Haw Par Villa

Have you ever had a half day at work? It is awesome – i dont know why it is even more exciting to me than a whole day off, but it is. We moved offices on Thursday which meant we had to abandon our desks and lose the network at lunchtime so the movers could get in and get started. As there was no way to work, it was a free afternoon – and that doesnt happen often, so it was time to make the most of it.

I had spoken to my friend Larry from the Sydney office of his time working in Singapore and one of the things he mentioned was ‘this creepy park full of statues enacting scenes from Chinese mythology’ – a little asking around helped me to establish that this park is in fact ‘Haw Par Villa’ – so new camera in hand and with faithful sidekick Pablo’s accompaniment, off we went.

First stop was ‘Hell’.  Mainly because that is clearly the most fascinating bit, and partly because Hell closes at 6pm.

The Hell section tells the story of what the Chinese believe happens to you when you die. You have a Judgement Day – if you have been completely saintly in your life you cross the Golden Bridge into Paradise, if you have been pretty good you get to take the Silver Bridge into Paradise.  If you have been bad, it’s off to Hell with you. Your punishment in Hell is decided based on the crimes you commited in your life – for example prostitution will result in death by ice – sometimes frostbite, sometimes whole body frozen and then shattered a la liquid metal guy in Terminator 2. This park would show the punishments for various crimes – so our prostitutes:

From new camera!

And I think from memory that this one is for ‘disrespecting books’ – yes, you are sawed in half by two demons. After my bibilizing in high school I think it’s safe to say this is my fate:

From new camera!

Outside of hell there was this rodent battle scene on the rocks with rats, rabbits and guinea pigs all fighting – I have no idea what that one was about. But i really liked the guinea pig who had lost his front paws at war:

From new camera!

I really loves this statue – like a Balinese Muppet. I think he was my favorite:

From new camera!

I also loved that some of the outdoor statues have started to fade, with the paint cracking and peeling off their faces. So sad and serene at the same time:

From new camera!

From new camera!

I think as far as the completely bizarre goes though, this was my favorite scene. Its a Duck Man being fought over by two chicken women I think. Seriously weird.

From new camera!

Nerd Alert

Yes, I write to inform you, dear reader, that I have joined the ranks of the Nerd Army*. Which branch I hear you ask? The photography nerd division. I am preparing to bore you all with my knowledge of focal lengths and apertures and stuff like that (you may be able to tell that I have not yet actually started learning any of that stuff yet – but it is COMING PEOPLE!!!). Yes, I have bought myself an incredibly extravagant birthday present in the form of a digital SLR.

For those of you who are already members of the photography nerd brigade, I have treated myself to a Canon EOS 50D with a 18-200mm lens. My good friend and photog mentor, Michael Whiteman (his works have featured on a couple of my previous blog posts, and his blog ‘broke for going’ is linked on the blogroll on the righthand column of this page(and FYI – it is a cracking read of his (mis)adventures making his way from London to Mongolia in a beat up old car as part of the Mongol Rally with some beautiful photographs too)) recommended the aforementioned setup for a SLR beginner and I think he did a good job – as even without the understanding of it all, I have still been able to capture some half-decent pictures.

For those of you who aren’t photography nerds, at least you can rest safe in the knowledge that there will be lots of lovely photographs here for you to enjoy too.

Of the 250 photos I have taken since buying the camera on Saturday afternoon, there are 20 I am happy to share on my picasa account, and of these I will post my top 5 favorites, just to share the love and excitement.

From new camera!

From new camera!

From new camera!

From new camera!

From new camera!

Enjoy

*I know that I am already a member of the Nerd Army, being an engineer and a blogger – but this post is referring to a NEW membership in addition to these existing ones.