From Lines to LensesA Year in Postcards
Posted on December 22, 2015
Postcard Merlion. Marina Bay Sands Integrated Resort with Merlion Park in Singapore, the city where I am currently based.
I could have called this post “A Year in Review” or “My 2015 Travels” but I thought it would be a cliche. We always do this year-end post or write-up where we cross out a few items in our travel bucket list (or any bucket list for that matter) and admittedly, this post is in some ways no different. But it’s a little bit more than that. As I was writing the draft for this post, I breathed a prayer of thanks to my Maker for helping me get past a year of office work marked by an organizational mayhem caused by some internal special elite force who obviously refused to work for the common good. We are happy that we were able to neutralize that group and have put them all in the past. Peace has been restored and now we are back to doing the things that we are supposed to do, and that is (as a colleague puts it) “to work hard, to play hard, and to travel harder”. 🙂 Read More
Experiencing Thainess
Posted on November 30, 2015
A Thai Welcome. Mythical creatures at the Wat Phra Kaew Temple Grounds.
“Travelling: It leaves you speechless, then it turns you into a storyteller.”– Ibn Battuta
Finally, I ran out of sensible things to say except maybe to tell you about the series of crazy and unbelievable events that led me to this place and made me love it. Bangkok was one of the last cities I planned to visit. I have always loved the city and architecture which is quite evident in the subject matter of my photographs. I honestly was never fond of shopping, night markets, night life, and the beaches which I have always associated with Thailand (or even Bangkok). Did not really like ocean cruise holidays or water sports either (most of my friends live on land ). 🙂 A colleague however did a good job of documenting her last visit to Bangkok (her birthday) and with her interesting photos of the food and a convincing story of satisfaction, I was sold. Read More
A New Orient
Posted on September 15, 2015
Quiet After The Storm. Sunrise at the Shanghai Pudong District.
“We travel not to escape life, but for life not to escape us”– Anonymous
This fascination with the east has been going on for quite some time now. Well obviously, I grew up in this neighborhood. And if you are here, you are spot on. Now is the perfect time to be living, thriving, and breathing in this part of the world.
So why Shanghai? Because Shanghai is positively electric. It is a testament to China’s aspirations and a centerpiece of its status as an emerging global economy. A place rich in tradition and dreams for the future. It is a fascinating mix of traditional buildings, colonial architecture, and futuristic skyscrapers most of which have no precedent. Shopping, dining, sightseeing, museum, or bar-hopping; Shanghai has all that and more. Not so surprised why so many people want to come here. I read somewhere that people in Shanghai are smart. To this a local cleverly replied: “Not really. But only smart people come to Shanghai”. So I guess that’s why I’m here. 🙂 Read More
A Toy Story
Posted on July 22, 2015
Enter My Dreams. The gateway to Legoland Malaysia. Surprisingly, the place was not as crowded as I had expected.
This day trip to Legoland Malaysia just happened without much planning. To be honest, it was a result of simply having nowhere else to go. Legoland Malaysia is just a 1-hour bus ride from Singapore (where I am currently based) so it’s funny and embarrassing to admit that it was one place that I had yet to visit. I finally got my chance during a public holiday. The holiday fell on a Friday and I suspect some office colleagues already planned their long weekend somewhere really nice. And here I am. Stuck. I needed to go somewhere too. Somewhere. Anywhere actually. Read More
The Best Things in Life are Free
Posted on June 13, 2015
Mercure Hotel Legian. This hotel is just a year old and is one of so many nice hotels where you could stay in Bali.
Our company went overseas a few weeks ago to do our annual team building. This time around, we did it in Bali.
A few days before the trip, a colleague came to me and said he did some internet searching on “things to do in Bali for free”. One item included in the “free” list was “sunset”. So I thought, okay that’s nice. Honestly, I can’t remember a time I paid money to see a beautiful sunset (Can you imagine yourself walking around wearing a metered face mask that will charge you for every bit of air that you breathe, much like the electricity and water that you use?). I did however spend a bit on camera gear so I could capture beautiful sunsets. On one occasion, I was forced to use the MasterCard feature of my ATM card (which I don’t usually do) so I could climb the top of KL Tower and see Kuala Lumpur at twilight. But since the company is paying for this Bali event, I thought the list must be correct 🙂 Read More
From Lines to Lenses 