SENYOR CHENG

Listed as the 8th Tallest Building in the world to date, Taipei 101 gives you a 360° view of Taipei in the confine of its Observatory.

A train ride from Chiang Kai-shek Memorial, you'll reach Taipei 101. You can settle and enjoy the mall on the lower sections or proceed to 5th floor and purchase tickets to their Observation Deck.

Soon as you reach the 89th floor, you can take a look around and enjoy a 360° view or Taipei.

You can also take the plight of stairs and go up the 91st floor and enjoy a view of Taipei minus the glass windows.

The most prominent historical landmark in Taiwan built in honor and memory of Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek.

After taking the train, we found ourselves in one of Taiwan's well-known landmark. It was quite a walk from the nearest train station but you'll sure enjoy every bit of it.

To the left, you'll see the National Concert Hall in its bright orange roof.

To the right, you'll see the National Theater with its exterior almost identical to the structure across it.

The square is officially named Liberty Square (自由廣場), as seen on the front gate. Since the name change was considered politically motivated, most people still refer to the entire square as CKS Memorial Hall.

The octagon-shaped white building rises 76 meters high. The eight sides represents the Chinese symbolism associated with the number eight which is traditionally linked with fortune and wealth. 

Two sets of 89 steps on both side represents Chiang Kai-shek's age of death. This step leads up to the main hall that houses a large bronze statue, protected by military personnels. They change hourly in a ceremony that is like the Changing of the Guards in places of Royalties.

Characters behind the statue reads "Ethics", "Democracy", and "Science".

Below the hall is a museum that documents Chiang Kai-shek's life and career. It also features exhibits about Taiwan's history, as well as RoC's development after moving to Taiwan.

Longshan Temple has stood the test of time and a number of natural disasters and wars.

Longshan Temple is the country's most well known temple and was built way back 1738 as a gathering place for Chinese settlers.

It is also one of the largest and oldest temples in Taiwan. You can enter for free but donations for its upkeep and maintenance is accepted. We went there a bit early and the place is already filled with people worshipping.

Through the years, residents have exerted efforts in renovations and improvements of the temple and its surroundings.

After our temple visit, we went around the temple's surroundings and side streets. It was still quite early that's why most shops and food stalls were closed.

Last April to celebrate my birthday, my siblings and I went for a quick trip to Taiwan. This was our first time traveling to this country and I have to say, it is a place worth coming back to.

After arriving late the night before, we started our day quite early. My sister suggested to try this spot in Hua Shan Market: Fu Hang Doujiang 阜杭豆漿. Since it was still early in the morning, we decided to walk going there.

From reviews and articles we read about this spot, people line up as early as 6 in the morning for soy bean milk and youtiao. As soon as the shop opens at 6:30 in morning, queue usually runs down the building all the way to the main road.  

It's not everyday that you get a chance to see celebrities all at once. Madame Tussauds™ in Singapore gives you that chance with their full-scale, life-like figures of different international celebrities and key people in society.

Madame Tussauds in Sentosa Island is the 7th branch in Asia that was opened way back 2014. This is my second time entering a Madame Tussauds museum, the first one being at San Francisco, so I had an idea on what to expect. This is my girlfriend's first time entering one, so I'm very excited for her.

The museum features many wax figures of notable political icons, both past and present, sports personalities, and famous celebrities. The figures are grouped and arranged in such a way that you also learn something while traversing the museum's entirety. 

It features notable political figures the world has known through the years like Mao Zedong, Nelson Mandela, Sukarno, Barack Obama, and of course Singapore's Founding Father, Lee Kuan Yew and his wife Kwa Geok Choo.

Aside from political figures and world leaders, Madame Tussauds also features sports personalities and icons through the years. The list includes Yao Ming, David Beckham, Tiger Woods, and Feng Tianwei.

People in the entertainment industry are also present in the museum. Actresses like Marilyn Monroe, Audrey Hepburn, singers like Taylor Swift, Beyonce, Madonna, and even Elvis Presley were immortalized with their very own wax figures.

Hollywood stars such as Johnny Depp, Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie, Leonardo DiCaprio, and Daniel Craig to name a few also has their own spotlight inside the museum.

Taking sweet time during our last day in town, we roamed around Orchard, going to parts and areas we didn't know was there.

After having our brunch, we went on exploring places along Orchard road.

Getting tired from all the walking, we ended up in a hidden gem inside Orchard Gateway: library@Orchard.

Asia's leading sustainable light art festival was lighting up Marina Bay nightly, and we're right there to experience it. 

iLight Marina 2017 was on its 5th year lighting up Marina Bay and was set to be bigger and brighter than any edition before.

Showcasing 20 light art installations from Singaporeans and International artists, we split the visit into 2 nights. As expected, the entire Marina Bay was packed and taking photos was quite a challenge. 

Enjoy the photos!

Hybycozo

Secret Galaxies

Horizontal Interface

Home

Moonflower

Northern Lights

(Ultra) Light Network

The Body of the Sea

After going through series of unfortunate events, the stunning sight of the world's largest fountain made it all worth it. Located in the center of Suntec City, the Fountain of Wealth is a symbol of wealth and life.

While having a quick brunch in Bugis, I realized my tripod wasn't with me. I decided to go back the hotel to pick it up. While waiting for the bus, it started raining hard. After my girlfriend hopped off Suntec City, I made my way back to Lavender area.

To cut things short, I rode the wrong bus, went down at the wrong stop, got drenched in the rain, and made the 30 minute travel into 2 hours. Good thing the sky cleared up when I reach Suntec City, with my tripod.

To maximize my tripod, which I went through so much just to have with me that day, we decided to stay until the laser show was on. The basement restaurant area of Suntec city lies around fountain's base anyway, so killing time wasn't a problem.

Going around Chinatown has always been a pleasant experience.

We started the day with the usual shopping around Chinatown. After dropping off our stuff back in the hotel, we went to one part of Chinatown that I've discovered through Instagram, the Buddha Tooth Relic Temple and Museum.

At first, I was hesitant to whip out my camera to take photos. I asked a lady that looked like a staff inside if it was okay to take photos, even showing my camera to make sure she knew I was not referring to camera phones. She simply nodded and I did my thing.

Buddha Tooth Relic Temple is a Buddhist temple and museum complex. It was built to house the tooth relic of the historical Buddha.

The temple's interiors tell stories of culture over hundred years old.

I originally planned to take photos of the temple's exterior soon as it lights up during the night. So before the sun set, I tried to look for a good vantage point and took sample shots.

Since my plan was to take photos during the night, we decided to walk around stalls around the temple and also have dinner at the Chinatown Food Street.

Continuing our short vacation in Singapore (again) last March, we decided to visit Gardens by the bay. Blossom Bliss is back the second time around showcasing varieties of Cherry Blossoms blooming.

It was a fine afternoon that day; not too sunny, but not too cloudy for rain to pour. We went there late in the afternoon, making sure that by the time we're done, the Cloud Forest would have been lit.

There were a lot of people in there, as expected, trying to enjoy the seasonal blooming of Cherry Blossoms throughout the conservatory. Some trees have flowers that are about to bloom, in full bloom, and flowers about to fall off. It's her first time to see and experience actual Cherry Blossoms in Spring time, so it was such a sight to see her all smiles.

Enjoy the photos!

Of course, they still have the other flowers and plants inside the dome.

Keeping up with the Japanese theme featuring a lot of Cherry Blossom trees.

Creativity at its best through art, science, design, media, architecture and technology.

Last March, my girlfriend and I were back again in what looks like one of my favorite city yet, Singapore. This time, our vacation stretched for 7 days. At first, we thought 7 days is more than enough for the entire trip. We were wrong. Honestly, we could've stayed longer if we wanted to but work happened.

For our first day, we made our way to the often appreciated architecture in Marina Bay, the ArtScience Museum.

You should recognize this familiar structure since every photo you'll see of Marina Bay Sands, the ArtScience Museum is right there. The museum is holding galleries and exhibits and the main reason we went here is for the Future World: Where Art Meets Science in collaboration with teamLab.

The exhibits are divided into 4 key narratives, each having their own unique interactivity and experience. After we got our tickets, we made our way to the first stop, Nature.

First attraction to see was the immersive audiovisual installation which features a crow that is chased by crows as well. The crow embodies the Sun in Japanese mythology. After that, the big hall next has pillows where you can take a break and relax while watching the never ending crashing of waves. Black Waves is an entirely digitally rendered expression of nature that depicts the bodies of water in traditional Japanese painting.

Black Waves invites the viewers to see themselves as part of the seascape, thus giving an understanding that nature and ourselves have no separation.

Moving forward, we move forward to Town. This installation showcases five of teamLab's projects designed to engage learning through play.

Connecting! Train Block is one fun installation. Just move the wooden blocks to design and connect an evolving system of roads, rivers, and railways to keep the traffic moving smoothly.

Sketch Town depicts a fictitious town based on Singapore. You can see recognizable landmarks in the installation projected against the wall. Using the crayons and paper provided, draw and color a building, car, or plane (a UFO in our case). When you're done, just place it on the digital scanner and wait for it to become 3D animated objects and appear in the town, bringing it to life.

Media Block Chair creates a playful and vibrant structures from glowing blocks stacked on top of each other. The endless variations of colors, light, and forms to create can provide hours of fascinating fun for visitors.

A Table Where Little People Live made us goof around for a bit. Miniature characters projected onto the table move around the environment when left alone; they walk, jump, slide, hop. Introducing objects into their world changes how they interact and becomes more animated as you introduce more and more objects

We weren't able to go to Graffiti Nature since kids took them over. (Sad lah.)

Park continues where Town left off, only this time it is inspired by nature and recreational play. It also consists of 5 installations. Before entering, you'll notice this huge projection, Universe of Water Particles. It's a 7-metre tall virtual waterfall with each particles digitally programmed and generated to flow according to the laws of Physics.

The Light Ball Orchestra lets you create your very own, one-of-a-kind orchestra. Each beachball-sized globes with multicolored light and sound are your instruments. Work together with other visitors by pushing, bouncing, and rolling the balls to continuously change the composition, color, and sound of your orchestra.

Just like in Town, Park also features a similar installation: Sketch Aquarium. Just add colors to the different images of sea creatures like rainbow fish, stingrays, sharks, and jellyfish, have it digitally scanned, and wait for it to appear on the projection as a 3D animated object.

My turtle even has my Instagram and website on it, only in reverse. (Sad lah)