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.

tokyo 2009

i know i have not been blogging, but it's been nice to be on vacation. too lazy to type much, so will let the pictures speak for themselves.



roppongi


shibuya


uni-jump in yokohama


st ignatius church, yotsuya


nap time


airwalk


street baseball


electrical grid


abi's lisa ono moment


intrepid photographer martin


fun with street lights


more rain



that's it. bed time. more to come i hope.

isn't she lovely?

doting grandparents

i know i am getting boring and repetitive, but i don't really care. my niece has just completely captured my heart.

i love the fact that she can wake up and smile at us instead of being grumpy, and how this good natured little girl can instantly make all around her happy.

i could take pictures of her all day long.

the marina barrage

dusk


fun with water


the wedding shoot


glow in the (semi) dark


being inquisitive


loving the typography


the view from the top


a trip to the marina barrage reminded me how hot it can get in singapore. buckets of perspiration that even a sweat rag couldn't completely soak up. the air so thick with moisture it was hard to breathe. the last time i was here was over half a year ago, before they opened it up to the public, so i have to admit i was curious to see how it looked now.

while the restaurants and food and beverage outlets proved less than promised, the sheer number of families that showed up with picnic baskets left me no doubt to the popularity of the place. kids in swimsuits traipsed around the fountains in an attempt to keep cool, and even with the setting of the sun, the benches were still warm to touch. a couple engaged in their wedding shoot, large families sat on the solar roof, while a legion of amateur photographers armed to the teeth with tripods and expensive cameras stalked their elusive photos. teenaged street dancers and couples looking for some smidgen of privacy that the dark had to offer in that rather public place, were just some of the sights.

so what if the exhibition on a self sustaining environment was a little heavy handed on the government propaganda? abi, shea and i had a blast, and that's all that really matters.

shoot

work as it should be

for the first time in awhile, i am back on the shooting rotation. i know it's been awhile because the minute i picked up the canon, i realized that all my lenses had a (more than) fine coat of dust on them.

it was a nice surprise to be laden with five assignments on my first day back, five portrait assignments to be exact for a lifestyle section piece. BORING you might say, but you know what? it's great to be back looking, thinking and seeing.

so my equipment has now been dusted off (literally), and it's nice to be taking pictures again for a living.

really nice.

dawn janine

hangin' out



food coma



dance practice

isn't she just the cutest?

my niece dawn never fails to make me (and those around her) smile. maybe it's the huge grin that finds it's way onto her face when she sees me, or the occasional outreaching of her hands to be carried (even to me!). maybe it's the fact that she is my first niece. or maybe it's something as simple as her being a baby, and EVERYONE (barring scrooges and grinches) love babies right?

people say that babies hit a certain age when they start getting choosy about who they hang out with, but at this point, i am enjoying both the giving and receiving of love from this little tyke.

you can be sure that more pictures of her will appear on this blog at regular intervals.

new threads

two from threadless

another surprise from beeba had me grinning like a jackass. two new t-shirts from threadless.com that she had quietly bought when she placed orders for another couple of t-shirts for herself and a friend.

she even chose the right ones! for that, she gets the dubious honor of seeing a picture from my first (and probably last) ever photoshoot. thanks beebs!!!


even cool tees cannot make me look good

ps: thanks deslim for the studio shot!

my love

“it's beauty that captures your attention; personality which captures your heart. i was lucky enough to get both.”

a lump formed in my throat as the curtains were drawn. there, in front of me, was the rest of my life, and i couldn't be happier.

post-its + slinky = AWESOME

they've done it again! eepybird.com, the great minds that brought you the diet coke and mentos experiment, have done it again! this time with 280,951 post-it notes and a whole lotta patience. the sticky notes experiment blows my mind!

can't get enough? enjoy perusing the rest of their experiments!

woah, like, totally old school.

so a chat with sujin led to a search for a singaporean pop band from the early 90s, which culminated with finding this video.

damn talk about a blast from the past! funny how things you kinda enjoyed with you were in your teens seem cringe-worthy a decade and a half later.

chillin' like a villin'

ok.. i meant "villian" "villain", but i don't know how to make it sound right if you are reading it instead of hearing it.

there is something very nostalgic about sitting at the micky d's at funan surfing on my laptop waiting for ah seng and ock to arrive for lunch. ok maybe there wasn't wireless.sg during my freelance days (when i got to sit around doing a whole lot of nothing more often than not)

i feel like the total gadget geek i am, sitting here with a computer, phone, ipod and a real book (to add a touch of good old fashioned intellect) and i have to say i am liking it.

liking it a lot actually ;-)

i'm also excited about the fact that today is my last day of classes. it will be nice to get back to a normal one job schedule!

MMmmmm Booze.....

slumber

i am so glad that i am passed the phase where i needed to get sloshed at least twice a week to feel that me life was complete.

i don't remember making an ass of myself countless times, but it seems that ever ex-college mate of mine, ex-colleague, ex-army buddy (you get the point) seems to have a story about me that i don't remember!

that. is. not. a. good. thing.

thank god that i did all that BEFORE the advent of (affordable) digital cameras and cellphones. the drunk pictures of me are all either lost or locked away in the dark recesses of my film archive, and for that i am grateful. however this guy really got the raw end of the deal.

not only was he caught on google street view (a godsend to me in nyc, and hopefully coming to singapore at some point), but he was also in front of his mother's house.

he didn't whine too much about it, but just enough for google to blot that image off their site. too bad he didn't get there before thisislondon.co.uk got to it first.

so the next time you decided to excessively imbibe, be sure to pass out in a somewhat more private location eh?

bad stuff, cannot bluff

please make it stop!

sometimes, when you have good (bad?) things to share, you just gotta do it. all i can say is that i am VERY glad that i do not work at the MDA right about now ;)

to my foreign friends, yes, this is how singapore wastes their taxpayers' money.

ps: if the link above is too slow (because everyone wants to watch the damn thing), you can try this instead

proud new home owner

this is the look of a proud owner of his own kingdom.

it's not what you would expect, because it IS darren after all, and even though we love him, we can hardly call him normal.

but he's got his keys, the contractors are starting work and by early 2008, we should have a new place to invade for chill time. even if it is NEARLY in malaysia.

the birthday girl

how quickly they grow!


and they say tv teaches children violence


helping hands

it seems like only yesterday when i first met little shea. always shy, always hiding behind mummy, always picky about food.

the pickiness about food hasn't changed much (though she IS trying new things) but the timid quiet girl has blossomed into a smart little 8-year-old whose sudden spurts of extrovertedness still startle me.

the nuggets were good, the pinata was ace, and the adults all had as good a time as the kids.

it was nice to be there, and i can't wait to be there for many more.

happy birthday shea!