"Christmas waves a magic wand over this world,
and behold,
everything is softer and more beautiful."
Norman Vincent Peale
Sunday, December 24, 2017
Tuesday, November 21, 2017
Our Little Corner of the World...the Grand Finale in Singapore!
This wasn't exactly our last event in
Singapore...
but it just screamed "Finale"
to me!!!
One of the highlights of Singapore...
is the "Garden Rhapsody" music and light show
at the Singapore Botanic Gardens!
A really beautiful light show set to music...
...but beware while breaking out your camera to shoot this...
...the humidity fogged my lens and I had to continually
clean the lens!
Being from California and a relatively dry climate,
I had no clue about how to deal with the humidity
in regards to my camera!
(Never mind myself!!! I don't do well in humidity either :( )
These were my last shots with my camera!
For the rest of the trip I used my trusty iPhone!!!
For more little corners of the world...click on the images below!
Friday, November 17, 2017
Our Little Corner of the World...Touring Singapore!
What's travel without a bit of shopping?
We wanted to find shops with indigenous culture products...
...but pretty much everything is imported!
Singapore was founded in 1819 by Stamford Raffles as a trading post for the British East India Company.
So most of the cultural history seems to be British Colonial.
Yet much of the city/country is modern...
reflecting its current status of a hub for
world travel and commerce.
One of the most distinctive architectural structures in Singapore
is the Marina Bay Sands resort.
The complex is topped by a 340 meter sky park...
with a capacity for 3,900 people!!!
We opted for a tour boat cruise...
I believe this is the financial district.
This is the type of boat we're in while cruising!
Singapore has an amazing skyline.
Intriguing architecture...
...and then, a throwback to British Colonial!
I loved this boat!
Singapore's river front is quite colorful...
It was a lovely way to tour Singapore...
and a bit cooler on the water!
Our last tour of Singapore was a night tour of their zoo...
it was quite dark...there were lights...but very low.
And of course, more humidity!
Sooo...my iPhone pics were a bit challenged!
So what else could I do but turn my best pics into abstracts!
My two favorites...the majestic lion...
and of course...flamingos!!!
We were literally drenched at the end of the night tour...
got back to the hotel...
and settled in for a late evening snack...
and the best Gin drink I've ever had!!!
Wish I remembered the name and ingredients!
My brain cells were a bit discombobulated
from the heat and humidity!!!
My Nikon didn't like the heat and humidity here
so all the above pics are from my iPhone!
The best camera is the one you have!
Not bad, eh?
To visit more little corners of the world...click on the images!
Monday, November 6, 2017
Our Little Corner of the World...Winding it up in Singapore!
Our last stop of our Australian-Singapore Cruise was,
of course,
Singapore!
of course,
Singapore!
Now let me first set the stage...
As we left Darwin, I got hit by the upper respiratory crud
that I so frequently encounter on cruises.
So yep...I wasn't feeling very well when we first got to Singapore.
(and I don't do well with humidity in general...but add
to that an upper respiratory infection...and we're
talkin' misery...)
But...our friends only had a short time with us and were off
to Borneo in a couple of days so we hung out
and toured the city a bit.
We opted out of the Borneo phase of the trip and spent extra days in Singapore awaiting our flight home.
As you can see...Singapore is quite a modern city-country.
Not much wild space, but the flora was lush!!!
One of our must see/taste stops was the Raffles Hotel...
...home of the original Singapore Sling!!!
Made for the first time in this hotel bar...
a concoction of Gin and fruit juices,
suitable for a lady to sip in the tropics!
The bar was quite beautiful in that tropical
old British Colonial style...
...lots of woodwork, windows, light and tropical style!
But c'mon...
worst Singapore Slings we've ever had!!!
BLECH!!!
You know that sickeningly sweet juice drink...
not real fruit juice...
well maybe there was some...
but a whole lot of high fructose corn syrup!!!
Yuck!
(Give me a Damon's MaiTai any day!!!)
The hotel entrance was quite elegant...
...actually...
the whole hotel was quite elegant!
To visit more little corners of the world...click on the images below!
Tuesday, October 24, 2017
Our Little Corner of the World...on Our Way to Singapore!!!
4 Days at sail...
on our way to Singapore!
No fog...nothing on my lens...
except moisture from the humidity hitting my lens!
Geeze...it was humid!!!
Being from sunny, dry California, I didn't know
you're supposed to warm your camera up
before using it in the heat and humidity!!!
And purchase dehumidifier packets as soon as you get back!
So what do you do with a fogged up photo...
Edit it vintage style, of course!!!
Or for you purists out there...use the dehaze tool in LR...
The Golden hour off the ship is pretty spectacular...
Pretty nice view for 4 days, eh?
Beautiful clouds...
...and a calm sea...
makes for peaceful sailing!
To visit more little corners of the world...click on the images below!
Sunday, October 15, 2017
Our Little Corner of the World...Visiting Darwin, Australia!
Our last stop in Australia was Darwin...
we booked an excursion on a river boat to see Crocodile!
This guy was one of the first we saw...
...he was pretty impressive!
This stately matron was guarding her nest of Crocodile eggs...
hard to tell from the photo...
but she's missing her two front legs.
This guy was pretty adamant that he was ready to snack on
the goodies the boat was dangling...
...he kept coming back for more...
Yeah...not in any hurry to dangle my arm over the edge of the boat!
We did see some birds...
...but not being a birder of any sort...
...I'll have to defer to my blog friend Stewart
to see what's swooping down for nibbles
of the treats the boat had for them!
This guy didn't want to accept the treats were done for the day!
After our river trip we stopped for a bite to eat.
If you noticed the floats around the swimmer, this is the area
that is protected from dangerous critters...
like the Crocs above!!!
One thing we found out while in Australia is there are
a lot of critters and bugs in Australia that can hurt or kill you...
...yep...
Aussies get the reputation of being a tough
group of people for good reason!!!
I never did see just what this guy was "shooting"!
Heading back to the ship...
...next stop...
Singapore!
For more images from around the world...click on the images below!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)