Panoramas: Part 1

Do you ever have software sitting on your computer that you just wish you knew how to use? Well, a few years ago, I bought a package including Adobe Illustrator/Photoshop/Reader and pretty much just used the Illustrator/Reader parts without really knowing what to do with Photoshop. Well, I've been learning a few things lately and maybe gotten a little carried away with using the photomerge capabilities. Since then, I've been finding photos from my travels that I never thought I would be able to stitch together. Now that I know....I've been going crazy! So here are a few of my first photomerging projects:

The Gros Ventre Range in Wyoming. Photo was taken from near the top of Battle Mountain along the Hoback River. University of Michigan Camp Davis (2007)

The Nopah Range in southern Nevada (California?). I forget exactly where the photo was taken, but I was on a Geology field trip with the University of Michigan Geology Department (2007)

Cliffs of Moher along the west coast of Ireland, County Clare. Taken during my family's trip to Ireland earlier this year (2011)

My sister with the Fernsehturm, Rotes Rathaus, and Alexanderplatz behind her. Taken from the top of the Berlinerdom. (2011)

Three glaciers flowing into a fjord in Greenland. Taken from our C130 transport plane. (2011)

Greenland Ice Sheet. Taken east of Kangerlussuaq. (2011)

View of the Russel Glacier from downstream in the Watson River valley, east of Kangerlussuaq, Greenland. (2011)

Greenland Ice Sheet (2011)

Walking down the little road to the Greenlandic town of Igaliku. It was in this town, the next day, a polar bear was shot. (2011)

Looking down on the ruins of Erik the Red's homestead in the town of Quassiarsuk, Greenland. (2011)

Downtown Singapore. Taken from the top of the Marina Bay Sands Hotel and Casino. (2011)

The iconic Three Sisters and the Jamison Valley in the Blue Mountains of Australia, just west of Sydney. Taken from Echo Point. (2011)

Valley of the Waters in the morning from the top of Wentworth Falls in the Blue Mountains, Australia. (2011)

Singapore: Marina Bay Sands and Sentosa

Unfortunately, my hosts here in Singapore have either had to work or have been sick, so I've had the opportunity to see a lot of the Singapore sights by myself. While this has a downside (fewer group photo ops), it also has an upside for the present and an even bigger upside for the future. What's that, you say? Well, the upside is that I got to go to a lot of the modern - yet culturally dead - Singapore sights. The bigger upside, you ask?

Rather than cramming EVERYTHING into a short trip, especially the first time I've been there (i.e. Singapore), I like to leave a few things undone. This not only helps me stay relaxed during my trip, but also inspires me to find a way to return. This time around, I've done a lot (see previous posts and keep reading), but there is so much left to do. Since my hosts, who are much more knowledgeable about the local cultural sights, couldn't accompany me much on this trip, I've saved most of the cultural sights such as temples, neighborhood exploration, and other nature parks.

So getting back to what I've seen yesterday and today on my explorations. Let me just say this: Singapore has one of the most spectacular skylines, one which NO ONE knows about! The whole inner harbor area of downtown has great views of the skyline, which circles the harbor, and there are so many iconic buildings! I've fallen in love:

Art installed along the inside harbor for the Singapore 2010 Youth Olympic Games. Do I smell an Olympic Host City bid in the future? It would be amazing! I was thinking they could have the first Opening Ceremonies all on water, in the harbor, much like Salt Lake City was the first to have the Opening Ceremonies entirely on ice.

Public art installation involving a whimsically misting pipe winding up and down the Marina Bay boardwalk area. Also installed for the 2010 YOG.

Singapore Financial District from below

View of the outer harbor and construction of a new park from the Sky Park of the Marina Bay Sands Casino/Hotel

The Esplanade is Singapore's downtown performing arts center. It was built to be an iconic harbor centerpiece much like the Sydney Opera House. It's quite an amazing structure, but I get the feeling locals aren't as happy with its appeal. Newer structures around the harbor have also detracted attention from The Esplanade, but walking around it is pretty cool as the individual roof tiles seem to change shape and morph.

Financial District view from the Sky Park of Marina Bay Sands Casino/Hotel. It may not look like much, but these buildings are each so unique, architecturally, and the city just keeps building more!

The world's highest infinity pool on top of the Marina Bay Sands Casino/Hotel. I'm already thinking about booking my room for my next visit!

Rooftop pool and gardens of the Marina Bay Sands Casino/Hotel

A cool fountain in the shopping center. The bowl above collects rainwater (I think) and then dumps it down into the pool below a few times during the day. I almost MISSED it!

The Helix Bridge is the world's longest double-helix pedestrian bridge. Unlike the Millenium Bridge, this bridge did not succumb to the effects of harmonic oscillations! Marina Bay Sands Casino/Hotel in the background.

Marina Bay Sands Casino/Hotel on the left. The Sky Park is the long cantilevering bit of the roof closest to me. To the right is the Singapore Artscience Musuem. Unfortunately for The Esplanade, the lotus-shaped museum might be a bit more iconic for the Inner Harbor.

Nope. Not the London Eye. This is the Singapore Flyer. It's larger than the London Eye, but its center is supported on both sides, unlike the Eye, which is held up by cables only on one side. Unfortunately, it was closed, so I couldn't go Flying.

One of the many sculptures around the downtown area. This one shows the transformation of Singapore from a collection of small fishing villages to the booming metropolis and shipping center it is today.

I don't think this sculpture serves a purpose. Haha. It's just funny!

Night-time booms around Clarke Quay, but I wasn't there to see it all lit up. Notice the bright yellow building between the two bright blue ones furthest on the right. Stay classy, Singapore.

Though yesterday's weather was drizzly and grey, today was much nicer. I was able to enjoy the weather out on the beaches of Sentosa, an island just off of mainland Singapore. One of my goals was to see a real Singapore Merlion - the official, government sponsored mascot for Singapore. A Merlion has the head of a male lion and the body of a fish. There is one in the Inner Harbor, but it is currently enclosed in a temporary hotel room, so you can't see it right now. Thus, I needed to see the bigger Merlion on Sentosa.

 

To get out to Sentosa, you can drive (lame), take a monorail (cool), or take a cable car (awesome!). This is a view of one of Singapore's shipping yards with some crazy clouds above in the distance.

Out on the beaches of Sentosa is the...well....you can read!

Sentosa is basically a huge amusement park that you can walk around free of charge. To see or do any of the special activities, you have to pay. I went into the Butterfly Gardens and Insect Kingdom. The Butterfly Gardens were cool, but the Insect Kindom lacked a little bit of....

....life? Sorry Rhinoceros Beetle #3...

Crazy bird in the Butterfly Gardens. Anyone know what kind? Kind of looks like a cockatoo-peacock hybrid?

Siloso Beach on the southern shores of Sentosa

While on the beach, I found a Ben & Jerry's Scoop Shop and just couldn't pass up getting a scoop!

Siloso Beach on Sentosa. 606 Reunion of the Future?

Getting closer to the Merlion. This was the top of a really long fountain stretching down to the beach. Fountains spewed and shot water and it was all tiled with incredibly colored tiles. Probably one of my favorite fountains in the world! Okay, maybe not that great. You could tell it belongs in an amusement park, but it was still really cool.

I FOUND MY MERLION!!!! It's really tall and you can go up to the observation deck in the Merlion's mouth!

One of Sentosa's many adventure/thrill experiences. But this little kid didn't have enough momentum to make it down to the bottom, so he ended up just dangling for a while. I got a good laugh out of it.

 

I've posted a few photos of all of the cargo ships offshore of Singapore, but here's a little close-up video of them.

 

All in all, I'm glad I got to see what I did get to see these past few days because it's the kind of stuff that locals don't really go to see that often. Therefore, next time I come here (yes, there will be a next time), I will be able to see more of the cultural and natural sights. Finally, one final picture. It's probably the best I've taken in Singapore:

Nicolas Cage, how dare you tell me "time is precious." Don't you think this thought goes through my head each time I see a movie or even a movie-trailer in which you star? As soon as I see your face advertised for any film, I think, "My time is too precious for me to waste it on seeing this film." And even if I do actually watch one of your films - said, I had no choice on the airplane - I think to myself, "Man, that was a lot of precious time that was just wasted!"

Nicholas Cage: Getting paid to waste your time.

Welcome to the Jungle!

Singapore has a population of 4.7 million, according to the CIA World Factbook, and those 4.7 million live on an island 3.5 times larger than Washington D.C. (population density of ~18,000/square mile) - take that, Roosevelt Park! With Singapore being so small and so densely populated, you would think it would be hectic and overrun and busy all the time, but just driving around in cabs and taking public transport (MRT is awesome!) is really easy and if not during peak hours, kind of relaxing.

Like all big cities, Singapore maintains a large swath of park-land in its city-center. It's kind of like Central Park or Golden Gate Park or Boston Commons...but not really. As part of the Singaporean National Park system, Bukit Timah Nature Reserve is only one of two cities in the world that protects a large area of essentially untouched old-growth rainforest (did I mention it rains here about every day?)! Unfortunately, my camera battery started dying as soon as I got to the park, but in any situation like that, I did what I could!

Memorial telling the story of Bukit Timah during WWII. The British were holding back a Japanese advancement. Eventually, the British surrendered Bukit Timah to the Japanese in 1942, and the rest of Singapore along with it. After the war, Singapore was restored to British control, who then lumped it in with Malaysia. Singapore eventually reclaimed their independence from Malaysia in 1965.

Really old, thick vines draped everywhere in the rainforest!

My first rainforest friend

Another wicked crazy vine! No idea what it is...

The highest point in Singapore, Bukit Timah Hill. I had some guy take my photo, but I blinked...

Trail of ants going down the road. They bite, too!

Up on the side of the tree is a little green bug. These cicadas were EVERYWHERE in the park and they were so loud!

 

Looking up into the canopy

Plantain squirrels running around everywhere!

One of the funny signs Singapore has illustrating penalties for breaking the law

Long-tailed macaques!

This one has a baby clinging to her chest

This one was very curious to see what was inside this blue plastic bag. When it turned out to be just another rolled up black plastic bag, he got bored, but not after it tried eating the bag.

 

Another baby macaques

A really cool bird that has two long tail feathers

A family of macaques socializing on the rocks

One of the granite quarries at Bukit Timah. Bukit Timah literally means tin hill, due to the heavy tin mining that occurred here.

And a monitor (?) lizard

I wish the photos had turned out better, but the quality of the camera I bought before this trip while mine is getting fixed is terrible! It takes blurry photos and can't focus in the dark. I hate it with a passion. One of my next investments has got to be a good-quality nice camera. Not just one of those point-and-shoot types.