Mr. Waimong Wong
If you travel long enough there will be times when no matter how much you are trying to do the right thing something bad will happen. You get a ticket for some law you didn’t know about, someone is rude to you and you know not why. You get something stolen that breaks your heart. Whatever the reason be it will happen at some point in your travels. I personally believe in Karma, that if you try and be good that good things will come your way. That if you go through life cheating that you’ll only cheat yourself later. So for ever bad person I meet while traveling I like to think I will meet a good person. Although on this trip I think the negative people are winning more then the positive (I must have messed up somewhere for it happen like this), yesterday I met someone out of the blue that has made my stop in Singapore unforgettable.
Mr. Waimong Wong was on the same fairy as I was when I went and visited the island of Pulau Ubin. I seen he was carrying a camera bag and tri-pod but didn’t approach him about it. Once I got to the island I rented a bike for $5 SGD and rode my butt off for 3hrs. I was so dead tired that when I got back to the main port I decided I was done for the day. It was fun for riding but lack for picture taking. When I got back I seen Mr. Wong with his camera out and I noticed he had a Canon DSLR like mine. So I walked up and asked him how his trip went and if he found anything good to shoot.
We talked for about 20min about photography and out of the blue he asked me what I was doing the next day. I told him not a whole lot other then meeting Rob for lunch. He asked if I wanted to go shooting with him and that I could decided the place, time and he’d pick me up from wherever I needed. It was an offer I couldn’t refuse and quickly said yes I would be game joining him. I gave him a travel card and told him to email me and we’d set something up. To his word the next day after having lunch with Rob I sent him and email and text message to ask if it would be okay to do some night shots of Singapore from the water. He texted back in 5min saying he’d pick me up in an hour. Right on time Mr. Wong did and we went down to Marina Barrage, at Marina Bay.
You can read about Marina Barrage if you want but an overview of the place is that it’s a damn that functions to collect fresh water for Singapore but it’s also a work of art. I mean no where in the US would you find a development like this for a city center that they double it into a park/tourist spot. On top of the pump house is a green path of grass that circles the whole place. People go up there to have picnic’s, fly kits, see the water front exc exc and you wouldn’t even know it’s an industrial zone…very classy, very unique, very modern.
We both shot pictures for about 3 hours there. We were able to catch the sunset and night shots off the water and was rather proud how well some of my pictures came out. I can’t wait to see how Mr. Wong’s pictures came out. After we got done shooting Mr. Wong again surprised me with asking if I would have dinner with him. His wife was out of town that night and he said he wanted to show me what good people Singaporeans are. I couldn’t refuse a free meal. We went to real traditional Indian place that is a favorite for ex-pats. It’s the type of place where they serve your food not on plates but on palm leaves and you eat with your fingers. Was great food and I felt bad because it was to much food to eat. I think I had a 6in stack of rice on my leaf and with all the sides around it it could have feed 3 backpackers easily.
After we got done eating Mr. Wong drove me back to the hostel and we parted ways. It’s things like this that make travel so great and special. A complete stranger invites you out to see his/her city, takes you to dinner and makes sure you get back safely all for the sake of good company and human kindness. This I will have to repay back somehow, someway to someone else. Thank you again Mr. Wong for making my first stay in Singapore a most memorable one! If you would like to see his stock porfoilo you can check it out at this link.
Forget Obligation Go Global…it’s my odyssey!
T-roy
Singapore Flyer on the water front
Singapore 1st new casinos that are being built
HDR image of the Marina Barrage
Kite runner...i stopped counting after 50
by T-roy
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