Chong’s Loft The Journal Of An Average

I can’t really figure out why I did not visit Sentosa Island even though I’ve been to Singapore countless times. I did plan about it many times but yet, they failed miserably due to unforeseen circumstances.

Anyway, now I’m glad to say that I’ve finally been there on my most recent trip to Singapore… and I doubt I’ll be going back there (Sentosa Island) again unless I’ve got NBTD. :P

With various modes of transportation, going into the island is kinda easy. One of the best ways to go is by using their Sentosa Express, somewhat like a monorail. Their station is situated inside of VivoCity shopping mall. And now that they accept EZLink card as another mode of payment, it makes heck a lot easier as we don’t need to purchase ticket over the counter. And that’s how I got my ass into that island.

The first stop was Imbiah Station. Upon exiting from the station, one could see The Merlion. Yes, the lion head with fish body. It’s huge… really huge compared to the one near to the Esplanade. To have a good overall view of it, you have to cross to the opposite of the road. But I’m too lazy on that day. Hehe.

The weather on that day was alright for those who hates sunlight. It was cloudy yet hot and humid but the sky was all dull and grey, not so pleasant for photographers, I would say.

There are 3 main beaches; Sisolo, Palawan and Tanjung. We took a shuttle bus (The Sentosa Bus), which is free btw, from Imbiah Lookout to our first beach stop, Sisolo beach. Or you can opt to take a walk… a very long walk.

As expected, the beaches were clean while there weren’t many people as it was a weekday. From Sisolo beach, to get to other beaches, it’s kinda easy as there is Beach Tram readily available.

Amongst all the beaches (in Sentosa Island), the least crowded one on that day was Tanjung beach. Unsure what’s the reason behind it, I felt like it was kinda empty and there was ongoing construction works.

Our last stop was Palawan Beach. It is situated in between Sisolo and Tanjung beach. There, one can stand on the Southernmost Point of Continental Asia (and also Asia’s closest point to the Equator). At that point, facing out the sea, there were nothing but cargo ships.

There were quite a few things to see and it is ideal for those who wants to enjoy the beach yet do not want to travel far. There are a couple of activities but we did not want to waste any money nor we were interested to do so.

Overall, we took about three hours or so to stroll around Sentosa Island before we headed back to VivoCity for free air-con. :P

It happened on one of those rare opportunities I got during a monsoon season. Not wanting to waste the fine weather, though it was during night time, I took my camera equipments along with me and ventured out to the famous tourist spots to capture some night landscape shots.

As much as I wanted to say having a tripod for night photography does help a lot, but walking for 4 hours with 4kg of camera equipments on one shoulder and another 1.5kg tripod on another shoulder isn’t fun at all. The total weight was killing my shoulders and the walking from Esplanade to Merlion area to Clarke Quay to Suntec was killing my legs, especially my right ankle. Thank god, my battery grip and speedlite weren’t with me. Or else, my arms will literally fall off.

I remembered clearly that my shirt was soaking wet with sweat and I was pretty dehydrated as I forgot to bring along a small bottle of water. But, I got a good reason to enjoy my Toffee Nut Frappuccino from Starbucks while sitting beside the Merlion soaking in the relaxing environment.

But, having said that, with the complaints and all, at the end of the day, looking back at the suffering what I went through, it’s nice to see that all those photos that I wanted to take turned out alright, or at least I think they are. It’s really rewarding to have all those equipments with me as I get to shoot with ease.

Furthermore, one thing that I’ve learned during that night is that night photography requires a lot of patience and persistence. I really do mean A LOT, by a mile or something more. With aching feet, sore shoulders, hot humid weather and slow shutter speed, you get the idea of what I meant by a lot of patience.

While I was minding my own business, there were a couple of tourists approached me for one reason; to teach them how to use their own camera. And that’s because I was holding and fiddling around with my DSLR camera which made them think that I’m good at what I’m doing (taking photos), which I’m not by the way. Learning new stuff (how to operate their cameras) there and then while minding my own business (taking my own photos) wasn’t the easiest thing to do. But, to help them out and getting the results they wanted did make my day a lil better though I’ve wasted much of my time.

All in all, it was pretty fun yet tiring ‘expedition’. All the walking and the waiting and the cursing and the people-watching was kinda relaxing in a way. I hope you like the photos and please feel free to give comments / suggestions / critiques. Head over to my Flickr for more though they are more or less the same.

Sometimes, you’ll get this…

or as dull as this….

or even this…

And occasionally, you’ll get this…

or even this…