Can I stay for awhile?

The post title is actually part of the lyrics to the song Beautiful Love by The Afters. I find that the song fits my group’s tour around downtown Singapore yesterday night! Play and then pause the song to allow it to buffer :)

Title: Beautiful Love (album: I Wish We All Could Win)
Band: The Afters

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In the tunnel, the Xomura group! *From left, Yongzhen, Liyuan, Chongjyn, Chiajuan, Gilbert, Chongyen, Jackson, Brigitt, Huilin, Teikbing, Sinyee, Soonleong, Wendli, Yicheng and Chongxian.

We were making our way to Boat Quay when passing through an idea triggered the creativity bulb and so this photo was taken. I was a little panicky because there’s still old man behind he on his tricycle and he has been waiting patiently for us to get into our photo-formation :p sorry uncle to make you wait!

Entering the tunnel...

Taken seconds before the bulb of creativity lighted up :) we were walking into this pedestrian tunnel. I purposely increased the shuttle speed a little more (but not too much, since I have shaky hands!) to create that motion blur of the moving people.

At Marina Square's sky garden.

Before that we had dinner at Marina Square food court, and we were lucky enough to be able to admire the dazzling fireworks display of the NDP rehearsal with great awe. I didn’t have any photo taken because I was too busy digging in *weak smile* heheh, whoops. Living on cheap campus food for the past week resulted in me having a rude shock when a Japanese bento set cost me S$6.50 – well, you can buy one over at any NTU canteen for half the price! After the crowd of people in red dispersed when the display ended, we embarked on the journey on foot to Esplanade.

Posing with a bull... with huge balls!

Along the way to Esplanade we stumbled upon a bronze (?) statue of a bull… with huge balls! With intrinsic reflexes kicking into action, everyone crowded in front of the statue and I whipped out my camera. So here it is! The shape of the lips of certain people is explained by the fact that they screamed BALLS! when the photo was taken.

Merlion at night, from the Esplanade Bridge.

Merlion doesn’t look good now with those ugly cranes in the background. To make things worse, they’re RUSHING to get the Integrated Resort completed ASAP, which explains why the lights were all switched on even after dark. Damn! The wind was blowing at the wrong direction that night, so anyone who made their way to the viewing platform will get a generous spray of the local salty sea water right in their faces. My camera wasn’t spared this fate, so it was all sticky and slimy when the water dried up.

Merlion against the CBD skyscrapers.

The Merlion shot against the gorgeous backdrop of skyscrapers in the CBD. It was a little overexposed, all thanks to me doing the AE metering at the wrong place, heheh.

At Clarke Quay, a place buzzing with life when darkness falls.

We walked pass Clarke Quay and a long row of colourful night shops, pubs and clubs buzzing with life. Foreigners were all around the place – you don’t get to see so many of them on the streets usually (maybe except for Orchard). There’s so many eateries along this row of shops that you can literally find any food you can think of. I was initially a little worried that Clarke Quay being a sleazy place just like Geylang, a famous red light district area in Singapore, but I was pleasantly surprised by the peaceful atmosphere.

Outside Hokkaido Icecream #1 *From left, Chongjyn, Soonleong, Chiajuan and Jackson.

Outside Hokkaido Icecream #2 *From left, Sinyee, Brigitt, Huilin, Chiajuan and Jackson.

At Centrepoint, we dropped by Hokkaido Icecream and bought desserts, as well as give our tired, crippling legs a chance to catch a breath. My sweet tooth wasn’t activated that night so I wasn’t particularly in a mood to eat something sweet, so I have the tasty gelatos a pass… which is the worst decision I’ve ever made! Looking at everyone enjoying the lingering sweetness of the melting gelato, I regretted for not buying one – the shop closed shortly after my friends made their purchases. Coincidence? Not. Bad karma, that is!

Group photo at Boat Quay!

A final group photo opportunity came when we were walking around Boat Quay ;) I love the atmosphere there, although it was a little too crowded for comfort on a balmy Saturday night. The Haggen Daaz icecream booth was seducing me, but I decided to give it a pass since I wouldn’t want to splurge S$9 just on things that melt, haha!

*Not bringing a tripod with me for the trip was proven to be a tripping stone for photographic opportunities. Most of the photos are either blurred or, horribly blurred, all thanks to my shaky hands. Note to self: by hook or by crook, bring a tripod whever you’re heading out with your camera at night!

p/s: Huilin from my group also wrote a post on this outing! If you have time, do check it out!