Something to look forward to in the New Year.

On Saturday night, after consulting with my gf, I had decided I was too lazy to be queuing and squeezing for hours with a rabid crowd. But this morning a mysterious force dragged me out of bed at 9am, to brush my teeth, change, catch the bus, and by 11am, 3 hrs before the official redemption time, I was in queue, behind at least 200 crazier people, some who, i heard, were already there at 7am this morning; in the fast growing snake of a line outside central, dripping sweat, under the sweltering morning sun.

But it was worth it.

The Little Fibre Glass Boy


This Christmas, in a tiny corner of a little mall along Orchard Road, where frantic shoppers mill about dressed up streets, marveling at, and stopping to pose for photos with, all the decorations and bright lights,


behind his glass prison,


a little fibre-glass boy wishes he could be human.

I absolutely love love love what my gf got me for my birthday!!! In a UPS package, two books I had always wanted but would never fork out 150 dollars for. "Magnum", a collection of over 400 iconic images from Magnum, the world renown collective comprising of some the world's greatest photographers, and "This Is War - Robert Capa at Work", the autobiography of one of my heroes, legendary war photographer Robert Capa, also one of founders of Magnum.
It leaves me with a big headache now, because I so badly want to, but can't see how I will be able to find something equivalent, to get her for Christmas, which is 3 days away. I'd better start saving up for a Miu Miu bag next year for her birthday.

不知道什麼時候，我們走到了大人的世界。
轉眼，又用掉一年了，
我們還有多少個365天可以揮霍呢？
還有多少時光，可以放任我們的友情流逝？
Ah Shin wrote.


This one goes out to everyone of you, my friends.

On the threshold of my 27th year of life, I am in a retrospective mood. It's been a good year and while it's been bumpy at times, I feel thankful and fortunate for all the past 26 years. The last two weeks have been excellent, I have spent quality time (even online) with all the shiny people, more or less, who matter to me; family, friends, girlfriend. Thank you everyone, I love(I know, very mushy) you all.


The other thing,

This morning, while doing a bit of spring cleaning, I came upon this book, which got me thinking.

It's my brother's birthday today. I asked him what he wanted. A new pair of street soccer shoes? A new fish tank? He said, why don't you come to my church on Sunday?

Mai(Hokkien) De Chun Jing Che(Mandarin) !!!

(No this is not an advertorial.)
There's a new store in town! The National Geographic Store has just opened at Vivocity. If you like me, once harboured childhood dreams of growing up to be an archaeologist or an explorer, then you will be thrilled. I've been there twice in two days, the first time with Jamie and then with Cheeleong. Although I have never had a subscription, back copies were always available at the Journal Section in NUS or in the various school libraries. National Geographic has always been my one of favorite magazines. The wonderful photographs and informative articles found in every issue gave me an appreciation of the great diversity our planet offered and never failed to fuel my wanderlust.



Even if you aren't intending to stock up on explorer supplies, it's really worth a visit. Stepping into the store, you feel as if you are stepping into a museum (or Indiana Jones' attic), one in which all the exhibits are for sale. There is also a lovely photo gallery showcasing the best works, of national geographic photographers through the years, reiterating the power of photographs to transport us back in time.




On my suggestion, Jamie got one of these for the Xmas gift exchange; some lucky dude's gonna get a T-rex replica skeleton to put together.

Be warned, another photography post or in the words of Jamie, "Geek-talk".



Framing: Some notes.

The setting for any photograph is the picture frame and the borders of the frame places limits and influences composition. The frame can be made to interact strongly with the lines of the image. They are commonly used as references for diagonal lines within the pictures as well as to form angles. The usual frame standard for 35mm DSLRs is the 3:2 aspect ratio, for compact cameras 4:3, and these different aspect ratios will have ramifications upon the image.

Orientation, switching from 3:2 to 2:3 with a simple tilt of the camera may sometime be desirable, especially for standing human figures.

Filling the frame - varying the size of the subject in the frame will result in different perspectives. One must make the choice whether to close right in onto a subject so that it fills up the picture frame or to pull back so we can see something of the surroundings.

Placement - Other than how to fill the frame, the other decision to make is to where to place the subject within the frame, whilst remaining sensitive to the proportions of the space around the subject. One useful way of doing this is to consider the vectors in subject. To aid placement, the frame may also be divided up. A useful division is the rule of 3rds. Other more complicated methods of division include the Fibonacci Divisions, as well as the golden section proportions.

Other things to consider: Where to place the horizon line, looking for frames within the frame.

While I constantly keep in mind the late Pope John Paul II's caution to the young not to be obsessed by the materialism of modern society, tis the season and I could not help but feel like doing a bit of Christmas Shopping. Accompanied by Jamie, who warns that in the peak accounting period of the next three months, I will be an accountant's widower, we headed out to spend my 13th month's pay. After getting myself a X'mas-Birthday present - the S5pro, my gf picked out a shirt and belt for me, for work next year. And then almost a little too quickly we both felt a little sick of Consumerism dressed up as Father Christmas and so we decided to head down to Kranji where on the coast, near the dam, at lowtide we could walk out in the mud to the spit, where adults were digging up cockles, and little children grabbing alien looking horseshoe crabs, which are endangered, who are actually more spider than crabs, and swinging them around, trying to extract a confession, and I had to be pulled away by my gf from giving them a lecture on why they should not be doing that. Walking through the mud and feeling the seawater on our feet had a therapeutic effect upon us and we felt happier and more relaxed than we were at the mall. After Kranji we headed to nearby Sungei Buloh for sans-mosquito bites, a long pleasant peaceful "I-can hear-myself-think" walk to the breezy Aerie tower. I have a good feeling that in time to come, my gf will fall in love with Sungei Buloh as well.

I passed my IPPT!! Staved off RT for one more year. 200 dollars into the bank : )

The thermometer reads 22 degrees after a whole day of rain, perfect weather for sleeping in and sleep in I did after my gf took a rain check on our shopping plans. I needed the rest anyway, after a hectic(but fulfilling) yesterday - Sunday which began at 6am, ending past midnight, to be exact 2.30am this morning. A Sunday which saw everyone come together, to celebrate Burong's wedding as well as at the stroke of midnight, to Martell toasts and bad singing, Mos' birthday. To quote my mother, Burong, although meet-ups are sporadic nowadays, is almost like a brother. We spent so much of our childhood years together, from the ages 11-16, Burong, goalie turned sweeper(after the emergence of Tweety bird) for our kampung football team, he later left to form his own Geylang Methodist Team, whom we would play every holidays, Burong who would come to my place and we would sit in front of the computer, he, my brother, and me, plotting our team strategies, mulling over which players to buy, in Championship Manager. I was a bad loser, hitting the reset button on a couple of occasions whenever my team lost to his, and I am sorry for that, although it may seem like a small thing now. Burong got married to Cecilia yesterday and I played my part as one of his 5 "Brothers".



Although it was a long and tiring day, I was happy, because I got to see so many of the friends I made growing up, which I hardly see now, as education paths, occupation, hobbies, interests, addresses diverge.


The other 4 "Brothers", my closest childhood friends (Not forgetting Yasa Piggy Killed-by-Neutral Creeps Down-Under). Out of the 5 of us, You could say, l am the odd one out, in terms of interest and lifestyle as we grow up and find ourselves, but our friendship transcends interest, hobby, geography, and lifestyle, you could say there is an invisible string which binds us to each other, and prevents us from drifting apart, like so many other friendships do. Because of friends like them, I feel rich and blessed.

My other pictures from the wedding can be viewed here - http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=64898&l=1af43&id=549186861 and here - http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=65425&l=1b265&id=549186861

At 4am, unable to sleep after an upsized coke from Burger King last night, I began my next literary adventure, which only served to exacerbate the problem.

3am. Why am I still awake?

In the Widow's Hostel, I was taught harshly, once-and-for-all, the lesson of No Escape; now, seated hunched over paper in a pool of Anglepoised light, I no longer want to be anything except who I am. Who what am I? My answer: I am the sum total of everything that went before me, of all I have been seen done, of everything done-to-me. I am everyone everything whose being-in-the-world affected was affected by mine. I am anything that happens after I've gone which would not have happened if I had not come. Nor am I particularly exceptional in this matter, each 'I', everyone of the now-six-hundred-million-plus of us, contains a similar multitude. I repeat for the last time: to understand me, you'll have to swallow a world.

Yesterday, on the 2nd of Dec, 2 months since I picked it up again, I finally concluded my 2nd reading of Salman Rushdie's epic, the 1993 Booker of Bookers - Midnight's Children. Magical, whimsical, absurd, sentimental political, historical, existentialist; everything all at the same time; turning the pages was generally a pleasure, although sometimes a pain. This is a book not to be gulped down, but to be read and reread again for the wonderful descriptions, the marvelous use of the English Language. What at 14, I could not comprehend, and so put down barely halfway through, 12 years on, I am finally able to appreciate what a magnificent piece of literature this is.

November reluctantly steps aside, it's been a good month.
This morning I wake up and my first thought, "It's December already." Alarm bells ring, but only softly in the distance, because of the so many things, in the prior months, I had been planning for December and now that it's the 1st of December, I am worried I might not see them through. The thing about plans, about planning ahead is that I am a person who enjoys spontaneity and freedom, being able to do whatever I want on a whim, however frivolous. With set plans, a certain amount of commitment, of dedication is required and it just seems like a bit of work for a lazy person.

First up, queuing for tickets at NTU, for Mayday's free concert on Jan 04. I should be out of the house already. Why am I still here? You see. I am lazy.