Fahrenheit minus 459

Garden Festival 2008

2008-07-26T18:01:00.009+08:00

added 1/8 the last day of the show

Eye-catching..
Pitcher plant against a weird background

Bed of roses..
Then i noticed the familiar Flame Lilies strung across this 3 D presentations

Pretty flowers from South Africa

Mechanical robot in desert sand ?
In Dream land?
Make believe - a sunken garden below the waves.

Well .. here is a link to my post on 2006 Garden Festival

The Dancing Sky by Studio Festi @ National Museum / SMU campus

2008-07-20T09:29:00.008+08:00

It rained briefly in the North. I checked the NEA's rain radar - downtown was OK. I headed south and the crowd was already there.
Puteri-puteri waiting for their turns.. 3 metre high gowns standing tall.

The Dome-shaped museum backdrop and
the glowing globe frame this dancer nicely.

Static Image projected onto a curtain of water sprays ..
a few rain-averted audience brought out umbrellas
unknowing blocking the image formation!
A splashing entry ...
Crowds were entertained flying dancers ...
I wished i had brought a zoom lens and would have stayed for the 11:30pm that night.

Hort Park & Canopy walk Kent Ridge

2008-06-22T18:12:00.021+08:00

(IMHO) The labellings style of this map needs improvement.

U-loops
Like in any open field - short-cuts ( not necessary the shortest path) soon developed.

Ficus grossularioides - 'goosberries like' - note the various leaf form

The mature vines and the young greener one below.

Typical vegetation like tuip-tuip, pitcher plant, simpoy air figs, rubber trees, a climber with slender leaf but strong spiky menacing looking vine.

Instead of waiting for visitors to move away so i can have a direct frontal shot, i decided to move to the side and include this 'fruit' as well. 'Wires' were actually used to hold ( or prevent unlawful pilferage of the fruit.

'The Living Walls' - Next time all concrete wall will be replaced with the plant-friendly version.

Kapok ( Ceiba pentandra) - seed pod - revealing the familiar traditional pillow's stuffing - 'cotton inside'

Flower of ornamental grass - close up view

Figs(F.aurantiacea) with dotted skinChain of Love ( Antigonon leptopus)- a sun lover- sprawling all over a fence ...
Took me one hour to take 963 from interchange to here and another hr back.
I skipped most of the Hort Park plants
and came here to check
out the canopy walk. Reflections at Bukit Chandu ( Opium Hill)

Henderson Waves, Forest Walk and Alexandra Arch

2008-05-11T18:06:00.016+08:00

HarbourFront MRT > EXIT 'D' > Walk up trail to Mt Faber > Henderson Waves > Forest Walk ( TTW like but this one is much longer easier and no vertical steps .. ) Will leave the canopy walk to some other time.

On the bridge i looked at waves after waves of tiny white furry 'air-borne' pulai seeds flying through the air.

the orange fruits of woody climber Fibraurea tinctoria caught my attention
I spotted the passion fruit petals among the green leaves and vine of Fibraurea tinctoria.
A close-up of the Passiflora laurifolia flower is shown above
Simpoh , Dillenia suffruticosa common flowers

Pitcher plant's inflorescence (above) and upper pitcher (below) with Tuip tuip as supporting tree

Patterns

2008-04-27T22:22:00.001+08:00

'Dendrite' growth on tile surfaces

Patch work resulting in this strange 'character'

Peranakan Museum - Opening Festival

2008-04-27T15:59:00.008+08:00

TTW again

2008-04-20T17:31:00.005+08:00

It was 10 :30am and inches above the undergrowth
i spotted this heart-shaped little leaf
'sweating' out water droplets.

' Two-Piece-Suit' and hung by a thread -
this insect larva (?) found two leaf fragments
as the perfect build material

Keep Walking ...unraveling..

Sim Lim Square- Canal - Line & Hook Fishing and a giant Cooler

2008-04-14T21:20:00.005+08:00

Bigger fishes are found at this end but they never bother with the earthworm.. too smart?

Another one take the bait

Underside look of the fish. Uncle uses two lines each hooked with earthworm baits.

The Common Tilapia( not native), Sepat Jepun - no wonder i was told this is a Japanese fish.

My Ferris Wheel in my PC
After having a hot cpu for months! ( Bios readout is 80 C ) I decided to cool it so a searched in the net found this all pure copper beauty - Zalman ( Korean) CNPS9500 LED CPU cooler. ($149) for my P4 3.4GHz socket 775 motherb'd. It works wonder and silent - now max cpu temp kept at below 55C

McLaren Mercedes F1

2008-03-30T22:17:00.005+08:00

... the crowd waiting for the action

love the decibel!

Recap of flora images - a sampler

2008-03-05T00:00:00.001+08:00

River Hong Bau 2008

2008-02-10T12:24:00.000+08:00

a flower vase lantern

CNY - Tidbits

2008-02-07T18:49:00.000+08:00

Eat eat e a t ...

China Town - 2 weeks before Chinese New Year

2008-01-27T21:54:00.000+08:00

Lunar Chinese Near Year approaching.. so took the opportunity to visit China Town picking up bakwa( BBQ meat), decors, sweets and look around.

Sugarcoated - kiwi, persimmons, coconut ...

Bakkwa

Sarawak Kolo Mee (noodle)

I asked for the slightly harder persimmons

Dubai

2008-01-19T10:27:00.000+08:00

Resembled the belly or underside of a butterfly.. or a moth.Inside of a shopping mallWith a ski field inside!

Street scene in the old part of Dubai near the Dubai creek - spice/textile trading posts

'Affordable' fine - DH 5.00

Airy bazaar overhead structure - where heavy rain downpour
was not expected

Dubai Creek - emerald color of the creek

Crossing the creek costs DH $1.00 close up of the boat propeller driving shaftA passing cab spoiled my picture above.
This African Lady's outfit matches well with the Museum brass door knob and wooden door.

'Settlement ' in the middle of a desertFew variety of plants survived in this arid land - i approached one to take a good look

Modified leaf - thick and leathery to reduce water moisture lost in the arid desert condition. White powder - sands? The Ukraine photographer mentioned the powder might blind the eyes.Punctured tyre ..

Sand is everywhere ..
Driver shaking loose sands from the air intake filter (carburetor) .
.. letting off air from wheels to enable a better grip...

Lets 'kick' some sand
its like sitting inside a washing machine in tumbling mode

Isolated patches of plants dotted the sandy desert

Muffled - I bite

This is how the Sand bottle 'lettering' was created using a funnel with a long sprout. Well all sort of writing except chinese character...

from the Louvre..

2008-01-05T21:04:00.000+08:00

The 'final melt down' or simply the spill?

No foto taking allowed inside.

P Ubin Xmas Eve 2007

2007-12-24T23:33:00.000+08:00

"Framed" - dredging in progress

Containers load with 'twin-peaks' in the background

Simply Red

'Ink bottle' - a buoy or marker or something.

Algae.. Sea grass

Tide was out... man walking along a measuring tape placed on the ground.

Orange in a sea of green

Comfort is the least thing in your mind in this Ubin's Taxi.Star-fruit : Natural ripened on the tree - less than perfect shape
but it is insecticide-free.

Snapping Shrimps - listen to the video file above.

While you are in ChekJawa - listen to the the series
of 'chiplike-breaking sound' or snapping sound over the wide expanse of sea grass
and sandy shore. (Above) FFT spectrum from a S3 avi recording there.

Visually only the Porcelain Fiddler crabs waving their oversized prominent
orange single claw dotted the beach while the invisible 'sound maker'
remain unseen.
Read more on the mechanism behind snapping and more

Sembawang Park - Dec 02 '07

2007-12-02T18:04:00.000+08:00

Sentosa - Part 2 of 2 ( Tg/Palawan Beach, Merlion)

2007-11-25T09:21:00.000+08:00

Hopped onto a tram and headed towards Tg Beach..

Saw this massive structure ...

Sand Sea and Breeze

more Sand...

@Palawan beach, crossing the bridge

Water looked deceptively clear and clean ...

Petrochemical storage tanks glittering in the distance

indulge in Ocean vessels spotting, enjoy the breeze.. before taking tram/bus back to Beach Station

Beach Station - Merlion is a little walk away

Silhouette - Shot from the Beach station -

dip your feet into the shallow pools to cool off if you want..

Merlion - we wanted to 'climb' to the top ..

Inside the merlion at basement - static display , a short cartoon about Merlion, feed your token to merlions and obtained a mysterious gift. Then take a lift to the 10th floorfeed the token to one of the Merlions there and out spat a card - your mysterious gift

Lighting fixture 'poked' through the wall from inside.

Take a lift inside the Merlion .... 10 floors up.

Shot from the Merlion Head

back at the mainland Singapore , Vivo City - Sky Park

Shallow pools to cool off from the hot sun

Ugly Butt not welcomed!

Well we did what we ( or our kids) wanted to do : took the cable car, experienced the 'Luge', went up to the Merlion's head, strolled on the beaches from Tanjong to Palawan, rode in Sentosa Express and beach tram. Getting around in Sentosa now is much much easier and pleasant than before. For a family of 4 be prepared to fork out $200 or more for a day trip.