entrance to the house of god

This is the entrance to an Indian temple at Little India, Singapore. I took this photo during the National Day celebration period, hence there were banners bearing our flag around the temple.

fried carrot cake

This is a simple local dish. White radish is first grated, mixed with flour and water, then steamed. Then, it's chopped into little square pieces and fried with egg. And this is Singapore's version of fried carrot cake! I tried to take a picture of it with the steam rising, but didn't succeed. hmmm... under what conditions can I capture steam?

Little India corridor

I've not updated my blog for 6 days!!!!!! arghhhh.....my work was threatening to bury me alive! and I also have to keep up with my research on educational psychology. Argh....I expect myself to be more busy...sigh... Finally, the long awaited weekend has come. And I'm here. This is a pic I took at Little India. Sufang and I were walking along the whole stretch of shops. They were all full of vibrant colours!

Mannequins

A lovely display of traditional Indian costumes, taken at Little India.

Rocher Centre

This was taken on a hot sunny cloudless afternoon. I just can't resist the vibrant colours of the 4 blocks of flats in the background. They were supposedly to be old flats, constructed during the early years. However, they have been injected with a new life through estate upgrading and (obviously) a fresh coat of paint! If you are not aware, most Singaporeans stay in flats, similar to what is in the photo. Maybe I should go around Singapore and take photos of the interestingly designed flats! (if I have time...but work is piling)

Indian fortune teller

This was taken impromptu, while I was waiting at the traffic lights. I hope I don't offend anyone but it's really not easy to take pictures of dark skin people. I'm not racist, but my limited skills made it a challenging task. I had to adjust the curve to show more features of the Indian fortune teller on the left. He uses a little green bird to help his fortune telling. How does it work? The customer has to shuffle a pack of cards and lay them out on the table. Then, the bird is released from the cage, and picks out a card to which the fortune teller wld then use it to decipher the customer's future. The guy on the right looks like his friend I think.

golden showers of delight

hmmm.... thank you so much for the previous comments. But that was the last good fireworks pic I took. This one is not as good as the previous. Pardon, it's gold again. The other colourful ones are really bad. After going through my previous photographs, I hope to make a turn and concentrate on taking photographs depicting emotions. That's really hard, but I must start experimenting first.

celebration

Here's another! If only I had wide angle lens to capture the full display. Less smoke would make a better pic too.

golden jets of joy

The Singapore fireworks festival has finally come to a close. I went down to Marina City Park last night with Sufang and Say Keat. The fireworks put up by the France team were great, though not as fantastic as the ones by Portugal. Hence, we were rather disappointed. In addition, there was no wind at all to blow the smoke away. As a result, most of my pics either turned out to be smoky or over-exposed. Argh... Here's a shot taken at the beginning of the fireworks show when there wasn't much smoke.

second-hand market

Here's a picture of a second-hand market near Rocher street. I believed the goods sold here have passed through many hands actually. Lots of things can be found, ranging from clothes, handphones, cameras, cds, bags, glasses, trophies, plugs etc. Anything you name it. The main reason I took this picture is because I was attracted by that lady scratching her feet. heh... But I didn't dare to aim my camera at her directly, so her role as the main subject was undermined.

burnt paper money

It's the Hungry Ghosts' Festival this lunar month. Some chinese will burn paper money for the dead as a form of offering for them. Here's a macro shot of a piece of burnt paper money I found on the road. Don't really know why I took it but I like the shape of it. hee...

The most eligible bachelor

Here's a photo of my ex-colleague + new found friend, Say Keat. I think this is one of the best portraits I've ever taken.

Singapore fireworks festival 2

Here's another shot I took at the Singapore fireworks festival on the 6th of August.
PS. I want to change the outlook of my blog. Hope to do it soon.

Siti

This is my colleague + new found friend, Siti. Her smile is so natural and sweet. It's taken during our recent gathering at a cafe. I should have taken that glass away, but I had to catch her unaware. Earlier on, I took other shots of her and realised that she wore a different and awkward smile when she's aware of the camera directing at her. Hence, the glass was there. I like it nevertheless.

kawaii ne

Grace is so adorable and I just can't resist putting up her picture here. I know this photo isn't the right side up but little grace is so playful. If I had turned it 90 degrees counter clockwise, it wld be difficult to see her cute expression. I love her, she's soooooo kawaii (cute in Japanese)!
oh, I applied the soft focus technique I learnt from chromasia here.

The fullerton hotel

I quite like this with the cars zooming past below. And the hotel has been beautifully decorated with our national colours: red and white.

Singapore fireworks festival

I was quite high yesterday night.
First, I went to Little India to take pictures with Sufang. That place is not as 'Indian' as I thought.
Nevertheless, i managed to take a lot of photos =) very tired though.
Then we went over to Marina City Park to prepare for the night: Singapore Fireworks Festival!
It was a really a big guessing game for all the photographers and photography enthusiasts. Nobody knew the exact spot where the fireworks will be shot!? Lots of photographers went to the marina promenade, some on sheares bridge and some at the park. Sufang and I wondered for a while at the park. We saw a boat with 2 army guys patrolling the waters, and slowly, the other ships and boats disappear. We decided to stay at that spot. Not many people were there, or rather, not many photographers were there. And we waited....when the first shot was fired, I was so stunned and happy! Coz the entire display was right in front of us!!! Can u believe how lucky we were??!! It's like having the best seats u can get in the theatre. The fireworks put up by the portugal team were spectacular! I hadn't had much time to process the pictures. Some were unfortunately slightly tilted =( So, before I have time to process them, here's a simple one.
Anyway, I thoroughly enjoyed myself. We also took the boat ride back to clifford pier and took more night shots. I just need TIME to choose the better ones. And now, back to work (damn..).

Nasi Lemak

I can't believe it! I've been browsing Fujiwara's Diner for so long and it never dawn on me to take photographs of Singapore's famous dishes! So, this is my first entry on food. *Tada...!* Nasi Lemak! A local malay dish enjoyed by all racial groups in Singapore. This is a standard package containing a fried chicken wing, egg, fried ikan bilis (small tiny fishes on the right), otah (long red piece on the far right), cucumber and chili (must have!!). Otah is made up of a mixture of fish paste and chili. It is then spread onto a long piece of banana leaf and baked over fire. Of course, not forgetting the coconut rice below. Coconut milk, instead of water, is being used to cook the fragrant rice. There are many other side dishes to choose from as well. Such a package only cost S$2.40. Very cheap. One important thing to note is that this is a very high cholesterol meal, as you can see for yourself. Hence, it's not to be taken daily if you don't intend to get fat. Nevertheless, it is a must-try when you come to Singapore!
Note: this was my lunch an hour ago.

The waterfront at night

Here's another shot I took last Saturday at the National Day Parade Preview. The waterfront at night! Beautiful? On the right is the Esplanade, in the middle is a bridge, a little left is the Fullerton hotel and the far left is the CBD where many tall office buildings stood. On that day, the rooftop lights of the Esplanade were turned off possibly due to the Parade held behind it. It wld have been prettier if the lights were on. There weren't many boats on the water because the fireworks will shoot from the centre of the river. Therefore, it's kinda dangerous.

Ya Dong

This is a photo I took somewhere off Chinatown. I heard that this uniquely shaped building has a very long history as reflected on top 1939. It has now been repainted of course. The ground floor is a traditional coffee shop, but I have no idea what takes place above. It lies in between Teck Lim Rd on the left and Keong Saik Rd on the right. Keong Saik Rd used to be the old red light district of early Singapore if I'm not wrong. The name of the building as painted right in front is pronounced as 'Ya Dong'. No idea what it means though.