la vie photographique

This blog has moved!!

2011-07-05T18:57:00.001+08:00

After 3 years of blogging, I've decided to move my blog to my own domain. To explain my decision, I have created this welcome post over at my new blog.

You may now follow my new bog at www.5stonesphoto.com/blog

The new blog launched today with 3 brand new photo essays featuring working kids in Batsm and the closure of the KTM railway in Singapore.

Update your bookmarks today and see you over at the other side!! :)

A Surprise Package

2011-03-29T19:41:00.000+08:00

A Surprise Package

Today, I received a surprise package. Ok, so my darling and I had to go down to Singapore Post to claim it, namely because

1) It's addressed to her
2) It was held by Singapore customs who insist on charging GST on what was essentially a gift from her brother....

Astute readers and followers of my Facebook page as well as Twitter have already guessed it - inside the package originating from San Francisco is the shiny new iPad 2 which my darling's brother have kindly helped her purchase in the US. (He stays and works in US, most recently in Google :))

Whisky with iPad 2

Whisky was just as excited as us regarding the shiny new package. Well actually, she is excited about ANYTHING new that we bring back to the house.... (she was there when I unboxed my Macbook Pro last year....)

But on to the obligatory unboxing pictures.....

The Box

Opening up the box, we have the shiny new white iPad 2 in all its glory....

Unboxing the iPad 2

Note the front facing camera adorning the top of the iPad 2...

Rest of the package

This is the usual Apple styling inside the package - clean and neat.

And finally, just to show this isn't a hoax.... the iPad 2 itself...

iPad 2 Wifi + 3G White 32 gig

This is the white version of the 32 gig Wifi + 3G iPad 2 which my darling will be using from now on. Why am I so excited about it? Well first of all I'm a gadget freak, and at a time when I'm still not feeling 100% well from the flu, it's something I can get excited about :)

Also, one year ago, I braved the long queues in Singapore to purchase the original iPad for my wife as her birthday present. This time, not only do we avoid the craziness of launch day in Singapore (still an undetermined date to boot), I will now get to inherit her original iPad!

Now, I can stop looking enviously whenever she uses her iPad, and I can be envious with new stuff, like oh, the slimmer design and the front and back facing camera of the new iPad.... :p

Whisky does feel a bit ignored though!

Whisky with doeful eyes...

20110328 - Afternoon Tea at TWG

2011-03-29T02:36:00.000+08:00

Over a period of 2 days, while I buckled under the influence of an unexpected bout of flu, I've had some time to do quite a bit of thinking and reflection, and one of the things on my mind is this blog - you see, the original idea of this blog was to support my photo-a-day project since the year 2008 - you can actually trace the beginnings of this blog to 31st Dec 2007.

Well, without trying to overstate things, the blog is back, and I've decided to restart my photo-a-day project, a project which I stopped since I came back from Paris and Switzerland (hey I needed a break :)). So, starting from this post, I'll do my best to post a photo everyday, and also talk about my Europe trip.

So, over a relaxing afternoon tea at TWG at Ion (fantastic place by the way), the decision was made to go back to blogging again!

TWG at Ion

Interesting teapot

I love photogenic tea pots :)

A Variety of Tea

Starbucks is more of my place, but my wife is a tea lover! TWG actually stands for "The Wellness Group", and is the embodiment of the luxury concept of an elegant English tea room. The place, and the service, is first rate!

Afternoon Tea Time

I wish I can do this everyday - lounging and sipping tea in the lazy hours of the afternoons :)

Tasty Scones

Sandwiches

The scones are good, and so are the sandwiches. They are also healthy enough for someone like me who is recovering from a bad bout of flu. Overall it's a little pricey, but the experience is worth it!

At 313 Marche

My darling wife (third from left!) and I ended the day goofing off with some good friends at Marche at 313. It's a relaxing day, but one that is badly needed for me as I recover from my flu!

Till the next post! It's great to be back :)

An Out of This World Experience

2011-01-11T16:28:00.001+08:00

Prior to this trip to Europe, I've never set foot on this beautiful continent, though certainly I've read enough to fuel a passion for it, and seen enough pictures from the various countries of Europe to create a desire to visit it one day.

The plan for my wife and I was to visit Paris for 2 days, then make a quick trip over to Switzerland, where we would stay with one of my students for 4 days and visit the mountains of Switzerland, then back to Paris for an extended stay of 11 days.

Day 1 of Switzerland, we went to Engelberg, where Mount Titlis is. This is a whole skiing paradise, with plenty of hotels and skiing facilities on the mountains.

Titlis Rotoair

Honestly I have always thought the Paris segment would be the major highlight, as that was our original idea - to visit Paris as tourists, and live like Parisians (we rented an apartment here instead of staying in hotels). It still is a major highlight, but thanks to the wisdom of my darling, who planned the entire trip, Switzerland really made an impact. In fact, to Michelle, it was the highlight of the trip.

The Swiss Alps

The reason? The magnificent Swiss alps, the likes of which can only be conceived and shaped by a Creator. God was so good to us, we gave us perfect weather for all 3 days of our mountain "expeditions" (no we didn't really climb any mountain per se :)). It was also my first time seeing snow and experiencing a real winter with snow!

Making our Mark

One small step for us (me actually, since I'm the one who hasn't experienced snow prior to this), one giant step for......uhmmm... nevermind :P

Mount Titlis

The weather was really good that day - we prayed for it as without good weather, the mountains could be covered by fog....

Another view of the mountains

Mountain Top

Skiers

Skiers preparing themselves...

Off They Go!

They really ski down great heights. I will have more pictures to show the heights they ski downslope - scary stuff!

Self Portrait

In french, they call it "auto portrait" :)

At the top

That's all for now. More photos soon of this out of this world experience!

Happy New Year from Europe!

2011-01-04T13:51:00.000+08:00

Updates are back! I can't believe It has been 4 months since I last updated this blog. I really must do it more often. (I know, I said that the last time....)

Happy New Year to everyone for the year 2011! I believe it's going to be the best year yet!

I'm right now vacationing in Europe and it has been an absolute blast. I will post more updates and pictures in a later post, right now I just want to leave you with a few pictures to start off.

Happy New Year!

This year we started the year with a big bang at Disneyland Paris!

Paris - City of Love

It is true, as what they say - in Paris, people are not afraid to show affection and love publicly.

Top of the World

We went to Switzerland after a 2 day stay in Paris (we will be back in Paris at a later date), and on the 3rd of Jan 2011, we found ourselves on top of the world, literally. Well, at least our part of the world :)

Mountains and Snow

The view from the top is simply breathtaking!

Winter Wonderland

We were quite literally, in winter wonderland. In case you are wondering, we were at the Titlis ski resort. Everywhere you turn is white winter snow!

That's all for now. We are still in Switzerland and we're preparing to go out now for another day of adventure. See you later in the next post!

Life on the Sea (Part 2)

2010-08-26T11:27:00.001+08:00

This is the second installment of Life on the Sea. (Part 1 is here).

Feeding Time

Fishing the fishes being reared at the kelong - feeding times occur at intervals throughout the day, with Mr Yeo and his workers moving to the different feeding areas via boat.

Spending just one day and one night on the kelong does not qualify me to write about a life on the sea, but one is able to catch a glimpse of what an ordinary day out in the ocean is like. And life is very different from that of mainland Singapore.

With no internet access (my mobile's 3G connection does work though - the 3G data network in Singapore is pretty extensive!), no access to the daily grind of human traffic, or bustling traffic, or the blaring of car horns and relentless chatter of people so typical of the environment in busy Singapore, life out in the sea is "wild" and more one with nature, and a very peaceful existence.

Waiting for the master

One of Mr Yeo's many dogs waiting for his arrival dockside to jump on and follow him around the different areas of the kelong. The animals are an integral part of the family at the kelong.

And serene.

Feeding Time

Perched precariously (to me!) on wooden beams, Mr Yeo empties feed for the fishes into the sea.

And oh, beautiful...

Sunset at the Kelong

This picture was taken from the kelong where we were staying.

Sunset over the sea

Part of the extensive network of the kelongs can be seen.

Visitors!

You wouldn't expect a land based mammal to be found out in the sea, but this cute little monkey was found by Mr Yeo and is now a pet among the many animals co-existing in the eco-system of the kelong. He was more interested in food than actually greeting us though!

Enjoying the chips

Mr Yeo with his companions

In case you thought Mr Yeo only lives with animals, he's actually the father to Bao Wen, one of my photography students, who made this trip possible. Thanks Bao Wen! :) I have to say, her father has a very cool way of making a living!

Life on the Sea (Part 1)

2010-08-24T00:39:00.000+08:00

I made a passing mention regarding my visit and overnight stay at a kelong (a kind of floating fishing platform) during the month of June in a previous post, but I didn't really blog or post much pictures from that wonderful experience. Today I'm going to introduce the man who graciously allowed me and a bunch of photography students the privilege of living life out in the open sea, even if it is just for 2 days.

Meet Mr Yeo

Mr Yeo co-owns and operates a number of kelongs off the coast of Singapore. Together with a few of his brothers, they run the family operated business of fishing, a trade that is considered almost extinct and somewhat of a curiosity in today's modern and high tech Singapore life.

The welcoming party

I kid you not - this is the welcoming party via speedboat that welcomed and greeted us when we arrived at the pier - Mr Yeo, his brother, and 2 sea-faring Jack Russell Terriers!

Sea Dogs

These sea faring dogs are very adaptable, with the ability to stand at the helm of a speeding speedboat without falling off into the waters, the capacity to love and greet us, the new visitors, all while performing astounding feats of agility, jumping on and off the boats onto the docks and piers. These are the seasoned hounds of the sea, and indeed for them their whole life is on the sea.

Later on in the day I realised there were at least 6 of them altogether. Mr Yeo is a dog lover, and these dogs follow him to work everyday!

Working on the sea

Captain of the ship!

That's another of the Jack Russell Terriers out at sea, in another boat. These dogs really like travelling by boat! Living out in the open sea, with the sea breeze blowing in their face, accompanying their master in the daily routine of his work, and enjoying great seafood every day, these dogs seem to have it all. :) They have as cool as lifestyle as I can ever think of for dogs!

Part 2 of this amazing trip coming up - watch out for the 2nd installment!

A New Season, a New Beginning

2010-08-22T12:03:00.000+08:00

August marks the start of the new season of the EPL (English Premier League) or the BPL, as it's officially known now (B for British). One of my good friends once said that every August, "life is back to normal again" (my paraphrase). Due to the competitive nature of Singtel and Starhub (not unlike Manchester United vs Liverpool), the 2 major IP TV and Cable TV operators in Singapore, there was a fight over the rights to broadcast the world cup in June, and the BPL this season, and for now, Singtel has won the BPL rights.

As a result, I have grudgingly unsubscribed my cable TV (good bye Disney channel....sob sob) in favor of this since July:

mioTV setup with wireless Internet

It took me a while (though I'll admit the geeky side of me that it was part of the fun) to rewire my own setup at home, but I think I finally got it right. In the process I had to read up the comparisons between component cables vs HDMI cables for HD TV (I learnt the direct to digital HDMI isn't always the best!), which made it a somewhat worthwhile learning experience.

I would have preferred sticking to Starhub though, even if the mio Stadium channel is actually pretty comprehensive. Starhub's cable TV channel is also more stable with no lag or skips compared to Singtels IP tv service. And that's with a new phone line pulled in direct by Singtel.... I'm not cancelling my Starhub broadband internet yet either, as it seems to perform better, despite Singtel's claims of a dedicated line.

Anyway, like what my friend said, life is indeed back to normal. The REAL soccer action is back, world cup not withstanding, and as with all the past years of my life (since primary school), I'm rooting for Manchester United.

Whisky is also a Man U fan!

Whisky in Man u jersey

She was allowed to play with the Man United ball after behaving so well for her photo shoot. Her favourite player is Rooney!

Whisky defending a tackle

Whisky preparing to take a free kick!

After the game

We're on the same side! It's time to buy the new jersey though for 2010/2011 :)

The One That (did not) Get Away

2010-07-21T23:53:00.002+08:00

Sunset in the west, originally uploaded by david5stones.

I had an encounter with a beautiful sunset today. As the taxi I cab I was riding in, I spied the giant ball of fire slowing descending over the horizon. After I pointed it out to my wife. she, being the understanding wife, and also a photographer herself, made the quick decision to stop the cab and we both jumped off iand ran towards the reservoir where we stayed, a place we know will give us a good vantage point of the sunset.

Alas, by the time we got there, and took out our cameras, the moment was gone, the sun having almost descended over the horizon. The few shots we took didn't do it justice.

It got away.

This photo I am posting here however, didn't get away. This was from nearly a month ago, in June, when in a car along the highway heading towards the west side of Singapore, I saw the glory of the fireball once more. There was no time then to take out the Nikon, and I took a few shots of it with my iPhone 3Gs, while speeding along the highway.

I got the moment.

Despite the terrible shooting condition, and the inferior quality of the camera compared to my usual rig, I love the shot of the sun, the clouds above it, the mood of the photo. This ties in with my previous post about having the best camera - and reinforces the fact that the best camera is the camera that is with you at the moment you need it.

The good old iPhone then, was the BEST camera again that day!

Yang Yi and Kaixin's Wedding

2010-07-15T11:31:00.001+08:00

This post marks the first time I've blogged since I took a little self imposed break from blogging about 3 weeks ago. No, this has nothing to do with the World Cup. No, really :P

Anyway..... I'm back! :) Since that time I've had to buy another new 1.5 tb hard disk since I'm outgrowing disk space at an alarming rate with the amount of photographs I'm shooting. And since no blog post here would be complete without pictures, I bring to you today some selects from the most recent wedding I've shot - those of Yang Yi and Kai Xin. They make a lovely couple!!!

The Bride

She's one of the most playful brides I've seen in a while.

The Groom

And Yang Yi was looking resplendent in his suit and all, and looked ready to conquer the challenges of getting his bride!

Fetching the Bride

Look how happy Yang Yi was! :)

Kaixin

The Wedding Car

Waiting in anticipation

This is one of my favorites from the wedding.

Down the aisle

This is Kaixin's dad walking her down the aisle....

....and Yang Yi taking over!

Yang Yi and Kaixin

Hand in Hand

It's always touching to see newly weds holding hands - this would be the beginning of a new journey for them!

Exchanging vows

The Kiss

The highly anticipated moment!

Throwing the bouquet

This was quite a fun moment and it's a pity it's not a usual practice anymore. But here it is at this wedding!

I'm working on the multimedia slideshow of their wedding - watch this space! Updates will come fast an furious! :)

I'm glad to be back online!!!!

Barney the Dinosaur Murdered! Read all about it!

2010-06-20T01:03:00.000+08:00

Hound News Barking News Update: Barney the Dinosaur Murdered

Barney the Dinosaur

Hound News File Photo

Barney the dinosaur, the seemingly eternal favorite of kids the world over, the controversial character whose sexual orientation was in question (Is he gay?), was brutally murdered two evenings ago. His body was found badly mutilated, bitten in several places, along with traces of what looks like the assailant's fur. He was last seen wearing his usual red cape entertaining kids with his usual song and dance routine.

Barney was 23 years old.

After a thorough investigation by police from Shetland Yard, led by the intrepid detective BullDog Holmes, the case was cracked and the culprit discovered. At Hound News, following an anonymous tipoff, we managed to buy off a set of picture evidence from a shady character at Bark Tavern. We pieced together the entire picture of the murder using those pictures we got, who were said to be taken by a photographer who was on the scene of the murder. It was not known if the photographer was working with the culprit.

Barney Spotted

Deciding to boycott the SMRT system due to them persecuting the talented graffiti artist who drew on the trains, Barney decided to take a walk through the woods, when he was spotted by the assailant.

The following pictures depict the vicious attack. Caution: gory content not suitable for children of certain ages. Please do not try the moves at home.

Checking out Barney

Getting pinned down

A Nasty Pile-driver!

Barney never had a chance

Biting Between the legs!

No, not the face!

At press time, the identity of the assailant remains unknown. The Police is appealing for eye witnesses to help with the investigations.

Reporter: The News Beagle

Disclaimer: Despite the fact that we at Hound News seem like a serious paper, we are still concerned with selling newspapers. The bigger the readership, the better! Certain parts of the story may have been intentionally sensationalized by the selective use of words, and the suggestive use of phrases that are half-truths. Certain information may also be embellished in an effort to provoke interest, criticism or opinions from the readers - we don't really care as long as people talk about the news, and more importantly, turn to us to whet their insatiable appetite for saucy news to spice up their dog boring lives.

We are also careful not to offend the higher ups, the YOU-KNOW-WHO. It is imperative, for the sake of continual publishing of news, that we do not criticize or speak ill of said higher ups. Even if it limits our freedom of barking. It's perfectly ok as long as we are fed the highest quality dog food.

Of Mating Birds and the Best Camera

2010-06-19T01:38:00.001+08:00

What is the best camera? That question gets asked a lot of times, by newbies and sometimes, long time photographers, in various forms and different ways.

And the answer is the same - the BEST camera is the one that is with you when you need to take a photo. Or simply, the best camera is the one you have right now.

Mating Birds

This is picture of the day for the 18th June. It's the first picture of the day for the year 2010 that was NOT taken with either my main camera, or my compact digital. It was in fact, a grab shot by my iPhone. We were walking along this stretch of Bukit Merah during lunch time when my colleagues noticed 2 birds kissing. After staring at them in amazement for a few moments, the realization to take a photo hit me. Fumbling for the only camera that was with me at that time, my iPhone, I hastily walked over to where they were.

At that instant, they stopped their kissing. I had missed the moment. However, the next instant, the white bird jumped onto the back of the black one. Against all rules of steady-hands-photo- taking, I mashed down on the shutter button. Oops, I mean the on-screen representation of the shutter button.

And I got the picture. See, the iPhone was the best camera I had today. Simply because it was the only one I had. So, if you want to take pictures, get a camera. Any camera. A photographer without a camera is useless. That uber-new, feature rich camera that sits on the shelf beckoning you and mocking you with its high price tag is of no use to you if you can't afford or justify the price. Get the best possible camera you can afford, even if it's the one embedded in your mobile phone, and get out there into the world.

A world of pictures await! :)

The Beauty of a Sunrise

2010-06-16T18:01:00.001+08:00

I have had the pleasure of witnessing 2 beautiful sunrises over the past 3 days. On Saturday I was shooting a wedding early in the morning when I saw the glowing ball of fire that was the sun over the horizon. I took a few pictures (coming up, together with shots of the wedding), but I could not allow myself to linger too long on the beauty of it as my focus was on the bride making up.

On Monday, I went to stay over at a kelong (a kind of off shore fishing and fish rearing facility made up of wood) together with my photography students. Out in the open sea, it was a totally difference kind of experience, and on the last day of our stay, I had the pleasure of witnessing God's wonderful work - that of the sun slowly rising over the horizon.

The fishermen living at the kelong were up at work early in the morning!

Initially I was waiting for the water to be calm....

But then I realised the waves make for a nice foreground subject!

The shot below was my last shot. As the sun broke through the clouds, it sent rays streaming through the clouds. I didn't need a second invitation!

Photographing it, I felt like I had a hand in the work of its creation - the sun is rising, creating the surreal and beautiful skyline, and me, I was trying to create the scene and commit it on a print.

More updates on the kelong trip coming up!

Living Life to the Fullest

2010-06-10T01:23:00.000+08:00

Photographically speaking, this week has been a pretty boring week so far. In fact, for the past 10 days it has more or less been quite nominal, photographically speaking, which explained partially the lack of frequent updates here. Thank God my photo-a-day project did not suffer, especially when I have a perfect muse such as my dog Whisky. How can I ever run out of photos everyday?

Whisky and Houneken

She is eyeing my every move even as she is playing with her favorite toy!

I learnt something from Whisky today (actually, she taught me new things every day. One of these days I'm going to write a book of lessons taught by her!) - having a healthy curiosity about the world we live in. She is everywhere in our lives, nosing her way constantly around, probing, testing, and exploring her environment.

Lamb, Chicken and Beef

A few seconds after I set up the above shot....

Nosy Whisky

New Blower

Whisky decides to investigate the new blower I bought....

Shadows

Whisky wants to be in every shot. Apparently she didn't feel she is spoiling the photo!

Even when she got scolded for doing things she wasn't supposed to, that didn't stop her from trying again. Her thirst for new experiences in life knows no bounds! When it comes to play, she is on all fours!

Whisky getting scolded

She looks cute even when she was being reprimanded!

By actively seeking to find out about the world around us, learning new things, getting new experiences, enjoying and playing to the fullest, we can avoid getting bored with doing the same things day in day out!

Whisky and her toy

Whisky really seeks to live life to the fullest every single day. She greets each new day with a zest and enthusiasm as if she is starting the first day of her life. Every time she knows she is going out, she leaps for joy as if she is going out for the first time. Every experience is a new one for her, and she never gets tired of life.

Perhaps there is a lesson in there somewhere for those of us who are weary and heavy laden with the burdens of life!

Entering Sin City

2010-06-06T01:14:00.002+08:00

Gateway to the MBS

I wonder how many of you actually heard of, or remembered this movie in 2005, which came out of a series of comics, "Sin City"? It's a movie about this fictional dark town in America where crime is so rampant and prevalent, corruption runs so deep that even the police force was roped in to do the bidding of gangs.

I'm not sure why this is so, but that's what popped into my mind when I entered the Marina Bay Sands for the very first time 2 days ago. After having photographed the Marina Bay Sands (MBS henceforth) for so many times, together with the magnificent Helix bridge linking it to mainland Singapore, finally I get a chance to enter the building I'm been photographing from the outside.

The hotels of the MBS

Taxi Stand at the MBS

The MBS probably would not have caused quite the stir and debate if it simply had just been a complex of high class hotels, expensive shopping places and world class convention centres. Fact is, at the heart of it is Singapore's very first sanctioned casino, our uhmmm.... nation's pride because it will draw in foreign money and boost and diversify our economy.

Casino Entry

I love high class food - hey I love eating.
I love high end shopping.
I love convention centres, attending world class conferences, magnificent structures. The MBS is one of the most breathtaking buildings I've seen in Singapore.

Magnificent Interior of the MBS Hotel

Great (albeit expensive buffet food

I'm just not sure about the gambling part.

The government is taking measures to help Singaporeans avoid the pitfalls of gambling - imposing a $100 levy on entrance for locals to discourage them from going in, increasing public awareness of gambling and its ills, stepping up advertisements on TV warning of the risk of addiction to gambling, even having such ads in cinemas.

But is that the way to solve the problem that didn't have to exist in the first place? You created a chance to sin, then you put in place measures that discourage, but not prevent people from trying to. It's either sheer genius or I'm missing something here..

The Great Divide - Singaporeans vs Foreigners

Sure, I understand it creates jobs. So can opening a Disneyland in Singapore, something which the government gave up on. Now we'll just have to fly to Hong Kong Disneyland. No problem, it's just a few hours away!

Sure it diversifies the economy. And brings in foreign money. At the expense of breaking up families, possibly rising crime rates? Already we're hearing of gambling related crimes.

Perhaps I shall eat my words when our country's economy picks up, and the casinos put Singapore on the world map of entertainment and pleasure. But at what cost? That's something I think we need to think about!

The World's Hatred

2010-06-03T02:00:00.002+08:00

It's been a few days since I blogged, mainly because I'm still recovering from attending and photographing 5 wonderful days at the Asia Conference and CGI International 2010. This event was organised by the church which I've been attending, for (count'em!) the past 12 years - City Harvest Church. It was a mind blowing time with the various speakers at the conference, not to mention a time of renewal of faith, hope and love in the strong presence of God in all the worship services.

Unless you have been holing up in a cave somewhere in the mountains of Tora Bora (though as Osama bin Laden has proven, it is still possible to receive news and post videos on sympathetic TV networks for propaganda purposes), you would probably have heard of the news that one day after the conference ended, some members of City Harvest Church were asked to assist the police and the Criminal Affairs Department in an on-going investigation into an alleged misuse of funds by said individuals. This has been widely reported in the major media outlets in Singapore.

I would like to take this post to declare proudly, that I have complete and utter trust in the leaders and management board of City Harvest Church, and in particular, unwavering faith in the integrity of our Senior Pastor Kong Hee. These people have given their lives for God and for people all over Asia. If it hasn't been said enough, then I would also like to clarify my stand that I fully support and stand by the Church in this period of time.

What has really infuriated me, however, were the many erroneous and sensationalized reports coming out of our pathetic excuse for the local media. The Straits Times "breaking news" was indeed broken, with their original article amended silently to remove said errors. That didn't stop them however, from pushing more abysmal drivel through their subsequent columns. For one thing, City Harvest does not solicit funds from the public, but it's funded by members who trust the Management Board of the Church to use those funds as they deem fit. We're not like any charity in Singapore.

That didn't stop the media from having a field day, revealing the appalling state of journalism and the hyperbole they thrive on to sell papers. In fact, the frivolous nature in which they publish certain photos (and badly taken ones at that. Hey I would know!) to illustrate their implied "truths" is the final impetus for me not to spend any money buying any of their papers.

See my FaceBook post on what the Straits Times is best used for!

All of these events were already foretold in the bible. Without getting too much into it, here's a picture (what's this blog without photos??) I took yesterday of my bible. The highlight was already there - sometime in 2004 or 2005 I believed that verse was highlighted.

There will always be people in the world criticizing, accusing and conspiring to bring down the body of Christ. In fact, the hatred of the world was, as Jesus so succinctly put it, was first directed at Himself. Even when Pontius Pilate could found no wrongdoing at Jesus' trial, the mob / crowd / world kept chanting for His death.

With the baying media frothing on one side, fanning the flames of controversy, it is no surprised the accusers in the various online forums are shouting, even cheering. Well, let them. The crowd thought they had the better of Jesus too. To paraphrase a popular saying....

"The demise of City Harvest has been greatly exaggerated".

We'll be back to our regular programming where blogging is concerned. I just felt I had to let this off. I feel better already! :)

Power of Visualization

2010-05-26T00:52:00.000+08:00

Drummer

This picture was the product of visualizing the shot before it happened. It was shot during the rehearsal for the Parade of Nations segment of the upcoming Asia Conference (which takes place in a few hours time at the time of writing!). There was this part of the performance where multiple drummers were placed strategically in the hall, and as the spotlight fell on each, they became drumming in an anti-clockwise manner around the hall.

I knew it was impossible for me to capture all the drummers in one shot, as they are very far from each other, so I placed myself below one of them, and waited for his turn to hit the drums. As he was doing that, I shot into the light, knowing that the effect would be pretty dramatic, even with a bit of lens flare. As I was not sure of the exposure, and the entire sequence happened pretty fast, there was no time to chimp at the LCD. I shot in rapid succession, varying the exposure each time (I was in manual mode).

I even had time to take another variation of the shot:

Drummer 2

Photography is all about light, and the light makes all the difference. Of course, you would have to be there at the right place and the right time too! :)

A lot of time spent in waiting, a few seconds of madness, all for that one special shot. That's what often happens, and that's when all the good photographs come about. Many people credit chance, or a moment of luck to a good shot. Typical comments would range from "wow, good shot. You're very lucky to be there!" or "Good shot! What camera did you use?". Not to mention the classic "nice photo - did you edit it in photoshop?"

Yes, some moments in photography are shot when one sees the moment, quickly grab the camera, and make a shot of a priceless moment. Is that luck? You got to be prepared, to have the camera with you already right? Like this moment of Whisky stretching - I had my camera primed and ready when she did it. Was I lucky?

Whisky Stretching

Many other great moments in photography were actually pre-visualized. The moment may or may not materialize - I'm talking strictly about unposed, documentary type photography here, yet before it happens, the photographer had already read the light, chosen the background, and waiting for something to happen. IF, and when it happens, he / she will be ready!

Good photographers make their own luck. Bad ones make excuses!

Enjoying the Arts Fest

2010-05-25T11:34:00.001+08:00

I'm sorry for the lack of updates the past few days - work has been really busy, but on the upside I also have tons of pictures to share over the next few days!

The last post I talked about the opening of the Arts Fest. Well this post will still be talking about the opening - I just have not got to time to see any of the other performances yet. That situation will soon be corrected, I hope :) Anyway, here are some more shots from the opening. People are really enjoying themselves!

Family by the swing

A family enjoying the festivities (well the adults are, anyway), lounging by swings placed around the "Fire Garden".

Cyclist on wire

Amazingly, this contraption can move by itself. I'm still figuring out how they do it.

Cyclist on wire 2

Onlookers marvelling at the ingenuity of the display.

Friends Forever

A group of friends relaxing in the Fire Garden

Working the flames

A performer working one of the fire breathing contraptions placed around the Fire Garden.

Hot work

It was hot just standing next to him!

Blast Furnace

This is the contraption he was working on!

It was exhausting and warm walking the grounds of the entire garden, but it was really worth it as the display really put a different spin on the familiar spots of Singapore as we know it.

Fire Garden

City in flames

Next up, the power of visualisation, plus a ton of pics. Stay tuned!

Singapore Arts Fest 2010 - An Invitation to Dream

2010-05-17T23:54:00.000+08:00

An Invitation to Dream

I shot the opening of the Singapore Arts Festival 2010 last week - and what an opening night it was with the blazing display by the French alchemist Compagnie Carabosse, who transformed the entire Esplanade Park and Empress place precinct into a blazing, fiery dreamland. The sypnosis below was taken from the Arts Fest website:

The Singapore Arts Festival 2010 is all set to spark your imagination with an opening act that transforms the historic expanse of Esplanade Park and Empress Place Precinct into a glowing wonderland. Combining street art with creative fire display, internationally renowned French fire alchemist, Compagnie Carabosse recreates the urban landscape of the historic district, embellishing it with towering sculptures of metal, clay pots, fire curtains, blazing garlands and intricate patterns of flame. For three nights, the fire installation will light up the historic expanse of Empress Place Precinct and the Esplanade Park with an enchanting glow, carving out intimate spaces of warmth.

A Blazing Wonderland

Empress Place Precinct in a blaze

As early as 7pm the performers started their rounds, lighting up the claypots that lined the streets along Esplanade Park and Empress Place. Their dedication to their art can be seen from those faces!

The Lightup

Lightup

The Garden set ablaze

Great Balls of Fire

Great Balls of Fire 2

Over the next few blog posts, I will post more pictures from the opening, including street and performance photographs I captured while at the event. They are simply too many must see images! This is only part 1!

Aerial Views of Keppel Harbour

2010-05-14T01:09:00.000+08:00

Well, it's been 4 days since my last post, and I miss blogging already! As you may guess, I've been pretty busy - and I have a ton of pictures waiting to be unleashed! :) I shall start off this post with a series of pictures from a high perspective. I realised I do have a lot of pictures shot from an aerial / elevated perspective in my portfolio, and I'm in the process of compiling such shots into a series. Meanwhile here are a few to share of Singapore's Keppel Harbor / PSA.

My darling and I are fascinated by those cranes!

PSA Cranes

Working Overtime

Keppel Harbour

Till the next post, which will come tomorrow. Watch this space! :)

Does God REALLY care about the things we care about?

2010-05-08T13:42:00.000+08:00

A week ago, I posted a blog post about Idy's (my cg member) Pekinese dog, Queenie, who had a slipped disc and had to undergo a spinal operation. Well first of all I just want to bring the good news that Queenie is now recovering at home and signs of her recovery process, including her ability to now move her tail, are encouraging. I believe she is well on her way to full health.

Queenie

What made me mention this was that there was a comment on that post by someone who didn't name himself / herself, but who seems to be a student / ex-student of mine. In that post, he / she said:

Hi Mr David,

Do you believe that animals go to heaven? I've wondered about this for so long and still have no answers. I know it's ridiculous to let seemingly minor things like these stop me from going to church but I think what I'm really asking is not where animals go after they die but if God cares about the things I care about.

I had wanted to post a reply but inadvertently forgot about it after composing the reply. And since the post was a few days old, I'm not sure if the person who commented would be alerted to my reply there, so in the interest of sharing, I've decided to post my reply here, in the public.

Cute doggie

I can't remember her name. I got to check it out - Whisky met her at the groomer's!

I honestly do not know if animals go to heaven after they die. I would like to think there's a special place for animals after they pass on, but the bible did not mention any such place. We would not know this, and a lot of other things until we actually reach Heaven.

Emo Dog

God definitely cares about the things we care about. In fact, He knows the things we need even before we pray for those things. He knows, and understands that we are human and we have needs that are crying out to be fulfilled - our needs for love, for acceptance, for companionship. Not forgetting our need to be intellectually fulfilled, emotionally healthy and financially prosperous.

3 John 2 says:
² Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers.

Prospering in all things really means everything, even our soul. That's why we thank God for our dogs, or any other pets, who fulfill a need for companionship in our lives, maybe even more. That's why we have computer games, online gaming, to entertain and occupy us. That's why I follow English Premier League soccer every week, cheering on my favourite team Manchester United, hoping they will win the EPL title for the fourth consecutive season. That's why Christian ladies shop for clothes, bags, jewellery just like any other non believer. That's why I love my iPhone so much and think it's the best device ever invented since the original Palm.

That's why we all in love, get married, enjoy family life. That's all we (well mostly guys anyway) enjoy fast cars; that's why we love and listen to music.

Fast Cars

Whisky, with Manchester United Crest in the background

Gaming!

Because these are real needs, and God cares about these things we care about. That's why as a cell group I asked everyone to pray for Queenie, because Queenie matters to Idy, and Idy matters to us.

In fact, the bible mentions that there are things that we need that even we ourselves do not know, but God knows it best, because He is our Creator, and He knows His own creation. The Holy Spirit even helps us pray when we don't know what to pray for. In Rom 8:26 it says

²⁶In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express.

God is the one who gave us all things to enjoy. 1 Tim 6:17 says

"Command those who are rich in this present age not to be haughty, nor to trust in uncertain riches but in the living God, who gives us richly all things to enjoy."

God gives us our families

So the lesson here is that all things are given to us to enjoy - our life and our health, out of which we obtain our wealth, which allows us to indulge and have fun in this life. BUT ultimately, these things which we enjoy, 1 Tim 6:17 says very clearly are not things that we should trust in, or worship.

In other words, we may enjoy computer games, but it should not run our lives, nor should we worship our money, shopping, our clothes, our iPhones and other things. We should not be placing our trust, our comfort, our faith, our happiness solely on all these things, for ultimately these are things we cannot bring with us to Heaven.

Shopping for things we want

Another thing that we cannot bring with us to Heaven is our pets. Maybe God has a special place for them when they pass on, but we don't know for sure, and even if God has a place for them, we may not see them in Heaven.

That's why our ultimate trust should be in God - all other things, even our human relationships, are not permanent; they are not eternal.

The good news is, God will never deny giving us things, computer games, relationships, dogs or whatever is it that you want to enjoy. As long as we place Him first in our lives, as long as we serve Him and love Him, all these things He will give us to enjoy.

I'm not making up that last part - it says so very clearly in Matthew 6:28-33. Read for yourself! :)
So resist God no longer!

²⁸"And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. ²⁹Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. ³⁰If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? ³¹So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' ³²For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. ³³But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.

Views of Marina Bay Sands

2010-05-06T10:17:00.000+08:00

I went out with over 15 people (not sure of the exact numbers but definitely more than 15!) last Saturday, where I was to play the role of a guide (one of 3) along the Singapore River. No, I didn't change my profession to that of a tour guide. This is a group of photographers and we were all there to shoot evening and twilight shots of the Marina Bay Sands hotels and casino.

Yes I know I've shot that recently, but I'm not tiring of it yet!! I also had a great time during dinner and chit chat sessions after we wrap up the shoot. Here are 3 images I shot, all from the same tripod position, but at different times of that evening. Variations on a theme, if you will.

Enjoy!

Marina Bay Sands at Twilight

Marina Bay Sands in Black and White

Marina Bay Sands during late evening

What we can learn from our dogs - Queenie's courage

2010-05-01T15:57:00.000+08:00

Queenie

This is the story of Queenie, the lovely little Pekinese dog belonging to Idy, my cell group member. One week ago, Queenie was found motionless, unable to move in the house. After bringing her to the animal hospital, Queenie was diagnosed with a case of slipped disc in her spinal chord, which seems to be an inherited disease common to Pekinese dogs.

After consultation with 3 different vets, Queenie underwent an operation for her spinal chord and is now currently warded at the Balestier Animal Recovery Centre.

Queenie at her hospital "bed"

Queenie's injured back

We went to visit her after cell group on Thursday. What we found was not a Queenie who was whiny or pitiful looking, but one who was still frisky, though she could not feel the lower half of her body but had to use her front legs to pull herself along. She has shown tremendous courage in the face of what must be great pain and extreme discomfort at having to be bandaged and wired up and confined to her hospital "cubicle".

All the pictures here were taken at the hospital. As you can see, she has lost none of her cuteness and zest for life!

Still smiling for the camera

There are many things we can learn from Man's best friend. Queenie's zest for life has greatly encouraged me, and she has shown great courage in the face of hardship, sickness and adversity. There's nothing quite like a fierce will to live and a lively spirit to get the most out of life. Idy told me Queenie is still as choosy as ever, refusing hospital / standard dry food in favor of home cooked food, particularly spare ribs :) Idy's mother cooked (in a way healthy for dogs, of course) for her and brought it to the hospital everyday!

We prayed for Queenie during our cell group meeting. Indeed like I shared with my members, if we can pray for our own health, or finances or jobs, or other things dear to us, why not for our faithful canine friends who are our constant companions?

I believe she will get well soon. Leave your well wishes for her speedy recovery! :)

Sparring with Whisky

2010-04-29T00:05:00.000+08:00

This is Whisky, willing and egging me to spar with her. She has placed her Houneken right next to me on the sofa.

Let the battle begin!

Note to self - cut toe nails before posting next time :P

Ever since we allowed her onto our sofa and chairs this month, Whisky has been taking full advantage of it and now I have to fight with her for my space on our sofa. Here's Whisky watching EPL soccer on Starhub Cable TV!

At the end of the day, Whisky is still the cute baby who is willing to pose for the camera!

Troubled Clouds, Heaven's reward

2010-04-26T23:58:00.002+08:00

Troubled Clouds

I live in a country with no natural picturesque landscapes, majestic mountains or grand rivers. Yet once in a while the heavens deem fit to reward those who seek the light with a glimpse of heaven, just a glimmer of eternity, a small spell of resplendent beauty.

When I saw this scene yesterday, I felt that I was rewarded for always constantly looking for the light.

Who says there's nothing to shoot in Singapore?

The Helix (aka Double Helix Bridge)

2010-04-25T13:38:00.000+08:00

I went to the opening of the Double Helix bridge (now formerly known as The Helix. Uhmmm... creative...), but I skipped the opening hoopla due to the crowd, and only went there at 930pm.

Opening of the Helix

This is the iconic pedestrian bridge shaped like a double helix, which will link the part of the Bay near the floating platform to the soon-to-be opened Marina Bay Sands integrated resort. The bridge is expected to be a focal point for the community, linking cultural, recreational and entertainment facilities in the area and complements the overall pedestrian scheme of Marina Bay.

The Helix Lights up

The bridge is set to put Singapore on the world map of cities with iconic bridges. According to ChannelNews Asia:

But it'll be well-known - as an engineering feat that's assembled with great precision, using a special stainless steel to withstand corrosion.

The steel tubes form the minor and major helix that spiral in opposite directions. In fact, if all the steel tubes forming the major and minor helix are laid end to end, it will measure 2,250 metres long - almost the length of the 2.4 kilometres fitness run.

DNA Bridge

Before it had the official name, I refer to it as the DNA bridge.

I walked the length of the bridge and back. It would have taken less than 10 minutes, had I not constantly stop to take photos or soak in the festivities (there were performances etc to celebrate the opening). Enjoy the pictures - I certainly had fun!

Double Helix in b/w

This is looking back towards the Suntec City direction.

The Helix

That's all for now. There will be more coming from this place!

One year of Whisky

2010-04-24T11:14:00.001+08:00

First sight of Whisky

22nd April - the day came and went quietly and without much fanfare. But to me and my darling it was a momentous day - it was the anniversary of the day Whisky came home with us from the pet shop she was in at Vivo City, one year to the day we first saw her, held her in our arm (she was trembling non stop!) and fell in love with her.

Love at First Sight

Whisky by the store window - her brother was in the background.

First Bed, First Toy

Whisky resting from the journey home on her first pink bed, which my darling ordered online, and her first toy (the bottle), a gift from Woofy (bought in Japan during our honeymoon) - which remains till this day her favourite. It's call Houneken :P

Whisky eating

Baby whisky eating from her metallic food bowl - which she still uses to this day.

Whisky and Bolster

Whisky playing with her bolster. She has since destroyed it :P

Whisky and Bolster 2

Whisky resting with bolster

Drunken Whisky

She is drunk from joy playing with her toy!

Like a Baby

One year of Whisky. How our lives are changed by her! I didn't really know how a canine companion could have changed a person's life - now I fully appreciate that fact. Whisky has changed mine irrevocably!

The Art of Print Making

2010-04-21T00:38:00.000+08:00

I ate a very good sashimi rice meal for dinner yesterday. Now I love sashimi but I rarely get a chance to eat it, so when I saw it on the menu of the Japanese restaurant my darling and I went to yesterday, I couldn't resist.

The corn appetizer was good too!

So why am I boring you with what I ate yesterday? :P The truth is, the meal made me realise that there are some things that will bring fulfillment in our lives, but sometimes we don't get down to doing it often enough. Like eating sashimi more often, in my case.

Print making is another of those things in life I ought to be doing more often.

I actually sat down last night for more than an hour to make some prints. Print making (I guess people nowadays would just use the word "printing") has been a lost art since the advent of digital. With the introduction and subsequent prevalence of photo sharing sites like Facebook, Flickr, Photobucket and many others, there has never been a better time in the history of photography for sharing one's memories and works to an audience base as wide as the world, with such ease and convenience as the touch of a button or a click of the mouse.

Print Making

This has the unfortunate effect of relegating the physical printing of photos to the sidelines, consigning prints to a fetishism of the luddites or an archaic practice for those who are old enough to remember the Beatles.

However, print making is an essential part of the photography, and those who have never made a single print are missing a big part of this experience. Ansel Adams went as far as to mouth the now famous quote "The negative is the score, the print is the performance". In other words, the negative, or the image formed at the sensor in today's digital camera, is merely the musical score, the raw material for the virtuoso performance of the print which we will unleash to the world.

Today, probably 99% (my estimate) of the digital photos taken in the world are viewed exclusively on the computer, the mobile phone, or any connected device equipped with a camera. We're merely reading the scores of an orchestra, and missing out on the performance itself!

A Mini Gallery at my desk

I made a series of prints and pinned them up all over my desk in office, like a mini gallery. I intend to update the prints on a regular basis, and make my desk resemble a mini gallery. If you're my photography student reading this, feel free to drop by to take a gander at the quality of the Epson inkjet prints, to feel and touch the tangible quality of a print.

Prints all over

I know, I need to work on that messy table, to get it tidied up....

So if you're reading this, go make some prints today!

An Obsession

2010-04-17T01:46:00.000+08:00

Yesterday I mentioned that my wife has an obsession with unfinished structures. Well, I seem to be drawn towards the Marina Bay integrated resort too, at least the construction of. This is a scene I find myself returning to quite often, and that was what I went back and photographed earlier after another photography outing with my students.

Darling's Obsession - a closeup!

Being obsessed over something enough to reshoot it until it becomes perfect is a good thing. In fact, that is precisely what landscape photographers do all the time. Just the different times of a single day will render a scene in many different ways.

Old Vs New

Singapore CBD skyline at night

CBD in black and white

It's 1:40 am at this time and I have a shoot later starting from 7am. Hence I shall leave you with these few words but many pictures. Enjoy!

Views from Esplanade Park

2010-04-16T00:49:00.000+08:00

How cool is it to have a spouse who not only understands your hobby, but partakes in it, and actually complements it? Answer is VERY :)

These shots were taken along the Esplanade Park on Wednesday evening (2 days ago), and of course my lovely wife came along, like the previous outing to the Singapore River. Not only did she give useful advice, she also post processed these shots.

Enjoy!

A Melancholic Scene

This is my favorite from the series.

City of Lights

I love the Velvia / slide film look of this picture.

IR at Twilight

This is a twilight view of the Integrated Resort. I can't wait for it to be completed (so that I can shoot it, not that I will go gamble...ha!).

Darling's Obsession

This is my darling's obsession - so fascinated was she with the uncompleted state of this structure :) I took quite a number of shots of it for her haha!

Iconic Symbols

Iconic symbols of Singapore.

A Walk by the River

2010-04-12T23:53:00.000+08:00

Crossing Over

I took a walk along the Singapore river today with my darling, my camera and my tripod (which has seen more action these 2 days than the past 2 months added together :P). It was drizzling, wet and flashes of lightning can occasionally be seen in the darkening sky.

The Marketplace

It was a great time to take pictures. While most people put away their camera gear when the rain comes (a most prudent course of action to protect most gear which are non weather sealed), inclement weather is about one of the best times to take photos.

Singing in the Rain

The confluence of storm clouds in the sky tonight, with the glistening rain soaked pavement made for some nice inclement weather shots of the Singapore skyline. These are times you thank the Heavens for the weather, the light, the beauty of the place and the wonder of weather sealed cameras. Remember to walk carefully on the slippery pavements if you do go wet weather shooting, and protect your gear well!

Rising towards Heaven

Back alley

This alley is the last place we went before going for a nice quiet dinner around the area. Love those retro looking air conditioners!

One way street

Even More Twilight Fun

2010-04-12T00:45:00.000+08:00

Since the last post, I decided to do more cityscapes of our very own Singapore, so I decided to bring out the tripod today again. I really don't do that very often, much preferring looser street photography, but I'm going to pretend to be a large format kind of photographer today :) I also rented a 14-24 f2.8 for the occasion.

Panoramic View

I don't have a lot of shots that I like, though I walked quite a bit today. It's all right because the main idea was to actually go out and spend my Sunday on the streets and try new things and experiment.

Light and Shadows

This is the same shot as the first one above, but processed differently.

CityScape

Enjoy!

Twilight Fun by the Art Bridge

2010-04-10T16:50:00.000+08:00

Yesterday I took my photography students to Robertson Quay. My original intention was to walk around the area photographing by the Singapore river and also the pub life along Robertson walk. However, we came upon the Art Bridge (also known as the Alkaff Bridge) and it became the central focus of our attention that evening.

Alkaff Bridge

It's been a while since I did super long exposures during the "magic hour" light - that span of time at twilight (usually around 7 to 730pm) in Singapore where the sky remains a deep blue, perfect for twilight photography of lit-up buildings. I had my tripod with me - my lesson objectives were to teach them long exposures. And long exposures we did that night, enjoying ourselves thoroughly!

Faces on the Bridge

See the 2 smiley faces? :P

According to Wikipedia, Alkaff Bridge (Singapore's ArtBridge) is a pedestrian bridge in Singapore. It spans the Singapore River at Robertson Quay, located in the Singapore River planning area within the Central Area, Singapore's Central Business District.

The bridge was built in 1997, as part of the Urban Redevelopment Authority's (URA) plan to create a promenade along both banks of the Singapore River. The bridge, completed in 1999, is one of three footbridges — Alkaff Bridge, Robertson Bridge and Jiak Kim Bridge — built at Robertson Quay to improve the pedestrian connectivity between the two river banks.

Crossing the River

The Alkaff Bridge was painted in January 2004 in vibrant colours by Filipino artist Pacita Abad (1946–2004) and a team of rope specialists. The artist and her crew of helpers used 55 different colours and more than 900 litres of industrial-strength paint to transform the bridge into Singapore's first "Bridge of Art".

Art Bridge

The steel truss bridge is 55 metres in length and weighs about 230 tonnes. It is shaped like a tongkang (a light boat used commonly in the early days to carry goods along rivers), and is situated near the former Alkaff Quay. Alkaff Quay was named after a prominent Arabian family, the Alkaffs, who were among the wealthiest in Singapore during the early 20th century.

Art Bridge at Night

Hmm so there are 2 more pedestrian bridges spanning across the same Singapore River to photograph. It would be good to do them all and compile into a series!

I could not resist taking pictures from the bridge - here are 2 nice views from the bridge.

Robertson Quay

Singapore River along Robertson Quay

I am rediscovering the love of doing super long exposures. This shot, while similar to an earlier one above it, was done later in the light, when the sky was dark. A 30 second exposure gave it a different look from what my eyes saw!

Long Exposure Robertson Quay

I'm looking forward to the next outing :)

Making time

2010-04-09T00:37:00.000+08:00

Sunset over Tanjong Pagar

I found myself along Tanjong Pagar on a Thursday evening, on my way to cell group, when I was stopped in my tracks by the beautiful hues of the skyline caused by the sunset. I do not normally photograph well when I don't set out purposefully to photograph - this was a classic case of "I'm in a rush, and I don't have time for this / I'm carrying a lot of things and I cannot stop".

But today, I willed myself to set down my bag, take out my camera (here's a case for bringing your camera wherever you go) to take this picture because I figured I have the time for it.

I made time for it.

Maxwell House

I was inspired enough that I continued to take photos as I walked the rest of the way to my cell group meeting. These shots aren't much, but they are a chronicle of my journey, both physically and photographically speaking.

Red Dot Museum

Seeing Red

Sometimes we just need to make time for things!

Looking Out the Window In the Morning

2010-04-07T00:40:00.000+08:00

I've been waking up earlier. While I wouldn't consider myself an early bird, I do survive pretty well on little sleep. I will myself up earlier nowadays, because I have recently discovered a world of beauty outside my bedroom window.

Or rather, Whisky helped discover it..

Dawn, sunrise are times of the day where the light is best and because of that, the photographic opportunities are endless. It took one morning, one look out the window one morning to get that all important revelation.

These birds were chirping away merrily, perched somewhat precariously on a string contraption setup by the previous owners of my flat. I scrambled for my camera while Whisky looks excitedly on.

From then on, I strive to wake up early to see the possibilities at this time of the day.

Today I went down with Whisky just to capture the beauty of the early morning light hitting the residential blocks around my house. It was therapeutic to bask in the morning glow and just simply taking in the scene.

In just a few minutes time the hustle and bustle of the working day will come. Now is the time to relax and enjoy the morning light God has given to us!

Spending Quality Time

2010-04-06T00:19:00.002+08:00

I had a nice quiet dinner with my darling today. It felt serene, almost tranquil, after all the bustle and hustle of the Easter activities and the long (albeit smooth) day at work on a Monday evening. We went to this place at Vivo City for our meal.

My meal looked (and actually, tasted) like high class luncheon meat with egg :) (It's some grilled pork dish).

I had no complains though. It was supposed to be a simple quiet dinner anyway, and the last thing I wanted was some exotic dish I couldn't quite make out.

My darling's chicken looked and tasted good!

Of course not forgetting wedges to go along as sides!

But the food, however good, wasn't all. The most important highlight was spending some time alone with my wife on the 5th of every month, which happens to be our wedding anniversary day - we got married on the 5th of October 2008. Yes, we do celebrate or remind ourselves of it every month on the 5th!

So, get out there and find an excuse to spend time with your loved ones! Any excuse is good enough if you cherish and value the relationships. :)

My Pretty Darling

2010-04-04T12:17:00.000+08:00

Yesterday was a pretty hectic day for both my darling and myself - well actually, this whole Easter weekend has been like that everyday! In between meeting members, fellowshipping and reaching out to new friends, we managed to sneak in this quick portrait session. It took all of 5 minutes! It helped too, that my darling is very obliging to having her photos taken :P

My Pretty Darling

For the photographers reading this, these were done with the el cheapo Nikon 50 f1.8 AFD lens. It may be cheap, but the quality continues to astound me. The build quality is a notch better than its Canon counterpart I used to own too, and doesn't feel like a plastic toy like the Canon.

Darling

Hope you guys have a good Easter Sunday!

Seeing Possibilities

2010-04-02T09:54:00.000+08:00

Bird on Lamp Post

This is another post that originated from the same outing with my students (see "Making Something Out of Nothing"). Here we were walking along the Singapore River, around the Boat Quay / Raffles place area, in a somewhat dreary weather - cloudy skies, no good light, rained soaked sidewalks and nothing really interesting happening.

Patterns

But somehow, I knew there would be possibilities. I've photographed on days where long hours on the streets amounted to nothing, and on days where all it takes is 5 minutes of frenzy on the streets, and everything comes together and falls in place perfectly. Patience is the name of this game. I'm glad to say there were some good takes from that day!

Under the Bird

Office Workers

We walked by, and decided to take a break at the Fullerton Hotel while waiting for the sunset. Even while resting, there were still plenty of photo opportunities!

Man on steps

Musicians at the lobby

On the Cello

Through the Revolving Doors

The Big Run

There's a huge group of runners that day. I think they are all from the same company as part of a fitness program. They didn't slow down enough for me to ask!

Sunset at the River

We rounded off our stay at the river with a shot of the sunset we were waiting for.

That's all for this post. Happy Easter to everyone!

Making Something Out of Nothing

2010-04-01T00:23:00.000+08:00

Rings

Yesterday I brought my photography students on an extended outing to several places (the pictures from the earlier post were from this outing). At some point along the day we found ourselves stranded (actually, it was planned... wahahaha) at Starbucks at Vivo City, not knowing what or where to shoot next, as the weather wasn't entirely kind - a fairly long afternoon downpour ensured that we could not go outdoors.

Before the rain

These kids have it all - fun and laughter, before the downpour came, that is....

We had a good time fellowshipping and chatting, while I showed them the basics of Aperture and photo editing, and from there, the phrase "making something out of nothing" was coined - I gave them each an hour to make something out of nothing, believing that we can all "see" pictures wherever we are.

Here are some of their results, with my notes and captions. I think they did good after the first 3 sessions of mentoring! I think we'll going to have a great exhibition in the latter half of this year! :)

Sentosa Express by Da Qian

Walking Away by Angeline

Pull up by Ryan

I cropped this to a 16x9 aspect ratio to make the photo stronger.

Dreamy House by Ryan

Ryan offered up this other photo which I find compelling, a shot from within his own house before he left home that day.

Sunset by Joelynn

Joelynn had nothing she liked from Vivo City but did offer up this stunning sunset shot she did a day before.

Water Abstract by Bao Wen

Axel didn't manage to get his shots to me - will post up some from him the next post!

I'm looking forward to the next session with them!

The Price of Freedom is Eternal Vigilance

2010-03-31T16:10:00.000+08:00

Freedom

In 1990, Origins Systems released the first epic of one of the most arresting and exciting computer game series of all time - the Wing Commander Series, featuring (at that time) stunning VGA resolution graphics, astoundingly good music through the use of Ad Lib (remember those?) or Roland music cards, cutting edge movie-esque cut scenes and engaging action based space combat gameplay, captivating gamers the world over, including yours truly. I remember spending my time DURING O level exams completing missions after missions in between my papers. The storyline is the simple and ageless good vs evil / humans vs aliens fighting for freedom from invasion and oppression kind of plot.

In the second game in the Wing Commander series, when speech came about for the first time through the use of Sound Blaster sound cards from Creative (where I used to work), one of the characters mouthed an unforgettable phrase which resonated in my mind, even to today:

"The price of freedom is eternal vigilance."

Today, Singapore enjoys a level of freedom due to the sacrifice of our forefathers and the generation of young men and women who lost their lives during the period of World War II fighting for the freedom of the country. Labrador Park, from where these pictures were taken, once contained a fort used by the British forces, who also made this Southern point of Singapore a nigh-impossible to penetrate stronghold, building massive 6 inch guns pointed towards the sea, as well as machine gun posts making any invasion by sea a potentially painful experience in terms of casualties.

6 inch gun of Labrador Park

One of 2 6 inch gun pointed towards the sea for a possible coastal invasion.

Abandoned Machine gun outpost

Soliders enter the bunker from behind, and shoot through the holes in the bunker. These machine gun outposts were designed to make any potential coastal invasion a costly affair in terms of casualties. In the end, these fortifications went to waste when the Japanese invaded by land from the north of the island.

Unfortunately, when the Japanese invaded Singapore, they came by land from the north, so the guns saw very little action. By 13th of February 1942, the Japanese reached Pasir Pajang Ridge (present Kent Ridge Park). The men of the 1st Battalion, Malay Regiment, fought bravely to the last, causing many casualties to the Japanese army. (The battle for Pasir Panjang as it is now known). The guns from Labrador were used to support the Malay Regiment in their 48-hour struggle by firing high explosive shells. Finally, the Malay Regiment were finally surrounded and massacred. Only 3 survivors managed to escape.

Defending the land

A monument showing soldiers loading the 6 inch guns

Let's remember the brave men and women who brought peace to Singapore, and all the more so, appreciate the active national servicemen, the regulars, and the operationally ready NSmen serving in all the 3 major branches of our Singapore Armed Forces.

I know, this post is beginning to sound like an advertisement for the Singapore Armed Forces. But hey, the price of freedom is eternal vigilance!

Me staring down the barrel of the 6 inch gun

A Tale of 2 pictures

2010-03-30T00:33:00.000+08:00

I hit the streets 3 days ago, hungry, even desperate, to get back into the groove of street photography after a short sabbatical. I miss my Leica film rangefinders, which were quiet and unobtrusive on the streets, but I was determined not to let equipment get in the way of taking photos.

After looking around in vain for that "decisive moment" I chanced upon this photo of 3 middle aged folks lounging by the Singapore river. So while I was preoccupied with looking and seeing, these folks were enjoying the tranquility of the place, and taking in the atmosphere of the place. Something, which I realised at that point, might be something I've forgotten to do...

Later that day, I was walking along a narrow sidewalk when I saw this woman pushing her doubly loaded trolley. My instincts kicked in instantly, presetting my camera and lifting it up in one deft stroke, while praying the background of vehicles and buildings would fall in place nicely for a good background. What was unexpected to me, (at least in Singapore) was her reaction when she saw me. Instead of a scowl or a frown, she lifted up her hand and actually posed.

Who says Singaporeans are not friendly? She certainly changed the kind of picture I wanted to take that day! The background wasn't too bad as well :)

Work - What does it mean to you?

2010-03-26T01:56:00.000+08:00

Welfare worker of CHCSA

Today's picture was actually taken 5 days ago while on assignment for CityNews. This picture of a welfare worker from CHCSA (City Harvest Community Services Association) stuck me as being the epitome of a happy worker - a satisfied individual making a difference in society through going to work.

And work is the main theme of this week, though you could be forgiven for thinking I've been slacking in working to update the blog - the truth is it's been really crazy at work for the past one week, and now, that's coming to an end. I know, I said that 8 days ago in the last post, but this time, it's true :)

Getting a jab

A nurse from Thomson medical giving an elderly patient a free H1N1 jab during the joint CHCSA / Thomson medical event. This is part of Thompson Medical Clinic’s CSR program (corporate social responsibility) - they are collaborating with CHCSA by providing the free H1N1 jabs to CHCSA’s beneficiaries, namely, 200 elderly from CHCSA’s Cope program.

I make a distinction between real work (whether it's taking pictures for paying clients or teaching at City College) and personal photography work that I do for myself. While on assignment I do take personal pictures which may not be necessarily of interest to clients, but which mean something to me. It's important that I find some purpose in what I am doing. Having fun and finding meaning in whatever one is doing at work is critical to ensuring one's job doesn't become a dread.

Vaccination

I love making a difference in the lives of the students I teach at City College - I get a sense of purpose and assurance I am making a difference in society through my work. I also love my work as a freelance photographer because it melds and gels my interest and work into one. I'm still trying to find a way to integrate blogging into my work. When that happens, I can't use work for an excuse for not updating this blog regularly! :)

What does your work mean to you?

My Photographic Muse

2010-03-18T00:42:00.000+08:00

It's been one week since my last post here and it feels like eternity! The past few days have been crazy at work, and I've been trying to find time to squeeze in a post or 2 in between work and sleep (not a lot of that these days!) but it's been tough. Finally, I have a chance to pen something tonight, even if my eyelids feel like they weight a ton.

Thankfully, there has been plenty of pictures from the past few days. Though I may need to warm up to writing after the short hiatus, it doesn't take me long to get into gear to photograph and even on days when nothing interesting seemed to be happening, I still have my photographic muse, our "baby" Whisky!

My Photographic Muse

Whisky is the ever photogenic and cute photographic muse I can rely on for inspiration. (And my darling is quite happy to let Whisky play that role - in fact she whips out her camera on occasion to photograph her too!). When it seems I have nothing worthy to take a picture of, I can count on Whisky! It helps too, that she doesn't protest much.

Whisky looking curious

Whisky Receiving Instructions

Back to regular blogging!!! I'm feeling happy :)

Photography as a language

2010-03-11T01:33:00.001+08:00

I ate out today at Tampines Mall with my darling. We tried out this Teppanyaki eatery at the basement of Tampines Mall. I've walked past this stall many times but today was the first time we ate there.

Express Teppanyaki

Cooking in progress

I always carry a camera with me whenever I step out of house, even if it's a grocery shopping trip, or a short jaunt to the mall, or eating out. This habit goes way back to 2001 I believe, which is about the year I started photography as a serious hobby. Not everyone realises this, and those who do often express feelings of surprise or shock. It's true that when I first started out I lug a heavy bag of gear around, but over the years I have preferred to work with small cameras and simple gear, often just one camera and one lens. I don't own a compact digital camera which would seem to be perfect for carrying around - the camera I carry around is the same camera I use for work - these days it's a 35mm based digital SLR with a single 35mm or 50mm lens.

Dinner is served

My camera is my visual notebook, or visual diary if you will. It records light, forms images and preserves memories of places I've been to and people I meet; it documents mundane daily activities, chronicles personal triumphs, savors every personal moments. It gives me an excuse to go into people's lives, to be in places where I would normally have no right to be in.

It's became my passport to see the world.

Me on my birthday 2010

This photo was taken by my darling, who now has her own small camera I gave her. (Actually it's the second camera I bought for her!)

I can't remember who was it who said that photography is a language and should be as critical as reading or writing as a means of communication. It's definitely is part of my vocabulary now!

Babies Redux

2010-03-10T01:18:00.000+08:00

Oasis Taiwan Porridge Restaurant

I just had a great dinner with my fellow leaders in church at a pretty good Chinese restaurant next to Toa Payoh stadium (I think it's called Oasis Taiwan Porridge). Of course, the married couples brought along their kids and babies (and we have plenty of them). I was mostly focused on taking photos of 2 babies today. If you missed the earlier post on the babies of JS zone, click here to read it now!

The first baby I want to introduce here is little Seraphine, the daughter of Lawrence and Diana, whose wedding I shot. (There's a pattern here :)) I believe this is actually the first time I shot her, since I missed her baby shower about a month ago. Congratulations Lawrence and Diana - I remember shooting their wedding very vividly since it's the first time I did a wedding entirely on Nikon equipment having switched after 7 years of Canon usage....

Little Seraphine praying

She Likes the camera

A great smile

It took a little tickling to get her going!

Little Model

The next baby is one I've shot and featured before in the earlier post - little Joshua, son of Caleb and Suling (yes, shot their wedding too!). Today he's in a playful mood!

Joshua and Suling

Playful

Being Entertained

Joshua's cute shoes

That's all for today's post!

What we have left behind

2010-03-09T00:34:00.000+08:00

Sometimes, when life moves too fast, our minds move faster than our hearts as we constantly look towards the future, and we overlook certain things, or memories, or people in our lives. When we're too busy, we forget how to pause and take in the surroundings. We miss out on the tiny details of life, the nuances of beauty surrounding us, the little snippets of life that are funny or comical.

Left Behind

This was left behind by a group of people sitting beside me at Starbucks. I wonder if they deliberately left it there. As I sat there looking at the forlorn figurine, it suddenly hit me how much beauty in this world we're missing out on because we're preoccupied with "moving on". It's good to sometimes stop, pause, and look around, and enjoy the moment and people around us.

Since I started the photo-a-day project for 2010, I realised I have not actually shown all the photos on this blog, as I originally thought I would, as I originally did back in 2008. One of the reasons is that usually the stories I posted contain multiple photos and I just can't fit in the photo of the day into the post. It's like what the youths of today in Singapore would say - "No link.." :)

I've decided to use this post to show just a few of the photos I've taken so far this year. They are not necessarily all my favourites but ones that I feel should see the light of day and be shown here. I've decided they should not be missed out, or passed over.

Most of these shots are street photography, which still remains, to this day, my favourite genre of photography and the enduring reason why I pick up my camera every single day. My camera gave me reason to pause and not just take a passing glance, but to really see the world around me.

Here are the photos. Enjoy!

Couple along Orchard Road

Man with shopping bag

Light and Shadows

I love love love the light!

Posers

Decorated Porch

I came across this elaborate front porch of a HDB flat.

Trolleys at Bedok

Big Shoes to fill

Tori Kaarage

I feel hungry whenever I see this picture :)

Till the next post...... do take a look at the world around you!

How I spent my birthday

2010-03-06T16:15:00.000+08:00

As promised, this blog post is going to be about my birthday, which happened sometime last week on the 26th Feb. Last year, my creative darling took leave for me without me knowing, and when I met her at the end of the day after work, she whisked me off away on a cruise for 3 days. She had packed our luggage and checked them in so I was completely aware of what was going on. It was a VERY pleasant surprise.

But that was least year (which btw I will blog about in a separate post). This year she continued to be very creative (I'm so blessed :)) The day started with Whisky in an emo state:

Little did I know, that while I was working (I only took half day leave), she had secretly made sushi and prepared a bento set for the both of us!

Food Preparation

The final product

When I met her, we went off to Sentosa together to have a day of fun and just hang out together :) The surprises continued when she pulled out a mat for a picnic by the beach, and presented me with the packaged bento set!

Me and Woofy

Woofy came along too!

The highlights of the day were the rides she had planned for the both of us at Sentosa - we took / watched all 3 rides / shows - the Pirates (not very impressive), Desperados (pretty cool though short...) and the Extreme Log ride (best of all!). It was fun fun fun, and reminded me of when we were overseas. Of course this ain't Disneyland, but we still enjoyed ourselves. Through it all, I didn't take out my camera at all - my darling was using the Sony TX1 I got for her for vday.

Pirates tickets

Me and 3D glasses

Playing Desperados

Inside Extreme Log Ride

My Creative Darling

At this point, I began to start photographing using my own camera :P

The last program of the day ended at Equinox at the top of Swissotel. Here's my darling ordering food:

We had window seats and the view was awesome!

Food was ok; it's quite extravagant though!

My Alaskan King Crab dish

I even got a birthday dessert from my wife! She's the best!

I thought everything was over, but when we got home, I was greeted with this:

My darling never ceases to amaze me!

Heart and Starbucks!

We round it all off with a family photo. It was a happy day!!!! :)

Babies of JS Zone

2010-03-02T02:30:00.000+08:00

The past week has been pretty hectic - in a non-work sort of way. First of all, I celebrated my birthday on Friday with my darling (a massive blog post on this coming up :)), had a wonderful cell group meeting, and over the weekend, attended George and Michelle's 1st month baby shower plus more birthday celebrations with my close group of friends.

George and Michelle got married just a few months before me in Feb 2008, and I have had the honor of shooting their wedding together with my darling - it was one of those rare times where we worked together. You can see a multimedia slideshow of their wedding here.

Now fast forward to 2010, February of 2010, and here they are, proudly carrying their one month old baby girl Annabelle!

Family Photo - George, Michelle and Annabelle

Pretty Annabelle

George and Annabelle

Here is George the father discharging his duties :P

Of course, having the great number of married couples in JS Zone (we are all from this zone in my church), other babies came along too for the birthday party!

Baby Enya with Daddy Kirk

Baby Joshua

Here is Junqiang holding Caleb's baby boy Joshua. I think he's trying to learn how to be a father too :P I shot Caleb and Suling's wedding too - how time flies! It's good to see my former clients now having babies of their own :) It's almost a surreal feeling...

Group Shot

Caleb, Junqiang and Zeslyn (who are married), Caleb's wife Suling and of course, with baby Joshua in the centre!

Joshua Closeup

Christine with Enya

Christine is married to Joseph, and I also shot their wedding. Wow, I realised that I have shot 3 weddings among the guests and incidentally, Christine and Joseph got married in the same gorgeous place as George and Michelle!

I get lots of enquiries on when I am going to have a baby. My answer is still.... when we're ready. Right now Whisky keeps us pretty busy!

Next blog post.... how I celebrated my birthday... stay tuned!

CNY Traditions - Reunion Dinner

2010-02-25T10:37:00.000+08:00

So I was told that Chinese NewYear (CNY) is ending this Sunday, (I was also told not to start a sentence with "So".... haha!) and I think this would be a good time to finish off the CNY traditions series with a mention of the tradition of the reunion dinner. This is a time on the eve of CNY where Chinese from all over the world gather together for a meal with their individual families (aka reunion), and many are known to have travelled miles, or even halfway across the world to be united with their families on this special day. (It could also be a lunch, or not even on the eve if work calls - the idea is to have at least one day during this period to gather everyone together in one place - no virtual meetings!)

I too had my reunion dinner. though the reunion dinner with my in-laws didn't exactly take place on the eve itself - it was actually 2 days before the eve, though we made up for it by visiting my in-laws after dinner with my own family members. For the dinner with my in-laws, Whisky came along too, and since it is the year of the tiger, she is dressed in her resplendent and cute tiger suit! :)

Father-in-law with Whisky

Whisky on chair

The coffee shop at Blk 416 Bedok North Ave 2 was kind enough to allow Whisky to sit with us. I would say they are pet friendly!

Whisky in tiger suit

She could not really sit still though, and kept wanting to see what we were eating :P

Celebrating the year of the tiger

Here you can see the full tiger suit - it's actually a top for kids which we adapted for Whisky. She has grown too big for most dog clothes!

My Home - Uno Haven Part 2

2010-02-22T23:58:00.001+08:00

This is a followup post from Part 1. After all the massive renovation, here's the result!

One disclaimer I do want to state here is that we have been living in the house for over a year now, hence, the pictures you see are not of the house just after it's been renovated (I do have those pictures, just too lazy to dig them out now :P). We cleaned up the house and took these pictures prior to Chinese New Year - you can see evidence of residence here and there in the pictures, and if you're truly observant, you'll notice 2 of the chandelier's lightbulbs not lighting up (a problem that has since been fixed :)).

Welcome to the NEW Uno Haven!!!! See the difference a good design and good renovation work can do to a house!

The NEW blueprint (actually, outdated as of now as more changes were made.....)

New living room

The entire house has a red and black theme - black ceiling and black floor tiles! The walls are a mix of black and dark grey. Colors inspired by a certain favorite soccer team we both support :)

View of new living room facing main door

Contrast this shot with the previous shot before renovation!

View of dining room - the former bedroom 3

Bedroom 3 was completely hacked to create our new dining room!

View of dining room from living room

The living room is now greatly enlarged by removing bedroom 3 and integrating it as part of our living room - an ingenious idea by my darling wife!

The Ledge

We have names for almost every part of the house :) This is simply known as "The Ledge". It was created by part of the hacked wall. Every aspect of the house has been engineered for a large number of people to watch soccer at the same time :) You can actually eat and still be able to watch TV!

TV Feature Wall

I love the design of this feature wall!

The New Kitchen

With the former kitchen completely hacked, the kitchen is now just an island kitchen / a pseudo bar counter. Bar counter chairs placed there allow guests to watch TV too! The storeroom / bomb shelter is ingeniously hidden behind the feature wall on the right. You can also see the shoe cabinet plus seat on the far right.

The living room, divided by central pillar

This pillar cannot be hacked since it is a supporting beam. But it divides the main living room area and the secondary living / dining area nicely.

The Blue Room

This is the blue room, possibly the brightest room in the whole house, which I previously blogged about as the furniture inside is new. This is now the "HQ" or main command centre, where our 20" iMac and my 13" Macbook Pro are kept and used. Also the centre of business operations for 5 Stones Photo!

Pink room - the master bedroom

The master bedroom does retain the same red / black theme, with an added touch of pink.

The built in wardrobe

No guesses for which soccer team we both support :) In fact, the red/black color theme is inspired by the colors of the one true soccer team, Manchester United!!!!!!!! :) The built in wardrobe actually has a fixture that allows a second TV to be wall mounted, a TV which we have not bought so far.....

Main toilet

Both the main and master bedroom toilets are styled similarly, with the only difference between the addition of a vanity top and cabinet for the master bedroom toilet.

So that's it! There are so many things I can talk about the house and the design, but I think I shall just let you soak in the pictures. Hope you have enjoyed this virtual tour of Uno Haven! :)

My Home - Uno Haven Part 1

2010-02-22T23:14:00.000+08:00

In the previous post I talked about visitors to my house. In this update, I'll take you through a visual tour of my house, Uno Haven. We call you Uno Haven because it's truly a "one" place for my darling and me, a house that we call home. In this post, I will show you what the house looked like previously.

It's quite unbelievable that more than a year ago, the house actually looks like this:

Original Blueprint

The previous living room

Previous View of Living Room, facing front door

Original Kitchen

Former master bedroom

Lots of hacking work was done - we removed one room completely (bedroom 3 in the blueprint), resized bedroom 1 and bedroom 2 (2 was made smaller) as well as hacked open the entire kitchen.

Hacking started!

Kitchen is removed!

Bedroom 1 and 2 - the middle wall hacked!

Workers taking measurement

View of common corridor and bedroom 2 from the master bedroom

Laying toilet tiles

As you can see, lots of work was done! Follow on to Part 2 of this series to see what the house is like now!

CNY Traditions -Visitations and being a good host

2010-02-18T02:01:00.001+08:00

W300 and N455 in Uno Haven

This is the second installment of the series on CNY traditions - the visitation of each others' homes during this festive period. (Read the first part here). During this season, it is customary to visit relatives and friends both to collect ang baos (red packets filled with money) as well as to catch up on old times. I must admit that as I grow older, I began to visit my relatives less often, something which I do need to rectify.

Friends in the house

This is the first year me and my darling gave out red packets ourselves (though technically we did give out a few last year to close family friends). We also have had the pleasure of hosting 3 groups of people - firstly her cell group members from W300 and N455, my own cell group members from W435 and her fellow leaders from LYL zone. (The last of which ended just about 3 hours ago from the time of writing.)

LYL Visitation to Uno Haven

Regrettably I didn't take any photos during my own cell group's visitations as I was too busy chatting with them, but I did take quite a few for my darling's friends and fellow leaders - I did my part as a host but at the same time I enjoy watching them play games and fellowship, which also means I observe a lot, and my camera was put to work quite a number of times!

Playing card games

Various games are played during the LYL visitation, including non card games like Werewolf.

Excited Whisky

A most resplendent shot of Whisky - she is always very excited when we have visitors. This shot, taken just a few hours ago during the LYL visitation, is fast becoming my favorite shot of her!

Werewolf time!

An overview of the LYL leaders in Uno Haven.

Dinner is served

Preparing food

Fellowshipping during Dinner

My wife's fellow church leaders from LYL zone fellowshipping around a good pizza meal.

Truth or Dare Jenga

This was reeaaaaally fun!

Laughter all around

I must say that visitors made our humble abode more lively. They were very self entertaining too so there wasn't really much in the way of being a good host that I have to do other than to enjoy their great company!

I love my house and thank God that He has given us a wonderful house of my own but it wouldn't be a home without my wife, and certainly it wouldn't be quite complete without it being a blessing to people by hosting them! :)

Don't Forget Love

2010-02-16T11:13:00.004+08:00

During the hectic first few days of CNY, did you let the fact that Valentine's Day was on the first day of CNY slip you by? Did you show your significant other any appreciation or love, even if being filial sons and daughters, you chose CNY visitations of your relatives over celebrating vday?

This year we didn't celebrate vday on the first day of Chinese New Year, due to the fact we visited both our parents on the same day and ate with them. It's rare to be able to do that on the same day and to spend an extended period of time with them, but that's what we did, and we were glad to be able to.

However, it IS still vday, and the day being what it is, I ordered a nice bouquet of flowers for my darling. Even though we both agreed mutually we would not be celebrating vday on the actual day itself, I knew my wife would still love to feel special and loved on the day, and what better way to do that than the age old timeless gift of flowers? :)

I took this at home, in a pseudo studio setting. Purple tulips wrapped in black velvet cloth!

Another view of the flowers while carrying it back in the cab:

In this view of the bouquet, you can see the black velvet clearly. My darling thinks I bought the flowers for MYSELF because I'm so crazy over it. I think she's right! Haha!

Apparently, I'm not the only one who came up with that idea. And by the looks of things, business is still brisk, CNY or not!

Vday Preorders

The day before, I also bought my darling 2 other gifts. The first, is a simple yet elegant (if I may say so myself.. haha!) ring.

This is where I got it from:

No, it didn't really cost that big a bomb - both of us are saving up for something bigger and eternal, and we are not going to just spend on big ticket items this year without much due consideration.

I did buy a second gift for my darling, and this is something she picked out herself, something in a very cool shade of pink which she adores.... and presenting the newest addition to the dry box....

Except that this one will be spending a lot of time on the road with my wife - the point of it is its portable and carry-everywhere design. I'm sure she will be using it a lot. Compact digital point and shoots have come a loooooong way. Interestingly. it wasn't really planned, but both of us remember the Sony commercial for this camera (the power of ads - some stay and haunt your memory!).

You can also watch the TX1 commercial on youtube

Don't forget love! If you had, make it up today!

Chinese New Year Traditions - Luck

2010-02-15T10:49:00.000+08:00

This is a little late, but..... Happy Chinese New Year to all my readers!!! Even if you're not Chinese by race, I'm sure this is still a good time to take a few days off to relax and do the things you want to do but always keep finding excuses to put off due to work.

Speaking of Chinese New Year (CNY henceforth), I can't help but notice a few things people do before and during Chinese New Year. I'm not referring to the ageless tradition of giving red packets (or ang baos, little red packets filled with money) to each other (ostensibly I'm not going to be doing any receiving anymore due to the fact I'm already married, but giving them.....), but rather, to, for example, the big cleanup of our homes before CNY to clear out the old. Apparently, this applies to cars as well! I noticed this looooong line just the day before CNY near my office:

I traced the line...

The name of the car wash is "Wash and Run". The big cleanup has begun! I was told that the big cleanup also implies cleaning away all the bad luck of the previous year to start the year anew. WELL, that's a good excuse for a little cleaning up!

The next day, on the first day of CNY (which, incidentally, is also Valentine's Day this year), I noticed this other queue in Bedok:

Again, I traced it to see where it ends, and lo and behold, I found out these people were queuing up to get a shot at 4D (the equivalent of a lottery ticket), to get a piece of luck, which, if it pans out, could land them hundreds, if not tens of thousands of dollars. Chinese are a superstitious lot, and coupled that with the obsession with wealth, it's not surprising that we go around wishing one another good luck during this festive season.

On the first day of CNY, Singapore's first casino also opened its doors to the public. With a healthy bit of self restraint, I shall hold my peace and NOT comment on that rather unfortunate fact until I have had time to think over what I want to say.

ANYWAY, Happy CNY!!! And watch out for the next post, also on another tradition of CNY!

Whisky's Diapers

2010-02-12T16:18:00.001+08:00

Whisky's Diapers, originally uploaded by david5stones.

Following on to the last update regarding Whisky on heat, my darling decided to get some puppy diapers for Whisky. This is certainly not the most flattering view of her :) But it's pretty cute, and she seems to take to it, and didn't try too hard to rip it off, as she would usually do with any adornments on her body.

Changing her diapers is very much like doing it for a baby (we do call Whisky our "baby"). Of course, I'm speaking from the perspective of a dad (of Whisky, not a real baby.... yet!) who hasn't actually done it myself - so far my wife's been the one doing it :P

Whisky is now a woman!

2010-02-09T23:04:00.002+08:00

RED_3760, originally uploaded by david5stones.

From the time we bought her in April of 2009, Whisky was just 3 months old.

Now, she is 1 year and nearly 20 days old, and she is now on heat. Which means she is having her menses and will soon be ready to mate!

Our Whisky has become a woman!!!!! She is all grown up from being the frisky pup she was. Ok, so she's still as frisky, maybe even more so. But she's the equivalent of a growing teenager now!

View a multimedia slideshow presentation of her growing from 3 months to 10 months... it's been fun and it's only going to get better! :)

What's on my (new) book shelf

2010-02-06T01:51:00.001+08:00

I ought to be sleeping at this late hour, but I've spent a fair amount of time trying to reorganise my library of books on my new bookcase and have still not finished, and it gets to me. What started out as a relatively straightforward task turned into a nostalgic look into my history of photography as I unearthed past treasures in the form of brochures, books and magazines I used to pour over as I started my journey of taking pictures.

So far, the pictures below show what I've done - to be precise, my darling had arranged it initially and I merely shifted things around a bit. The shifting took some time due to my indecision and my being distracted with every photography book I picked up.

I'll fess up - as much as I consider myself a photographer, I am also a book collector. Specifically, a collector and reader of photographic books!

Cameras

Not gear that I use really, but they are cute!

Overview

An overview of one of the shelf - Bearfy in the middle will have to sit elsewhere soon since I still have many books NOT shelved....

Documentary Photography

As you can see from the books, if you are in the know, that I am really into documentary photography!

Standards I aspire to

Salgado, Steve McCurry, Sam Abell, Elliot Erwitt - the list goes on. When can my name appear in the same line as these photography greats?

Deco

This is purely for fun and it looks good, too!

I'll post more pictures of my book shelf when I get around to really tiding it up! I still have tons of books which I am trying to figure how to fit them all in.

New Furniture!

2010-02-05T12:59:00.001+08:00

Yes, from the meatballs in the picture, you would guess my darling and I went to Ikea. We actually went on wednesday evening. The meatballs were delicious but that was not what we went for.....

We bought these as part of our house touchup - just a few pictures of furniture we needed to get everything organised.

All these on top....

translated to all this below - the desk on the right - the Billy cabinet on the left was from Ikea too, but we bought that a year ago.

We also got a new book shelf for my photography books! Exciting!

And here's another view of the desk / workstation / office area. This will be the new photo imaging desk where we will work off from. It's going to be a great year!!!!!! :)

I miss film

2010-02-05T01:16:00.003+08:00

RED_6494, originally uploaded by david5stones.

This is a portrait of my darling and me at Doreen's wedding, taken by Bennie with a Polariod camera about 2 nights ago. It was one of the few shots of myself that I actually think I look good :P (my darling was of course as gorgeous as before).

The polariod is beautiful, and has a special ethereal quality about it. Actually, film - good old film, has a special "look" about it that I can't replicate with digital, and this shot made me miss using film a lot. You see, I shot film from late 2001 to 2008, in between going digital and all. I had very good film cameras and an excellent film scanner and made hundreds of negatives and slides, in much the same way I use my digital cameras. Conservative shooter I wasn't.

After holding up the polariod and taking this shot, I printed it through my new Canon Selphy printer which I bought for Whisky's pawty. It was a strange blend of the old and the new, the instant 4x6in print created by the Selphy of a subject that is already obsolete (the polariod).

That night, I searched my fridge for a bite, and looked what I discovered, tucked away at one corner of the fridge:

Seeing those rolls of film was too much for me to bear. I need to get back into film photography. It would be akin to getting back to my roots. It will not replace digital, whose usefulness and practicality is indisputable, but film is therapeutic at times. And sometimes, that's what matters.

Later that night I rewatched the "War Photographer" DVD featuring James Nachtwey, a famous war photographer. Seeing him load the rolls of film really reminded me of how fun film was!

I have resolved I will look through my old archives of negatives and slides and post some pics here soon!

This cheers me up

2010-02-02T20:29:00.001+08:00

RED_6491, originally uploaded by david5stones.

I'm feeling feverish again and thus staying home tonight (I think I didn't recover completely the last round), and this little article - no, it's a full page spread, cheers me up! I watched the game late Sunday night / early Monday morning and United were awesome, sweeping away Arsenal in true champion style. It will be a fight to the finish for the title this year, that's for sure. If we can play like this week in week out, there's hope!

So, with me resting at home, laptop on lap, I just want to manage this quick post, and proclaim - Glory Glory Man United!!!!! :)

Exercising one's vision

2010-02-02T01:22:00.000+08:00

If you check my Twitter updates, you will know that I have been attending plenty of weddings in the month of January (4 to be exact) - this first part update is on the one I attended last night. Since this is my darling's cousin's wedding, it's quite the family affair - we had a table next to the VIP table and seated among us were all the family members of my in-laws. I can't attend a wedding without taking at least a few pictures though!

Rising Elevator

It's important as a photographer to constantly exercise one's vision, even if one is not on assignment. And the wedding provided me as a guest a chance to just relax and take in the happenings around me. Even when not actively on assignment, I'm constantly trying to challenge myself and find new ways to see things. I think this applies to whatever endeavor we are at - the need to constantly push the boundaries and discover new frontiers, to constantly practice for the "big event", whenever that may be.

Sharing a picture

Self Portrait

Of course, I had fun doing it! I'm getting VERY good I must say with this "hold-out-heavy-camera-with-one-hand" self portraits!

It would be amiss in this blog entry not to congratulate Simon and Airu. Though I do not really know them that well, every wedding is a blissful and blessed event and I am happy that 2 more persons have committed themselves to one another. This is what wedding photography is ultimately about for me - having the privilege and honor to witness the union of a man and a woman, to document love visually and viscerally!

Happy Couple

Simon and Airu

Jasper and Doreen's Wedding

2010-01-31T09:49:00.001+08:00

Yes I'm back to blogging after a week's break of resting from a persistent cough. I'm happy to say that through it all I kept on taking a photo a day - it's important to keep speaking that out because that's my personal project and goal for 2010, and I fully intend to keep to it. I'm excited that we have now come to the end of January - which means I now have 31 out of 365 daily shots of the year! Woohoo!

But this post is all about Jasper and Doreen's wedding. I first knew Doreen in 2004 during bible school, along with other great friends from my "SGC" gang (click on link to see pics of them from last year) - a group of us which started with about 4 members and recently multiplied to more than 15! Most of us were graduates of bible school from 2004 (which incidentally, was the same batch my darling graduated from too); almost all were bible school graduates. Jasper joined us during this courtship of Doreen.

Now they have finally tied the knot! We're extremely happy and excited for them! Roll on the pictures!

Singapore Flyer

The wedding was just under the Singapore Flyer, at the Formula 1 pit building!

Doreen and Dad

Jasper and Doreen

Beautiful place

I heard that the place was totally empty and the wedding team decorated it from scratch. Nice!

The Kiss!

Desmond, also part of SGC and my good friend, is on the left of the pic - he's the official photographer. For this wedding, I actually get to EAT properly for a change! Of course I can't attend a wedding and NOT take any pictures!

The Glorious Couple

The march out is always one of the most satisfying shot because the couple, whoever they are, will always be full of exuberance and smiles!

Kena Sabo

Samuel the host spicing things up - he was hilarious! The videographer is James, my video partner for weddings. He's good and we work well as a team without getting into each others' day or interfering with each others' style. Highly recommended if you need a videographer!

Caleb and Geraldine

Another 2 from SGC - I hope to shoot their wedding too when it is their turn!

Samuel

He is the latest member of SGC. I will help him parrot his line at the wedding - "I'm still single!" LOL!

Bennie and Darling

Bennie on the left was one of the earliest members of SGC and she was the one who brought me and my darling together! Without her we wouldn't have get to know each other better! Oh yeah, she's single and available too! :P

Group Shot

The couple with Alvin and Elgees, my ex CG members whom I have had the honour to lead and see them from courtship to marriage. I even shot their wedding too!!!! :)

Mahjong!

We were bored, so we decided to use the candle blocks we got as wedding favor to uhmm... play mahjong :P The guy in the centre is Poh, also in SGC. He's still single too!

A Toast

All in a hard day's meal. Uhmm... I mean work :) On the right is another couple in SGC - we started with 4 singles and ended up with my couples! Yang Yi and Kaixin got together some time back and are getting married next year. They have already asked me to help shoot their wedding - it'll be fun!!!

That's all folks. Come back daily for regular updates!!!!

Whisky's Pawty Pics and my new hair color

2010-01-26T01:39:00.000+08:00

Whisky's Birthday Cake

Forgive me if these few posts seem to be all centered around Whisky - we haven't quite gotten over the excitement of her first pawty! I didn't post an update during the actual event yesterday cos it was simply too crazy - with so much stuff going on that stopping to update this blog would be to miss out on all the fun! After we came back home, my darling, Whisky and myself all slept early - so tiring was the day's activities that we didn't actually eat a proper dinner. Whisky included :)

At first I wanted to post as many pictures here as possible, but soon realised the futility of the task - there were simply too many shots resulting from the day. Even then, I did miss out certain shots and dogs. I guess the lesson here is akin to the good advice of "never try to photograph your own wedding" - while it's possible to do both, running the event, being a good host and taking care of Whisky just doesn't allow me much leeway to still be an observer of the event with a camera.

But what are the use of pictures if they are not shown? Here then, is the link to my darling's facebook account where she has uploaded 67 shots of the event at K9 Kulture. As I looked through the set, I shall post some more here!!!!!!

Whisky getting a good run during her pawty!

I am actually still sick today, and my darling decided that with me not being able to do much due to my cough, and the fact that I can't protest much because I have lost my voice, she was going to do a little self dyeing of the color of my hair as an experiment. Here's a (ugly) self portrait of the result - it's a little hard to see the color due to the light, but it's there. Not a bad try!

Whisky's Pawty - Real Time Update #1

2010-01-24T14:50:00.000+08:00

Finally today is Whisky's barkday pawty! Having delayed it for about a week (she was born on the 19th of January), she is finally going to have her day of fun. The plan for the day is

1) Grooming (in progression)
2) Setup at K9 Kulture
3) Pawty time!!!!

Here are pictures of her getting a good brushing and a good clean bath!!!

@ Bark Angel

Getting Brushed!

Cleaning behind the ears

Getting a Bath!

Wet Look

Blow Dry

Here's a video of her being groomed which I took with my iPhone and posted on my Facebook.

The grooming is still in progress even as I type this (the groomer place is also a dog friendly cafe with WIFI internet. How cool is that!) Check out my twitter updates on the left of this page and my Facebook for constant updates!!!!!!

Fighting with Flu

2010-01-23T02:23:00.000+08:00

I went to the clinic today to get these. While this is not the main reason for the slow updates over the past few days, it's definitely taken a toll on me. *Gasp* I think I'm getting old. I will be back with regular daily updates from today onwards!

On a more positive note, I'm excited that I am coming to to the end of the first month of 2010 and the picture-a-day project is still very much alive! I think I will do a slideshow at the end of each month, showing a picture for every day of the month. Let's hope this time this personal project can really last one full year! :)

Picture of the day for 22th Jan is below - bought Whisky a Valentine-themed collar!!!!

City College Orientation and catching up 4 days of updates!

2010-01-19T01:11:00.000+08:00

It's been reeeeaally busy at work and home. Though I didn't update the blog for 2 days, the picture-a-day project is very much alive - I've been too busy taking photos!!! Here then are updates from the past 4 days, all rolled into one mega post!!! :)

First, in reverse chronological order, today (or rather, 18th Jan) was the first day of City College's Orientation program for new students. This year I didn't take much photos, admittedly. Instead, I'm happy to stay that we now have a team of capable student photographers who picked up the baton passed on to them and took on the responsibility of producing photos of the new students in a studio environment and also documenting the events of the day in pictures.

Soaring to greater heights

This is the only notable picture I took today. A VERY enthusiastic new student wanted to do the classic jump (we didn't ask for it). It's a classic jump, one that I have shot many times before, but this one is different - instead of expensive bulky studio lights, today was the first time I tried out multiple Nikon SB800 flashes slaved together, controlled off camera with Nikon's CLS system. If the last sentence doesn't make sense to you, it's ok. Just enjoy the picture! :)

Next picture was taken when I attended a wedding dinner as a guest at Oriental Mandarin on the 17th of Jan, Sunday. If you saw my tweet update on the left, I mentioned the food here is really first rate - this is one wedding dinner where I actually waited impatiently for the next dish to be served! We were seated at Area 51. Oops, I mean table 51!

Area (Table 51) - Oriental Mandarin

Paraphrasing what Igor from the Disney movie Ratatouille said - "Not every hotel can serve a good meal, but a good meal can come from any hotel. I shall be back, hunger for more!"

16th Jan - Bought my darling nice bouquet of flowers. Something different from the usual roses!

Flowers for Darling

Hmm.... Whisky loves them....

Whisky and Flowers

15th Jan - at my darling's cell group house. Her members are so used to being shot, they actually blissfully ignore me, leaving me to be able to photograph them naturally!

DOTAing

Playing Monopoly card game

Huiyun with her new Macbook Pro!

That's all for this massive update. I shall try not to group so many things into one post next time! :)

Sunrise Over KL

2010-01-15T02:08:00.003+08:00

Sunrise Over KL, originally uploaded by david5stones.

This photo is not taken by me, but by my darling wife, who went to KL recently with her fellow zone leaders for a retreat.

I am blogging about this now because I really dig this shot, with the view of the city in the shadows in the foreground, the twin towers rising majestically over the city, and the layered mountains in the distance.

This is exactly the kind of layered story telling composition that I try to achieve with my brand of photojournalism, albeit with people pictures. This method was inspired by Sam Abell, who as far as I know, is one of the more vocal proponent of the layered composition technique.

My wife Michelle woke up early to catch this shot. Using an entry level Nikon D40x camera with kit lens that most gearheads would turn up their noses at. Using manual metering at f10, 1/4000th of a second. I'm soooooooo proud of her! I wish I had this shot in my own portfolio!

Below is the shot that she prefers personally, and one that I think is just as good!

14th Jan - Michael Sexton

2010-01-15T01:43:00.002+08:00

Michael Sexton, originally uploaded by david5stones.

This is Michael Sexton, City College's new history teacher. He will be here for 6 months while our regular history teacher, Esther, is in the United States. Coincidentally, he is an American!

13th January Part 2 - Clement & Danielle

2010-01-13T23:11:00.007+08:00

Clement and Danielle, originally uploaded by david5stones.

This is post no 2 for today! I just can't wait till tomorrow to write, now that the mood is here!

I met up with Clement and Danielle after work - this is a wonderfully fun couple whose wedding I shot on the 12th of December, a month and 1 day ago. After their European tour honeymoon (envious!), we finally had time to sit down together and I've had the pleasure of delivering their wedding album to them.

Their Hollywood style themed wedding was one of the most fun weddings I've got to do in a while, and I enjoy myself tremendously, even if it was a long and tiring day, and it was in the middle of my 7 day full fast. Which basically meant I went through the entire day after not eating at all for 5 days. I survived the day, and actually had tons of fun doing it!

Here's their wedding slideshow, complete with music and all. Remember to install flash for your browser if it is not already installed.

Enjoy!

13th January - Arrivals

2010-01-13T17:14:00.002+08:00

RED_4878, originally uploaded by david5stones.

This is a picture I took on the 12th of January (yesterday as of the time of writing) while waiting for my wife to return from her short holiday in KL (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia).

For many months I have not photographed at the Singapore Changi airport (I have a small series of pictures on that), and this short trip there just reminded me of the many possibilities for photographic opportunities at the arrival and departure halls. Emotions run high often on arrivals or departures and as far as people photography go, it's a good place for a visual study of human emotions.

Garry Winogrand, one of the photographers I admire, has a book in called "Arrivals and Departures" which deals with what he sees at airports the world over. It's an inspiring project which hopefully I will be able to set aside time for in the future, among the many things that I want to do!

Technical Glitches...

2010-01-13T02:06:00.000+08:00

Please excuse the lack of update today (referring to 12th Jan) while I work out some technical glitches. As of this moment. I'm not able to upload any photos at the moment (which would be the whole point of the blog entries...). Will be back shortly after resolving the problem! Stay tuned!

11th Jan - Heroes of City College

2010-01-11T23:54:00.000+08:00

The day has come.

Some looked forward to it. Some dread it. Everyone will at some point think about it. Today is the day of reckoning - the day when the GCE 'O' Level results are released. (Yes, I am a teacher!) Hordes of eager students descended upon City College today to receive the single slip of paper upon which for many holds the keys to the next step in life. Or a temporary disappointment.

Temporary, because like I always tell my students, the Os are but one step in life, one which they will one day look back and laugh. Beyond the O level exams lie greater challenges in life which are far more important and consequential.

Nevertheless, today shall be a day to celebrate - it belongs to the heroes of City College, my beloved students who, through sheer grit and often times, tears, braved various family problems, deep seated personal issues, pressures from peers and many other untold challenges; youths who chose to surmount the mountain known as the O levels.

Because at the end of the day, they are those who are courageous enough to start the journey. Many friendships were formed along the way and a good friend is one who will be around to lend a shoulder, extend a comforting hand, and rejoice together in good times. I'm glad to say, in City College, we not only have winners, we have true friendships.

There were about 200 photos from today, but one has to truly be there to experience the joy, the tears, the swell of emotions that swept through the entire hall. I could write a whole lot more, post a whole lot more pictures, but I just want to say, from the bottom of my heart......

Today, they are all heroes.

Tattoo As Body Art

2010-01-10T23:54:00.001+08:00

I went to photograph the Singapore Tattoo Convention 2010 at the Singapore Expo yesterday for a job assignment. It's another salient reminder to me that it has been one year and we are now in 2010 because I too photographed the 2009 event for the exact same client!

Flaunting it

Artist at work

Photographing at the convention is the proverbial "shooting fish in a barrel". Everywhere you turn there's a picture, and people are all too willing to show what they have got!

Suffering for art

Only the music on the iPhone can help distract....

Having Fun

They are from Germany.

Showing Off

Smiling for the camera

This picture has 2 pairs of eyes looking at me!

I'm not here to pretend to be an expert on the subject of tattoos, and I'm not even remotely intrigued enough to think of getting one myself, but since we're reminiscing, I remember a Chinese neighbour living next to my grandmother's house who had these Chinese words tattooed on his back and sometimes when we passed by their house, we could see some kind of religious ritual going on in the house (in the past, people don't close their doors - I suppose it is still true today for some depending on how private one wants to be!).

Family Time

Is it me or is the girl on the left doing her homework? :)

Work in Progress

Discussion

It was not too hard in the past to associate tattoos with the occult, with some secret brotherhood or society sworn to secrecy and bonding with the mark of a group insignia. But today, to confine tattooing as an insidious activity to the realm of the occult or illegal drug / chain gangs is a decidedly narrow view. As a means of expression and creativity, tattooing is a very popular avenue. And the artists and practitioners I met at this convention are some of the most talented artists around the world.

Celebrity Tattoo Artists

Miami Ink is a reality show giving viewers a glimpse of what is happening inside the tattoo shop. Chris Garver below is one of the famous celebrity tattoo artist featured.

Chris Garver

Bob Tyrrell

He was featured on LA Ink, a spin off the reality TV show Miami Ink.

Pain!

I think this guy is Tim Hendrix!

Meeting Fans

Nevertheless, regardless of art, it all boils down to perspective, and I think some of the designs and creative endeavors wouldn't go down too well with some concerned parents....

Daring Art

Who needs hair?

I had a lot of fun at the convention and interacting with the people - even if most of the interactions are simple nods of the head, plenty of smiles and an almost unspoken approval by all to be photographed.

At such a place, you would want to be seen, especially if you're wearing some deviant or creative design on any part of your body - or in this case, ALL over your body...

He Looks Holy...

This guy is actually toting a film camera! How cool is that! :)

How about me? I will never get one (tattoo, not film camera) myself - the permanent nature of tattoos settles that for me and I like my body the way God made it, without any embellishments, thank you very much!

Taking it easy

I have many more pictures that I am still going through. There are simply too many to post!

Next few days are going to be really interesting - O level results will be out tomorrow - expect a blog post on this complete with pictures! And more pictures from the Tattoo convention are coming up too. Stay tuned!

9th January - Early Morning Skyline of Singapore

2010-01-09T12:17:00.002+08:00

Early Morning Skyline of Singapore, originally uploaded by david5stones.

I made a trip down to the Esplanade area again this morning in an attempt to catch the early morning sunrise. This has almost become a daily routine with a few photography friends on the Clubsnap forum, and today's outing is an organised one, with 12 photographers turning up! I was a little late, and missed the first morning light, and so I only shot a little compared to previous outings, and this is the best one of the lot.

I will be going out again later for another shoot - this one is a paid assignment - more pictures to share later today!

Early Morning Outing

8th Jan - My Clean Desk

2010-01-08T22:50:00.002+08:00

Today, inspired with sticking to a clean desk policy, I finally buckled down and really cleared my desk at work - a Herculean effort of epic proportions involving not just throwing away stack of papers but also a lot of scrubbing and wiping. Heck, I even bought a cloth especially for that, so intent was I on clearing things up today.

Here's the result:

Cleaned!

A New View of my desk

Note new Macbook Pro, my favourite non-photography related gadget, my Apple iPhone on the left, and prints of Whisky (when she was much younger and newly groomed) and darling wife. Note also the cheerful presence of Chip and Dale at the top, and Ted-dy, the teddy bear wearing a squirrel suit on the right.

All in all, I would say this is a much cheerful view than my previous desk in my previous workplace, featured in this post in early 2008.

Here's my desk from January of 2008:

Actually, that post was dated 7th Jan 2008, which means that was my desk, in a different company, in an entirely different industry, exactly 2 years and 1 day ago! Wow!!!! Time reeeeeaaalllly flies.....

Yes, I have pictures of my desk prior to cleaning up and no, I'm not going to show it now! It's time to look ahead to the future! Let's just say I couldn't really see the base of the table prior to the massive pre-Chinese New Year cleanup :)

It's time to start 2010 properly!

7th Jan - Unboxing a New Toy

2010-01-08T00:01:00.000+08:00

I took a bunch of interesting pictures today but right now, this post is about a new toy I got for work. (Conceivably, I will also be using it for fun, of course!)

Though this will be used mainly for work, it still falls into the category of "things that boys are interested in" and being the technology inclined person that I am (or what my wife likes to call a geek!), this falls into the category of being a toy, and like any other boy with a new toy, it got me all excited!

New Toy

Note Whisky in the background, distracted from her dinner and very curious with what is going on.....

Opening the box

Whisky is now VERY curious....

Posing with Whisky

She poses with the new MacBook Pro...

Nosing the lappy

Nosing again!

This is probably the world's first unboxing set of pictures of any gadget that actually involves a dog!

Whisky and MacBook Pro

I believe she actually thinks the new MacBook Pro is hers! LOL :)

6th Jan - Discovering the Oldies

2010-01-07T00:51:00.000+08:00

I went back to my parents' place for dinner today. It's always good to go back to the place where I spent so much (but not entirely) of my childhood and growing up years. Sometimes I look around and still discover "new views", like this one:

My "Old" Place

The TV is situated to the left of the picture, which is probably where a lot of attention is vested. It occured to me this view is familiar, yet strangely new.

I discovered this gem in my room.

Phantom at the Organ

Yes, that's me in my (very much) younger days!

Sing, My Angel of Music

If I am to be able to meet Andrew Lloyd Webber in person, the only words I would probably be able to muster are "big fan!". Phantom of the Opera (the musical, not the Hollywood version) is one of my all time favorite show, and one that I watched twice (second only to Les Miserables, which I have the honor of watching 4 times) when it travelled to Singapore.

I have a host of paraphernalia and memobrilia ranging from shirts to keychains and what nots but this is my favourite.

Special Edition CD Set

24 carat gold!

I buy most of my music through the iTunes store nowadays though!

Speaking of oldies, Michelle bought from iTunes today this old classic.

Sonic the Hedgehog

Go Sonic! It's exactly the same as the Sega version, and having grown up on the game, she thinks it really brings back good memories!

5th Jan - Walking with my camera

2010-01-06T01:25:00.000+08:00

Starting the day

I've always loved street photography. Now the term street photography is pretty loaded these days, and this will be a theme I explore over the next few blog posts in an incremental manner, but essentially, street photography was traditionally defined (if it is even possible to define it) by the brand of photography Henri Cartier Bresson (aka HCB) was made famous for, idolised and emulated over the years by street photography practitioners - the organisation of elements in the camera frame leading to the capture of unguarded, fleeting moments and life on the streets, usually without the cooperation or knowledge of the subject or subjects, thus lending a touch of reality and truism to the scene portrayed. (My version)

I'm a traditionalist, and despite the somewhat free interpretation of the term nowadays, I abide (or think I do) and photograph in the same spirit as the HCB, or other famous street photographers like Robert Frank, Elliot Erwitt... (though it would be delusional to think I am as good as anyone of them!)

Due to work and personal commitments, I have not been out of the street for a while, and after yesterday's posts about jaunting around town, I decided that I will walk with my camera at the ready today. Who ever said work is work and play is play and never the twain shall meet? While commuting, while walking, one is always constantly seeing. Why not turn those moments into photographic opportunities.... today a playground is my main muse....

Families at Play

Dog and Kid

I love this photo. There's a lot going on in there...

Starbucks' Bears

Starbucks is already selling Chinese New Year and Valentine's Day themed bears. How time flies! It's a reminder to me to really keep my personal street photo project going. My dream one day is to publish a book of my view of street life in Singapore!

A Jaunt Around Town

2010-01-04T23:37:00.000+08:00

Circles

I took a little walk around town - more specifically, around the Dhoby Ghuat area today with my wife and 2 of her friends. It's been a while since I walked around without a specific agenda in mind. Today was one such day and it allowed me to catch up on what's new.

BoomZ

Thanks to Riis Low, this word is now forever ingrained into our cultural conscious, a deep reminder of how far Singlish has come over the years (sarcasm fully intended) and a buzz word among young Singaporeans. Heck, make that most Singaporeans!

Non Existent Customer Service

A common complaint among Singaporeans, though I wouldn't be so quick to judge, and I have done a fair share of travelling this year. We are doing ok, in my humble opinion.

SOTA - School of the Arts

I didn't realise it was so near completion now. Standing there and wondering how many arts graduates would pass through it's doors, it stuck me as being a little envious. Now if only such a building and instituition had existed "in my time" and I had more aggressively pursued a path in the arts, I wondered how different my life would turn out.

But there's no point in dwelling in that. For I believe that our paths are all directed by God and my wife and I, we have a great creative potential and energy in us waiting to be harnessed.

We continued down Selegie and one of the buildings that really caught me by surprise is PoMo (formerly Paradiz Centre). This shows how outdated I am - this building is now a hotbed of nice restaurants and home to a dance school and a marital arts school.

Dancing Men

Warming up before a marital arts training session

Happening Hairstyle

I featured Orca Woo in an earlier blog post from 2008. This is her current cool hairstyle. She is a talented musician specializing in classical guitar waiting for enrollment in NAFA She had quit La Salle because she didn't quite agree with her teachers' "antiquated ideals" (my paraphrase) - that take guts I have to say. But she always had strong opinions and is not afraid to express them and I do admire her for her courage to break from the norm.

Together with my wife, we had an interesting evening discussing her musical direction.

We all make our own paths and futures. Pursue your dreams relentlessly and don't give them up!

Posing Whisky

2010-01-03T23:23:00.000+08:00

What do you do on a slow day, photographically speaking? Especially so if you have committed to taking at least one photo a day for 365 days?

You put your dog through its poses and try to make something out of it :)

Whisky the Manchester United Fan

Whisky at Rest

Pretty!

Smiling Whisky

I can't really claim credit to the idea though, it was my wife Michelle who suggested it and helped with the posing during the photo shoot.

Whisky's birthday is coming up soon. See you at her first birthday pawty! :)

Things I learnt While Walking My Dog

2010-01-02T23:38:00.000+08:00

Sometime in the middle of Nov or thereabouts (I can't remember the exact date) I started bringing my Shetland sheepdog Whisky out for daily morning walks. Now Whisky, if you don't really know her, is a frisky little furball who, maybe more than any other four legged canine, yearns to stretch those furry legs of hers to the maximum, always itching for a good run. She has a tremendously powerful jump which can possibly knock someone off balance if one is caught unawares.

Whisky

Whisky is turning one this coming January on the 19th.

She has always been kind of an indoor dog (not by her choice) as we don't really bring her out very often (she is toilet trained indoors), and while there's plenty of space for her to run around at home, we felt guilty enough that I resolved to bring her out every morning. So, every day of the week since that day in Nov, this became a ritual.

And Whisky takes these walks VERY seriously. And enthusiastically. "Gai gai" are the magic words to trigger a joyful twirl in the air and a sprint to her leash and harness, where she will impatiently wait. Without fail, upon hearing my alarm go off during weekdays, she will take it upon herself to do what the alarm of my iPhone fail to accomplish - to ensure I get off the bed as fast as I can. No matter if it's a weekend and I wish to sleep in, Whisky will trot to my side of the bed on cue and wait patiently for me to wake up (sometimes reaching over the edge of the bed to nose me).

Talk about consistency, Whisky is way up there. Talk about weekends, today is Saturday. No, it didn't matter to her this morning. She was bent on going out. She would not be denied.

And I can't say no to her. Eagerly, she trots out the door while wondering why I'm taking so much time fiddling with the lock.

She is trained to sit down in the lift while waiting for it to reach the first floor. She is sooooo cute!

A Fork in the road

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Well actually, she didn't ponder too long over that. She took the road that extends the longest so she wouldn't have to stop.

Whisky leading the way

Sometimes, I don't know if I'm walking her or she is the one walking me!

Whisky takes a break

These chairs were often occupied by a group of 3 middle aged to elderly folks chatting in the morning and resting under the morning light while listening to their pet birds singing. Today they were absent. Perhaps they have the luxury of sleeping in during weekends too! Quite unlike me.

The sign had something about cleaning up one's dog poo. No matter, Whisky is toilet trained at home and has never poo-ed while walking.

That leaves my hands free to hold a camera during these morning walks. Perhaps Whisky knows something we don't. To simply wake up early to enjoy a nice, leisurely (this is relative actually) walk, soaking in the morning light while enjoying the breeze.

Perhaps, like Whisky, we need to just enjoy the simple pleasures of life!

Welcome 2010! First post of the year!

2010-01-01T23:33:00.005+08:00

It's alive!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yes, this blog has been revived as of this first day of the brand new year of 2010, and it's going to be bigger, better, and more importantly, daily updated! (yes I know, I find that strangely familiar too :)) In 2008 I attempted to do a photo a day blog, which fizzled out sometime in July of 2008, and I totally neglected this blog for almost the whole of 2009. But enough of the past! I'm here to look ahead, to wax lyrical (wow I've always wanted to use that phrase more often :P) about my opinions, views and sometimes meaningless drivel (hopefully not a lot of that!) of the world in the brand new year, and more significantly, challenge, drive and compel myself to greater creative heights in the area of photography by taking a meaningful photo every day of the year and showcasing them in this little corner of the internet.

And now you, my faithful readers (which I hope will not be limited to my ever supportive wife) have the AWESOME privilege of encouraging and egging me on through Facebook updates and Twitter! And now, on to the pictures and updates!!!!!

My Darling

My first few shots of today are of my wife! It's always good to take pictures of the ones you love!

First Meal

Breakfast + Lunch rolled into one at Iluma Thai Express

There's a whole article I can write about the societal implications of tools like Facebook and Twitter, but rather than boring you with that stuff, I want to start this blog post with a movie recommendation - Avatar (especially in 3D) is simply mind blowing and awesome!

Watching Avatar in 3D

This was taken with purely the light from the rolling credits - it was really dark in there, and for photographers reading this, this shot was possible only at ISO 12,800, f2 and 1/25 of a second!

Avatar to me is classic, but not because of the special effects or directing or even acting but for the salient message it carries. I have not read any reviews or articles about this movie before I went to see it, so certainly I feel my views are in no way through tinted glasses (ok, so I did wear the 3D glasses...) but this movie to me is US Invades Iraq redux! The humans represents so poignantly the United States after September 11th, the paranoia and the fear which compels the country to wage war first with Afghanistan, and then, (bizarrely) to turn it's collective military might on Iraq. The "shock and awe" tactics of the United States military employed in the invasion of Iraq are so vividly portrayed in the movie - actually the term "shock and awe" even made it into the movie - I nearly fell off my seat when I heard that!

Witness the many parallels - the failed attempts at diplomacy mirroring the failed diplomatic efforts of the US in Iraq, the ignorance and dismissive nature of the leaders and soldiers about the indigenous foreign culture, the great mismatch between the primitive weapons of the Na'Vi and the vast military might of the humans, and most significantly, the underestimation of the effectiveness of guerilla warfare using unconventional military tactics, waged by the desperate who were not afraid of death, employing effective knowledge of the lay of the land.

How many marines and soldiers were carried back in state flag draped coffins because of the Iraq war, which, despite proclamations of "mission accomplished" still rages on today? And how many more will be flown back in like manner?

After reflecting on this, I did a little research to find out if the movie had intentionally set out to portray the war. I shall leave you with this little paragraph from Wikipedia about the film:

Cameron acknowledged that the film implicitly criticizes America's War in Iraq and the impersonal nature of mechanized warfare in general. In reference to the use of the term "shock and awe" in the film, Cameron stated, "We know what it feels like to launch the missiles. We don't know what it feels like for them to land on our home soil, not in America." A scene in the film portrays the violent destruction of the Na'vi Hometree, which collapses in flames after a missile attack, coating the landscape with ash and floating embers. When asked about the scene's visual resemblance to the events of the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center, Cameron said he had been "surprised at how much it did look like September 11".^[51]

That's all for my first post! Sorry it's turned out to be so heavy! :)

Stop and Smell the Roses

2009-03-21T14:01:00.003+08:00

Overview of Tokyo, Japan

It is a new morning, where once again the tranquility of the night is broken by the shrill of the early morning traffic with its blaring horns and noisy engines, the stillness of the streets once again stirred by the scurrying of expressionless figures wading their way through throngs of equally expressionless robots; men and women in a constant, seemingly never ending stream of human traffic, carrying on their daily ritual of translocating from their dwellings to the confines of their workplace, where they will spend the next eight to ten hours in the daily grind of work.

Human Traffic, Singapore

The occasional blaring of horns interspersed with the constant beeping and ringing of cell phones punctuated the still air, and hardly anyone hears the lone pigeon chirping away at a corner of the street, nor the chorus of magpies singing overhead as they fly in a beautiful formation across the clear blue sky.

The sun breaks forth across the horizon, rays of brilliant golden through sleeves in the clouds, but nobody stops to admire the beauty of it all, the glorious cloud formation enveloping us, a heavenly covering over all our daily pursuits, dreams, and sometimes, trivialities.

Perhaps, it's time we slow down our lives, and take a look at the beauty of life surrounding us. Let's appreciate the people around us, regardless of race or language. Let's meet up more people, get to know one another more, instead of pigeonholing one another with erroneous false first impressions.

Let's Meet, Singapore

Let's, like what the Mac Davis song says, stop and smell the roses. Whether it's a new born, or the concerted effort of creative minds striving to beautify our urban landscape, let's stop in our tracks once in a while to appreciate the beauty of the world that is around us!

Chloe, Singapore

Sunset, Singapore

Perhaps it's fitting down to end this with the lyrics of Mac Davis' song "Stop and Smell the Roses". And yes, you do not have to be in a rush and take the time to read it through! :)

Stop and Smell the Roses

by Mac Davis

Hey Mister
Where you going in such a hurry
Don't you think it's time you realized
There's a whole lot more to life than work and worry
The sweetest things in life are free
And there right before your eyes
You got to Stop and Smell the roses
You've got to count your many blessings everyday
You're gonna find your way to heaven is a rough and rocky road
If you don't Stop and Smell the roses along the way
Before you went to work this morning in the city
Did you spent some time with your family
Did you kiss your wife and tell her that she's pretty
Did you take your children to your breast and love them tenderly
You got to Stop and Smell the roses
You've got to count your many blessings everyday
You're gonna find your way to heaven is a rough and rocky road
If you don't Stop and Smell the roses along the way
Did you ever take a walk through the forest
Stop and dream a while among the trees
Well you can look up through the leaves right straight to heaven
You can almost hear the voice of God
In each any every breeze
You got to Stop and Smell the Roses
You've got to count your many blessings everyday
You're gonna find your way to heaven is a rough and rocky road
If you don't Stop and Smell the Roses along the way
You got to Stop and Smell the roses
You've got to count your many blessings everyday
You're gonna find your way to heaven is a rough and rocky road
If you don't Stop and Smell the roses along the way

Happy Chinese New Year!!!!

2009-01-27T00:28:00.004+08:00

RED_6643, originally uploaded by david5stones.

The picture above was taken at Disneyland at the turn of the year (31st midnight) on my recent Hong Kong vacation with my darling. I think it reflects the optimism that we MUST have, despite the many negative reports and the current economic situation we're facing...

The year of the Ox is upon us, whether we're ready or not, so why not let's take the bull by its horns, and turn it to our advantage! Confess daily that this year will be your best year yet!

My new year resolution is also to blog much more often, take and show more pictures, and get to know all my friends, cell group members and students better! :)

To my students who're reading this: remember, dream BIIIGGGGGG and this year you will definitely go far!

Woofy sends her greetings too! :)

Pictures Pictures Pictures... baacckk! :)

2009-01-21T09:38:00.005+08:00

If you're here, then you're reading what is my first post in a long hiatus from blogging. Welcome!!! If you have been following my blog (when it was updated daily anyway ;P), or you have read some of the older post before, then you would know that this is basically a photography blog. And if you didn't know before, now you do.

Here are some things that have changed (or are new)
- I'll not be doing a-pic-a-day for 2009 :| yes, I've decided to restart 2009 with a-pic-a-week (PAW for short), in which I aim to take at least one good picture a week, and have 52 great works for the entire year. This does not mean I will literally take only 1 picture a week; I will (am) taking pictures almost everyday - just that the selection process for PAW will be tighter. Don't worry, you will still get to see pictures almost everyday, just that only one of them will end up in the PAW project.

- updates may not be daily. I'll try to stick to at least once every 2 days if daily is not possible. :P

There are so many things that have happened since the last update (like me getting married to my darling, for one!), and while I plan the next series of updates, I thought I would start this blog with some pictures from Tim and Ling Na's wedding. I shot Tim's proposal to Ling Na at the end of 2007, which culminated in this picture on the first day of 2008, and now, he's married! Congratulations Tim!!!

Nervous and Excited Tim

Dad walking Ling Na down Isle

Nice place!

Down the Isle!

Peeking In

Second Walkin

My Darling at the wedding

Jumping Jacks!

2008-05-20T00:11:00.003+08:00

Once in a while we have an urge to do something different. I had lunch with my darling's CG, W300 on Sunday after service at Jurong West, and after that, on an inspired thought, I asked that they take a series of crazy photos based on jumping together. We found an open piece of land, and the fun began :)

This is the best jump. It took a few tries to get there.....

.....including a few heroic acrobatics by my darling and huiyun! :p

B.O.W. Part 3 - Of Trolleys and wheeled stuff

2008-05-14T17:15:00.002+08:00

This is part 3 of the Bedok on Wheels project - this part focuses on the other wheeled feature of Bedok besides the bicycles - the ubiquitous trolley. Spawn by 2 major supermarkets (Sheng Shiong and NTUC), these wheeled devices can be seen everywhere in Bedok Central, employed in a variety of interesting ways.

Parking Lot

A parking lot of sorts for trolleys found outside NTUC at Bedok Central.

Full PayLoad

A trolley with a full load parked near Sheng Shiong at Bedok Central.

Trolleys at Taxi Stand

Trolleys queuing up at a taxi stand at Bedok Central.

Trolley at KFC

A trolley parked outside KFC while the owners eat inside.

A Different Kind of Trolley

A trolley on 2 wheels!

Speeding in the KPE

2008-05-07T18:30:00.002+08:00

DSC_0240, originally uploaded by david5stones.

Some of you may remember this picture of the KPE that I took from the back of a cab that I posted as pic of the day some time back. On the first day of May, while travelling home in a cab with my darling, I took out my camera again as I noticed the long, stretching-to-infinity stretch of lights in the KPE tunnel.

However this time I decided to use a very slow shutter speed and zoom out (I was using my darling's Nikon D40x) to create this abstract. Personally I don't really do abstracts like this but I love this one!

Happy Birthday Jasper!

2008-05-05T23:57:00.005+08:00

DSC_0214, originally uploaded by david5stones.

This is Jasper on the 1st of May, holding up his card that we gave him! Happy Birthday!

And this is my SGC group - SGC for spiritual giants corp (Jasper's idea :P). This is a group that has existed (at first informally) since my days at City Harvest Bible Training Centre in 2004. It started off with 3 of us - Doreen, Geraldine and myself as we used to hang out together often. We're quickly joined by others from Team 13 and 14 like Desmond, Carrie - later on, Benny, Kaixin joined our group too. We often referred, in jest, to ourselves as the "SOT CG", and used terms like bringing new friends, integration, cgl / members etc :)

The group has since expanded to include me, my darling (who was in Team 14 of SOT 2004, in Doreen's team - who would have known? :)), Doreen, Jasper (her boyfriend, so in! haha), Geraldine, Poh, Carrie, Benny, Kaixin, Yang Yi (Kaixin's bf!), Bee Leng, Fukang, Desmond and his gf Jasmine (she's the latest addtion!). Here's the final balance-camera-on-ledge-self-portrait-group photo from that day - not everyone was there and we have some new friends too! I'm the guy in the Man U jersy holding my darling ;)

For the full set of photos, check out this Flickr set.

To infinity and beyond

2008-05-03T20:53:00.000+08:00

Here i m at e airport again, on my way to terminal 3. I always seem to see scenes like this here - maybe tat is why i loved e airport so much. This picture is being sent to this blog in real time thanks to my mobile phone camera. I have been using it a lot lately!

Public Holiday OT (Off Topic)

2008-05-01T10:22:00.002+08:00

Off Topic post for today - Today on May Day or labour day as they called it, I'm officially "jobless" - no more labour for me until next week :) The reason (many should know by now, but in case you didn't....) I officially left my job as a software engineer (yes, I was one! :P) yesterday and next week, I'll be starting my new career at City Harvest Education Centre as a Biology and Chemistry teacher. While this may come as a shock to many, I think it's a good change of environment and I'm really looking forward to impacting the lives of youths at CHEC.

Because of this (hmm.... just realised my English teacher last time told me never to start a sentence with "because"...), you can expect to see more updates of this blog with pictures of the lives of students, and maybe even a project on youths!

OT topic 2: Manchester United has made it to the finals of the champions league, and will face off Chelsea in the final. They are also in the same race for the Premiership title. I stayed up early Wednesday morning to watch them beat Barcelona 1-0. Glory Glory Man United!!!!! :) To end off with a picture befitting the occasion, here's to Man U to win the double!

B.O.W. Part 2 - Of Bicycles and 2 wheeled things

2008-05-01T10:00:00.003+08:00

Bedok On Wheels 2- On 2 wheels

A man using a common mode of transport in Bedok cycling past a posse of bicycles parked at the town centre.

Today it is time for the second installment of my series Bedok on Wheels. The focus today is on bicycles. In Bedok Central it is common to see bicycles being used as a mode of transport. I do not have any memories as a child of seeing so many bicycles in town, but I do have nice memories of my first bike, a yellow themed BMX (do they still make these now?) that I really loved. My dad was the person who taught me and my brothers how to cycle - I fell more times than I can remember!

Illegal Parking?

Bicycles parked at Bedok Central - there's certainly no need for carpark fees and ERPs for this mode of transport!

Lady on Bike

Seeing these pics makes me want to cycle actively again - used to go Pulau Ubin to cycle and trying to make my bike run over some scorpion daring to cross the road :P

Parking Spaces

Sidenote - this project was shot entirely on film, and on black and white film. Watch out for Part 3 coming tonight!

Bedok on Wheels Part 1

2008-04-29T16:00:00.003+08:00

Yesterday I talked about construction, and how things just aren't the same as what they were. I've decided to post a series of photos starting from today of things, ideas, traditions and places that are in a state of change or flux, places which are rapidly evolving. In Singapore, we have a nation with a short history, yet one which in its mission to be world class, is undergoing a rapid change in its natural, ecological, social and urban landscape. Though we're a nation that is less than half a decade old, yet already we are losing touch with traditions and places which have undergone so much transformation that we no longer recognise them.

Old Fashioned Notice Board, Bedok Interchange

In this first post in the series, we take a look at Bedok. Bedok was often referred to as "Bedok New Town", at least when I was growing up. Today the world "new" would seem to be an oxymoron. The town lacks many of the modern shopping malls, cinemas and facilities so common in other town centres all over Singapore. Yet Bedok itself is not standing still - as I type, construction is undergoing on new cinemas, and finishing touches are being applied to new HDB residential blocks in the centre of the town.

Afternoon Gossip at Bedok Interchange

I used to frequent the town centre often, as a youth growing up here, but have "migrated" to newer places like Tampines to hang out in recent years. Since I met my darling. who lives right in the centre of Bedok, my journey back to Bedok, and reconciliation with the things of my youth have begun.

Bedok on Wheels is an informal and fun project that started out on a lazy afternoon with my camera in hand that is now evolving into a more serious photographic study of live in Bedok reflected through the use of wheeled devices. The town may be modernizing but some things never change!

Here, then, is the first installment in this series. Enjoy!

Cyling around town

In Bedok today, bicycles are a common sight and pedaling around town is a way of life for many.

Girl in Pram

Some are wheeled around in a more comfortable manner...

Ice Cream on wheels

On a hot sunny afternoon, the ice cream man on wheels is always a welcome sight!

Grocery Shopping

Ramps are rampant around the town centre, both for the disabled on wheelchairs, and also to facilitate shoppers with trolleys shopping at the Sheng Shiong supermarket.

Different Kinds of Wheels

A wheeled container of trash crosses path with a baby on a pram - different modes of transport on wheels in the town centre of Bedok.

This is the first installment. Let me know if you enjoyed it. Part 2 is coming up!

Constructing a better future

2008-04-28T15:43:00.001+08:00

Shot from out of my office window with my mobile, this scene depicts the changing landscape of singapore. Construction is going on everywhere. This morning i just shot the houses around my neighbourhood getting torn down. Things are not what they were anymore. More on this issue once i get back tonight to upload e pics. For now i just wanted to post something up! :)

Happy Birthday Joachim!

2008-04-24T14:59:00.002+08:00

IMG_5691, originally uploaded by david5stones.

This is Joachim. He turns 21 today. :)

Happy Birthday!!!!!

PS: this is either the most profound 3 sentence post I've made ever, or the laziest one with the most few words :p

Future Leaders

2008-04-23T18:00:00.004+08:00

A few weeks ago I had the chance to photograph a few of my zone's helpers / upcoming leaders (the photos are to be used for admin purposes). Meet the future leaders of JS (Jimmy Sng) zone!

From left, we have Kirk from Christine's cg - he and his wife are both in our leaders' meeting, Sheena from Jimmy's cell group and Wei Liang, also from Jimmy's cell group.

Bottom row we have Lihui from Bernard's cell and Mary from Jimmy's cell (he has many helpers.. hee)

So here they are, the future leaders of JS!

Uno Haven

2008-04-21T22:47:00.004+08:00

I do not believe I have posted much on my new house, other than the one about playing Indian poker at the new house soon after keys collection. It's time to talk about Uno Haven now. This is probably the first post here that does NOT contain pictures taken by me. :)

Uno = One
Haven = A Place of Refuge; Sanctuary

That, in a nutshell is the idea behind our very first home. My darling and I collected the keys to our new house on the 20th of Feb, and since then, we have been visiting different ID (Interior Designer) companies to find one that can renovate our house. Though finances are tight but we are agreed that this is our first home, and that we're not buying to invest, but rather, to stay, and we want to move into a house that we can truly call our own. Hence we made the decision to renovate the house with a budget of 30k.

Floor plan of Uno Haven

We have a Uno Haven blog up that contains initial pictures and blog postings of our house. This will be our new wedding blog where our wedding journey will be documented. I will also actively link to new updates from this blog.

My talented darling did some research and found a program that allows her to design the floor plan and this is what she came up with - our final layout plan for the house, which includes hacking and making good walls of bedroom 3 for a bigger living room area.

Concept design for Uno Haven

Our chosen ID, Danny from Ideal House did up the 3D design pictures for us recently. It looks great!!!! My darling and I are very excited to get the actual renovation underway. I'm going to be taking lots of pictures of the process. Check this blog often for updates!

We're changing the color scheme (we've decided not to have black floor tiles after all) so what you see is not the final version, but the basic layout and design will still remain the same.

Living Room Part 1

The position of the shoe cabinet is going to change for sure :)

Living Room 2

I love the false ceiling. The balcony area actually has transparent glass, not sure why it is shown as opaque here...

Dining Area

The cabinets in the foreground is actually part of our open concept kitchen - it also serves as a kind of serving counter for food. :)

Master Bedroom

Cosy! Color will change though....

Toilet(s)

Very important part of the house!

That's all for now. My darling has a couple of posts of her own on the new house. Head over there to read her thoughts and comments.

These are exciting times indeed :)

Lighted walkway

2008-04-19T16:12:00.001+08:00

I hardly ever use my mobile's built in camera, however once in a while, when inspiration strikes i will be moved to put it to good use.   Today is such a day! I love lines that extend to infinity, and when i saw this shot i knew i wanted to take it. This is one shot i would want to replicate with my 'real' cameras but for now, this shot goes direct from my phone to my blog in real time. The wonders of technology! :)

On Birthdays

2008-04-16T16:21:00.005+08:00

I looked through some of my baby and toddler photos recently, and realised that one of the reasons why I was able to do that was that someone bothered to take photos at those times of my life. Nowadays, with the prevalence of handphone cameras, more pictures are taken than ever before, forming a visual chronicle of human kind. (There are a few bad side effects to the rampant use of such imaging devices with small and low quality image sensors, but that's another topic for another time)

Here then is a small selection of pictures from some birthday celebrations I've had the honor of photographing. Enjoy!

Surprising Pastor

I was roped in to help take photos in a covert operation to surprise Pastor Zhuang on his birthday (6th April).

The crowd was big and I only had a 35mm lens with me that day, so photography was quite a challenge - thank God I had a camera at all cos I was informed of this rather late. It's a good policy to have a camera of some kind at any time - and I'm not referring to hand phone cameras! :P

We took 2 group shots at 2 locations - one at his home and one downstairs in a function room.

At Home

Second Group Shot

I'll put up more candids from that day in another post.

6th April was actually the birthday of another friend of mine - Christine. She was my cell group leader and good friend. Here's some photos from our zone leaders' early celebration last month - together with her Joyce and Wilson also celebrated their birthdays!

Joyce and Christine

Joyce is on the left, Christine right.

Jimmy sharing a light moment. Wilson is the guy on the left.

Bday Babies

The 3 birthday babies!

more bday photos on the way! :)

Glory Glory Man United!

2008-04-14T09:02:00.001+08:00

IMG_5743, originally uploaded by david5stones.

This is Owen Hargreaves of Manchester United being substituted during last night's game with Arsenal at Old Trafford. He had scored earlier from a wonderful free kick to put Man United 2-1 up, and that was how the game eventually ended. I'm even more convinced now that Man United will go on to win the double of the Premiership title and the Champions League.

Glory Glory Man United!!! :)