I've been exploring the city really often these days! These pics were taken before Christmas though, but I realised I haven't put them up, so here we go...
Heard of this place called Au Chocolat in the Shoppes at Marina Bay Sands, and so I decided to check it out. Au Chocolat is a French-inspired bistro/cafe/chocolate lounge. It looked really tempting, and they had really gorgeous pastries and chocolates! Oh and their official website is so adorable! I also love their logo and the little ribbon.
It took me a really, really long time to choose my dessert for the day. I finally settled with gelati. I initially thought a small tub of gelati would be pretty small. But NO! It was waaayyyyy bigger than I expected, and waaayyyy more chocolatey! I've gotta admit - I had quite a big sugar rush after finishing the gelati, but I thoroughly enjoyed it!
To burn off the sugars, I walked around the lotus ponds outside the ArtScience Museum. Oh and I just realised that the lotus pics I took are all purple and yellow! This was kinda coincidental - most of the lotus flowers happened to be purple and yellow that day. Usually there'll be pink and white ones around.
As I had not stepped into the famous Marina Bay Sands hotel (MBS) for a while, I decided to step in for a look. I usually pass through it to get to Gardens by the Bay. But it was drizzling that day so I didn't get to go to the Gardens. Decided to hang around to enjoy some aircon in the hotel.
To get to the hotel was easy. Just follow some signs and go through an underpass - a short one. First thing I noticed when I stepped in from the underpass - the Christmas tree. I had quite a nice time trying to take pictures of the shiny baubles. It just gives a really interesting colour filter effect! Frame it nicely and you get an interesting picture. :)
Decided to rig the camera up such that I got starburst shots like this.
It was actually easier said than done to get decent shots, so I had to do it again and again. I ended up in lots of funny standing/squatting positions throughout, and had to endure some awkward stares. So much for wanting to have a perfect picture of the Christmas tree! And yes, I'll do this again during Christmas, or whenever there're Christmas lights! I'm really happy with the end-product!
Went to the atrium of MBS after finally convincing myself to walk away from the Christmas tree!
Taken entirely with the 11-18mm wide-angle lens - here's the gorgeous atrium. I like the patterns created by the walkways and the windows, and of course, the use of natural light through massive windows. There were a couple of restaurants/bars on the ground floor (where I was), and people were just hanging around having a break. I was way too under-dressed in casual attire and flip-flops...if not I'd have explored these food areas.
Was literally turning back and forth in both directions to get pics from each side!
Tourists and hotel staff were walking back and forth. There was also a tour group that just checked in that day, and the whole lobby was packed!
Strained my neck as I was shooting these. I had covered almost all angles (good ones of course) then, and when I looked up and saw these patterns, out came the camera again!
Each Christmas tree was unique and decorated according to the organisation that "adopted" it. These decorations included footballs (Singapore Pools), Singapore Airlines prints (Singapore Airlines), cartoons (Singapore Mass Rapid Transit) and so on. Apart from the green trees with decorations, there were also some trees made entirely out of recycled material. Ingenious!
The last time I covered the Chari-Tree event was in 2011, and they had different decorations then.
Got this idea of putting the city as a backdrop for some of the trees, and I should say that it worked out pretty decently.
Oh yes - definitely Singapore Airlines. I'm taking Singapore Airlines back to Perth this time round. It's officially confirmed - I'm moving back to Perth for another 4 years to complete my postgraduate studies. Back to the place I fell in love with in 2012. And while I'm there, I've got a number of goals to reach. One - driving. Two - go travelling. Three - learn as much as possible. Four - take pictures! Of course, here're some places I'd really like to visit and revisit. There're more places, but I'll list my favourites.
Taking Singapore Airlines has always been a wonderful privilege for me - as it is comfy, has good service and is often flexible. Hmmmm...maybe I should order some Singapore Sling on board?
Besides taking pics of the Singapore Airlines tree, I did some other close-ups of the decorations.
This includes adorable decorations on some of the other trees.
Who could ever forget the mandatory reflection shot? I do this all the time! Did so during last year's event too...but was a bit too excessive. This year, I've toned down...somewhat.
Soccer ball decorations - Singapore Pools. Wonder what's the link between soccer and Singapore Pools?
And that concludes today's post.
On moving to Perth, I guess the only thing I'm missing out is the Beethoven Piano Sonata Marathon by 3MBS Fine Music Melbourne - performed by famous Australian pianists - on 3rd March. I will definitely be in Perth then, but it's totally impossible to fly to Melbourne specially for this! It doesn't really matter I guess, I already have all the Beethoven sonatas by Daniel Barenboim. Looks like I have to plan a trip to Melbourne during the mid-sem break!