Singapore is a small place with a dearth of places to go and unwind outdoors. So over the Vesak Day holiday my family took a good walk on a few sections of the newly opened 9km Southern Ridges walk starting at the new HortPark through the Alexandra Arches to the Henderson Waves. Didn't continue on the Marang and Kent Ridge sections but I'll try it the next time.
As luck would have it we weren't the only ones who had the same idea. In spite of the large crowds I still managed to meet up with quite a number of friends along the route. Yeah, this is a small place.
HortPark, the National Parks Board's (NParks) new horticultural creation was the focus of my macro shoot. Touted as a one-stop gardening lifestyle hub, it's supposed to be the first park in Asia to bring together gardening-related recreational, educational, research and retail activities together in a park setting. All the macro images were shot with the DFA 100mm f/2.8 Macro.
Well it is still spanking new, what with the supports for some of the bigger trees but in terms of the range of flowers planted in a limited area, it certainly has the edge over the venerable and more established Singapore Botanic Gardens. Probably the one gripe about HortPark is the presence of a couple of tall buildings flanking one side of it. Pretty imposing and to my mind it just spoils the view.
HortPark's layout includes a couple of theme gardens and to me is more a showcase of what can be done for those of us lucky enough to have a home with a garden amidst our urban jungle.
As usual, my Pentax was definitely a rare sight among many photoraphers toting Canons and Nikons. I only saw one guy chimping on his Pentax K200D, but the hilarious sight was seeing a few gearheads carrying big cameras like the Nikon D3s and EOS 1Ds MkIIIs with big lenses clearly suffering in the heat as they trooped among the long line of people along the long canopy passage. Thank God for small cameras like the K100D Super and a small 2 lens set-up...
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