Hello Hong Kong Day 1 - Avenue Of Stars with Sony a99 Carl Zeiss 16-35mm f2.8

Having last visited Hong Kong almost ten years ago I am back at last to the city with my favorite skyline, and in my opinion one of the most beautiful skyline in the world. Of course I am probably bias since I have always had an affinity for large metropolises for some reason. Being in a place where millions of people are living out their lives around you always gives me a strange sense of comfort, and yet it also gives me a strange feeling of loneliness deep down in my stomach.

Anyways enough of my ramblings. My first day in Hong Kong this time around wasn't very productive, my flight arrived late in the afternoon so there wasn't much of the day left. Luckily I was staying right by the waterfront on Kowloon, only about 100 meters from the Avenue Of Stars. The photo above was the view from my hotel room, the walkway along the water you can see is the Avenue Of Stars.

A decade ago when I was in Hong Kong I wasn't really into photography yet, but this time around as soon as I got to my room I just dumped everything on the floor, grabbed my Sony a99, a tripod and headed straigh out the door, I was just so eager to start taking photos of this amazing place. For the first day I just went for a walk around the area near my hotel with my main destination being the walkway along the waterfront with the view of the famous skyline of Hong Kong. Hmm...it seems this cruise ship is following me around.

Having arrived at the Avenue Of Stars I was rather apprehensive at first to use my tripod. I didn't want to upset anyone by accidentally blocking their view, but after walking around for a while I saw several photographers with far larger contraptions than mine setup along the banks. This gave me the courage to finally setup my own tripod and take some pictures.

The weather was really hazy (and it remained so during the entire trip :( ) so I wasn't able to get as many good shots as I wanted (more likely my lack of skill). I only had the chance to setup for a few shots when it started to rain, probably the gods trying to tell me just to give up.

Still got a few cliche shots of the famous Hong Kong skyline though. 

Around Singapore with Sony a99 and Carl Zeiss 16-35mm f2.8

In this post are the rest of the photos from my trip to Singapore with the Sony a99 and the Carl Zeiss 16-35mm f2.8 lens. Most of them were taken on a day when I just went for a walk around town.

 

The good thing about downtown Singapore is that it is quite compact, so you can see so many things just walking around for a few hours.

Lego Art Sculptures Exhibition at ArtScience Museum Singapore by Nathan Sawaya : Sony a99 Carl Zeiss 16-35 mm

Just before going to Singapore I had seen a television program on Nathan Sawaya, a lawyer turned Lego artist. The program talked about how he got into making art with Lego, his work process and showed off many of his works, which I found absolutely amazing. So I was very surprised and happy when I found out that he was having an exhibition of his work at the ArtScience museum in Singapore, just around the corner from where I was staying at the Marina Bay Sands, so of course I went to check it out.

The exhibition is appropriately named The Art Of The Brick and it has been so popular that it has been extended to the 26th May 2013. Having seen the exhibit this is not surprising at all, all of his scuptures are extremely beautiful, they are truly works of art and you feel as though you are admiring marble sculptures of the greats from ancient Rome.

The sculptures are also brilliantly displayed, lots of credits must especially go to whoever did the lighting. Although it was a bit dark for taking photos (at least ISO 3200), it really created an amazing atmosphere. So I guess it was a good thing I got the a99 before this trip, as I don't think my old a900 would have coped.

And I thought Lego would sink like a "brick" (get it...haha...emm...sorry).

One large peace sign made up of lots of Lego pieces (sorry for another horrible pun).

I wouldn't want to take a bite out of these apples.

It's John Lennon in case anyone's wondering.

This Roman temple is not made of marble or granite but Lego bricks.

Not sure if you can tell from the photo but the scale of this T-Rex is really impressive, it is actually about three times the height of a person. It actually reminded me of when I had the chance to visit the Natural History Museum in London and there was a large T-Rex fossil on display in the main hall.

A model of the ArtScience museum where the exhibition is housed.