What words fail to say.....

Fantasy

2007-09-20T13:00:00.000+08:00

Window Shopping...

2007-09-13T19:48:00.000+08:00

Purple Train

2007-09-12T16:49:00.000+08:00

For Photo Friday!

Getting back home...

2007-09-11T19:08:00.000+08:00

For Illustration Friday...

Fullerton Road

2007-09-10T12:44:00.001+08:00

Lonely Cow!

2007-09-09T11:58:00.000+08:00

From the southern most point of Asia

2007-09-08T12:55:00.000+08:00

A distant relative

2007-09-07T10:14:00.000+08:00

....to my favourite animal

Storm

2007-09-06T10:34:00.000+08:00

Star Virgo

2007-09-05T14:50:00.001+08:00

Cruise "Star Virgo" docked in Singapore

Lake

2007-09-04T10:50:00.000+08:00

"Spidey" Dog

2007-09-01T13:08:00.000+08:00

Speed

2007-08-31T14:31:00.000+08:00

Waterski Video

2007-08-31T13:57:00.000+08:00

Water

2007-08-30T16:15:00.000+08:00

Evening Sun Shine

2007-08-28T16:29:00.000+08:00

Water Ski Contest, Singapore

2007-08-27T20:01:00.000+08:00

James Bond Island, Thailand

2007-08-26T20:57:00.000+08:00

Esplanade park, Singapore

2007-08-25T17:00:00.000+08:00

The ferocious

2007-08-24T12:51:00.000+08:00

A beach view

2007-08-23T14:03:00.000+08:00

From the boat......

Fishing

2007-08-22T11:17:00.000+08:00

Rain, rain, please don't go!

2007-08-21T11:34:00.000+08:00

A view from the "sky"

2007-08-20T11:35:00.000+08:00

Sky ride, Sentosa, Singapore

As such

2007-08-19T13:25:00.000+08:00

Tuk-Tuk

2007-08-18T13:36:00.000+08:00

A local transport system, Thailand

Nightlife Singapore

2007-08-17T15:54:00.000+08:00

Sunlight

2007-08-16T14:14:00.000+08:00

Food for the next season

2007-08-15T22:03:00.000+08:00

Somewhere in rural southern parts of India

Serene

2007-08-15T22:00:00.000+08:00

Entrance to Sentosa Island, taken from mainland Singapore

The lonely tree

2007-08-14T15:48:00.000+08:00

Taken somewhere in rural South India

On the road to nowhere

2007-08-13T21:42:00.000+08:00

Sunset, Sentosa

2007-08-11T23:16:00.000+08:00

Her Majesty

2007-08-09T11:37:00.000+08:00

Shot in Singapore Zoo

Papa Merlion, Sentosa, Singapore

2007-08-08T22:49:00.000+08:00

Sir Raffles Stamford

2007-08-05T08:45:00.000+08:00

Founder of Singapore

my little zoo friend

2007-08-03T12:35:00.000+08:00

My little friend in the zoo! I was telling you about this!

Esplanade, Singapore

2007-08-01T22:40:00.000+08:00

Merlion Park, Singapore

2007-07-31T22:28:00.000+08:00

ATV tour in Thailand

2007-07-30T11:55:00.000+08:00

We went on this amazing ATV bike during our tour. This video was shot on the way. Though we couldn't capture that amazing ride in the rocky mountain path. We were too excited to shoot a video.

The 3rd day: Good-bye Phuket but I shall come back

2007-07-27T02:21:00.000+08:00

We were going to Phang-Nga Bay. A tour that our friends had gone to on the first day and said that it was like a dry tour where we wouldn't have to swim.

I was disheartened. No swimming? Which to me who is a new swimmer, means no fun. I really did not want to go at all. I would rather have spent the rest of the day in Patong Beach swimming and swimming and sun bathing and swimming and swimming and............

But they mentioned that it was full of water but nobody swam. So you would be odd one out if you did. Huh? Is that all. I'd rather be an odd one out than not swim while in boats and canoes all day.

We were late. Not because our alarm failed. But because we had to check out before leaving and leave our things at the reception to pickup before leaving. Somehow we managed to reach before the coordinators left us behind.

Shortly after we started the sailing, we were completely looking at
the divinely beauty of Phang-Nga bay. The water was not a clear green blue like yesterday. But we kept seeing sceneries like the one on right. Trust me there are about thousands of them in differnet shapes and sizes. I did manage to click pictures of most of them. I would not post all of them because I hate losing readers.

We first reached the James Bond island to see james bond rock and leaning mountains. Then to Hong island and Panak island which were full of lagoons and caves. They were all amazing to look.

But you ask me, din't you say that anything not swimming is boring?

Yes ofcourse. That is why I dived off the canoe 3 times totally in the middle of the sea (3-4 m deep). And I swam for the rest of the way. Okay, might not be so long a distance to cover but still it was more than 3 m deep and it was the middle of the sea. And yeah, I didn't dive from the top deck of the boat, which hubby did, twice. Because hubby said that when you dive from such a height you will be taken deep down the sea and it would take a while to come up and breathe. Since I am just a new swimmer, he didn't want me to try it, should I get confused while inside the water?

On the way to airport, we realized that, like we always did, we forgot to take a pic of the room we slept in for 3 nights...

The room which had a flat screen TV (they thought we were gonna watch TV all day)

a big balcony with day bed (in which we never even sat)

a mini bar (which we made full use of)

a bath tub, a rain shower (which we used)

and a window between the room and bathroom which had no lock! (which hubby used to "peek" in!!!!)

That made the real end of the trip and we regretfully reached the airport because

1. we had to leave phuket

2. we had to travel in that low cost airlines again!!!!!

2nd day: Phi Phi island tour

2007-07-27T00:20:00.000+08:00

We woke up at 6.30 am to the hotel wake-up call. Had a quick breakfast and we were the first to get ready. We were in the boat by 10.30 am and were set off to our amazing day tour.

After travelling for about an hour, we stopped in middle of the ocean for snorkeling. I jumped in the water after hubby, because I was slightly afraid to be there alone. I have never been in open water in my whole life even in a life jacket. When hubby assured me, I jumped in too.

I only know that I jumped and then stabilized myself. When I turned to look, the boat was so far away. Ofcourse hubby was with me but we both were far from the boat. Either the boat or us would have drifted in a big wave the moment I jumped. I felt as if all my fears were coming true. We decided to swim back near the boat but I couldn't. I couldn't swim because the whole life jacket idea was new to me. I couldn't carry this thing and swim. But hubby had already moved half way near the boat. I got scared and started shouting names as if I were a mad woman.

Hubby asked me to calm down and he was coming near me. Not until then did I notice that there were so many other people with me. It wasn't me but the boat which moved a bit longer when I was not looking. And then we started enjoying. There were like so many fish right there. I could feel the toughness of their bodies, roughness of the skin, the beauty of their colors and their charms. It was so beautiful a sight and I did not want to get back in the boat.

After about an hour, we reached the boat again and set off for the rest of the trip. We travelled again for 30 minutes before we reached south phi phi beach. Oooooh.. I have never seen such a green color in sea. And that too a beach that attracts so many visitors each day. The water was so clean and when we swam, we could see fishes. We had a precious 1 hour spent in that beautiful beach.

We stopped for lunch. We relaxed, ate, took some photos, then more photos and then left.....

After that, we stopped for another session for snorkeling. It almost came as a surprise to me and I jumped this time without any hesitation. And this water clearer than the previous one and there were many more varieties and colors of fish. And there was something more. What was it?

Ahhhhhh... the corals... I dunno where I am. It must be heaven. It surely would have been, if not for the salty taste of the water, which I did not like definitely. But still I din't once feel like leaving this place. I could have swam there forever... But practicality made it's call and I knew my "forever" would be so short if chose to stay there. So we got into the boat again.....

And reached the monkey beach. There are about thousands of monkeys which get friendly when you feed bananas. It was a short halt there and we moved again quickly to reach maya beach or otherwise called "movie beach" where the movie "The Beach" was shot.

Here's a pic of us half in the water. And needless to say, we got wet and dried ourselves again and again for about 6-7 times this day!!!

Wait! Did I mention that we travelled on a speed boat?
And we were sitting in the front tip of the boat and seeing the waves in the sea?
That the sea was already too rough on our way back?
And that I got a back pain by the end of the journey?

We made it a point not to sit in the front tip of a speed boat while travelling for a long time.

And so ended our second day. Our friends who travelled with us to Thailand left as planned and we both stayed back to enjoy the next day!

Oye... it's not good night yet... At 8 pm we decided that we should go to the spa and get a good Thai massage. The resort spa was already booked for the day and we enquired at the reception about any good spas outside.

And I love this thing with the Thais.... we just asked them if they knew. The receptionist called some spa to enquire and within 10 minutes, we were in a car from the spa centre, on our way (PS. it was raining heavily already). Hubby did a 120 minutes' Thai massage and I took a 50 minutes' dead sea mud pack. And we forgot our cameras back in the room... So no pics....

We had our dinner and came back to the room for a good good night's sleep......

And we are snoring already grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr..................................................

Ill planned but entirely amazing start of the trip!

2007-07-26T00:05:00.000+08:00

Whenever you think of doing something enjoyable, your body loses its mind and so does your alarm clock.

Last night we thought that 2 days were not enough for an "international trip" (as hubby and i named it). And this morning our alarm clock failed to go off. So did our bodies. We woke up at 9 am right on time for the hotel breakfast which closes at 10. At 10 am, all the island tours were booked. So we did what we had already wanted. We extended the hotel booking and postponed the trip back home by a day.

Then we booked an ATV tour. I was excited to see that we were going to ride in muddy and rocky paths. Dreams apart, finally actually in the ATV, I was sure that I'll have fun.

When we all took our places and started following the instructor riding the ATV, I noticed that hubby was so far away from me. Fate had me next to the instructor and hubby almost the last in the line. I shouted to the instructor asking him to wait so that hubby can come near me. But this not-so-nice guy told me that we were gonna be together all over the tour and there's nothing to worry!

So off we went on a nice tar road and I was so happy to be driving again. We went on and on until a left turn we went on a rocky path. Things were exciting for me so far. An instructing woman, who had noticed I was slowing down many-a-times came over to help me. She climbed on to the ATV and literally she was driving, with me clutching uncomfortably to the vehicle. I shouted to her that I did not need any help of hers and that I would drive myself. She cursed me that if I had an accident, I should not blame her. Silently I called her names for talking so to a tourist who is just starting to ride the bike.

And then I drove alone only to stop the ATV shortly and blink helplessly. It was actually a too steep to ride kind of mountain path and I felt sure that I cannot make it up the road. I got help again from another instructor who was riding behind us (by this time, I was the last).

With little (ok, more than little) help from the instructors, I drove along through the mountain path. We saw this scenery on our way!

And we came back on our way by the end of 1 hour and this time I was not afraid as much as I was in the beginning. When we hit the road again, I missed the rocky path and thought I could have done better without taking help. Why didnt I do it when I WAS there?

But it was not the end though! We had another 1 hour of riding round and round through a muddy area. We enjoyed every bit of it, and this time I was the last, not in riding speed, but wanting to finish the tour......

Back in the hotel, we shifted to our swimming attire, picked up the beach bag and left for the Patong beach. We went parasailing first and then had 30 minutes of jet skiing fun. We didnt have a water resistant camera, so no photos for memory, but no photo can capture all that fun.

Parasailing was a bliss I really felt like I could fly. I enjoyed it completely except for the pain that the safety belts were causing in my chest. And jetskiing was great fun. We could do anything given a vessel that can fly and a sea full of water and no traffic signals. I have never been so far into the sea from the sandy beaches. I loved it!

We reached the hotel back in time to get ready for the next plan: Phuket FantaSEA. It showcases the charms and beauty of Thailand. A must see!

And we came back home, tired and sleepy and slept peacefully.
Yeah! We did request a wake-up call from the hotel guys!

Getting to the hotel room

2007-07-26T00:00:00.000+08:00

We started at around 5 pm, running late, we thought. Because we always ran late. Rushed to the train station because we had a small luggage. We reached the airport shortly after 6pm for the 9.10 pm flight. And to our distress the flight was delayed by an hour. Still we patiently waited in the airport shopping and taking photos. One of hubby's friends who travelled with us asked us how much memory we had in our camera. May be he noticed the crazy way I was shooting, even before we left the airport. But I had enough memory for a 2 week's trip, let alone the 2 days plan!

The low cost flight we had picked up was anything but quality, but we hardly noticed anything, given the excitement of visiting another country. Finally we reached the Phuket airport at midnight. I should say that I was surprised by the small size and uncleanliness at the airport. And we had to wait for another 45 minutes before getting visa clearance for the group.

Yes, we travelled in a group. We booked out tickets and hotel rooms together and chose to do whatever we want later.

The taxis we had arranged were waiting for us and off we were taken to the Resort. I was already feeling so tired and sleepy. Still I wanted to talk about some completely off topics. But hubby was still excited about being in a new country and wanted to see whatever he could find on the way. So he thought I was talking crap. I knew what he thought and I SHUT-UP!!

After an hour's ride, we reached the hotel. The receptionist, who had been waiting for our "hour-delayed" arrival, was impatient to get back homeand tried to send us off to our rooms, all in a hurry.

But the room was heavenly. Some of the notable features are...
A flat screen TV (they thought we were gonna watch TV all day)
A big balcony with day bed
A mini bar
A bath tub, a rain shower
And a window between the room and bathroom which had no lock!

We liked the room immediately but we knew we wouldn't have enough time to enjoy the room.

Though we hadn't planned exactly what we should do during the trip, we knew that we had 2 main islands to visit, and many water sports to do. We knew that 2 days were not enough.

Butterflies

2007-07-20T15:33:00.000+08:00

We took this pic in the Singapore zoo. There is a little part in the zoo where we can walk through. Many little creatures are kept there freely. It include harmless animals too. Actually I was a bit hesitant to walk in first, fearing they would have non-poisonous snakes too. Poisonous or not, I dont enjoy seeing snakes....
There are so many butterflies like this, some may even get friendly with you, who knows? Well, I am experienced. I shall keep posting more pics soon. Stay in touch!

Essence of India

2007-07-15T13:29:00.001+08:00

Some pics taken in the villages around the southern tip of India.

Singapore Night Safari

2007-07-14T18:37:00.000+08:00

We went to the night safari recently.

The itineries suggested in the nightsafari website were clear... It would take atleast 2 and a half hours to get around in the safari. Ofcourse there are more to do if you choose to stay.

One of the first things to see is the tribal dance and fire show. You can choose your own time to watch this show. Found below is a video clip....

(P.S.Well, since it was at "night" and I was no expert night mode photographer, I didn't get much quality pictures, but the videos in this post were found in youtube)

We walked the "fishing cat trail" first, for it was very short (about 20 minutes) and it was near the amphitheatre where the "creatures of the night" show was to happen. This program was very interesting and you could see many nocturnal animals in action.

One of the remarkable events is the otters dropping the recyclable items in its respective bins...

After this program was the 45 minute tram ride. You could alight the tram in the next tram station to continue with the remaining walking trails, leopard trail and the forest giants trail. The tram takes you through the darkest and sometimes unlit paths inside the jungle and shows the animals mostly obvious even in the darkness.

Take a look at the night safari map and plan your trip.

I suggest to be present there atleast by 8.30 pm to make sure that you do not miss any of the fun, just in case you plan a late night trip. Either case, give yourself a good 3:30 hours. The safari opens at 7 and closes at 12 midnight.

Another piece of information is that most restaurants within the safari close at 11 pm though Bongo burgers isn't closed until after midnight...

Singapore photos

2007-07-14T00:36:00.001+08:00

The first set of photos I shot in Singapore during my first weekend here...

There's more coming up. Stay in touch!