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What is photography to you?

I stopped by the city on Friday evening. There is a camera shop there that I’ve been meaning to visit. I’ve been using the lens that came with my canon 350D slr camera for a while and I thought that it would be nice to get a set of prime lens. I’ve been taking lovely pictures so far:

pic of Fazilla in the studio shot

pic of man reading paper in a cloth shop in bugis

pic of Hindu temple in Jurong East, Singapore

pic of a woman sewing beads into a pair of slippers in Chinatown, Singapore

pic of a macro shot of a caterpillar, Alexander Hospital, Singapore

But I think it would be good to upgrade my camera lens. I couldn’t bear to pay for a brand new one, which usually costs too much. The Canon EF 70-200mm lenses for example, though a fantastic lens, costs roughly $2,600 dollars! So I thought I’d see the second hand ones, which is just as good.

Unfortunately for me, mother nature decided to rain, which contributed to the crawlingly slow traffic and extremely bad tempered motorists and in the end, I only managed to catch the shop keeper, just as he was about to close his shop for the day. I didn’t have the time to look at their lenses. However I did manage to ask him about the newer canon 400D which interested me.

me: Hi, do you do trade ins?

him: Yes, we do.

me: How much is the Canon 400D?

him: It costs about $1,200 dollars

me: How much is my camera worth?

him: About $500 dollars

EEK!

My eyes bulged out of their sockets. Mum loaned me some money to buy my camera which I bought somewhere in April 2005. It was top of the line then, and it cost $1.5k at the time. Under $2k in total with the accessories.

From $2,000 to $500? To hear my camera depreciated in value that much was extremely shocking to me.

Photography is such an expensive hobby. I’ve yet to reach my aim of having my own studio. Maybe I should take up knitting instead.

But then again, John Cosgrove, the editor of PhotoI did tell me once that it is the photographer, not the equipment that is important. Different people have different stories to tell. And good photographers usually make the person stop a while to look at the pictures.

What do you think?

My all time fave pic - a kitten i stumbled on while walking at where my old house used to be

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Why we still live with our parents

A couple of weeks ago, my friend Juli asked me if I wanted to rent an apartment with her.

Block of flat with flags

I paused for a while. Who doesn’t want the independent life?

To be able to stay out as late as we want, to cook the things we want, to decorate the place how we want it and to do all the things we wanted to do but couldn’t since we were still living with our parents.

Many a days I daydreamed of entertaining guests to my hypothetical large and spacious home, have dinner with home cooked food and then entertain ourselves by playing board games or watch a movie.

But we were just starting to work then, and wasn’t so financially secure.  And now, after some years of working, I’m still not rich, but I can manage more or less.

So why hesitate now? Why not leave the nest now?

It’s interesting to note that many Singaporeans aged 25 and above, are still living with their parents. It’s not uncommon to hear 30 year olds, even 40 year olds living under one roof with their folks.

Living with parents is not a new phenomenon, and in fact, seems to be a more popular trend. In the United States, about 18.8 million 18 – 34 year olds still live with their parents. In Italy, about 80 percent of single Italian men live with their parents.

There are some people who might scoff at our lack of independence and some may find the entire idea as unfathomable. “What? To still have my mother to wash my clothes? And cook for me? Unthinkable!”

For me, I believe that it all boils down to filial piety. As Asians, there is an unwritten mantra for the child to take care of their parents as they grow older. In fact, when I started working, peers would ask, “How much (money) do you give your folks?”

I’d like to be able to give my parents a comfortable life if I can manage it. At the very least, be committed to them as I humanly can.

Sometimes I wonder if I can ever live without my family. I’ve been with them for as long as I remember. For all the disagreements, they are still a part of me. They are the ones who I can fall back and count on. It’s a reassuring familiarity for me – and at the end of the day, it’s a comforting thought to see that each family member is there. I am always reminded by our own mortality and I worry sometimes that I’d live with regrets, that I did not bond as much as I should have.

Eventually, there will be a time when I’ll have to leave the nest to make my own. For the moment, I’ll just enjoy being with my current family a little while longer.

Till then, I’ll still keep on dreaming about entertaining my hypothetical guests in my hypothetical house with my hypothetical award winning book 😛

Award winning book

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Interesting adverts

There are loads of interesting and funny ads out there. Like this website which features loads of facinating print ads around the world.

There are also heaps of them in youtube too – some of them like this very cute calbee commercial, Smooth E facial wash advert, cheers ad and exercise ad

But I think this Cod Roe Pasta Sauce commercial takes the cake

I know some people find it a little freaky, with the kewpie dolls in a red cod roe suit jumping, the mouth of the girl agape ala ‘The Ring’ but the music is really catchy and so hypnotic that I can spend hours just listening to it. And I think you’ll be hypnotised too.

You could hear the full song here, another tarako ad here, and yet another tarako ad here

A sunshine bread van in the parking lot
Spotted this bread van in a parking lot – cool yeah?

Whats the most interesting advert that you’ve seen?

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A night out with old friends

My friend Pam came down to Singapore for a visit.

Orientation Days. Try to find me! :)

We first met during our orientation days and immediately clicked together as she was an extremely friendly, jovial and sweet person. Even though we ended up in different classes, we still hang out together during breaks to discuss about school work or just have a chat together.

And thats how I got to know some of her classmates, like Wong Li, Yong Ping, and Christina. I think Pam was the glue that stuck us together – if she wasnt there, I wouldnt get to know these lovely people. I was amazed to find out that although Pam was from a well to do family, she was never ever stuck up.

The class of 96F

There was a time when I had high fever in school and needed to rest in the sick bay. Pam came over during the break times and asked me how I was and even went to the extent of getting me a drink even though she didnt have to. I knew immediately then that this was a friend to be treasured.

We had loads of fun during our gatherings and events.

Eventually we left for our own different paths.

Till last night, we decided to meet up at Settler’s Cafe Sometimes its hard to believe that we’ve known each other for more than 10 years now. It seems not too long ago, we were experiencing our orientation days, hanging out together, and our lecture together.

I remember the days of gossiping about teachers, of people, and about relationships.

I was tickled to realise that we still talked about the same things, especially about relationships. We spent the entire night till the wee hours of the morning updating each other about our love lives. Poor Yong Ping got bashed by us 4 ladies whom analysed and criticized gave constructive critisism about his approach to wooing women.

Christina, believes that people feel most loved in a relationship in one or more of these 5 ways: quality time, words of affirmation, gifts, acts of service, and physical touch. I’m pleasantly surprised to know that she will be getting married soon and quite surprised to know that she’s also a baker! I’m sure she didnt plan to be one whilst back in school 🙂

Wong Li became a radiologist and tells us how stressful her work can be as well as creepy past experiences with men. We all go through life and experience, live and learn through it all.

Pam became a plastic surgeon after some years in medical school and she was describing about her experiences at work.

There was once this man who brought his mistress to the hospital. Give her bigger boobs. At first glance, I thought she looked perfect, hour glass figure. But when all the clothes came off, it was all saggy!

All our conversation was revolving about relationships and sleaziness that it felt like I was on a set of Sex and the city.


Christina, Yong Ping, Pam, Wong Li

But we had loads of fun. And it was a really lovely evening out. I do feel quite blessed and honoured to have known these wonderful people.

Life is short, lets enjoy it the best we humanly can :]

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How do you blog for money?

Lately I’m becoming more and more tempted to delve into money making through blogs. Especially when you see loads of people being successful in them. Lilian earned US1k in a month through payperpost, and sha earned about US$390 on adsense alone.

I’d really like to have the same perks too. I’m not strapped, but the additional money would definitely ease for rainy days. I remember the days when the previous company that I worked with decided to cut my pay in half, and then eventually and unfairly dismissed me and how painful it was just to get through with bills and daily transactions.

I don’t want to go through that again.

So I tried different methods of money making though the web. Money making on the web isn’t new. I’m a sceptic at these money making phenomenons, but since I’ve heard so many success stories, I’m willing to give it a try.

I tried PTR – Paid to read emails. An example is Dreamstarmail. In PTR’s, you surf through advertisements through a timed website and get a small amount per advert. I think I earned about $100 one time on a PTR. I spent loads of time to get that amount. The money was supposed to be credited to me, but it wasn’t. And after a while, the website went down.

I had an ex colleague whom favoured with the virtues of HYIP – High Yield Investment Programs. This is where you credit in a sum of money and are supposed to get back a high returns in a span of a week to a month.

However, I DON’T recommend HYIP’s as most of them are scams. You’ll never see your money again. The owners will give you some money as a carrot for you to invest more, and once you and many others are enticed, they will take away all of your money and shut down their website.

Just last year I tried adsense. But I got disabled in just a week due to ‘invalid clicks’ – I think it could be due to the traffic from blogexplosion.com, but I’m not so sure. I’m just left with a bad feeling.

Other things I tried was making stuff through zazzle. It was fun enough, but I earned less than a dollar on a tee shirt I sold . And I don’t really have things to sell on online auctions that anyone would want.

Suffice to say that I don’t think I’ll be quitting my dayjob any time soon 😛

How the heck do people like SaveKaryn.com get people to give money to her? She used to have a $20,000 credit due to HER overspending and she set up a website to ask for donations – Now all her bills are paid for, she’s publishing a book, has interviews from top television networks and a movie will be done about her in the future.

It’s not fair, I tell you.

Thus, I’m contemplating on blogging for money. Payperpost being one of them where you do reviews and earn money, and the paypal credited to you at the end of the month.

But as much as it is a possible viable option, I’m not really looking forward of appearing as if I’m shoving advertisements down everyone’s throats. There has been quite a number of blogs that I’ve stumbled through which were so full of adverts and paid for posts that it just looked unappetizing. Especially when the writing is skewed to be so positive about something even when the person hasn’t actually even tried the product!

I don’t think I’m being moralistic – But personally for me, I think I’d like to give a better review of something once I’ve actually tried it to give my honest opinion – what I like about it, what I don’t like about it and what can be improved about it.

But the prospect of earning money is definitely very tempting. And here is the dilemma.

What do you think?

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Of diaries, journals and blogs

I’ve been looking at my old gallery in deviantart and reading up my old journals.

Its interesting how different my writing style from the year 2003. I think I sounded more energetic, vibrant and kiddy young then.

Of course, people develop throughout the years – they evolve in their thoughts, their preferences and feelings. The thoughts of Marina at 12 years old would be very different compared to the thoughts of Marina now. People change. And as the quote from John Wyndham’s The Chrysalids

“The essential quality of life is living; the essential quality of living is change; change is evolution: and we are part of it.”

But sometimes its good to revisit the past and remember the old memories, the fears and the good feelings. Even if our current technology is not superior enough to record memories as in Star Trek or Minority Report, the mind is still one of the impactful part of a human anatomy. The mind can transport us to where ever we want, and whenever we want.

One of my fears is to forget my past and my background.

If we forget about the past promises that we’ve made to myself and to forget about the memories that we’ve experienced, will mean that we will forget about us and the entire essense of what makes us who we are.

I think, in a way, I am lucky that I’ve started writing in a diary since young. Somehow in a way, it keeps me grounded and my nostalgia alive as I rekindle old thoughts and memories.


1998, In school and wondering if I would do well enough to enter university


1995, writing about my experience during my weekend waitressing job


1990, I had chicken pox! Look at the spots on my ‘toon hehehe

I wonder if I should combine all my journals and diaries from the past to this blog. Hmmm …

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Would you eyebrow thread?

eyebrow threadingLadies! (And adventurous men)

If you are game enough for something new, give eyebrow threading a try. Whenever you are in the vicinity of Little India, stop by in any of the many indian beauticians along the way.

I’ve always wanted to do eyebrow threading for the longest time, but it seems that there isnt many offered in the vicinity that I live. I think eyebrow threading is better because its much faster than tweezing thus, making the pain treshold lower.

I sat down and let the beautician do her magic.

She rolls the cotton string in her fingers and in seconds, the eyebrow is shaped.

And the best thing is, its only for 5 dollars! Tweezing done in salons costs ten to fifteen dollars. I think thats a good deal for something which achives the same thing.

And what to do with the money saved?

Eat yummyriffic indian food of course!
Naan Bread at Ananda Bhavan
A slightly eaten Naan bread at Ananda Bhavan

Take a look at how its done in this youtube clip 🙂

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Gundam seed cosplay meetup

My cousin, Fuzzy, asked me to join her for her cosplay gathering yesterday, and I have to say that it was most interesting.

I met up the other cosplayers at Sky Garden in Suntec City – being there for the first time, I think its a really pretty place for a photoshoot. Especially with the city skyline in the background. I’ll keep this place in mind 🙂

Observing the group, I was quite impressed that they game and brave enough to be dedicated to their craft. Most people would be too embarassed to do this in the public! While walking with Fuzzy, there were a few people who were staring and pointing. The group didnt seem to notice this at all.

For today, the group were doing a Gundam Seed anime cosplay.

And here are some of the characters:

Athrun Zala – As a leader of the pack

Kira Yamoto – An emo guy

Natarle Badgiruel – Earth Alliance

No idea what she’s playing

Meer Campbell – Superstar and spy

I have absolutely no idea what roles they are playing (I’m just guessing the character’s names) as I dont watch that much anime. But it was pretty interesting watching them get into characters, and recreate several scenes from the anime.

It was a really lovely day, with no signs of rain, and we had a pretty good photoshoot session. I really had fun! Nevertheless, I doubt that I’d be dressing up as an anime anytime soon. Its just not me 😛

Or maybe I could just be the character Rinaz Bijoux – the communist hat wielding blogger/photographer and retired undiscovered karaoke queen 😛

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Being a pillion for the first time

My brother, Nazry, took riding lessons and had recently passed and attained his licence. Today, he asks if I could borrow my scooter. I agreed, only if I accompanied him.

So today, for the first time in a long while, I was pillion in my own scooter. For the first 10 minutes, sitting at the back of the scooter, I was freaked out when bro wobbled while going out of the carpark to the main road.

And when bro turned a corner at the junction. I thought that I might just fall off at any moment! It was so scary! I never realised how close I could get on the curb!

This must be the same feeling that my previous pillions felt.

Bro went smoothly after that and was a good rider, checking for incoming traffic and checking for blind spots and in the end, we got to our destinations safely.

But I wont forget so easily the fear from the first few minutes.

To all the people I’ve ever pillioned before. I am sorry to have caused you fear, psychological pain and unecessary trauma while all the time naively insisting that I was riding safely. Please forgive me. I wont insist on giving you a ride on my scooter anymore.