. The lens captures the details and enhances them. Loved my time there, and the photos I took.

Sometimes I see faces. Like in the photo above. Or at least I see a moustache. But that’s just from the angle I took the photo. And in no way I mean to be disrespectful to the orchid and the gardeners. It’s more a way of seeing that I have when I take, and look at, my photos which I think is a great asset for me as a photographer. Seeing things from a different perspective.