Having fun at an outdoor shoot in Chinatown Square

My AOC LCD monitor sure isn’t being very nice to me. Do you think it can be fixed at a regular computer repair shop? My warranty for this has ran out and my cpu keeps restarting and insisting that there’s no hard disk drive in my computer. But I just changed it less than a year ago!)

Hope that it wont be too pricey. Computer parts can cost an arm and a leg. And not having a working computer is such an inconvenience. Gosh, I’m so dependent on compys.

Anyways, it was another lovely day spent yesterday. I was out for an outdoor shot with Fais, the photography instructor and Kathy, the lady who was in the same course as me. We met up in Chinatown Square and started from there.

There were many interesting sights around. Some of them can never be found in a regular neighbourhood town like the grocery shops which are now replaced by supermarkets and such.

Like this particular shop here. I grew up in my grandfather’s shop before Pulau Tekong was reclaimed by the Singapore Ministry of Defence. It was peaceful there. I enjoyed the lifestyle there so much. The island life, peaceful and idyllic. With vast and vast of land and the sea as your playground.

I remember roaming around a lot in the fields and went exploring about in the area. And playing around in my grandfather’s shop. He used to have so many interesting things like mounds of rice in the store room for sale, bales of cloth by the side, food stuff arranged. My atuk would pull this pulley from the ceiling and a can will roll down, and he pays the customer his change.

It’s a rare scene now. And I’m so thankful that I’m blessed enough to experience it. Not many people would have the same childhood I had.

We walked over to the flea market

It wasn’t easy trying to capture the pictures around here. Not the same as the Bugis Photoshoot. People in Chinatown were reserved and didn’t like having their pictures taken. It was a huge challenge for me.

I’m happy to see you healthy but I cant help wondering …

This lady here was nice enough to pose when we chatted to her. We went to a little shop selling teh tarik and local snack to have a break and to review the photos that we’ve taken so far. I had a mug of teh halia (ginger tea) and some epok-epok (sardine pastry) and we talked about our challenges today.

Kathy : A lot of the people don’t like their pictures taken! Some of them scolded us!

Fais : Sometimes, people don’t like having their pictures taken. You have to find a way to take the picture without them noticing. I’ve been through photo-shoots where I am required to take pictures. I still have to do it.

Interesting lessons of real life photography. So different from studio shots when you can command the models to pose and move however you want. Outdoor shoots is quite different but they are definitely most rewarding.

After the photo-shoot, Kathy, Fais and I said our goodbyes to each other and promised to meet up again soon.

I was supposed to meet Zila in Orchard at 4 pm. And then I received a sms from her saying that she will be a little bit late. I was already in Orchard. No problem. I’ll just walk around in Wisma Atria shopping centre a little bit.

A fashion show. Stores like Osmose, Sense, and Future State were showing their latest designs that were being sold in the stores. The models looked good. Unfortunately, the clothes design were pretty much nothing new. You see women wearing stuff like that already in the streets. I wasn’t impressed. I’d rather get stuff at ‘This Fashion’.

I want to be pretty and earn big bucks too … Sigh

The phone rings in the middle of the photo-shot. It was Juli and I moved in to a shop where it was slightly less noisy to answer the phone.

Juli : Hey Marina! (Hears the music blasting) Oh you’re in Orchard! I’m upstairs right now.

Me : Come down to the second floor! There’s a fashion show right now … But the clothes aren’t so nice.

Juli : I’ll be there!

And we met soon after. Juli was just back from a talk at library@Orchard and soon-after, Zila arrived and the two girls said hello.

Juli : Hey you look different Zila. You’ve rebonded your hair.
Zila : Yeah! Its been a while though
Me : Check out Juli’s hair. She did something different too!

We went to Far East Plaza to have lunch together at the Sakura restaurant which specialises Thai styled cooking.

What to order … What to order …

Usually when at the Sakura, Juli and I would order Tom Yum. Sakura makes the best Tom Yum. Spicy and hot .. with oomph! It’ll make the most tired of people, wide eyed after a sip of the lovely broth.

Juli and Me : Scoop it Zila! And serve it to us! Cause we’re your BIG sister and you must respect us!

Zila : Err ok.

(Zila takes a sip of the broth)

Zila : Woah! I didn’t know it was so strong! *cough*

Me : Its strong, but not as strong as the real Thai Tom Yum Goong we had when we went to Thailand.

Juli : I don’t even remember much of our vacation.

We had a lovely chat together, we updated each other about our lives and happenings. Zila talked about her soccer practises and how the leagues were starting and her unfortunate accident in which she couldn’t participate in matches anymore.

And then we talked about work and I discovered something extremely interesting. Zila tells me of a story about a particular guy at her workplace. Admittedly, I used to have a major crush on this guy. Juli knew about it too and she started to snigger as I perked up.

Zila : You know what? He’s been a little … odd

Me : How is that?

Zila : While we were at camp, he took some pictures and showed them to me and asked me. Aren’t my pictures great? Isn’t it better than Marina’s?

Me : Hmmmm

Juli : Aww .. He’s thinking of you.

Zila : And then he asked me so … do you know that Marina has a boyfriend she met on the net?

Juli : (teasing) Wow ..aww that’s so sweet of him to still have you on his mind.

Me : (Embarassed) Ha! Ha! HAHA! Ha!

I can’t help wondering how he is doing though, I know its not easy trying to slog off at that school. The first time I knew him, I thought he was a little annoying and very earnest but then I found out that he was a determined and a hard-working person. It was admirable qualities to be innovative, systematic and determined like that and I respected him a lot. it takes a lot of willpower to stay focused the way that he did.

I remember last year, when we had lunch together and I remember some of the things he said :

You know, I’m going to Japan and I’m going to sell laksa (a spicy type of noodle) there.

Huh? Laksa? What on earth for?

Well, Japanese people don’t know what Laksa is, and I’m sure it’s going to be a hit there!

But they can’t stand hot food can they?

They eat wasabi. I’m sure they can handle laksa.

And I forgot about the laksa incident for a while. Amazingly, just a couple of months ago, in the straits time newspaper, I came across an article about the Singapore Tourism Board promoting local food in Japan and the Japanese people loved it. Especially laksa. There were several Japanese whom wanted to travel here because of that promotion.

It just made me flashback to that lunch. He’s got these ideas in his head to the point of eccentricism. I hope he’ll do fine. Some of the things that he does can be too radical for the common person to understand. But I hope for all the best for him.

We roamed around Far East Plaza and looked at the lovely things being sold there. Juli and I stared at the shoes shop while Zila was fascinated by the accessories shop. Far East Plaza sure had a lot of different interesting things to see. I like the fact that there are a myriad of things around here. Different range of items from the classy and glamorous to the hardcore and punk items.

After flying about the different items, we landed at a shoe shop called Mondo and I saw the most adorable shoes. Chickens!

At first I thought that they were separate shoes as the left shoe and the right didn’t match. But the lady selling the shoes insisted that they were a pair. Too irresistible to try on such a unique pair of shoes.

Juli : Do you like it? I’ll get the green one if you get the black one

Me thinking : Eh I like green though but it looks better on her

Me : Oklah. Aren’t these shoes the cutest?

Juli couldnt wait to wear her shoes and asked to wear it immediately. I think I’ll wear mine to work. And yes, I did ruin my other shoe, the flat one that was to replace my heels. I guess the moral of the story is, heels or flats, they will all die anyway so just be happy till it lasts.

Zila asked me out afterwards to a cafe in Arab street while Juli asked me to come over and watch a movie with her, Red and friends. I couldn’t decide. So in the end, I said goodbye to the both of them to go home. Was tired anyway. I’m not a spring chicken any more. Unlike my shoes.

I did enjoy myself though, it is always lovely to spend time with friends

I like to walk home from the train station. It was most wonderfully peaceful to walk around lakeside area at night time. I love the cool breeze and the quiet atmosphere. And the most glorious sight greeted me as I walked past the lake.

The beautiful full moon over the high rise flats, illuminating the lake.

It’s the mid autumn festival here. With moon-cakes and lighted festival. As a kid, I used to have neighbours, who were my best friends, Michael and his sister. He taught me how to ride the bicycle and his sister would play catching with me.

They asked me out during a mid autumn festival one day and instantly I said yes. It’s going to be fun. I love playing with paper lanterns. And we laughed at other people, who burned their paper lantern accidentally.

And then a group of kids came up to me …

(Tsk tsk tsk) You know, you’re not being very Malay playing with paper lanterns. This is a Chinese custom. Don’t do this!

Saya punya sukalah! I do what I like. Nice what.

You’re disrespecting your race

Lets go lah Michael

I was 11.

Anyway, I saw some kids lighting up some candles and I couldn’t help snapping away. Unfortunately I forgot to set my camera back to auto focus from the moon shot and now the shots which is supposed to be awesome is now quite ruined.

I’ve still got a lot of things to learn.

In other news, PhotoI is hosting a Canon Workshop. The theme is Nature and Things in the city. Geri and I signed up for it – I think its going to be fun 🙂

Time to end this entry here. Be safe everyone

P.s

Oh! And if anyone reading this can sponsor me a new computer plus lcd monitor, that would be great! (I know that’s a far fetched request, but I try.. lol)