Afternoon Walk

"From the child's first faltering step across the homely carpet, to the astronaut's "one giant stride for mankind" over the alien moon dust, walking is the simplest but most glorious declaration of human independence." - Duncan Minshull

A lovely day for a walk.

Another walk on my regular route. This is my preferred route for a walk. It is a nice route. Besides, using the same route means you get to know the regular walkers, and joggers. Sometimes, we greet each other in passing, and sometimes, we keep in step and have a chat when time permits.

In this way, I have gotten to know quite a few of the regular walkers. However there are people who had used the route, and whom I have seen since I started using the route some fifteen years ago that I still haven’t managed to break the ice with. These people look like they are in a world of their own. They don’t even look at you when passing you. Their body language and message is very clear – ‘Leave me alone’. And, leave them alone, I did.

In all the years, I have never seen them acknowledge another person – not even one. Talk about weird people. There are quite a few of them around.

However, there are always other people around who are keen to chat, if I so wish. These are mostly seniors and they sound lonely. Some lament about life and the physical pain they have to bear. I try to soften their morbid outlook by saying they are already better off than a lot of others by being able to take a walk on their own, taking in fresh air, and enjoying the beauty of nature.

I don’t know if that helped to make them feel better, but they do agree with what I said.

Here are some pictures of the day and the plants along the route.

Citharexylum spinosum fiddlewood. Beautiful flowers with a lovely fragrant.

Ficus Pulima creeping fig plant. They are good covers for walls.

A baby monitor lizard. I think this one is dead.

This one is very much alive in the water.

New flats. They are almost ready.

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Reflections In The Stream

I visited a park that was open recently. The boardwalk trail took me over a stream. I think this was where the granite quarry once was. They have back-filled the quarry and now a stream flows through.

There were quite a few people on the boardwalk looking into the distance. I stopped to see what they were looking at. I overheard some of them talking about some birds in the distance. They were bird watchers, excited about what they had seen – a bird of a certain species.

I am not a bird watcher. I don’t have binoculars nor good eyesight to see very far. However, I saw some beautiful reflections in the stream. I took a few pictures of the reflections in the water, and left the bird watchers to their bird watching.

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Paraprosdokians

Some humour is straight forward. You see or hear them, and you burst out laughing. Others are more subtle. You need a second or two, to see the humour in them.

Paraprosdokians are an example, the punch line is dropped a second or two later, giving what was said an entirely different meaning, wherein lies the humour. You will notice a lot of these in comedy shows. Stand-Up comedians use them a lot to get the laughs too.

Here are some paraprosdokians for you. Remember the ones you like, and you can go put a smile on someone's face. They might not tell you, but they will be thankful to you for that. We all like someone who can make us laugh.

Pulled out a nose hair today to see if it hurt... Judging by the reaction of the man asleep next to me on the bus, it seems pretty painful. - Unknown

I haven’t spoken to my wife in years. I didn’t want to interrupt her. - Rodney Dangerfield

When my wife gets a little upset, sometimes a simple ‘calm down’ in a soothing voice is all it takes to get her a lot upset. - Unknown

If ants are such busy workers, how come they find time to go to all the picnics. - Marie Dressler

I’ve suffered from all of the hang-ups known, and none is as bad as the telephone. - Richard Armour

Always forgive your enemies, nothing annoys them quite so much. - Oscar Wilde

I drink to make other people look more interesting. - George Jean Nathan

Don’t take life so seriously … you will never get out of it alive. - Elbert Hubbard

I know I am getting better at golf because I am hitting fewer spectators. - Gerald R. Ford

Superstition is foolish, childish, primitive and irrational – but how much does it cost you to knock on wood? - Unknown

I wasn’t planning on going for a run today … but those cops came of nowhere. - Unknown

You can’t always control who walks into your life … but you can control which window you throw them out of. - Unknown

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Promenade In The Evening

There are many attractions along the Marina Bay promenade. There’s the Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay, (Singapore’s premier arts center), the ArtScience museum, the Marina Bay Sands integrated resort; there are shopping malls, restaurants, eateries and watering holes… There is ‘Spectra’ – a light and water show in the evenings. So, the promenade has plenty of activities to keep it interesting.

It starts to get busy in the late afternoon (when it is not too hot), until quite late in the evenings. Besides people taking in the sights, there are also cyclists, joggers, and skateboarders using the 3.5km promenade after office hours.

In the evening, lights from the building in the financial district add colours and a touch of class to the place. With the weather cooler in the evenings, and the place so scenic, the promenade is indeed a very pleasant place for a walk.

Here are some pictures of the evening scene of the Promenade.

Lights from the business district lighting up the skyline at the promenade.

The iconic Marina Bay Sands integrated resort, and the ArtScience museum in the left forefront.

Artistic design of an open air stage.

There are performances - live bands, or cultural performances on special occasions, and when there are festivals.

A couple of shots of the area in the evening.

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Gardens By The Bay

The Gardens by the Bay sits on 101 hectares of reclaimed land in the Central region of Singapore. It is without a doubt, the number one tourist attraction in Singapore. There are many attractions in the garden. You would need a whole day to visit them all.

The aim of the garden is to be a “showcase of horticulture and garden artistry that will bring the world of plants to Singapore and present Singapore to the world.”

Because it is such a big place, work in the gardens is ongoing. And to attract returning visitors, there is always something new on the go.

One has to visit the Gardens by the Bay to appreciate the amount of work that had gone into the planning, the attractions, and the maintenance of the place. Words are not adequate enough to describe the garden, and one post is not enough to sum up what the garden has to offer. I will post regularly on my visits to the garden, and introduce the number one tourist attraction in Singapore here. If you are interested to see what the Garden has to offer, or maybe you like gardens, plants and flowers – be sure to follow me on here.

Today’s post is on the garden’s surrounding – some of the attractions, and plants found in the gardens.

They are called ‘super trees’. There are 18 of them in the Gardens by the Bay. The base, and ‘trunk’ of the tree are covered in plants, making each tree a vertical garden itself.

Bromeliads at the base of the super trees.

A tram taking visitors around the gardens for a small fee. For some, the ride is included in the tickets to attractions.

The hall outside the Floral Fantasy attraction.

I like the idea of the creepers creating a screen.

Beautiful Thunbergia erecta flower. It is a herbaceous perennial climbing plant.

Gomphrena globosa, commonly known as globe amaranth. What I thought was the flower are actually bracts. Within the flower head, the flowers are small and inconspicuous.

Bamboo garden

Palm tree

Kapok trees in bloom

I am not sure what these are meant to be. They look like benches. I think the images depict a warning of global warming.

Bronze cast sculpture of a ‘Charging Bull’, by sculptor Anna Chiara Spellini, donated by the Bank of America.

Another bronze cast sculpture of a bull. This one is by sculptor Walter Matia called ‘Magnificent Bull’ - also donated by the Bank of America.

A view of the iconic Marina Bay Sands Hotel from the gardens

More information on the garden HERE

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