nateniale's travels

I am not a fan of theme parks, and I have probably been to a just handful of them. So, it should not come as a surprise that after more than 3 years, I have just stepped foot on Universal Studios Singapore a couple of weeks ago. It was a day out with my colleagues, and let's just say that I am still not a fan of theme parks.  I love movies and performances, and theme parks love those too. Maybe, they love them a bit too much. They bring movies and characters to life, and let you be part of the whole experience. But I don't get it. I do not get why people would pay so much money to be scared, and (almost) thrown out of their seats.  Guess, I am just one of those who would rather be a spectator than a participant. 

Thaipusam fell on a Sunday this year, and I thought it was a great opportunity to catch the celebration in Singapore (since Thaipusam is not a public holiday).  Started the day late, and caught some of the kavadi carrier on the road. The procession starts from Sri Srinivasa Perumal Temple at Serangoon Road and ends at Sri Thendayuthapani Temple at Tank Road. The atmosphere at the road was quite muted, compared to the elaborate celebration that I have seen in Penang - where there would be piles of coconuts thrown on the road, loud music, elaborate tents set up, and hundreds of devotees walking together with the kavadi carrier. In the wonderfully organised and heavily regulated Singapore, the celebration was quieter, and well, organised. Walked with some of the devotees towards the final stop at Sri Thendayuthapani Temple, and that was where I could feel the Thaipusam atmosphere. Shoes taken off, milk offered, prayers made, and even with some drums and dance. From ...

{ Singapore - December 2011 }  While I do not celebrate Christmas, I love the idea that Christmas conjure up in my mind - beautiful golden balls, sparkling lights, powdery snow, crackling warm fireplace, Christmas trees, mistletoe, sharing of gifts, and of course, the big fat man with a long white beard. Well, these, I have to admit, are probably from all the American movies and TV series that I have seen, but I love it anyway. So, to all of you who celebrate Christmas, have a beautiful bright and cheerful Christmas, and to those of you who just want to soak in the Christmas spirit, take a walk along Orchard Road. With the  brightly lit up Christmas trees , with streets decked out in blue sparking lights and Christmas decorations, you can definitely feel that Christmas is just around the corner. Merry Christmas! And have a Happy New Year! { Click here for other posts on Singapore and  a list of my travelogues }

{ Singapore - December 2011 } Singapore may be in the tropics, and the weather is hot and humid with lots of rain, but that does not stop this tiny red dot from going all out with Christmas decorations. You just need to take a walk down Orchard Road to soak in the atmosphere. There are so many beautifully decorated trees along the festive road, that I lost count after awhile. Love how each of them are so different, and yet unmistakably Christmassy! { Click here for other posts on Singapore and  a list of my travelogues }

{ Singapore - December 2011 } If you have been out in Singapore lately, you would have noticed brightly coloured elephants all around the city. They are part of the Elephant Parade's open-air exhibition dedicated to saving the Asian elephants from extinction. If you ask me, this is a brilliant concept to raise awareness, while raising funds! The elephants are uniquely painted by local and international artists, and will be auctioned off by Sotheby's in January 2012. The first  Elephant Parade  was in Rotterdam in 2007, and has since been to Antwerp, Amsterdam, Emmen, London and Bergen. There were four exhibitions this year, starting from Heerlen, Copenhagen, Milan and finally, Singapore. Part of the proceeds are in aid of the  Asian Elephant Foundation . The Asian elephants are lovely animals. They are huge, and yet gentle. I learnt this first hand when I was in  Chiang Mai, Thailand  earlier this year. Will write about my amazing experience i...

{ Singapore - November 2011 } Nothing like a cup of coffee to start the day, although the day started pretty late on the lazy Sunday morning that we were having brunch at Blackbird Cafe. Ordered a cup of Cafe Vienna - espresso with whipped cream - that I had come to love during my years in Australia. There are not that many places in Singapore that serves coffee this way, but Blackbird Cafe, a New Zealand cafe, does. The coffee beans were imported from Wellington, and were pretty good. The brunch menu was pretty simple, but good enough for me. We ordered Eggs Benny (normally known as Eggs Benedict) with poached eggs on English muffin with hollandaise sauce. I liked how the simple ingredients could have such an interesting taste. Believe it or not, this was the first time I had a proper Eggs Benedict! We also ordered the Blackbird Big Brekkie with scrambled eggs, sausage, bacon, cake, tomato, baked beans and sourdough bread. The Big Brekkie would be good for those who love...

{ Singapore - November 2011 } After blogging about the Da Michele's pizza in Naples , I felt like having Italian pizza. So, we went off in search of an Italian pizzeria in Singapore, and ended up in Peperoni Pizzeria. With the Italian name and simple decor in green, white and red (the colour of the Italian flag), it looked promising. We ordered Caprese salad that we have came to love in Italy. A simple salad with just tomatoes, mozzarella and rocket salad, I love the simplicity and the freshness of the cheese. Not a big fan of rocket salad, though. In Peperoni Pizzeria, you can order two toppings for each pizza. So, we ended up having four toppings on our two large pizza - Margherita (mozzarella, tomatoes, basil and oregano), Frutti di Mare (prawns, clams, scallops, squid rings and fish), Prosciutto Crudo di Parma (parma ham and rocket salad) and Suprema (shitake mushrooms, chicken sausage, onions and red chilli). If I have had the pizza last year, I would have said that th...

{ Singapore - November 2011 } I loved that whole side of Paris at night - it was part of the reality of the city. I never went after extraordinary subjects. I always loved the common things, the everyday things - because I think if you really look at them, they're often the most amazing things.  Brassaï, a photographer who took many photos of Paris at night in the 1930s, said the above. It sums up his photographs pretty well, and that is what I loved about his black and white photos. He captures Paris at night - the people, the buildings, the bridges with all the lights and fog. It was a small exhibition, but one that showcases some of Brassaï's most famous works. It was great to see that Singapore is slowly bringing more and more art and photographs to this small island. Looking forward to more exhibitions in the future! ::: Footnotes ::: Photography Brassaï  Presented by Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts 22 October - 18 December 2011  11am - ...

{ Singapore - August 2011 } The acclaimed photographer, Abbas' main works were shown in a special exhibition in the National Museum of Singapore in June to September 2011. Abbas spent 45 years roaming the world, taking photographs of major political and social events. The results were visually striking black and white photographs showing the Iranian Revolution, the Islamic world and many portraits around the world. Some of the photos were painful to watch, but that is the point of photography, isn't it? To be able to capture the feelings and emotions, and not merely a picture. Abbas, in his 45 years of photography, was able to capture lots of that and more. He described it best, when he said "My photography is a reflection, which comes to life in action and leads to meditation. Spontaneity - the suspended moment - intervenes during action, in the viewfinder." I am sure that he will capture a lot more in the years to come. ::: Footnotes ::: {  National Museum...

{ Singapore - October 2011 } Was at the ArtScience Museum over the weekend and saw Van Gogh Alive - The Exhibition, among others. Love the above saying from the artist, but I would put it this way: "To do good work one must eat well, be well housed, have one's travel from time to time, read one's books and drink one's coffee in peace" Have a great week ahead everyone, and remember to take that well deserved break!

Healthy eating (and living) seems to be the craze these days. There seems to be so many celebrities who are vegetarians or even vegans. The longest period that I have tried not to eat meat or seafood was a month. Now, I do not think that I will be a full-on vegetarian any time soon, but with healthy living in mind, I had been trying quite a number of vegetarian restaurants lately. If there is a vegetarian restaurant that I will introduce to my carnivorous friends, it would be Whole Earth. The restaurant serves tasty "Peranakan" and Thai food, and sometimes, you would be wondering "you mean this is vegetarian?". Happy to report that the dishes that had none those "mock meat" that is so typical of local Singapore vegetarian food. They use good quality mushrooms, tofu, vegetables and natural spices. The dishes were tasty and flavourful. Who says healthy food can't be good? Had been to the restaurant twice, and I am pretty sure I will be going more ...

After bidding farewell to the Tanjong Pagar Railway Station , we walked the last 3 kilometres of the railway tracks before all the tracks were closed to the public on 1 August 2011. The last section of the tracks started from the Bukit Timah railway station to the Rail Mall. The section just before the Bukit Timah Railway Station was already being dismantled! Talk about efficiency. I'm sure that before long, the whole railway tracks will be gone. However, there is an effort going on by The Green Corridor to keep the railway tracks as green spaces. It is an effort that I fully support. In a country where development and urbanisation are turning jungles into concrete jungles, we should preserve as many green spaces as we can. The walk took is more than three hours as we slowly walked and took many photographs of the bridge, the tracks, and even some monkeys! By the time we reached Rail Mall, it was already dark. All in all, it was a nostalgic walk along what would soon beco...

After the trip to the Farmers' Market in Loewen Gardens , we walked towards Dempsey Hill, and started snapping some photos along the way. Got to go back there and have dinner in one of the restaurants one day!

Farmers' market in Singapore? I would not have expected one if I had not stumbled upon it online. After reading about it, I was intrigued and decided to pay them a visit. It is situated near Dempsey Hill, in an area called the Loewen Cluster. The market is organised by The Pantry, a cafe cum cooking school, and was predominantly visited by expats working in Singapore. On the weekend that we were there, there were various stalls sellling organic fruits and vegetable, honey, wine, hibiscus drink and gourmet meat. It is also a good place to have a late breakfast or brunch as the cafe is opened till late, and there were a few stalls selling bread, pies and even paella from  Bilbao Restaurant & Gastrobar . The area was pretty small but it had enough stalls and food to keep us entertained for a couple of hours. It was an enjoyable slow morning, and I could not help snapping photos of the children, dog and cat! So, do drop by one of these Saturdays when the Farmer...

On 1 July 2011, another chapter in the Malaysia-Singapore history was closed. The Tanjong Pagar Railway Station was officially closed after 79 years of operation. On the weekend before it closed, we visited the station hoping to capture what we could before it became another well-preserved but non-operational national monument. The one and only time that I had ever taken a train out from Singapore to Malaysia was about 10 years ago. It was also the first time I had ever taken a train on the Malaysian railway -  KTM . The journey was over the night and it felt long as I could not sleep, but we reached Kuala Lumpur bright and early the next morning. My experience would be extremely insignificant if compared to some of the memories of the people who worked there and taken countless of trains from the railway station. Like the man I captured in my previous post , and all those who had loved and enjoyed a taste of Malaysia in the bustling food area. And this says it all... ...