blog@minphotoart.com

Project 53: 7 Body Parts

2011-02-21T19:42:00.000+08:00

That (body parts) of a salted flower crab

Project 53: 6 Sleep

2011-02-21T19:32:00.000+08:00

A couple, so tired from their backpacking that they slept outside the restaurant at Changi Airport while waiting to check in.

Come to think about it, it's actually quite cool to backpack.

Project 53: 3. Breakfast

2011-01-20T00:21:00.001+08:00

Breakfast is usually coffee bought from kopitiams, but it does help rewarding oneself once in a while nice a nice latte.

On a side note, Starbucks is changing its logo to venture into non-coffee business.

Project 53: 2. Cold

2011-01-20T00:15:00.001+08:00

Nothing heals better than ice cold beer and good company, thank you for being there!

Project 53: 1. Newness

2011-01-20T00:09:00.001+08:00

Since I have forgotten myself a new compact camera, I shall start a new personal photography project: Project 53. Everyweek, I will shoot for a theme as laid out by Digital Photography School’s 53 Weekly Themes For Your 2011 Project 365

Week 1: Newness

One of the first few mornings of year 2011

Feeling down

2010-09-27T00:10:00.001+08:00

Feeling blue lately, wonder what is the purpose of all these

Unagi Set @ PGP Air-con Canteen

2010-09-25T21:24:00.001+08:00

When the Monkey serves you crab

2010-09-20T20:38:00.001+08:00

They serve pretty decent food & deserts, it used to be the case that their brownie was awesome. Nowadays, it’s average. The new menu has some interesting & value for money sets though. Such as the softshell crab with pasta set.

Softshell crab with pasta set

$9.80 served with soup of the day, wedges & slices of watermelon

Munchie Monkey, National University of Singapore

Dhoby Gaut

2010-09-12T00:53:00.001+08:00

Happened to be at Dhoby Gaut area around 6pm today, totally amazing lighting & thank goodness I have my camera with me. Did a short walk from Singapore Arts Museum and Plaza Sing. I’m so loving my newest lens!!

Sunset @ Singapore Art Museum

Singapore Arts Museum again, apparently, this was a chapel converted school converted Museum

Small flower along the road side

In black & white

Light & shadow

School of the Arts Singapore, aka SOTA

Howsome, it appears to be grammatical wrong to me, shouldn’t it be Singapore School of Arts?

Papa Palheta

2010-08-29T23:20:00.001+08:00

Nice place for coffee & chillax

Almost out of a sudden, a lot of places are serving ice water that comes in a liquor bottle

Beef Appreciation with ieatishootipost

2010-08-29T23:10:00.001+08:00

21 Day Dry-aged US Prime Ribeye $27/250g

$70 for a beef appreciation session? worth it!!

For that amount of money, I get to:

a) taste 4 kinds of steak, including the awesome 400 day Grainfed Australian Wagyu ribeye (priced at approx $34/250g)

b) learn how easy it is to cook a steak

c) stop believing in those restaurants that sells me a piece of average steak & ask for $30++

d) to my part for charity

Anyway, enough talk, here are the photos from the beef appreciation session.

Chef Mervyn Phan taking a quiet moment before the start of the session

Dr. Leslie explaining what is marbling score

Australian Grassfed Ribeye

Surprising it, I like the beef-iness of the Grassfed steak over the Grainfed ones

Burn, baby, burn!! You need to get the pan smoking hot so as to seal & brown the steak

150 Days Grainfed Black Angus Ribeye

150 Days Grainfed Black Angus Ribeye Medium Rare

This is how a medium-rare steak should look: brown on the outside, pink in the centre. Most steaks are best enjoyed medium-rare, with the exception of Wagyu. The next time the restaurant serves you a bloody steak, reject it & ask for the chef! That’s raw! Not medium rare!

Another shot of the 21 days Dry-aged US Prime Ribeye

400 day Grainfed Australian Wagyu Ribeye

The only photo I had of the Wagyu Ribeye. The restof the time, I was busy wiping off my drool!! Look at the awesome marbling! It’s called Wagyu for a reason!

Durian Degustation (July 2011)

2010-07-11T22:47:00.001+08:00

Nothing beats concluding the week of Graduation Ceremony + First day of work + Birthday + Ultimate Team bonding with a big durian feast organized by Dr. Leslie Tay from ieatishootipost.com. Durian Degustation has become almost a tradition for me & my durian Kahkis, looking forward to another awesome durian season in end of the year.

For a token sum you get the best varieties of durians such as Golden Phoenix(金凤), XO and Mao Shan Wang (猫山王)! Life with durian is good!

Nonetheless, due to the large rainfall this period, the durian texture is more watery/runny than the previous season. If you like your durian dry, pray for a trier December 2010! Anyone interested please let me know, it’s very hot stuff, we’ll try to book early as a group, heard this time’s registration is full in less than 3 hours or so.

Hong Xia

Dr. Leslie Tay from ieatishootipost.com & Ah Loon

Ah Loon, introducing the line up of durian varieties: Hong Xia, D13, Penang Hong Xia, Golden Phoenix, XO, & the King of Kings of Fruits – Mao Shan Wang/猫山王!!

Durian Kahki No. 1

Durian Kahki No. 2

Durian Kahki No.3 – pangseh!!!

The legendary King: Mao Shan Wang/猫山王

The whole gang of Durian Kahkis!! It’s a totally wholesome experience eating durian by the roadside, something that you will never get when you choose to “tah-bao”

Check out the size of the seed! I think this is Golden Pheonix

ASEAN Youth Cultural Forum 2010

2010-06-12T21:16:00.001+08:00

View more here

National Canoe Championship 2010

2010-06-03T23:15:00.001+08:00

I always love to photograph K4 races. They are fast, full of vigor & everyone just showed joy that’s so natural & precious.

Man’s K4

True sportsmanship is one where you still hug & love your competitors after the race

KIEV 88 Review

2010-05-17T00:44:00.001+08:00

I’ve always been curious about medium format cameras, especially so for Hasselblad. With the price of film cameras tumbling down, expensive Hasselblads can be bought at a fraction of their original prices. Nonetheless, it still remain as an expensive camera.

Kiev 88, on the other hand is a much cheaper alternative. Hailed as the Haassellblad-ski, Kiev 88 looks very similar to a Hasselblad. The history of the 2 brands goes back to the post-WWII period where a lot of the German optics, technologies & technicians were transferred to the former USSR. These half-brothers even share some of the modules such as the film cartridge & prism finders. Built in Kiev Arsenal Factory in Kiev City, Ukraine, the Kiev 88 is surprisingly still in production.

I was fortunate to have borrowed a copy of the 1985 version from my friend Patrick and brought it for a shoot at The Southern Ridges. I was really impressed by the camera and thought i should share a bit with those who are as clueless as I was.

Where to get it

A new copy of the Kiev 88 can be bought through Kiev USA or Kiev Cameras at around USD $475 depending on the versions and modifications made. The kit usually includes the following:

Kiev 88 camera body
1 or 2 120 (6X6) film cartridges
MC Arsat 80mm f2.8 lens
Waist level finder
Spot TTL prism

Of course, the package may include other small things such as lens, body cap & camera strap.

Locally in Singapore, all you could get are pre-owned units. They are mostly the older versions, not the new versions that comes with the TTL prism. My friend Patrick has put up one unit (1985 version) for sale.

The Lure

Price!! For less than USD $500, you get the Hasselblad’s half brother, a fast f2.8 lens and a medium format camera that is built like a tank. with modified lens mount, you can fit Carl Zeiss lenses on a Kiev 88 a definite plus for those who believe that lens is more important in image quality and camera is just as good as a black box.

The Catch(es)

Kiev 88, like many Russian cameras, has quite a few problems.

First, the weight. The whole standard kit of body, film cartridge and lens weighs a whopping 2.2kg!! Yeah, TWO POINT TWO kilograms! Put it around the neck and you will feel the weight. So this is definitely not a camera that you want to put it in your bag and carry it everywhere you go. But if you are those who likes bulky & sturdy camera, this is a plus for you.

Then comes the issue of the film advance knob. The Kiev 88 has an unforgiving film advance knob. You have to first advance the film, then change the shutter speed. Do it the wrong order and you will be sure to experience a total meltdown of the film advance mechanism. The cost of that? USD $100 plus shipping as Patrick found out when his friend unknowingly did just that. The Kiev 88’s mechanism is so complicated that even the famous Camera technician, Mr. Tay (here in Singapore) would steer clear of it. The only solution is to send it back to it’s Arsenal Plant.

While the above 2 issues are widely blogged by kiev fans. The shutter button is an issue that’s less glaring and more personal. It takes way too much strength for me to push down the shutter button. I have to press so hard that my framing went off quite a bit.

Last and most important, Kiev 88 is famous for having inaccurate shutter speed and total internal reflection. It’s best that you get a copy that is checked for consistent shutter speed or send it for a thorough check after purchasing a pre-owned copy.

Built & Handling

Kiev 88 is like a tank. It’s solid and robust and capable a taking a few strikes. With a weight reducing strap, it was not so hard for me to carry it for more than 3hours. But this is not the camera that i will carry on a long expedition for sure.

The handling is cumbersome. After each exposure, the mirror flips up, allowing light to enter the camera body. If your Kiev 88 has a cloth curtain, then the focused light beam will burn a hole on the shutter, exposing the film in the film cartridge compartment.

The film advance knob takes a great deal of strength to turn also. Every time I turn it, I will be fearing if one spring will just jump out or the know gets reaped off.

Conclusion

The Kiev 88 is an affordable medium format camera that offers great value for money and image quality. It’s a good beginner’s MF camera but i foresee that one will grow out of its system give some of the inherent design flaws.

Sample Images

The images are taken with Lucky SHD ISO 100 and Fuji RVP ISO 100

Camera Porn Sunday

2010-05-09T20:52:00.001+08:00

Inspired by the flickr blog’s Camera porn Friday, here is my very own version of the Camera Porn Sunday :)

Yashica GSN

KIEV 88 (this camera is made in 1985)

Hungry

2010-04-27T02:28:00.001+08:00

Middle of the night & I felt a sudden urge for food. Cookies cant seem to help, then I was looking back at some of the food I had back at home over the Chinese New Year. Gosh!! I miss the food back at home man!

2010-04-11T16:12:00.001+08:00

National Junior Canoeing Championship 2010

2010-04-09T22:16:00.001+08:00

It was an unique experience. Never in my life time experience have I seen canoeist peddling so hard despite the heavy downpour. Luck wasnt on their side during the 2 days of National Junior Canoeing Championship. It rained a lot, sometimes halfway through a race. Tet they peddled with such zest!

Here is my visual account of the canoes, the supporters amidst the rainy competition.

More at http://www.flickr.com/photos/minphotoart/sets/72157623690334535/

Work In Use: NUS Business School

2010-04-09T21:37:00.001+08:00

Genting

2010-04-04T00:48:00.001+08:00

On the way to Raub to attend a wedding, we spent about 10hours at Genting while waiting for our transport to the quiet and peaceful town of Raub.

Genting was quite a disappointment, the facility looked ran down and Casino is something that is too complicated for me. But at least I did not lose any $$ in gamble.

Cable car ride

Heading to Raub

Best milk tea in Raub, Ya Kun has finally met its match!

Wanton with Char Siew! The noodle was hand-made with technique passed down through 2 generations

Best Siew Bak I’ve had in my life!!

Pauline & Bryan

2010-04-04T00:36:00.001+08:00

I really had a blast covering Pauline & Bryan’s wedding in Malaysia!! Held in the quiet & relax town of Raub, the wedding was traditional fused with loads of great fun! The sisters were the ultimate pros in making life hard for the Groom, some parts were really hilarious man!!

STAGE

2010-03-22T15:04:00.002+08:00

Everyone has a stage where he belongs,

find that stage can be hard,

but it’s a journey that we all have to embark

Work in Use: Singapore Heart Foundation

2010-02-04T23:57:00.001+08:00

Work in use: Hwa Chong Institution aka THE Chinese High School

2010-02-04T00:09:00.001+08:00

I was browsing my alma mater’s webpage to update myself of the latest happening that are taking place and i saw this:

and i went Woaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!!!

For friends who know me & freelance practice, they know that I’m pretty particular about copyright and use of my works. But when it comes to Chinese High I’m not, I’m totally not particular about it! The very fact that the school is still using this photo makes me feel so honored!!

A little about this photo:

Shot using Canon 500N (Film Camera) on Kodak negative (dun expect me to remember the ISO of the film) developed by then “35mm color lab” now “Fotohub”

I was at the national stadium for National Schools Track and Field Championship. I managed to talk my way to get a pass to go down to the track (It used to be that you need a pass to be on the track, I’m not sure how does the system work now). This guy came running, what caught my eye was the bandage on this thigh and his facial expression. I was most probably thinking: “Totally befitting of the spirit of 自强不息”, and most probably that’s how I took the shot.

Coming back to photography & Chinese High, that where I started it as a hobby. We were fortunate to have very supportive teachers and technicians: think in terms of getting 4-6 rolls per person to shoot a sport event. Never mind if you screw up all 216 exposures; think in terms of taking photos of the PM/MP etc, never mind if you fall while taking photos, the PM/MP or the principals are kind enough to help to get up, never mind if your photos did not turn out nice, there will be a senior who is shooting beside you. That’s how I learned and that’s why I won’t mind. Oh and there is my unofficial mentor to thank Mr. E, he likes low profile, so let’s keep it as Mr. E =D

Photo Project 2: Clementi Wet Market

2010-01-28T22:23:00.001+08:00

Traditional markets are so charming!! They have things so interesting, people so friendly that I just cant resist doing a mini photo project on it!

It involved a total for 3 visits to the market for me and the people around me to become comfortable with a camera among them. The project used a mixture of film and digital as media for recording.

Braised duck hung in fr0nt of a hawker stall, just after i snapped this shot, the owner came waving to me at the window, asking me not to take. I walked away happily, knowing that I’ve got what I want.

An “Auntie” trying to figure out which pack of dried goodie is better

This uncle is an interesting character: he noticed me with my camera on my first visit. We chatted a little, I liked the way his roasted stuff are displayed but did not pressed on to ask for a picture. On my second visit, we chatted about the market and that it’s gonna be closed for renovation in March 2010. I was lamenting about how the old-school markets are so charming, and he asked: “why don’t you take a photo for me, so that I can keep it!”. GREAT!! Just what I wanted. I took 2 snaps, this is the one he likes more. Printed in Super-8R and gave him on the following week. He almost gave me a roasted duck drumstick for that, haha!!

The fish mongers

Coming up: Photo Project2. Clementi Wet Market

2010-01-25T10:58:00.001+08:00

Marche @ Somerset

2010-01-25T10:17:00.001+08:00

Since I did not take any photo at the ieatishootipost durian degustation v session, I shall post something else vaguely related to food.

Marche @ Somerset is gorgeous in terms of decor, the furniture made me feel as if I’m somewhere else but not Singapore.

Anyway, I’m loving the squares of my new medium format TLR :)

Singapore Canoe Marathon 2010 (II)

2010-01-19T19:58:00.001+08:00

The canoeist and their teammates demonstrated great team spirit during the marathon! Here’s some photos that touched me:

In need of a quick cool down? Here comes the help

Teammates passing sweets and water at the feeding lane at portage area

another water station

Comforting their teammates after a tough match

Singapore Canoe Marathon 2010 (I)

2010-01-19T19:44:00.001+08:00

It has been my third year covering the Singapore Canoe Marathon. Every year, i walked off with shoots that made me feel that all the sun-burn was worth it. This year is no exception.

Other than the usual action-packed shots of participants doing the portage and peddling on the water, I managed to get something different this year too :)

Participant running out of water with his Canoe

Another participant mustering all his strength to keep the canoe overhead while doing the portage

Young female participants taking part in the grueling race. I take my hats off to ‘em!

More photos at http://www.flickr.com/photos/minphotoart/sets/72157623114463303/

Coming up: Singapore Canoe Marathon 2010

2010-01-19T09:58:00.001+08:00

More photos tonight :)

Singapore CBD Waterfront

2010-01-10T03:23:00.001+08:00

I’ve been wanting to shoot the CBD water front! In fact i came up with a list of the locations that I want to shoot over the holidays. So far, only 2 projects are completed. Well, we’ll see how many more I can do.

Besides, I’ve been dying to get a medium format camera too! So this year, I bought myself my first medium format: Yashica 124 6X6 TLR. Definitely not one of the best medium formats, but it’s good enough for TLR newbie like me!

My recent works shot on positive slides also encouraged me to do try more slides.

So shortly before the new year, I combined all the 3 things i want! The result was me carrying my Yashica 124 loaded with Kodak EPP slides & tripod down to the esplanade water front. It’s really an awesome view from there!

Started off by ‘hi-jacking’ someone’s canon 500D to get the exposure. He must be shocked. He was taking photo of his girlfriend, i waited for him to finish and just walked over, told him something and started pushing buttons on HIS camera!!

After 12 frames & about half an hour, I was done, carrying my gears back & hopping the slide will turn out well.

What follows was the long wait before for the slides were developed.

But it’s all worth the wait!! I haven’t seen such rich colors for a long time!! Slides are really wonderful in reproducing colors!!

A film camera + rolls of good slide film = poor man’s full frame dSLR :)

This is Ubin

2009-12-28T00:16:00.001+08:00

We spent 2 days at Pulau Ubin trekking and building catapults that shoots tennis-size sand bags over huge distances. Along the way i got a few snapshots of the creatures & flowers @ Ubin too. It’s a great place for photos, just a pity that I did not have the time to go up to the hills to get a photo of the quarry.

Shopping trip!

2009-12-23T00:08:00.001+08:00

I love shopping… in supermarket :)

Olympus XA

2009-12-21T23:45:00.001+08:00

Open area @ NUS Engineering

It’s wonderful that even a compact film camera can create such interesting shoots :)

How to maximize your lens’ sharpness

2009-12-14T15:41:00.001+08:00

It is a popular believe that kit lenses are not sharp & photo-worthy. But truth to be told, kit lenses’ quality has been increasing and their performance are way better than their predecessors! In fact, some of us are still not satisfied with the sharpness that we get from those expense lenses such as the Canon L lenses. Other than having a good breathing technique to avoid camera shake, here is another trick to boost your lens’ sharpness.

It’s pretty straight forward: do not shoot wide open.

Shooting wide open means taking photos with the widest possible aperture of the lens. To put it simply, if it’s a f3.5 lens, use aperture f4 or f5.6 and you will see a great improvement in sharpness. The reason is simple – for most of the lenses, they are not perfect. Their performance varies at different apertures and the sharpness at its widest aperture is definitely not the best.

This photo is most probably shot with the 450D kit lens, Canon EF-S 55-250mm f/4.0-5.6 IS, instead of trying to shoot at f4, I used a higher f-stop to bring out the best sharpness of the lens.

Work in Use: Business Times

2009-12-14T15:24:00.001+08:00

It was a great pleasure to cover the public lecture delivered by Professor Zvi Bodie on “The Next Generation of Life-cycle Investment”. It was a even bigger surprise that the photo I shoot was used by Business Times and published on 14 Dec!

My sincere thanks to everyone who helped to make it possible!

Coming Up soon: Strobist shots

2009-11-12T00:22:00.001+08:00

I went to shoot a movie production about 2 weeks ago, made use of some wireless set up and some break time in-between to try lighting a deserted HDB house, strobist way :)

The actual shots will be up at a later date, but there are the set up shoots:

Dimly-lit abandoned HDB unit

Lit with off-camera flash

Busy

2009-11-05T01:33:00.001+08:00

Crazy week last week, crazy week the coming weeks

But anyhow here is a little video teaser as to what I shot over the weekend

Works of Henri Cartier-Bresson

2009-10-31T17:20:00.001+08:00

Clouds outside Central Library

2009-10-24T01:40:00.001+08:00

It’s such a refreshing sight -- stepping out of the central library, and I saw clouds, in formations that looks like fish scales and the magical touch of golden light landing on one of the buildings.

Open Field at NUS

2009-10-22T19:01:00.001+08:00

Field at NUS

I’ve been wanting to shoot this photo for every long! Every time i run at the field, I told myself that I need to take a shoot here. But, the point is, I don’t run very funny and surely I don’t run with a camera around my neck.

Darkroom Workshop

2009-10-20T20:23:00.001+08:00

Held a black and white film developing session together with Charles over the weekend. It’s great to know what there are still many who have interest in traditional darkroom.

Here are some photos to share.

Photo by Deng Mao

The last train home

2009-10-12T00:22:00.001+08:00

Empty MRT carriage on my way back

It’s great to be in an empty train carriage once in a while, play a little bossa nova tune, and think about what has been going on in my life.

Just hang in there!

2009-10-06T23:09:00.001+08:00

This week is a crazy one, with project deadlines & other works piling up.

I know I just have to hang in there. There is a very famous saying: “the easiest day was yesterday!”

Post recess week blue?

2009-10-01T22:53:00.002+08:00

Feel like plugging in the earphone, lay on my bed & just forget about everything :)

How to get sharp photos in low light

2009-10-01T17:50:00.004+08:00

You are is a dimly-lit restaurant, the ambience looks great, you whipped out your camera and take a shot. The flash pop-ed & your photo looks horrible. You manually switch off the flash and try again. No more ugly flash but the photo looks blurred. Sound familiar?
Other than carrying a tripod everywhere, controlling the way you breathe helps to reduce camera shake significantly. Ever heard about the breathing technique of a sniper they teach in army? This is exactly what you can use to reduce camera shakes!

Holding your breathe when pressing the shutter button may be way too instinct and we all thought that it’s the right way. WRONG!
“Breathe normal and steady, don't hold your breath … sharp shooters are trained to squeeze the trigger while exhaling as the body tends to relax during that portion of the breathing cycle”

Light & shadow

2009-09-24T01:32:00.001+08:00

Once upon a time

2009-08-25T02:40:00.002+08:00

when i was small and Christmas tree was tall

Photos from Paul Seow’s Workshop

2009-08-24T00:34:00.001+08:00

Attended Paul Seow’s food workshop over the weekend. I did not know food photography could be such a pain till I went for his workshop. Food photographers’ attention to details can get really freaky some times. Anyhow, i shall try my best to do good food photographs.

I did not realize the problems in this photo until he pointed ‘em out

The prawn is upside down
The chive is not fresh & nice looking
the part of the lime where the stem used to be should be hidden from the viewers
there is a piece of ‘extra noodle’ b/t the prawn and the lime

Gasp!! Almost outrageous level of attention to details!

The only photo that he was interested is the sushi photo below. “But wait”, he said and after a long pause, “ the spacing between the 2nd sushu (orange) and the 3rd sushi (yellow) is too near, I would have moved it further.” I was UTTERLY speechless.

nameless Rojak Stall at Bishan St 24 – it doesn’t get anymore crunchier

2009-08-17T03:04:00.001+08:00

Rojak, the Singaporean version of salad, seems to be an easy dish to prepare – Cut up some pineapple, Benkoang/African Turnip, raw mango and ginger flower, toast some deep-fried flour dough (you2 tiao2) and “tau pok”, mix them up in shrimp paste, sugar and chilli. Wahla! You are done!

Maybe not!

Trust me, it’s not! I’ve tried at least 3 other stalls in the recent 2 months or so. Guess what? None of ‘em could even come close to the one at Bishan St 24!

Most Rojak stalls failed miserably in making sure that the fried flour dough and “Tau Pok” is well toasted & crispy. As a result, you end up having Rojaks which are so soft & soggy! This stall does it so well that you could hear the “Tau Pok” being crushed as you chew!!

Another big problem, many stall owners goes way too easy with the minced peanut! This stall is different! The uncle really makes sure that the minced peanut covers at least the bulk of the dish! I’m sorry if you are allergic to peanuts! You just missed something wonderful!

What else? The uncle is nice. He’d remember your preference if you come back every week or so!

Just one last note, never take-away for this Rojak, you will be sure to pass it off as normal or even substandard one!

del.icio.us Tags: food,Singapore

10 Photography Quotes that You Should Know

2009-08-12T00:25:00.002+08:00

http://digital-photography-school.com/photography-quotes
My favourite quote is inside as well :)
“ Which of my photographs is my favorite? The one I’m going to take tomorrow. – Imogen Cunningham

The Curry Wok – it just tastes like home

2009-08-10T01:58:00.001+08:00

As a true blue CHS student & Hwa Chong-ian, Curry Wok is no stranger. In fact, we were most probably the first batch of customers when Curry Wok opened its doors :) No kidding! After being so used to the “Ke3 Ai4 Ji1” Fried Chicken, Thai Noodle House, Prince Cafe Western set meal & a Chicken Rice cum Tze Char stall (for which I somehow can’t recall the name), Curry Wok was a good alternative.

Anyway, in those good old days, it used to be the case that we walk in with school uniform, pay 5 buck for a minimum of 4 pax & the uncle will feed us with around 3 dishes and some lime juice.

Since I have left the college and moved out the such a food haven, my craving for Curry Wok & its food have been building up. Oh, and did I mention? It serves good Nonya food. One day came when we trooped down all the way from Clementi and charged at the food. Well, I hope I made a decent recommendation.

Btw, pay attention to the plates that were used to serve the rice & braised pork, pretty nostalgic stuff.

The big picture (Fried Tofu, Ngoh Hiang, Braised pork knuckles, Otak & Nonya Chap Chye)

The Drinks: Grass Jelly in Lime Juice for those who really love sour & wanna ticker their taste buds a little. The lime juice is still good as it was. Fresh blast for the mouth & mind, sure to keep me awake in a lazy afternoon like this.

The appetizer(?): Fried Tofu & Ngoh Hiang and the chilli

The Ngoh Hiang is one of their signature dishes at Curry Wok, it was just good as it used to be also. Maybe just a little soft :( I’ll be sure to come during early lunch hours so they don’t get cold & soft. The chilli is shiok too! Goes way too well with the rice that I had to ask for a second serving LOL.

Another close up of the Ngoh Hiang

Braised pork knuckles! Another must-try dish at Curry Wok. Contrary to its looks, the pork doesn’t taste oily at all! In fact, it must probably taste less oily than the average KCF chicken.

Curry Fish Head

The Curry Wok

5 Coronation Road

#01-04 Coronation Arcade

Singapore River Photo Walk

2009-08-09T18:44:00.002+08:00

The big bird and small birds

Such a pity that the birds are too small to be seen in the photo.

Happy National Day

2009-08-09T00:32:00.002+08:00

From LASALLE college of the Arts

Life is Fragile

2009-08-08T23:48:00.001+08:00

2 young people committed suicide at the railways near the overhead bridge over at Bukit Timah (King Albert Park) this morning. What connects me with ‘em is the fact that I was there less than 48hrs ago doing a mini photo walk! Never had we thought that we were visiting a would-be suicide ground.

Albeit the fact the place was not as interesting as i expected for photo shoot, I think i’m gonna miss it, for a while. At least, for a while this place will be out of bound to the public. But months later, years later, people will forget about it and move on with their life. This place will be opened again. Dying does no solve the problem. As someone once told me: “Why suicide? If you are not even afraid of death, what obstacles in life will you be afraid of?”

Life is fragile, handle it with prayers & love

Time to relax :)

2009-08-02T22:40:00.002+08:00

Enjoy a chilled Heineken once in a while

One more week to school before it restarts, i guess that’s as much rest as i would get.
Time to take more naps, have some decent food and get ready for the new semester.
Anyway, 15 minute is so great! I’d miss it!

view of 15 Minutes from the sofa

untitled

2009-08-02T03:37:00.002+08:00

For no reason, I just like these 2 photos. They strike something in my heart. I cant explicitly describe in words. It was just something close to heart.

Hai Kee Chao Guo Tiao

2009-08-02T03:34:00.001+08:00

Despite been visiting the queenstown hawker centre always weekly when I was much younger, I was totally clueless about Hai Kee Chao Guo Tiao aka Char Kway Teow there.

The long queue is the best testimony to its popularity. Imagine the time that you have to wait when the boss stir fries each serving on its own. I bet we waited for at least 20 minutes before it was our turn to order.

Probably one of the most sinful and unhealthy local food, this Char Kway Teow, like most of the other traditional Char Kway Teow stalls, serves cripsy deep-fired lard!! Very sinful stuff!

-

2009-07-13T01:52:00.001+08:00

2006	2009
HCJC OAC	NUSPS
30来号人==浩浩荡荡的车队	6
Speed of the slowest	OTOT
Diamond-shape formation	-
One for all, all for one	还在摸索中
Overnight	Afternoon
ECP-> Marine Parade –> Bedok-> Changi->ECP	within ECP
不轻松但愉快	体能有限
Bedok Jetty的日出	Bedok Jetty的海风
半睡半醒地躺在沙塘上等脚车店开门	-

比较往往是怀念，憧憬和嫉妒的诱因。

明明知道不应该比较但是还是情不自禁的在心中对比。同样是因为一辆自行车但是3年后,身边的人，经历的事似乎都改变了很多

Orangutan @ Singapore Zoo

2009-07-08T00:19:00.001+08:00

This was taken quite a long while back.

Oranng Utan – "Man of the forest”. The feel i get from it’s eys, it’s as if i’m looking into another person’s eyes. I wonder what it was thinking when i was pointing the lens at it.

National Canoeing Championships 2009

2009-06-28T18:14:00.001+08:00

Shot this year’s National Canoeing Championships again. Everytime I shoot at Mac Ritchie, it presents itself as a challenge—the tricky lighting condition & the fact that things are somewhat the same. Creating fresh photos is really challenging. But still, i shall try my best to do something different :)

Sharpness is always one of the priorities in photography but i tried a little blurring effect this time round. Juz a couple of shoot and this is what I got!

Participants shaking hands after the race

Flagging off for a 10km kayaking race… something i would die from :)

At the turning point

check out the expressions

Check out the water droplets!

Celebrating the Nation team coach’s Birthday!

Essential Brew

2009-06-19T18:15:00.001+08:00

Dance of Tea & Soup

Cajun Dory

模糊

2009-06-15T02:15:00.002+08:00

Bugis Village

玩摄影的通常都不喜欢照片模糊。对焦没对好，模糊了，不好。主题动了，又模糊了，又废了张底片！快门太慢了，还是模糊了，恨不得一巴掌劈死自己!!
不过其他事情好像还是模糊一点好，太清楚，太仔细往往因为尖锐迎来非议，觉得在找茬。
学会郑板桥的难得糊涂…
（我的一堆疯言疯语）

random

2009-06-13T17:40:00.002+08:00

Took these 2 photos in 6th Avenue’s Coffee Bean a few weeks back, it has been quite a while since I could chill & do my things on a weekend, fortunately today is one of those days!

-

2009-06-11T00:47:00.002+08:00

忘记无谓的追求

生活可以很惬意

咖啡加上吐司和朋友天南地北

简单的搭配却可以品味到久违的悠闲

我想

我真的累了

Yong Hui’s Birthday

2009-06-11T00:05:00.001+08:00

The Birthday boy

Montage 2009 Open Judging

2009-06-01T02:10:00.001+08:00

+ 6 wonder judges

+ More than 1400 photos

+6 hours of intense judging

+ a team of 13 hard-working ppl

------------------------------------------

(12 winners) & (1 school challenge winner) & (62 exhibition photos)

Open Judging Participant

Charles & YZ who copied the score manually for verification

Clarence, Creative Director, the man behind the Excite Smiley idea!

Nicholas & Fifi at the computer judging server. NUSPS is the only organisation that I know of that has it’s own in-house judging software that allow judges to key in scores & streamline the whole process. Kudos to Derek the great!

tired from starring into the screen?

“15 minutes” Restaurant

2009-05-22T00:55:00.001+08:00

New bistro at bugis lasalle college, it’s called “15 minutes”. Very very nice place with amble sunlight :) Food is great, ambience rocks. If there is one thing that I must complain, then it will be the waiting time – approximately 15 minutes for the pizza, but that’s probably the kind of time you take to bake a pizza fresh!

Definitely worth going!

desert looks good as always

Salad, here is the interesting bit, you have to shake the whole ikea bottle to mix the dressings well!

Pasta with avocado cream sauce

thin crust pizza, damn shiok!

the best part – they serve great beer after 6pm… I find my favourite Erdinger there too!

Banquet the HDB style

2009-05-19T12:54:00.001+08:00

It’s always interesting when people hold functions in HDB void decks and such. Especially for the chinese Banquets, they get chefs to cook & prepare on the spot, something like what I used to see in some of the villages in China. Would be an interesting topic to explore =D

Starter, ready to be presented

venue: outside some school hall (Yes, sometimes people hold Banquets in school halls)

HDR

2009-05-06T01:36:00.001+08:00

Hwa Chong Boarding School Office just before the sunset

I was on my way out when I saw the sky just above the Boarding School’s Office, thought it was lovely, “bang bang bang” fired 3 shoots to get the photos and left. Then, it was exams.

Now exams are over, i tried a little HDR with the 3 shoots and this is what I got :)

Botak Jones

2009-04-30T03:18:00.001+08:00

“Eating helps to de-stress”, so they say. Going to Botak Jone might turn out differently though. It can add stress physically to you!!

I was pleasantly surprised when i tried their Fish & Chips & Black Pepper Chicken. The Fish & Chips is definite worth every dollar, easily matching up to Fish & Co standards. The Black Pepper Chicken, on the other hand, is a real surprise! The chicken breast meat as the biggest & thickest I’ve seen thus far. But the meat was really succulent. I wonder how they did it.

I got myself a massive cheese! Really really humongous stuff. I ended up not finishing the top bun! My gosh…

Photography-wise, it’s one of the few occasions that I got my lighting gear & close-up gear out for a food shoot. Nothing much to shout about, plain old stuff, i think. Shall explore more with food photography.

side note: I would avoid trying the Chinese Rojak store at the Clementi coffee shop where Botak Jones is also located. The service isnt great and the the prawn paste tasted odd.

Massive Cheese with 2 sides

Closer look

Liqun & Li Shuo’s ROM

2009-04-18T22:47:00.001+08:00

The first Hangzhou & also PRC senior among all my seniors to get married, now I’m cant wait to know who will be next!

Canonet Photos

2009-04-18T02:44:00.001+08:00

I’ve come to dread the thoughts of carrying a heavy DSLR everyday. Without a doubt, DSLRs are great, functional cameras that gives me highest image quality. But there are days that I want a small camera that is able to meet similar expectations but in a much smaller & compact package. Derek & Gerald introduced me to Canonet QL17, since then I’ve nv regretted a single bit! Sure enough there are gives & takes… for instance the minimum focusing distance is 0.8m which is pretty far, hey, but it allows me to shoot everywhere i go.

Photos below are shoot on Fuji Superia 400. Mostly at F1.7. Developed & scanned using Fuji Frontier Machine with no digital manipulation at all.

McDonald’s @ NUS Engineering

Bound Journals in NUS Central Library

Very innovative signs at the library

Our last meeting in Digital Media Centre and Nicholas looked sad

Random Photos @ NUSPS bazaar

2009-04-07T17:14:00.001+08:00

stuffed softtoy

Pringles T shirt

The “EMO” T-shirt

Heavy Downpour

2009-04-07T02:16:00.001+08:00

Faces from NUSPS BAZAAR

2009-04-03T13:01:00.001+08:00

The ‘dreamy’ DMC director

My friend YH who happened to be there

Charles

Yen Zi

Derek & camera

yours truly :)

Happy mugging :)

Canonet QL17

2009-03-29T21:54:00.002+08:00

I feel lucky!
Found this camera online, after a long wait & some rigorous testing, I’m really glad to find it in pristine condition. The optics are clear, shutter is accurate & even the light meter is working so fine!

Green

2009-03-28T10:13:00.001+08:00

Sunset @HCIBS

2009-03-27T21:02:00.001+08:00

I should really count my blessings, this is the view I get from my room’s window! Little things like this rejuvenate me!

Canonet QL17 Test Roll 1

2009-03-24T19:44:00.001+08:00

Look at the sharpness! I have no done any sharpening!

National Junior Canoe Championship

2009-03-19T03:18:00.001+08:00

It’s great that I get to climb into the safety boat and shoot half of the race up close. The mood changes as we went closer.

Thanks to Nic for his 70-200 f4. Great lens for sports & portraitures!~

Up close with race participant

Overjoyed to be the winner!

The supporters

K4 Girls, i think it’s Hwa Chong’s team:)

Mini Photography Sharing Session

2009-03-05T21:19:00.001+08:00

It has been a while since i had my last photo session in HCIBS. It feels so at home sharing with people who might just be staying next to my room haha.

Having said tt, I do feel a bit OLD standing among ‘em…

Epecials thanks to Hall A Committee & Ms P. Yee for making this event a success!

Donut from Donut Empire for tea break ;)

Ring Flash

2009-02-28T09:16:00.001+08:00

Ring Light Love - Ray Ring Flash Review from Nick Campbell on Vimeo.

Kids @ SK & Lili’s Wedding

2009-02-27T00:12:00.001+08:00

Love these 3 brothers, so lively & lovely, they make kid photography such a joy! Hope a few years down the road, these photos bring back precious memories for ‘em.

Lili & Sok Chea tied the knot

2009-02-23T12:54:00.001+08:00

Lili & Sok Chea finally tied the knot this year! I know they are going to marry each other, but this still comes as a small but extremely pleasant surprise for the new year!

Best wishes to this lovely couple!

Sok Chea kissing the bride

Tears welling in Sk’s eyes was he gave his “thank you” speech…

Sk’s father looks on ask the couple took their vows!

I like SK father’s big smiles, they spelt the feelings of a happy & proud father

Super LatePost -- Sentosa Flowers 2009!

2009-02-20T00:34:00.001+08:00

After a hearty breakfast at vivo food republic, we set off for sentosa flower show, and thank God that we went earlier! The next day when I returned, the queue extended all the way to the open area at vivo! Very rare phenomenon for Singapore!

Du Long aka Charles

Bad framing, my bad… haha but the smiles look damn natural?

Start the shoot proper with lots of tiny tiny things :)

More at my flickr album

04S69 Girls’ Portraits

2009-02-14T22:43:00.001+08:00

School definitely picked up speed after the CNY, I barely had the time to go through all the photos that I’ve taken in the past month!

Maybe I would seriously consider doing a class portrait series before some of us start working.

Anw, more photos to come soon

Happy Vday to everyone :)

Pearlyn

Ethel

Huishan

Olympus Mju II Farewell Photos

2009-02-11T11:38:00.001+08:00

In an attempt to get mor liquid to fund my Canonet purchase, I sold my Mju II film camera to a nice guy. Thus this is my last roll of film taken by Mju II. I’ll miss Mju II.

“BYE BYE / NO MORE BUSH” sale adverts in Suntec City shortly after the US election

Yen Zi, almost an identical shoot as Charles’

Liu Pei, during NUSPS meeting

National Stadium

2009-01-30T00:13:00.001+08:00

It used to be so mighty, so grand and so large that i remember taking at least 15min walking around it inside. This place has a special place in CHS ppl’s hearts, somehow I still remember the year, in this very stadium, we lost one of our championship cups, the day that many ppl shed tears as they sang the school song. But also the very same stadium that we fought hard the following year to walk away, smiling, with the cups for both B & C div.

Breakfast

2009-01-29T17:33:00.001+08:00

What better way to kick start a day with a great & hmm.. heavy breakfast! One thick peanut butter toast, 2 soft-boiled eggs and a cup of hot Teh C. Sometime I wish life can be simple just like that :)

2009: Wishing for the better :)

2009-01-28T01:05:00.001+08:00

Cafe Cartel

2009-01-28T00:52:00.001+08:00

Celebrated a friend’s birthday at Cafe Cartel. It came just at the right time as I was having a craving for their famous St Louis Ribs. (On another note, I find their source too sweet for my liking).

Thanks for my dear friends who graciously allowed me to take photos of their food before taking the first bite :) Had a great time with you guys!

Crispy Chicken Chop with Pasta

The pasta that comes with the crispy Chicken Chop

Huge Burger, we were all wondering why is the an American flag on the bread, why not a Singapore flag:)

They ran out of bananas, so instead of banana split, we had peach split

Rocher Beancurd

2009-01-22T01:32:00.001+08:00

Rocher beancurd, another place i used to go when I was taking my photography courses at PSS - Photog Soc of Spore. As i recall, the bean curd was more interesting the the course @ PSS =)

Went there for desert recently, the beancurd is still good as before. The shop also expended it's business to take over the 2nd floor of the shop house and virtually the whole back alley. Think of eating beancurd next to a dumpster =D…

The egg tarts are the new addition to their menu, or at least I was blind enugh to ignore it last time. The egg tart at Rocher Beancurd is great for me as it’s not too sweet and i can taste the eggs! The only sad part, it tasted a tad worse when it’s served cold. Haiz… i wonder if they have regular times where fresh egg tarts are baked!

Lasalle Arts College II

2009-01-21T23:32:00.001+08:00

My favorite wall painting! (I’m sure there is a more professional term of calling it). Each foundation class are supposed to create wall paintings within the constraints of the space & choice of paint given. The ‘e’ class have portraits of the class and a big ‘e’ on the wall. The greatest part- the ‘e’ extends around the corner, but when viewed at a certain angle, it look as if it’s on a flat wall, very nice way of using visual illusion!!

Students at work

Another Fantastic wall art

The school building & it’s central plaza… with super nice synthetic grass!! The whole place is really nice for reading & chilling out! I cant wait for their Bistro/Cafe to open… I will just go there n enjoy myself, if my projects hasn’t killed me yet LOL

Lasalle Arts College Open House I

2009-01-21T03:14:00.001+08:00

Juz a quick post before i crush on my bed: Went for Lasalle Arts College’s open house. Other than seeing many great works of art, i walked away with 2 pieces of my portrait, drawn by Lasalle students. Haha pretty interesting ones!

Portrait by Benny

Benny

Benny is a very bright & promising art student, his works are artistic & he put great thoughts into it, hope he would go very far as an artist!!

Portrait by Ashley

Hainan 2nd Street Coffee House

2009-01-18T11:52:00.001+08:00

This is one of the rare of occasions where MJ suggested a place for dinner. While waiting for him to arrive, YH, Cliff & I were still cracking lame jokes that what MJ meant by “Let’s go need nice Hainanese Food” would most probably end up as 2.50 chicken rice.

Uhmmm… at least we got the chicken rice part correct… ended up eating Hainanese Tze Char off Purvis Street!!

Traditional Hainanese Cafes are, in general, famous for 3 things: chicken, pork chop & coffee. I managed to try 2.5 of ‘em =)

The chicken was okay, the cooking method is fine, but i guess the variety of chicken they use is not the best one could get. It doesn’t taste like kampong chicken, more like farmed chicken, the meat is soft and lacks the texture. I guess would still go back to Five Star Hainanese Chicken Rice if I have cravings for chicken.

The pork chop!~ Oh man, I kinda regretted that we din order the largest size, it’s really good! The thin layer of flour is just rite… not too thick, but thick enough to make the outer layer crunchy & crispy! Even the deep fried potato strips taste good! I’m definitely going back for more!!

Now, the coffee, rr rather, the lack of which. After being converted into a coffee/tea addict by university life, Teh C or Kopi has replaced soft drinks as my stable drink(?!! is there is ever such a term). The auntie ended up giving me Teh C… it’s, well, Teh C, nothing different, average.

To sum up, this really a great place for lunch/dinner. The food is value of money, the uncles & aunties are very friendly and the speed they serve the food is lightning fast! Gonna be back for more pork chop!

After the dinner, I made cliff stand at this junction for at least 15 embarrassing minutes and finally pulled off with this shot!

Hainan 2nd Street Coffee House

16 Purvis Street
Tel: 5333 3550

Moon Shooting

2009-01-17T10:11:00.002+08:00

The closest that i could get to the moon

Sometimes the lack of focus, isnt a bad thing

HDR

Singapore Canoe Marathon 2009

2009-01-14T03:28:00.001+08:00

First shoot of the year and second time shooting Singapore Canoe Marathon!

The place changed so much over merely one year. The Singapore flyer stops turning and the Marina Barrage takes shape and looks really awesome from the water.

I spent a little more time at the portage area this year, hoping to cover more action-packed and exciting moments. I was definitely not disappointed!

A second team trying to catch up

Marcus Peddling

I love the way this guys charged out of the water with his kayak

Participant from my alma mater

Marcus running with his boat

NUSPS Meeting #13

2008-12-28T10:30:00.001+08:00

Cheap & fast Way of having an X-ray