A LIFE LESS ORDINARY

Kukup May 2010 (Colours)

2010-05-10T00:42:00.003+08:00

Kukup May 2010 (B/W)

2010-05-10T00:24:00.009+08:00

Kukup May 2010 (Light fotos)

2010-05-10T00:09:00.003+08:00

Blackboard

2010-03-23T22:49:00.003+08:00

22nd Mar 2010

10.50pm

Blackboard. One Caramel

Droplets

2010-03-20T22:57:00.004+08:00

20th Mar 2010.

6.48pm

Merry-Go-Round

2010-03-20T11:02:00.008+08:00

Friday, 19th March 2010. 8.38am.

Way to work.

Accompanying you through the rough

2006-05-08T03:36:00.000+08:00

Runaway

2006-04-21T15:25:00.000+08:00

This picture is full of scratches but somehow i love it a lot.

I always think of this song 'Runaway' by Del Shannon whenever i see this picture..

"Runaway' by Del Shannon

As I walk along,
I wonder what went wrong,
With our love, a love that was so strong.
And as I still walk on,
I think of the things we've done
Together, a-while our hearts were young.

I'm a-walkin' in the rain,
Tears are fallin' and I feel the pain,
Wishin' you were here by me,
To end this misery
And I wonder--
I wah-wah-wah-wah-wonder,
Why,
Why, why, why, why, why she ran away,
Yes, and I wonder,
A-where she will stay-ay,
My little runaway,
Run, run, run, run, runaway.

I'm a-walkin' in the rain,
Tears are fallin' and I feel the pain,
Wishin' you were here by me,
To end this misery
And I wonder--
I wah-wah-wah-wah-wonder,
Why,
Why, why, why, why, why she ran away,
Yes, and I wonder,
A-where she will stay-ay,
My little runaway,
Run, run, run, run, runaway.
Run, run, run, run, runaway.
Run, run, run, run, runaway.

Morning Coffee

2006-04-20T19:00:00.000+08:00

This will be a short blog. Just wanna share some of the b/w photos i had taken during my photography class in NTU.

The photography class was great. These photos were taken on film and scanned into computers.

The man in the photo is Aisha. He sells great kopi terak in Eunos market. I used to drink his coffee every morning until i got myself coffee powder to make my own coffee.

In terms of technical issues, this is probably not a great portrait but i love the expression on Aisha's face. Too bad, 老孙 didn't appreciate his face value. Hehe..

Will be posting again after i'm done with my exams.

Check back soon.

My Christmas Diary

2005-12-26T22:03:00.000+08:00

i really enjoyed myself for the past few days. Met up with my Jc mates on Friday, followed by Sec sch mates on Saturday (24th Dec) and a mini-in-house-birthday-celebration for my niece on Sunday. Woo, how i wish my everyday can be spent like this, full of fun and food, full of good memories.

I really had a blast celebrating xmas on the eve. I met up with my Damai gang plus KC and Vincent at Tampines area.

Our Idea: All of us has to whip out a dish or two at Bangming's place.
Fact: Only few of us did the cooking, the rest just helped the chefs in the kitchen. As for me, i made myself useful by taking pictures so as to document the entire celebration.

The entire preparation and cooking took about 3 hours. It was filled with fun, sweat and oil. I'm really impressed by my guy friends, particularly Vincent, who seemed really skillful in handling food. I'm not saying i'm not familar with food, it's just that i'm only good at eating, not cooking. Vincent has displayed exceptional professionalism as he delicately seperated the slices of bacon and carefully wrapped them around each mushroon, followed by sticking a toothpick through the union to make sure they stay in place. The final step is to stir fried them. The result is a satisfying combination of cripsy salty bacon on the outer layer with fresh and succulent mushroom at the core. The taste balances very well, simply heavenly.It is simple, yet tastefully done, highly reccomended by me.

Other than the bacon-mushroom-union, our girls have also put up a terrific job in preparing the dunno-whether-is-curry-or-asam fish (by angel), the pasta (by Ivy), the overbaked speciality stuffed with mozerella cheese, stir-fried sliced mushroom and ham (by dennis, ivy, bangming and others), mayo sandwich (by dennis). In addition to the Mediterranean-styled 5 course dinner, Yuxia bought a honey-glazed chicken which prove too much for us to stomach. =P

Desserts include freshly cut fruits and they come with 2 types of mouth watering dips; either the dark sinful chocolate or the alcoholic cheesy fondue. Both dips are prepared by Bangming, they go very well with the sweet and crispy waffles too. Just when i thought i had finished tasting the best food on earth,Junsheng brought out his mind-blowing tiramisu cake which he has prepared at home. The cake sweetened my heart. It tasted very rich in chocolate, yet it had a tinge of alcohol. Scooped a spoonful and let it slowly melt in your mouth. It has the effect of making your hands to disobey your brain. My mind was telling me i shouldnt eat so much as my bulging tummy is making me look like Santa Claus, but my hands simply responded otherwise. Though i had committed a sin, i have no regrets as the pleasure derived magically swept me off my feet.

After the joyous food fare, we continued the celebration by doing gift exchange. Though the presents are not gold and diamond, everyone was pleased to get a little token from that someone whom you had known for years. The party continued until around 3++am.

Everyone parted with a smile on their faces and a present in their hands.
The party is over but the memories will stay.

Same day next year, we know we will meet again.

The Food. The Ingredients

Some of the kitchen chefs.

Tools used.

Colourful fruits

Cutting tomatoes for the dunno-whether-is-curry-or-asam fish.

The dunno-whether-is-curry-or-asam fish

The excellent bacon-mushroom union

Oven baked special

Sauce for pasta

Boiling Pasta

Cadbury Dark Chocolate. (before they are melted for the fondue)

Dark chocolate and alcoholic cheese fondue

The Feast!

The Cast

Doggie guarding the door- Without him, we wouldn't be dining in peace.

Have a wonderful festive season.

Don't study too much.

Don't work too hard.

Signing Off,

Guorong

Unplanned in NTU

2005-12-01T17:35:00.000+08:00

Has been 1mth and 22 days since i blogged. Wow.

Forgive me for being dormant for so long, i have been tied up with school lately. Exams ended last Friday, i hope to clear all. Now i'm rather stressed by FYP, the project which seems almost impossible for me to accomplish. I guess i can only take Adidas logo into consolation - Impossible Is Nothing.

These are few pictures i had taken in school yesterday. Nothing planned, just took out my camera and snapped what i feel is right. Perfect impromptu. Yup, you'll see my fave NTU model again, Mr Justin Lim. Haha, he gonna kill me for putting up his pictures again. Haha..

#1 - Carpark, from the perspective of an ant

#2- Mad rush, the usual scene at 5.30pm

#3 - 神秘人物，铁杀掌，武林秘集

1NiteStand

2005-10-09T17:04:00.000+08:00

Situated at Clarke Quay, 1NiteStand is mostly popular with caucasians and executives who wish to chill out and relax with their band. Tyson the bouncer together with the band and the good-looking DJ is the main draw for the crowd. I've always enjoyed my shooting experience there because the staff never fail to make my visits to be very accomodating. I made an amazing discovery during my last visit to the pub. Tyson, the guy which has always been helping me in the pub is actually my secondary school mate's brother. Haha, what a small world.

Domestic Helper

2005-09-25T21:31:00.000+08:00

Domestic helpers, often termed as maids in Singapore, is pretty common is families of Singapore. I always sympathesize with them or even pity them. The kindof hardship they went through is far more extreme than many of the fortunate singaporeans could have imagined.

NS guys (including me) often complained that we only get to return home every weekends when we were serving our nation. Maids are so much worse off. They only get to return home after serving their 2 years contract, those that decided to stay in Singapore might not even get to see their family for the next 5, 6 years? Having to leave their family to search for better prospects in a foreigh land is certainly never a smooth sail. They are faced with so much uncertainties, uncertainties like not knowing how their future employers is like, uncertainties like not not knowing if they'll be short-changed by their agencies. Having to call someone who is not your mom 'mom' does require you to bury ya pride. Other than culture and cuisine differences, i think language barrier is the biggest problem among all. Very often, these maids (esp those from indonesia) are poorly educated and they could only speak their native language. Learning a whole new langage is never an overnight thing. Communication breakdowns will inevitably lead to frustration between them and the employers.

With the minimal wages they earned, not many could afford overseas calls. Some don't even have phones in their home.If they can call back, it's a form of luxury. No doubt it is the slowest, letter writing is probably the only mode of sending greetings back home to assure their parents they are doing ok, even if they are not. Just being born in the wrong country has translated many the things we took for granted into their luxuries, luxuries they can never lay their hands on, luxuries which they can only quietly wish for.

About a month ago, the maid that has served us for 4 years has decided to head home. Though sad, i believe it's a good thing for her. She has earned enough, it's time to reunite with her parents.

On the morning of departure, she was full of tears. Her eyes were red and swollen from crying. She missed my niece the most. I can't bear such sights. The only form of consolation i can offer is to give her some of our family photos and photos i had taken of her. Choosing to shoot at ubin that morning over sending her off at airport with my parents is probably a wise choice.

She should be adjusting her life well in Indonesia now. With the money earned, let's hope she can lead a better life and never have to go through the same kind of hardship again.

Her eyes swollen from crying on the day of departure. Camera is often used as a tool to record joy in life. Here i'm using it to record sorrows in life.

One of those nights which she sat quietly by the bed side, writing letters back home.

Justin

2005-09-18T16:43:00.000+08:00

He is Justin. Simple. Helpful. Natural. Real. Funny.Messy-Haired. He is Justin.

An Evening With Sporty Spice

2005-09-15T22:52:00.000+08:00

"Mel C will be walking through this path at 9.15pm", Big ben told me. I responded:" Huh?" and looked at my watch, it's already 9.25pm. He added:" She'll be here any moment." I stammered:" Hmmz, ok.." Big Ben is a burly but friendly marshall in DXO. I was told to report at DXO at 9.30pm. I saw in the papers that Mel C will be performing at 10.30pm and being an international star, i was expecting her to be late by another 1.5hrs hence i was caught by surprise that she's coming any moment.

Big Ben: "You wanna go up to her VIP room later?"

Me: "Hmmz, sure, but how?"

Big Ben led me to a secret door and pointed up.

Big Ben:" Up the stairs, straight ahead, turn to your left and that's her VIP room"

With a word of thanks, i advanced through the secret passage to the VIP room.I was kindof nervous and excited. After 20 minutes, Mel C really went through the door which i came from and walked to her room. I took a couple of shots along the way but it didn't turn out good. Standing outside her room, another marshall that i've met before asked me if i wanted to go in and take a few more shots. I can't believe it, of course i want! After few rounds of negotiations with her agents(Chad & Angel), i was told i will only be permitted in after she had done her rehearsal and make-up. I obliged obediently to the masters of the territory.

Another 30mins went past, Chad signalled me to Mel's room. I was nervous, don't know if she'll be a difficult person to handle. She's a nice girl, in fact she apologised for having me to wait outside. Despite her friendliness, the aura from an international celebrity still kept me back and made me a little uneasy. In retrospect, there are few things that i regret from this shoot:

1) I didn't take enough pictures of her when i was in her room
2) I didn't pose her though it's highly likely that she'll pose for me.

As a photographer, what i should have done the moment i stepped into the room is to make my presence felt yet made her comfortable in front of the camera. In the kind of scenario that was presented to me, i could have all the control i want for the next two minutes or so. I could have brighten the light, which i didn't, i could have posed her, which i failed to do as well.

Instead, after our initial greetings, i merely told her to be natural and i'll take a few individual shots of her unposed and a few with her guitarists. All in all, i took around 10 shots and they arent good shots at all. Some were over-exposed, some were underposed, blah blah blah..I totally forgot how to tilt my flash head so that i can bounce the light off the ceiling to create more ambience light. What a waste!

What makes me feel even worse at the of the day is, i was the only photographer that was allowed into her room that evening, even the media photographers could only wait for her downstairs. I failed to make full use of such an opportunity. The reason that attributed to such faults was, i didn't know i'll be facing her at such close proximity. I've learnt my lesson from this episode though.

Next time should i be put in the same situation, i'll be prepared to handle it much better. Slowly but surely, i'm learning the ropes of professional photography.

After her performance, i ran into Mel C again as she was heading back to the hotel. She cheerfully waved goodbye to me which i responded with a wide grin and rapid waving of my hand in the air. So long Melanie, next time you come back to Singapore, let's go for coffee together ok? ...In my dreams..

The followings are the pics i had taken during her performance.

A Trip to Pulau Ubin Series VII : End Of The Adventures...

2005-09-12T22:09:00.000+08:00

#28 - The Captain That Sailed Us Back: Sea is where he makes a living, sea is where he lives,though an old hand in the sea, he better put his right hand on the steering and see the sea properly.

#29 - Martin Showing Us The Door: End of journey, took a lift from the basement to the ground level. Never did we expect a thunder storm that followed a few minutes later.

My only regret in Ubin is i didn't try their seafood. I'm not sure if it taste any better but i'm sure with shore in sight playing sound of waves by the ear, it would definitely provide an excellent dining experience.

So long Ubin, take care till we meet again.

A Trip to Pulau Ubin Series VII : The Two Wheelers

2005-09-11T23:16:00.000+08:00

#27 - The Hike: Some serious family hiking on moutain bikes.

The Pulau Ubin series is finally coming to an end. The last series is titled: The End Of The Adventures. Will be posting soon! =)

A Trip To Pulau Ubin Series VI: Boats That Don't Row

2005-09-11T14:38:00.000+08:00

#24 - All By It's Own

#25 - Safe By The Bridge

Upcoming series: The Two Wheelers

A Trip to Pulau Ubin Series V : Things That You See. Scenes That You See.

2005-09-10T03:21:00.000+08:00

#18 - The Silent Water Body: Took a left turn to a road that leads me to this water body when my gang was advancing forward.This place seemed peaceful yet silently dangerous. I was only accompanied by dried coconuts when i took this shot.

#19- Those Rambutan Models: This road is littered with red rambutans, fell from the tree in the vincinity. Took a shot of him while he took many shots of the red hairy fruits.

#20- That Rambutan Couple: A close up on the rambutans.

#21- The Most Photographed Spider: All photographers with macro lens were crowding around this spider to take a good shot. I have no macro lens, so i shot this using my 50mm prime.

#22- Ubin's 3 piece leaf: I always think of canada when i see leaf like this.

#23 - The Missing Coconut Man: Another abandoned house near a camping site. Found lots of coconuts on a table with a plastic seat on it's side. I wonder who collected these coconuts and where is he?

Upcoming series: Boats that don't row..

A Trip to Pulau Ubin Series IV : Things that don't move.

2005-09-08T20:44:00.000+08:00

#13 - The Flamboyant Canoe : Painted in bright yellow, parked at a place where it is not meant to be. This canoe caught my eyes, it stood out distinctively from the dark shed that it was parked in.

#14 - Those Wooden Logs: Old boring logs sunbathing in the open.

#15 - The House That Looks Like A House: I had to deviate from the normal paved road to find this house. There's no proper road that leads to the house. When we were young, whenever we were tasked to draw a house, we would draw something identical to the one shown in the picture. Not anymore, houses like this can't be found in Singapore anymore.

#16 - Forty Two's Wall: God knows what those numbers mean..

#17 - The Disassembled Riding Machine: This is an interesting pool of trash found in front of a deserted house. Must be the work of an aspiring Mechanical Engineer.

Upcoming Series: Things that you see. Scenes that you see =)

A Trip To Pulau Ubin Series III: Life In Ubin...

2005-09-06T22:40:00.000+08:00

#8 - The Old One: He seems old, lonely, and forgotten by the society, sitting in one quiet corner, well hidden from the passing crowd, focusing on his nail clipping.

#9 - Those Cycling Tourists: Just like me, they seemed happy, excited and can't wait to see what the island has to offer them. Rented a bike, paid the dollars and off they went.

#10 - Morning Greetings: Inhabitants of Ubin seem to be a close knitted bunch of people, just like the way it was when our grandfolks reside in kampungs. This is a picture of an ah-pek, cycling past a shop, exchanging morning greetings with the shopkeeper.

#11 - The Missing Cyclist: This is a front view of the opera house.They have wayang shows on the 19th & 20th August, i missed them. An unchained bicycle is parked in front of the stage, i wonder where has the cyclist gone.

#12 - Stealing A Glance: He looked sleepy and a little grouchy, probably woken up from his sleep by the excited trippers. He took a glance at me before lifting his head high, walking away proudly. He must have known i'm not local to his island.

Watch this space for the next series of Ubin photos titled: Things that don't move.

Stay tuned! =)

A Trip to Pulau Ubin Series II : We Have Reached The Shore !

2005-09-05T23:22:00.000+08:00

#4 - Turn turn turn

#5 Overview Of The Huts : These are the wooden houses that i mentioned earlier when first saw them from the harbour.

#6 Close Up With The Hut: A closer look.

#7 - Swampy Paradise : This is where i nearly slipped and fell on a huge rock. Worth the danger though.

Coming up is Series III: Life in Ubin. Stay tuned to find out what you see in the everyday Ubin!

A Trip to Pulau Ubin Series I : Welcome Aboard !

2005-09-05T23:14:00.000+08:00

Last Saturday i went to a exotic shoot at Ubin with my SPN gang. This is my first trip to Ubin, needless to day, i'm filled with excitement and joy. Changi Point Ferry Terminal is rather new and well-furnished, in contrast with the old bumboat that is going to ferry us to the island. Our international gang of 10 left the terminal around 9am. The ferry service cost only $2 Ubin currency. Knowing the boat is only going to take a mere 5-8 minutes, i took every oppourtinity to shoot whatever i can see. From the captain of the boat, to the lizard hitching a free-ride,i caught them all.

Upon reaching the shore of Ubin, i was greeted with old tatooed uncles who were sitting at the harbour, chatting, relaxing and watching trippers like us walking past. Looking across the sheltered harbour, i see wooden houses which we rarely get to see in Singapore. Boats were lying lazily on the shore, with no signs of activites. I spent quite a great deal of time shooting wooden houses, old motorcycle with cracked instrumental panel lying motionlessly on the bridge, and a few other abstract shots.

When i set my foot on the mainland of Ubin, it felt like i've been transported couple of decades back in time. It felt retro, yet very nice, something very different from the urban Singapore. The first coffee shop that i've met was filled with wooden chairs and tables. It was rather dim, lit up with only rays of sunshine. It was a far cry if you are to compare with the popular S-11 coffeeshops with brightly lit neon signboards. I didn't check out what food they served, i only saw colourful canned drinks laying out neatly in two rows across the counter. Just beside the coffeeshop, there lies the sand, swamp and lazy boat which i've witnessed moments ago when i was at the harbour. Somehow, the boat with the sea in the background seems promising enough for me to capture a few shots. Though i advanced with careful steps, i almost slipped and fell on a huge rock enveloped with slippery slimy algae. "Click Click" went my camera as i took a few shots of the boat. On my left, i saw an old man sitting by the wooden house, quietly trimming his fingernails. As i took out my long lens, he lifted his head and looked at me for a brief moment before continuing his nail-clipping. I took three shots of him and left.

My SPN members were already far ahead of me, i quickened my pace and caught up with them. Along the way, i passed by at least 3 bicycle rental shops. Cycling is the main mode of transport in Ubin. Most of the trippers would rent bicycles to explore the beauty of the island.

Throughout the shoot, my legs is my only mode of transport for three reasons. Firstly, it's more convenient to shoot while walking,secondly, i can't cycle . Last but not least,noone volunteered to piggy-back me.

Walking through the paved paths of Ubin with vegetation by my side makes me feel that i'm serving my third ICT in Lim Chu Kang. Army can never escape from my mind whenever greenery and vegetation is in sight. I'm just a typical male Singaporean.

In conclusion, the trip has been mosquitoes-infested but extremely fun. More experienced ubin tripper like Martin brought along insect-repellent spray which proved extremely useful in times of ambush by the mosquito battalion.

I took a lot of pictures from this trip and i'm going to divide them into 8 series. I'm probably going to post one or two series every couple of days. Just check my blog every few days and you'll see new pictures of Ubin greeting you. Hope you like them.

For more information about Ubin, please call their Information Kiosk at 65424180 between 8.30am - 5.00pm.

More information can also be found at http://www.nparks.gov.sg/nparks_cms/display_park.asp?parkid=6

#1 - Welcome Aboard : On the boat, there lies a float that doesnt float, but tells the time of the day.

#2 - Stuck Onto You : Mr Lizzie gets a free ride on the boat by pretending to be dead on the window.

#3 Black & White : My first coloured 'black & white' photo. =)

Black & White, here and there..

2005-08-21T15:55:00.000+08:00

My Saturday has been an enjoyable one.. Has been a long time since i went on a shopping spree on clothes. This shopping spree has been extremely successful all thanks to Miss Yoke Har for her fashion consultancy and her guidance around Bugis Street.

To start off with, i gotto admit shopping is not an easy thing. Being a man, i could never appreciate the hardship women has to go through from their weekly, if not daily shopping sprees.Their determination and ability to squeeze through the throngs of people is indeed admirable. The entire shopping spree lasted 5 hours and i got dizzy from looking at the varieties of clothes right from the first hour. Besides clothings and bags, many variations of pretty girls can also be found at Bugis Street. Few have caught my attention, they are ; the professional, friendly yet shy girl at the first stall, the super sweet girl with big round watery eyes at XxX store and the hot malaysian lady with a huge tatoo behind her back at the bag store. She's probably the reason why i bought the bag though i didn't really like the colour. Haha..

I bought 4 tops and 1 bag in all and i spend less than 100bucks..That's something worth celebrating isn't? The next phase of my shopping will be on semi-formal collared shirts, both long and short sleeves. Any reccomendations on where to get them?

That's not the end of my Saturday if you think that's happening. Few hours after i came back home from shopping, i left for supper with Yongcai at Blk 85.We had Bhar Chor Mee,BBQ Chick Wings, sugarcane juice, Tissue Prata. It was good, very good. I mean, what's there to complain about life when you get to shop and you get to eat. It's tiring, BUT heavenly.

Lately i haven't been getting good pictures. Somehow, i'm lack of creativity, or lack of this element to get good pictures. I'm not sure why but i hope it's just a phase which will be over soon. I read it somewhere that an artist always have to go through a phase of dejection/depression/non-creativity before they become really talented and successful. Haha, i wonder when i'll ever reach this stage. I just recovered from my dejection but it has nothing to do with photography so this is not counted.

Ok, it's pictures time again after babbling about my day. Here's a few pictures which i've converted into black and white. The first one was taken when i went shooting with Jason few weeks before school started, the last two pictures were taken when i brought my camera to sch last week. Kindof like them for their naturalness and perhaps a bit of abstractness. They should be cateogorize as 'Everyday' pictures, a term taken from Yongcai.

Everyone comes to a halt when a man turns red.

An incoming train which many Boon Lay commuters are waiting for. Shot from my hip. Wished i aimed a little higher.

A slow march to NIE bookstore.

Moody

2005-08-12T22:52:00.000+08:00

My sentiments are depicted in this picture taken near Fullerton Hotel. I was alone when i took this picture.

Everything has been a rush since school started. Haven't been focused. Stress is accumulating. Other than studies, few other problems are bothering me as well...

I'm supposed to be doing tutorials now or packing my room or reading on my FYP, why did i suddenly turn to my pictures again.. I have no idea myself.

I am moody...

A brush with SPH

2005-08-04T23:56:00.000+08:00

I was so sad to realise the above photo wasn't credited to me. This picture was published on today's issue of Straits Times weekly magazine named Urban. On Page 4 , section "HEY, GOOD LOOKING". I remembered vividly that the management from Siam Supper Club requested a favour from me, asking me to take a pic of Lynn because the SPH photographer who was tasked to snap her has met an accident. I kindly obliged and requested them to ask the photo from nightlife.sg as i was there covering their events. It was a grave mistake that my management didn't stress them to credit the picture even when i reminded them to. It's definitely not a award-winning shot,neither was it a jaw-dropping portrait shot but hey ...Ordinaryless was the one who took it.. =(

Well, ~~i guess~~ nothing can be done now. Think positively Ordinaryless. I guess it's a bliss that they didn't credit the photo to the reporter who didn't take the picture. At least millions of Singaporeans have seen the work of Ordinaryless, except that his identity has remained anonymous.

As for now, i'm still a star photographer in the making, whose talent is yet to be unearthed, snapping pictures in those dark dark clubs.

Uncheerfully Yours,

Ordinaryless

*Picture has been edited to give it a lomo feel.

View From Shears

2005-08-02T20:19:00.000+08:00

School has been a mix of pain and pleasure. The only pleasurable thing about school is i get to go home latest by 6.30pm (which is quite early), all other stuff about school are pain. Pretty stressed over Final Year Project (and i haven't done anything about it) and the choices of my Prescribed Electives.

Last Sat i went for a Fireworks shoot. The pics were bad but the companions that were with me were great. The gang includes Adrian, Winston, Theng Liang, Guobang, Suyin, Jason, Vonvonz, Huying, 2 x Stevens and of course, the fabulous Guorong. We went up to the already-very-occupied-with-photographers-Shears-Bridge and took up our position. The fireworks were pretty short lived and we chose a really bad position. Decided not to post the pics since there's nothing great about them, I'll go for a few more fireworks shoot during Singapore Fireworks Festival, those who are interested to join my me, drop me a sms.

Other than the candid shots i did for my friends, the above is one of the few landscape pics which i like from the Saturday's shoot.

*Credits to Vonvonz for correcting Huying's name.. Haha..

Passers-By at CityLink

2005-07-26T19:39:00.000+08:00

I always envy people who can shoot in MRT. I never have that kind of courage. i wish i have.

Street shooting has always been a field of photography which i'm very interested in. Shooting commoners in their most natural state, if well executed, allow us to have a feel of the place without even visiting the place.

Last thursday, i woke up from the bed telling myself, if i don't shoot today, i'll never have a chance when school starts. It wasn't something pre-planned, just something i had decided last minute. I wanted to do a bit of night cityscape as well as street shoot, hence i chose area in the vincinity of City hall. The nightshoot was bad, i was actually quite bored with the pictures i had. They all look so similar to the ones i've shot 2 years ago.

As for the streetshoot, i decided to capture the people using city link. I've always wanted to capture 'people'. The pace of people, their movement and their traces left in the underground tunnel.

Some walk in.

Some walk out.

But there is bound to be one that is here to stay.

Retro Esplanade In Polaroid Format

2005-07-24T22:31:00.000+08:00

I always like the style of holga/lomograph pictures. Thought of buying one of those holga or lomo cameras but that would make poor Guorong even poorer. I'm not sure how close or successful i am but i think the post process is quite ok-ly done. There's still room for improvement though.

Esplanade One

Esplanade Two

Do i have any comments from you?

The Awaken Sleeping Beauty

2005-07-14T15:41:00.000+08:00

My mom and sis said her hair is too messy, not nice. I say Enen looks very stylish with her messy hair, looks like a little model. What say you? =)

Onyx

2005-07-13T01:11:00.000+08:00

Today sucks. Has been a long time since i had a bad day. My bio clock is screwed up and it really screwed me. Feeling a little grouchy when i woke up in the morning, thought things going to improve when i start shooting but nah, mood wasnt there, my lack of sleep could be part of the reason. Jason and i had something interesting planned today, we didnt want to think of the theme prior to the shoot, we just wanna shoot anything that comes along. Intended to take a bus which we're unfamilar with so we won't know where it'll be bringing us to but in the end, we stayed around Orchard area due to the slight drizzle. Might try this another day.

Met a cool bunch of break dancers today. Stayed with them for a while hoping to get a few shots of them breakdancing but all the pics turn out crappy.

Later in the night, Adrian smsed me to tell me Yingbin has arranged to meet up on Thur to get our H10. Arrgh, supposed to be shooting with S that day, i guessed i have to postpone the shoot with her but i haven't got reply from her yet. Feels darn bad about it.

With this, i hope to sleep well and tomorrow will be a better day.

Oh, i almost forgot to do a short intro on the above picture. The above is a montage which i had done for Onyx. Situated at where Centro used to be located, Onyx is one of the latest club in town. I have been to the club for 3 times or so and the thing that still impressed me is the lightings in the club. For the clubs i've been to, Onyx has one of the best lightings around. All credits go to the Light Engineer, Mr Sulaiman and his crew members.

Oh yeah, the girls might wanna check out this very photogenic looking staff working behind the bar in Onyx. He has lots of cool tribal tatoo on his right arm and he sports a ultra short haircut. Sometime he wear those old fashioned looking shades, can't be missed! He's at the bottom left hand corner of my montage.

With that, i shall pen off..

明天会更好。。

大家，晚安。

Shopping Cart

2005-07-10T15:46:00.000+08:00

Great Singapore Sale is ending on 24th July. Shopping, anyone? Adrian and Weiliang! When are we getting our H10? Haha...=P

This is a shot of my niece's toy cart. Tried to make it into a classic b/w, there's still lots of room for improvement.

Cocco Latte

2005-07-04T00:12:00.000+08:00

Finally, my reservist ended 2 days ok. Just when i'm getting used to the vegetation, i'm getting back to the urbanised city again. Everything has been fine, everyday has been well spent. Kindof miss my army mates. It's really like a gathering for us. OC said he might be organising a BBQ in coming year end, i'm looking forward to it.

For the past 2 months, i have been shooting in various clubs in singapore every weekend. I got tremendous amount of pictures that can be made into a mini clubbing portfolio. Besides pictures, i've also made many new friends during the shoots, friends who are clubbers, Deejays, waiters/waitress, event management personnels etc.

Starting from Cocco Latte, i'm going to post a montage of the clubs i've snapped before every week. This is of course only made possible with the kind permission from the management of Nightlife.sg.

Cocco Latte stands along the circumference of Mohd Sultan Road's Gallery Hotel. This cosy two floor boozer boasts an intimate lounge area on the first floor and a DJ console on the second. For more information, log on to http://www.coccolatte.com/home.html to check out the details.

For additional enquiries, you may wish to contact them at

Address: 76 Robertson Quay, #01-09,
The Gallery Hotel
Singapore 238254

Tel: 67350402

Sunset @ Labrador Park

2005-06-25T18:32:00.000+08:00

I'm in the mid of reservist now. Another 3++ hours before i book in. The past week has been tough but i'm not complaining. Before i booked in, i was expecting a relaxing In-Camp-Training (ICT) spending most of our time resting in our bunks but i was totally wrong. We were trained very hard everyday to make us recap back what we have learnt during our active days. The most fearsome lesson of all is of course infusion. Sight of blood made many of us weak. From this ICT, I think many of us have matured. We are more responsible and cohesive when we were tasked to do something. For me, i'm a lot more serious and attentive when i was attending the lessons. Take the infusion lesson for example, though i was scared, i was determined to learn it well as i see the importance of it should we really be activated. Blood, pain and sweat during the training has further strengthened our brotherhood.

A week ago, just before i went for my ICT, i went to Labrador park for a sunset shoot cum BBQ with fellow photographers from photographer.sg It was fun, gotto to know lots of people. That day was also the first time i actually get to use my newly-purchased tripod. Around 7pm, i went down to the beach to take shots of the sunset.Met a couple who are gracious and kind enough to oblige when i requested to take their pictures. Stayed there for quite a while before heading back to the BBQ pit but only when i reached the gate then i realised it was locked. I had to ask help from Kee Seng so that he can help me with the equipment as i climbed over the fence.

The overall experience is good. We even had a birthday cake as SPN is celebrating its 1st Anniversary.

Below are few shots that i've taken before my camera failed me later in the night when i was doing the nightlife.sg shoot.

Definition of infusion: Introduction of a solution into the body through a vein to save lives.

View From Fourteen

2005-05-31T22:43:00.000+08:00

I have been really busy with my nightlife.sg shoot and work lately. Nightlife.sg is fun, keep me occupied throughout the weekends btu it took away my time to go for leisure shoot as well. Not complaining, just explaining. =) When i first started this blog, i wanted to post a entry every week. Now it seems like i'm just in time to squeeze in an entry for the month of May. Hehe.. In the near future when i'm free, i might do a collage of nightlife.sg pictures. Watch this space.

Chinatown Wet Market Series I: The non-fishy business

2005-04-27T22:57:00.000+08:00

I went to Chinatown last Sunday. Chinatown is a place which i've visited numerous times for photographic purposes but never have i been so daring to shoot so willingly in the wet market. The experience on sunday was a good one. I approached the hawkers and were very pleased that most of them were more than happy to let me take their pictures. There are 4 series in all, the last one was the most gruesome one and not many can take that kind of pictures, including me. =P

The Ginger man at the grocery stall

A big pile of small onions

Vege & roots

His name is Richard. He invited me to take his picture.

Chinatown Wet Market Series II: Men behind the Fishes

2005-04-27T22:45:00.000+08:00

If i didn't remember wrongly, his surname is Zheng. Mr Zheng is the first fishmonger i've approached in the market. He graciously allowed me to take pictures of him and his stall when i asked for his permission. Here's a picture of him extracting the innards of his fishes.

I didn't ask for his name. A quiet man who nodded his head when i asked permission from him. He acknowledged with another nod when i thanked him.

A tall built guy who is rather fierce looking. Initially, i didn't dare to take pictures of him. It took me quite a while to build up my courage to approach his assistant, a less fierce looking guy. He looked quite cool with his long hair, stubs and moustache.

He just arrived when i was shooting around his stall. His son was helping him to set up the stall. His face and built does resembles Ekin Cheng, what do you think?

Chinatown Wet Market Series III: Seafood

2005-04-27T22:43:00.000+08:00

Fishes... I don't know what to call them but fishes.

These fishes are exceptionally beautiful, their fins are red in colour, look very outstanding against their fair body.

Sotongs on a green plate. Took a few shots of it before the stall owner arrived.

One stallful of prawns

This is not a seafood, he is my SCE mate by the name of Feihuang, a nice and down-to-earth guy. Met him at the market when he was buying vegetables with his sis. Feihuang: "When do you wanna play pool again?"

Chinatown Wet Market Series IV: Murders @ Chinatown

2005-04-25T22:09:00.000+08:00

As i walked through the wet market of Chinatown, besides hearing the shoutings of the hawkers and barginings of aunties, a series of faint 'thuds' noises can be heard in the background.

"Can you hear the clubbing?", Francis asked. I didn't really get what he means initially, but everything came into full view as we walked through the market. In one corner of the market, i saw a huge fish lying on the floor with it's assailant on top. Mr fish is huge, about 1.5m in length. It was struggling, jumping, wriggling away, trying to escape from the clutches of it's assailant. Mr Fishmonger used his right knee to press the fish flat on the ground while he reaches for a club with his right hand. Raised high up in the air, he brought down the club on the fish's head with full force.' Thud'... The fish was still struggling... "Thud-Thud".. The fish became motionless. The fish was losing it's life. The fish lost it's life. Mr Fishmonger carried the the fish away, getting it ready to be chopped. I was quite dumbfounded at the scene. Not that i've never eaten a fish, it's just that i've never seen people killing fishes in such a manner before. I'm not accusing Mr Fishmonger of being cruel, it's just that i've never seen it before.

As he dragged the fish away by it's tail, i took a few steps forward to observe the spot which Mr Fish was killed. The tiles are stained with blood. I took a a few shots of that spot and the tools of murder before moving away to explore other parts of the market.

These are the clubs that were used to club the fishes

This was the exact spot which the fish was clubbed to death. The tiles are still stained with fresh blood.

This is the place where the smaller fishes are chopped up and diced for customers. Beside the chopping board is a pair of pincers which is used to extract the innards of the fishes before chopping them up.

As i was gathering outside the market with other photographers, i found a headless chick corpse lying dead on top of a trash bag. Dead bodies are found everywhere in this market.

Tiny India

2005-04-04T21:56:00.000+08:00

Spent my sunday fruitfully on sunday shooting with SPN members. This shoot was organised and lead by Francis Lee, an experienced photographer with many years of experience. Together with 9 other photographers, we systematically combed down the streets of Little India, covering almost every corner. Some of the indians we met were friendly, others were not and a few others were a little nasty. Nevertheless, we had lots of fun firing our shutter at them. Below are the few pics i had taken, tried a few stuff like slow shutter on passing cyclists and passerbys to add motion to the pics. Saturation and contrast have also been increased above average to add a certain mood to the pics. Let me know what you think of the pics and the dark contrast.

Indian poster

Orange Tomatoes

When Ryan meets Rajah

Ah Pek cycling past vegetables stall

Patrons carefully picking vegetables from a stall

Union of onions

SAF tailor

The most camera friendly couple.

Five gods watching over one photographer.

Garang Guni man pushing trolley on the road.

Passerby walking past the vegetables stall.

This boss is more than happy when i requested to take this pic. His departmental store will be opened in a few days time. Good luck Boss! =)

Another generous boss willingly let me take a shot of him

Approached this guy with a smile, he smiled back so i shot him =)

This is taken with the help of my friend Hawk. I half jokingly asked him to go over and scare the pigeons away, he really went and i simply raised the camera to eye level and pressed the shutter.

My Mom, Our In-House Hair Specialist

2005-04-02T02:41:00.000+08:00

It has been a long time since i blogged. How's everyone doing? =) Well, hasnt been shooting lately. Think my blog has been stagnant for too long, hence i'm here with some pics i've taken couple of months back.

My mom is a great woman. She dotes on everyone of us, always trying her best to console, counsel and support us whenever we're in difficulties. Other than the role of a mom, she's a very very capable woman too. She picks up lots of skills herself, skills like sewing, cutting hair etc..

My hair used to be cut by my mom when i was young. Well, no matter how i tell her i want my hair to be cut, it'll always turn out the same way. Hehe, well, those trademark hair styles are kindof memorable though. In the past, her tools is not more than a comb and a pair of scissors. Considering the humble equipments that she uses, our hair came out pretty decent.

Nowdays, she seldom cuts for me but ZG and my papa are still her loyal customers. It's really an interesting sight when we would just sit along the corridor outside our home having our hair cut. It's a little embarassing sometimes(if i'm the one getting cut) when neighbours walk past and witness the haircut and start to praise how capable my mom is.

Since more than a year back, her tools have been upgraded to a professional looking tiny black briefcase consisting a few pair of sciccors, electric shaver, comb, shaving blades and lubricating oil for the blades of the electric shaver.

The main workhorse lying on the window's grooves.

ZG irritated by the hair on his face.

ZG sitting along the corridor, having his hair cut by our personal in house hair specialist.

Jurong Bird Park I

2005-03-13T13:20:00.000+08:00

Life has been good. I'm able to do what i like for this weekend - photoshoot!

My photography gang includes ndroo, ah-gu, vovonz, feimao and Mrs Lemon + Mr Lemon.
We met at Boon Lay mrt, headed off to Jurong Point for breakfast and arrived at Jurong Bird Park at 11am. Never did i expect the trip to the bird paradise to last 6 hours!

The trip was tiring but very very fun. Capturing the images of these little wonders of nature simply makes me smile, or 'steam' in my friend's case=P. I can't remember when was the last time i visited JBP. I can't even remember if i had ever visited the bird park. Haha, should have gone at least once during one of my primary school excursions i think.

I never know JBP could be so interesting.The variety of birds i've seen in this trip is probably the largest compared to the birds i've seen for the past 24 years of my life. The birds in the park are mostly exotic and colourful. And if you're thinking how interesting could it be to see all the birds caged up,you're wrong manz! There is this part of the park called Lory Loft where they keep the birds in a large confined area, where the birds can roam around freely and chirp away happily. There is no boundary at Lory Loft, birds and human play together in peace and harmony. If you hold a cup of water in ya hand, the parrots would jump onto your shoulder, hand or head to befriend you. One little reminder though, these parrots aren't toilet trained so they don't know it's rude to shit on you.

Other than Lory Loft, there are lots of shows at different timing.We only caught 2 of them, The Pelican Show (2pm) and The Eagle Show(4pm). It was fantastic to watch the birds showing their natural abilities of flying and preying.

I'm pretty satisfied with the pics i've taken and hence, it's time to show off again. Haha. I didn't ask for their names when i took their pics so i'll just give the general names of the ones i know. If you can identify the birds, do tell me know and i'll rename the pictures!

Enjoy! =)

As you can see in the background, this is near to the man-made waterfall in Singapore. It's called Jurong Fall.

Flowing water underneath a bridge

#Unknown identity- A cute looking bird with nice colour in his smooth looking fur.

#Unknown identity - His slit eyes made him look evil but yet cute at the same time. Hehe..Like his pure white feather.

#Crown Pigeon - Never know pigeon can look so magnificient too.

#Rainbow Lorikeet - This was taken at Lory Loft, where humans and birds live in peace and harmony.

#Red Parrot - Also taken at Lory Loft.

#Pelican - It got da4 zhui3 ba1 but it looks very beautiful.

#Duck - Donald looking for out for Mickey in the water.

#Unknown identity - It's blue and when the sun shines on it, it glows beautifully . One of my fav in this series!

#WoodPecker - Mr Woody was trying to peck down the wooden bridge that we were crossing.

#African Grey - Looking out for potential victims to shit on.

#Unknown identity - Front view of that blue bird. The colours are simply amazing.

#Unknown identity - Side view of the blue bird.

#Unknown identity - Neck long long, run fast fast but i don't know what is it.

#Unknown identity - They are situated in the african grassland, should be africans.

#Unknown identity - She is colourful, has a tall and slim built. Beautiful.

#Unknown identity - Colourful beak

#Unknown identity - This bird is certainly not one of the msot beautiful ones and it look kindof old. But the way he stand and the way he present himself, he seems to have lots of character, the cool and calm sort. Looks like the underworld/triad kindof bird reflecting on the sins he has commited.

*I would like to thank angy for helping me with the names of African Grey and Rainbow Lorikeet!*

*Credits to Jianing for pointing out my spelling error*

Jurong Bird Park II

2005-03-13T12:58:00.000+08:00

This is a continuation from the first series..

Eagle - He looks like one of the character from LOTR. The elf i think? Forgive me, i'm not a LOTR fan.

Marching Flamingos

Left- Blue Macaw Right- South American Scarlet Macaw

The blue macaw asking the red macaw out for a date.

Penguins are the previlaged lot in the Jurong Bird Park as they are the only kind to enjoy an air-conditioned enviroment while their counter parts sweat in the heat of the scorching sun.

*Credits to Angy for identifying the Blue Macaw and South American Scarlet Macaw*

5th March. My Birthday.

2005-03-06T02:42:00.000+08:00

This is my 24th Birthday. Recent birthdays havent been spent very colourfully. I don't really celebrate birthday. The first half a decade of birthdays, i can't rem how i spent it. From what i see from childrenhood photos, lots of cousins came over to celebrate for me when i was around 3, or 5 years old. When i was nine, i remember having a birthday bash at home. We ordered buffet and a few close relatives and cousins came over. Another memorable birthday was when i was 16. Nope, there wasn't any parties but i receieved the most number of presents that year. I even had a discman from a girl! Haha..Other than the few mentioned birthdays, my years of birthdays are usually spent with my family. My sweet folks would buy me a cake and we would gather around to sing birthday song. It has been our family tradition. This year is no different.

Due to internet and emails, i don't even find birthday cards in my mailbox nowadays. Well, advancement in technology isn't always a good thing. Receiving an e-card is never the same as receiving a card in the mailbox.

I'm 24. Almost a quater century old. I have to admit i'm starting to feel old.When we were dining at Suntec Swensens just now, there are 2 other groups of teens who are celebrating birthdays too. They sang merrily and cheered loudly. It seems so fun, they seems so young.

Dinner at Swensens was above average. Enjoyed the pasta i ordered and the free ice-creams they offered. I had shot almost all the courses and desserts. Forgotten about the 3 scoop ice-creams. Anyway, they are just ordinary naked ice-cream with no toppings unlike fiesty firehouse.

Now, let me present to you the Swensen's dinner i had as my Birthday feast!

Firstly, this event is not possible without my family members. From left to right: Sis, mom, dad.

My mysterious brother-in-law: ZG

My adorable niece roaring for ice-cream!!!!! Arggggh***

In case the previous pic is too far away, i had this cute zoom-in which she has posed for me.

The utensils we used to dissect our food.

My Order: Chilli Fish Pasta - Golden-fried Snapper Fillets in a spicy oriental sauce.

Papa's Order: Black Pepper Seafood Pasta - Fish Fillets, Clams and Crabsticks in a black pepper sauce.

Mama's Order:Chicken with Mixed -Peppers Grilled boneless Chicken leg smothered with mixed peppers sauce. Served with seasonal vegetable and U.S. potatoes.

Sis's Order: Sirloin Steak Steak - grilled the way you like it with your choice of: Black Pepper Sauce, Mushroom Sauce or Herb Butter. Served with seasonal vegetable and U.S. potatoes.

ZG's order: Fish 'N' Chips - Golden-fried Fillet of Fish served with tartar sauce, U.S. fries and Coleslaw.

Apple Crumber on a sizzling skill with caramelized fresh apple chunks, Vanilla ice cream and a drench of butterscotch cream sauce.

Swensen's Birthday Treat: Firehouse Happy Birthday - Vanilla, Chocolate and Strawberry ice cream smothered with chocolate fudge, pineapple and strawberry toppings, whipped cream, cherries and set aflame to "top-off" this birthday special.

This cake was bought by my mom as my proper birthday cake. My folks sang me a birthday song at home. It is still uncut, haha, we are too full. Gonna wait till breakfast.

For those who do not know me and are reading my blog, well, i decide to expose my mysterious identity, just for this occasion. Anyway i do want to remember how i look like when i'm 24.

-Happy Birthday Guorong- It has been a joy to have you *wink*

* Credits to Jianing for pointing out my spelling error*

Couple Of Chillies

2005-02-27T15:15:00.000+08:00

Did this chilli series last sunday. Wanted to present the things we see/eat everyday in another way.Chilli is always linked with 'hot/spicy' hence i thought it would be interesting to link them with ice(something that contradicts their characteristics). I think it's not very well-executed,couldnt really carry out what i plan for. Please let me know what you think of the pictures.

One: Chillies in a pounder, waiting to be crushed.

Two: Chillies getting the 'cold treatment' from Mr Ice

Well Spent Saturday

2005-02-21T10:12:00.000+08:00

Hello everyone, i'm in office now.. I guess the best way to get rid of the Monday's blue is to blog on the past weekend..

My Saturday has been really well-spent.I woke up at 6am and made full use of the entire day..

Here's a list of things i had done:

6.20am- Breakfast

7.15am- Reached Bedok FCC

8.00am- IPPT test

9.15am-Back home, showered

10.00-11.00am- Surf for more information on bounce card and Orion Softbox

11.30am onwards- Went to penisular plaza and a few other places to purchase my flash accessories and materials needed for my photo frames and albums for portfolios.

7p.m- Went for a function with my family

11pm-1.30am- Edited the photos i had taken for the day.

When i was in City Hall area looking for photo albums, i chanced upon this shop called Beautiful Memories at Stamford Rd. The name was very well chosen and the owner of this photo lab lived up to it's name, really. When i entered the shop, i was greeted with nice instrumental music similar to tunes from music box. I was browsing through the albums and found out they had those i was looking for but at a price of course. What differentiates this shop from others is the services provided by this guy called Sunjay. He took time to recommend the types of album i should use for my portfolios and explained a few things like factors that affect the results of a developed digital images.It's not hard to guess he's a photographer himself.

This pic was taken at the pedestrian crossing near the cross junction. There were lots of nice clouds on Saturday and i think they go very well with the Capitol Building. Beautiful Memories is on the right of Capitol, along an old english type of walkway.

I made an interesting friend at City Link. He is an artist graduated from Laselle. Initially, i was looking at the photo exhibition by this jazz musician cum photographer called Elaine(if i'm not wrong.), then i realised there's a man sitting at this huge display window doing some work. I went over to look at the window display and found out he's an artist doing some preparation work for his exhibiton. His exhibition is filled with pencils shavings and pencils he had crafted. It's very simple things in life but the effort in crafting so many pencil shavings is tremendous. I'm far from doing a good descripition of his work here so i suggest you make a trip down to City Link to view his exhibition. It should be ready in another week or so.

Here are a few photos i had taken of him while he's quietly induling himself in his artwork. I realised one thing when i looked through the photos. He's pretty much doing the same thing, sitting in the same position, having the same pose no matter which angle i took the photos from. He just looked the same no matter which angle you're at. Hehe, interesting..

Pencil Shavings #1- Lonely

Pencil Shavings #2- St Nicholas girls looking at his exhibition amazed by his works.

Pencil Shavings #3- Busy.

Happy Valentine's Day

2005-02-14T00:46:00.000+08:00

This is a picture i had taken few weeks prior to Lunar New Year in Chinatown.

May your Valentine's Day be filled with Romance & Love.

Happy Lunar New Year

2005-02-11T09:57:00.000+08:00

Today is 'Chu San', which means the third day of Lunar New Year. The past two days have been spent eating chinese cookies and relatives visiting. One of the utmost joy during CNY is having relatives coming to my home for gatherings. It is during such times which we get to catch up with one another.

My brother in-law (ZG) trying out one of those sparklers bought from CarreFour. Fireworks of any kinds is banned in Singapore since i'm was a toddler. When i was young,I remember my dad used to bring my entire family to Malaysia to set off firecrackers. Those sparklers or 'pop-ers' you find in Singapore these days is nothing compared to those found in the Malaysia in the yesteryears but still, they still amaze my little niece as you can see in the following pic.

My dad holding close to Enen assuring she was in safe hands as she watched the sparklers in amazement. Enen is the little darling in my home which everyone adores. She is especially close to my dad, probably because my dad always keep her accompany, play with her and he had never raised his voice on her before.The bond between them is very well portrayed in this picture.

This is one of the portrait shots i had taken when my uncle is indulging himself in the Ba Kwa, new year cookies and chinese tea while having conversation with my parents.

This is the chinese tea set which my dad always use to serve tea to guests in my home. Chinese tea is usually appreciated by the older generations, younger generations usually go for more fanciful type of tea such as Bubble Tea, a craze of yesteryears started by the Taiwanese.

My Samsung S-500

2005-02-03T22:43:00.000+08:00

I'm a happy man. I say the more matured a man gets, the more appreciative he is towards the simple things in life.

I got a new Samsung S-500 two days back. It wasnt exactly new, in fact, it has been used by my sis-in-law for a year, dropped to its death but revived back by my dad. Since the mobilephone died, my sis-in-law got herself a new one and left the dead one on the shelf. My dad took pity in the phone, took it to a repair shop, got it repaired and gave it to me. Though it doesn't has the latest design, though its functions is far less superior than most bluetooth enabled camera phones in the market, i really appreciate the small gift from my dad. I've downloaded a Canon(jazz ver) ringtone. I havent really recieved calls from the past 2 days so i kept calling myself and hum along the tune. Haha, im lame. I know

My phone has since learnt to stand without any support from me. Don't believe? Look at what i've snapped below.

It hasnt learnt to walk though, give it a few more weeks bah =)

*Credits to Jianing for pointing out spelling error*

Tragedy Of an Egg

2005-01-30T18:36:00.000+08:00

It was a fateful sunday afternoon. Occasional laughters and cries of my niece filled the house as i was sitting lazily on my sofa reading the papers. Suddenly, i heard a loud Scream..*Ahhhhh*....

I stood up from my sofa seat and approached my mom who was with my niece. Both were looking at the floor. Oh my god. I nearly fainted when i saw what they saw.

I saw an egg. A broken egg. All the nutritions of the egg must have sunk deeply into that kitchen tile. Gosh!

It was no doubt caused by the mischief of my notti but cute niece. She was having her lunch and playing with the egg when the accident happened. The filmsy shell of the egg could not withstand the gravitational force at the mere height of one metre and shattered upon impact. The scene was devastating.

Our maid Yati was immediately activated to clean up the mess to prevent any curious passer by like my dad or my sis to linger around the scene of accident.

I returned to my sofa to continue reading my Sunday Times about Vietnam girls marrying into Singapore.

When you eat, don't play.

When you play, don't eat.

-A Message From Singapore Traffic Police-

Portrait at my home

2005-01-30T14:17:00.000+08:00

This is one of the portrait shots i did for my friend. Very dashing isnt? I knew him since JC but we were merely 'hi-and-bye-friends'. It was until before we started our SCE lives that we got closer.Occasionally, we would fly to Florida for a swim or suntan. In my opinion, Lee is one of the top 5 bachelors among my circle of friends. He is helpful, smart, suave, tall, youthful and well built. Quite an achiever in studies and school competition.

Chinatown

2005-01-30T13:38:00.000+08:00

Went to chinatown with Jason last Friday. First time shooting with him and his D70. It was super packed with people doing their CNY shoppping. Wasnt able to capture the feel of the CNY, felt it was quite poorly done.

Taken from the second level of the indian temple. Smuggled our cameras into the temple and took a sneakpeep of chinatown before we tiptoed out. Nah, it wasnt that exciting, im just exaggerating =P

This is near the 'super-packed & near inpassable' bridge that connects MRT station to one of the shopping centre. Is it people's park? Can't be sure.I thought the colour and the display of the fruits by the hawker is pretty interesting. In case you're wondering what that purple looking thingy near the oranges at the bottom of the pic are, they are called 'Dragon Fruit', the national fruit of Vietnam. The flesh is sweet tasting and white covered with lots of black seeds.

This is the front view of the indian temple which i mentioned in the first picture. Definitely an interesting sight for the tourists.

Close up view of one of the...indian god?

Can anyone help me with the pronounciation of the chinese words? I believe it's the name of a Chinese Medical Hall. Very cool looking, just like the ancient china.

A Lion Dance figurine i've spotted in one of the stalls along the street that sell all the new year goodies.

The famous food alley near Smith street. Sells all the local delicacies like sting ray, char kway teow, chinese 'bao'..etc. If you wanna try the food there, gotto be early. It's usually very packed with locals and tourists at night.

View From Eunos Mrt Station

2005-01-30T13:05:00.000+08:00

This picture was taken from the Eunos Mrt Station. On the left(huge greyish block) of the pic is one of the old estates left at at the mercy of the government. On the right side, i believe it's Bedok Reservoir. Always wanted to take pictures of Singapore landscape from MRT stations in Singapore but i'm always worried the MRT staff would mistaken be as a terrorist, though i would never look like one from any angles. Eunos MRT station is probably not a popular station because it has neither big shopping malls or fanciful bus interchange. I would say most of it's patrons are residents staying near the station, like me. I've been using this station for the past 10 years whenever i need to get to the city, school, or my office. No matter how uninteresting the station is to other people, it has inevitably become part of my life for without the station, life would be much more inconvenient.

Dilemma

2005-01-27T10:27:00.000+08:00

I'm in a dilemma to make this into a pure photo blog or just a blog which i can occassionally put in some photos.

I'm not good in writing. I guess i'll just make this into a photo blog.

I'm not trying to say i'm good in photo taking. I just enjoy taking pictures more than writing i guess =)

Insulted as an Asian by Racist Song on Hot 97

2005-01-27T09:58:00.000+08:00

Last night i was watching news on Chn 8 and that was the first time i felt i was insulted as an Asian, as a Chinese. This radio station in U.S called Hot 97 broadcasted a tasteless, sung-out-of-tune racist song composed to make fun of the victims of Tsunami. I felt enraged after listening to the song.

Damn the station.

Below is an article about protests of the song.
http://academic.udayton.edu/race/miscell/protest02.htm

Make your protests heard! Request their sponsors to stop sponsoring their events immediately!

Joo Chiat

2005-01-26T20:57:00.000+08:00

This picture was taken on 8th Jan. It was Saturday. Met up with a group of photographers to capture the old buildings in Joo Chiat. I'm suprised to see Mr John Cosgrove, the editor of Photo-i magazine joining us. As we walked, i passed by Lucky Book Store. The bookstore is operated by my mum's friend. I walked in the store hoping to see my mom's friend but was only greeted by his staff, Robert. Boss was not around.

I left the shop without seeing the old guy.

We didnt get to capture much before it started to rain. The above pic is my favourite among the few i've captured.

Testing Testing 123...

2005-01-25T10:05:00.000+08:00

Hello World!

Does the above sentence looks familar? Programmer should find it so.
Blogging looks really fun, not that i had never done it before, just that pple that i've known have re-stired up this interest in me.

My supervisor is here...gotto go =P

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I'm back from the meeting. We were tasked a few more tasks. Work is going to be more interesting.

I'm a little sick. Gosh, hate this lousy feeling. Hope to get well soon.