You know something funny?
For all the times that I have taken Bus 36 from Parkway down to Suntec City, Raffles City, and Orchard, I have hardly had the chance to take a picture of this particular view.
I don't know if it is because I happen to be standing most of the time.
Or if it because I don't have Chonkycam with me those times.
But today I had a seat, I had Chonkycam with me, and, best of all, the light was good.
Hence it was that this afternoon granted me some of the loveliest pictures that I have ever taken on this one bus ride.
Bus 36 for me today began at the bus stop outside Parkway Parade.
Like always.
By right, Chonkycam should have come out there and then, but I was settling down, and so not until the bus had gone past Mountbatten Road, onto Tanjong Katong South Road, and up onto the East Coast Parkway did she come out from my bag.
If there is one thing you must know, it is that it is a very quick journey from here down to Suntec City.
How long the journey takes, I don't know, but think thirty minutes at most from this one turn of Tanjong Katong South Road, onto the ECP, and into the Downtown zone of Temasek Boulevard.
With such short leeway overall, you can imagine that Chonkycam worked overtime.
But I didn't mind.
See, one of the most charming things that Bus 36 has going for her is the view of the sea.
The view doesn't actually begin here this side of East Coast, but stretches all the way back from Changi Airport where most of the route takes you along one of the most scenic views this side of the country.
It is somewhere around there near the airport that the sea view begins, and on it goes at pockets here and there, not stopping even after the bus enters the residential areas, because after them blocks and schools and shops and condos, out onto another part of the East Coast Parkway she goes.
Now, it would be perfect if the sea view stayed unabated all the way, but this is Singapore- a dot of an island- and there are bound to be places where, even though you're on the highway, your view gets blocked by the sight of (forested) trees, the glass showing the reflection showing the condominium towers opposite.
I have no idea what these condominiums are, I also don't know which part of the East Coast area they are, but certainly they are not standing amongst the forests this side of the highway, because in the midst of all them leaves and one random staircase, all of a sudden, almost immediately, another view appears.
The unmistakable hotel towers of Marina Bay Sands, the distinctive curve of the Singapore Flyer, and the glassy, glossy blue surfaces of the Marina Bay Financial District.
From here on, the view changes pretty fast.
All you get is a couple of minutes- five, ten- as the bus climbs up a sort of slope over the Benjamin Sheares Bridge- and then you're right into the heart of Suntec City, Marina Bay, and Temasek Boulevard.
But an inspiring, breathtaking picture this will make if your hand works fast enough to get the shot right.
All at once there is the view of the waters beyond Singapore's shores, there are the blue waters of the Marina Barrage Reservoir shimmering beautifully under the bright light of a Singapore sun, and as the bus nears Temasek Boulevard, the Supertrees, and them two bug-eye structures from Gardens by the Bay slide into view.
At the same time, there is the Skypark atop Marina Bay Sands that from this angle is facing toward you, there is the ArtScience Museum that to me resembles a lotus flower in bloom, there is the F1 Pit Building, and then finally there is Marina Bay herself- distinctive, sharp, recognized.
Never mind if you're seeing it through the grainy blur of a bus window.