did you know...

...that the average comfort (brand) cab in singapore clocks over 1.5 million km before it is written off? that's around 37 and a half trips around the world (assuming you were driving an imaginary road on the equator.

that's a hell of a lot of kilometers.

back in the saddle

i've realized how much my fitness level has dropped in the past couple of months. not that it was at a high level to begin with, but it WAS on the road to recovery.

with a (food-filled) vacation to japan, jeff and erica visiting singapore on (a food-driven) vacation, and my general laziness, it shouldn't have surprised me how a simple 20km ride today seemed so much tougher than it should be.

time to drop the carbs and sugars again, and revert back to my protein rich (and often boring) diet and exercise routine. for no other reason than to eat more good food with less guilt.

oh, and to get fit of course

missing japan

freedom


for the past 3 weeks, abi has been telling me how much she misses japan.

i am inclined to agree with her.

sigh

a day at the museum

the ORIGINAL reason for going


indiscriminate rock painting


bubbles


i want this


mummy fen making sure ethan has many photos of his childhood


wistful butterfly


christian lacroix (who just went bankrupt)


the men of the ong family


milkshake for nate nate


ethan taking a break


excitement


a week late, but better late than never.

what started off as an opportunity for abi and shea to see the verner panton exhibit at the National Museum of Singapore turned into an all out family fest as we discovered that childrens' week had kicked off the day before at the museum. as we wander down, who should we meet but eugene and ethan, which meant that fen was somewhere close by.

then maye-e shows up, and it becomes a gaggle of children and parents.

who knew that chasing after children and watching them run around, sweat and have fun with each other could be so enjoyable?

i am ready.

thank god it's over

some scary shit
don't get my wrong, i loved dead space and thought it was one of the best games i've played on the ps3. only problem is, it scared the living daylights out of me.

"you got to try it, it's scary as hell!" says mugi to me, and i reply, "please, how scary can a video game be?" now, 15 hours of game play later (not including the sections i had to replay after getting my ass handed to me on a plate by unbelievably spooky aliens), i am a believer.

i loved the game, but it was also an ordeal to play, something i needed to actually psyche myself up to do because it was too damn stressful. seriously.

whether you have an xbox or ps3, if you haven't played it, go give it a shot. you might hate me for introducing it to you, but i am sure you'll get a kick out of it.

but i have to say that i sure am glad it's over.

ps: you've got to play the first chapter alone in a dark room in the dead of the night. can anyone say "shrinkage"?

photo log: 17/05/2009

not everything counts in large amounts

i am really going to try and keep this photo log going, and yes, i know that the date of the title and the date of the posting doesn't match, but i had to work late. forgive me.

just realized how much bigger cars have gotten in the last 30 years.

scary.

early birthdays

a second after the birthday wish


what with my parents heading off to europe for back to back cruises in the mediterranean and along the coast of scandinavia and russia, and a busy work week for all involved, the birthdays of my dad and sister (on the 25th and 20th of may respectively) had to be celebrated early.

happy birthday to the both of you, and may the wishes you made before blowing your candles be granted.

happiness is: a roomful of photographers

critique session

i love photography. no surprise there. i especially love documentary work and photojournalism. maybe it's because what i am trained in, but i still believe that real pictures have a big role to play in society.

in the past few years, i've become pretty appreciative of the other forms of photography, and enjoy the diversity out there, but my core values are always kicked into overdrive when people who consider themselves documentary photographers or photojournalists set up pictures. "what's the big deal?" they ask, and i almost always tell them that i don't give a damn if they destroy their own credibility, but i hate it when my work gets dragged down into the muck of deceit that they create.

i know it will happen, and i know it happens a lot at the other newspapers under the umbrella company that owns my newspaper. i also know that i am on staff with some of the best shooters in singapore, and take heart in the fact that the younger generation at my paper also share my aversion to making up pictures, opting instead to look for real images i.e. things that happen as you see them, not as you want them to look.

but not everyone is a documentarian, and the current project that a few of us are working on with action for aids shows that there is room for all kinds of photography in this world. there is nothing like introducing a new cohort of image lovers to the fold of photography, and even more fulfilling is a roomful of seasoned veterans and inquisitive newbies talking about pictures.

what can i say, stuff like that makes me happy.

speechless

ok the new star trek movie is good.

no i mean it's really good. seriously.

i was worried the hype was going to disappoint me, i was worried that the closet trekkie in me was going to find things that i would be disappointed with, but honestly, i loved it.

now some people will say "oh i am a star wars fan, not into star trek" and believe that never the twain shall meet, but i like star wars AND star trek, and believe me when i tell you, that even if you aren't a fan, there is a 99.48% chance that you will be one after this movie.

so quit whining, get off your ass, and go watch it.

you won't be disappointed.

light in the dark

pillar of light

it was a tedious walk back to the prada building in aoyama from harajuku, not in the least since we were retracing our steps on the way back to shibuya station. abi wanted to see the building again in the night. i agreed, but was inside grumbling about the detour.

turns out she was right as always.

it does look gorgeous.