Henderson Waves

Henderson Waves is the highest pedestrian bridge in Singapore (it is at 36 meters above Henderson Road) and it appears so interesting and artistic with some curved ribs visible even from afar, that anyone would really want to see what's up there. It's a bridge that connects Mount Faber Park and Telok Blangah Hill Park. People go here to have a stroll or have pictures taken, jog or even just sit and relax and hang-out with friends. We went there during the day but I hear it's also worth visiting at night with its beautiful LED lights.

To get there, we alighted at Harbourfront station, and then at Telok Blangah station. From there is a bus stop where you can ride buses 131, 145, 176 or 648. Alight at bus stop along Henderson Road and take the staircase up to Mount Faber Park.

Interesting architecture viewed from Telok Blangah MRT station

Staircase leading up to Mount Faber Park and Henderson Waves

Henderson Waves at 36 meters above Henderson Road, as viewed from the staircase

 

It connects Mount Faber Park to Telok Blangah Hill Park

People hanging-out at the bridge

I thought this couple was cute when they were taking photos of each other.

 

Took the chance to ask my sister to take some photos of me.

 

A couple about to have a photo session

Residential buildings in Singapore

A scenic view seen from the bridge

The ribbed curves

Christmas Stroll At Orchard

Last weekend, my friends and I walked along Orchard and found some really nice Christmas decorations. I especially loved seeing a lot of huge Christmas trees and twinkle lights.

 

We also passed by some fund-raising activities by Filipinos to help victims of Haiyan, in the form of photo ops along the sidewalk. We bumped into Star Wars mascots, Santa Claus and The Power Rangers and cosplayers.

Another interesting thing was a street mural, i mean, it was more of sidewalk mural. It looked flat at first look but if you take a picture of it at a lower point of view, you get something like this.

Sharing some photos from the previous weekend coffee date with colleagues, at Wheelock Place.

I swear i'm getting back into taking better photos soon. So excited to get a full-frame camera!

Officially Homesick

In the past months I have been here, never have i felt like wanting to go home as much as i want to now.

This will be my first Christmas away from home. There are only a few weeks left until Christmas Day and i have never felt the Christmas spirit less than any other Christmas season in my life. It feels so much different in a multi-racial country due to the people's varied culture and religion.

I noticed that Christmas can only be felt a lot in the city area, like in Orchard, in shopping malls and the like. In residential areas, not so much and even sometimes it doesn't even feel Christmas at all.

Here are some photos i took at Orchard Central this weekend. How i wish i see this everywhere i go here.

I have always imagined celebrating Christmas in another country would be a fun and special. What with all the lights and decors, it kind of gives you a grand idea like how you see it in movies or television. Though i already thought it won't be the same without family and friends. But it kind of really gets you when you experience it yourself. The songs that i hear in the supermarket are what really make me wish i was home this season. Maybe it's just me and my aloof or lonesome personality or my inability to just go out and do anything crazy with people around me, or maybe it is the place, or maybe it's the bad combination of all of those. All i know is that it's not as happy as you have it back home.

Five months in Singapore and counting. If i have learned or realized anything so far, it's how things never turn out the way you expect them to be. Although i am so thankful i have a job (knowing so many people would do anything to get one here), i am thankful for fellow Pinoys who are around to remind you a bit of home, there are still things that i feel missing. I miss my family, my friends, even people i never expect i would miss.

But still, if i had to decide and do things all over again, i would still come here. It is a stepping stone to my dreams and there would be no way to fulfill those if had never left Dumaguete. People need dreams to drive them.

I just really miss so much doing photography and blogging. Those have always been my outlets. I realize photography really inspires me, in a way that it really makes me feel better thinking of photographs i could take.. i have a vision of the photos i dream of doing. Artistic, fine art, unique, weird – some people call it. But that is how i want people to know about my craft. I want to be able to do something different, and different from what people are used of seeing. If i could just make a living out of that, it would be so wonderful. But i don't think it is likely. So i stick to my day job for now.

I do try and think how i can relive my photography with every busy week. Weekends are free but those two days i usually dont feel like doing anything but stay home and rest. I guess it does matter a lot to have people around who also have the same interests as you. Otherwise, if you are not used to it, it could get lonely.

In the meantime, i am contemplating on switching to a Canon full frame camera, which is going to be a very huge leap from my current Nikon D90. Still contemplating and it wont be happening yet very soon, but it is worth thinking about. It is quite pricey plus the fact that i would have to get new lenses for the new body. But i think it's nigh time for change. I may not be going back to doing events again.

If you have been speaking to me recently, you would know that this is how i am trying to distract myself from further disappointments in life. There is no one you can ever love or trust more than yourself. People who come into your life need to prove their worth if they are really worth keeping. Life is one big irony.

I am still looking forward to Christmas and calling home to talk to family and friends. I am thinking what presents to get them and im excited to give it to them come January. Two more months. I cannot wait to see home again.

The Sadness In Haiyan's Aftermath

My heart breaks from the sadness brought about by super storm Haiyan to my home country. The warnings on tv were enough to get worried thoughts for Dumaguete hover in my mind that day. We had experienced a warning like that before. It was during the storm Sendong or the one after that. My family stayed indoors and gathered around the living room, all the windows and doors shut with no power but candles lit and listened to the radio from our mobile phones listening to local reports hearing the wind howling through the windows. That lasted for about two to three hours and it was indeed strong. A lot of huge trees were uprooted and at that time, we thought that was already bad enough.

We were warned that Haiyan would be strong but no one imagined the tragedy it would bring to Tacloban, Ormoc and other affected places. Seeing live footage of people struggling to survive fighting for their lives, I have no words to describe how terrifying these people could have felt during that time. I can't imagine the terror of being on the roof of a house or a building, shivering in the cold, the strong wind blowing and dangerous objects flying everywhere. Seeing bodies of people especially of children scattered all over the place, when you can no longer differentiate them from the countless debris. The bodies covered and laid on the table, on the ground for people to identify, some wrapped in body bags, others already stiff and those carrying them crying while they move these bodies from one place to another... there is extreme sadness that I've only felt during my lowest of lowest times.

And in those moments, while people were fighting for their lives, I recall to myself what I was doing at that time. I was at work. Worrying and complaining about deadlines and clients. Worrying about my petty and insignificant problems. Shame and guilt eat me up when I think about it. While people happily said goodbye to Yolanda in their facebook statuses, people were busy with the beauty pageants and hobbyists prepared their equipment to photograph storm-related moments, little did we know that thousands of precious lives were being lost. But we could never have known. To be thankful that my home Dumaguete did not experience serious damage somehow feels wrong. It feels selfish to be thankful for being spared of something that thousands of others are suffering of.

I have heard of Anderson Cooper's name in the past but have never really seen him on tv. I heard news of him covering the situation in Tacloban, being misunderstood by Korina Sanchez, the President being bashed for a public statement, political officials being blamed, all these became a blur and were forcefully pushed back in my mind because I've been having personal problems of my own.

Cooper's last video report gave me confused feelings of heartbreak, admiration, gratefulness and pride. Heartbreaking sadness for my countrymen for the difficulty they are going through; pure admiration for their unparalleled strength in rising above the violent waters of this storm; the courage to break a smile and even laugh despite this ominous nightmare. The sound of a man's cry for the loss of his mother resounds in my head and sends his agony down to my heart. The sight of a man's tears falling from his eyes that show nothing but worry, extreme sadness and pain. I have never felt so many sad emotions happening all at once. Never.

But then, I also pick up a sense of gratefulness for the value of life and realizing how short it can be and how it can be taken away from you any day, any moment; to be thankful for the comfort of home, that we have roofs over our heads, clothes on our backs, all the food and water we can eat and drink, and our family and friends safe. To be from the country who has shown the rest of the world how to live and rise up to this painful test of faith and strength, i am proud. Proud of the strength of our hearts and our ability to help each other especially in times when life seems so hopeless and empty. 

The past week, I had not been able to focus on the recent news of the tragedy as I felt extremely absorbed by my personal issues coupled with the endless deadlines and pressure at work. I found myself mentally drained at the end of the day. I kept telling myself to go back and focus on the more serious issue at hand but my heart, as emotionally immature as it still is today, has made me forget how insignificant my problems were. I felt that i had no right to complain, I had no right to be sad about the littlest things going on in my life. I kept telling myself that people from home have lost everything they had and yet my problems were all that I could think of. God knows I tried diverting my thoughts but my heart cannot. When a lot of sad things are happening to you at the same time, it is difficult to wrap your mind around all of it. This big dark cloud follows you everywhere and it seems that it will never go away. A person can only do so much, but face each day with a heavy heart. I felt selfish and I felt ungrateful. I regret every minute of it despite the fact that it was something I could not control.

I am urging my friends and family to send help. I know goods and money cannot bring back the lives and homes lost but it could prevent more from dying and suffering. The help from the whole world is overwhelming and touching. I am saddened though of all the fighting, blaming and bashing that's been going on with regards to how help is being sent and received. All of that does not help and blaming does not make any difference now because things have already happened. It may be true that the government has proven to be somewhat inneffective, but there are so many factors to consider in this situation, so maybe we can try to see things with an open mind and try our best to help any way we can to minimize problems in sending and receiving help.

I believe everything happens for a reason and as unimaginably devastating as it was, as much as I would wish it never ever happened at all, somehow it had to, because it was meant to tell and teach the world something. It's just sad to know that lives had to be lost for these lessons to be learned.

From how I see it, it tells us how life is fleeting. Things can change in a day, in an hour, in a minute. It tells us how so many of us take things and so many people in our lives for granted. It shows people how to put themselves in the shoes of those who have lost their homes, crying over the bodies of their loved ones. It is already frightful enough to see on tv, how much more if we were actually there with them or was in their shoes. It is a wakeup call to us who have forgotten to treasure everything we have right now. It shows how very admirably strong these people are, those who survived and are struggling to survive. The strength to live through it and after it, I don't think I would ever have it in me. The help abroad has shown unity across mankind. We Filipinos are very thankful for the abundant help we have received.

But most importantly, for each person who has experienced loss in this tragedy, it may have happened to help us see the Lord. To hold on to Him when there is nothing left to hold on to. It might have happened to teach us faith, hope and strength. 

To end this, I quote a line from Rick Warren: "

You'll never know God is all you need until God is all you have."

MacRitchie Reservoir

A few weeks ago, I was invited for a hike at MacRitchie Reservoir near Toa Payoh area. I'm not really the outdoorsy kind of person but I am open to experiencing it when I get the chance so I went, despite the lack of appropriate gear.

It was an 11-km hike that turned out a 14-km hike for us because we unknowingly took a detour to look at some turtles. There are trails for walking along the forest so it did not turn out as hot as I expected. It also had a lot of wonderful scenery. I wanted to take a lot of photos with my phone but ten minutes after we started the hike, I ran out of battery power.

There was a huge lake in the middle with a lot of small turtles. We also passed by a golf course, and a lot of monkeys along the way. Thank goodness they don't bother you at all (based on our experience).

It was a good hike for me, first time to do one that long, can't believe I got through it without fainting. But my hands were swelling when we got back the starting point. I wonder why that was.

I may go do it again when I get some gear or at least some good shoes.