First day in Singapore

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Woke up early, my back killing. Not sure why that is, because I bought the Japanese equivalent to Icy-Hot at Narita. We met for breakfast around 8:30 at the hotel and then met up with our guide, Wee Tee, at 10am to head off for a Bum Boat ride on the river. Unfortunately it was raining, so the footage probably isn't too fantastic. Every time I tried to get a shot from the deck of the boat, the lens got drops on it and I just ended up having to shoot mostly from under the roof, which wasn't ideal. We saw the Merlion, which I thought was bigger, but it was still quite cool. It shoots water out its mouth. We got a few shots of the skyline from on top of the Espalande, then headed to the Newport Hawkers Market for lunch, where we had a variety of hawker foods and ate Durian, which was...interesting. Our guide, Wee Tee, who has a wonderful sense of humor, wasn't feeling too well, so we switched to Gary, who had gotten us from the airport the night before. We did the switch while we were at Raffles Hotel getting Singapore Slings, which were quite refreshing, because it is very hot and humid. The humidity is the problem, really, not the temperature. We went to a market to shoot some b-roll, and saw all sorts of fish and meats and fruits and vegetables, including a massive eel probably 6 feet long and 7 or 8 inches or more in diameter. We had some time to spare then, so we stopped back at the hotel for a swim and a nap. The pool at the Gallery Hotel is pretty nice. It is on the 5th floor on an open roof area, and is at the corner, with glass walls on 2 sides. The pool floor and the other walls are blue tile, and since the light comes in the surface and also 2 of the sides, the water is very clear and looks beautifully blue. It was nice to cool off for a bit. We met up again with our guide, Gary, and our driver, Sam, and went to Lau Pat Sat/Boon Tat Street to shoot a dozen or so patay vendors. We got plenty of footage, and then headed back to the Espalande to grab a night skyline shot which was pretty nice, and then we met up with Mr. Seetoh at the Makansutra to get a tour of the hawker stands there. We ate dinner first, eating a bunch of stuff from various stands, and then took a tour of about 4 stands. It was hot and humid, and I was glad when we were done. My back is still killing me. Rick and I had a Carlsberg and reviewed some footage and he's happy, so I'm happy, and I'm going to bed just after midnight.

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