piccas@pianofantaisie

Memories of Victoria 1 - City Sights

2012-01-26T14:34:00.033+11:00

Since I'll be moving to a different city this year, I decided to compile the pictures I took throughout my 3 years in Melbourne, or rather Victoria in general, considering that I went out of Melbourne quite a fair bit.

Destination 1: Warragul. Went to Warragul a number of times throughout those 3 years, and of course, met Jessie (the black kitty), Phoebe (the Birman aka Ice Princess), Steph's gorgeous family, and enjoyed every visit there.

Destination 2: Federation Square, Melbourne, aka Fed Square. One of the festivals featured there last year was the Buddhist Festival. I did an entry here. I did pass by Fed Square quite a fair bit, especially when going to concerts at Southbank. And of course, some of the memorable concerts I saw included Seraphim Trio's concert series, and the awesome Angela Hewitt concert! I'll never forget my encounter with Angela Hewitt...her masterclass was amazing and of course, her performance was god-like!

Destination 3: University College. The place I stayed in for the past 3 years. I'll always miss the cosiness, the friendly environment and the people there (despite the occasional drunk behaviour). And of course, I'll miss you-know-who. Here she is - being featured in a picture of the college's kitchen garden! Also known as the Aggie Kitchen Garden.

Destination 4: Melbourne University and Carlton Gardens. Who could ever forget Borders, which closed down last year? I did a compilation called Memories of Borders, a while before it closed for good. Besides Borders, there were also other shots I took, including some random Melbourne Uni shots and Carlton shots.

Destination 5: Williamstown. Although I didn't go there often, the views were always scenic, and the place was usually peaceful and good for relaxation. And of course, I watched the Royal Wedding there!

Destination 6: Fitzroy Gardens. Another gorgeous place for relaxation, and for long walks!

Destination 7: GPO (General Post Office) and Union Lane. I only went there twice, but I loved the architecture and the shops there. A little too expensive for my liking, though. Near GPO - Union Lane - where people draw all sorts of funny stuff on the walls. It's something like a graffiti lane now.

Destination 8: Moomba Festival and NGV (National Gallery of Victoria). I remembered going on my very first reverse bungee in 2010 during the Moomba Fest, and of course, I went again in 2011 to take pictures! As for NGV, I slipped in there for some aircon, and ended up chilling out under a massive stained glass ceiling.

Destination 9: Parkville. Of course, this was where my college (University College) was located, but I did walk around the general residential areas last autumn. Most of the houses were pretty old, but really well-maintained.

Destination 10: St Kilda Beach. Sadly I didn't get to go to Luna Park, but hey, at least I managed to go to St Kilda for the first time! Went there for the Westpac "From City to Sea" challenge.

Destination 11: Tesselaar Tulip Festival. I went for the tulip fest 2 years in a row - in 2010 and 2011, with my trusty camera of course! The first time I went, I met a famous cat in the suburb of Dennis (more to that in the next entry!), and the second time I went, I nearly got stranded in Silvan (where the fest was) because I missed the shuttle bus! Did some entries on it too!

Destination 12: Crown Hotel and Plaza - where I had an awesome buffet dinner at Sante.

Destination 13: Shrine of Remembrance. I remembered going there in 2009 and again in 2011. Will never forget the quote - "Lest we Forget".

Destination 14: Royal Park, where we took lots of pictures of ducklings and their parents. And where many walked their pet dogs and jogged. Royal Park was situated literally opposite my residential hall.

Destination 15: St Patrick's Cathedral and surroundings. One of the biggest cathedrals I've ever been, St Patrick's offers awesome, warm lighting and a beautiful atmosphere.

Destination 16: The main CBD and parts of Southbank. I usually go to Southbank for concerts, but during my last trip to Melbourne before graduation, I headed down to the bridges and the wharves as well.

And of course, I'll miss the car plates around Melbourne and Victoria! Will definitely look out for more in Perth!

And on a less Melburnian, more Singaporean side note, here are some pictures taken when I was toggling around with the camera...and reflections of course!

Other places I didn't feature include Hanging Rock, Phillip Island, Riddells Creek, Geelong, Rye/Sorrento, and the places I visited during the summer break.

And of course, part 2 would be up in the near future!

PEGGY!!!

2012-01-16T00:14:00.013+11:00

Sorry for being MIA! Here are the pictures of Peggy - the adorable kitten I met in Warragul while on holiday. She was about 12 weeks old at the time of the shoot, and she just arrived in her new home a few days ago.

The pictures are split into 2 parts - one for Christmas Eve and the other for Christmas Day itself.

Christmas Eve: The day I met Peggy for the very first time, she was snoozing amongst the presents, under the Christmas tree.

Then she got pretty boisterous and went exploring, and landed up on her mini cat tree.

Played some games with her before she ducked back into the presents, where she began tearing apart some wrapping paper...with her teeth.

After snoozing for a while amongst the presents, she went to the back room, where I got good pictures of her. :) She didn't pose like Aggie the college cat though! She was more spontaneous and just went around minding her own business. The lighting was much better in the back room compared to the Christmas tree area though.

Well...she actually ended the photoshoot by snoozing - back under the Christmas tree. But before she left, she gave me a wink! ;)

Christmas Day: Peggy was found - first thing in the morning - playing on her cat tree. She had new treats, including a new bag of catnip, some toys and of course, a mouse plushie which was as big as her! Here she is, being extremely lively. And posing occasionally of course!

She was also given this little gadget, where a butterfly attached to a cord revolved around a battery-powered rotating device. She would stare at it for quite a while, before going back to her games.

Here she is - back at her cat tree, and playing with her toys.

She began roaming around the house, and ended up in the lounge room - snoozing as always! She snoozes a lot.

I took a picture of her - when she was just about to sleep...

And soon enough, she was in deep slumber...

She was even oblivious when we gave her the mouse plushie that was bought specially for her. She's really, really adorable!

And that's the end of the Peggy photoshoot! I might put up more Aggie pictures later on!

Phillip Island part 3: The Hike and Christmas at Warragul

2012-01-06T19:33:00.015+11:00

Decided to put the pictures from the Christmas party into this entry as well. The last part of the Phillip Island series would be our hike - along the seaside.

To start off - after the Christmas party the clouds were very dense and it rained quite a fair bit. Then it cleared up and guess what? We saw a double rainbow! The first one was very intense but the second one was pretty faint.

We could even see a perfect arc from our motel!

Here are pictures from the Christmas party.

First thing I saw when we walked in - catnip for the kitten (Peggy). And it's true - cats DO love catnip! Peggy seemed to be preoccupied with other things though. I'll post pictures of her in another entry. Catnip was only one of her many gifts, another gift included high class trout for lunch!

We had these presents where 2 of us would tug and break the roll, and whoever wins (or has the roll in their hand) has a small present! I got a mini-pen.

And here's the seafood for the day! It was absolutely delicious.

Smoked turkey, asparagus, squash, sweet potatoes and carrots. This was our main course.

We also had a raspberry cake for dessert. Now THAT was heavenly! In short the Christmas lunch was really, really good.

And it got so good that the neighbour's cat decided to drop by. One of us made a mistake of feeding him some salmon. And he never left. That's him - giving a typical "feed me!" pose.

When he was not doing his "feed me!" pose, he was posing like Aggie the college cat. Of course, he was really handsome. He was slim-built, with bright eyes and long legs. Just like a model!

These are the shots from the hike at Phillip Island, taken on the same day where we went to see the Penguins.

When we left the visitor's centre after buying tickets for the Penguin show, I spotted some magpies having some "conversation" below a tree. Honestly, I don't like magpies. Not just because of Australian footy, but because they can get very vicious during breeding season.

And here's the scenery when we were driving into the complex. This place is known as Churchill.

Caught an ibis in flight too!

Farmland surrounding the main hike trail.

And of course, since it was near the sea, there was always some form of interesting vegetation.

We also spotted some birds hanging around a lake.

And here's the start of the hike. The bulk of the hike was along the coast, so we did get lots of good pictures. It was a pretty long walk though, and it was also hot that day. Not boiling hot, but more like dry heat.

We also found a shack under one of the old trees. I reckon it's a toilet.

Some of the flora growing around the hiking trail.

And more birds of course. This tree had virtually no leaves on it.

We also spotted interesting formations on one of the tree trunks.

These were taken towards the end where we were looping back to the farm.

Of course, there were horses towards the end of the hike, and I stopped to take a picture with this one. He was a great model.

And here's a map of the route we took!

Drove out using the same bridge, for lunch...

And this was the massive plate of spaghetti I had for lunch. It gave me a bit of stomach pains though, because of the cheese. But it sure was good!

And that's it for now! Will post more pictures soon.

Phillip Island part 2: Go-Karts, Surfing and the Purple Hen

2012-01-02T22:20:00.012+11:00

Here's part 2 of the Phillip Island trip.

So we started off by exploring the Grand Prix area in the island, and we decided to head to the Go-Karts for a look. Turned out that the people in the Go-Karts were really experienced drivers in real life. Some were even racing each other - which looked pretty dangerous.

Headed to one of the beaches - Anzac Beach - after the go-karting.

Surf was really good that day, and there were many surfers riding the waves.

There were good photo opportunities for me too - of course! And one of them included a seagull who was willing to pose on the Anzac Beach sign. He was soon joined by his counterpart shortly after.

And of course - here are the surfers...who provided me MORE photo opportunities.

Some of them were really, really experienced! I literally snapped 7 to 8 shots at a go, before they fell back into the water. I'd like to try surfing one day.

Remember the seagull standing on the Anzac Beach sign? Here he is, and here is his counterpart flying away from him. It looks like his counterpart is attacking him, but in actual fact, he isn't.

Last look at Anzac Beach before heading off to another spot.

We went to another lookout area, where we spotted this pink house...

And the waters were BLUE. Not dirty blue, but a gorgeous blue. And to make things better, the waters were EXTREMELY CLEAR.

Drove to a nearby town - San Remo - for lunch, and on the way back, I snapped a picture of the chocolate factory. Sadly we didn't have time to go there...or I'd be drinking from the chocolate waterfall in there!

Our last destination for that day was the Purple Hen vineyard, of which we got to taste gorgeous wine. We bought a bottle back.

And while the folks were chatting with the owner (who used to live in Singapore but was Australian), I went to take pictures of course!

Here's the owner's pet dog, being an awesome model. He just lay there calmly.

Dinner was at this place - Pino's. It was one of the best places I've ever been to. The food was just the right taste, size, everything! I had vegetarian pasta and peppermint tea.

I've got a part 3 coming right up, plus some pictures from a photoshoot!

Phillip Island part 1: Pyramid Rock and the Nobbies

2012-01-01T13:23:00.020+11:00

Right...before I start, HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!!!! :D

Just some snapshots of beloved Aggie and my friend's new kitten, Peggy. I went to Melbourne for about 2 weeks and of course, went to visit Aggie the college cat! I'm gonna miss her for the next few months or so.

And here're the pictures of Peggy! She's one of the cutest kittens ever! When she meows, she squeaks. And she's extremely active. But...after running around the house and playing with her toys, she falls asleep really promptly.

Went to Phillip Island during my trip back to Melbourne. And went to see penguins of course!

Some random shots of one of the many beaches around Phillip Island.

Before the penguins, we went to the Nobbies - interesting rock formations rising out of the sea.

And to see the Nobbies, we went on this boardwalk which literally hugged the hill.

View of the Nobbies from the Boardwalk.

And the sea was VERY, VERY ROUGH...

Below the Boardwalk there was a blowhole but it wasn't very visible. We could tell it was a blowhole though! And whenever the water crashed into it, mist would rise from there.

As we headed back to the carpark, we got a better view of the Nobbies.

Besides the Nobbies, we also visited Pyramid Rock - another interesting formation in the sea.

Well, it might look calm here...

But as usual, the sea was on a massive rampage.

Boardwalk leading to Pyramid Rock. The wind was EXTREMELY strong that day, and I felt as if I was going to be blown off the boardwalk! We braved it, though! Someone even brought their child and held her so tightly such that she was safe.

And as we got closer to Pyramid Rock, the wind seemed to be stronger.

Spotted a couple braving the winds too!

Well...they did cling very tightly to each other...

More waves on the other side, crashing violently against the cliffs and the rocks.

There was also a cliff next to Pyramid Rock, and it had this rectangular patch of vegetation on it, and virtually nothing else.

And this is Pyramid Rock. :)

Surrounding cliffs and waves (of course). And because the wind was soooooooo strong, all the plants had pretty interesting formations.

And that's part 1 of the Phillip Island trip!

On a side note, that was my very first time to Phillip Island.

Back to the Shoppes@MBS!

2011-12-07T15:38:00.019+11:00

Yeah as the title suggests, I went back to the Shoppes at Marina Bay Sands again! For some reason I really love this place. I went to see the Fountain Show and for a general visit (more to escape the rain) in the middle of the year. So in a way, I've seen the Shoppes - both in the daytime, and at night.

This time, I went in the afternoon after exploring the Marina Bay area. To be honest, I haven't even finished exploring the new areas!

Passed by our good ol' Swirling Vortex of Terror feature. It's actually designed by artist Ned Kahn, and is known as a rain oculus. At certain times of the day, water flows through the hole at 6,000 gallons per minute, and this lasts for around 15 minutes. In the acrylic "bowl" above - which is 22 metres in diameter, a whirlpool action is involved. This feature doubles up as a natural light source and an attraction.

I got the description from this website - Good Home Ideas.

But first...before I started my trip around the Shoppes...LUNCH! I was soooooo famished by the time I reached, so I had pear juice, some water pear, Hokkien Mee (of course!) and cold Horlicks. Honestly, I reckon the stallholder was intrigued - as I ordered pear juice AND water pear! But they're actually made from different types of pear.

TWG nearby. The tea is really high quality. I've got some packets from one of my friends.

And yes - the Titanic exhibition is open at the ArtScience Museum! I'm so tempted to catch it again, though I've been to the one in Melbourne Museum. Honestly I'm not sure if they're the same. But - it's worthwhile, considering that I've never been to ArtScience Museum.

Since the water oculus was going to be activated again at 5pm, I had plenty of time to kill.

So yeah, down the canal I went. I bought a kaleidoscope too!

And of course, there were a number of people enjoying boat rides. I wanted to, but was running out of cash. So I just went along and took pictures.

Had around 10 minutes to spare (before the oculus was activated) when I took these shots here.

One of the last boat rides before the oculus was activated.

In fact, before the oculus was activated, there were people crowding around it, and some were even ensuring that they got good views of it - both from above and below.

A favourite spot for people - the bridge, and the area closest to the lift. I chose the bridge.

And there it goes! First started off with a brief gush of water...

Then it came at full force.

And some were even braving the choppy current, just to get close to it.

Water flow wasn't very consistent though, but it was definitely impressive.

And yeah - this is what I mean by "finding a good spot"...

Some more pictures of the oculus - it was starting to die down by then.

And it finally reduced into a trickle, and was back to normal. People resumed their usual activities after that too.

Unfortunately there were some who missed the show, but managed to get a glimpse of the gorgeous masterpiece. Honestly I'm really fascinated by it too.

Sunlight was also streaming from the massive bowl. And oh my gosh I love the lighting!!!

You could actually see people through the massive transparent bowl. Here's one random person talking outside.

And this is the giant bowl from street level.

Took some more random shots of the city area before boarding the bus.

I was sitting on the upper deck of the bus when I saw this: a smiley sunflower sitting on the edge of another bus - as part of an advertisement! So I took pictures of him of course! :D

And yeah that's it for now! I'll definitely go back to the Shoppes @ MBS. I'm falling in love with that place! It's just soooo gorgeous!

Christmas Decorations - Orchard Rd

2011-12-05T01:11:00.014+11:00

Did some effects using ColourSplash - one of the apps on my iPod.

Christmas decorations are springing up all over town! Especially along the shopping area - Orchard Road. I went the day after I landed in Singapore, just before the rains drenched everything. It's the monsoon season in Singapore now.

Found this cuddly stuffed lion at the supermarket too! He was a new mascot for some chocolates. And speaking of which, I'm craving for chocolates...AGAIN. Genuine choco-holic!

And one of the jewellery shops had a music theme this year - so there were French horns, violins and everything musical! :D YAY!!

This is Orchard Road at around 10am in the morning, from the reflection of a Christmas decoration.

I used lots of reflections this time...

And these light up in different colours - all outside the Mandarin Hotel.

Christmas trees along Orchard Road. I heard that one of the trees around this area caught fire, but I don't remember which tree.

And of course, Ion Orchard had gorgeous decorations as usual. This time, they had snow globes with different decorations inside.

The massive tree outside Ion had not been fully built yet...so it wasn't open to public.

But there were lots of good pictures to take!

And yep, the use of more reflections...I can actually see myself in the reflection.

The famous Christmas tree within Takashimaya.

Decorations on the other side of the road - outside Paragon. It's been a year since the dreaded ATCL exams.

This was outside Topman/Topshop, and when I first got there, lots of people were fighting to get pictures with the tree. They finally left, though!

And of course, the use of MORE reflections! ;)

Dropped by Orchard Central straight after.

The ground floor had many stalls selling crafts, jewellery, and even food. And this was where I bought a bracelet with 5 charms - including a grand piano charm! :D Finally got a grand piano charm! And of course, we bought chocolates and I had a nice time tasting them.

The stalls look like houses in mid-winter, with snow draped all over them.

And of course...I FINALLY HAD MY HOKKIEN MEE!!!

Honestly - enduring 4 months of Hokkien Mee deprivation nearly drove me crazy! I was so glad to see the Hokkien Mee stall, that I literally bought a massive plate and finished it all.

And there'll be more Christmas decoration posts to come!

Carnival of the Animals - ELEPHANTS!

2011-12-01T00:56:00.018+11:00

Yep - as the title suggests - elephants are everywhere...EVERYWHERE!! Of all shapes, colours, postures etc....and this forms the Elephant Parade 2011, Singapore.

The website is here: http://elephantparade.com/cities/singapore-2011, and the list of ALL the elephants is http://elephantparade.com/elephants/Singapore-2011.

So far I've only gone to Orchard Road and Vivocity, and here's the collection of elephant pictures I took over the past few days.

Location 1: Orchard Road (near Ion Orchard, where I also went to take pictures of Christmas decorations).

Location 2: Vivocity (3rd floor) - discovered them after coming back from Sentosa.

Still in Vivocity, but on the ground floor, near the fountains.

These are the ones I've taken so far. Might even print a page of the elephant list and tick them off one by one! :) Hope to find more elephants soon! They're so adorable!

Tesselaar Tulip Fest part 2

2011-11-28T14:52:00.018+11:00

Here's part 2 of the Tesselaar Tulip Fest pics! When I finally finished taking pictures, I realised the last shuttle bus to the city had left early and I was literally stranded in Silvan for a while! And of all times - the public bus didn't arrive and it was getting dark. It was really scary, as the people in the tulip fest area were also starting to leave and there was no one out there. I was lucky though - there was a very kind lady who was driving out of the tulip fest area and she offered to give me a lift back to the city. I'm so thankful that she was there though - and I'd like to meet her again, to thank her once again for her kindness and sincerity.

Anyways before I start, I took a few pictures of the college and Aggie (of course!) - the evening before I left. I've been back in Singapore for about 2 days already and I'm enjoying every moment of it, especially the food! I miss cuddling Aggie though!

Woke up at 6am to get to the airport on Saturday. Starbus (the shuttle bus I took to the airport) was so awesome! I got there at least 3 hours early and I had a lot of time to roam around. So I bought some snacks and as I was wandering down the departure lounge, I saw this:

Grand piano wasn't accessible though! But it made my day.

Dandelions are also springing up everywhere in Melbourne.

Ok back to the tulip fest. Part 1 was about the surrounding areas, while part 2 will be about the tulips themselves! The bulk of my pictures were from the actual fields.

Although I went early in the season, some of the tulips had already opened.

And one of the fun things to do while taking pictures in the main fields - stalking people! :P Well...not exactly stalking, more like taking candid shots! Like these:

"Mum! Stop taking pictures of my sis! Pay attention to me instead!"

"Hmmmm let's pick more tulips!"

Or....even counting the number of tulips that have been picked out.

There was one who even attempted to "re-plant" the tulip she picked. Failed pretty miserably but oh well...

And these pictures show the variety of colours present in the main fields. I took lots of pictures of pink and orange tulips, but there were yellow, white, red, purple and even bicoloured tulips.

When I was taking the pictures, there was a family who was trying to take pictures of this girl here. She seemed really cooperative, so I took one too. This was candid, though. :)

And of course, there were pictures of people taking pictures of the tulips. Using cameras of all shapes, sizes, colours etc...as diverse as the tulips themselves.

And these were probably taken before I actually decided to leave the main fields.

Just another representative of the variety of colours. There were 3 main blocks, with at least 6 aisles of tulips (if I'm not wrong), and each one of them were strategically arranged based on colour.

The main fields were actually on a gentle hill, so when I reached the top of the hill, this was what I got. Took a few wide-angled shots too!

The festival area was already empty by then, and people were starting to pack up and leave the place. Just a snapshot of the various areas outside the main fields...

Speaking of which, I bought a bottle of cajun sauce from the Rayner's Stonefruit Orchard tent. I walked in there, tried some bread (with the same cajun sauce), and oh my gosh it was sooooooo delicious! So I bought the bottle, then took some more of the bread. :D My only regret is that I only bought 1 bottle. Oh well, there'll be other opportunities.

Note to self - take down the address of Rayner's.

Just before leaving, I took some more remaining shots here.

And that was it! Had a good dinner that night in the city after getting back, safe and sound. Whew it was an epic adventure indeed!

Tesselaar Tulip Fest part 1

2011-11-24T22:17:00.012+11:00

It's around 1am as I type these words...which means I'm going home TOMORROW!!! Back to Singapore for yummy delights, and mum's gonna make CURRY!!

Anyway I've got 1 more piano exam to go before I leave. I miss piano lessons already. :( Hope to continue playing hardcore piano even after I graduate.

Ok I'm pretty backdated here - but these are pictures from the Tesselaar Tulip Fest 2011. I went in the earlier part of the fest (SEPTEMBER!!!), and it was really, really gorgeous - in fact, as gorgeous as it was in 2010. Hope to go again next year - and that will make it 3 years in the row!

On the Metro train to Lilydale - going through the outer suburbs of Melbourne, which was getting less densely populated as we headed away from the city.

Fest was in Silvan (a town outside Melbourne), and we had shuttle bus tickets to and from the event itself.

Made a quick trip to the bathroom straight after arriving, and then went off to take pictures of course! The first few pictures were taken mainly at the events area - away from the main fields.

And guess what? One of the main features on that day was a Fairy area - with MUSHROOMS! I LOVE MUSHROOMS AND FAIRIES!!! And gnomes and elves and....the list gets longer...

One of the smaller tulip areas, near the childrens' play area, and near the awesome Fairy area.

Tents were also set up for food, souvenirs and other events, such as live performances.

Had great beef curry for lunch too!!!

And this is the entrance to the main field!

Every now and then there was a tractor from Rayner's Stonefruit Orchard, giving rides around the main fields. There was also a tent from Rayner's, selling jam, sauce and so on. I tasted the cajun chutney and it was SOOOOOO GOOD!!! So I got a bottle (which I'm currently savouring), BUT ate a few more pieces of bread with the chutney. :) Mmmmm...addictive!!

Actually the chutney went well with BOTH bread and rice!

I shall reserve the remaining pictures of the main fields for part 2.

Meanwhile, I went to see Aggie the college cat yesterday, and she was looking as good as ever! Here're some of her vain shots...I'm gonna miss her when I leave!

That's the problem with being an international student I guess - being "stranded" in the middle of nowhere - missing Melbourne when I'm in Singapore and missing Singapore when I'm in Melbourne. Gosh...pretty confusing huh?

Will post pictures for part 2 of the fest soon!

From City to Sea

2011-11-23T17:03:00.017+11:00

3...MORE...DAYS......!!!!!! *drools*

WHEEWWWW!!!!! Written exams are finally over! One big load off my mind! But there's 1 major consequence I've to bear from writing so much and playing piano straight after - STRAIN INJURY. Yep - felt this sharp, stabbing pain from my thumb to my palm straight after my last written exam, and before the exam I did have some sore spots here and there but didn't pay much attention to it. The sharp stabbing pain didn't go away till a few hours later, but by then my hand was still sore. It's much better today, but still feels a little stiff.

Anyway back to where I left off last entry. I put some pics from the City to Sea event before, but here's the main collection.

Found some adorable ducklings in Royal Park - the park opposite my residential hall, a few days back too! And they were initially clustered around 1 rock, looking extremely adorable and fuzzy. Their parents returned shortly after though, and they were highly supervised while they explored - with their parents keeping a close lookout.

And moving on to the City to Sea event, organised jointly by Westpac and The Age. We got free copies of The Age after the event.

We left college at about 8am but there were soooooo many people at the venue by then! They had a short warm-up session, and here - I caught someone talking on his mobile while the rest were warming up :P My friend (who was running) was somewhere in the crowd.

This is only like 1/1,000 of the number of people there. No kidding.

Ushers hanging around, ensuring that people do not trample each other (I guess). They were pretty nice.

And then I found a strategic spot at the starting line.

Someone else had already found a spot too, and she was snapping pictures. Her camera even matched the colour of the starting area.

Red group - the people who aimed to finish the run within a shorter period of time. Mostly hardcore runners, long-distance runners and sportspeople. They went first, followed by the green group, then finally the yellow group.

There were St John Ambulance first-aiders stationed all over too.

And that's when the actual race kicked off.

Not too far away, there was a mini-band playing live music.

Trammed down to the finishing point after that - after waiting for the tram for at least half an hour! Fortunately I met a fellow photographer who trammed down with me.

By then some of the people from the red group had finished, and they were just hanging around, cooling off.

Some people specially dressed in costumes, and were also interacting with spectators and those who came along to support their family/friends.

The bags/valuables etc of the runners.

And of course - the Funk Buddies! Live band playing at St Kilda Beach! They were amazing...especially the sousaphone. I've never seen a sousaphone up close before - only in pictures - but wow!

There were also volunteers handing out food in some of the tents.

1 more pic of the Funk Buddies before moving on to the finish line.

And here was the fail moment - I thought that THIS area was the finish line, as people were streaming in and collecting their newspapers/bags....

Apparently not! So I ended up waiting for my friend for half an hour (and vice versa for her)! Luckily we found each other.

Some shots of the beach - some runners even went to cool off at the beach after finishing.

And on our way back, we saw this adorable kitty sleeping under his pawprint blanket. Turned out that his owner was a vendor of the Big Issue, and that his name was Cougar. He was extremely docile, and was happy to have lots of attention from us.

And I guess that sums up the trip!

YUM CHA!!

2011-11-16T22:26:00.011+11:00

Spotted a big dog kissing his smaller counterpart last Sunday...pretty cute!

These were taken at St Kilda Beach where I went (as an unofficial photographer) for Steph's fun run - From City to Sea. Will put up the pictures of the event soon!

Ok - 2 papers down, 2 more to go. The first paper was ABSOLUTELY AWFUL!! I didn't even get to finish it! The second on was the polar opposite of the first - AWESOME! Well - I finished it a split second before the examiner said "Time's up!", and managed to write almost everything I intended to write.

So - to celebrate, and as an early birthday celebration for Steph, we went down to the city for Yum Cha. I didn't really have pictures of Yum Cha as I was just so hungry after the exam. And that hunger caused my memory to fail too - I made a mistake and left the tram stop without Steph, when she actually told me to meet her at the tram stop, less than 5 minutes ago. Oh gosh, my memory IS becoming shady now...

Myer - along Bourke St., was already well-prepared for Christmas - with its window decorations, with a remixed version of "Santa Claus is Coming to Town". There were 6 windows in total, and each one had the same header.

These were the decorations from the various shop windows. Mostly elf/pixie-themed, with music, movements and so on. There were also figurines of people from all over the world - signifying the celebration of Christmas regardless of race, language or religion.

Oh and not to mention, there were 2 (or 3) giant Santas as part of the decorations! Mobile of course, and looking really cheerful!

It really brings out the Christmas spirit.

Opposite Myer, the shopping arcade (where we had hot chocolate) was also well-decorated with Christmas lights and a Christmas tree.

And I did have fun taking pictures of the baubles!

Koko Black was equally awesome - had nice hot chocolate but was soooooooooo full after that!

And this was Steph's dessert for the day.

Oh and side note - the Yum Cha trip pictures were taken by my N78 (handphone). :) 3 years and still functioning optimally!

Weekend @ Warragul

2011-11-09T20:01:00.012+11:00

Caught Aggie being a laid-back cat (as usual) in the kitchen garden. She's still shedding her winter coat but is still soft, fluffy and friendly as always. Hope she's staying dry during this thunderstorm! I caught her lying out in the rain once and she seemed ok with it, but I felt so sorry for her. Gosh, hope she finds shelter somewhere!

2 more days to my first exam and my hand's extremely cramped from writing so much! So I decided to drop by and update this space before things get busy again.

Last weekend, we went to Warragul to chill out for a night, and for my belated birthday celebration. V/Line wasn't very crowded that day, and it was really nice and sunny. Funny thing is - the past few days have been really rainy and as I'm typing these, there's some kind of tempest outside...it's been raining continuously for the past hour or so.

Anyways back to our topic here. We stopped by in a nearby town - Yarragon, for lunch. Yarragon's really peaceful, and tourist-y.

And the spring flowers were blooming!

Lunch at one of the tea rooms was AWESOME! I had garlic bread and a beef/mushroom pie. And some ginger tea.

Here's Phoebe, the Ice Princess. She belongs to Steph's nanna, and she's a Birman - was also told she's lilac point, though she's a little more grey than purple. Her fur's really soft and delicate and really nice to touch, and her eyes are sapphire blue. She's usually very shy (and antisocial), but for some reason she allowed me to take pictures of her. So here we go - lots of pictures of her! She even posed willingly...

Her Royal Highness the Ice Princess then left her hiding spot (which was uncovered by me) and hid somewhere else. She's so shy that she always hides till everyone else has gone, before appearing.

When we got back to Steph's place, we had some nibbles before our awesome BBQ dinner, cooked specially by Steph's dad. He's really awesome at cooking - his steak and kebabs are always just right, and not to mention, Steph's mum is equally good at cooking!

I think I finished more than half the bowl of peanuts...

And while waiting for the food to be marinated/prepared, I took pictures of the roses. Some of them were absolutely massive! But absolutely gorgeous.

BBQ dinner, consisting mostly of kebabs and steak wrapped with bacon. The bacon wasn't even fatty - it was lean, tender and healthy.

One of the 3 salad dishes prepared...

And a whole platter of fruits!

To top it off, we also had red wine and champagne.

And I got my gifts shortly after! I'm so thankful to all of them - Steph and Weina (the 2 buddies who came down with me), Steph's parents and Steph's nanna for giving me such gorgeous gifts! Especially the Joan Sutherland book from Steph's parents - that was absolutely amazing!

Steph's nanna definitely reminds me of my own grandma (maternal grandma). She's outspoken, open-minded, friendly and just gorgeous. And not to mention she's an awesome cook too!

Anyways I've got to get back to studying. It doesn't seem like a good idea to play piano with a sore hand...GRRRR...damn...

Racing with the Clock

2011-10-22T23:19:00.007+11:00

"Can't waste time...can't waste time...can't waste time...can't waste time...

When you're racing with the clock...

And the second hand doesn't understand...

That your back may break and your fingers ache...

And your constitution isn't made of rock..."

- Racing with the Clock, The Pyjama Game (1957)

And that's exactly what I am doing now. Racing with the clock. To finish everything that I've left off, just to complete assignments and stuff.

And now it's time. To finish everything else that's left of my final semester.

When you're racing with the clock...the second hand doesn't understand...

Tesselaar Tulip Fest Preview and more Aggie pics

2011-10-01T13:51:00.011+10:00

I can't believe it's already October. And it's been a week since I went for the Tesselaar Tulip Fest! This time, I went on my own. Yep - took the metropolitan train all the way to Lilydale (which is on the outermost fringe of Melbourne), and then took the shutter bus to Silvan, a country town where the festival was held. Had quite an epic adventure trying to get back though! And I'll elaborate this in subsequent posts.

I might have to split the pictures into 2 or 3 parts too - I think I took around 300 pictures. Or even more.

Anyways here's the view from the metropolitan train. As we were approaching Lilydale, we could see more farms and large areas of undeveloped land. It certainly looks greener than last year though.

And here's a preview of some of the pictures I took from the tulip festival. This year's pictures were entirely different from last year. And of course, my telephoto lens was broken and I could only use manual focus. That was pretty ok though!

For some of the pictures here, I had to wait till the crowd cleared before going back to the festival area. Most of them were taken before I left.

We did a mock interview on Aggie the college cat for the upcoming college magazine a few days ago, and I was asked to supply pictures of course. I had done quite a number of Aggie photoshoots by then (well it's because Aggie herself was dying for attention and wanting to have her picture taken!). So I had an abundant supply of pictures to choose from.

The ones posted here are some of the pictures I took over the past few weeks.

And I took these when the weather was good. The weather's pretty bad this week, and a few days ago, there was even a thunderstorm! It caused a blackout in our entire suburb (or maybe our half of our suburb?!), and we couldn't do anything...and I really hope Aggie's dry and ok. She sometimes has the tendency to sit outside in the rain and get all drenched...

But before that horrid thunderstorm, it was clear and sunny, and Aggie definitely took advantage of that, by soaking up the sun's rays.

Well...these were taken quite a while back, and the 2nd picture is one of my favourite ones. Shows how cuddly Aggie is.

Aggie through the telephoto lens. The gardener loves the way she presents herself - with lots of elegance and grace. Just like a model. She has a good personality though!

And these were taken just a few days back. Aggie's starting to shed her winter coat now, and we see tufts of fur everywhere. She might even end up leaving a trail of black and white fur...

So yeah...I'll start posting pictures of the tulip fest in the near future! Right now...it's "Le-be-wohl" (farewell) to my mid-semester break. Jeez I've been playing too much Beethoven (I'm currently playing Beethoven's sonata "Les Adieux" Op.81a, and the first movement is dubbed "Das Lebewohl", or "The Farewell").

Shoppes@MBS Fountain Show

2011-09-18T17:57:00.010+10:00

So here I am again! I'm currently on a 2-week spring break, and oh my, I've been waiting for this break since week 6! I was so worn out, so fed-up with everything (except piano) and so tired by week 6, and was literally hoping that the spring break could come straightaway! Well, here it is! And I'm glad I survived 8 straight weeks of uni! 4 more weeks after spring break and the semester would be over!

Anyways I totally missed out on the Fountain Show pictures at the Shoppes@MBS! Gosh I was digging through my picture collection (attempting to put my portfolio back onto my iPod), and I found this folder. So I thought...why not post it? So...here we go.

Just wanna start with how the ambience at Shoppes@MBS changes. From day:

To night. The lighting at night is much warmer, more romantic (in a way?!), and really, really different. More orangey, in fact, and to my liking.

Oh not to mention, I think there's a Broadway production of the Lion King in Singapore, and it's happening at Marina Bay Sands. Not sure if it's still on, but if so, I'd really like to see it. Broadway productions are pretty awesome!

Well I also passed by the good ol' Swirling Vortex of Terror, except that I didn't see it from the inside. I only took a few pictures outside.

The city at night. Pretty gorgeous! By then we were all seated on this huge area, and some of us (including me) were still taking pictures of the surroundings and getting our cameras ready.

Maybe I should venture out more and take more night shots from now on. I've got a new tripod and it would definitely help to have one. Besides, it isn't cold at night in Singapore. Right now it's still pretty chilly back in Melbourne.

And the fountain show starts off with a bang! Not literally though!

One of my favourite parts of the show: the holograms. They projected animated images, pictures and so on - onto a big screen of mist. And the images are actually pretty clear!

Between the holograms, there would be fountains lit up with different colours.

Then back to the holograms. This one was based on a duet by 2 people featured on the holograms. The 2 people are shown in the subsequent pictures.

Later on there were more fountains - this time lit up with warmer colours, and more fire shows. The fire shows were pretty rare though, and we literally had to be ready for the fireballs which would shoot out alongside the fountains.

And here we go! My favourite picture of the night.

More light shows - this one features a soaring bird.

And the fountain show ends in a more subdued, yet colourful way.

In a way, I think this fountain show resembles a piano sonata. The exposition consists of the hologram shows, the development with the fountains, the recapitulations with yet more hologram shows, and finally the coda - with the subdued fountains.

Ok...I just finished analysing a sonata - hence the terminologies.

And just to end off - a picture of the Art-Science Museum. Well...half of it.

And I guess that's the last Singapore post for now! Will definitely be putting up more during the summer.

Sante and Williamstown

2011-09-15T15:29:00.019+10:00

We actually went to Sante in Crown Hotel/Casino about a month ago, but I decided to combine pictures from Sante with today's post. Unfortunately Sante has closed down (it closed down 2 days after we went).

I already miss Sante. Even though I've only been once. The buffet was just amazing, and the variety of food - nearly endless!! The only bad thing is the queue - but then again, that shows how popular the restaurant is.

Here are some snapshots of the food available. Some of them were so delicious - I kept going back for more. I think I had 2 big plates worth of food, and still felt hungry after that.

Best of all - the interior design of the restaurant was gorgeous.

We also watched "Captain America" in 3D in the nearby Village Cinema.

On our way out of the cinema/shopping area, we also passed by the casino. It was massive - and I reckon it's even bigger than the ones I see in Singapore.

Main logo of Crown Hotel/Casino. We were heading towards the main hotel area by then.

And here are some pictures of the hotel lobby itself, plus some high-end shops like Versace.

Moving on to Williamstown - I went the other day to take pictures (of course!) and to collect some stuff. It was sunny at first, but rapidly got cold.

And because of the sun, wildflowers were in bloom.

And not to mention the flowers around Williamstown.

It was cloudy by the time I got to the beach, but it definitely helped in the pictures!

Oh, I finally bought something from this mobile food stall the other day! The guy in charge was pretty eccentric but quite nice.

Clear waters - while on the way to the beach.

There were some fishermen and people kayaking -honestly speaking it was really cold that day and I wonder how they actually endured the cold. I wouldn't have been able to do it.

This was taken from the nature walk near the beach. Where lots of people were bringing their dogs out for a walk. Some of the dogs were really hyperactive, and one kept sniffing at me.

When I saw this area here, I was thinking, "Ok I'm definitely getting near the beach!"

Caught this doggie attempting to do a catwalk. Identity crisis, possibly?

He was a gorgeous husky though, and he was with another pal, who strolled off while he was trying to mark his territory.

And it was starting to get even colder, so I decided to leave quickly. It was still winter then, and it got dark at around 5.30pm. Best part - I missed the first bus out, so I had to wait for the next one, and got back pretty late.

It was a good trip anyways!!

St Patrick's Cathedral in spring

2011-09-10T13:28:00.013+10:00

YAY!!! I'm going for the Tesselaar Tulip Festival 2011 later this month!! Checked the dates for the festival and it apparently starts on 15th September. According to the organisers, the tulips are blooming earlier than usual because August seemed warmer than usual. Do check it out - http://www.tulipfestival.com.au/.

Here are some of my favourite snapshots from last year's Tulip Festival.

Right...let's move back to the city. The other day, I decided to head to St Patrick's Cathedral (just because I felt like doing so), and on the way, I went to visit Aggie! And guess what she was up to? She decided to climb into the garden bed. Or maybe she was fascinated by the plants.

Early spring flowers were also starting to bloom in the kitchen garden.

On my way to St Patrick's, I headed to the neighbouring St Peter's Church (because the flowers were in full bloom and were really prominent), and spotted a bunch of mushrooms growing in the grass.

And not to mention - spring flowers! These are everywhere.

I'm actually glad I went to St Patrick's - the other times I went, the fountains were turned off and were totally dry. But the water was flowing ever so freely on the day I went. And there were 2 weddings held in the cathedral itself! Unfortunately I couldn't stalk the wedding procession because they didn't allow us to take pictures during the weddings. So I waited till the ceremonies were over before taking my fair share of pictures.

The fountains do bring life to the cathedral. When it was dry - it seemed as if everything was dead and unmoving. But with the fountains, everything seems to be more cheerful and active.

The natural lighting within the main cathedral hall is always gorgeous, and supplemented by various smaller lights around the windows and pillars.

And maybe that was what attracted me to the cathedral once again - the lighting.

The main entrance of the cathedral. It's usually closed, unless there's a wedding or something going on. We usually entered by the side doors.

And this is how the main hall looks from the entrance. Pretty impressive, but the distance isn't as bad as it seems. It is, no doubt, a massive hall, but it's definitely worth to walk around!

The main entrance which everyone uses to enter the main hall. Oh, and in case you were wondering, the massive window is actually the colourful stained-glass window seen in the previous pictures.

Went outside for a bit of fresh air...and the flowers around the cathedral were also pretty much in bloom! I didn't stay long though, and decided to go back in as it was starting to get chilly.

So I went back in for some warmth. People were lighting candles then, and offering prayers.

And it was starting to get dark by then, so there wasn't much natural lighting - just the small lights around the windows and the pillars.

And I had to rush off after that for dinner. It was a good trip nevertheless!

Out and About after 5 weeks!

2011-09-07T01:13:00.015+10:00

Spring is finally here! And I managed to make a trip to the city after 5 weeks!

Well Aggie also believes it's spring - she's happily resting in the warmth, and sunbathing every now and then. The past week has been pretty amazing as it was sunny and warm. But today the weather took a drastic turn and it's now wintry again. Aggie doesn't seem to notice though - she's always satisfied with what she has.

The other day I saw a whole bunch of flowers blooming near the tram stop, and since I just missed a tram, I decided to take pictures before boarding the next tram.

Stopped at Bourke Street and the General Post Office (GPO), which has since been converted into a shopping centre. It feels so good to be back in the GPO! There's a Japanese restaurant within GPO, which is pretty authentic and serves reasonable portions too!

Witnessed 2 street performances on the way up Bourke Street. And just by coincidence, I captured this moment. It seems as if the lady selling CDs is gossiping to her friend about scamming the blonde old lady on the right of the picture, to buy a La Rumba CD or something...but in actual fact I've no idea what they were talking about. Oh, and this description was from one of my friends.

And here are the performers! 2 guitarists, a bassist and of course, a singer. There was this instance where one of the guitarists looked as if he was showing off for a cameraman (a few pictures down). Performance was really intense but the performers definitely looked like they were enjoying themselves. They performed a few tracks from their La Rumba CD as well as other bonus songs.

And here they are - taking a break. This is the guitarist who looked as if he was showing off for the camera...just chilling out at the stall and smoking...

And there were some people who came and shook hands with him, possibly to tell him how awesome he was. I was sitting near him, and he WAS awesome.

Just across the road there was a South American musician playing panpipe music, and selling CDs. He was pretty popular too...

And he had some shaking doll in front of him, with a money basket...possibly for donations? He was doing pretty well though, and attracted a lot of people.

Just some snapshots of him playing his panpipe. He always looked as if he was concentrating on the music.

I decided to head down to Regent Theatre - where Love Never Dies by Andrew Lloyd Webber was held. And just before I crossed the road, I noticed someone had placed a cigarette stub into one of the sculpture's mouth! Pretty funny...

And here are the pictures from Regent Theatre.

I love the lights on the ceiling - it makes the place look so posh and theatre-ish...

And around that time, some people were filming something outside the theatre. Possibly something about Love Never Dies?

Oh, and just in case you were wondering, I took this picture from a mirror.

Banners praising the musical. There was also a preview at the box office and at the main entrance, as well as a massive banner on the ceiling.

Theatre was not open yet, hence the lights were dim. But the inside was absolutely gorgeous!

And this is how the main entrance of the Regent currently looks like.

So I walked down and went to Flinders Street...and on the way I passed St Paul's Cathedral, one of the biggest cathedrals in Melbourne.

ACMI - the Australian Centre of the Moving Arts - where I am going to watch a production of Dame Joan Sutherland's story. Can't wait for that!

Had to head back to college after that, but it was definitely good to be out and about again! Even Aggie thinks so...I guess...

Shoppes@MBS part 2 and Aggie! :D

2011-08-26T17:09:00.019+10:00

Whoa whoa whoa...19 days without updating? My, that is really a while.

The reason is because I was really, really busy. I've just finished a class presentation (which was epic win) today, and I've to prepare for another one this coming Monday. At the same time, I'm also handling my lecture summaries, practicing excessive piano (and I'm glad my Beethoven sonata is actually picking up speed and accuracy), making sure everything's organised, finishing and editing assignments (which are going to drive me psychotic anytime now)......the list goes on.

Nevertheless, I've managed to squeeze in some time for 3 Aggie mini-photoshoots. Here are some of the pictures accumulated over them:

Photoshoot 1: "Automobile Aggie" (simply because she was a poser on someone's bright red car)

Photoshoot 2: Just a general Aggie photoshoot...

Photoshoot 3 involved Aggie, Steph (my awesome buddy) and Lisa (a tutor in college). And as always, Aggie purred and posed happily. :) She even yawned at one stage....and that was the 2nd time I actually got a picture of her yawning...

Out of all 3 photoshoots - this is one of my favourites.

So anyways bach to where we stopped last time - Shoppes@MBS and Marina Bay Sands. Whoa...I've been away for about a month already, and I still haven't finished uploading pictures from Singapore? Jeez...I'd better get cracking...

So just to contrast - the Marina Bay Sands hotel and the Art-Science museum at night...

And the Marina Bay Sands Hotel and DNA bridge in the day.

The Art-Science museum is built to resemble an open lotus, and each "petal" is an exhibition gallery. And coincidentally, the shallow pools around the museum had lots of lotus flowers...maybe it was intentional.

Spotted some men from the military driving motor boats with seashell-shaped props. About a month later, when I watched the National Day parade, I realised that these were the props used in one of the performances.

And here are some pictures of the Art-Science museum! I wasn't used to the heat (since I had only been in Singapore for a few days), so I was dodging in and out for some aircon.

Exterior, including the pools and the lotus flowers.

One of the featured exhibitions: Salvador Dali's melted clocks. One of them was situated right outside the museum.

The orange paper crustaceans on the glass are permanent exhibitions I think...

Just playing around with reflections and stuff. Seriously the pools were really still! The water didn't move at all - unless it rained of course, but then again, reflections were always very clear.

One last picture of the museum before I headed to the Shoppes@MBS for lunch and more phototaking.

Work was still going on at one of the glass houses near the Shoppes@MBS. I think this was going to be one of the branded shops along the river. Can't remember which one though. I also explored the surroundings of the Shoppes@MBS before actually going in for lunch.

There was an ice-skating rink just outside the food court where I ate.

Rasapura - the food court which served really good hunger satisfactions. I had Hokkien Mee as usual! :) It was a little more expensive but oh my gosh, it was so delicious!

Had a fail moment just as I was leaving the Shoppes@MBS. Because the shopping complex was so massive, walking from one end to another was like a hike. I didn't realise that there was an exit where the food court was, so I walked ALL THE WAY back to the place I came from when I first entered the building! And that was roughly where the Swirling Vortex of Terror (mentioned in the previous post) was! Jeez...fail indeed!

Anyways besides that, I did manage to get more pictures of the DNA bridge. I had to cross it to get back to the bus stop anyways.

I'll be posting more Singapore pictures soon, before (finally) moving on to the Melbourne ones! Should really get cracking with more photography trips soon!

Shoppes@MBS part 1 (feat. the Swirling Vortex of Terror)

2011-08-07T21:54:00.016+10:00

Here's the gorgeous entrance of the Shoppes@MBS. Discovered it when I went exploring around the Art-Science Museum after Steph left for Malaysia and after I took a train from the airport to the city (in search of places to take pictures at and in search for more Hokkien Mee of course!). It looked as if it was going to rain and I had to find somewhere for lunch.

And oh yes...the swirling vortex of terror at Shoppes@MBS. Here are some snapshots...and I'll definitely elaborate about it later in the post. Wait...maybe not too late into the post...but yeah it's coming up.

Here's a closer look. Pretty impressive hey? I haven't figured out what it is for though, but it happens every now and then. I've seen it in action twice.

But first, before reaching the swirling vortex of terror: this is the popular canal on the ground floor of The Shoppes. Feels a little like Venice - shops (or shoppes) at both sides of the canal, and "sidewalks" beside the canal. People pay for a trip up and down the canal, and the other end of the canal is the area where the Swirling Vortex of Terror is.

I also met another photographer who was taking pictures of her son and husband - and here her husband is in the boat. She even provided me lots of awesome tips...

End of the ride. The boatmen swapped shifts...and of course, people got off and went for more shopping. And this is where I parted ways with the photographer I met.

The area where the Swirling Vortex of Terror is. This was before the Vortex was activated, and this is also where the boats took a U-turn and went back to their original location.

Looks pretty calm - for now. And believe it or not, it was raining very heavily outside.

The 2 brave boatmen who managed to survive the Vortex. They were pretty good - they somehow managed to row out of the Vortex, but the boat was shaking very violently when the Vortex was activated.

This was just before the Vortex was activated...

And a few seconds later, the Vortex was activated! The water came down in a trickle at first...but shortly after...

It seemed to slow down a little, and we thought it was over...

But it came back again! This time, stronger than ever. It sprayed everywhere - and it WAS cold! Plus, the aircon was on full-blast.

And here's evidence of the 2 brave boatmen - looking in awe at the Vortex.

They rowed around the Vortex, and oh my gosh, for one moment I thought the boat was going to capsize. Luckily the boat did not capsize, but here's evidence of them clinging on to dear life.

But they slowly inched themselves away from the Vortex...to somewhere safer...

While the Vortex raged on, and shoppers didn't seem to notice. Some of them stopped by, out of curiosity.

After quite a while (including a short period of time where I walked away to answer my phone), the Vortex started losing power.

And then it slowed down really quickly, to a trickle...

And became virtually non-existent minutes later. And of course, boating activity resumed.

Outside the Shoppes@MBS: places where people could sit and relax. Awesome tree-lined pathways outside open-air cafes and the river's just nearby too! There's even a boardwalk for people to sit and relax, and enjoy a fountain show at the end of the day (I'll write more about this soon!).

The amazing architecture of the Shoppes@MBS. It looks even nicer at night.

And of course, I walked across the DNA bridge - to get back to the Esplanade to grab my Beethoven book. It was so good to be back in the Singaporean CBD! And I'm really impressed by the changes and upgrades of this area.

Back in the Esplanade - to enjoy the air-conditioning of course!

Part 2 will be up soon!