photographsky - benjamin sheares bridge

WARNING: this post contains a lot of pictures (40 in all). please don't get discouraged if you cannot instantaneously see all the pictures due to your slow motherfucking cambodian internet connection. (yeah, i'm referring to you, jo.)

i took the day off today...mainly to get work off my mind, and to take some time to relax. i wanted to go hang out with friends and stuff, but most of them were either busy with their girlfriends or computers, or both...so...i just did things my way (i.e. alone)...again.

i've always wanted to go to the benjamin sheares bridge on foot. every time i drive on the ecp, i always had a tendency to wish for a traffic jam right at the bridge, just so that i could check out the view for a while longer. but now that i don't have a car anymore, and since i had the day off, i thought what the hell, let's climb this bitch.

one problem. i didn't know how to get there. so after a long long time looking for the way up, and circling the whole of suntec city twice...


journey to the top

i finally asked this construction worker for directions...which he politely gave me...in thai. knn. i had to ask his colleague for a translation (where's chen fye when you need him man...), and finally, i reached...


stairway to benjamin sheares bridge

it wasn't as hard a climb as i thought...cuz i expected something like 100 steps or more...but it turned out that it was a slope kinda climb...not too bad...but i was already sweating like pamela anderson on baywatch by the time i got there loh.


walkway to the top

now i know why the worker spoke to me in thai rather than in english...apparently he had to rush off for a very urgent meeting:


construction takraw

on the way up the slope, i saw some people jogging / walking...


crazy healthy people

and then i saw some more of them...


more crazy healthy people

apparently there was some "national healthy lifestyle campaign" crap going on today...crazy...with all the exhaust from all those cars and buses going past them, they probably smoked more than me today...ok, maybe only lah. haha.

and then i finally reached the peak...


at the top


at the top 2

it wasn't really what i expected, cuz it was still way too bright to take any REALLY nice pictures...i left my house at around 4:30pm, and reached there at around 6:15pm (after doing the merry-go-round at suntec), but it still wasn't sunset material yet...so i decided to walk along the bridge some more.

doesn't this remind you of the movie...


independence day

when i reached the other side, there was another staircase going down, so i went and found what it's like to be under the bridge...


"sometimes i feel like i don't have a partner..." - red hot chili peppers

i was quite glad that i wore my hiking boots cuz it was kinda muddy and sandy and shitty under the bridge...


hi-tec from chiangmai

i was so happy that i'll show two pictures of them... =)


hi tec from chiangmai 2

as i followed the dirt path, i realised that i had stumbled upon marina city park...and the first thing that i saw was...


bombs away!!!

(good thing i had my fisherman's hat on)

they have a lot of sculptures and stuff at marina city park...the first of which that i came across was...


sundial


time by marina city park

then as i was walking around the park to pass time (in order to get the nice sunset pictures of the city landscape), i saw many statues...apparently there are eight sculptures of chinese legandary heroes in the park. cool...more chinese education (they must have come out when the government had the "speak mandarin" campaign). i actually learned a lot. this was the first:

"confucius was born in the state of lu, towards the end of the spring and autumn period. he was a great philosopher and educator. his teachings, which included his thoughts on "humanity" and "propriety", are recorded in the "analects". confucianism has had a great impact on chinese society. he is honoured as a sage."


孔子 (confucius)


"qu yuan, born in the state of chu during the warring period, was a patriot, a statesman, and a poet. as counsellor to the ruler of chu, he advocated political reforms in the interest of the country, but was sent into exile by the ruler. when his country was on the brink of ruin, he drowned himself in the mi-lo river on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month to demonstrate his loyalty. nowadays people eat rice dumplings and hold dragon boat races every year to commemorate his death.


屈原 (qu yuan)


"guan yu, a great general of shu han of the three kingdoms era, is the embodiment of loyalty, righteousness and bravery. the brotherly affection that existed between guan and his sworn brothers, liu bei and zhang fei, and guan's exploits in overpowering six generals and capturing five strategic passes, have become immortal tales. he is respected as 'guan gong', a righteous warrior, and deified 'guan di'."


关羽 (guan yu)


"hua mulan was born in shang qiu of later wei in the northern dynasties. she disguised herself as a male to join the army on behalf of her father. fearless and resourceful, she triumphed over her enemies on numerous occasions during her twelve years in the military. she has shown that women are equal to men in intelligence, bravery and capability."


花木兰 (hua mulan)


"yue fei was an eminent general during the southern song dynasty. born into a poor family, he was studious, brave and intelligent. he was especially devoted to his mother. before his departure to defend his country against the jin army, his mother tattooed four characters 'jin zhong bao guo' on his back to exhort him to serve his homeland with loyalty. he fought the jin army with great courage for ten years and won every battle. he has become a national hero for his bravery."


岳飞 (yue fei)


岳飞的纹身花刺 (yue fei's tattoo)


"wen tianxiang was a great national hero during the southern sung dynasty. when the country and the people were in great peril, he fought bravely against the enemy, but was finally held captive. during his captivity, he wrote the 'zhengqi song' and other poems to demonstrate his readiness to sacrifice everything for his country. he is remembered for his patriotism and bravery."


文天祥 (wen tianxiang)


"zheng he, an eunuch during the ming dynasty is also known as eunuch san bao. a distinguished navigator, he visited southeast asia seven times. he devoted his lifetime to navigation and to establishing friendly ties with other countries. he is a prominent figure in the history of navigation."


郑和 (zheng he)


"lin zexu, a native of fujian, was born in the qing dynasty. as a court official, he was reknowned for his integrity. when he saw how opium was impairing the health of people, he ordered the drug to be seized and destroyed, and the import of opium banned. he is held in great esteem for his patriotism and noble character."


林則徐 (lin zexu)

after the brief history lesson, i managed to get a great shot in the park of the city landscape at different timings...


cityscape view @ 1845hrs


cityscape view @ 1900hrs

wow...what a difference 15 minutes make.

the purpose of this photographsky trip was to get a nice sunset photo of the city landscape, so i had to rush through all the other sculptures that were there...such a pity as i would have enjoyed slowly strolling through this park...but as it was, i literally ran through the rest of the stuff...


soaring vision


spirit of youth


pond at marina city park 1


pond at marina city park 2

i'll definitely come here again...not many places that you can actually see...


greenery in singapore!!!

this actually came with my camera when i bought it last year at expo...though i rarely used it...too damn small lah!!!


miniature tripod

as the sun was setting, i sprinted back up the stairs, onto the bridge and took my best picture of the day...


cityscape panorama

and then i thought to myself, "why not stay a while longer and take pictures of the city NIGHT landscape?"...so i had time in between the sunset and the fall of darkness to let people know...


where's rochor rd???

eventually...


cityscape @ night 1


cityscape @ night 2

and eventually, i had company as well...


pros @ work

check out all those REAL tripods and REAL cameras. i'm gonna get one of those one of these days...

and so, it was time to head on down...where the urgent meeting was still in progress...


construction takraw @ night

while i was walking back towards the esplanade, and as fate would have it...i bumped into victor and cuixia...of all people...haha. they were on the way to their anniversary dinner at MORTON's (wowsers).


victor and cuixia

i could have sworn that i heard rob thomas singing "i don't wanna be lonely no more" in the background as i watched them walk away. =)

i wanted a closer picture of the night landscape, so i walked along marina promenade until i found a nice place to take the last picture of the night...


cityscape @ night 3

and then i went home. =)

i'm quite content now. i'm not drunk. i didn't waste money on frivolous nothings. wow. i'm not so lonely after all...i've got my nikon coolpix. =)