P17: holiday

Not quite a holiday, my recent trip to Singapore did , however, offer a welcome change of location and routine.    Heidi had to attend a workshop Tues-Thurs in Singapore, so I decided to tag along and work from Singapore for the week.  We took a day of vacation as well, but most of the time I was locked to my desk, although my desk being in a hotel on Clarke Quay made for a more interesting location than home in Munich.  The evenings belonged to us and I was able to take an hour or so every day to wander around with my camera.

I kind of had this project in mind at the time, but my primary goal was to capture the atmosphere of the city and portray the vibrancy of the night life.  I will post another entry that looks at the city in the night.  As I was doing this I also tried to capture the Singaporeans in their daily lives and at play in the evenings.  This was far from my first trip to the city, I have lost count of the number of times I have been their since my first visit 18 years ago.  We will be back in 2 weeks from now, Singapore is such a useful stop over on the way to the dive sights of South East Asia.

As with many photographic projects there was far more material than either time or energy to capture, so I concentrated on a number of aspects of the city that were accessible to me.  Apart from the commerce that fuels the city Singapore thrives on 3 primary activities, tourism, shopping and eating/drinking.  Indeed, most of my Singaporean friends would agree that shopping and eating are the bedrock of Singaporean society.

First off I start with tourism and where better than getting their.  This is the economy cabin on board one of Emirates brand new A380s.  Not much more space than any other flight, but very comfortable and I really liked the huge seatback  flat panel monitors.  And yes, this was a try out for my new 8mm fisheye lens.  Not the most realistic view, but an interesting tool for working in a confined space.

Just a few minutes walk from the hotel was the Singapore marina and the new Sands hotel, quite the ugliest building I have seen, but impressive.  The marina is one of the cooler spots in the city, the sea breeze a very pleasant relief in the 30 degree heat of the equator.

A popular pastime with tourists is taking a picture in which you appear to be holding up the top deck of the hotel. I become more and more interested in the process of creating photographs, especially the social aspect as portrayed here.  The curving white line behind them is the Grand Prix circuit.

 

Shopping, everywhere there are shops.  This is a very swanky shopping mall adjacent to the Sands and a former subject of mine for an assignment in DPP.  The tea shop was especially beautiful.

Within every shopping mall there will be a food court offering cheap and very tasty freshly made food.

As well as imaging the visitors or the staff at work I also managed to capture two chefs taking a break before the evening rush.

Clarke Quay is a center for bars and resteraunts, expensive but great fun with a fabulous night time atmosphere.  Ir is one of my favorite locations, anywhere in the world.  The bars compete with each other to attract customers, the price of drinks varying very much according to when you go there.  A pint of beer can go from 3 to 12 Euros in a few hours.

But the prices do not stop people from enjoying themselves, many of the bars opening out onto the street and offering an interesting frame within a frame that attracts me.

Clarke Quay is, however, too expensive for many and as a result many locals bring their own food and drink and hang out on the bridge that crosses the river in the middle of the Quay.

The ubiquity of the Irish pub:

My final shot is the best capture I have of the atmosphere and bustle of the place.

Not quite a holiday and not really to somewhere with all sorts of cultural activities to gawp at, but a real place with real people out to enjoy their lives.