PAP Election Rally at Choa Chu Kang Stadium

I'm estimating 5,000 people, less than half a football field. People brought their kids, took photos of them, like it was a family outing. I think many were just curious. Supposed to start at 7pm but most people came later. Actually started at 7:45 and lasted for two hours. Maybe 1/4 of the people left before 9pm.

I asked a policeman there if I could take photos. He said yes, "for personal use." So I asked if it was okay to post the photos on the Internet. He smiled and said that he had no authority to say, and walked away.

You can just make out parts of the PAP's (People's Action Party) logo on the flags, in case you were thinking that this was a crowd from another event and that I was making the whole story up.

• D7000, 35mm f1.8
• At f4, ISO 800, 1/125 seconds
• Manual exposure, center-weighted metering, auto white balance
• Picasa: Crop, auto contrast

Had to hold the camera above my head to get a good overview shot. Found out that it is harder to hold the camera steady this way. Normally 1/60 seconds is good enough but I had to go to 1/125. Stopped down to F4 for increased depth of field. Luckily it was bright, so I only had to go to ISO 800.

Posters for General Elections

This is outside the LRT station. Only saw about 10 posters and banners total, along a 600 meter stretch of road. A lot fewer than Malaysia.

PAP (ruling party, Lee Kuan Yew's party) didn't even put their name on the poster. Everyone knows their logo (same colors as Malaysia's DAP's "rocket", similar shape too). SDP (Social Democratic Party) was careful to spell out their name in three languages (Chinese, Malay, and Tamil but not English), plus give their URL. 

• D7000, 35mm f1.8
• At f2.4, ISO 100, 1/60 seconds
• Program exposure, center-weighted metering, auto white balance
• Picasa: Crop, auto contrast

Crawford Street Bridge Over Rochor River

Can't find the name of this bridge. It's unusually wide, so wide that park benches have been built on it. Aside from that, it's quite a standard design, similar to a few other bridges in Singapore.

Buildings in the background are the Citylights condominium. Small patch of red at the bottom center is an SBS public bus. 

• Nikon D7000, 35mm f1.8.
• At 35mm, f5.6, 1/125 seconds, ISO 100.
• Program exposure, center weighted metering, automatic white balance.
• Picasa: Auto contrast.

Customs House, Marina Bay

The Customs House is the 3-storey white building with the lookout tower. Used to be a real customs (tax) house when this area was an active pier with boats. This is now prime real estate, next to Shenton Way and across the bay from Marina Bay Sands.

They've kept the original structure and renovated it to house upscale restaurants. You can just make out the alfresco dining at the top and by the water. Web page is http://thefullertonheritage.com/?page_id=80

Fullerton Bay Hotel is on the right (http://sgsnaps.blogspot.com/2011/03/fullerton-bay-hotel.html).

• Nikon D7000, 35mm f1.8.
• At 35mm, f2, 1/30 seconds, ISO 1600.
• Manual exposure, center weighted metering, incandescent white balance.
• Picasa: Straighten.

Esplanade Theatres, Esplanade Bridge and Singapore Flyer, Night

You can see both domes of the Esplanade Theatres on the left, with the Pan Pacific Hotel and Millenia Tower in the background. Large Ferris Wheel on the right is the Singapore Flyer. Not sure what the building in the center background is, maybe the Mandarin Oriental or Ritz-Carlton Millenia. 

Bridge is the Esplanade Bridge, over which runs Esplanade Drive. It's part of the Formula 1 race Circuit. They didn't use to have colored lights under the bridge, which look pretty cool. The bridge is the reason why the Merlion was uprooted and moved to a spot about 100 meters away, next to One Fullerton (http://sgsnaps.blogspot.com/2011/04/one-fullerton-night.html). The bridge blocked the Merlion at its original location next to the Waterboat House.

Photo was taken from Esplanade Park. If you look closely, you can see a guy and a girl sitting on the wall on the bank of the river, on the left.Yes, the whole river has been concreted up.

• Nikon D7000, 35mm f1.8.
• At 35mm, f3.3, 1/15 seconds, ISO 1600.
• Shutter priority, center weighted metering, incandescent white balance.
• Picasa: Auto contrast.

Aerial View of Marine Parade and Telok Kurau

Aerial view of Marine Parade (closer to the camera) and Telok Kurau (further away), looking north.

The complex of red-roofed buildings at the bottom left is Saint Patrick's School. The three tall buildings at the center are the Ocean Park condominium. Low-rise buildings in the middle are mainly private housing. Nearest MRT station is Kembangan, a few kilometers north.  

• Nikon D7000, 35mm f1.8.
• At 35mm, f9.5, 1/350 seconds, ISO 100.
• Program exposure, center weighted metering, auto white balance.
• Picasa: Crop, auto contrast, graduated tint fake purple sky.

Steamboat Restaurant, Beach Road

There's a whole long line of steamboat restaurants along Beach Road, opposite Shaw Tower. Photo is taken looking down Liang Seah Street. Beach Road is behind the camera. 


Building on the left is a row of old shophouses, now converted to upscale restaurants. Vertical blue sign at the top middle, is a Tiger Beer advertisement. 

• Nikon D7000, 35mm f1.8.
• At 35mm, f4, 1/30 seconds, ISO 6400.
• Manual exposure, center weighted metering, incandescent white balance.
• Picasa: Crop, straighten, auto contrast.

Furama City Centre Hotel

Between Chinatown and Clarke Quay. I remember it as being plain "Furama Hotel" but they seem to have grown into a chain so it's now the Furama City Centre Hotel. Website is http://www.furama.com/citycentre/ 

• Nikon D80, Sigma 20mm f1.8.
• At 20mm, f2.8, 1/30 seconds, ISO 100.
• Program exposure, center weighted metering, auto white balance.
• Picasa: Crop, straighten, graduated tint fake blue sky.

Singapore River, Electric Cruise Boat

Night, 9:30pm, next to the Singapore Parliament House. Lights on the left are reflections from the financial district skyscrapers, colored lights on the right are from restaurants along Boat Quay. You can see the driver (pilot? captain?) in a white shirt, on the right hand side of the photo (left of the boat). 

Boat is electric, but modeled after the traditional wooden "bumboat" diesel boats that have been used here for decades. The Marina Barrage (http://www.pub.gov.sg/Marina/Pages/default.aspx) was built a few years ago at the mouth of the river to turn the Singapore River into a reservoir for Singapore's domestic water supply. It stops sea water from flowing upriver during high tide. Diesel boats were considered too dirty for a reservoir, so all the boats are now electric. 

I think there's more than one river cruise service. This boat looks like it belongs to Singapore River Cruises and Leisure, http://www.rivercruise.com.sg/

• Nikon D7000, 35mm f1.8.
• At 35mm, f2, 1/30 seconds, ISO 1600. Set maximum aperture, increase ISO until you get a reasonable shutter speed. 
• Program exposure, center weighted metering, incandescent white balance.
• Picasa: Crop, auto contrast.

Condominiums Near Upper East Coast Road

About four different condominiums (seven buildings), compressed together by the telephoto perspective.

• Nikon D7000, 18-200mm f3.5-5.6.
• At 82mm, f8, 1/250 seconds, ISO 100.
• Program exposure, center weighted metering, auto white balance.
• Picasa: Straighten, auto contrast, shadows.

Hawker Centre, Bedok

This is a local non air-conditioned version of a food court, next to Bedok Bus Interchange. The type, variety and quality of the food is basically the same as in a food court in a shopping centre: can be good, can be bad. Sometimes called a cooked food centre.

• Nikon D7000, 35mm f1.8.
• At 35mm, f5.6, 1/60 seconds, ISO 800.
• Manual exposure, center weighted metering, auto white balance.
• Picasa: Crop, auto contrast.

East Coast Park, Aerial View

This is a long but thin (a few hundred meters) stretch of park and beach, stretching a few kilometers along the southeast shore. There are walking and cycling tracks along the whole length. It's always crowded on weekends. 

The ships are everywhere, nothing special about this stretch of coast. Lots of shipping goes through Singapore.

• Nikon D7000, 35mm f1.8.
• At 35mm, f8, 1/250 seconds, ISO 100.
• Program exposure, center weighted metering, auto white balance.
• Picasa: Straighten, crop, auto contrast.

Victoria Junior College

This is the view from the canal that runs alongside the school.

Students and alumni call it VJ, not VJC (and are surprised when outsiders find it strange). The few alumni that I have met, are really proud of their school: school spirit seems strong. Website is http://www.vjc.moe.edu.sg/website/

• Nikon D7000, 35mm f1.8.
• At 35mm, f11, 1/250 seconds, ISO 100.
• Program exposure, center weighted metering, auto white balance.
• Picasa: Straighten, auto contrast.

McDonald's Bukit Batok

 The interesting thing about McDonald's is that many of their branches have an individual look. More so than KFC, Burger King, or even Starbucks. This one has a kind of country resort feel to it.

• Nikon D7000, 35mm f1.8.
• At 35mm, f4.8, 1/90 seconds, ISO 100.
• Program exposure, center weighted metering, auto white balance.
• Picasa: Straighten, crop, auto contrast.

Changi Terminal 2, Departure Lounge

My favorite terminal (out of Terminals 1, 2, 3) because of the many cheap fast food restaurants there. Distinctive ceiling lights, which throw off the camera's light meter, so I had to use manual metering and check the LCD screen.

There's no need for the large Departures information board anymore since the information is on computer monitors all over the place, but I guess it looks good.

• Nikon D7000, 35mm f1.8.
• At 35mm, f2.8, 1/60 seconds, ISO 400.
• Manual exposure, center weighted metering, incandescent white balance.
• Picasa: Straighten, crop, auto contrast.

City Plaza

This is near Paya Lebar MRT station. The photo was actually taken from the station platform, which removes a lot of the street clutter that would make the photo look messy.

What you're seeing are the apartments (which look like government HDB) above the shopping centre, which is hidden by the trees. I'm a sucker for colorful buildings. Their website is http://www.cityplaza.com.sg/  

• Nikon D7000, 18-200mm f3.5-5.6.
• At 70mm, f8, 1/1000 seconds, ISO 100.
• Program exposure, center weighted metering, incandescent white balance.
• Picasa: Straighten, crop, auto contrast.

Humanism Talk at HackerSpace Singapore

Talk given by a member of the Humanist Society Singapore
(http://www.humanist.org.sg/) at HackerSpaceSG (http://hackerspace.sg/).

The Humanist Society is sort of an atheist group (though they might disagree with this characterization). This was a talk about death, given by a Medical student. 

HackerSpace is a loosely affiliated international group of hangouts for geeks (they might also disagree with this characterization). It's set up in the top floor of an old double-storey shophouse, along Bussorah Street, near Arab Street. The staircase is behind the white waist-high partition behind the speaker.  

• Nikon D80, Sigma 20mm f1.8.
• At 20mm, f5.6, 1/15 seconds, ISO 1600.
• Manual exposure, center weighted metering, incandescent white balance.
• Picasa: Neutral color picker, auto contrast.

Cheers 24-Hour Convenience Store

The local answer to 7-Eleven. It's owned by the NTUC (National Trade Unions Congress) FairPrice supermarket chain. Yes, a labor union owns a supermarket chain.

Looks about the same as 7-Eleven to me: snacks and drinks. 7-Eleven still has way more stores here. The Cheers website is http://www.cheersstore.com/

The guys on the right are entering the store. The ladies on the left are peeking through the window. I don't know why. On the far left is a McDonald's. 

• Nikon D7000, 35mm f1.8.
• At 35mm, f4, 1/30 seconds, ISO 400.
• Manual exposure, center weighted metering, auto white balance.
• Picasa: Crop, auto contrast.

Pedestrian Bridge

Standard pedestrian bridge. Thousands of these things all over the island. There's usually one every two or three hundred meters, over major roads and highways. Quite a lot effort is put into them: flowers, ivy.

• Nikon D7000, 35mm f1.8.
• At 35mm, f4, 1/750 seconds, ISO 100.
• Aperture priority, center weighted metering, incandescent white balance.
• Picasa: Crop, auto contrast.

One Fullerton, Night

Business offices and restaurants, right next to the Merlion. Some of the restaurants offer alfresco dining overlooking Marina Bay. 

Marina Bay Sands is in the background, shining lasers into the night sky. Fullerton Hotel is behind the camera, Fullerton Bay Hotel is on the right.

Web page is http://thefullertonheritage.com/?page_id=207

• Nikon D7000, 35mm f1.8.
• At 35mm, f2, 1/30 seconds, ISO 800.
• Manual exposure, center weighted metering, incandescent white balance.
• Picasa: Auto contrast, straighten, shadow enhance (to darken the sky to hide the high ISO noise).

MRT Escalator Entrance, ION Orchard

New buildings are all organic curves now, no longer square boxes. This basement entrance is a simple but striking design, a popular photo spot for tourists. Unusually, it's the main design element at the front of this large mall or shopping center. The escalator leads straight down into the Orchard MRT station. 

ION Orchard website is http://www.ionorchard.com/

• Nikon D7000, 35mm f1.8.
• At 35mm, f4, 1/60 seconds, ISO 100.
• Program exposure, center weighted metering, automatic white balance.
• Picasa: Auto contrast, crop.

Sri Murugan Hill Temple

This is an Indian Hindu temple along Upper Bukit Timah Road, near the Bukit Panjang LRT station. Their website is http://www.muruganhilltemple.com/

• Nikon D7000, 70-210mm f4-5.6.
• At 145mm, f4.8, 1/1000 seconds, ISO 100.
• Program exposure, center weighted metering, automatic white balance.
• Picasa: Auto contrast, crop.

Henderson Waves Bridge, Night

This is a large pedestrian bridge that connects Telok Blangah Hill Park and Mount Faber. It's the curved structure on the right that gives the bridge its distinctive look, and name. It's a shade for the seats built into the side of the bridge. You can see the road below, through the gaps between the wooden planks, so don't look down if you're afraid of heights. This is the tallest pedestrian bridge in Singapore, 36 meters (over 100 feet).

The photo was taken near the Telok Blangah Hill Park end. The bridge is quite long and most of it is behind the camera.

The National Parks website has more information at
http://www.nparks.gov.sg/cms/popup/hendersons.html

• Nikon D80, 18-200mm f3.5-5.6.
• At 18mm, f3.5, 1/4 seconds, ISO 800.
• Manual exposure, center weighted metering, automatic white balance.
• Picasa: No editing.

Bars Along Boat Quay, Singapore River

This is near the Raffles Place MRT end. Further down are restaurants, mainly seafood.

It's still crowded, 9:30 pm on a weekday night.

• Nikon D7000, 35mm f1.8.
• At 35mm, f2, 1/30 seconds, ISO 400.
• Manual exposure, center weighted metering, incandescent white balance.
• Picasa: Crop.

Laundry Hanging Outside HDB Apartment Flats

HDB flats come with pipes buried in the rear wall, for inserting poles full of laundry. Solar power! Unfortunately, people have died hanging out the laundry, falling out the window:
http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/indonesia/spore-finds-indonesian-maid-died-putting-out-laundry/432948

Residents are asked to not dry floor mops in the same location, because the dirty water will drip down onto other people's laundry, and also passers by. It's a good idea to not walk underneath areas like this. Sometimes clothes get blown off by the wind, and people will pick them up and place them in the lift (elevator), for the owner to see and retrieve.

Note the number of outdoor aircon units. The older flats weren't dimensioned to provide enough electrical power to so many units, but the new ones are. The apartments are not air-conditioned by default. It's up to individual owners to get their own unit. Also note the sun shade built into the top of the windows. 

• Nikon D7000, 35mm f1.8.
• At 35mm, f8, 1/250 seconds, ISO 100.
• Program mode, center weighted metering, auto white balance.
• Picasa: Auto contrast, crop.

Man Trimming Tree With Chainsaw, in Cherry Picker

Classic Singapore follow-the-rules safety: hearing protector, helmet, visor, safety cable anchoring the chainsaw to the bucket. I'm guessing that the chest strap ties him to the bucket too. He should be wearing a denim or leather jacket, and leather gloves, but it's hot here.

Tree is by the roadside. I think he was lopping off branches before they got too weak and fell on to the road and caused a traffic hazard.

• Nikon D7000, 18-200mm f3.5-5.6.
• At 65mm, f5.6, 1/125 seconds, ISO 400.
• Aperture priority (I can live with f5.6, program mode was giving smaller apertures and sacrificing shutter speed), center weighted metering, auto white balance.
• Picasa: Auto contrast. No cropping in the editor: no need to crop the photo later if you're using a zoom. Shot through a bus window, lots of flare (milky white glare over everything), which cleaned up well with the auto contrast. 

McDonald's at Lot One Shopping Centre, Choa Chu Kang

This is 11pm on a Friday night. Note the size of the crowd inside. I had tried to take a photo at 10pm but there were too many people walking around outside, which would look messy in a photo. So I went in, had a Chicken McGrill, did some work on my netbook, then came out again.

People on the right are at the dessert sales counter: ice cream, milk shakes, iced Milo. Choa Chu Kang MRT station is less than 50 meters away.

• Nikon D7000, 35mm f1.8.
• At 35mm, f4, 1/30 seconds, ISO 400.
• Manual exposure, center weighted metering, auto white balance.
• Picasa: Crop, fill light.