I must admit, I was slightly frightened after the hair cut. I initially wanted to go for a little trim, just so that I would look neat at my upcoming graduation ceremony. Then I decided to go with my feelings and get that hair cut. The second my hairstylist snipped off the hair from above my ear, I had a little panic attack in my inside system. Of course, on the outside I seemed cool. It was totally uncool to appear uncool and shaken. I kept trying to make up my mind as she cut my hair whether I had made a correct choice or not. I could not decide.
As I walked away from the hair salon, staring at my reflection in the mirrors of the overhead escalators, it got me thinking a bit. About confidence. And how in this modern day, people bank so much of their confidence on their outward appearance (coincidentally a topic of conversation I had earlier on with my beautician). I suddenly had to deal with the uncertainty of not feeling confident in a ’safe’ hairstyle. Felt slightly stripped bare and had to readjust what I had confidence in. Now, as I look at this photo, the irony of it is pushed that bit further with the image of a long-haired girl I have on my top. And if you look closer, you see the crack of the paint on the wall behind me. Read between the lines?
Today I went for a facial, a hair cut, and almost went for manicure/pedicure. Major grooming day. I haven’t had hair that short in awhile and although I’ve had many short haircuts, I’ve not had one quite like this one before. I always forget when was the last time I cut my hair. Hence, I’ve decided to take a self-portrait on the day I cut my hair from now onwards. I like my hair now but I’m still getting used to it; the last time I cut my hair this short, I got used to it immediately. I’m wondering if I’m getting a little less risk-embracing with age.
I’m off to Sydney from tomorrow till 11 July. Then it’s graduation ceremony or Commencement on 12 July. Exciting changes and big moves.
Yesterday’s solemnization was one of those that had a very good flow. I felt so happy after it and it was a simple, beautiful affair. I think the fact that they were both so relaxed really makes a huge difference. The amount of natural light that streamed into the Glass Pavilion made gorgeous lighting. I also love weddings/events that have good live jazz singing. Kammui’s dress yesterday is one of my favorites by far. She got it from Margaret Brides.
I just love city lights at night. The view of this highway reminds me of the view I had from the serviced apartment I stayed in Shanghai whilst working there for a month this time about 3 years ago. Just that the highways there and then were Shanghainese.
Anyway last night was such an awesome night with free flyer tickets, free pies, one-for-one Starbucks lattes, a spontaneous picnic by the waters and a green friend (who is as random as me).
I’m always excited to get new things - who isn’t? I just got my new headphones today. I’m delighted because recently I’ve been very intrigued with sound and noises. I foresee a lot of experimentation with combining the senses of sound and sight in my future projects. Not to mention the inclusion of your heart and brain too.
The funny thing about this photo is that I only just saw the fish. Just, meaning five minutes ago, when I was scrolling through my photos to pick this other photo I initially wanted to post up. I didn’t see the fish at all when I was capturing the photo. I was focusing so hard on trying to take a photo that frames the bridge nicely without falling into the water myself. Guess this is a bit like life; sometimes we focus so hard on achieving that one goal and bend ourselves over just to reach it, we forget to enjoy the beautiful surprises that surface in our life to give our life some color.
By the way, this was shot in Bao Mi Yuan in Guangzhou. It’s this huge garden cum house that spreads over a large area and it used to be the home of a Chinese scholar. My imagination ran wild just thinking about what I’d do if I had a home with that much space - and that many lakes.
More often than not, the photography books that I chance upon are books on techniques and how-tos, or books that are bursting with aesthetic pleasure as they feature beautiful images galore. Just last week when I was at Kinokuniya browsing books, I found a book by the famous photographer Henri Cartier-Bresson. The Mind’s Eye: Writing on Photography and Photographers is a book full of photographs and essays by him - more essays than photographs. I’ve barely started on the book but it has been very enlightening thus far already. It puts so much more depth into my thoughts on photography. It adds a further dimension than the usual we are accustomed to because he brings in so much philosophy behind his photography. This is very precious to me especially in this modern day and age whereby the convenience and benefits of digital photography and technology brings in the necessary evil of losing the essence or meaning behind taking a photo. I guess one is not better than the other; they are on different platforms. The challenge therefore lies in achieving a balance of the two.
My first foray in photography was out of a flow of the heart. It was an emotion-triggered action on my part to pick up the camera and capture an emotion-filled moment. The entire sequence was relationship-based: the relationship between the camera and me, the relationship between my subjects and me, the relationship between my subjects and their natural environment, the relationship amongst the varied subjects, and the relationship between my subjects and my camera. Relationships are unique and can never be recreated the same. Today, I’d say I’m still the same ‘heart-photographer’ but then there are distractions like technology and techniques that can sway the system a bit, be it in a good way or bad. One sentence that I thought was very powerful in the book is “The picture-story involves a joint operation of the brain, the eye, and the heart.” This was a good reminder to me as it reminded me to shoot with all three. Think about it, is it not very often that the photographer shoots with only one or maybe just two of the three? The concurrent functioning of the three to capture a good photograph is something that I prioritize because it present the photograph as something that is raw and true.
Since I came back from Guangzhou, I’ve been doing a photography internship/apprenticeship at The Pond under fabulous photographer Tan Ngiap Heng. I am very blessed to have been offered this opportunity to work there. It’s only been just over a week but I’ve learnt so much and still look forward to learning more.
Tomorrow, or rather in a few hours time, I head off to Batam for church youth camp and I am so excited about it. Once again, I’m very blessed to be one of the photographers to capture the moments over the four days of camp. I feel that a lot of things in photography, or in life, is about being at the right place at the right time. This is why my faith is what triggers the wonderful progress and personal sense of satisfaction I get from photography because only God can put me at the right place at the right time.
Finally uploaded my Bangkok photos into the gallery. Bangkok was great because I went during my mid-term break from school. Also, it’s the most spontaneous trip I’ve gone on so far. We only decided to go about four days before we departed? Thank God we managed to somehow get air tickets and accommodation and off we were. I love Thai food. And I’m ready for spontaneity anytime. It makes life just that little bit more exciting.
Guess my approaching China trip was good-enough motivation to organize photos from the last holiday, ie: Bangkok. Did I mention that I love traveling? I soak in so much more from the visual sights.
let it go
let it roll right off your shoulder
don’t you know
the hardest part is over
let it in
let your clarity define you
in the end
we will only just remember how it feels
Songs really set the mood for my photographic vision sometimes, and I have a feeling this song is gonna set my mood for quite some time. Thanks Faye dearest. And happy birthday.
This is the dog who entertains me and is willing to put up with my teasing. He is afraid of my big camera and thinks it is “the enemy”. If I go too close with my big camera, it will attack “the enemy”.
Last Wednesday, my two dearest friends, Lauren and Lenise, surprised me with a pretty white rose in the middle of my studying at Starbucks. They actually had a debate over which color they each thought I’d like more. The rose is still sitting pretty on my table and deserves a long-life award for lasting till today.
Thanks to everyone who came down to visit my exhibition which was ongoing from 31 March to 04 April. It was really awesome considering this is the first time I ran an exhibition proper and also the first time I’ve paired photos with haikus. Thanks Nabilah for the wonderful haikus you wrote. Quite frankly, before we actually put up the exhibition at Frujch, before we had a tangible result to look at, I had no idea how it would turn out or if it would even look good at all. Thank God it turned out to be a pleasant surprise.
After much discussion, Nabilah and I agreed on the unifying theme of time. This is because we’re both graduating students (I just had my final paper yesterday) and we’re at this stage in life where time means so much and we don’t know where time will bring us all. The first segment of the exhibition is time standing still and the second segment of the exhibition is time moving. Pretty much self-explanatory why we chose those two categories of time.
For all those who could not make it down for the exhibition, don’t worry, I’ve uploaded a version that looks as close to the real-life exhibition as possible. This means with the pseudo-’black A3 mounting boards’ and what not. Enjoy!
This is how the patch of orange on the floor appeared out of nowhere in the car park. It shone from the sun through the hole in the wall, then through the front screen of the car at the upper deck, and bounced off the top of the car at the lower deck in an almost straight angle spanning across the car park. It’s amazing how light travels. It’s even more awesome that the theory of light shining ever more beautifully and brightly in darkness holds so much truth in this situation. Are you a light in the world around you today?
I just got home not too long ago and I saw this patch of orange out of nowhere in the almost totally dark car park. I was really curious how it found it’s way there. You wanna know too? Come back again tomorrow to see how the orange light was birthed.
It’s been a flurry of fulfilling events as I had my last week of lessons in school last week. From the Seniors Flash Mob to Starry Night to Frujch closing to doing a test at Starbucks. I’ve got lots of photos to update so stay tuned for them. Slowly but surely! For now, it’s studying for the last exam of my undergraduate life next Tuesday - Science, Exploration and Society. Cheers to Starbucks and study buddies.
I took the photo above two Fridays ago when I took a break amidst the madness of school by going for a ballet at Fort Canning with picnic baskets of wine and cheese and pasta and lots more. Right now I’m feeling like the mood of the picture. Chilly and pensive yet enjoying the mystery of the lateness of the night. All calm and peaceful yet heavy with expectations.
Where: Walkway/concourse stretching from Kopitiam to Accountancy
What: Lying down for 3 minutes just chilling, talking to friends, sleeping…basically, anything done lying down
How: Rosh and I will suddenly start laying our picnic mats on the floor and lying down. This is the trigger for everyone to follow suit. Spread yourselves out randomly across the entire walkway.
Who: All seniors, come on down!
What to bring: Picnic mats, pillows, outrageous wigs and outfits
Things to note for girls: Might wanna be careful with the skirts and dresses cause we’re lying down
On Sunday, 23 Mar 08, I was blessed with the opportunity to be featured on Campus Radio with my fellow bloggers Amelia, Calin, Daryl and Nabilah. Daryl was the host while the rest of us shared our blog experiences.
Today, Nabilah and I launched the first part of our exhibition at Frujch, the student-run bar at SMU. She contributed the haikus and I contributed the photos. We got to know each other better and discovered each other’s passions from our blogs. As we are both graduating from SMU soon, we decided to make our last week of school memorable by coming together to put up this exhibition.
The underlying theme of this exhibition is “time”. The first part of our exhibition is entitled “moving”. The second part, which will be set-up on Wednesday, is entitled “still”. Do check it out!
update: Just to make things clearer, the exhibition is on until Friday!
Yesterday I had a fun session with my dearest girlfriends. One of the highlights was the “photo booth” application that comes with the new Macbooks and Macbook Pros. We had a fun time taking spontaneous photos. Then we used the “comic life” application to turn it into a comic strip, complete with the “POWWW”. The concept of a photo booth is just so timeless and alluring. I’m quite excited about the possible photo booth we might be setting for one day. Hopefully it comes to pass.
Yesterday, I went to Sentosa to help some of my touch juniors do a photo shoot for the upcoming beach touch carnival they’re hosting. It was a pretty last minute thing amidst the week 11/12 madness of the school term but I thought hey, why not, it’s my last term at school anyway. The weather was pretty dramatic yesterday, with the just-about-to-rain howling breeze. It was pretty relaxing to just walk along the beach for whatever short period I was there and I realized how much I miss going to the beach. I also realized how much I miss playing touch since I last injured my elbow.
A flow of dance, a flow of love, a flow of life. The last few weeks of my undergraduate education are gushing through but I’ve been managing to let it flow by in a smooth, comfortable manner. Like all things in life, flows just create that peace.
Just had the most awesome and fun presentation yesterday on Global Warming. We had a few segments, 3D-model + explanation, kids’ video, interpretive contemporary dance + photo montage with music, individuals’ video. The process of working towards this presentation was so fun as well, constantly laughing at everything with my project mates Daphne, Michaela, Roxanne and Sara. The cool thing about this project was that even though it was about a scientific topic, we could include so many artistic elements into it, including dance, music, photos and videos. It’s great to combine so many of my artistic interests into something that is usually purely academic.
Thanks to all who starred in our videos! Do check out our videos at my youtube site.
Just started a new category on my website under the title “People” and put in the first of my dance photography series there. This is my first venture into dance photography. During the shoot, I was just in awe at how the human body can be such a piece of art, likened to that of a sculpture. Defined, secure and powerful. Our Maker is amazing. The fact that in and of our little selves, we have creativity in its physical form. This is such a stark contrast to the world that we live in today, whereby we are so dependent on the things around us. This could range from material things like pretty clothes and flashy cars to the technology of mobile phones and broadband networks. We could even be so dependent on the intangibles of love, relationships or seeking comfort in the constant person/s in our lives. Did we ever stop to think, that all these will fade away? Then, the only constant that remains is yourself. And your faith.
ι Two Singaporeans reflected in a Thai shopping mall
poster advertising a British brand
The week just flew by like that. I feel like I’ve just returned from Bangkok, when in fact it was this time one week ago that I’d just returned. Where did the week go? I’m trying to pick up my pace as well, without losing myself. Four weeks left of lessons before I end my undergraduate life.
Shot Wai Kong and Sharon’s wedding on Sunday. They’re both dog lovers so it was pretty fun playing with their dogs a little. Sharon has a cross-breed small dog (can’t remember what mix it was) that’s called Snow White. Snow White is a little nosy parker who’s very friendly with the guests. I was very amused with Snow White as it kept poking around trying to get attention as Sharon was getting her make-up done. Wai Kong has a very handsome white and brown husky who has one grey eye and one green eye. Wai Kong also has three cats that look just like Garfield! I’ve never seen such Garfield-lookalikes in real life before.
I guess one of the perks of the day was riding in the back of their Mini. I think it’s cool when wedding cars are Minis and the groom drives his own manual Mini. A unique step away from the usual grand luxury cars. I think we got quite a bit of stares cruising down the roads as passers-by seemed much more curious to see which couple was riding a Mini wedding car.
I went for a dance photography course today by Tan Ngiap Heng. It was really eye-opening and gave me an entirely new perspective. It’s just so beautiful to see the human body as an art form, as a sculpture. Indeed, God is amazing with the way he created us.
ι The conserved ceiling inside the New Majestic Hotel
Off to Bangkok tomorrow for a short break. Looking forward to sharing my photos when I get back. All excited about the getaway because it takes me away from things for awhile and offers some time for introspection. I think this is the first time I booked a trip from Singapore with only a 3 days lead time. The thrill of being spontaneous definitely adds value to the holiday.
Anyhow, I shot the photo above at a family dinner on the 15th day of Chinese New Year, which was last week. It intrigued me how the entire hotel was all new, slightly avant-gardish, and modernly styled, yet they kept the entire ceiling of the restaurant in the old manner. Grandma was most appalled by it whilst we kept trying to convince her it was of artistic value. Obviously, we failed.
The ceiling led me to think: to what extent is it good to keep something old, familiar, and constant in your life. When should the old be cast away and when should the old be kept? Perhaps relationships, perhaps points of view. When can the old cease to exist in parallel with the new?
“Dance Me Through The Dark is a labour of my first love, abetted by the mistress of my destiny.”
Today, during my lunch break in between classes, I decided to take some time to visit a dance photography exhibition by Tan Ngiap Heng. He used to be a dancer himself but now he is a photographer. The photos are deeply thought-provoking as it displays the human body in and of itself as an art form. I also love how he uses the power of words to build up the pondering sentiments within a person upon viewing his gallery. With phrases like “When does a dancer become dance?”, how can one refuse to unravel individual feelings to connect with the display of forms and language?
The exhibition is ongoing from 13-28 Feb 2008, 10am - 8:30pm at the Gallery at The Arts House. Admission is free, the location is convenient, the photos are stunning, so do go check it out. For a preview/sneak peek, you can visit a write-up on the exhibition here.
Just shot this series last night. Got a stash of vinyl from my grandparent’s old house. They were gonna throw them all out when they were moving so I secretly took them back to my house. Been wanting to hear what they sound like again but don’t think I’ll ever get down to buying a vinyl player so I’m giving them to a friend. The covers are all pretty neat. Picked my favourites out of the over 40 records and decided to capture them for keeps’ sake. It’s hard not to be nostalgic.
The background for some of the photos is the marble floor in my bedroom. I’m going to be moving out of my place in about seven or eight months time so I’m slowly capturing parts of the home. I’ve grown so attached to my room it’s not even funny. If only there was a nostalgia-eraser.
Thanks to Joanne for recommending me, I got a message at the start of this week inviting me to capture the event. It was held at the SMU sports hall and swimming pool. It was a three part relay with three participants per team. The first segment was cycling on stationary bikes, the second segment was swimming and the last segment involved a guy carrying 40kg of weights and running round the sports hall. Considering it’s my first time attending such an event (even though it’s my last term in school), it was pretty fun to watch and shoot.
The sports hall is on the third floor and the pool is on the sixth floor. Unfortunately, the lift was not working on that day so I had to climb up and down the flight of stairs with my cameras three times (because there were the school, cca and open categories). I realised I’m not as fit as before. Will be posting some photo highlights from the event soon so do return to check out my future blog posts.
I’m happy to see the list grow longer as I update it with more friends-with-interests. Most of them are people I know in real-life but there are the occasional people I stumble upon in the blogosphere.
One such example is Carsten Fleck. Just like me, Carsten Fleck’s blog is about photography and life. And we both started our new blogs in January 2008. But our approaches are different, as he is posting a photo with a story daily. His stories are long and add the punch in his photos or rather, they give an “ah, I understand how you’re feeling” sort of realisation. Do check out the link to his blog from my list on the right.
“Hi, meet Meg and Jack. Meg is a Diana and Jack is a Holga. They’re plastic but not superficial. They’re what dreams are made of as they create surrealistic images. Meg and Jack are audiophiles and have collaborated with The White Stripes. Meg and Jack have also recently revamped their spring/summer look with tinges of red and white in true peppermint-fashion.”
P.S.: Dianas and Holgas are plastic toy cameras that use medium format film. If you still don’t get it, explore the cool link at the start of this post. If you dig them but don’t know where to get medium format film, leave a comment and I’ll share the gospel of good shops to get film from in Singapore.
For those of you who probably already know, I draw influences for my photography from all over the place. But one of my main sources of inspiration comes from watching movies. As such, I’ve added a new “Movies 2008″ list on the right-hand side of this blog which will be constantly updated with all the movies I’ve watched this year. Do share with me any movies you truly love!
By the way, as with all things that influence me, the aspects of beauty and perfection always jumps out at me. However sometimes, things done in bad taste also help me to take note of what never to do. These “ugly things” help in the perfection of the “beautiful things”. This is how I strive towards an open-minded and balanced absorption of the surroundings.
Last night, we had a reunion dinner at Mezza9, Grand Hyatt. Told my grandparents to pose for a shot on the other side of the dinner table. Grandpa enthusiastically moved over to Grandma and if you look closely, you can sort of see Grandma’s hand on his shoulder. They look so happy in this photo. But what goes behind a photo?
Grandpa has always been a very serious man and a deep thinker. He never really smiled that much in many photos. Grandma has always been that hip but you know they’re not the sort to hold hands. Last time, they used to take photos just sitting side by side. Recently, Grandpa had a major operation for his knee and his movement was restricted for quite a few weeks. As a person, he changed. He told me that he realised that being so uptight and ensuring that the family was well looked after with material things did not matter if he wasn’t even healthy enough to enjoy it. Since then, he has become such a joyous person, cracking jokes everyday and taking everything very easily.
The way my grandparents are able to make fun of each other in a funny, loving way is such a refreshing perspective of love in old age.
Recently I had to come up with a mood board of the heroes in my life. I did this by pasting pictures and quotes of my heroes on a sheet of paper. The last time I actually had heroes was when I was a kid so it took me quite awhile to ponder over this.For now, these people are my heroes in my life who influence my photography and my perspectives.
1. Banksy: A pseudo-anonymous English graffiti artist
I like the way he provokes, be it in politics, culture or ethics. The point is not what he provokes, but the fact that he provokes with an alternative point of view. When you provoke, you draw out so much more response from the response. People actually steal his work.
2. Nat King Cole: An American jazz singer, songwriter and pianist
You must listen to the sincerity of his songs. They’re the kind that you can listen to over and over again and it just makes you feel happy. His songs make you feel important, as though they’re sung straight from his heart for you. His daughter, Natalie Cole, followed in his footsteps. When you leave a legacy of notes from the heart that even your daughter would pick up - now that speaks so much.
3. Philip Larkin: An English poet, novelist and jazz critic
Beauty in words that play with the imagination of your mind. Yet, at the same time, simple enough to comprehend and identify with. I’d love to take photos that resound the depths of language the same way his words conjure up the vast visions in your head.
I love all his movies for the mood that he can evoke. Not to mention the details in his movie that is so noticeable you don’t need a critic to point it out to you. His movies are so seizing I could almost cry. You could freeze his movies at almost any point in the show and that frame would make a photo bursting with emotions. Also, although he’s a Chinese, he doesn’t only revere his nationality’s history, he also respects the cultures of the West, drawing inspiration from things like the French New Wave. Truly, in essence, a melting point of cultures.
It’s interesting how there are forecasts for colors of the year. I mean, I always knew fashion houses and magazines dictated colors for the season, like pink or lime green etc. Now we have a very specific color for the year, right down to the six-digit numerical code for it:18-3943. I particularly like their description of the color, “Emotionally, it is anchoring and meditative with a touch of magic.” That’s how colors subtly play an underlying role in photos. Now the tricky part is trying to translate the power of this color across into photographs. Or perhaps derive the power of this through the photograph. Either way would work well.
I never really liked short films and short stories. I always felt they cheated me in a way, like cut everything just that tad too short causing the original plot to lose essence. Today I watched a short movie, and it really is more powerful than any movie I’ve seen in ages. The storyline is amazingly transformational. But emotions aside, it was such a beautiful movie in terms of the way it was filmed. The combination of the framing and the choice of classical music birthed a movie that was really to me, an artistic creation.
I especially loved the color tones they used to perfectly match the mood of the show. Just like in the still shot above, the blue they picked wasn’t just any blue, it was just the right kind of blue to convey the heaviness of the air at the railway track that can somehow transcend boundaries and ooze into your soul. Think it’ll be great if every single shot I took could just seep so much emotions into the heart and mind of the viewer.
“I never liked jazz music because jazz music doesn’t resolve. But I was outside the Baghdad Theatre one night when I saw a man playing the saxophone. I stood there for fifteen minutes and he never opened his eyes. After that I liked jazz music. Sometimes you have to watch somebody love something before you can love it yourself. It is as if they are showing you the way.”
Happened to stumble upon some excerpts from this book that I was surfing around for after a recommendation from one of the Hillsong Church London podcasts. I fully agree with what the author is saying and I guess that’s how photography is to me. Not in terms of the never liking it before but more of the relationship I have with it now. It’s more than a passion - it’s a relationship, something I can get lost in or immersed in. Something that provides me with a different perspective on life.
I once had a conversation with a friend, about how it’s easier for people like “us”, ie: people with a passion. When the down moments in life arrive, you can turn to that passion. Or when you get so bored with life, you know there’s that passion that can spur you on. Passion gives life a purpose. My friend said that for people without a passion like herself, life seems to be a little purposeless. Like at the end of the day, what are you made of? I never thought about things this way before that conversation. I guess I took photography for granted, assuming it’s just always there.
One more thing about having a passion, it’s that you love it so much you want to share it, and you rave about it so much you love it even more. And that’s why I love sharing my photos and hearing people’s thought about my photos. Because it’s the sharing process that builds up relationships.
This series of photos was taken on the plane at the JFK airport in New York on departure back to Singapore. It was raining and we spent one hour in the plane in darkness, waiting for the weather to clear up a little more before the plane could take off. A rather long delay. And strange in that it was dark in the plane and outside the plane. You’re strapped to your seat with nothing to do and little you can see. Just the world moving outside and around you with random lights flickering from other planes roving the runways. Then there’s the fleeting rain, like fleeting troubles that blur your vision and make things look different. Everything is changing, yet in the plane everything is still as everyone is belted down, but yet again everything inside everyone is stirring. Stirring of thoughts and stirring of emotions. Because when you’re tied down with little control of what you can see and nothing you can do in the dark, you can only see and move everything inside your head and your heart. Everyone in the plane was surely pondering or feeling something, each a unique rumbling predisposition, just like faraway rolling thunder.
Me? I was trying to remember/forget New York and remember/forget Singapore. It was like trying to straddle reality/escape. And I was trying to forget/remember -ships. I was wondering if you knew what I was thinking and feeling and if I really knew what you were thinking and feeling. And I suddenly felt not so sure for a moment, then I thought hey, maybe you‘re not too sure either. Then I felt a bit surer, because there was the possibility that you were not too sure either.
Rushed down after my Italian class to join my boss, Jon Keng, in a pre-wedding shoot. When I arrived, they were midway through the studio shoots. Then we headed to NUS, Arab St., and City Hall area. The couple was so comfortable with each other and with us, they kept making funny faces and joking with each other. A good thing about that is the couple will be more natural in the photos and in expressing themselves. This is definitely a great contributing factor as more truth will be spoken through the pictures. But we had to occasionally remind them to get “in the mood” a bit so that there’s not too much clowning around and ‘unglamness’ (or so I’d like to phrase it).
Never noticed it before, but because of Chinese New Year approaching, suddenly the peaceful Padang area had been lit up with so many red lanterns. Does this usually happen every year?
Just back from watching the movie. I loved it because I love romantic comedies and I love weddings. The show is about how Katherine Heigl is 27 times a bridesmaid but never once a bride. There’s just something about weddings and the feel-good factor, that naturally movies about weddings seem hard to fail. That is of course from a girl’s point of view - I wonder if guys feel the same. The last movie about weddings that I remember resonating so deeply was Wedding Crashers. I guess it goes back to the essential fact that humans like familiarity. When watching the movie, I felt so comfortable because everything was so familiar.
“Love is patient, love is kind, love is slowly going out of your mind.” - I laughed so hard when I heard that line in the movie. It’s amusing in a way how a bible verse has turned into an all too familiar speech phrase at weddings, and now how a movie has put a funny twist to it. Yet, ultimately, at the end of the day, the very same verse holds so much meaning to the people who fully appreciate the depth of it.
Shalini, one of my friends from SMU who co-owns the student-run bar Frujch, held a surprise birthday dinner for her mum together with her family. It’s one of the sweetest things I’ve seen because they put in so much effort to invite 10 tables of guests and they managed to make everyone keep mum about it. They blindfolded her mum to the venue and when they finally took off blindfolds, the mixture of emotions so visible on her mum’s face was ever so touching. It was like genuine surprise, happiness, excitement, and being touched to tears all combined. I must say kudos to Shal and her family for pulling it off so well - think this is the first perfect surprise large-scale event I’ve seen. Usually, all the surprises my friends and I try to pull off usually com
ι Shell - Image 2
ι Shell - Image 1
ι Love can never be distanced
ι View from the Singapore Flyer
