Wednesday 31 August 2011

Postcard from Singapore

A small selection of some of the great food we had while scouting for photographic locations in Singapore. Watch this space for more on the photo tour planned for the end of next year
Greetings from Singapore! I'm here for a few days to scout locations for a new CCE Photo Tour planned for late 2012. Although still at the planning stage, this is likely to include stopovers in Singapore, plus Malacca and Penang in Malaysia.

 

The thing about this island state is that it has a lot more to offer the photographer than simply Orchard Road shopping, a few swanky hotels, and the best airport in the region. A lot more.
Personally I find this place incredibly colourful - and this is one of the driving reasons to stop here for a few days on a photo tour. Singapore is an incredible melting pot of cultures from India, China, Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia, among others. The result is a conglomerate of great colours, amazing music, unusual natural artifacts, a real mix of clothing styles, religions and most important, fabulous food. 




I spent most of the time with ex CCE -students Myriam and Davy Young who came with our CCE trip to East Africa back in 2010. Ostensibly I met up with them to 'check' on the progress of their Blurb book from the trip. "It's still in the planning stage..." I was told. Hmm....  In fact, they had some great animal shots but a busy life, in Singapore and overseas, had slowed the bookmaking project almost to a halt. So we just ate a lot of fantastic food to fill in the time while we discussed the book...

 
 

As you can see from these snaps, there's plenty of great colour to be shot in Singapore, as well as some carefully preserved history, a mass of temples, shrines and mosques to visit, great shopping, classy fashion and food, food, food. My favourite places? Little India. Along Serangoon Road. It's a mass of colour, raucous Hindi music, the musty smells of grinding spices, coffee roasting in the coffee shops, and an eclectic mix of great food. Plus Chinatown! I have been to Singapore many, many times but never really got past the tatty tourist shops in Temple and Smith Streets. Thanks to our hosts, the Youngs, we got to experience some of the best food and markets in the area, just around the back of Sago Street.
As with many other hawker centres, here you can wander among 100+ stalls and choose a breakfast or lunch style from Bali, Hainan, Peking, Teow Cheow, Malaysia, Penang, Sumatera, Taiwan or India. Or a combination of several in one sitting! All within 50 metres of each other. Nothing costs more than a few dollars and the quality is excellent.

Laser show above the new Singapore casino and Marina Bay Sands hotel complex

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