J-ÇhÃn

Back for awhile

2009-03-12T20:07:00.002+08:00

5 months and 12 days since I last updated this blog, for those who did regularly visit my blog I apologise. Right now my online life mostly revolves around Flickr, do check my photostream out on the right sidebar if you're interested. Lotsa things happened in the 5 months that this blog missed out, finally met with Kai Wen, returned to shoot for the same kindergarden concert and went to Vietnam in Dec, completed my 3rd year of Eye e City 08, helped to shoot NYJC's CCA group shots. Pretty much sums up notable events till today..
Probably would write more once I get back home.. Till then.

Cam Whores

2008-10-01T16:38:00.002+08:00

a short and I do mean short break today.. went to accompany Charmaine to get her LX3 on sat followed by a shortwalk around with her.. finished exposing a roll of film around town which is in the hands of Bernadette now in UK.. Dave and I bought for her the 135 Holga cam as a farewell gift, hoping to do a double exposure also.. quite a big group was there to see her off also, mostly her classmates I think..
stayed at the airport with Dave for awhile, taught him about the basics of photography since he brought his bro's 350D there.. took the last 27 back to Hougang and continued..

Cam Whores
did a small shoot at his void deck for the fun of it.. loads more that I wanna blog abt but don't really have the time now, so till then..

Seoul Garden

2008-09-21T18:06:00.006+08:00

a quick update.. took leave on Friday to meet up with James to discuss abt the shoot with the kindergarten.. prob will try to shoot for them on a regular basis now since they're were quite satistifed with the pics I took last year.. plus Ms Shahida considering engaging me for her wedding, so some extra $$ for the end of the year.. then went shooting with him and Zhi Kai at his house later that evening..

The Player
this is what we got.. a concept I wanted to do sometime back but apparently somebody didn't want to let me use his tennis racket..
Sat finally met up with Bernadette and Dave after weeks of delays.. went to Marina Sq to have lunch, then to Gelare for some ice-cream after that.. Bern's flying off to UK to studying at Imperial College London (!) on a scholarship next week.. chatted abt education and some of our plans.. of cos if I had the opportunity I would definately go overseas to study for awhile.. see the world, which is extends beyond this little red dot of ours..

Seoul Garden
Met up with the class, been some time since the last gathering.. just to catch up with each other's life I guess.. there's this invisible divide between us guys and gals now.. NS vs Uni, with the exception of Jack of cos ,he doesn't need to give up 2 years of his life for this country..
hung around till quite late, missed the last bus at YCK with Michelle.. luckily my dad could fetch, so we just waited there till he came..

Just had to Grab It

2008-09-06T09:10:00.002+08:00

blogging for awhile before heading out to collect some stuff later on.. last week's roll, lending Charmaine my LX3 to let her try out, plus attending Eye è City 07's launch, didn't have any pics published in the book for 07 though.. didn't even finish the roll they gave me, all well..

Just Had to Grab It..
oh yea, just got the LX3 last week with Zhi Kai, who got the 50 1.4.. one month of our "pay" burnt.. was very excited when it was announced, like the perfect compact camera for me.. just some days I don't wanna bring out my 40D..
anyway, been reading Basic Critical Theory for Photographers this past week.. borrowed it before, but just skimmed through the last time.. just this intimidation of all the profound art theory that I have never touched before.. looking back at some of my works, you can probably describe it as surrealist I think.. esp my 52 week series, maybe I'm just creating an artificial reality every weekend, an escape from my daily runnings in the Army..

Clarinet Outing

2008-08-24T21:34:00.002+08:00

another eventful weekend, went for a little photoshoot with Raidah and her friends on Sat.. first time handling a model shoot so to speak.. the rain almost put a stop to things but we found a some shelter and started from there.. had quite a fun time, though abit irritating for me when they were smoking..
rushed off to meet Chris to return his lens, the 70-200 2.8L is simply an awesome lens to use, though it's weight is the big turn off.. sorry for making you wait, was abit too engrossed with the shoot..
was also meeting my batch clarinet section for a little gathering, haven't seen them in sometime after we graduated.. only about 2/3 turned up, the J2s were busy with prelims next week so they weren't free.. went to Lau Pat Sat to have our dinner first, didn't really like the touting there though.. settled down and waited for Wei Jie before starting dinner, Li En only joining us after dinner though, dunno why..

NY Clarinets 06-07..
went to watch the fireworks after that.. not as crowded as the other side at Esplanade, found some space to slot in, just left my tripod there while waiting.. talk mostly revolved around 2 topics, Uni and NS.. finished my roll of film on the fireworks, switched to digital took a few shots before leaving my spot to join the rest.. spent some time with Li En, just walking along..

3SG loh!

2008-08-19T22:05:00.002+08:00

3SG Loh!
came to the end of the course already, 11 weeks sure pass fast maybe because it's something I don't mind doing.. starting a new chapter in my NS life, as a combat engineer specialist.. have abit more privileges now but then it comes with more responsiblity..

Cycling with Charmaine

2008-08-03T16:09:00.005+08:00

as opposed to last weekend, this weekend is supershort.. went to collect the slides I shot last week immediately after booking out.. went cycling with Charmaine on Mon, last time we met was exactly 2 years ago to take a look at the SYPA exhibition.. had lunch at Pepper Lunch, which was also where we ate the last time.. took 36 to Marine Parade and walked over to ECP..

Fly Away..
cycled the coastal route of the eastern park connectors trail, initially wanted to try the whole loop but don't think there was enough time.. clear blue skies, a nice breeze, planes taking off over our heads.. haven't felt this carefree since the beginning of this year..
in all think we cycled 20+km.. quite tired at the end of the day, dropped off the roll at Suntec before getting back home..

Fries!

2008-07-27T12:44:00.001+08:00

back-tracking 2 post from the long weekend I had last week..
had another class gathering on Sat, just before the gals (plus Jack) start their Uni.. met at Hek Ming's house to prepare the food for the bbq..

Fries!
tried another shot I had in mind, did something similar for the band gathering in Sentosa but not with my classmates so here it is..

The Rain Won't Stop Me

2008-07-25T19:43:00.000+08:00

superlong weekend ahead, shot quite alot of pics over the 4 days.. thurs went out shooting with Chris, more of a creative session with him.. exchanged ideas about pics, gave him a crash course on off cam flash photography, took some pics on the way.. started to rain again, so I had the idea of shooting in the rain..

The Rain Won't Stop Me..
not as heavy as his version, the droplets of rain frozen in mid-air.. met him again the next day after my 8km run.. shot finish the Superia 800 in my Vivitar UWS, a rainy day series.. some didn't really turn out ok, the UWS isn't that fantastic in low light..

52 Weeks

2008-07-20T00:35:00.004+08:00

having a long weekend this week, Monday off due to that Sunday burnt.. didn't really do much till this evening, just wasted the time away.. crashed photog's farewell party with Zhi Kai, the rain put a stop to the BBQ plans so we just stayed in the function room.. did a revisit of the Levitation series, but didn't turn out as well as the first set..

Lights, Camera, Action!
was kinda bored towards the end, so did a self-portrait I had in mind, with alittle help from James of cos.. don't think my body can withstand the number of falls and failed attempts to get this shot by myself.. was intrigued with the 365 Days group, but currently it just isn't possible to have my cam with me all 365 days, so I settled for the next best thing: 52 Weeks.. hope I can sustain this series, of cos after that day would try out the 365 Days.. wish me luck!

Levitation

2008-07-13T17:58:00.004+08:00

yet another week has passed.. had driving for the past week, kinda ironic that even though I have no driving license I'm allowed to drive a 10+ tonne vehicle.. same goes for the fact that 18 year olds are responsible enough to wield weapons and defend our country but apparently not matured enough to vote..
had to get home by myself on Fri, booked out quite early so my father was still working.. had a nice long chat with Shawn on the way back, he lives only a few blocks away from me.. spent the rest of the day at home trying to think of new ideas to shoot.. eventually, got my butt downstairs to get some corrugated plastic boards and started shooting..

Levitation..
did some DIY-ed grid spots to get that selective lighting effect.. prob took close to a hundred shots before I got something close to what I envisioned.. kinda difficult timing the whole thing with the shutter lag and all..
wasted Sat morning and afternoon.. wanted to go process the roll I shot on my Holga but came out of the house later than I planned.. was at Douby Ghaut early, had abit of a cold so sipped some hot Caramel Macchiato while waiting for the rest.. as usual, had to wait for an hour before most showed up.. had our dinner at Fish & Co., the April batch guys settling into their new vocations, the gals starting Uni soon.. celebrated Hek Ming's and Shu Heng's belated birthdays, overall had an enjoyable time there, the ambience, the live music..

Chlorophyll

2008-07-05T14:05:00.004+08:00

living life week by week.. just ever so slightly closer to that day every NSF can't wait to arrive.. not much of a weekend this week, booking in early later.. was suppose to meet up with Zhi Hong again to shoot again, but there was some stage being set up at the skate park so we decided to call it off.. by that time I was already on 147, so just went to CP to get a tripod bag and an extra quick release plate.. thought of doing some nightscapes, but was kinda tired..
lotsa things that I wanna blog about, my thoughts, but sometimes they just don't come out.. still having dreams about her once awhile, maybe its because ever since BMT all my bed buddies are all attached, sweet-talking on the phone past lights out.. thought I knew it once, but that was a long long time ago..

After the Rain..
Sat was raining in the afternoon.. thought of getting back my 50 1.4 from Zhi Kai, but the weather changed that.. took my S80 out to shoot, which I hardly touched since getting my 40D.. spent the afternoon just surfing though Flickr, trying to draw inspiration from the internet..

Skate

2008-06-28T13:53:00.002+08:00

finally got the chance to execute the skating idea I had last week.. went to get the items required for the shoot after booking out.. incidentally met Zhong Wei at AP also, got an extra reciever, an optical slave and shorter LED lights..
met Zhi Hong at a park near my house, didn't really spend time scouting for a location so that was the closest suitable location I could think of.. he hasn't really changed much since the last time we met some 2 years back..

Kickflip..
turned out quite nicely as I planned, though I wished the background was darker, that way he wouldn't be so transulcent.. maybe another shoot next week with some of his other skatefriends.. chatted over supper at Macs before plonking down on my bed..

explosive

2008-06-22T23:11:00.003+08:00

another week has past, an explosive week quite literally.. not everyday you get to blow stuff up.. it just looks so harmless, brown blocks, cornflakes and plasticine..
Sat met up with Zhi Kai in the morning to get back my 50 1.4, killed some time at the skate park while waiting for the rest of his class.. thought of another idea for a shoot, look out for it next week.. went to Cineleisure to eat with the 0627 ppl, know most of them so it wasn't that hard to get along.. went off first to meet my own class..
a simple gathering at Michelle's house, the April NS batch just got their posting.. congrats to Joel for making it to OCS, definately will be attending his commissioning parade, as with my BMT mates'..

S80..
made use of the acrylic sheet I bought last week.. just a simple shot of my S80, don't really use it much since I got my 40D, though I ought to.. anyway, looking forward to next week.. meeting up with Zhi Hong, doing the skate shots I have in mind.. he's enlisting in July, maybe give him some NS prep talk before he goes in as well.. hahaa..

sleepless

2008-06-15T11:48:00.003+08:00

haven't had much sleep over the past 4 days.. did my very first guard duty, took up the prowler position with my buddy.. the first shift was quite fun, nice skies cool air almost like a walk in the park.. except you have a weapon and live ammo with you..
Friday booked out late, woke up early to help Liying with processing the next day.. not much sleep there too.. stayed up to scan the negs in, asking the lab to scan is no joke, have to pay more than twice the processing cost..

Holga in Japan..
met up with Zhi Kai on Sat, accompanied him to view some bags at CP.. bought a light strip, basically a strip of LEDs that can be battery powered.. which Zhi Kai accidentally stepped on and the lower lights couldn't light up.. luckily the shop uncle was kind enough to make an exchange.. much brighter than light sticks..
had a class gathering at Dwayne's house in the evening.. wanted to do the tennis shot I had in mind, but he was reluctant on letting my put the light strip on.. so I had to make do with this..

Delineation..
hopefully next week I can do a proper shoot..

Henderson Waves

2008-06-08T16:03:00.002+08:00

went out shooting again this weekend, this time with Annie.. thought of doing some light painting/action shots.. went to Beach Road to get some light sticks and cylum straws, but didn't really use it in the end.. they just weren't bright enough for the surrounding lights.. prob need pitch black darkness in order to achieve the effect I wanted..
had our dinner at Vivocity first before setting out.. started off at the Forest Walk, quite an interesting walk.. up in the air with just metal grills below your feet, though the upslope parts are quite tiring.. after some 2.1km, we reached the Henderson Waves..

Run Free..
the view there was spectacular, some 61m above sealevel.. quite a nice way to relax too, just lying down at the sloped portions, watching the sky go by.. but too crowded to really relax, 9+ it was trawling with families taking a walk after their dinner I guess.. 10+ was more of the couple's hour..

Jump!
did some shots there.. though I think those around must think "why are those 2 crazy ppl jumping around like monkeys?" caught the last 409 at Mt Faber.. been some time since I last visited Mt Faber, last was prob in pri sch, sure changed alot..

band gathering

2008-06-01T22:11:00.001+08:00

back-dating this post since I didn't have much time to post during last weekend.. fully ulitilized the 2 days, woke up early on Sat to meet James to return this batts.. or that was the cover, more interested in the lighting setup he just got.. 2x 580EXIIs and a ST-E2, throw in some radiopoppers and it would be my ideal lighting setup.. did a small improvisation with our flashes and this is what we got..

The One..
total of 4 flashes used for this shot.. plus a box of Tic-Tacs which I rushed down to buy, go figure.. my 50 1.4 is more like a glorified body cap in this case.. now I know why Canon uses it for their product shots of the pro bodies, cos it balances with the cam..
met with the band alumni after that for the gathering..

outside the station..
James tagged along for awhile.. had our little picnic by the seaside, then played some games.. was quite cloudy for the day, the rain finally came in the later part..

break contact

2008-05-30T21:45:00.003+08:00

feeling abit down lately.. ever since I enlisted its been like that, sometimes I'm quite "on" and happening, but most of the time I just keep to myself.. the most immediate cause prob is me not being able to tag along with the band to Osaka.. hope I'm able to take some leave nearer to the end of the year, get out of the country, get out of the regimentation, just to refresh myself.. prob wanna visit Bernadette in London, IF (and thats a big IF) my parents allow.. she got into Imperial College London, which is a dream come true.. the supposed turn out for the band gathering tmr was also a letdown.. quite a dismal figure for my batch coming, some false hope..

Light Streaks Light Leaks..
which brings me to another point.. slowly but surely I'm breaking contact with my friends, which is quite an easy thing to do in NS.. everyone going about with their own lifes, speeding along on the highway of life.. just so insignificant, just another face in the parade.. maybe thats why I don't like crowds..

shooting

2008-05-24T20:55:00.004+08:00

went out to shoot for the past 3 days like I intended.. made some stupid mistakes though, forgot to slot in the batt and memory card on Thurs, only found out when I was already in AMK.. Fri was abit better, only forgot the memory card.. didn't intend to shoot anything though, went to buy the film for Liying and pass her my Holga.. she's bringing it for the band's Japan trip, which unfortunately I can't go..
got back home to get my card, rested then went out to take some traffic trails..

Rush Hour..
encounted quite alot of cats around the area, but they weren't that friendly as Hougang ones.. did some pondering upon the overhead bridge while waiting for the exposure.. just what lies ahead years down the road.. what do I really wanna achieve in life.. questions still left unanswered..
joined the new photog batch on their first outing.. was kinda late but found them along the river eventually..

Urban Ninja..
James was there, so did some off-cam lighting work with his flash and mine.. did a shot I had in mind whenever I go into underpasses.. most of the time I'll visualise a shot in my mind and just go out to achieve it.. in the process, lots of trials and errors, other on the spot inspirations.. ideally, would like to be paid to shoot such stuff.. well, just take it as an experiment for my style of photography..
wanted to finish the roll of Velvia by that outing.. but luck would have it, somehow the catch for the back of my 30 broke.. nearly had it wide open, immediately rewinded the whole roll back.. hopefully its not been exposed..
went for the tea party in the afternoon at NTU.. the SPMS building is spanking new, though it would be 2 years old when I get to use it.. Physics has been my fav subject since Os, prob started with this childhood fascination about the world we live in..

3 day break

2008-05-21T23:02:00.003+08:00

might be wondering why I'm posting on a weekday.. got to clear 3 days of leave apparently, quite suprised when they told us too, so I'm free till sun night..
made my way down to TJC today for Chris' Exhibition, Wild! Singapore.. the photos and gallery itself were top-notch, though holding it in a school kinda downs the acessibility factor

the VIPs..
chatted with some of the TJ photog members who were there, and Chris himself of cos.. he must be so proud.. wanted to stay for the sharing session but was meeting Raidah later on.. initially planned to shoot the sunset, but the clouds were gathering.. so went to Suntec's Sky Garden to do some shots..

Dynamic Duo..
prob do more shooting the following days.. shot a few frames off the Velvia 50, intending to finish it by the weekend.. long time since I did some serious film work..

Nee Soon

2008-05-19T17:11:00.003+08:00

not much of a break before I get posted to my unit.. luckily today's a public holiday, if not can't imagine having just one day of break.. got posted to engineering, at least Nee Soon is much nearer..
Sat was pretty much spent in camp, marched overnight to the parade the next morning.. the instructors slapped on our chevrons and we got whisked away to our different postings.. suprisingly quite a number got into Air Force from my platoon.. would be a blessing to be posted there, just next door to my Dad's workplace.. pretty much slept till next morning once I got home..
finally got myself a decent tripod on Sun.. been eyeing it for some time, the Manfrotto 190XPROB..

Low Rider..
prob the most compelling reason that I got it was its low angle ability.. the centre column can be swivelled around horizontally and the legs spread out, exactly like in the pic.. helps greatly when I do cat portraits..

Envy..
had dinner with the class at Marina before that.. ate at Billy Bombers, quite filling but cost a bomb (pun intended)..

28km

2008-05-16T21:25:00.002+08:00

just experimenting with the future post thing..

by the time you're reading this, would be marching our 28km graduation route march.. on our way to "corporal-dom"

Aureus Experentia XIII

2008-05-11T19:10:00.002+08:00

went to watch/help cover Aureus Experentia XIII yesterday, a combined concert with Guzheng.. the 13th in the series, though they didn't explicitly state it.. ought to be the 14th, thats if we had a concert last year.. the band dinner was great and all, but it doesn't feel complete without having a concert to end our JC band "career"..
did some errands before heading to SCH.. had lunch, collected the lens and flash, bought film for the holga.. they were starting the rehearsal by the time I got there.. chatted with some of the J2s there, seems like they had a large intake for J1s this year.. had a small preview of the concert.. shot some shots, but not really worth keeping since it wasn't a full dress rehearsal..

Me and Myself..
got bored after awhile, so decided to go outside to do a self-portrait with the set-up I brought along.. initially wanted to do section photos but guess there wasn't a time slot I could fit in.. chatted with the 2 photogs, James and Cun Kuang, about NS life to kill time before the concert..

the actors for Peter and the Wolf..
hung around the backstage while the Guzheng ensemble played for the majority of the first half, which ended off with Peter and the Wolf, a stage band piece.. its quite a unique piece, the band provides the sountrack to the story so to speak..

the band..
got myself a seat for the 2nd half.. more interested in the music, I'm pretty sure lots of ppl would be getting the same old shot as I did.. anyway, they sounded quite good.. the previous AE would pale in comparison.. was almost a full house, could only see a couple of empty seats sporadically scattered.. guess thats one of the after-effects of getting a Gold..

tensed up

2008-05-03T23:53:00.003+08:00

4 day break ending soon.. Friday was an off-in-lieu cos we came back on a Sun 2 weeks back for live firing.. went to watch Ironman with my family on Thurs, felt more like a 2 hour trailer to the actual movie.. the scene with the F-22s was great, aerial dogfights attract me for some reason.. Friday went to collect the 120 negs, should have specifically asked the uncle not to scan for me, thats what my film scanner is for anyway.. Holga's quite addictive, 12 frames per roll definately isn't enough..
Sat went out with the class to Kallang.. improved over the last time I ice-skated, though I fell down more times.. a carefree feeling that I've haven't felt in months, gliding along the ice..

didn't go out to shoot during the 4 days as I intended to, kinda wasted cos the skies lately been quite a nice shade of blue.. didn't have much inspiration to shoot, just feel kinda down.. feel I'm getting old, cos I know these 2 years would just pass by in a flash.. would be 20 coming to 21 by then, had so many things in my mind I wanted to accomplish by 21 when I was young..
on a brighter note, got my acceptance letter from NTU for PAP, thats Physics and Applied Physics, not the political party.. and I think those 3 letters gonna generate alot of hits..

Novena

2008-04-27T00:01:00.001+08:00

had a gathering for the newly enlisted guys on Sat.. went to Novena to have steamboat.. one side of me is really glad I enlisted in Jan instead of April.. already cleared 4 months of our liability, and have the whole of 2010 to look forward to.. whereas the other wished I was in April.. would definately be going around shooting and honing my photographic skills in that 3 months.. maybe shooting some assignments or events, have a feel how its like to work.. seek the philosophy in my life..

Steamboat..

SYPA 08

2008-04-19T22:03:00.006+08:00

another week past.. I'll try to blog when as I can, some weekends just too busy though.. prob the shortest bookout I've so far, have to be back in camp by morning.. haven't been getting much sleep due to the tight training schedule, don't get to sleep till past midnight on some nights.. fri was such a night..
had a short nap in the morning before heading out to get the mounting boards for SYPA.. 2nd time participating, the 1st was one of the major boosters for me 2 years back.. hopefully my standards have improved over the 2 years.. click on the pic below to see the pics I've shortlisted.. printing and submitting next week, just nice for the 30th deadline..

Do leave comments..
also bought for myself a Holga cam, as sorta belated birthday present.. screwed up my first roll, advanced the film wrongly, used the 16 window instead of the 12.. met up with Liying to let her have a looksee of it, since she wanted to get one herself.. walked around Marina Square, chatted for awhile.. just gotten my own NETS card a week ago, quite a lifesaver.. though I think I would overspend if I don't take track, I'm quite a spender..

shooting with chris

2008-04-13T18:09:00.003+08:00

more shooting again.. this time with Chris aka 小猫王, since Zhi Kai enlisted already.. we ended up on opposite sides of the boardwalk cos we didn't really specify where to meet, quite an impromtu thing.. the sunrise was much better than the last 2 times I was there.. a nice red yolky sunrise.. too bad I don't have any telephoto lens..

Catch of the Day..
took some time to sit down and enjoy the view.. which I hardly get the chance to do now.. still having more dreams of her, just seems to pop back into my mind.. hearing my bunkmates sharing their experience doesn't help either.. always the one just sitting there and listening.. hiaz, 2 more years in an all guys environment..

At the Boardwalk..
Chris with his new 70-200 2.8L.. took some jump shots together also, with manual synch (aka self timer) went to town to get the film processed from my gakken pinhole after that.. had a good chat with Chris on the way there.. he's quite the experienced photographer and 2 years younger at that.. hosting his own exhibition with 2 other friends, shooting weddings, events and even the President.. yea, check his photostream..

300 2.8L

2008-03-30T20:28:00.002+08:00

seems like shooting with Zhi Kai would be a weekly affair already.. wanted to help cover Sports Carnival but only booked out on Sat afternoon.. rented the 100-400 and 300 2.8L together with Zhi Kai and James.. they 2 used it in the morning, got hold of it in the evening.. went to Punggol to look for subjects but nothing fruitful came out.. ended up shooting the 300 2.8 instead of with it.. Sun morning was much better..

Inquisitive Duck..

Little Heron..

Geared Up..
quite used to shooting with primes but this is the first time I'm using a teleprime.. and a heavy one at it, weighs in at about 3.45kg.. seriously attracts alot of attention whenever I whip this cannon out..
more at my flickr account..

timelapse

2008-03-20T17:45:00.000+08:00

did some timelapse vids with Zhi Kai on Wed..

section outing

2008-03-18T18:55:00.004+08:00

had a section outing to Sentosa on Mon.. nothing much to blog about, I'll let the pics do the talking.. prob the most eye-candy filled post..

Face-off..

Advance..

Volley..

Grab it..

the Section..
yea I know, I look very odd in jeans..

Chinese Gardens

2008-03-17T05:02:00.001+08:00

more on sat.. the chalet wasn't terribly exciting, the first one we had was prob better.. had a short break at home before heading out to Khatib, sorta had an agreement with Hafiz to visit OPSS's carnival.. think I visited the area once before, had to pass something to Jill I think.. anyway, the sch wasn't that hard to find just straight ahead from the station.. Hafiz showed me around the grounds for awhile, though didn't really explore much.. met up with Shi Chie and Chester, did some jump shots with them which you can find on my flickr stream.. printed the pics from the booth they set up..
left at about 4, wanted to finish off the roll of Velvia, so took the train to Chinese Gardens.. the west is still somewhat unfamilar territory to me.. tried to ask Liying out but she had block test coming up..

Sunrays..
started off at the main pagoda.. was lucky enough to catch some sunrays coming through the clouds.. strolled along to the 2 pagodas overlooking the lake for some reflections.. enjoyed the ambient sights and sounds of this daily occurrence.. my way of unwinding after stressful times..
was invited to Mr Lau's wedding shoot on Sun, together with Zhi Kai.. went to the Japanese Gardens, strangely enough its my first time there even though its just next to the Chinese Gardens.. didn't really shoot much since he already hired somebody to shoot as main.. had some rough idea what a wedding shoot was like at the end of the day..

POP/Chalet

2008-03-15T23:30:00.004+08:00

kinda backlogged with pics these past few days.. POP'ed on Wed, Thurs-Sat had class chalet, Sun helped out with Mr Lau's wedding shoot, Mon had a outing with my section.. churned out some nice pics, some can be found on my flickr account..
starting with POP.. can't believe its already been 9 weeks since enlistment.. literally a journey of sweat and blood.. ought to be more careful with myself, cut myself while opening a meal pack and hit myself on the head with my rifle.. hopefully, this is as serious as my injuries in NS go.. the days leading to POP were packed with rehearsals.. this would be my first time in a parade instead of just accompanying it.. started to rain the moment we stood on the parade square, was at the front row so I had the best view of the grandstand, and of cos vice versa.. the rain showered on till the 2nd half and we were denied the honor of letting our parents put on our jockey caps.. the magical moment came when we all threw our caps in the air and were recruits no more..
had our 2nd class chalet the next day.. came at about 4+, only Simon, Hek and PC were there.. went to WhiteSands to eat and meet up with the rest.. quite a sizeable attendence when we got back to the chalet.. nothing much to do except for cards and mahjong, which I've no idea how to play.. so went out to take some shots..

Aerials
was a clear night and the stars came out to play.. there was a lovely purple glow in the sky.. just makes you wanna lie down on the ground and watch the stars go by..
went back, watched some movies, played cards till late.. woke up the next morning at about 9, the warm rays of the sun caught my attention the moment I woke up.. blue skies, fluffy clouds, felt like going out to jump around, but the rest didn't feel as energetic as I was.. went to Subway to have our lunch, went back home to change since I didn't bring any spare clothes..

BBQ..
gelled my flash with some blue cellophone tape I had at home to give some nice blue smoke.. always found BBQ photography challenging, cos first off its so damn dark, you can't use direct flash if not you'll just catch the smoke and it all turns hazy and ppl don't just stand around when BBQ-ing..

words unspoken

2008-03-08T23:26:00.004+08:00

just one of the many days where blogging doesn't really alleviate the thoughts in my head, the burden in my heart.. one of the days where I just need someone to talk to.. one of the days I'm not my usual optimistic self..
mostly due to results, didn't Aced the As.. B'ed it instead .. plus a S for GP to top it off.. kinda expected it cos I knew I screwed up Paper 1.. though expected at least an A for the rest.. collected my edusave cheque from the GO for the prelim results, which at this point doesn't mean a thing anymore.. seriously wonder whats wrong with my English, I know I have a good command of it, but my major exam results prove otherwise.. PSLE to Os to As, the only way it went was down..
at least I saw her face one last time..

2 more weeks to POP

2008-03-02T16:32:00.002+08:00

haven't been updating lately, weekends just seem so short.. last week had the SDC visit which ate up a good half a Sat.. went to Jurong Point to eat with my sectionmates after it ended.. long time since I've been there, reminds me of the NTU attachment days.. maybe I'll get to see more of JP in 2 years time.. went to celebrate Yuan Ting's birthday at Suntec in the evening.. just a simple gathering at pizza hut..
this weekend was also quite pack.. managed to get Silver for IPPT, those who got Gold were awarded with an early bookout on Thurs night.. running below 9:45 seem abit out of my league at the moment.. went to collect Joel's clarinet and some stuff he wanted to bring in.. had SAF Band audition the next morning.. really would like to join the SAF Band, but knowing the system don't think they'll post me there..

High Jumper..
met up with Zhi Kai to shoot (again).. as usual the sunrise wasn't that nice, so we did some jump shots instead.. quite lucky to have nice blue skies once in a while.. met with the photog ppl for their shoot after that.. at the newly opened temple, used the roll of T-Max 100 I bought some time ago..

steamboat at angie's

2008-02-10T18:44:00.002+08:00

backtracking this post since I didn't have time to update last weekend.. sat had 2 gatherings, one for lunch and the other for dinner.. my section mates were suppose to have lunch at Solomon's house, but in the end only 2 others and our sergeant came.. played on his pool table for awhile, went to see the various pets he had.. took 10 to Jurong East, then took the MRT to Yishun.. walked around Northpoint to kill some time since I reached there early.. satisfied the craving I had for sushi and bread at the same time..

Steamboat..
had steamboat dinner at Angie's place, which was only a stone's throw away from Khatib.. didn't really eat much as usual, though the food was not bad.. did some impromptu shooting with Jun An and Yuan Ting with various "props" they found in her bedroom.. haha.. left early with Joel to have an early night..

Outfield..
went shooting with Zhi Kai in the morning.. again, the sunrise wasn't spectacularly amazing.. explored around the area, did some jump shots.. then went to the old nafa campus he recommanded to finish up the morning.. of cos the main motivation behind this small outing was to utilise my 17-40..

reunion dinner

2008-02-07T21:57:00.000+08:00

back to mainland Sg.. had field camp the previous week, quite an experience.. had some suprises, like moving campsites in the middle of the night.. kinda expected it since they were packing up all the tentages and an unusually early night.. the highlight was the digging of shellscrapes, which sucked cos the moment we started digging, the skies opened up.. imagine digging in torrential rain, muddy water splashing into your face everytime you strike the earth.. but the views at night was quite worth it.. a star-grazed sky just above the plantation canopy.. also viewed numerous spectacular sunsets and sunrises in the 4 weeks here.. too bad I'm not allowed to bring my camera along..
my company took the earliest ferry for Wed's book-out I think.. were out at Pasir Ris at 8.40.. ate a 2nd breakfast with my section mates at the Mac there, before doing some shopping with my parents.. bought another lens to accompany my 50 1.4.. the 17-40 f/4L.. finally have a wide-angle lens to call my own.. thought of getting the 17-55 but wanna use it on my film cam too..

Lo Hei..
had reunion dinner at Safra Mount Faber.. think this is the first time my family ate outside for reunion dinner.. most of the time we have it at home, a simple steamboat dinner..

2 weeks

2008-01-26T23:55:00.000+08:00

finally back from NS.. can't really blog much about the specifics, most of my hits prob come from the ppl hired to prowl the web for such info I think..
just some thoughts so far.. been coping well for the past 2 weeks, wasn't as bad as I imagined it to be.. but then its only the first 2 weeks.. the food is quite good actually, but then we don't have much time for meals anyways.. the eat to live instead of the live to eat mentality I subscribe to.. that takes a large chunk of joy from my life.. also kinda regretted not bringing my own phone, used the hi-card one my dad had, just to call back home.. used the very little free time we had before sleeping just lying on the bed while the rest of my bunkmates are busy sweet talking on their phones.. physically it's quite ok.. had some pain in my left knee after the first 4 days though, prob too enthu on the drills or just that I've haven't been running for the past half year..

The Botaks..
met up with some of my classmates for dinner today.. didn't really do much, ate at Just Acia at Dhoby Xchange.. looked at each other's new hairstyle, talked about how's life so far.. had the Salmon Teriyaki set.. finally something other than chicken.. went to the arcarde to play for awhile before heading back..

last post before enlistment

2008-01-09T20:21:00.000+08:00

my last post before enlistment tomorrow.. had a small class BBQ at Michelle's house on Sat.. the chicken fillets were nice, prob the first BBQ I actually ate a decent amount.. her house also had the DDR with the mat for PS2, not bad for my first time on such games.. quite a workout though, its as tiring as much as it is fun.. took 70 back with Hek, PC and Dwayne..

Crouching Kitty..
walked back from the 156/73 bus stop where I used to walk back after school.. of cos those were the days where I can afford to make a 2 bus transfer to get back home, so hardly alighted there except when I felt like it.. would walk past 2 spots where I know some cats would hang out after dark and sure enough there was one there.. whipped out the 580EXII/ST-E2 combo I had with me and took the above shot..
Sunday didn't do much.. e-mailed the organisers for Eye é City and they allowed me to submit my roll even though I missed the submission day.. prob due to my "presence" last year, but I think this year would disappoint them.. went on to do more pre-NS preparations.. bought a dry-cabinet since I wouldn't be using my cams for awhile.. plus other stuff for NS..
the rest of this week was pretty mundane.. stayed at home most of the time.. didn't really feel like doing anything.. went to CP today just to fulfill some cravings of mine.. in particular, bread.. been a regular patron of BreadTalk ever since they started their business.. my first encounter was prob with their signature floss bun.. their sugar bread loaf, garlic french bread, and crossiants regularly make it on my tray.. the other bread joint I regularly go to is Subway.. my usual combi no matter what sub I ordered would be parmesan oregano (foot long when I'm really hungry), with lettuce cucumbers and onions, topped with honey mustard...
looked through some of the old files I got back from the old com, with the help of Zhi Kai of cos.. went to check out her address, and the block no. I had from the dream was just the opp block.. went past the area a couple of times and it looked quite familar.. more weirdness.. all well, thats pretty much it, just a dream, in my practically non-existant love life..

O1 08

2008-01-05T01:43:00.000+08:00

been quite occupied the last week.. went back to help cover orientation.. came for all 3 days though only required to cover the 2nd day outing to Sentosa.. didn't shoot much for the first day since there were others covering.. stuck around the I-Space to take some shots, left after lunch with Zhi Kai to extract the pics from my old harddisk.. went to collect the 70-200 f4 IS after that..
Thurs covered with Wei Kang.. could have slept abit more if I knew they only departed for Sentosa at 11am.. forgot to charge my batts the day before, so grabbed a few extra batts from the darkroom just in case.. was primarily on the 70-200 while Wei Kang had the 17-85 with him.. the IS works like a charm but had to turn it off cos it consumes alot of batt, which I'm short of.. they had lunch there first, took some shots before going to eat on our own.. definately not gonna buy anything in Sentosa again if I can help it, freakin ex.. the game stations were scattered across Sentosa, mostly the beach area and whats left of the island thats not under development..

Siloso..
a jump shot that I had in mind.. wanted to cross light this with the 420EX on the left but it ran out of batt.. the weather wasn't that good either, had a slight drizzle and cloud laden skies the whole afternoon.. ended the day with some eye candy showcase thing, did more off cam lighting.. one of the OGLs was kind enough to spare me his monorail pass since he was taking the bus back I think..
didn't really intend to shoot day 3, but hatched some ideas while returning the 70-200 f4 IS.. tried the ST-E2 speedlite transmitter and was hooked..
took 2 tripods from the darkroom to act as light stands for the 580EXIIs, one each on each side of the stage and its set.. though the right one didn't fire at times cos it wasn't recharging fast enough I think..

Dual flash..
Zhi Kai helped out with many shots during the disco night, including this one.. had him go into the crowd with one of the flashes to light them up, and to the gallery for some rim light effect.. he had the fisheye on for the evening, also helped him in that.. the overhead shots with the cam on the tripod acting as a boom.. the dual flash set up created a very interesting effect with the fisheye.. could see the flashes in action.. dead tired by the end of the night.. anyway, the rest of the orientation pics should be up on the website by the time you read this.. try to guess which are my shots, apart from the ones I posted here of cos..

NYE

2008-01-01T23:03:00.000+08:00

first post of the new year.. woke up quite late, already 1+.. wanted to wake up at 10 to submit the Eye é City pics, but yet again overslept.. didn't even complete the roll.. all well, it was great having my pics selected for 06.. prob concentrate more on SYPA 08..
some updates on New Year's Eve.. uploaded a small 12-part series featuring pics I've taken over the past year, one for every month.. then did a self-portrait for the title pic.. can be viewed here..
spent NYE at the airport.. went for lunch first with Aaron, Hek, Jack, Ji Bin, Sarah and Tricia at the Fish & Co. at T2.. had the Danish Fish & Chips, which was quite similar to their NY one, except with some spicy seasoning.. went to meet Clement in the evening, bought the hotshoe to PC adaptor since my 30 doesn't have the PC sync port..

last sunset of the year..
quite a pity that I didn't have a nice location for this spectacular last sunset of 07.. a break from the cloudy weather at the end of the year.
met up with Clement and his cousin at Clarke Quay.. executed an idea I had in mind..

Music in the air..
the final product.. figured out how to trigger the 580EX II that I had with me.. had to tape up the other contacts except the middle one.. shot thru a "bokeh modifier" that I made myself, basically a circular black card with a quaver shaped hole in it.. shot it on film also, wanted to submit this for Eye é City, since for me 07 is the SYF year that I'll always remember.. went back to the airport after that..

at the stroke of midnight..
well not exactly.. we were a few minutes off, a last min decision to switch to T2's viewing gallery instead of T1's.. had some "games" there, more of a dare.. Wilson brought a pack of cards, then we all drew a card, the person with the largest card had to do a forfeit.. and so Wilson ended up picking the largest, he had to go around wishing 5 ppl happy new year..
there weren't any more trains or buses back by the time we left.. didn't want to spend money on taxi, considering all the surcharges that would be piled on.. midnight surcharge, public holiday surcharge, airport surcharge and the recent increase in flag down rate.. stayed till morning with Jack, Hek, Shu Heng and Wilson.. went to Starbucks to have some coffee till about 3plus, then went back to the viewing gallery to play cards.. before we knew it, it was almost 6 already.. had breakfast at Macs before heading back home.. paid our first adult fares, weird seeing green instead of orange for MRTs and one beep instead of two for buses..

Christmas

2007-12-24T00:32:00.000+08:00

a continuation of the previous post..
stayed up through the night to watch the sunrise.. but prob wasn't that worth the trouble for.. took the first 88 to change to 89 just before the expressway.. reached Changi Beach park about 10 mins before 7.. the sky had a soft blue glow to it already..

a boring shot..
took 89 back to Pasir Ris for breakfast at Mac.. then took 12 to Clarke Quay, was a pretty long journey, fell alseep on the bus.. killed some time sipping some coffee at Starbucks before returning the lenses..
went back home to put down all my stuff but ended up sleeping.. guess my body can't handle that long periods without sleep.. was suppose to meet Ginny for her church's christmas musical but kinda overslept.. went for the next morning one..
unexpectedly met an old friend there.. Alvin, who was my pri school classmate and also Ginny's classmate in VJ I think.. went to have lunch with her cellgroup after it ended..

EOY update

2007-12-21T00:43:00.000+08:00

lotsa things happened over the past few days..
went ice-skating with Bernadette on Wed.. originally wanted to go cycling but the dark clouds changed that, plus haven't tried ice-skating before.. the rink was quite crowded, think a school had their outing there.. tried roller-blading a few years back before, but ice-skating is very new to me.. at least I didn't fall down there, though had many close calls.. prob hadn't gotten the technique right yet so my feet were hurting abit after an hour.. we rested for awhile while they resurfaced the rink.. managed to go one round around the rink without depending on the sides, not too bad for a first-timer..

the light..
Thurs went to James' place to help out with his family gathering.. went to collect the 10-22 and 17-55 first for the next day.. he had some family portrait session for his relatives.. helped set up the mini "studio" in the function room, not very experienced with studio strobes though... was incharge of the candids down at his house.. felt alittle outcasted though, since I'm the only outsider there.. but nonetheless captured some nice moments that I'm sure his family would have been proud of..

the band in action..
Fri was abruptly awaken by a simple message by Liying.. apparently the band was having some performace at Douby Ghaut which I didn't know of until then.. had some time before the dinner in the evening, so why not? though the location she said was abit misleading, was at the Atrium@Orchard instead of PS.. they didn't sound as good as the last time I heard them, prob the new DSA ppl haven't assimilated yet with the band.. ok, assimilated isn't the best word, but thats all I can think up of now..
left after their last performance and got back home to change.. the dinner was held at the Mouth Restaurant at Safra Toa Payoh.. went there before with my family but can't remember exactly when..

smooch..
prob the best pic I got from that evening.. didn't really shoot much pics during the dinner, more interested in the food.. haha.. had my first taste of lobster there.. have lots more to update, but thats for another post..

On Cruise

2007-12-18T23:33:00.000+08:00

think this post is long overdue, was lazy to collect the roll of film I sent.. don't get much requests for updates anyways, mainly due to the low readership I have.. don't let that number at the bottom of the sidebar fool you, works out to a measly 10+ views a day..
went on a cruise from Sun to Wed onboard the Superstar Virgo.. spent Sat processing the pics taken the day before.. did the design for the disc itself also.. passed the disc before heading for the cruise..

Rain..
being the rainy season of the year, the weather out at sea isn't that great.. heavy thick clouds and rained most of the time.. boarded at about 2+, had lunch onboard and we sailed off at 4.30.. spent some time exploring the massive ship, had memorised wheres where by the first day..
woke up late on Mon.. wanted to see the sunrise but it was already 9+.. Anchored off Penang, and got onshore by 2.. went for the shopping excursion, nothing much to blog about..

Dawn on Starboard

Blue Morning..
managed to wake up early for sunrise.. went to the topdeck to take some pics and enjoy the seabreeze.. the weather conditions didn't change much, still cloudy.. though much less than the previous day..

Patong Beach..
got onshore for more shopping activities.. mainly cos the other excursion packages weren't cheap.. though I really would have wanted to go for the off-shore islands one..

Thai Naan Restaurant
had lunch here.. don't be decieved by the facade, inside is actually quite grand.. prob could seat 500+ ppl or more.. went to some local produce place, had lotsa things on sample there.. including something you won't find in Sg.. fried worms, bamboo worms to be specific.. quite crunchy actually, not much of a taste to them though.. wanted to buy some, but costs like 250 Baht.. got back to the Virgo by 5 for the day long sail back to Sg..

Chalet

2007-12-07T23:15:00.000+08:00

backtracking yet another post.. had class chalet the very next day after D&D.. took a longer than expected nap after being out the whole night, woke up at 1plus I think.. packed my stuffs for the chalet and it started raining heavily when I got out.. didn't wanna risk getting wet so took 161 to change to 89 to Pasir Ris.. placed my bags at the chalet first before heading out again to return the set-up I rented.. brought my Xbox 360 there, so had some gaming sessions.. brought Halo 3 (of cos), Fifa 08 and Topspin 2..

the birthday guys and gal..
celebrated the December babies birthdays after bbq ended.. played through the night.. slept from 6 to about 10.. wanted to go watch the sunrise but it was still raining at 6+.. was raining the whole day, kinda spoils any outdoor activities..
went to subway to have lunch, then went cycling while some went to escape theme park.. spent a good part of the first hour teaching Jack, Ping Chong, Yong Huan and Ji Bin how to cycle.. Jack and PC was pretty much doing laps around the carpark by the end of the hour, though Jack has trouble turning left.. haha..

twister..
played more games during the evening.. helped start another fire and we finished off the leftover bbq items.. oh yea, suffered a little mishap while making the above pic.. did more off camera lighting, placed the flash on the window ledge on the 2nd floor.. popped a shot and it fell down, luckily didn't hit anyone.. still works, but the contacts came abit loose I think.. quite a hardy little flash for a low price..

be somebody..

more off-camera lighting.. this time with the flash bounced off the insides of the magazine.. slept through the 2nd night, and before you know it it was the next morning already and we had to check out.. though I had lotsa fun, felt there could be more "get-to-know-each-other" time.. like just a simple walk to the beach to chat or something, and the rain didn't help..

D&D

2007-12-05T07:46:00.000+08:00

backtracking this post to tues, since I didn't have much time this week to blog.. would be updating once again with the class chalet post after I get back on wed.. going on a cruise with my family from mon to wed.. was too last min to book a holiday so we decided on the next best thing, after all we haven't gone on a cruise yet..
woke up quite late on tues, mon was quite busy.. the small lighting set-up I ordered arrived in the afternoon.. a shoot-through umbrella with stand and wireless trigger.. took a cab to the Marriott, where our Dinner & Dance was held at.. arrived at about 6.30, hung around the lobby area for awhile.. hard to recognise everyone in their formal attire, maybe cos we're so used to seeing each other in sch u..

the firing squad..
as usual, everyone whipped out their cams to shoot.. didn't really shoot or got shot much compared to sec sch.. just felt some unusual inhibition that evening.. other than my classmates don't see alot of familar faces in the crowd..
"cocktail" started at 7, though it was just soft drinks.. the doors opened at 7.30, waited for everyone to clear first before heading in.. sat with the guys at table 22, subtract 1 and it would be quite fitting.. while the rest sat at table 10, on the opposite side of the ballroom..

the class guys..
dinner was nice, though didn't really eat much.. for the first dish, even before the plate touched the table, the guys were already picking from it.. would be quite a scene if even before the waiter left we finished the plate and he can clear it already.. haha..
had some table games, Shu Heng and Jun An were the lucky guys to be chosen.. had to find different objects to decorate them, donated my socks and some spare change.. our table almost won if only the note didn't fall off.. but our luck changed when Dwayne won the grand prize for the lucky draw.. he didn't look that happy though, think he already has an mp3 player of his own..

class pic..

more photo taking after dinner ended and the dance floor was opened.. this was just solely lit by a single umbrella-ed flash.. was so dim to the point that the AF doesn't want to work and had to use MF.. prob should have another flash on the left to fill the shadows created, plus one at the back to give some separation.. all well, have to make do with what I got now..
after that about 14 of us went to the KTV nearby to party the night away..

karaoke-ing the night away..

celebrated Jun An's birthday upon the stroke of mid-night, then continued singing.. Aaron broke my cup of Teh-Tarik and the floor got sticky.. luckily we had a 2nd round of drinks.. the hours flew past and before you know it its 6am in the morning.. was feeling that tired, processed some of the pics upon reaching home.. but the sleep deficit got the better of me..

New Com

2007-12-02T16:08:00.000+08:00

the first post using my new com.. finally able to clear the backlog of pics, and just in time for next week.. which is gonna be quite intensive. recieved my first paid assignment via Jill's recommendation.. the kindergarten which her mom works at is having their graduation concert next week and they needed a photographer.. their rehearsal is tmr, so going down to take some shots, discuss the actual day on fri and payment etc.. Tues is our Dinner and Dance, more pics to be taken.. Wed to Fri is my class chalet, prob just bring my S80 out.. then Fri evening is the actual day for the concert.. so my week is pretty packed up.. plus learning how to process RAW files now that I've got my new com..

my desktop..
works quite well as a wallpaper.. need to get used to Vista too, the graphics are much cooler though.. transparent window headers and the scrolling windows switching feature..

Band Dinner 07

2007-11-28T23:34:00.000+08:00

had band dinner on Tues.. went out of the house early so as to get another pack of Polaroid film.. managed to get hold of a Polaroid cam and it suits the theme for the evening, Retro.. had to walk all the way to Marina Square cos they didn't have stock at Peninsula.. bought some batts for the flash and took 133 back to Bugis.. more walking later and I arrived at the restaurant..
was the first J2 there I think, passed Liying the BW400CN she wanted.. went upstairs to the dinning area.. the ceiling there was wooden, so had very little leeway in bouncing up.. but luckily there was a projector screen that was set up, used that as a huge source of light.. though not the wrap around light a ringflash would give..

Popstar Yong De..
Yong De came with a flashy pair of sunglasses, which blasted him back to the 1980s and melted some hearts of the gals I think.. hahaa.. dinner was kicked off by the 2 emcees Jane and Eunice at about 7.. we had a spread of Malay cuisine to choose from in the buffet.. only ate 1 serving, quite used to not eating much for such dinners after being through a handful..
had a couple of games in the meantime.. 中继密码, limbo and a watermelon eating contest to name a few.. suprisingly, won a small gift in the lucky draw..

Group Pic..
took a group pic after that.. think I should have upped the flash power.. pretty new to this off-camera lighting business, especially with a manual flash.. was shooting mostly on manual the whole evening, except for some natural light shots..

Clarinet J2s..
was in high demand after that group shot was taken.. everyone whipped out their own cams, also brought out the polaroid.. after discovering it was a polaroid cam, everyone seemed to want one.. hopefully I can claim the film cost from the band fund, isn't exactly cheap though.. but the polaroids really injected the "retro-ness" into the pics.. digicam pics feel so "plastic" after looking at them..
had to leave at 9.30 cos thats when our booking ends.. walked all the way back to Bugis and took the train back with Chester and Shi Chie.. alighted at YCK and coincidentally met Huai Yu again, we were on the same train and didn't know it.. hahaa..

desktop down

2007-11-26T23:09:00.000+08:00

exasperated by the fact that my desktop brokedown when I needed it the most.. got events coming up and lotsa pics that needed to be process, plus I wanted to do a nice slide show for band dinner but that isn't in the cards right now.. have to make do with doing all editing stuff with my laptop..
ran some errands for Clement on Fri, redid the section instrument photos for the cupboards.. changed the font to a nicer looking one, sent to a lab for printing and laminated it.. looked so much nicer than the ones I did a year ago.. which already is starting to wear out already, cos it wasn't laminated..

Tune-in..
went for their tune-in on Sat.. some of the other J2s were there, reunited with our instruments and played some pieces for the fun of it.. sounded quite ok for a bunch of ppl who haven't touched their instruments for about half a year.. stayed until the tea break before combine started for the sec 4s..

brought Zhi Kai back to my house to have a look at my com.. nothing much could be done, took 147 to Sim Lim to take a look at the parts to build the com..

Smiley..
got an external flash on Sun, the Vivitar 285HV.. did some water droplet shots that I always wanted to do.. though quite cliché, but nonetheless its not as easy as it seems..

Changi

2007-11-23T22:20:00.000+08:00

went out with Liying to T3 and Changi Boardwalk on Thurs .. took 72 to Tampines, switched to the MRT and met her at Tanah Merah.. sat directly opposite her across the platform, and she didn't notice until a minute before the Airport bound train arrived..
went for the self-guided tour into the transit area.. lotsa construction going on still, though all the architectural stuff is up.. I like their roof, the natural light that streams in.. overall, T3 feels more spacious, perhaps its the extentsive usage of glass.. walked to the gates to take a look at the transit lounge.. not often do you get access to the restricted area of an airport before it opens.. so took the opportunity to do some funny stuff that I won't normally do if its fully functional.. felt like a little boy let loose in a candy store.. hahaa..

neatly packed..
after we had enough of walking around, took the Skytrain over to T2.. went to Sakae Sushi to eat cos Liying had a craving for Kakiage.. think they messed up the no. of the crab roe sushi I ordered.. ended up getting 5 plates, which started to get boring after the 3rd one.. besides that, salmon nigiri and unagi temaki are one of my favourites.. after eating our fill, took 27 back to Tampines and changed to 29..

moonrise..
was quite cloudy, so wasn't much of a sunset to be seen.. though the moon was just nice almost full.. the lapping of the waves and the sea breeze created a relaxing atmosphere.. if it wasn't so cloudy and threatening to rain, prob could see some stars in the sky.. at one point the wind got quite strong and churned up some big waves which rolled below us and crashed unto the beach..
watched the sky go by for awhile, though most of the time she was on the phone with Mr Tan.. this is prob as close as the ideal date if I had a girlfriend.. walking on the beach, watching the sun go down, laying on our backs watching the stars above, chatting the night away..

projectile motion..
became abit restless, so did some jump shots with the help of the Actionsampler Flash that I bought her.. thought of walking back to Changi Village but the dimly lit path filled with unknown flying creatures didn't go down too well with Liying.. walked back where we came from and took 29 back to Tampines.. got a much needed drink and we parted ways.. took 72 back while she took the MRT back..

liberation

2007-11-21T17:44:00.000+08:00

first off..

the As are over!
Physics Paper 1 was our last paper on Tues.. Dwayne apparently forgot its a morning paper and was late for the paper.. at least its mcq paper.. had a class outing to Sentosa after it ended.. went to AMK Hub's Subway to eat, then went to buy a soccer and volleyball for later on..

Sentosa..
oh yea, finally got my first dSLR, a 40D.. brought to along for its first shoot.. rained when we arrived on the island, not exactly ideal conditions to shoot pics.. the slight weathersealing seems to be quite effective.. though I don't think I'll risk shooting directly in the rain..

Joel and Jun An soaking up the rain..
really started to pour again.. the rest ran over to the islet across the bridge, so was stuck in the shelther with Sok Hua and Ping Chong.. eventually the rain gave way and we could resume our activities..

the birthdays..
celebrated Joel's and Tricia's birthdays, though its 1 month late for Joel.. then lotsa action after that.. a brief "cake fight", splashing water, volleyball, frisbee, soccer..

Tricia's present..

splashing good fun..

the catch..

the tackle..

worn out..

group pic..

another week

2007-11-14T08:27:00.000+08:00

a short update before Econs paper later.. the bulk of As (except for Econs) is pretty much over, left with Paper 1s after that.. Paper 2s were quite ok, though the qns aren't the typical TYS kinda qns, more interesting examples etc..
bought Liying the Actionsampler Flash for her birthday.. basically a toy cam with 4 lenses that syncs with the 4 onboard flashes.. takes 4 shots in 1 second, the fun part comes when you take someone and he/she excecutes what I call a photo evasion manoeuver, ie tries to hide.. then you get a sequence depicting that.. haha..

Actionsampling..
though shooting the pics is as easy as just pressing the shutter button and 4 shots rattle off.. the critical step of loading and rewinding the film can be complicated if you haven't got any experience with film cams..
anyway, thinking of getting another film cam besides the pinhole cam I have currently.. probably the Vivitar Ultraslim & Wide.. the pinhole cam isn't very practical for snapshots, seeing you need some stable platform to let it expose.. not what you call handheld..

Midway

2007-11-06T23:03:00.000+08:00

some thoughts during this 5-day "break".. desktop crashed last week, so using my laptop to blog at the mean time.. hopefully nothing has been lost in the hard-disk, though I've a 2nd backup external hard-disk for my pics.. at worse I'll lose some of the recent film scans which I haven't saved to the ext.. quite stressfree compared to the photos I lost from my first digicam the last time it happened..

its midway through the As now, left with paper 1&2s and econs.. GP and Maths are pretty much over.. GP paper 1 was crap, did qns 10 on the environment.. couldn't think of much points to write, hopefully paper 2 would be my saviour.. Maths was quite ok, prob a comfortable A in the bag.. Physics Paper 3 wasn't my best, suprisingly felt Chem Paper 3 was better.. anyway, these 2 subjects aren't over yet, theres still paper 1&2..
lotsa stuff planned after the As, first up is prob the band dinner, should be around end Nov.. then comes D&D on the 4th, then class chalet 5th-7th and KL trip with the band 9th-12th.. after that prob overseas with my family and followed by an overseas trip with the class, but these 2 not really confirmed yet.. pretty much packed till the year ends, and after that is goodbye mainland Singapore..

All the best

2007-10-29T21:06:00.000+08:00

To all those who are taking their "A"s this year..

All the best for A-levels!

Studying at airport

2007-10-27T23:15:00.000+08:00

nothing special to blog about this week.. studying and more studying.. went to the airport with Jun An to study.. prob the longest period of time I've studied in one shot, 12+hrs.. haha..
took 72 to the bus stop where it intersects with 53's route and waited.. after 4 53s, Jun An's one finally arrived.. travelled through the newly constructed link to the TPE, which is gonna be part of the KPE when phase 2 opens.. arrived at T2 at abt 9.45, bought a caramel ice-blend at the coffee bean and settled down.. fast forward to 3, when our stomachs told us its time to leave.. went to Popeyes at T1 to have lunch.. went to Delifrance at the basement to continue but left around dinner time, continued at Mac till 10+..
anyway, ended up tranversing the length of T2 a number of times cos of a series of events.. Jun An misplaced his water bottle.. by the time we found it, it was 11.30 already.. might as well catch the return flight of the A380..

the A380 though the viewing gallery..
there was a small crowd had gathered to watch, as you can see in the reflection.. couldn't see much though the glass, partly cos of all the reflections.. but the blinking lights of the A380 weren't hard to spot.. an extra wide pair of white lights in the darkness.. only when it came into the light then you'll realise how big it is compared to other planes..
caught the last 27 back to Hougang and had a slow walk home..

volatile

2007-10-23T19:56:00.000+08:00

just feel so volatile lately.. prob the stress/anxiety/excitement of A levels getting to me.. the feeling of having all your feelings pent up inside, and at the slightest provocation the avalanche of emotions would come out.. just somebody to share my innermost thoughts..
don't really know what to continue typing for this post, cos most of it is a repetition..

anyway, shan't drag on about it here.. if you really wanna know or/and are concerned about me, just ask me out to talk..

The world in miniature

2007-10-18T08:57:00.000+08:00

rented the TS-E 90mm Tilt-Shift lens for friday.. was kinda impluse decision cos I originally wanted to rent the 135L but since James just bought it along with the 85 1.8 I though I could just borrow it for awhile..

TS Portrait..
a rough idea of what a TS lens can do.. that is tilt the plane of focus, normally you would expect a person's face to be entirely sharp if its more or less perpendicular to the camera, but with a TS lens you can tilt the plane of focus.. ie you can selectively blur even more parts of the pic, only the intersection between the subject and focal plane would be sharp..
enough of the technicallities..

Miniaturized

Grad Ceremony

2007-10-10T22:42:00.000+08:00

well, its technically the last day of school today.. after which we are pretty much on our own till A levels, though there are many practice sessions, extra lessons scheduled..
had lotsa things to do after sch on tues.. collected the 2 rolls of mounted slides from KT, collected my 2nd roll for the keychain slides from Fotohub at Suntec.. did some souvenirs for the class, mounted slides with their names on it which acts as a keychain.. met up with Jun An to do the light writings.. basically loaded slide film into my cam, Jun An wrote the names on bulb exposure, got it developed and mounted, attatched the keychain ring to it..

light drawings..
made it sound so easy, but in reality it isn't.. had to scout out a good location, check the framing, practice the spacing and positioning, test on digital before actually shooting a frame.. tiring work, had a total of 3 sessions, wrote the girls first, then the guys.. got back the 1st roll and some were CMI and had to reshoot some.. and it all wouldn't be possible without the help of Jun An, thanks buddy..

the finished product..
each one took me about 5+ mins to make.. first had to take out the slide inside for safekeeping while I mod the holding frame.. filed off a small corner of the back to make space for the ring, then with a heated needle melted a hole to size.. removed the protruding plastic, opened the rings with pilers and slot it in.. placed back the slide film and applied some glue to close it tight.. the wordings can only be see if you put it up to a light and look through it..

anyway back to wed.. arrived in school early to pass James the 2 boxes of slides he shot, well 8 were mine, the aerial view of the school.. met Ping Chong and Yong Huan as I was walking to the usual table where we usually gather before morning assembly..

spying on assembly..
turns out that chem lecture only starts at 9.30, then the rest of the class only coming till then.. quite a sight to see only 1 person, which was Joel, standing where our class ought to be.. haha, quite a unique last morning assembly for the 4 of us.. thought most other classes were either all not there or mostly present..

muffins..
Joel brought up some muffins which Ms Hazel baked for the class.. quite nice actually, chocolate and coffee I think.. wished I could have another one, but it was exact number for the class..

slacking till 9.30..
didn't do much till 9.30, discussed some chem and phy problems, read an article Joel passed me.. before we knew it, it was 9.30 already.. another 1.5 hours and chem lecture was over.. Jack did his last few admin tasks of collecting the signed results slips and sgc, distributed the muffins to the rest and took some pics in LT4..

the usual spot..
the spot where we usually sit, 3 rows on the right of the LT, around H-J.. usually the gals would occupy either the first or last of the 3 rows while the guys take the other 2.. for me usually its the 2nd or 3rd seat from the aisle, cos further in its harder to see the screen.. of cos theres times where I didn't print the lecture notes, or just didn't feel like paying attention that I would sit inside.. haha..
then it was the ceremony itself..

Aaron looking bored..

but that was during the speeches part.. the video montage by the tutors was prob the highlight of the ceremony.. got to see the lighter side of our tutors, of cos the serious message they wanna bring across is that they wish to see us do well for As.. my favourite was the GP department's, 21 days later.. a parody of 23 days later, shows some jerky video with nobody around in sch, then the "zombies" appear.. there was also the video montage of pics from last year to now, some of my pics were up.. the ready stance of Jun An in the dragonboat, the jump shot from last year's sports day, Kok Wey's frisbee pic from this year's.. lotsa classic shots that define our journey in NY.. though if it were me I would have chosen a different set of pics.. anyway, I think PS should have a screening day during D&D or results day.. a really good slide show can bring about lotsa emotions and even tears..
anyway, more pics after the ceremony ended..

the outlier..

sinusoidal action..
another jump shot.. not the whole sequence though, just 2 of the more interesting pics.. without Jun An, the first pic is a perfect straight line mid-air shot.. quite suprised it turned out the way it is, cos there was a phase difference (yea physics) purposely introduced..

the penalty..

the girls..

with é class..

Jack uplifted..

a special appearance..

with Jack..
anyway, looking back I kinda agree with what Pravin said.. NY was just another slot to fill in the 8 choices we had.. just wondering if I had just chosen to stay in CJ instead, what would life be for me now.. one thing, I'll be waking up much earlier than I do now, travel for about an hour plus before reaching school.. just a totally different experience to and fro from sch..
well, my journey in NY was a wonderful experience, 0621, the band, photog, the tutors and the other various ppl I've met on the way..

Pizza

2007-10-09T21:24:00.000+08:00

last few days of school.. offically anyway, we still have extra lessons, practice sessions and what not for the next 2 weeks.. rented the 40D + 17-55 for tues and wed.. wed being our graduation ceremony, and needless to say everyone would wanna take pics..
anyway, Ms Shahida treated the class to pizza after the external exam com briefing on tues.. also got back our prelim results slip and sgc to check.. got AACCE, though aiming for AAABB for As.. GP really needs alot of work..

Pizza..

kinda fitting since the first few times we ate together as a class was also pizza from O2 pizza nite.. now 2 years later its pizza again.. took some class pics after that.. luckily Mr Lee walked by at that moment.. had a impromptu VIP style welcome as he came down the stairs.. haha..

with Mr Lee..

Catsinecradle

2007-10-05T20:26:00.000+08:00

backtracking some pics I took on Fri.. Cat portraits with the 50mm 1.4 on Fujifilm Pro 160S..

Cat's in è cradle

A lazy afternoon..

Got found out..

You're still there?

Looks like I've to deal with you personally..

Grr..

Or maybe not..

Back to sleep..

weird dream

2007-10-02T05:33:00.000+08:00

just had a really weird dream, which felt more like an accurate depiction of reality.. had a few recurring dreams about someone I like.. won't reveal who, to the guys from my class it isn't who you think, and to others who have read some of my previous post before, its not the same person.. its the first time I'm mentioning this though..
this dream was different from previous similar dreams.. most of them were what I would have prob done if I had took the time to know her better.. and strangely enough I can remember the block no. blk 107.. but this dream was different, found myself confessing to her.. only could remember the last 2 lines we said.. something along the line of "nobody likes me.." and you can imagine what I replied.. what happened after that was blurry.. had this fear slowly encroaching and everything starts to turn dark.. if I were to guess, its prob that fear of rejection.. woke up after that..

Mind Cafe

2007-09-29T23:45:00.000+08:00

some updates from tues.. just collected the slides from tues.. it was only due at 6pm, so spent the afternoon studying at The Central.. first time there, so walked around and explored abit first.. did a maths paper, which effectively took 3 hours away.. walked around the clarke quay area before getting something to eat.. read finish the article on semiotics, which was quite intrigueing.. talks about signs, which linguistics is a large part of.. so now you can finally answer the question "why is a tree called a tree?" its because of the abritary nature of signs/words.. anyway, heres another question to ponder about "Do thoughts exist?"
back to tuesday.. had a class gathering to celebrate Michelle's birthday.. everyone except 2 were there..

Snorta in action..
arrived at The Mind Café at about 1.30.. played some board games while waiting for the others to arrive.. anyway, for those who don't know the cafe unique feature is that it serves board games too ontop of the regular cafe menu.. the staff recommended a game called Snorta to start things off.. quite a chaotic yet fun game.. sat out for the first game to take some pics, but won the next two games played.. hahaa..

the barns..
so the game basically goes like this, everyone gets a figurine of an animal which they place in their barns.. everyone takes turns to make the sound of the animal they have and have to memorise everybody elses.. then everyone gets a stack of cards with animal pictures on them and take turns revealing the top card of their stack.. then if 2 players have a matching animal card, they have to make the animal sound of their opponent before they do.. the person who does this first wins and the loser gets the cards of the winner.. the person who manages to clear all their cards wins the game.. the fun comes in when it goes fast and you have no time to recall what the other person's animal is.. though I think the game is every so slightly biased cos some animal sounds are easier to make than others.. hahaa..

the collapse..
prob one of the longest Jenga game I've watched.. it still went on for 2 rounds even after it started to look precarious.. Dwayne thought he was safe after he pulled off a tough extraction.. but the other guys outdid him and it was back to him.. and you know what happened next..

the birthday girl..
had the usual birthday song-singing, cake-cutting etc.. though I think everyone was more interested in getting back to their games having been interrupted halfway..

Twister..
the game Aaron brought out.. had a few akward situations with the mixed game.. you can imagine for yourself.. was the spinner/director for most of the games.. the spinner is biased though, like some ppl only get feet shifting around.. but towards the later stages it gets interesting.. like splits and full body stretches..

group pic..
as usual took a group pic for the last frame of the roll.. though alot of people had left by then..

prelims over

2007-09-26T23:48:00.000+08:00

prelims are over, but minus the joy and celebrations usually associated with other major exams being over.. wasn't much break or rest time given to us, immediately after physics paper 1 was collected they gave out our paper 2 and 3.. was quite well done, though I should manage my time for paper 2 better.. didn't have time to do about 4 parts, even though I had consciously reminded myself to keep track of time..
the mon and tues "marking days" were just a euphemism.. we still had to come back for a practice session and collect our maths paper on mon.. chem dept also took this opportunity to return us our scripts too.. so more or less knew our H2 grades already.. got ABC, physics maths chem respectively.. my first A in JC life.. maths prob could have gotten A if I had finished the complex no. qns for P1, just needed 3 more marks.. chem if not for qns 5 of P3 prob could do better.. enough ranting about what I could have done, more important is what I am going to do.. after all, A Levels are just a stone's throw away now..
well, been pondering over this question ever since O level days.. Are grades everything? yea I know it sounds very GP-ish but I think its a question that many students have thought about, myself included.. since young we've been drilled to think grades are everthing, good grades=good job=good pay=good life, but does that necessary mean you are happy/successful? of cos happiness and success are subjective words, they mean different things to different people.. the good grade=good life view is just so myopic as though grades make a person..

double dose

2007-09-22T23:18:00.000+08:00

supposed to upload these together with the previous post, but doesn't quite fit in.. some double exposures from the same roll..

A Double Dose

Ants

2007-09-20T23:01:00.000+08:00

prelims are almost over, left physics paper 1 tomorrow afternoon.. except for paper 3, the rest of chem was quite ok.. well, I'll know the aftermath of paper 3 soon enough..
went for a short outing with Hafiz after chem paper 1 on wed.. he just got his S5IS and wanted me to share some tips with him.. wanted to get a coupling ring to reverse mount the 50 1.8 and try some extreme macro shots.. but the shops I went to didn't have it in stock.. met Hafiz across the traffic junction and we made our way to the esplanade..

Hafiz in action..
with the 420EX and adaptor/lens hood mounted.. brought along my S2 which of cos pales somewhat in comparison with the S5.. don't really use my S2 much after I've gotten my S80, was abit bulky to fit into my regular schoolbag with books in it.. plus found 28mm is so much more delightful to use..
anyway, hung around the centopath opp esplanade for awhile before going through the underpass to it.. handheld the 50 1.8 reversed on the S5 with flash attached and did some macro shots.. think its more than 1:1, tried to focus the lens and had to go extremely close to the subject.. took some shots of Hafiz's macbook keyboard, you can fill the entire frame with the wordings on just one key.. can even all the mintue details on it.. thought I would try to get some shots of ants while I'm at it..

Disclaimer: Those with Myrmecophobia (fear of ants) or such insects are advised to skip the following section..
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but if you are intrigued to see how the world looks that up close, go right ahead..

working in pairs..

solo..

hard at work..

what are you looking at?
personally like this last shot.. its almost like its curious about that giant black thing pointing at it.. if you look closely, you'll realise individual ants look very diff.. and we humans just think that they are just dots crawling around..
well, shooting ants isn't that easy.. at such magnifications, the depth of field is uber shallow.. take the last shot for example, the feelers are already out of focus.. probably only have a few fractions of a millimeter for DoF.. plus being ants, they don't sit still.. coupled with the shutter lag of the S5 and difficulty framing, quite satisfied I could get 4 decent shots.. the rest were just shots of empty bark..
oh yea, no ants were harmed in the making of these pics.. though I did suffer some bites..

1 week more

2007-09-15T20:08:00.000+08:00

been more than a week since I last updated.. its halfway through prelims now.. Maths is over, both paper 1 and 2.. Maths was different this time, managed to finish all parts, except for the last qns last part for P1 and 2, and the proving part for complex.. probably my best performance for maths thus far.. can't say the same for chem p3.. one on hand, felt good that I've done my best for maths, and on the other wish I could do better for chem..
theres a part of me is abit egoistic, wanna do well so that my name appears on the honour roll list.. but then again, I'll probably remain some relatively unknown guy in sch.. though alot of my pics have been published in print or online..
anyway, wanna share 2 pics I took last week..

Rainbow Lining..
think many would have spotted this sight last thurs.. iridescent clouds, basically diffraction and superposition in action..

Uncertainty
effectively sums up some feelings I've right now..
anyway, still another week of exams to go.. after that, 2 days of marking days on mon and tues.. 3 weeks of lectures/revision, then end of formal lessons.. 3 more weeks after that is already the start of A levels..

Nucleus

2007-09-05T18:23:00.000+08:00

got bored after studying chem.. did a little series..

Nucleus

Protactinium

Iridium

Neptunium

Oxygen

Radon

Teacher's Day

2007-09-02T14:56:00.000+08:00

had GP on thursday, followed by teacher's day celebrations on fri.. guess the GP tutors have lotsa "presents" over this one week break.. did the question "consider the significance of water", had lotsa stuff to write, but found I left out some minor points like water for recreation etc.. paper 2 was also quite ok.. feel confident I'm on track to a B.. then went to eat at AMK Hub with the rest of the class.. went to Fish and Co. with Jack and Shu Heng.. their new york fish and chips were scrumptious, esp the cheese baked into it..
woke up early on friday to bake some cookies for the teacher's day "picnic" we were having later on.. made exactly 50 bite-sized cookies, had some leftover dough so made 1 giant cookie just for fun..

the giant cookie..
met Chuan Xin and Jun Xian on 147 to school.. normally I would take 109 to serangoon, but the first bus only comes at 6.50.. so walked out to 147's bus stop.. reached college sometime after 7.. the tables near the atrium were moved, no one was there at the usual spot where my class gathers every morning..
assembly was held at the track, though the sound system was abit underpowered to hear clearly.. there was the ACES day workout first, which most people were reluctant to participate at first.. guess everyone eased up after awhile..
next was the picnic cum outdoor concert.. the bands weren't that good, nonetheless great effort.. shot some portraits, though some forgot I'm using film and asked if they could see the pic.. anyway, the celebrations ended early cos it threatened to rain at about 10+..
went back to Montfort after the celebrations ended..

the familar garden..
just feels different from last year's visit.. though the same ppl where there, theres more of a sense of distance.. don't really keep in touch with each other that often now.. plus those in JCs are busy preparing for the As.. some of our teachers shared their experience with the As and gave some advice..
went out to eat with the same regular bunch of ppl at compass point..

the same old stuff..

Chomp Chomp

2007-09-01T22:21:00.000+08:00

just got back the roll of slides that I shot on Sunday.. just got a scanner from Comex, so scanned them in.. the price the labs charge for scanning just way too high, want more control over the images also.. the photos turned out quite nicely, the colours were vibrant and suprisingly grain-less for a high speed film.. think Provia 400X would be my low-light film of choice..
anyway, was first to arrive at 5pm.. waited at the benches near the bus stop, loaded in the first roll.. Jun An came next, went to find some seats first..

waiting..
as usual the rest were late.. kinda expected anyway.. predicted that Simon would be next to come, and I was right.. by 6pm most had arrived and we could start ordering..

the queue..

order up..

chilli crab..

satay..

claypot..
had carrot cake, black no chilli is my preference.. shared 45 sticks of satay, quite filling.. went to Jin Hao's house after that, which was just a stone's throw away.. nothing like a good walk after dinner..

its all in the cards..

the birthday boy..

group pic..

My Monotonous Life

2007-08-31T00:54:00.000+08:00

disclaimer: picture intensive post ahead..

did a simple B&W series that I had in mind for some time.. my first attempt in a photo essay.. hope you'll like it..

My Monotonous Life
shot on Kodak BW400CN.. Canon EOS 30 with Vivitar 19-35mm ultra-wide and Canon 50mm f/1.4 standard lens..

the wee hours..

6am..

morning routine..

sustenance..

my daily read..

out of the house..

and on the road..

the daily grind..

end of days..

urgency..

impartation..

erm..

the little joys..

conformity..

no reservations..

a thousand words..

more rant

2007-08-29T05:06:00.000+08:00

more rant over this study break..
Sunday had a little class gathering at Chomp Chomp, basically to celebrate Simon's birthday.. had some really nice moments, the bokeh by the 50 prime is just so beautiful.. anyway, would only get back the slides on friday.. though I forgot to set back the EV value for 3 shots after I tried the double exposure with Jun An, and I think I shouldn't have used flash at 19mm, prob would have been blocked.. all well, we'll see on Fri..

a cloudy sunset..
my only digital shot that day.. prob one of the better cloudy sunsets I've seen..
Monday went back to school to study.. reached only at 12, studied GP till about 3.. James came to look for me after his lessons ended.. tried my 50 prime on digital, the results were very nice.. also brought the IR filter, did an IR portrait which is somewhat errie.. skin looks pale in IR and hair reflects abit of IR so its a bluish tinge.. returned the film cam I borrowed, didn't shoot anything with it though..
tues had GP make-up lesson in the morning, then went to eat at J8 with the class.. walked around, then went back to school.. was pouring by then, got on 156.. the sheltered walk-way from the bus stop isn't that sheltered in a heavy rain.. got slightly wet and had the gate closed infront of me.. went to finish the what I had set out to do.. still raining went I headed home..

some thoughts..
2 words have been on my mind lately.. "2nd Best".. which pretty much sums up some of my "achievements" thus far.. seems like no matter how hard I try, I always come in at 2nd best, or the just missed kid.. if you know my history, you'll know thats true.. and I don't think many reading this do.. maybe its this competitive "do or die" mindset that has been nurtured in us.. the ends is all that matters, the means doesn't..

My First SLR

2007-08-25T22:51:00.000+08:00

just gotten my first SLR cam.. yes, a SLR not a dSLR.. rekindled my passion for film during the end of last year, and along with my recent works from eye é city, thought it would be apt to have my own film cam.. while most of the ppl my age prob have a digital SLR by now, going for digital directly.. not many young ppl shooting film.. just wanna break away from the hype surrounding digital, like the megapixel race.. the whole mindset that more megapixel means better photos.. my camera has 6.02 x 10^17 megapixels, how about yours?
anyway, got a 2nd hand EOS 30 and 50mm 1.4 lens.. the 30 feels very solid in my hand.. the eye-control feature is quite interesting.. look at a point in the viewfinder and the camera focuses to that point..

EOS 30 with 50mm f/1.4
incase anybody wanna ask me how much did I get it for.. got it for about half the price of the lens you see mounted on.. was deciding whether to go for the 50 prime or 85 prime.. was more acustomed to the perpective by the 50..
anyway, have a class outing tomorrow to celebrate Simon's birthday.. bringing it out for its first shooting run..

Fireworks

2007-08-19T22:41:00.000+08:00

some updates from over the weekend.. went to watch the fireworks on fri and sat.. initially wanted to meet up with my class but then we couldn't meet up on time.. wasn't as crowded as last year, prob cos its friday.. eventually got a spot near a lamp post, thought I could prop my cam against it for support.. the fireworks started at about 9.15.. there were some performances at the floating platform for those who had tickets first..

only got a few decent pics from my position.. was only limited to shoot vertical cos the pod only attaches to the base.. quite a nice display, but my evening was spoilt when I discovered that I had lost the pod.. quite pissed with myself.. prob left it on the floor while I was packing up, either that or it had slipped out somehow while I was packing it in..
gotten it about a year back and it has saved me of the trouble to bring along my tripod.. its a small circular bean-bag pod with a screw in the middle to attach to your cam.. very useful for setting up night shots from parapets, and even served as my make-shift "tripod" for light painting pic you see on the cover design of the disc for my class..
but then it has its limitations.. can't safely mount it on railings etc or other round surfaces.. prob try to get the gorillapod to replace it.. quite unique, a mini-tripod that has flexible legs.. should be able to get even more creative angles with it..

went again on sat with Zhi Kai.. met Mr Neo on the esplanade bridge at about 6.. we did a little time-lapse video to kill time..

Time Lapse
approx. 1 hour worth of pics taken at 30sec intervals, from 6.40 to 7.40.. took turns to trigger the shutter cos the 30D doesn't have an automatic interval shooting mode.. prob the longest period I've stared at a watch, quite an efficient way to kill time.. the video was edited by him, though we co-created it..
the pre-fireworks show was about the same.. with the radio controlled kites flying around in the sky.. but the fireworks itself was abit smoky though.. only had a few relatively smoke free ones for the first few bursts..

crapped about how the subjects we were studying were related to fireworks while waiting.. for those taking econs, its a public good in which theres non-excludability, non-rivalry in consumption.. negative externality caused by the smoke.. chemistry in the chemicals burning to produce the colours.. physics in launching the shells and how they explode.. maths and computing in the planning of the display.. geography in the atmospheric processes of creating the wind (or lack of wind) to blow the smoke away..

Pano

2007-08-16T22:09:00.000+08:00

finally set aside some time to scan in my 2nd roll from my pinhole cam.. the lab I sent to did scan it in, but then its not the whole pano frame.. the colours were quite different from what the actual scene was.. sorta gives it a surreal feeling, plus the vignetting from using a slow film.. evokes a sense of departure, sailing into the sunset..

Dreamscape..

not feeling too well for the past week.. have the heaty feeling in my body.. only spent Mon and Thurs really studying after school.. 2 more week left in the term.. week 10 is designated a study break so no lessons on mon-wed.. thurs already gp paper..

Memories

2007-08-08T21:49:00.000+08:00

5 days of break before yet another tiring week of school starts.. thought of going to watch the fireworks, but on second thought its gonna be extremely crowded with the celebrations going at Marina Bay..
did the designs for compliation I wanted to do for the band and my class.. haven't collated the pics yet though, having the design out first just means I can concentrate on putting it together.. though for my class prob do the burning later, theres still Dinner and Dance..

Memories..
Wed was the celebrations, had a little ceremony during morning assembly.. the band and choir were also involved, it just seems proper to have a live performance.. wonder why we didn't perform last year.. a simple military style procession for the flag raising.. that all too familar drumline.. the tunes of Spania!/Kodomo no hi/Unter dem Doppeladler (Under the double eagle) rang though my head.. the J1 band sounded much better than last week..
had the usual concert in the hall, much better than last year's.. the skit put up by the teachers was hilarous.. met with Kok Wey outside the band room, showed him the cover I did.. prob can complete it by mon provided he helps me ask who wants, so I know how many to do...
the rest of the class were already walking towards the bus stop.. missed the bus they were in, but caught up with them at J8.. ate at mac there, hung around at the food court after that..
went to play pool with Jin Hao and Simon.. was actually quite a spontaneous thing, suggested playing pool, Jin Hao agreed, then we met Simon at the bus stop.. losta absurd moments in the beginning, fouls that shouldn't be made at all, shots that should have gone in didn't and those that shouldn't did.. hahaa.. but after some warming up, got into a winning streak, won 5 games in a row..

Book Launch

2007-08-04T20:22:00.000+08:00

back from the book launch which was held at the National Library.. met up first with the J1 photogs, they planned an outing to coincide with the exhibition.. ended up waiting for quite a long time for the ppl to gather.. went down to take a look at the exhibition for some inspiration for their shoot later..
view the exhibition as well.. lotsa nicely done B&W pics, though some without the little writeup its hard to tell whats it about.. viewed the pics till about 2.30, lead them to the spot which we had our first outing last year.. went to the multi-purpose room for the launch.. should have brought someone along.. Jill had a test before that, so she couldn't make it on time..
had a slideshow of the selected pics, nice music to go along with that.. then it was the sharing session.. think they specially invited some of the younger participants to share their view and I happened to be one of them.. was first up to share, don't think I expressed as well as the other 4 speakers.. but then I think my image speaks for itself..

Generation Exchange..
talked about the little quirk I noticed during the family gathering/lunch we had.. sorta juxtaposition of new and old, east and west.. my cousin eating with chopsticks and my grandfather eating with a fork and spoon..
its featured on Page 6/7 of the book if you happen to get a copy of it.. a 2-page spread after the contents..

Bye-Bye 2006
the 2nd pic that was chosen.. its part of the 0 in 2006 on the front cover, the main pic is found on Page 115 along with a short write up of mine.. well, its has been quite an experience for me participating in this event.. very grateful for being selected.. my first debut on the local photography scene I guess..

week before book launch

2007-07-31T21:26:00.000+08:00

some updates from over the weekend.. friday had PTM after school ended.. had expected to be called up, took a look at the list.. noticed I was exactly at the cutoff region, Jack who had just one more point more than me didn't have to come..
Sunday was better spent than Sat.. did some maths before going out.. went to the national library first to take a look at the exhibition first.. oh yea, for those who don't know yet, one of my photos for Eye é City 06 got selected for the exhibition and book.. if you happen to pass by the National Library this month do head on down to B1 to take a look at the exhibition..

Eye é City 2006
Exhibition: 30th July to 31st August, 10am to 9pm daily
Book Launch: 4th August, 3pm to 5pm
Venue: Central Lending Library (National Library)

received a call saying I'm also invited to say a few words during the book launch this saturday also.. the fear of public speaking starts to creep back in, but its just a few lines about my pic and why I took it, why I participated etc.. prob saying something about being one of the youngest there.. all of the other participants where older than me, mostly adults in their 30s, except one who's 16..
went for Maris Stella's concert next.. met the rest of the ny ppl at vch, quite a large group mostly the J1s and the usual concert going gang of J2s.. think the highlight of the concert was their alumni band, their repertiore also suited them well.. we pulled off a crazy stint at the end of the concert.. Liying (i think) had some markers and we made a impromptu banner of their names.. Ducklas (douglas) and Weechong..

the concert end at 7.30, so we had our dinner at raffles city.. found out that May also lives quite close..

Class Tee

2007-07-24T01:27:00.000+08:00

not blogging as frequently as before, the period between each post would gradually get longer I suppose, since we're not that far from the As now.. the melancholy of schoolwork starts to set in, without any distractions from CCAs and all that, the days seem to pass exceptionally fast.. started to keep to myself more often recently, not like myself just 3 months ago.. lots more thoughts are accumulating in my head, mostly on school and education.. my increased devotion to studies have been somewhat stifling.. laws, equations, rules, numbers, functions.. add on Wednesdays are now extra practice sessions, hardly any room for a creative outlet..
anyway, at least thing penetrated though this cloak.. finally got our class tee on Friday, quite easy to spot our class on Friday.. just need to spot the maroon colour, but of cos some of the non-teaching staff also had the same colour..

Maroon 21..
should have brought along the pod that day, had to balance my cam on stacked chair.. though you can't really see in this pic, the back has the numbers 21 encoded.. 2 was made up of caricatures of everyone, with everyone's birthdays and 1 was the list of memories we had together.. that ought to alleviate the long hours of Friday..

did abit of anime watching over the weekend.. watched The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, which has to be the best anime I've watched so far.. has a very unique plot, who knew taking strange phenomena like altered realities, time travelling etc and mixing with school life would be so interesting.. a few quirky parodies of other animes appear also.. the order of the episodes aren't in chronological order, which makes it more interesting.. found some translations of the light novels which its based on, the anime only covered about half of the novels.. read vol. 4 which probably would appear in the 2nd season, along with another short story in the prev vol, explains some events that occured 3 years ago.. the included the link in the title, I definately recommend watching it..

reflections

2007-07-19T14:08:00.000+08:00

this is one post I've wanted to do for some time now.. some revelations of myself, my feelings, inner thoughts etc.. there has been this fear of mine, of letting someone know me closely, and vice versa, afraid being hurt.. maybe its also the fear of losing someone you care about.. theres alot of thoughts that go through my mind everyday that I'm also afraid of blogging about.. thats why most of the time I blog about the events that occur in my life.. steming from the same root cause of losing memories that I hold dear to me.. taking photos is more of taking memories..
think I've written another similar post sometime back.. the feelings feel the same yet completely different.. in the com lab now typing this, have maths remedial later and also just found out I've econs remedial also the next week.. more trials and tribulations ahead.. As are not far behind, I know I've this strong inner drive, but sometimes lack the willpower to engage it.. some plans for till the end of the year.. wanna write a GP essay weekly, prob blog about it here also.. practice maths, revise chem and econs.. quite ok with physics, prob helping others out would be more effective.. need to come up with a revision timetable or something first..

10-22 revisited

2007-07-12T17:54:00.000+08:00

some updates from the past few days.. Monday had a grooming session, so we were encouraged to come in corporate attire.. just wore my black pants with the long sleeve shirt and leather shoes.. of cos these kinda optional things theres always the prevailing "if my friend wears then I wear" phenomenon.. prob a higher percentage of guys wearing than gals, cos the attire for guys quite standard.. the guys went to LT4, had the familar all-guys atmosphere all over again.. talked about how to project a professional image, in terms of both attire and etiquette.. quite an useful session..
went to have lunch at PS with the rest of the class.. left early to collect the 10-22, wanted to take some pics after phototaking tmr.. didn't turn out as I thought out.. went to the parade square for our informal shot, formed the numbers 0621 by linking hands.. but the 1st time wasn't that clear, the photographer was kind enough to let us have a 2nd attempt..
then met up in the band room to discuss about the events we had, to include in the CCA records.. the James Hargest Exchange was listed and AE XII wasn't??

went to Changi Boardwalk later in the evening to make the most use of the 10-22..

#1

#2

#3
and what a sunset it was.. too bad I didn't bring my digicam or a telephoto lens, the big red "yolk" kind of sunset.. was quite a clear evening, so could even see the stars coming out.. oh yea, noticed quite alot of couples having their photoshoot while walking there, 5 to be exact.. quite romantic if you ask me, saw a couple perched on the rocks, in their suit and wedding dress, and with the waves swirling around them..

got back some of the mid-years papers already.. sucky results, so far only physics got back the same grade, a B.. the rest really deproved.. and the ironic thing is the subjects I studied for the most I didn't do well, whereas those I didn't study as much did better.. really did put in much more effort into this mid-years than block test.. not prepared yet for full papers..

07/07/07

2007-07-07T23:34:00.000+08:00

7th July 2007 07/07/07
first thing you notice, my blog is now green.. well, its in conjuction with Live Earth, partly also me wanting to change my blog skin now.. been using the same skin since its conception, just changing the font colours over the years.. would revert back to blue something on Sun, green is quite glaring on the eyes..
woke up at 5+ in the morning today.. loaded a roll of film into my pinhole and took 88 to the blocks opp punggol park.. another cloudy morning, this time cloudier than usual.. as I was heading back to the bus stop opp, noticed a couple of tall trees swaying in the wind.. thought it would make an interesting pic with the long exposure time of the pinhole.. started to drizzle as I walked towards the spot I wanted..
luckily I had the umbrella I carry around in my bag, though quite hard to set up the tripod with one hand.. not really worried about the pinhole getting wet, since theres no electronical parts at all.. but its not waterproof, though its light-proof.. a wet and gloomy start to the morning..

anyway, have to wait till I finish the roll and send for processing to see how that pic turns out.. fell asleep once I reached home.. went for another round of shooting this time at sunset.. went to the top floor of one of the flats in Punggol, overlooking the LRT/MRT..

was walking back to Sengakang when I had to cross over the expressway.. took this opportunity to take some light trails.. did the same with the pinhole, but accidentally dropped the cover into a hole.. quite pissed with myself, knew this was gonna happen.. took one of the other covers from the stereo pinholes, since they had a plastic mechanism to trigger them and the pano one didn't..

med check

2007-07-06T20:27:00.000+08:00

a short post..
midyears are over, physics was quite ok.. prob the subject I've most confidence in.. went to AMK Hub together with the class, but all went on to do different activities.. me, joel, pc and yong huan went to watch Transformers at the newly opened Cathay.. there was a special student discount so only had to pay $6, and it was worth it..
the movie was spectacular, though lotsa ppl complaining about the plot.. but just the visuals alone was worth it, though I wished the transformers had more screen time.. my fav character prob would be Starscream, love the update to the new F22 Raptor.. transforming in mid-air, taking out the other planes.. a slick movie in all, compared to the chunky cartoon of yesteryears..

then today went for my ns medical checkup.. coincidentally met Kok Wey there, as well as alot of other nyjc-ians.. they prob had the same thinking as me, earliest date after midyears were over.. had to do quite a number of tests, urine test, blood test, eye test, hearing test, x-ray, dental, physical checkup and a aplitude test.. thought my brain could take a rest after mid-years but I was wrong.. mental sums, patterns, shapes, logic, the works.. everything was ok, but the drawing blood part was a new experience for me.. I'm ok with injections, but having a needle stuck in you for a period of time isn't fun..
took 57 to Bishan, but stopped by at the city to get another roll of film, Provia 400X.. prob gonna take the pinhole cam for another spin over the weekend..

Pinhole

2007-07-01T01:37:00.000+08:00

went out on Fri to get the pinhole cam.. met Hafiz first at City Hall to get my ticket for his concert tomorrow.. he came at noon, passed me the ticket and we went on to look at some stuffs.. went to buy a roll of slide film first, got the velvia 100.. then went to Funan to look at some cams Hafiz wanted to get..
he had to rush back to his rehearsal at 1.. alighted at Orchard and made my way to Kino.. had a pleasant suprise that there was a 20% discount, so that makes it $9 cheaper.. had a 10% discount coupon for Pepper Lunch which was expiring, so decided to treat myself..
msged Gloria if she was free to help me out with the Jap text, but eventually figured out how to assemble it after staring at the diagrams long enough.. hahaa.. loaded an roll of film which I found in my drawer, an expired Kodak 200 Gold.. went for a walkaround of my neighbourhood the next morning..

wanted to evoke a sense of nostalgia, of something lost.. dug up some old memories I had of my neighbourhood..

the playground I used to play in..
it was upgraded from those old playgrounds with concrete structures and sand while I was in lower primary I think.. it has been resurfaced a couple of times due to kids playing with candles on it.. the sheltered walk way behind is relatively new, completed as part of an upgrading programme in 04-05.. and a fitness corner behind and hard court behind, completed around 2000 I think.. remembered a couple of big shady trees that used to be standing there..

abused..
walked further on to find another playground that was under repairs.. the slide and the metal spiral ladder had broken.. got a feeling its due to abuse though..
well, playground are getting irrelvant with computer games and the digital age.. no one wants to go through the process of checking the angle, patiently waiting a few seconds for the exposure, manually winding the film and having to wait for the lab to process it when you can just snap and see your pic instantly.. instant gratification..

the crossing..
anyway, since I'm ranting about my past, would like to resurface some old memories.. there's my neighbour/primary sch classmate/childhood friend Po Kiat.. remembered cycling/exploring around the neighbourhood together, the hilly bumps behind Xinmin, the slopes near Bowen.. hanging out at the fitness corner after sch.. well, if you're reading this, we ought to catch up with one another sometime..
and there was Xueli, who moved out in 98 or 99... quite different from another Xueli that I know.. she lived with her grandmother in the corner unit and was a year older than us, quite tom-boyish.. was my friend from the opp gender I think.. just lost contact after she moved..

reach..
wound back the film after taking one last photo above.. a sorta closure for myself.. represented some feelings I had in the past.. wasn't exactly tall when I was young, couldn't even reach the bar of the monkey bars without climbing up the sides abit..

anyway, had to scan in the negs myself cos the lab couldn't.. collected it at about 6 then waited for 161 to woodlands.. coincidentally met some of my juniors on board the bus, Alif and the twins Gary and Gerald.. they were going for OP 2007 too, so tagged along with them..
went to buy some bread before walking to RP, made it just in time for the concert.. their reportoire consisted of alot of classical and contemporary works.. the concert was well performed, though had some extra sounds by the audience.. there was a boy behind us eating crackers which was abit irritating.. met Shi Chie, Clement and suprisingly Desmond there..
went back to Causeway Point to eat after the concert.. had some talk about band, and some advice seeing they just took over from the prev batch.. gave them some ideas for M10 next year, having an an alumni item for the 10th Montfiesta would be a good idea.. revisiting some pieces from the prev Montfiestas would also be nice, would like to hear pieces like Procession to Peace and Persis again.. I'm sure my fellow alumni would want M10 to be a big success..

3 more papers

2007-06-28T21:13:00.000+08:00

3 more papers and midyears are over..
the week's gone by pretty quickly.. before you know it its thursday already, no paper tomorrow plus school holiday on mon makes a 4 day mini-break before the start of the next paper.. a brief run-through of the papers so far.. Mon was Maths, followed by Chem, then Econs on Wed and Physics today.. don't have much feel for this midyears, prob won't do as well as block test..
Physics ended at 10 today, the gals had some talk about going to east coast to cycle, but didn't materialise in the end.. the rest of the guys went to play lan as usual.. went back home to change and went out again..
went to take a look at some stuff at Kino that I heard about.. quite interesting, a Jap science magazine that includes kits for you to build.. and vol. 14 features a stereo pinhole camera.. some pics of it can be found here.. this is essentially the roots of photography, abeit more high tech than its predecessors.. though its way low tech when compared to today's crop of digicams..

browsed though some books.. including World Press Photo 07, top news photos from 06.. seen the photos before online when it was announced, but nothing like seeing it in print.. lotsa haunting images that I can't even begin to describe.. you can just feel the suffering and pain through the photos..
for those who have yet to see this set of photos, here is the link.. got a feeling I've post this before though..

celebrations

2007-06-23T22:30:00.000+08:00

prob the last post before mid-years start.. wasted much of the week away, didn't do anything.. went out on Tues for the class gathering/celebration for the june birthday gals/guy, then wed to get my haircut and fri to actually study..
met at Tiong Bahru MRT first before heading out to the supermarket to get the foodstuff for the steamboat at Jack's place.. not the restaurant but Jack's house, since when did they offer steamboat.. hahaa.. there were about 16 of us, $5 from each, so that makes $80+ to spend.. got vegetables, fish balls, meat balls, crab sticks, hotdogs, eggs, taupok, tofu..

steamboat on wheels..
quite literally, the steamboat wok was stashed away on the bottom of the trolley.. total bill came up to $88.50.. "contributed" 0.01% to the plastic bags statistics.. walked past the park to Jack's house.. got lost trying to find it even though we went there before..
was between playing cards and fixing the jig-saw puzzle.. didn't really eat much as usual..

Steamboat!
stayed till about 10.. wanted to take the MRT back to YCK, but my tummy thought otherwise.. got back to Hougang to get something to eat..
anyway, bought a new album recently.. Twelve Stops and Home by The Feeling.. mixture of pick-me-up kinda songs and the more emo kinda songs.. and do they have great vocals..

The Feeling - Never Be Lonely

only studied for awhile on Wed after getting a haircut, practiced maths.. wasted Thurs away, so though I would make up for it on Fri.. found my last year's notes for Chem and Maths, compiled them together with my current notes.. still have yet to file my Physics notes.. quite statisfied to have all my notes together, usually they're all over the place..
took 112 to Kovan to get a new file for my Maths notes.. lost my other maths file with all the assignments in it, left it at a bus stop after going to eat with my class, and my bus came last.. had lunch at KFC there while filling in the notes.. messaged a few ppl to ask if they were studying but nobody was..
didn't know where to go, so just took 80 first to see where that takes me.. read more notes on the bus, alighted opp Pennisula Plaza.. went to check out a few shops there, thought of buying some film but didn't have much $$ on me.. and didn't have that desire to shoot film.. gotta get my own film scanner if I were to go into film frequently..

walked to One Fullerton, which I remembered had this quiet Starbucks outlet near the sea.. thought of studying outside, but inside was much cooler.. besides the sea would be a good spot, if not for the risk of paper flying out into the sea or dropping things into it.. had a chocolate cream chip frappacinno and got down to work.. more maths, now that I've the full stack of notes.. had only to differentiation before that..
went off at 7pm, took some night scenes around the area.. one of the shot to death places in sg, so not gonna post pics of that which you haven't seen.. took the train back to Sengkang, had this urge to get a new shirt.. maybe becos I've been going out quite frequently during this hols, and searching through my wardrobe on what to wear.. guys do also give thought on what to wear, just not as much as gals do..

EOS Experience Day

2007-06-16T23:24:00.000+08:00

more sunrise shoots to update.. friday was an unproductive day.. slept half the day away, and slept in the evening after that.. woke up sometime after midnight, studied for abit.. got out of the house at about 5.15.. found out that there wasn't any bus until 5.50, factoring in the time it takes to get there, took a cab to YCK MRT instead.. reached Sembawang at exactly 6am, got something to eat..

Sembawang at 6.17am..
had a bit of time on my hands, so went to a block nearby to take some night (early morning) scenes.. not much traffic around since it a Saturday morning.. took the 6.37am 882 bus to Sembawang park.. quite a short trip, cos the bus skipped all stops since I was the only passenger on board and no one waiting for that bus..
wasn't much to capture.. too cloudy for anything, the sun only peek out of the clouds after 7..

lonesome..

the sky's the limit..
the park is actually quite a nice place for studying.. in the morning at least, shady trees and those stone tables/benches.. read some notes there while waiting for Raidah's reply, I was in the neighbourhood, so asked if she wasnted to have breakfast.. got back to Sun Plaza at 8, waited at mac, read more notes again.. it has been 2 years since we met, back at 05's balloon hat festival i think.. left at 9+, took the MRT back to YCK to change to 76.. luckily it was a double decker bus, not much ppl upstairs, did more reading on the ride to marine parade.. read about Canon's EOS Experience Day so decided to head on down there.. the walk to eastcoast park was long though..
but it was quite worth it.. got to play with their supertele primes (aka the big guns) there.. if you ever watch soccer on TV and seen the sidelines where all the photographers are, you know what I mean..

the $150,000(!) 1200mm f/5.6L lens..
probably the only chance mere mortals like us get to play with this monster of a lens.. incase you're wondering how much "zoom" this thing has.. see the other side of the lagoon? you can capture ppl cycling/running there.. though technically it doesn't have zoom as its a prime lens..

some pics taken by this lens..

the 1D Mk III was also on display there.. it accepted both CF and SD cards, so plugged in mine.. wanted to bring along my 2GB Ultimate card though, but it had some problems.. 10 frames per second is serious crazy.. my 512mb card finished in no time, had to delete some old pics..

what 10 frames per second sounds like..
if you somehow did manage to count exactly how many shots were taken, pls let me know.. hahaa.. could capture the entire squence of a jump, coupled with the incredible AF, hardly any action is missed.. could see why its the professional sport photographer's camera of choice.. also met Timothy there, he was with his dad checking out the cams also, at least he has his own SLR..
started to downpour at about 1.. was stuck inside the tent for sometime before it subsided enough for me to take out my umbrella.. tried more stuff inside, including the full-frame 5D..

my S80 with the monster lens..
took the free ~~shutter~~ shuttle bus back to Bedok.. had lunch at one of the coffee shots, then went to mac to study.. did the maths mock paper.. before long it was 4+, took 25 back to AMK where my dad fetched me.. had dinner at a restaurant near YCK stadium..

more studying

2007-06-15T18:39:00.000+08:00

some updates from thursday.. had a great start in the morning, woke up early.. went to woodlands library to study.. took 161 from the bus stop downstairs, was one of the new wab buses, nice spacious 2nd deck, read some notes on the way.. reached woodlands at about 10, bought some bread from breadtalk.. finished my bread first before heading in.. even though the library had only opened at 10, most of the seats were already occupied.. I imagine ppl were waiting outside the library even before it opened.. found a spot overlooking the rear entrance of the building and got started..

organic chem with my orange pen..
reminds me of orange potassium dichromate, or more related to organic chem, 2,4-dinitrophenylhydrazone, the orange ppt when 2,4DNPH reacts with carbonyl compounds.. spent a fruitful 2.5 hours there, left at about 1+.. walked around causeway point to see what I should have for lunch.. messaged Clement if he happened to be at home, but he was at Sengkang doing PW.. had messaged various ppl before heading out to woodlands if they were studying, but only Jun An replied.. took the train to Bishan.. met him at about 3, though we had some confusion on where to meet.. went to Pastamania to have lunch..

Carbonara served with Linguine pasta..
ordered the country baked pasta while Jun An ordered the above mentioned dish.. pastamania would be a great place to study, not much ppl at this time.. but I don't think they'll allow that.. so went over to the library, found some unoccupied seats but Jun An wanted to charge his hp, so moved to a spot near a power outlet.. finished up on organic chem, Jun An was studying inorganic, so we practically had the complete set of chem notes there.. chalked up another 3hrs of study time.. think I study better with someone else, not only do I get to help a friend, but also revise concepts as I'm explaining it to him..

so anyone up for studying with me next week??

study

2007-06-12T23:47:00.000+08:00

went out to study for the past 2 days.. wanted to do so on Fri, went to sch to return the cam.. took 105 to toa payoh, got something to eat, then 145 to north bridge road.. went to get the 2 rolls of slide developed.. walked to Suntec to take 36, wanted to go to Marine Parade library to study but ended up sleeping on the bus, which stopped at the airport.. quite tired from staying up, wasn't in any mood to study either.. took 27 back home.. wasted another day..

the underground..
Monday was much better.. took 76 to Marine Parade, went to the library..was looking around for a suitable spot when I spotted my sec classmate Daryl there.. quite suprised to see him there, he was with his srjc friend.. joined them since they had some space there.. did some notes on organic chem, he was doing some bio.. spent a solid 1 1/2 hours there, they left first so I was there alone for some time..

went to collect the slides from the shop.. costs a bomb lar, the developing cost almost as much as the film itself.. wanted to ask them to scan it for me, but I looked at the price and changed my mind.. anyway, the pics turned out quite nice.. for those who don't know what slide film is, its basically what you call positive film as oppose to negative film commonly found.. and you can put it into a projector and have an old fashion slideshow..

Slides..
did some DIY scanning, placed my table lamp above the scanner for a light source.. since you need to have light shinning through the film to see it, otherwise it appears very dark.. turned out quite nicely.. decided to just scan the whole strip in together with the sprockets, until I can find a shop that does it at a reasonable price..

took the same route back through the esplanade to get to the bus stop.. took 56 to Bishan, thought I would join Chris at Bishan to study.. went to the library to have a look, abit crowded there.. thought AMK library would be better.. Chris only replied back when I got to AMK, saying they were at Bishan library..
found myself a comfortable seat by the window and got started on organic chem again.. while scribbling my notes, got a feeling that I would meet someone familar here.. looked around and sure enough spotted Yong Huan and Tricia some chairs behind me.. was messaging Tricia if there was an extra space there when spotted yet another familar face.. Daphne from my 1st 3months class, she's in srjc now.. didn't think she'll notice me as she left with her friend..
went over to join the rest of my classmates who were at the library.. Aaron, Dwayne, Yan Hao and Ji Bin were there also.. they;ve been there since morning, spent another 2.5 hours there before we went off..

Sunrise

2007-06-06T23:44:00.000+08:00

what a tiring day.. was looking forward to Tues cos it was suppose to be the day for the zoo outing.. but somehow last min Melissa cancelled cos not much ppl were going.. haven't been to the zoo for some time, at least not with a dSLR..
anyway, went to capture the sunrise since I was already up.. washed up, packed my stuffs and headed out at 6am.. hoped to catch the first bus for 854 to lower seleta reservoir park, heard from Jill its quite nice there.. took 72 to the bus stop, checked the timing for the first bus.. 6.09am, looked at my hp and it was just nice 6.09am.. either I missed the first bus already or it was late.. 854 came at 6.15 and about a 30min ride later alighted before Khatib station..
the sky was beginning to light up as I walked towards the junction..

missed the magical moment of daybreak.. quite a spectular sight, with the rays of the sun stretching over the land.. too bad I didn't have a nice vantage point to capture it nicely..
continued walking towards the park.. quite a misty morning, adds a mysterious atmosphere to everything.. went over to the jetty to get some pics..

Dawn..

nothing much spectular happened.. there were some anglers there fishing, causing the occasional ripple in the otherwise still reservoir.. tranquil waters + misty background + soft light filtering though the clouds + fresh morning air = a great feeling.. didn't even feel like I was in Singapore anymore, like I was transported to a mystic land far far away.. though behind me was the MRT tracks and the road, ppl starting their morning commute to work on a Tues morning..
left at around 7.30, messaged Liying if she wanted to have breakfast.. walked to Khatib MRT then took the 30+ min ride to Jurong East.. some fond memories of Jurong back from 2004.. waited at the Mac nearby for her reply.. waited for an hour there, just playing some games on my hp.. figured she fell asleep, got myself something to eat then went back to the interchange.. still had 2 1/2 hours to spare, took 52 back to Bishan.. 1 hour gone, walked around J8, another hour gone..
had the com meeting with the new ex-co at 12.. discussed about their roles/duties etc, a small handing over session of sorts.. a typical 4 hour meeting later and it was 4pm already.. went out to eat before collecting the cameras for the night shoot Mr Lau was organising..

some shots from it.. then went with Kian Hwee and Zhi Kai to walk around the city area after we got down from the bridge..

Dusk..

double exposure..

Vivo-ing

2007-06-04T23:31:00.000+08:00

some updates from over the week.. went for the PC show on Thurs and Sat.. Thurs with Hafiz, bought a stack of printable DVD-R for the compliation I wanted to do.. then Sat with my Dad, bought a 1Gb ram and the FlipAlbum software.. both I've yet to install..
Fri was Physics SPA Skill A.. reached sch early as usual to study, or more like memorize.. never believed in just memorizing stuff, but this time maybe I should have.. the qns came out exactly like what was predicted.. just feel so dead pulling those words from memory, but far from a perfect answer.. took the bus back home with Chuan Xin, another spate of coincidentally meeting her.. bumped into her on Tues at Vivocity, she was also watching Pirates of the Carribean and same time slot too.. hahaa..
anyway, it was also my mom's birthday on fri, so went out with my family.. went to Vivo, which is the 3rd time this week I've been there.. went to have lunch first, then played pool with my bro for 2 hours.. took the monorail to Sentosa, my first ride on it.. wanted to watch the Songs of the Sea show at Sentosa, but it was full.. walked around the beach for awhile..

tried the pano function of my K810i.. not too bad, though the phone would auto adjust the exposure, then the stitch is very obvious.. had a go at night scenes, which turned out abit disappointing.. though it was better than my prev K750i, had banding issues with that..
Sentosa's changed beyond recognition from the days I first remembered it.. the ferry terminal has been torn down, musical fountain no more, the old monorail dismentled.. dunno if anyone still remembers it, but there used to be a dragon sculpture/fountain.. and the now dysfunct attractions like Fantasy Island and Volcanoland.. while I can't wait for the IR to be built, the Universal Studios theme park and all.. but the old Sentosa I remember now only exists as memories and photos, back in the film era..

pools of light..

today had a movie screening/tour organised by the GP dept.. woke up early to return the Alto Clar first.. met Mr Tan on my way in, met some of my juniors Joshua, Jeremy, Gerald, Kamal.. been 2 years, and their already sec 3 now.. don't wanna say much about the current state of the band..
had some time to kill before the movie screening.. took the MRT to PS, the shops were still closed, nothing much to see.. had breakfast at LJS there, still had 2 more hours.. went to Raffles City next, had this crazy idea to join the queue for the donuts there.. and yes, before the shop was open, there was already a bunch of ppl sitting there waiting.. played tetris while waiting, managed to clear 112 lines.. found out the shop only opens at 12.30 and I was suppose to meet at 12.15.. left at 11.45, after spending about an hour there.. I see why ppl would queue for these donuts though.. hahaa..

PC with Shrek 3..
met Hek Ming first.. knowing how long it takes for the class to get together, wasn't suprising we had to wait some time.. Shu Heng and Wilson came next, the 4 of us started on the tour first, before the rest of the class came.. they didn't miss much though, had another run through of how the pop-corn machine works.. didn't mind another sampling of pop-corn, hahaa..
then had a tour of the projector room.. quite interesting to see how much hard work is put in behind the scenes.. nothing much to see for the digital projectors, the analog ones with film are more interesting.. quite remarkable how such machines can handle a few km worth of film..
the movie itself had lotsa recycled material from the previous 2 Shrek movies.. but there were plenty of laughter throughout.. still think the original Shrek is better, if it didn't cost $6 I prob won't want to see it..
walked around Suntec and Marina Square to look for presents for the upcoming birthdays.. quite tired after walking around so much..

St James Powerstation

2007-05-29T20:29:00.000+08:00

had lotsa fun over the past 2 days.. Monday morning was Chem SPA skill A.. came to sch early to study, abit afraid I won't have enough time to complete cos the last one we did left out the safety and reliability part.. completed it 10 mins early cos I forgot we started 10 mins late.. looked through and filled up some missing info.. well, thats over for SPA, chem at least..
met up with Dave at PS to pass him my 256mb MS Pro Duo for his cam.. he was going off to UK later that evening, with his sch's lit ppl.. lucky him.. ate at Carl's Jr, where we met Mrs Ong.. chatted about the sec sch days.. went to City Hall next to collect the 17-55 2.8 IS which I rented for today.. bumped into Wei Jie at Outram, so went together with him..
the sch organised a little celebration at St James Powerstation.. for the asthetics groups, some of the sports ccas and sc..

Dialogue session..
had a dialogue session with some of the grassroot leaders first.. think half of the ppl weren't really paying attention to what was being said.. most were prob getting used to the environment, myself included, first time stepping into a club..

Have a drink..
Wee Chong preparing to take his first sip.. hahaa.. though it was just Coke and Sprite being served.. then had some fun and games with the emcee.. aka sabo-ing time.. think it was just between the student councillors and the emcee.. some of the teachers were "volunteered" up also.. though not as sporting as the students who were on stage.. after getting the crowd all excited, the dance floor was open..

Dance, dance..
at first, everyone was abit reluctant to get into the groove.. forming a circle where some of the more talented ppl showcased their skills.. but abit disheartening to see some of the band ppl just standing/sitting at the back.. tried to persuade a few to loosen up.. prob something thats out of some ppl's comfort zones.. but how many chances will you get to party like this? many left early judging by how many ppl came in the beginning and how many were there left.. just feel we're so disjoint, unlike the other CCA groups that were there.. they work together, play together and party together.. not saying that we don't, just wish as a whole band that level was higher..

Yea!

Wooo!
but those who stayed on, boy did we have fun.. the bass was power, could feel the pressure wave of every beat.. the teachers and even Mr Kwek were also dancing along..
did some slow shutter effects which turned out quite nicely.. think I could get used to being a clubbing photog.. I won't mind if I was being paid to take pics and have some fun at the same time..

Getting the groove on..

prob the best pic I captured during the whole event.. the lights just happened to be at the right spot at the right time, which accentuates the movements.. shows that teachers not only teach..
came out abit sweaty from all the dancing and jumping around..

took a group pic outside after it ended.. yea, it was held in the afternoon.. didn't think they'll have it at night right.. like distrupt their business.. then went over to Vivocity to have dinner, went to play pool after that.. not really used to playing on the 9ft table.. Chester and I opened up another table to have a 1 on 1.. like playing pool together cos think we find each other quite challenging.. easy can clear one rack before the other table was halfway done..

get together

2007-05-28T01:24:00.000+08:00

some updates over the weekend.. friday was the Get-Ed! seminar organised by the GP department.. prob as a prelude to the next day's GP midyears.. well, these many talks held where you have to sign up for which one interests you.. the topic was on crime and punishment and they had talks from the different various perpectives.. from law, history, biology, to chemistry, art, even econs.. went for two talks from the subjects I wasn't taking, namely Art and Vandalism, and Nature vs Nurture..
for the first session, it was held at the I-Space, quite a cosy number of students there.. Ming Shi and Li En had also signed up for that.. the rest were mostly AEP students I think.. quite an interesting talk, lotsa pics on street art esp the more elaborate ones.. Nature vs Nurture was held in LT4, one of the more popular talks I guess.. well, for me I believe more in Nurture rather than Nature.. which brings me to another quote.. What we are never changes, who we are never stops changing..
went back home to change and had a short nap first.. took 109 to change to either 76 or 43.. a double deck 76 came first, would prefer to take a double deck bus for a long journey trip like this.. arrived at about 7.20, where I met Douglas and Priscillia outside.. Pris was waiting for some friends so me and Doug went in first.. met Ginny during the interval to pass her the ticket money and chocolates I bought.. Douglas was chatting with some of his friends there..
the concert was great overall, prob one of the best I've been to.. think Third Symphony and Spartacus made every cent of the $10 worth it.. though some solos could be better, but the band sound is nice.. finally found out the title of that piece I'd in my com.. Third Symphony 4th Mvt, no wonder it sounded so familar.. had solos for bass clar and bari sax, which was very well played.. Mr Leonard Tan had his individual acknowledging of the graduating batch as the encore piece was playing.. Abba's Thank You for the Music.. and of cos their College Song to end the whole thing..
really think we should have a concert too.. just feel so empty to end with SYF and the ending to SYF wasn't a good one to start with.. we may have our annual band dinner that most other bands wouldn't have.. but it isn't the same as a concert, I mean thats whats unique about bands.. making music.. maybe I'm just abit upset that both NY and Montfort aren't having their concerts this year.. AE XII and Montfiesta 10 respectively..

Saturday had GP mid-years in the morning.. didn't feel it was my best performance, neither was it the worst..

Jack brought the samples for the class tee.. prob one of the latest J2 classes to get our class tee done.. then went to eat lunch together..
then had a bbq gathering which Bernard organised.. it was held at Punggol Park since its convenient for everyone.. went around the park to take some pics before we started.. helped start the fire, which burned quite nicely.. had sambal stingray which was nice, not too spicy.. chatted about the good old times, though it was Alfred being suan most of the time..

a failed attempt to recreate this pic I took a year ago..

the recent birthday boys..

Yu Bin falling for their prank..

lightning

2007-05-24T22:06:00.000+08:00

back to shooting after leaving my cam to collect dust during the SYF period.. the elections for the new ex-co is over already.. congrats to all those who got in.. shall list the new committee thats taking over for the double post I hold in Band and Photog..

Band Ex-Co '06-07
President - Kok Wey
VP (Admin) - Regina
VP (Music) - Leon
Secretary - Annie
Treasurer - Lucius
Welfare/Publicity - Gloria
QMs - Yong De and Jeremy
Librarians - Shao Ming and Chuan Xin

Band Ex-Co '07-08
President - Clarence
VP (Admin) - Wan Ling
VP (Music) - Clement
Secretary - Liying
Welfare - Asnira
Publicity - Priscilla
QMs - Selena and Douglas
Librarians - Jane and Shu Hui

some reshuffling of posts.. Treasurer's job now handled by the VP (Admin) and Welfare/Publicity spilt up..

Photog Ex-Co '06-07
President - Melissa
VP - Zhi Kai
Secretary - Hui Yen
Head Photog - Kian Hwee
Chief Instructor - Jeremy
Dark Room Manager - Wen Zhong

Photog Ex-Co '07-08
President - Shin Wei
VP/Head Photog - James
Secretary - Wan Ling
Chief Instructor - Guang Yuan
Chief Editor - Yan Chao
Dark Room Manager - Yia Chin

for photog, the Head Photographer is also the VP and addition of a new post of Chief Editor.. who would be incharge of selecting and editing the pics for the college website, which I've been handling.. the new photog ex-co seem to be getting along very well, they've given each other some nicknames.. like Wan Ling is Jasmine, Guang Yuan is Steven and Yan Chao is Charles..

been wanting to go out and shoot.. asked Liying whether she's free.. but I fell asleep while waiting for her reply, and its already 6.15pm.. it wasn't possible to take bus now cos 82 takes about 30 min from Serangoon, and I had to get to Serangoon first.. took cab there, Liying was at Serangoon already, picked her up there.. got to Punggol End just after 7, caught what's left of the sunset..

wanted to capture the sunset cos its symbolic.. esp at this point in time when its time for the J2s to hand over the CCA duties to the J1s.. we have our darkest moments, times where we truly shine and times when we fade away.. as a well know saying goes, "time and tide wait for no man"
been trying to get the band together to take some group pics.. SYF just ended so abruptly, with everyone dispersing after the results were announced.. thought I could take some pics back in sch, but everyone had left..
anyway, dark clouds were rolling in.. and there had been some flashes of lightning from the cloud just infront of us.. packed up and left, but before that, captured my first lightning shot..

lighting the city..
just the awesome raw power of nature was a sight to behold.. thats the beauty of nature.. if I had things going my way, I would love to work for National Geographic.. travelling around the globe, experiencing other cultures, appreciating the beauty that is this Earth.. though I know the process would be grueling, spending months researching, weeks travelling, days waiting, just for that shot.. but at least I'm doing what I enjoy doing.. instead of slogging all day through paper work even though the pay is better..
well, I'm just dreaming..

K810i

2007-05-22T00:25:00.000+08:00

some updates from over the weekend.. went for TJ's concert on Sat, was kinda last min decision.. wanted to go catch the sunset but Liying wasn't feeling so well.. went to get a roll of slide film first, grabbed a bite before heading to VCH.. arrived there quite early so just waited.. met Matthew there, been a long time since I've seen him.. chatted with him and some of his friends there.. crapped together again, hahaa.. Matt: "Hey, you're playing the Alto (Auto) Clar now right.." Me: "No, I play the Manual Clar" but he did pronounce Alto like Auto.. try saying those 2 words over and over again really fast.. hahaa..
oh yea, College Day was before that.. wasn't any recipent of any award or such.. just thought some recognition for what I've done would be good.. anyway, the paper chase continues.. don't like the idea that I'll be bounded by a piece of document that would determine what I can/cannot do.. even though thats harsh reality..

changed my handphone on Sun.. my K750i had some problems with the screen.. so goes my faithful companion which captured lots of my sec 4 memories.. photos and memories have been an integral part of my life, so naturally I would choose something that records it well.. thought of getting the K800i at first, but seems like lotsa ppl using it.. so got the K810i instead, its an updated model plus it looks quite stylish..

the glow..
the design is quite unique, has circular metal buttons for the keypad instead of your normal rectangular plastic ones.. since you can't have the metal keys light up, the numbers are on the surface which gives a nice glow in the dark.. the cam's definately much better, has the xenon flash.. but missed the LEDs where I can just shine if I wanna find my way in the dark..

Mon during our break noticed a cat had came into the sch.. the perfect chance for a test-drive of the cam.. the Best Pic function quite useful.. captures 9 shots before you press the button and after you press.. could capture more stuff that I would have otherwise missed..

the week after

2007-05-18T23:27:00.000+08:00

its been one week after SYF, and as what Lucius has said I'm kinda suffering from NBS, "No Band Syndrome" as he puts it.. suddenly feel my fingers getting abit stiff during the week.. well, the week has been quite smooth sailing.. had napfa test on monday, more of a retest since the last week I didn't the desired result.. breezed through the 5 stations as usual, but missed an A for sit and reach by 1cm.. but improved on my standing broad jump, had a score of 267cm.. but the deciding factor was still my 2.4.. the J1s were also having their run, so those J2s who needed to run started at after the bend.. quite different sprinting through a bend rather than straight.. but managed to clock in at 12.27.. so got a silver, not statisfied though..
Thursday was round 1 of the elections for the next committee.. I ended sch at 12.30 and it only starts at 5.30.. so had plenty of time on my hands.. went out to eat with Shao Ming, along with Huai Yu, Chuan Xin and Shirley who went to buy bubble tea.. started to rain quite heavily after that.. had my cam with me, so went out to shoot a pic I had in mind..

cascading water..
risked getting my cam wet for that shot.. wanted to compose it with the "饮水思源" stone behind, but needed a tripod for that.. wanted to get the waterproof casing for my cam to shoot a series I had in mind.. of rainy days, where most ppl won't even think of shooting.. need to refresh my cam skills after not shooting for some weeks prior to SYF..
Elections were held at the double classrooms, though the com wanted one of the smaller LTs.. the J1s were split into 3 groups and each had to say something about themselves.. after that everyone had to vote for their 10 ppl in which the top 15 ppl with the highest votes would proceed to round 2.. the more intentsive Q&A session.. counting the votes was tedious and enjoyable at the same time.. the vie for the last 15th person was interesting..
the election process was slightly different from what we had last year.. ours was just vote for the 10 directly.. got into the top 15, but didn't make it into the ex-co actually.. but it was because Carol didn't want to be in, that I got in.. was abit reluctant to take up the position of QM at first, felt abit weird sitting in with the newly formed ex-co at that time.. think over the past year, being in the com has developed me in many aspects.. resourcefulness is prob one of them.. (yea, feels like I'm writing for SGC now..) well, to the prev ex-co, the teachers and Mr Tan, Thank You for giving me that chance..

SYF 2007

2007-05-12T00:53:00.000+08:00

well, its over.. I shall repeat a phrase which I used in a previous post.. a Silver band no more.. I'll let 3 of my adorable juniors Eunice, Pricilla and Yu Qing break the news to you..

in case you can't figure what word they are trying to form with their fingers..

cos we got a GOLD!

had intensive practice leading up to Friday, till 8+.. Thurs we were excused from lessons from common lunchbreak onwards, but it wasn't really worth for me, cos I already end at 12.30.. hahaa.. had a full dress rehearsal to get a feel how it would be like to perform in our attire.. had a sharing session before we began the serious practice.. there was so much I wanted to say, but it didn't come out.. not really much a verbal person.. lotsa emotions going around as everyone was invited to share their feelings.. for the J2s, our journey is about to come to an end, where for the J1s, they are just starting on theirs.. AE, YPSB, Thailand Trip, the 2 Muse Festivals..
nearing the end of the practice, Li En's Eb suddenly couldn't play.. took a look at it, suspected it was the same problem as my Alto.. the throat G# key was abit leaky.. a simple screw did the job, where as mine had to change the entire pad cos it didn't cover it perfectly.. guess Eb instruments are abit touchy.. didn't practice till that late as with the prev days.. took some pics outside the band room since (almost) everyone had their attire on..

Friday was the big day.. took the teachers' advice and slept early, woke up at 4.50, before the time my alarm clock was suppose to ring.. took about 10mins to get myself off the bed.. hahaa.. had the luxury of time to get to school early, don't wanna add on stress on such a stressful day.. started pouring sometime before 6.. met Ping Chong which I was suprised to see him come so early in such dreadful weather.. passed him the 2nd payment for D&D which we were suppose to pay.. then met James in the canteen while getting something to eat.. talked to him for awhile and congratulated him on getting the VP post.. went to change where I hurt my left thumb while wearing my black shoes.. don't ask me how, there was abit of blood under my thumbnail.. doesn't affect my playing in anyway, but it was painful to do the snapping part for Safari..
before you know it, its already 7.15 which was the time we were suppose to start our practice.. waited for the last person to arrive then we started.. moved off to the fountain area to wait for the buses at around 9.45.. took some pics while we waited..

the lower woodwinds and Christopher..
thought the Alto Clarinet isn't exactly classified under the lower woodwinds.. just that we sit together during band pract.. Chris is just being extra trying to appear in every pic.. hahaa.. didn't bring along our case, luckily the blazer has lotsa pockets to put our stuffs..
encountered some slow traffic along the way, but arrived on time.. waited at the registration area.. Mr Leng was there with HCI, Chris went to say hi to him.. don't think he recognises me from 2 years back.. VJ arrived not long after we did, met Ginny and we wished each other good luck.. got into the tuning room where we had exactly 10 minutes to tune up.. helped Wee Chong tune up, think he got abit anxious as he tended to go abit flat even though he had almost pushed the neck all the way in.. he changed a couple of reeds before settling on one.. my tuning was pretty straightforward.. all the way in, pull out 1mm and its intune..
waited outside while HCI performed.. and fastforward 15 mins later and its over.. there were inevitably some mistakes, the most obvious one was Chester's solo where he missed the first note.. but the rest of it was so well played.. think I did well at Bar I, expressed it like I nv expressed it before but I think I could be louder.. a satifying ending to Sinfonia and we stepped off the stage without any regrets.. well, for myself anyway.. met Yong Xiang when we stepped outside the hall, he came to support us since he used to be from NYJC also.. my "double senior" in a sense..
went back with the bus to keep our instruments.. not everybody went back though, didn't feel like watching the other JCs.. played on the Eb to get a feel how it be like if hadn't made my decision.. made my way back to SCH with the trumpet section cos they were taking MRT there.. went to have a drink at Starbucks with the rest who were waiting there also.. their Banana Javachip was nice.. went off first, to get back my handphone and cam which I left in Chuan Xin's bag..

nice blue skies outside SCH..

met up with Joel there while waiting for the results.. Alif and Gerald were there to watch the other JCs perform also.. Shermann's in CJ now so met him after their performance, Kiong Tai and Tong How were also there with SR.. wished I had rounded them up though, then could have a mini Montfortian gathering, from the past and present.. glad to see my ex-bandmates still continuing in band..
close to 5 and there was a huge crowd forming in the foyer area already.. they could only allow a limited number of ppl that can go into the hall.. we decided upon the J2s, though not all could get in.. it was my first results in the Hall, stayed outside with the band for '05 cos there simply wasn't enough space even for just the ex-co.. quite a different experience all together outside and inside.. inside was much more quiet and without the squeeziness.. collected the scores from Mr Tan since I was sitting at the extreme edge the block.. so came the results.. was thinking in my head "pls don't let it be 3 diff instru, 3 same medals.."

Band No. 8, Nanyang Junior College.. Gold..

the whole bunch of us practically jumped out of our seats.. recorded a audio file of that moment.. shed some tears of joy at that moment.. we went off with a bang, as said by Wee Chong.. met Mr Tay, who had conducted NY before Mr Chiang.. suprised he remembered me after all these years, from Sec 1 till now, 5 years.. think I must have left some deep impression in him, though I met him on several other times.. took some group photos to encapsulate that moment..

the Clarinet Section..

the Clarinet Section 06-07 with Hui Shan..

the Clarinet guys..

me and Ginny..

took the MRT back cos theres no transport provided back.. met my classmates on the way to the band room, Jack asked if we got Gold, just nodded in reply.. then went to eat at J8 after taking our belongings from the band room.. took home the Alto Clar and with the rest of the belongings, it was quite a handful to carry.. met Lian Jie there while the rest were deciding what to eat.. in the end I, accompanied Chester to keep at KFC.. had their meltz which is which messy to eat.. Chester went off first, so I caught up with the rest at the food court.. chatted there till there wasn't much ppl left there eating already.. used my first previleges of being 18 and bought a bottle of Barcardi Lime on the way home..
so I'll just end this post with this meaningful quote.. Success is not a destination, its part of the journey.. and what a wonderful journey it has been!

5 days

2007-05-07T01:21:00.000+08:00

was suppose to post this up earlier, but encountered some problems publishing..

some late night blogging.. well, this time AFTER finishing my tutorials.. this whole weekend been pre-occuppied by band since we're into the final week to SYF.. Sat had practice in the morning, went for lunch before practicing in LT4.. went out to buy a packet of chicken rice and 2 piece of roti prata.. had a craving for roti prata for some time now, wanted to have prata at jalan kayu for breakfast.. watched some DVD of Jap Bands on Clement's laptop.. some awesome playing by their high school bands.. Kok Wey read to us the e-mail Yang Hao sent on after the pract ended.. was quite touched by it, even though he isn't physically going to be with us on 11th May.. really enjoyed the times we had together esp during the Thailand Trip.. in his words (if i remember correctly), no medal is going to be able to express what we have gone though, the friendships we've made..
Sunday was the 2nd and final rehearsal at SCH.. only had to come at 3, had practice in the band room first before having our dinner.. the side gate was locked so Mr Neo offered to buy back chicken rice for everyone.. wasn't exactly for the idea of chicken rice since I had it yesterday already.. sat with Zhi Xiong on the swings to eat, not exactly sure what went through my head at that point of time but became abit emotional.. yes, guys can get emotional sometimes though we normally won't show it..
well, thought about my journey thus far.. 3 SYFs, 3 different instruments..

dug up an old photo I took 2 years back.. prob was my first encounter with Mr Tan..
reached SCH at around 6+.. where VJC had just finished their rehearsal.. met Ginny there, though we didn't talk as much.. they had just gotten hold of a contra-bassoon I think.. quite an impressive sight..
our turn on stage started at 7.. some other conductors were there to watch us while we rehearsed.. felt I played much better for the adante part compared to the previous rehearsal.. dynamic level wise got some comments that we were too loud.. then the woodwind are just overpowered..
got back and its already 9+, got my father to fetch me.. gave Chuan Xin and Xue Qi a lift since they both lived quite near me.. offered Liying a lift also, but she had other plans..

8 Days

2007-05-03T17:14:00.000+08:00

completeing this post which I left off yesterday.. lotsa stuff happening for band as we draw near to the big day.. Monday had PE in the afternoon.. had a throbbing pain in the back of my head on my 4th round.. really did push myself to finish each lap in 2 min, didn't feel as exhausted after 4 laps, but the pain was getting worse.. didn't wanna risk it seeing how my neighbour just went so suddenly 2 years back..
had full band prac afterwards.. worked on more details as a band.. then Tuesday was our 1st rehearsal at SCH.. yea, its Labour Day a public holiday, but we still had to come back.. didn't have breakfast before I came.. had only a 1hr 15min time slot to rehearse in the hall.. the acoustics there obviously much better than our band room.. still only able to marginally hear myself in the recordings for the adante part though.. think its the recording though, the percussion were mighty loud for safari on stage, but the recording they didn't sound as loud..
didn't feel well when we returned from SCH.. felt like throwing up.. Shi Chie asked if I was alright, partly cos he was one of the few guys sitting around at that point in time.. got my dad to fetch me back.. went back to rest, but felt slightly worse when I woke up at 10+.. went back to sleep again and by morning was feeling better already..

Thursday was our lunchtime performance during common lunch break.. asked Yia Chin to help me take some pics of our performance.. the 17-85IS + 400D combo produces some very nice results..

the full band..
17mm isn't wide enough to capture everybody though.. hahaa.. see if you can spot me in the pic.. played our 2 SYF piece.. the glass ceiling of the atrium doesn't project the sound that well, very boomy.. I'm sure lotsa ppl in the canteen had a slight shock when we played Safari.. weird noises from the band, elephant calls, pedal note roars.. I can imagine some ppl going "wth are they playing, so noisy.. sounds like.. (add extra negative remarks from music unappreciative ppl ad. lib.)"

the Clarinet Section with the French Horns behind..
Sinfonia was quite ok.. though there was some very obvious not together parts like the cymbal crash and a saxophone coming in early for the ending.. thats not gonna leave such a good impression on the school population.. but generally, I think we improved tremendously over our last lunchtime performance..

Mr Tan in action..
Mr Quek came to talk to us after we ended our performance.. great to know that we have the support of our principal behind us.. but still feel the general school population isn't that supportive.. of cos for sports CCAs they would be more than happy to go down and support for their finals or something.. cheer and have a fun time.. but for performing arts, its a different kind of support..

8 Days..

13 days

2007-04-28T23:24:00.000+08:00

well, its 13 days to SYF.. have practice everyday till almost 8, then stayed back to do my tutorials after that knowing I won't do them if I went home.. so haven't had the time to blog much these days..
regarding academic life, got back the comments for PW on tues, our group's file was supposedly sent to MOE for dunno what, so didn't get that back.. Wed our Econs teacher didn't come so had an extra 1.5 hour break.. well, almost the whole class went to mac to have breakfast during that 2 hour break we had.. tried the new bagel, didn't know the egg had onion inside..
Wed was the Ex-Co interviews for Photog.. in quite a dilema here, even after narrowing down, we still have 2 strong contenders for my post as Chief Instructor.. whereas the rest of the posts are more or less set.. the standard of the pics we produce largely relies on how well the Chief Instructor can teach the members, so its an important decision.. seems like exactly one year back again, but this time we're the ones giving the interview.. the final rituals before we step down..
Friday was a half-day due to the 30th Anniversary the next day.. bumped into Mr Lau about 1 week back when he asked me if I was going to cover the 30th Anniversary.. told him I was performing, he said it's such a waste if I'm not covering.. he's been quite supportive of me every since the reshuffling of teachers-in-charge, and prob Mr Neo before that, though he doesn't explicitly tells me..
the new cameras came in the afternoon, was still having full band, so he left it in the darkroom first.. well, our playing wise has improved after intensive sectionals.. Bar I of Sinfonia still doesn't sound like what I imagined it to be.. my sound has been better since I got the B44, but still don't find myself doing the "pouring out from the soul" kinda playing.. I want this part to be where the Alto Clar really shines since I'm the only one playing the lower melody with the rest of the clarinet section..
then went to watch a DVD which had a video recording of Sinfonia.. it was by Sienna Wind Orchestra, a jap band.. had some trouble getting it playing at first, but resolved it.. the way the conductor conducts is really emotion, and the musicians themselves just superb.. they didn't do a cameo on the alto clarinettist though, only knew there was one by looking closely at the full band shot..

Today we had a band exchange at HCI in the morning before the 30th Anniversary Celebrations.. and yes, their uniform colour is the exact same shade as the J1s.. went according to SYF appearance order, so we're 2nd to perform.. HCI played Symphonic Overture for their choice piece, one of my fav band pieces.. the opening was nice, woodwinds running notes were nice too.. but the brass intonation can be better..
we were up next.. their chairs were abit too low for my liking.. played Safari and Sinfonia, Safari had a very obvious mistake in the clapping part.. Sinfonia was ok, Mr Tan let us hear the recording of it when we got back to sch.. needs some more refinement..
VJC was there also, except for the Contra-Alto, they had the full expanded instrumentation for the clarinet section.. yea, the straight Contra-Bass is sick.. they played Spartacus, another one of my favs, for the rhythms especially.. then made a new friend today.. Ginny, who also plays the Alto Clar from VJC.. had a nice chat with her since she is the only other Alto Clarinettist there.. all the JCs there had an Eb clarinet, and they're all guys with the exception of us.. they're also playing Safari, so passed her my printed transposed score as she only used pencil markings to transpose the 3rd score.. gotta go print another copy for myself now..
got back to sch at around 1+ for our 30th Anniversary Celebrations.. had to settle some photog stuff since today's a huge event and I'm not covering.. they had some problems at the neoprint booth.. apparently the teacher didn't buy the adapter for the card sized prints.. luckily, I bought the adapter for the V-Day bazaar and its in the darkroom..
went up to the hall and waited for the arrival of the GOH.. had a brass fanfare to welcome the minister, then more waiting as they gave their speeches.. the choir were all decked out in their SYF attire, and we on the other on were just wearing the sch u.. quite contrasting if you ask me.. had to play soft as to not overpower the choir.. alot of the alumni members were present, the college anthem/school song would mean alot to them.. had a resounding round of applause after we played, quite statisfying feeling..

Me and Zhi Kai with our final product..
went down to eat, then met up with Zhi Kai.. took some self portraits of ourselves with the Virtual Tour touch screen panel which was launched today.. Mr Kooi came to congratulate us on a job well done, but still need to update some of the scenes since alot of construction been going on just for today.. opening new sites around the college..

21 days

2007-04-20T23:39:00.000+08:00

first off..

What does it take to get people to tag around here??

I know ppl do read my blog going by the counter.. and yes, this blog may be very factual based, but its not some newspaper you go read and chuck it aside... or maybe I should do a sensationalised post here and shock ppl..

did something foolish on Thurs.. Mr Tan been coming everyday since the sec sch SYF's done.. haven't been playing up to his expectations, my sole reed's dying on me already and its definately not gonna last till SYF.. well it'll last if I take good care not to chip it or anything, but the sound produced ain't gonna be nice.. was abit fustrated with myself.. and the disparity between my music and photography widens.. the issue of talent vs hardwork..
went down to Accent after sch on Thursday.. blew the remaining of my hong bao money from my birthday on a mouthpiece, a ligature and a box of reeds..

bought the B44 mouthpiece and a box of 3.5 reeds.. of cos I could have just billed it to the college, but the Alto clar doesn't even belong to the sch in the first place and knowing how budget-minded the sch is, just don't wanna trouble them.. so there goes a stack of notes I've never see again.. yes, I know I may have just wasted a whole bunch of $$, seeing I probably won't be using it after SYF.. and buying 3 boxes of Eb clarinet reeds when we need more Bb reeds is good allocation of money..
got back to sch on 157/105.. tried out the new mouthpiece, soaked the new reeds in the the film canister which my class gave me as a birthday card along with a pouch.. the most unique "birthday card" I've ever recieved.. they wrote on a strip of film which you had to unfurl to read.. the mouthpiece sounds brighter than the one that came with the instrument, and new reeds are such a relief, need to season it more though..
Mr Tan came with lotsa new reeds for the woodwinds.. got another 2 boxes of 56 reeds and V12 reeds.. though I would have prefered him not to get all the same strength, 3.5 may be slightly too hard for some of the J1s.. got Tenor Sax reeds which Christopher has been asking for some time.. and as I expected he didn't get my reeds.. it doesn't matter anyway..

just leave me to walk this path alone.. emotions capped inside with no one to turn to.. screaming my lungs out, crying it out.. the inner strength subsides and the flame diminishes, everyday a challenge.. in this time of need, looking out for that guiding light, can't you see I need you? heck, just leave me to walk this path alone..

18

2007-04-14T00:05:00.000+08:00

its already past midnight.. meaning its the 14th of April! well, as usual didn't recieve much birthday wishes.. Kok Wey was the first to wish me, follow by Jill next.. msged Annie to wish us happy birthdays, cos we share the same birthdate.. though not the same year, Annie's 2 years older than me (can't really tell right..)

*I'll continue this post later, got quite some stuff that I wanna blog about.. night..

starting off with Thursday.. a short day of lessons as per normal.. it was also the 4th day for the Sec Sch's SYF, Montfort was no. 97, the first band for the 2nd half of the afternoon session.. so had some time before their 4pm slot.. figured that this would be the only slot I'm free enough to get it before Sat so took 156 to Bukit Timah..
had a pleasant suprise as I boarded 156..

the whole interior of the bus was retrofitted with stylish white leather seats.. part of an advertisement campaign for Nokia.. quite cool.. changed to 157 to Accent.. bought 2 boxes of Vandoren 56 rue Lepic reeds as part of my birthday gift to the section.. (yes I know its ironic that I'm giving presents out for my birthday, instead of the other way round..) don't wanna reveal the exact cost, but lets just say 2 blue notes were used..
it rained during this whole time, and there wasn't any shelther to the building.. got abit soaked, luckily I brought an extra set of clothes.. took 174 to Orchard and 700 to SCH.. wasn't quite sure where to alight, so ended up walking back to SCH.. they had just arrived as I approached the entrance.. lotsa familar faces with some new ones.. went to see the clarinet section, they had just gotten new RCs.. very shiny, unlike some of NY's RCs.. hahaa..

caught up with my batch-mates there, namely Gerald, Sean, Joel, Desmond, Matthew and Thomas.. actually most of the alumni's that went to watch were from my section.. missed the times we spent together as a section.. it really the process rather than the results..

Wee Chong and Douglas were there also to support Maris Stella who were immediately after Montfort..

the band..
they played Sunrise and Flight of the Falcon.. hearing how both pieces turned out, it confirmed what I already had in mind.. then watched the other bands play, Maris was quite good.. they got Gold as I predicted.. Bedok North's rendition of Safari was fun to watch.. losta visual effects from the band on top of the sound effects written on the score.. too bad they don't do video recording for SYF.. hahaa..
when the results were announced, we were a Silver band no more.. and so continues the alternate Silver/Bronze trend.. at least my batch managed to buckle that trend.. just when would the glory days return again..?
well, with Sec Sch's SYF over, its time to focus on my own SYF.. as with Montfort, I'm part of the batch with all hopes for a Gold pinned on us again..
then went to the Grassroots Club to have dinner with my family.. Fri and Sat evening's I won't be free so having it on Thurs.. overslept on the train and ended up in Khatib but still made it on time for the dinner..

Friday the 13th again, started the day off on the wrong foot.. overslept, was wondering why it was so bright outside when I woke up.. but made it in time for the first period.. another long day, chem and phyiscs practs were enjoyable.. newtonian mechanics for phyiscs, which involved projecting a ball bearing.. and kinetics for chem, which involved thiosulphate and acid..
Mr Tan came to see us for sectionals, assign the parts for J1s.. need new reeds for my Alto Clar though, chipped 2 reeds already and surviving on my sole reed..

Saturday, 14th April.. as mentioned above, Kok Wey and Jill were the first to wish me on the stroke of midnight.. anyway, wanna thank all those that wished me Happy Birthday.. from band, Kok Wey, Annie, Hui Shan, Gloria, Wee Chong, Li Ying, Clement, Christopher.. from my class, Angie, Tricia, Wilson, Yuan Ting, Jun An.. my good friends Jill, Heng Tee, Alfred, Bernadette, Charmaine..also wanna thank Yia Chin, one of the photog J1s, and Yu Jing from YPSB.. two of whom I was quite suprised that they knew about my birthday and bothered to wish me even though they don't know me so well..

a big THANK YOU!

then it was Gloria's usual celebration of birthdays after practice.. quite glad to be able to share a birthday with Annie.. something that only has a probability of 1/365 of happening assuming its a Poisson distribution.. hahaa..
wrapped the 2 boxes nicely in a striped wrapping paper the night before and presented it to the section.. Huai Yu and Wei Jie were pushing it to each other on who should accept it.. gave it to Wei Jie to open it since he is afterall the SL..

anyway, some fun pics after band..

Chester pretending to be a Clarinet..
then went to J8 to eat together with Annie, Kok Wey, Alan, Wee Chong, Shao Ming and Yong De.. went to the food court upstairs to eat.. Wee Chong made me not pay for my meal since it was my birthday and treated me..
went to get a copy of Command and Conquer 3 as a present for myself.. been wanting to play it since I've heard about it.. quite a fan of the C&C series..

my fruitty cake..
wasn't much a celebration unlike last year.. it doesn't feel like a coming of age thing that I thought it would be when I was younger.. oh well..
anyway, been quite a disappointing few days in terms of results.. got back PW results.. got a D.. sometimes I don't understand why I don't perform well for the actual thing.. recieved lotsa postive comments leading up, but just fail to live up to expectations..