Showing posts with label SSS-Shadow Shot Sunday. Show all posts
Showing posts with label SSS-Shadow Shot Sunday. Show all posts

Sunday

Maritime Silk Route Museum - Singapore

I didn't want to go to the Universal Studio, Singapore for the 2nd time, even if it meant I had to hang alone by myself at Resort World Sentosa. Luckily, there was a new attraction, Maritime Experimental Museum and Aquarium. When I purchased the entrance and the Typhoon show tickets (SG $5 & $6), I was told that the aquarium is still under construction!

Entrance - For SOOC.

The museum tries to portray the significance of Admiral Zhen He's seven voyages in the ancient maritime silk route. In those days, this maritime route was equally important like the silk road route that linked East to West.

This maritime route stretches from the South China sea, across the Indian Ocean and connects to the Roman Empire along the Red sea. It is considered as the oldest trade route since 200 BCE. Besides trade, it also helped in nourishing International relationships and cultural exchange.

This museum houses some of the artifacts collected from 8 major ports along this route and in this post I try to picturize my experience!

Chinese navigation instruments - Qunazhou, China

Bamboo products from - Qui Nhon, Vietnam

Colorful puppets - Palembang, Indonesia

Model Ship - Melaka, Malaysia

Mats and vessels - Galle, Srilanka

Snake Charmer - Calicut, India

Arabian Navigation aid Kamal - Muscat, Oman

Exotic products and animals - Malindi, Kenya

It had some interactive displays and games, which reflects ancient mariners life. The interior of the museum was interesting as well!

Miniature ships hanging in midair 

And the souvenir shop curios...

Gift items - exorbitantly priced^^

As for the typhoon show, well, you can watch it once, especially for that starlit ocean view. However, the typhoon and underwater experience was below average, anyway here is a shot that I took before and after the show.

Typhoon Theater, before the Show - Chinese village view

Typhoon Theater after the Show - Under the ocean view

Friday

Sceneries on the Move - Kota Kinabalu

During our holidays in Kota Kinabalu (Sabah, East Malaysia - Borneo Islands) most of the time we were traveling by cab.  Therefore, I had the luxury of enjoying the sceneries and capture them with my DSLR using Sports Mode. Here are some of the shots taken in the city.

This picture is unedited, except for reducing pix - For SOOC Sunday and Monday Blue

Though I'm not much of a fan of this kinda glass and steel buildings, that too in places with temperate climate, l must admit that I fell for this building at that moment purely because of the beautiful cloud reflection!

For Skywatch

Those clouds reminded me of a long train!

Watery reflection!


Sunday

Boats (in and Around England) - from the Archives

Narrowboat in Birmingham canal For SOOC Sunday
Cruise boats on the Thames, London. London Eye and Big Ben are in the background!
Stratford
This ferry is used to reach the other side of the Avon river...
Intelligent Signage!
Boats n yachts dotted at Beachy Head, Eastbourne during Red Arrows Air Show!

This ferry is used to reach the other side of the Avon river, so there is an 'intelligent signage'...

Saturday

Light and Shade

I have guilty conscience, whenever I go through my photo archives (2 + years of captures!). Yes, I feel that I've created a huge backlog in preserving the memory. I intend to make at least a weekly post from the backlog. Here is a series of shots that has light and shade...

@ Jewellery Quarter Museum - Birmingham, UK (Yet to post photos from this Museum)

Somewhere in Reading, UK

Apartments in Choa Chu Kang, Singapore

Ancient Egypt - Universal Studios, Singapore

Dome @ Hassanal Bolkiah Mosque Brunei

Thorn shrubs @ Madurai, India

World War II Memorial @ Labuan, Malaysia (yet to write a post on this) 

Hoping to catch up, before my memory fades!

Friday

A Tale of Mount Kinabalu - Crocker Range

If I just say Mount Kinabalu is the tallest peak in Crocker Ranger in the Borneo Island, it sounds like a mundane primary school Geography lesson. To make it interesting, let me tell the local story that we heard from Hatta, our cabbie (similar version is available in Wikipedia as well).

After few KMs down the road from Kota Kinabalu, Hatta pointed at the distant mist covered Mount Kinabalu and I wanted to take a picture, so he pulled over. From then, he started telling about the legendary folklore vividly:)

Kinabalu sneaking out of mist

Eons ago A Chinese Prince was marooned in this part of the Borneo. He fell in love with a local Kadazan tribal girl and married her.

View from Bundhu Tuhan - a kampung (Village in Malay)on the way to Kinabalu

They lived happily and had children!

The Prince started missing his parents, and wanted to visit them. He told his wife that he would go home, meet and get permission from his dad (the Chinese Emperor), and take his wife and the children to China.

Pic taken from the moving cab - using sports mode

Though the girl was apprehensive at first, she believed in the prince's promise that he would come back for her and bid him farewell.

From the moving cab - Village where the Kadazan girl lived!?

Entrance to National Park - UNESCO site

The Kadazan girl was eagerly waiting for the prince. However, the sea shore was far from her village. So, she climbed the tallest mountain near her village to gaze at the South China Sea, hoping to see the prince' ship.

Guest houses for the climbers

As months passed to years, there was no sign of the prince.

Timpohon Point view - Kinabalu

Forced by the Emperor, the prince married another princess for the benefit of the kingdom, and kept away from the Kadazan girl with a heavy heart. Sounds like a typical bollywood movie plot, or any mythological, mystical, historical story, right?

Timpohon Point view - valley

Well, the poor girl was not aware of the prince' betrayal, so she went up the mountain everyday at dawn and came back to the village only at night, to tend to their children.

Entrance to the trekking path leading to Mount Kinabalu

Only climbers with permit are allowed and guide are allowed

We heard only seasoned climbers could make it!

As you go higher, the weather is cold. Imagine how the Kadazan girl would have suffered the harsh weather! By, now the villagers had started calling her the widow of the Chinese prince, as they assumed that the prince might have died on the sea!

Mount Kinabalu - from the viewing deck above the trekking entrance

Finally, the dedicated wife died on the hill top, still longing for the prince. The villagers started believing that her ghost was up in the mountain, waiting for the prince' return and they honored her by naming the mount as Kinabalu meaning Chinese Widow in Kadazan language!

We were touched by the story:)
You might also like to read/see pics of my other Borneo experiences...

Poring - Canopy Walkway Bridge
Aerial Views - Borneo
Water ways of Brunei - Air Kampung, Venice of the East
The Giant Flower - Rafflesia
Jesselton - Kota Kinabalu


Thursday

Melaka River by Night

Attracted by the Melaka River Fiesta banners, we decided to play tourist in the city where we live. It was my first attempt at night photography:)

Miniature of Dutch Windmill at Melaka City Center

We decided to take on a night river cruise, so went to the boat jetty...

Casa Del Rio on the banks of Sungai Melaka

Another view besides the ticket booth...

A view from the boat

Add caption

Here are

Friday

Shuttle Hope - Meet the Captian

We planned to stop over at Labuan Island (Union Territory of Malaysia), on the way from Brunei to Kota Kinabalu during our holidays in Borneo. It is a mere 1.5 hours journey by ferry from Brunei to Labuan and from there we had booked our flight (MAS Wings airline) to Kota Kinabalu. Since the day I visited the cockpit in an aircraft, I've been hoping to visit a ships' control room too.

Click on the images to enlarge


Shuttle Hope
Well, thatz exactly not a ship, but it is a fairly big sized ferry that we took from Brunei to Labuan.
Loading vehicles @ Brunei immigration - Muara terminal

The first thing that I noticed as soon as I boarded was this chained staircase, meaning restricted area!

And, the urge to go up and take a look was too high, so I asked the one of the uniformed crew members if I could go up. "Wait mam, will check with the captain and come", he said. Within minutes, he came back and let me go up...



First I saw the captain- was not sure if he would let me in...

The Captain seemed to be busy, so I was hesitating to enter, but just then he waved at me to come in! Captain Nurniwan was soft-spoken and was not fluent in English. We managed to communicate with his broken English and my broken Malay! First off he said that Shuttle Hope was made in Japan and the capacity of this vessel is about 200 passengers and can take 45 cars at a cruising speed of 15 knots. "Got 2 engines, so can bring cars/buses from one side and drive through the other side" said the captain and walked me to the other engine in the rear...
Rear engine...

When he knew that I was from India, he commented that before heading this 'ship' he was working in large ships and used to go to ports of Kozhikode & Calcutta in India! With his permission, I started taking pictures of the gadgets and cabins in this deck.

When the captain showed me the 'eye' of the ship, I was fascinated and asked him "what can it see?"

The captain opened the GPS like EYE and said, "Look at that ship, now this 'eye' can 'see' and tell the name and other details of that ship", and we learnt that the name of that ship was Oriental! He further explained that "see this radar, can show if any boat or ship come in my way, especially during bad weather, and the transducer tells me the depth of the water and with this wireless phone can communicate with other ships or with ports...""How safe is this ferry, that too if it rains heavily or...?" for which the captain said, "don't worry, no tsunami in this part of the region and it is quite stable". Satisfied with this I moved on to take a couple of shots of the Brunei Bay...
Passengers boarding a small ferry

In this kind of ferries, you will be cooped up throughout the journey!

Now, I moved on to the other part of the captain's deck...
The Crew's kitchen...

For a 9 member crew, the kitchen seemed to be small, but well this ferry goes only on short trips, so it should be fine!
Shrill sound of the ferry's whistle prompted that we were about to start our journey...so I decided to go back to the passenger's deck and to my surprise, the captain was kind enough to offer any help if I needed!
Passenger deck

Coming down to the passenger deck, I realized that, practically we had the entire ferry to ourselves! Towards the rear end, I saw this...
Emergency plan showing the vessel's layout...

'Not bad' I thought, thatz why the captain had commented earlier that Shuttle Hope was safe, with all this elaborate safety measures!

You might also like to read/see pics of my other Borneo experiences...Poring - Canopy Walkway Bridge
Aerial Views - Borneo
Water ways of Brunei - Air Kampung, Venice of the East
The Giant Flower - Rafflesia

























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