deportes

great shots, keep it up

Charlatan

So my son came to Singapore for a visit over March Break. It was a great visit and I took a tonne of photos but many of them have him in them. As a result you will have to settle for these:

This is detail on a wall sculpture that depicts early Singapura. It is located at the bottom of the stairs leading up to Fort Canning (and it is about 100 metres to the west of the fire station I photographed above).


This is a sculpture in the Singapore Botanic Garden


and another one...


A small lizard on a bridge at the Sungei Buloh Wetlands Reserve (it's a mangrove swamp)


This one was a little larger...


This one was larger still... just about five feet or so. I didn't get as close to this guy as I did to the previous one.


These odd shaped things are part of the cooling system at Clarke Quay. The architect says they are called "whale's tails" but as soon as my son saw them he knew what they looked like...


This is the main entrance to a restaurant/club called Clinic. It's all hospital theme...


A bum boat


This spider was literally larger than the span of my hand... fricken huge!


Very odd creatures of the sea, seen at Underwater World


This was on the island of Palau Ubin. You can see Malaysia across the water... this fence reminds me of something out of Planet of the Apes


We visited Haw Par Village... a crazy place made by one of the Tiger Balm Brothers. It features diaramas from Chinese Mythology including the 10 Courts of Hell... great fun for the kids!


Don't forget to pay your debts kids! or else!!!


From the Third Court of Hell: Yama -- Ungratefullness, Disrespect to your elders, escape from Prison? Get your heart cut out!


Drug addicts and trafficers, tomb robbers and urging people to civil unrest? Tied to a red hot copper pillar and grilled!


Plotted the death of another to get his property or money? A money lender with exorbitant interest rates? Thrown onto a hill of blades.


Disobedient to ones siblings, not showing enough filial piety? Ground between two stones.


The courts of hell seem to go on and on. Here are some the other attractions in this oddball place.








This is the Monk from Journey to the West being tempted by the ladies of loose morals... he prevails.


Oh My God... You Killed Kenny!


Cops are cracking down on the whore house

__________________
"My hands are on fire. Hands are on fire. Ain't got no more time for all you charlatans and liars."
- Old Man Luedecke

Fly

wow.




that's fucked up Chuck.




i like it.

__________________
BASTARD

SterlingStudios

Charlatan

It's totally fucked up. The Chinese have some some really strange moral code. From what I've been able to decipher, this Courts of Hell derive from a combination of Taoist and Buddhist teaching.

This list of things that would get you punished was such that there are very few who wouldn't have some sort of terrible punishment done to them.

At the end of the ordeals you are given a Tea of Forgetfulness by this really kind old Auntie. Then you forget your last life and the ordeal and go onto your next incarnation.

__________________
"My hands are on fire. Hands are on fire. Ain't got no more time for all you charlatans and liars."
- Old Man Luedecke

Fly

yup.......it's a weird world we live in eh?


glad you're bringing the other side of it to us too man.


thanks Charlie..........oh did i mention that,that's fucked up?

__________________
BASTARD

SterlingStudios

Giant Hamburger

Hail Charlatan!

Excellent photo-documentation.
It makes me realize that I need more giant lizards in my habitat.

See you in hell,
-GH

mixedmedia

Thanks for sharing these, Charlatan. I'd love to see all those for myself.

__________________
Most people go through life dreading they'll have a traumatic experience. Freaks were born with their trauma. They've already passed their test in life. They're aristocrats. - Diane Arbus
PESSIMISM, n. A philosophy forced upon the convictions of the observer by the disheartening prevalence of the optimist with his scarecrow hope and his unsightly smile. - Ambrose Bierce

Charlatan

Time for some new photos.

I was in France a few weeks back. This is a building that is getting renovated. I have seen exterior walls being preserved but never just the top of the wall.


A piece of vanilla pie... it wasn't very good.


The Forbidden Lawn...


On the way back from France, I had a five hour layover in Amsterdam so I popped into the city to hang out with some friends who were there for the weekend.

Me...


The streets


The large ramping structure in the centre of the photo is a parking structure for bicycles. There were many (MANY!) bicycles on the streets of Amsterdam. This was in stumbling distance of the main train station so there were more than the average parked. More cities could learn from this example.


I love the LRTs they have in Amsterdam, I am hoping that Toronto's plan for "Transit City" goes forward and we have a fleet of these linking the suburbs to downtown.


The central train station...



Last Sunday, I met up with some friends for some very tasty curry in Little India. Little India on Sundays are very crowded. Sundays are when most of the imported construction workers get the day off.

__________________
"My hands are on fire. Hands are on fire. Ain't got no more time for all you charlatans and liars."
- Old Man Luedecke

Laugh-O-Matic

You should've pushed one cycle down.

__________________
How you bore me, Florrie,
With those eyes of vacant blue;
You'll be very sorry, Florrie
If I marry you.
Though I'm easy-goin', Florrie,
This I swear is true,
I'll throw you down a quarry, Florrie,
If I marry you. - Saki.

Jetée

You have a keen sense of style and perception Charlatan!

A constant reminder that I need to splurge for a camera.

__________________
As human beings, our greatness lies not so much in being able to remake the world (that is the myth of the Atomic Age) as in being able to remake ourselves.

—Mohandas K. Gandhi

Charlatan

A few weeks ago I went to Johor Bahru for a wedding. JB is in Malaysia, just across the causeway from Singapore.

The queue to get across the causeway is rather long, but we made good time. The neat thing was the seemingly endless line of motorcycles crossing.



Just outside the Hindu temple in the heart of Johor Bahru are a number of these shops selling garlands to the faithful.


The Hindu Temple at night


These ladies were just standing around chatting outside the temple.


A side street in Johor Bahru, lined with street food.


Refraction


These next few were taken at the night market in Danga Bay, JB. The whole time I was there, I kept thinking about that classic Canadian series, Danger Bay.

dried fruit


More dried stuff... very stinky...


Caution parts designed to fall apart and choke...


OMG! They killed Teddy!!


Stop the ride, I wanna get off!


Watches. You want or not?



A shop selling Joss Paper and other accoutrement to the faithful attending the Chinese Temple across the road.


Atop the Chinese Temple


A prototype for the Gorn?


the pen is mightier...


Astroboy... Not in the Chinese Temple... but it would be funny to see him there.


Don't wander into the wrong place in Malaysia or you will be forced to dance like an idiot on crack...

__________________
"My hands are on fire. Hands are on fire. Ain't got no more time for all you charlatans and liars."
- Old Man Luedecke

Charlatan

OK... Martian has motivated me to post some of the stuff I have taken lately.

My wife and I had a night a few weeks back in this hotel... it had a tub on the patio outside.


A view of St. Andrew's Cathedral from the top of the Stamford Hotel.


Another view from the top... looking west towards the Singapore River.


A dragon.


And a lion...


Saltwater crocs are fricken huge...


A tree at the zoo, if you look closely you can see the free ranging Orangutans


Orangutans... just hanging out.


I think they must have hired Giant Hamburger to decorate the Science Centre...


Giant Tongue and Nose...


This is in front of a church right across the road from one of the best cinemas in town. Can't escape this sort of lunacy.


I was wandering and came across this closed and old cinema (I am told it was the first one in town and hasn't been open for years).

__________________
"My hands are on fire. Hands are on fire. Ain't got no more time for all you charlatans and liars."
- Old Man Luedecke

Glory's Sun

those are some great shots char..

love the cathedral shot

Charlatan

Some new shots

The Theatres on Esplanade (better known locally as the Durians).


My colleague wanted me to pick up some macaroons while I was in Cannes... the store was very nice... I didn't want to leave.


I was out the other night and end up at a roof top bar in Chinatown... the view was nice.

[IMG]ttp://farm3.static.flickr.com/2114/2044692177_bc2944553b.jpg[/IMG]

You could see right through this guy...


As I said in my journal, we missed Thanksgiving, back in October, because I was in France on business. There were a bunch of other Canadians who also missed it because they were travelling so we decided that since we were about mid way between Christmas and Thanksgiving we would celebrate Thanksmas (no good Canadian would celebrate Thanksgiving in November...).
While I was busy in the kitchen making the feast, my wife was busy making the table look nice.



Happy Thanksmas everyone!

__________________
"My hands are on fire. Hands are on fire. Ain't got no more time for all you charlatans and liars."
- Old Man Luedecke

Giant Hamburger

I want a giant tongue for a couch.

I wish for you and your family a powerful Thanksmas!

Fly

nice.........

Chucks back..........




and i figured GH would go for the nose...........silly me.

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SterlingStudios

troit

What its like on a Saturday night at the Troit household...



Her - "Honey, maybe we should use some KY?"

*I know its not that funny but that's all I got today...

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I've yet to dephile myself...

Charlatan

I have a picture of my son lounging on the tongue but can't post it here... next time I will get him to take a picture of me on the tongue.


And I thought it would be the giant squid... silly me, he probably already has one.

__________________
"My hands are on fire. Hands are on fire. Ain't got no more time for all you charlatans and liars."
- Old Man Luedecke

Charlatan

Ranger just reminded me that I haven't submitted anything new to this thread in a while... I don't have much to upload these days as almost all of my shots of late have my kids in them.

Some of the Christmas lights and traffic on Orchard Road




A jetty on the East Coast


A close up of the stones on a Reflexology path. You are supposed to walk barefoot over these stones.


One of the radio towers in Bukit Batok Nature Park. This is also the location where the Japanese erected a memorial to their dead after they invaded Singapore in WWII.


The Koi in the pond outside my window


I also just updated the thread to reload the earlier photos that were deleted when the administration deleted all of the attachments... It was kind of fun to go back and look at stuff from a few years ago...

Including some TFP meetups in Toronto, Rochester and LA.

__________________
"My hands are on fire. Hands are on fire. Ain't got no more time for all you charlatans and liars."
- Old Man Luedecke

Charlatan

Over Chinese New Year the kids and I went on a few walks. The first part is in the Arab Quarter.

This is a statue in front of the very art deco building I posted above:


This is the heart of Arab Street's tourist area:


This is the mosque at the heart of the Arab Quarter:


On the last day of the Chinese Year break we wandered over to the Chinese Garden. I took a lot of neat shots but sadly these are the only ones that don't have the kids in them... what can I say, I like taking shots of the monsters.

This is the tower at the heart of the garden:


One of the guards on the stairs leading to the tower:


We climbed to the top of the tower and this is looking down from the top:

__________________
"My hands are on fire. Hands are on fire. Ain't got no more time for all you charlatans and liars."
- Old Man Luedecke

Martian

Man, I just got schooled. Shoulda listened to Fly.

I'm digging the stairs. They're trippy.

__________________
I wake up in the morning more tired than before I slept
I get through cryin' and I'm sadder than before I wept
I get through thinkin' now, and the thoughts have left my head
I get through speakin' and I can't remember, not a word that I said

- Ben Harper, Show Me A Little Shame

Charlatan

The stairs in the local Art Museum... it used to be a monastery.


Monkeys on the roof of the guard house at our condo.


Humps

__________________
"My hands are on fire. Hands are on fire. Ain't got no more time for all you charlatans and liars."
- Old Man Luedecke

Charlatan

A couple of weekends ago, my wife and I took a trip to a small island off the coast of Malaysia...

This was someone's house but I think it was also used as a polling station in the recent Malaysian elections.


A pay phone that struck me as odd.


One of the peaks on the island... I am guessing this is a dead volcano.


An abandoned house (shed?)


One of the three jetties I saw on the island. You can see Tioman Island looming in the background.


I went for a walk up the beach...


Some rocks on the beach


Some sort of bone. I don't know for sure what it's from but think it's probably part of a turtle... anyone else know?


One of the boats the locals had moored off the shore. They used little kayaks to get out to them.


My wife's back. (when did she leave?)


Getting ready to leave the island. Our boat had broken down so we had to wait a few extra hours for a new one to come and get us...


Some of our party decided to go for a beer while we waited for the new boat... this is looking back from the Jetty.


One last shot looking back from the Jetty.

__________________
"My hands are on fire. Hands are on fire. Ain't got no more time for all you charlatans and liars."
- Old Man Luedecke

settie

Wow! Amazing pictures Charlatan! I have a camera phone, and there's no way it takes pictures half as nice as the ones you take, you need an extremely steady hand to take a picture, motionless like a statue.

Someday I will travel the world like this, you know, when I'm not a starving student. :P I think my favourite picture is off the crab patterns on the beach....amazing! ^_^

I looked through these pretty fast, but I don't recall seeing any of Japan. Have you ever been there? I'm very interested in taking a trip there someday. :P

I confess seeing all of those pictures of Toronto makes me so excited to move there. You'll have to give me the TFP tour so I can know where to get the best coffee, eat the best burgers, etc.

Martian

Charlatan's not here to give you a tour, dude. He left us so he could go live in Singapore. Something about following his dreams.

I still cry myself to sleep over it.

Also, I really, truly hope you're not expecting to see palm trees and monkies in Toronto.

__________________
I wake up in the morning more tired than before I slept
I get through cryin' and I'm sadder than before I wept
I get through thinkin' now, and the thoughts have left my head
I get through speakin' and I can't remember, not a word that I said

- Ben Harper, Show Me A Little Shame

settie

LMAO! Holy shit! I had no idea Charlatan moved to Singapore!
Well damn, I'll need to find another Tdot guide when I move there. :P
Haha, Martian, I live two hours from Toronto now. I confess, I haven't been to Toronto in a year or two, but damn, if there's palm trees there now, why didn't I get the memo?

Martian

In regards to the mystery bone, I suspect turtle as well. My five minute Google search has taught me that a turtle's shell is made up of a series of bone plates that are fused together in a manner not unlike the bones of a mammalian skull. The ribs, in turn, are fused to the plates. What we appear to be looking at is one of the plates from a turtle's shell with a portion of the rib attached.

Of course, I could be wrong. I'm no expert in biology, and most of what I do know relates to arthropods (creepy crawlies).

__________________
I wake up in the morning more tired than before I slept
I get through cryin' and I'm sadder than before I wept
I get through thinkin' now, and the thoughts have left my head
I get through speakin' and I can't remember, not a word that I said

- Ben Harper, Show Me A Little Shame

fresnelly

It couldn't possibly be a turtle. They're so gooey and yummy.


Thanks for sharing more photos. I love the textures in the Koi Pond Photo.

__________________
Building an artificial intelligence that appreciates Mozart is easy. Building an A.I. that appreciates a theme restaurant is the real challenge - Kit Roebuck - Nine Planets Without Intelligent Life

Kahn

Having only recently found this thread and just now finishing my view of each and every image .. I'm in awe. You live a life most only dream to live small parts of man and you are truly blessed to see and do as much as you have.

The fact that you have an incredible sense of what is actually quite photogenic and appealing to view is even more awe-inspiring, and added to that, the generosity in which you have bestowed upon us, the viewer, in sharing all of these small moments in your incredibly wonderful life thus far.

I, for one, thank you kindly for your time spent in sharing all the images and what they mean to you, and hope you continue to do so in the future. The camera upgrade has been a vast improvement for me as well, since the photo quality is greatly improved for my failing vision.

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Attention everyone: We have another potential asshole in the area !

You don't have bad luck, the reason bad things happen to you is because you're a dumbass !!

Dinner $50
Drinks $30
Motel $40

Finding out she swallows -
PRICELESS!!!

Charlatan

Hey Guys... thanks for the great comments. I am really glad to hear that you are enjoying the shots.

Settie: Martian is correct, I am no longer living in Toronto, but I can guarantee you that any one of the TFP member from TO can hook you up with a great tour of the city.

Khan: I am glad you enjoyed them. I don't post photos as frequently as I once did but I will do my best to keep them coming.

__________________
"My hands are on fire. Hands are on fire. Ain't got no more time for all you charlatans and liars."
- Old Man Luedecke

genuinegirly

Your photos of Malaysia are stunning. Oh, how they make me miss the tropics!

__________________
"Sometimes I have to remember that things are brought to me for a reason, either for my own lessons or for the benefit of others." Cynthetiq

"violence is no more or less real than non-violence." roachboy

Martian

So genuinegirly bumped this thread, and I glanced through some of the pictures. Upon doing so I realized that I'd missed the spider picture posted above. I don't know how.

You may have already come across this information, but that little arachnopodian friend of yours is Nephila pilipes, the golden orb-web spider. She also goes by the rather apt name of the giant wood spider, and she spins the largest known webs of any spiders, which may measure as much as 5 feet across. She feeds on large flying arthropods (and occasionally small birds) but is essentially harmless to humans.

The male of the species has a body length of about half a centimetre.

A picture of the very closely related banana spider, with a male for comparison:

__________________
I wake up in the morning more tired than before I slept
I get through cryin' and I'm sadder than before I wept
I get through thinkin' now, and the thoughts have left my head
I get through speakin' and I can't remember, not a word that I said

- Ben Harper, Show Me A Little Shame

Charlatan

Thanks Martian! I hadn't looked into it but I can say that I have never seen a larger spider so up close and personal. Massive!

I was in Amsterdam last weekend and managed to take a few shots...





About five minutes after this, it was pitching down with wet snow and rain. The first snow I've seen in over a year.


This was a detail on a bridge near my hotel. I can't help but wonder what history this bridge has seen.


This just made me laugh. I know you can still find this kind of thing but it's always shocking when you do.

__________________
"My hands are on fire. Hands are on fire. Ain't got no more time for all you charlatans and liars."
- Old Man Luedecke

Charlatan

One more from my trip a week ago...

Here is the view from my latest hotel room in Cannes. The hotel was only a two-star but it was close to the Palais des Festival (the convention centre). Since joining this new company I have had the greatest difficulty securing decent housing while in Cannes.

Anyway, you can see the Cannes train station in the foreground. I think it's a rather ugly building. The only neat thing about it is mural on the side is a recreation of Lumiere Brother's film of a train entering a station, which is one of the first films ever publicly screened. There are many film murals all over town... this is Cannes after all.

__________________
"My hands are on fire. Hands are on fire. Ain't got no more time for all you charlatans and liars."
- Old Man Luedecke

Tully Mars

What an interesting shot.

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I used to drink to drown my sorrows, but the damned things have learned how to swim- Frida Kahlo

Vice President Starkizzer Fan Club

fresnelly

When I was there in 2002 I stayed in a Days Inn (or some similar chain. My memory is hazy) across from the Train station. Neato.

__________________
Building an artificial intelligence that appreciates Mozart is easy. Building an A.I. that appreciates a theme restaurant is the real challenge - Kit Roebuck - Nine Planets Without Intelligent Life

Charlatan

It's been a while since I posted here.

We took a weekend trip to Hong Kong a few weeks back and here are some of the photos.

Hong Kong at night from Kowloon.


Just out front a of a little flower shop next to my hotel.


Some cool roots in the middle of the city.


Some pillow made in the image of one of their politicians. You were invited to cuddle up with them. We did but I can't show you those shots as they have kids in them.


I can't post this one but here's the link. In on of the exhibits was an empty room with a coffin in the middle and an sign that invited you to try it out. So I did. I thought my kids might get a kick out of it. Instead this school group descended upon my "corpse". I stayed "dead" until they left.

EDIT: I can show this now...

We went to Lantau and visited the Big Buddha. This is one of the ladies at his base.


And another...


On the gondola ride to the Buddha... work is never far away with a blackberry.

__________________
"My hands are on fire. Hands are on fire. Ain't got no more time for all you charlatans and liars."
- Old Man Luedecke

Giant Hamburger

Dear Sir,

I don't have permission to see the video of your corpse.
I demand satisfaction.
Thank you, in advance, for your immediate attention to this matter.

Sincerely, your friend...
Giant Hamburger, Esq.

Charlatan

Hail GH

The site was doing something weird to my link. I think I have managed to tame the beast.

My corpse is yours to view.

Cheers

Charlatan

PS: I have just noticed that there are a bunch of dead embeds in previous posts. I think this is more TFP shenanigans. I will have to spend some time repairing the links.

---------- Post added at 08:34 AM ---------- Previous post was at 08:23 AM ----------

I was just going through my latest pictures and I realize that most of the images I've been taking have my kids in them. Hence the lack of posting here.

Here are some shots from the roof of the building in which I work.










This is part of the Southern Ridges park. I have a bunch of shots of the rest of the walk but they have my kids in them. You will have to make do with these:

__________________
"My hands are on fire. Hands are on fire. Ain't got no more time for all you charlatans and liars."
- Old Man Luedecke

Manic_Skafe

These two are my favorites of the thread - great work - don't stop.

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"Porn is a zoo of exotic animals that becomes boring upon ownership." -Nersesian