The street plantings in Singapore are a delight - stunning. They need to be to bring balance to this high-density urban environment, and indeed they do. I had just come from the cows in Shepparton to find more cows outside The Esplanade ('the Durian') our venue. Cows are under surveillance, make no mistake about it! So is everything and everyone else.
The following snaps are taken on a collection of not one, not two, but THREE cameras... it's a medium-length story as to why.
I walked into Singapore camera shops pricing a Canon model I'd read of in the Qantas Inflight Magazine. I had been given the tip to go UPSTAIRS in SimLim Square.They're less hardcore upstairs, less sleazy, I was told, still hardcore and sleazy, but just a little less so. I started downstairs with the intention of heading straight up - I never made it! I'd not even crossed the floor before I had bought a camera (not the one I'd originally wanted) and spent TWICE as much on a lesser item. EEK! Rolled gold hustlers, so persuasive with their sleight-of-calculator. Unbelievable!
I went back to SimLim the next morning - a strange compulsion - this time notionally shopping for a power supply for my radio receiver... but with a lingering inkling that there was more to do. I went straight upstairs via the external stairs.
A camera bloke engages me:
"No, I bought a camera yesterday and I think I made a big mistake."
"Why do you say that?"
"Well..."
So I splash four-figure sums at a golden shovel to dig myself out of the previous day's hole. Canon DSLR a notch up from the one I was originally seeking (but with a feature I utterly crave). He threw in a BIG camera bag - I was thinking I might lobby for a smaller bag, but I'll take what I can get. By the end of our session the bag was FULL.
But this gear is GOOD, what I wanted, and he would accept the previous day's white elephant disappointing mistake as a trade-in discounting more than what I had paid. Slick, sure, but I walked away with a big smile, and a bigger bag of camera, lenses and accessories. My credit card hasn't seen these sorts of body-blows since the end-game of my house rebuild. This bag of goodies is worth more than my car - but, for context I have a shitbox car.
This whole shebang also involved two sprints back to my hotel, the first to get all the packaging, documentation and extras pertaining to the the white elephant's turd of a camera I'd somehow bought downstairs - not even as functional and friendly as my trusty Canon Powershot... then a SECOND trip home to get my credit card (which was locked in the hotel room safe... perhaps it should be locked there more often!) I realized (in that weather) that nobody walks briskly or runs - so everybody looked at me like I was nuts.
I've been on the verge of scratching a distinct DSLR itch for quite some time, at last I've done it. I'm notorious for thinking I cannot justify such expenses, or having such items. Most others are much quicker (or slicker) at following that with - I work hard, I deserve a treat. If not sometime soon, then when? I am generally a thrift-meister extraordinare, so it is actually OK for me to have some nice things that give me interest and pleasure occasionally, but I don't often permit it! I need to more regularly ask myself why I do not.
A mixed bag of snaps follow, there certainly isn't the time for perfection, one must just move forward... walk briskly, run!
Cat's whiskers flower.
It's bloody hard photographing white flowers - this was with the camera I traded in the day after I bought it!
Many a purple Bougainvillea - resembling my own garden!
Magnificent rainforest trees in the city streets between much taller buildings. The line the roads to the airport (I'd forgotten that until I was leaving, because this time I arrived in the dark).
Technically not 'street plantings' but iconic creations seen on many a postcard - the Supertrees. Giant structures that are both sculptures and vertical gardens. The precinct contains a series of fascinating themed gardens, sculptures and other wonders. Behind, that curved structure is part of an extraordinary hothouse. I seemed to be the only person that had ever quipped, 'Why on earth, with this climate, would Singapore need a hothouse?' I ultimately concluded that the answer is - so that admission can be charged. There is so much wealth in this country that it seems there's nothing better to do than build futuristic mega-structures on reclaimed land, as Singapore grows in every way.
That walkway is Jetson-esque indeed - I chose to seek shade (natural and artificial) visiting the series of gardens. One tip for these walkways is to do them at night (milder) and what city doesn't look amazing at night? Inside the huge curvaceous hothouse there are also Jetson walkways. One of those Supertrees has a restaurant atop it.
