A place in the Singapore sky

It was my son who said, "Mum, go outside and look at the sky." Whenever my son says to look at the sky, it has to be something spectacular and sure enough we saw this huge fluffy cloud looming over the neighbourhood with the moon accompanying it. It is also not often that you see the moon when it is still daytime and that added to the element of surprise.

I have seen snow-white clouds and I have seen dark threatening clouds. This time we got a two-in-one show up in the sky. The light was changing over the time the two of us spent photographing this phenomenon, he with the Canon DSLR and me with my Canon IXUS 870. His photos were more dramatic as they were captured with a fish-eye lens attachment. Mine were for-the-record kind of pictures.

I thought that the final formation of the clouds was like the island of Borneo with Sabah represented by the white portion and Sarawah and Kalimantan depicted by the darker clouds.

Kentridge Park

"The early bird catches the worm" was one of the proverbs I was made to memorise in primary school. This Collared Kingfisher was about 50 meters away and even with the zoom lens of my DSLR, I could not get a good, clear shot of this large bird perched on a branch. A lady came to talk to me at this point and when she saw the bird she was filled with wonder and asked for its name. It is always pleasant to meet people who are interested in other people and who love nature. We had a good chat and I found out that she was from Japan and she would be here for a month. I do hope I can meet up with her again.

Most of the time, I do not spend time to look at the surroundings at the hill top of Kent Ridge Park. So while I had the zoom lens with me and time on my hands for at least an hour, I thought I should pay greater attention to scenery that I tend to take for granted most of the time. I did not even know that the temple at the foot of Kentridge Park had been redeveloped and a tall pagoda is now the latest landmark.

A road well-travelled seen from another angle. The trees look like they are having a morning conversation with each other.

Condominiums that are nestling in the thick greenery oblivious to the gigantic container structures at our port. The sun was hidden behind the rain-bearing clouds.

Windows with a view of Kentridge Park.
One of several flowering Tembusu trees that dominate the landscape of Kentridge Park.
Tembusu trees and pine trees - what a combination but it is possible that tropical trees and trees from temperate zones can get together here in Singapore.
There used to be many of these gregarious birds hopping about the ground looking for worms. There are fewer of them nowadays but they are still as noisy.
Morning exercises are good for health and flowers nourish the soul.

Here's the Laughing Thrush again. They spend so much time hopping at ground level that it is not easy to catch them amongst the branches of a tree. The highest point of Kent Ridge Park is here. There is a pavillion where you could sit and rest and have breakfast after a walk. The view is not fantastic because of these ugly metal structures. Still, we have to tolerate this ugliness for economic reasons and be thankful we are able to have a view like this at all.

My favourite picture for today.

West Coast Park

There is no way we can tell what goes on in the mind of another. We do not display our thoughts like giant screens on the facade of shopping malls nor do we broadcast them though airwaves that can be received by all who pass us by. However this one time my thoughts as I walked through the park are transparent through the slideshow on this post. The flowers, the cats, the people in the park, the boats and the angles and lighting chosen represent my thoughts in the time I spent on my own.

Golf Courses

I do not play golf and never will. It is not my kind of sport. In my youth, I played all sorts of games - badminton, tennis, netball, volleyball, basketball, table-tennis and I threw the javelin. A golf course to me is just a piece of beautiful greenery - to be enjoyed at leisure. There are many golf courses in Singapore. If only they could be converted into beautiful landscaped gardens with colourful flowerbeds and manicured shrubbery, where people could spread out their picnic mats and watch their children run around. Such is the wishful dreaming of a non-golfer.

National Library, Singapore

For a few hours I was sitting at a window with a stupendous view. Shielded from the city traffic and the glaring sunlight and being in a comfortably cool and comfortable environment, it was close to heaven to just sit there and write a long email to a friend while waiting for the next important appointment. I could have stayed there indulging in what I normally do on a notebook. My newly acquired netbook plus the effortless connection to wireless network at the library had indeed made being in the library a truly pleasurable experience.

National Library, 8th Floor.

Dairy Farm Nature Park - Wallace Trail

When I was younger, I liked the excitement of the city. Shopping along Orchard Road on Saturday was a frequent activity. Sometimes I make impulsive purchases but most times it was just window shopping. Why I had enjoyed those times, I cannot remember exactly. Now, being older and living in a house that has too many things in it, most of which are in boxes and in storerooms, I have been weaned off city shopping. Instead, walks in the parks and nature reserves are what I find more relaxing and enjoyable such as this walk taken today at the Dairy Farm Nature Park.