999Places

Travel Photos of the Week - A Wednesday Morning at Marina Bay - (Singapore)

A series of pictures I took this morning on a walk about 6:30am while getting a Starbucks Coffee . . .

Below: A lone photographer getting up early to capture a wonderful sunrise over The Marina Bay Sands Hotel and Casino.

Below: In the foreground the famed symbol of Singapore, the Merlion, looking out at the world's largest Ferris Wheel, the Singapore Flyer. 

Below: The larger Merlion's smaller cousin

Below: A tourist enjoys some quiet time at the edge of Marina Bay before all the crowds that will arrive later in the day.

Travel Pics of the Week - Team Canada Jersey (Brass Monkey Bar, Taiwan)

About as far as you can get from Canada, I walked into the Brass Monkey Sports bar and found a fully autographed Team Canada jersey hanging on the wall.  I tried to identify what year it was from, but the best I could do was pick out Wayne Gretzky's autograph. So that only narrows it down to the last half-century. 

The Brass Monkey is a great bar for ex-pats and tourists to visit if you're in need of a place that feels a bit more like home while in Taipei.  It's also only about a 5 minute walk from the Westin Hotel. They feature trivia night about once a month, Salsa each Tuesday, ladies night every Thursday, NFL games on Monday's and Tuesday's and pack the place for drinking and fun nightlife every weekend.

- Brass Monkey upcoming Event Calendar

- Read my past review of The Brass Monkey here

- Check out the Trip Advisor review

Top 10 Most Beautiful Cities at Night - (Stumbleupon)

Thinking about where to travel? Take a look at the these destinations as seen at night!

(Coutresy of Stumbleupon and Umagazine http://goo.gl/81eyp)

#1 - Beijing (China)

#2 - Singapore (Singapore)

#3 - Sydney (Australia)

#4 - Paris (France)

#5 - Rome (Rome)

#6 - Shanghai (China)

#7 - Toronto (Canada)

#8 - Hong Kong (China)

#9 - London (England)

#10 - Tokyo (Japan)

Travel Pictures of the Week - Lightning Storm on Vietnam to Singapore flight

A few months back I took a trip to Vietnam's Halong Bay. After leaving Halong Bay we drove 3 hours to the airport in Hanoi to catch a Tiger Airways' flight back to Singapore. While in flight we witnessed an awesome lightning storm out the plane window. Below are some video and pictures I captured of the storm.

 

Below: We were greeted by a stunning sunset about an hour before we flew passed the lightning storm.

Below: After the sunset came the storm. It was by far the most impressive bit of weather I've seen outside a plane window.

Travel Pictures of the Week - The Freedom Tower and NYC skyline

These pictures I took while at Newark's Liberty International Airport. I had flown from Boston to Newark where I would then connect for my flight onto Aruba. I thought these pictures very cool, as you can see the New York City skyine in the back ground. In the second picture you can make out the construction of the new Freedom Tower underway near the site of the World Trade Centers.

Travel Pic of the Week - Chinese Paper Alters Image of Taiwan Flag

With all the places I've traveled to, one thing that I always finds fascinating is how differently the news is reported and censored depending on the country you're in. I came across a great article in the Singapore Straits Times which ran a story about how a Chinese media outlet completely altered a picture because of the strained ties between mainland China and Taiwan. Below is the picture and excerpts from the article talking about the censorship . . .  

As reported in the Singapore Straits Times:

A Chinese newspaper has apologized for coloring entirely red Taiwanese flag in a front-page photograph to sugges the seven Hong Kong activists who landed on an island disputed by Japan last week carried only mainland China flags.

The Xiamen Economic Daily retouched the Taiwan flag, one of three flags which the activists tried to plant on the main isle of the Diaoyu island chain . . . after swimming ashore from their fishing vessel and skirting blockades by the Japanese Coast Guard.

 It was said the doctoring reflected the view (that) Taiwan does not share an equivalent status with China

Below Left: The original picture distributed to the global news agencies. Below Right: The photo run by various Chinese news outles including the Xiamen Economic Daily. I've circled the difference in flags.

Below: A close up of the image

 

Travel Pictures of the Week - Rain storm at The Sail (Singapore)

You can count on the weather in Singapore to range from 83-86 degrees every day. And your almost guarantted a short rain storm between 1-3pm.  Here is how quickly the tropical weather can change here as seen out my window yesterday.   

1:00 PM . . .

1:10 PM . . .

A Vietnam Traffic Jam - (On the road to Halong Bay, Vietnam)

A few weeks back I took a trip to stunning Halong Bay. On the way back we encountered some traffic.  Back in Boston it might have been caused by a Massachusetts driver trying to cut across 3 lanes of traffic without signaling first.

Not in Vietnam though  .  . .

Travel Picture of the Week - Somewhere between Sydney and Hunter Valley (Australia)

I took these pictures back in January when I was down under visiting Sydney. On one of the weekends we decided to take a trip up to Hunter Valley which is a beautiful wine region a 3 hour drive north of Sydney. The wine region makes for a great 2 day trip for travelers looking to get out bustling downtown Sydney area.

Below: This amounts to what would be a full service rest stop for travelers making the drive to Hunter Valley. However they did make a very good cup of coffee:

Below: The Hunter Valley wine regrion is a great weeekend get-a-way. It boasts upwards of 140 wineries and some great golf courses as well (I recommend Cypress Lakes Golf Course)

Below: Posted outside the rest stop pictured above, was a poster for lost family pets . . .

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You'll Never Walk Alone - Travel Picture of the week (Bangkok)

I snapped this picture of a taxi in Bangkok with the Liverpool Football Club anthem of "You'll Never Walk Alone" proudly displayed on the roof. Manchester United, Chelsea or Arsenal supporters will need to decided if they want to take this taxi or pass on it.

"You'll Never Walk Alone" was orginally a song from the 1945 Rodgers and Hammerstein musical "Carousel".  The tradition of it being sung at football matches began at Liverpool FC during the 1960's.

Above: Formal Liverpool star Fernando Torres (left) with former manger Rafael Benitez