Pelicans at Jurong Bird Park

I made my way back to the Jurong Bird Park last week. The last time I was there it rained all day. I was wishing for a rain cloud on this trip as well, it was super hot and sunny! The pelicans didn't seem to mind at all.

An egret in the background.

His feathers are so pretty. 

He has an interesting look. 

Love his feathers and his sleek beak :)

They were fishing for a bit but never caught anything that I could see. 

He almost looks like he has a wig on, or a toupee, lol!

Not much to say this week because I am NERVOUS! We are running in the Sundown Marathon Saturday night, both Geoff and I are running a half marathon. My knee is better but I haven't been able to train like I should have so I think this could be a long slow run/walk. Still totally worth trying my best. Races are always so fun, great atmosphere, and the carbo loading session of pasta all day is the best! 

Happy Friday!!!

The Super Tree Grove After Dark

Thursday night was my lucky night. On Tuesday I took my camera out and took pictures for 4 hours, all over town, photos of things that I have been wanting to shoot for a while now. I got home and they were terrible! Such a bummer to spend so much time and get nothing. So I was starting to panic by Thursday night knowing that I have nothing for Photo Friday. My hubby was busy tonight so I decided to go to the Gardens by the Bay Super Tree Grove Light Show. This is on every night at 7:45 and 8:30. Free show, lasts about 10 - 15 minutes and the Gardens are such a pretty place to be anyway. I love it there and I go often since its so close to home. There are always a lot of people out, lots of runners in that area, lots of families and kids on scooters and bikes. Good place to be, good vibes. Here are my photos, hope you enjoy them!

This is an older photo I took of the Super Trees during the daytime. There are plants growing up from the bottom and the plan is to have them totally covered in plants. The tallest tree has a restaurant at the top. I haven't been, yet, but I think it is sooooo cool! I would love to go (hint hint hubby). The Super Trees range in height from 25-50 meters. 

One of my first shots of the night. Sun it almost down, getting close to show time!

Pan to the right just a bit and you can see a peak of the Singapore Flyer in the bottom right of the photo. There is also a walkway near the top of the super trees going from one tree to another, not a full loop but plenty long enough to enjoy some great views.

Pan to the left a little and you can see the city skyline and the super tree elevated walkway a little better. 

Here is a zoom shot of the walkway. Now you can see it! 

Show is starting! 

There is music playing and the super trees lights are changing along with the rhythm. There are families and couples gathered to watch the show. I would guess there are 50-60 people tonight. Some are sitting on the benches and some are sitting on the ground, enjoying the night breeze.

Maybe 10 photographers are here with tripods. Wonder if they are all tourists?

I am just constantly shooting, left with over 300 photos.

And it just occurred to me that after posting a dozen or so photos of the same fake trees in different colors that it might not be all that interesting to anyone other than me who finds it absolutely amazing that I can get out there and take half decent photos all on my own. So I apologize if this is not so interesting. Fingers crossed next week I find some really neat things around town to photograph. I'm always open to suggestions if there is something you'd like to see.

Happy Friday!!!

Marina Bay After Dark

My photography group met at Merlion park for some night shots of beautiful Marina Bay. Geoff and I live very close by and we run here at night and enjoy the beautiful sights. I hope you enjoy the photos.

This is a long exposure shot since it is after sunset with little light. The long exposure allows more light to hit the camera sensor and also makes the water shooting out of the Merlion to look more silky, less like droplets. The Merlion is the Singapore mascot, half fish and half lion. The fish represents Singapore's start as a fishing village, the lion represents Singapore's original name, Singapura, meaning lion city. 

Another viewpoint, standing close to the same spot but looking at the front of the Merlion. Beautiful skyline. It is dark so its hard to see but there are steps leading into the water and people are sitting on the steps enjoying the cool-ish breezes. 

Another angle with more of the skyline. See the tall building on the far left of the photo? That is The Sail condos and our condo is sort of behind those buildings.

I like the way the long exposure makes the water in the bay look. Very soft and dreamy. 

Laser light show twice every night. If you are at the Marina Bay Sands they have a pretty cool show projected onto water that is sprayed up from the bay. For this photo the water in the bay looks more realistic since the exposure wasn't as long.

Me playing around with the zoom. The Merlion made it into the shot.

Happy Friday!!!

Dragons, No Dungeons

This week I took a temple tour with a group of about 16 expat ladies. One of the temples we toured was the Kong Meng San Phor Kark See Monastery in the Bishan area. This is a huge complex of several buildings, some open to the public and some closed as monks do live there. They are currently adding on another building for a Buddhist college. We spent almost 2 hours there and I have so many photos it was hard to choose which to post. I decided to focus on the dragons used to decorate the roof tops that are meant to represent protection. Enjoy!

Happy Friday!!!

Photographs of India

After spending some time this week organizing my photos I thought it would be nice to post some that I haven't shared yet. (aka: I was playing with my new pasta machine and didn't have time to shoot anything new.) We made a trip to India in December of 2012 and I picked a few of my favorites to post. This trip was amazing to experience.

Kolkata street intersection. Glad we had a driver.

Sort of the same at most intersections. Very crowded. Our guide said, "might is right". Meaning the biggest vehicle ruled the road. Many times we would see the small tuk tuks crammed full of people. These look pretty empty, comparatively.

Bus stuck in traffic. Like the colors and the men sitting on the bus.

Houseboats in Kolkata. Our guide told us that people live on these boats, some even have small families. There is a community kitchen and bathroom on the shore of the river for their use.

Along the river by the houseboats is a walking path and vendors selling snacks. They cook to order.

The bride groom would ride this horse to his wedding. This was just outside of a temple. 

We got to tour Mother Teresa's building. Not allowed to take photos in certain areas as it is still in use. It was amazing to see.

  

Entrance to another temple in Kolkata.

A shopping street in Bangalore. 

Scary monkey at Nandi Hills park near Bangalore. Actually all the monkeys kept to themselves as far as I saw, but I am really scared of them!!!

More monkeys...

Next week I have a tour of three temples lined up for Vesak Day celebrations and a trip to the Changi War Memorial. Should have some interesting new photos. Besides, the pasta machine is fun but it is a LOT of clean up! What a mess.

Happy Friday!!!