::today was like any other weekend.. nothing much happened.. no parties, no celebration, no presents, no joy..probably due to the fact that one of my cousins' went overseas.. to Isreal or somewhere there.. they being devoted Christians and it being Christmas.. so the gathering postponed to next week.. maybe next week would be better..
and when I thought all was lost, this appeared..

gotta be one of the most impressive sunsets I've ever seen in Singapore.. luckily for my phone...
anyway, the holidays have been a let down.. while all my other friends went on holiday, I'm here on island 2 degrees north of the equator.. my camera has been collecting dust just sitting there so much that I decided to take it out on a trip to the botanic gardens.. got some real nice pics there..
so much for Christmas.. after 16 times, the feeling isn't there anymore.. perhaps I'm missing a vital ingredient.. friends..::

.:JeReMyChAn blogged on 11:48 am:.
0 Comments:

Comment??

...
::went to the Botanic Gardens today.. 2nd time I'll be there, but with my S2IS.. had an encounter with the ever ellusive squirrels of the SBG.. fast little fellows and daring too.. jumped across a large gap to the next tree..
went on to the Ecolake where the black swans reside.. this is one of the situations were a polarizing filter would come in handy..


mid-day sun, glaring reflections off the water.. a japanese family were there feeding them some bread.. they went off before I got there, so the swans were starting to swim further out..
then tried my hand at macro-photography..


yet another situation where another kind of filter would come in handy.. the close up filter/lens.. which allows the camera to focus at at shorter distance than it normally would.. getting up close to insects not a problem for me.. except maybe bees and mosquitoes, where I want them as far as possible from me..
felt quite out of place outside the Orchid Gardens.. amist all the tourist there.. noticed a trend in the cameras they carry.. the american tourist with their compact digital camera (and a few with d/SLRs), the indian tourist with the disposible film camera and a singaporean with a prosumer camera..
tried something else besides doing Orchids there..


a Neutral Density filter would make the water much silkier here.. haha.. looks like more buying for me..
ended with Swan Lake again.. and there was a family there feeding them.. talk about de javu.. don't think they'll mind me posting it here..


"family meets family"
well not exactly family for the birds.. the duck was following them wherever they went, sorta an adopted son? see if I can get the filters I mentioned and I'll have another go at SBG..::

.:JeReMyChAn blogged on 11:10 pm:.
0 Comments:

Comment??

...
::Zhi Hong's probably just arrived at Canada right this moment.. its like a 12+ hours flight from Singapore to Vancouver, not including the transit time.. lots of us went to see him off for his 6am flight today.. yes, 6AM, meaning we have to be there in the wee hours..
had slept in the afternoon, so was quite awake.. was suppose to meet lian jie, lam and bernard to take a taxi there but Jill missed the last bus, so she had to take the cab.. told her to come to Hougang first to pick me up.. 1 person taking a cab is rather expensive.. and expensive it was.. its definately the most expensive cab ride I ever took.. surpassed the $20 from Hougang to NTU during last year's attachement.. $26!!
bought her a cup of coffee at BK while I had something to eat.. didn't eat dinner cause I woke up at night.. then went to walk around.. bumped into Tim and gang along the way.. didn't know that they also were here.. walked all the way to the other end of T1 to Delifrance, where they had their midnight "supper"..
Lian Jie, Lam and Bernard came afterwards.. they bought a farewell gift for Zhi Hong..

wonder how he's gonna explain to sercurity that he was 2 big steel chains with him..


maybe he should wear them like this..

found out that the other batteries I brought weren't charged and the ones in my cam were running low.. went with lian jie and with bernard to try to find a 7-11 or something.. found out that Changi doesn't have much for the public.. all inside its transit halls.. at least have a 7-11 outside or something?? or make the Fairprice downstairs 24hrs?
chatted till almost 5 when our "special guest", Zhi Hong came.. he checked in his things and met up with us.. they gave him his farewell gifts and some hugs and handshakes.. reflected on the times we had together, all the years of friendship.. except Jill that is.. haha.. its her first AND last time she's meeting zhi hong..
feel quite happy for Zhi Hong that he's going to Canada to further his music.. although we won't be seeing him for a long time, but that doesn't mean we won't keep in touch with him.. gonna miss him though..


the "Chan Brothers"::

.:JeReMyChAn blogged on 8:08 pm:.
0 Comments:

Comment??

...
::went back to the junior school from monday to wednesday to help out Sir (thats what we call him), our primary school teacher.. he usually organises these "camps" for us to meet up with one another and to help out at the same time..

Monday
went to play badminton with Matthew and Sherman in the morning along with my brother.. then went back to pack my stuff.. called up Po Kiat, my neighbour and primary school classmate, and went together..
first up was uprooting the corn.. this time was much easier then the previous uprootings.. last time the roots were very deep, had to thug and thug.. also had to transport the soil too.. that was back-breaking.. but this time had only to get rid of the plants and whatever weeds that were there..

then it was the fish tanks.. took out everything, washed the tank inside out and rearrange it.. sounds simple, but its hard work.. all the dirt and algae reminded me when I used to rear fish.. its nice to watch the fishes swimming around, but the maintainance is alot..
me and zhi hong helped landscape the freshwater tank.. created like a valley with arches and a "waterfall".. the filtered water plainly coming out of the hose seemed boring, so we redesigned it..


Tuesday
today was all about fish tanks.. the other 2 marine fish tanks.. Sir wanted us to keep the water cause its actual seawater.. marine salt not cheap you know..
same procedure as the day before.. catch, remove, drain, move, wash, move, fill, add, arrange.. the filter was quite dirty.. the filter wool was a chocolate colour.. dunno how long it took to get rid of all the dirt to its white colour..

before & after

the local residents enjoying their clean new environment

Wednesday
departed with my ex-classmates.. other than when Sir calls us back, don't think we'll meet often.. it was a great 3 day experience with my friends.. guess this would probably be one of the last times..::

.:JeReMyChAn blogged on 9:29 pm:.
0 Comments:

Comment??

...
::had our clarinet outing today.. sorta gathering for our alumni and current members.. met at the mrt.. all of us were wearing long pants except Jian Hao and his brother, Kian Seng.. haha, so they went back to changed..
went to plaza singapura.. ate at BK then went to watch Zathura.. went to Yamaha a floor below first before the movie started.. they had changed the layout of the store.. also had a Eb clarinet on sale, $4000+.. man.. it's been a long time since I played my instrument..
Zathura was ok.. if you had watched Jumanji, you'll know what to expect.. the special effects were quite cool.. the house getting more and more destroyed..
then went to Istana Park opp. to take some pics..
::

.:JeReMyChAn blogged on 10:56 pm:.
0 Comments:

Comment??

...
::today presented me with lotsa great photographic opportunities.. a sunrise and a sunset in the same day..
slept alitte the night before so woke up at 5 something.. made myself something to eat, then saw the sun rising from the kitchen.. quickly got my cam and tripod..

went back to sleep sometime later.. then woke at about 5 something, was suppose to go for Zhi Hong's farewell bbq at 3.. hurriedly changed and took 43 there.. 43 passed by VJC, so I thought I would time how long it would take from my house to VJC.. turns out to be slightly more than an hour..
crossed the overhead bridge to East Coast.. managed to find time just in time for the sunset..

bbq-ing into the sunset
they already had started the bbq.. the "mahjong gang" brought along a mahjong set.. taught Zhi Hong how to play..
started to show signs of rain.. flashes of lightning and some thunder..

but only resulted in a slight rain.. they continued to play frisbee after it stopped.. only started to pour when we were leaving..::

.:JeReMyChAn blogged on 11:58 pm:.
0 Comments:

Comment??

...