Singapore

So, I was back in Singapore to attend friend's wedding, but I also want to go around and see what has changed in a year since I left it.

Out I go to visit my old haunts; The Botanic Garden is one of my favorites, where people seem to have life. Where they have enjoyable talk with friends, lover, or their dog, while appreciating nature... or so I thought. The reality is, at this rate, not much private space left for an individual. A lot of foreign workers are sprawling across the place. Quite understandable really, given that they have no other means of entertainment. But still, its quite annoying when you want to take photo, a lot of people is in the way. I spot a couple photo ops, few wedding photoshoot, among other things.

For a while, Singaporeans have deemed their fellow countrymen as not creative. Without a quiet place to think, its not that surprising. That's why I look for quaint, sometimes rustic cafés to read and ponder. But at $15 for a latte and a slice of cake, I'm afraid I'd soon be broke before even producing a substantial work. Some of the nice place to relax is Tiong Bahru Bakery in Raffles City, but get there before lunch hour, preferable from 10-11 am.

What is disturbing is the fact that even in a vacation, I find myself quite busy. I'm not sure what was the cause. Inadequate public transportation, or just lousy planning on my side? But I did wait an hour for a bus when half the island was flooded. And lets not forget its raining the whole time I was there. That made me think that I took the right decision to leave. Is this modern day lifestyle, which must be paid in hefty sum, worth it?

But its not all in vain, I did get a few good photos, discover interesting places, and experience a unique wedding procession. I found some old trading companies still doing business in the middle of the modern city state, along Hong Kong St road. They still trade spices, grains, and a bunch of other things, run by middle aged people.

Another area of interest is Mohamed Sultan Road, the place is teeming with cafes and restaurants. I did try a few places, but like I said above, I couldn't afford it too often. After all, its in the posh area of the city, surrounded by high class private apartments. But there is a small Thai restaurant which name I can't remember now (sorry!). For $8, you can get an olive fried rice, with fish cakes and tom yam soup. You won't be disappointed. 

Watch Value

Some narrow minded professor made a comment about automatic watches. I love how Watch Snob's response to his article (although I admit the name does not reflect a good impression *cough*).

But lets take another look from a different point of view. The average monthly wage in Switzerland after tax was 4948 CHF (2011). With gross salary about 6000 Swiss francs and a low end automatic watch costing 2000 francs. I would estimate an average employee need to produce 7 to 8 piece per month for the maker to break even and make small profit, if you account for the overhead like factory building, machines, etc. Now.. depending on the automation level of the production process, some watchmaker like Rolex can produce up to 30 watches per month per employee, so if you buy a Rolex, yeah.. you are conned. But for other watches which requires high level of finish and polishing for the dial, its less. Some boutique manufacturer also build their own movement, which can take even longer (and more expensive) to finish a watch.

In contrast, a quartz watch production can probably utilize full automation. Plus circuit boards and battery  produce hazardous chemicals as by product. I think all the important points has been mentioned by Snob. But for me its down to whether you want to pay for machines (and its owners) which churns out cheap, ugly watches. Or pay real artisans for their skill.

Well.. I'm supposed to be working today. Instead I work on other things.. oh.. wait.. that mean I have worked. In fact, I'm quite productive today.. mopping the floor and cleaning the toilet. Anyway.. I want to write something while I still remember it.

The rise of charismatic Christian irks me a lot. I'd say ninety percent of them preached about blessing and prosperity. My problem with that is that it focus on receiving, and often becoming the sole purpose of people coming to church. Plus.. all other verses are ignored or left unexplained.
I quote a comment from one of the prominent contemporary charismatic pastor:

"You can be a businessman here in St. Louis, and people think the more you have, the more wonderful it is...but if you’re a preacher, then all of a sudden it becomes a problem."

Helloo?! The problem is precisely because you are a preacher. What happened to "sell your possession and give the money to the poor" ? There are some people who wants little change in their life when they become Christians, with an exception of being richer because of all those blessings that God pour on them abundantly and freely.

Last Sunday, the message preached from my church pulpit coincidentally touch on the same verse. Its about a rich young ruler, some commentary state the possibility that he was a ruler of a synagogue. We can see the parallel here. A religious leader who was rich, and have followed every legal requirement of the Torah. The only problem he had was that money as his idol.

Star Trek

About fifteen years ago, I watched Star Trek every day after school. I always amused as the crews working on touch panels in the twenty fifth century. But just in a decade, iPads are ubiquitous, and it is as natural as everything else for some toddlers. Now wearables such as Google glass is coming. I wonder what the future might bring in ten or twenty years.

Death

Yesterday my long time neighbor died. I used to play to their house when I was still in primary school.. that was more than 20 years ago. From what I heard, her death was caused by illness. What saddened me is that she died alone.. not one of her children was present. Where one can find filial piety in this day and age?

I also remember a few years ago, a man who lived nearby also died. He worked as a tyre inflator on the streets. He died at night on a rickshaw. What makes me remember that night is that just the day before, I was going to give the poor guy extra food that I got from my friend's birthday party.

Well.. such is life.. rest in peace, neighbor

Batman

At night, when I lie down in bed, trying to sleep, my mind will be full of creative imagination and wonderful ideas. Whether its work related, life inspiration, or whatever. It seems like it work best when I try to think of nothing. Or perhaps its the quietness of the night.

Or maybe I should be Batman... but then I'll have to hit the gym..

Memories

I always wonder how people write their own memoirs or biography. I seem to have a short term memory. I already forgot past distant travels. I'm not sure if this is common, or that I'm the only one with this shortcoming. Some people seems to be able to recall old memories vividly, just like it was yesterday.
I envy them. Maybe this is partly why I became a photographer, and writing this blog. To record fleeting moments.

Utopia

So this blog survived the apocalypse. Boo the Mayans!

But we're approaching the end of another year. In the midst of more (economic) uncertainty, I hope 2013 will be a better year for all of us.

The world is pretty much border-less already. At least for money anyway. Goods are still subject to few restrictions and duties, but you can get pretty much anything from anywhere nowadays. Unless you are importing bombs or some radioactive materials.
As the world become borderless, so is the government control over its subject. One who does not like one's government's rules and regulations can simply go somewhere else. Just like FBs Saverin, and a few other billionaires who moved to Singapore, or the French who move to London because of Hollande's tax policy.
The same can be said in economic and monetary sector, the world is so closely connected and linked today that every individual government's policy will eventually affect the other nation, whether they like it or not.

Beneficial policy (at least for the taxpayer) like low tax rates in Ireland and Singapore, attracts talents and corporation. Countries who wants advance their ranks therefore have to compete by issuing even better policy. And this is a good thing for the global citizen.
On the flip side, this global competition have side effects, for instance, with the Fed pumping money into the economy, they have effectively exporting inflation to other countries. Some analyst worried that this will spark currency wars.

I will end my ramblings for now. Two posts in a day is a bit too much, and on Saturday even!

Change

The only constant is change

- Heraclitus, 500 B.C.

People always resist change and try to cling to what feels familiar to them. Reading about European painters in the 19th century, a lot of them were inspired by those changes. The industrial revolution and Franco-Prussian war that took place around that time was causing uneasyness to everyone, including the artists.
The truth is, everything changes all the time, even now, maybe even more so. This century witnessed man on the moon, the advent of the internet, computers, airplanes. People need the familiar, something that they can hang on to. But the reality is that things change faster nowadays, with the inventions and technology around us. Those who don't keep up will be left in the dust.

Actually I wanted to write something else, but never did. And just yesterday I attended a seminar about Christian youth at my church. It was talking about how they are radically different from the previous generation. And this is partly caused by the pace of change around them. A very insightful revelation. The seminar is largely influenced by the latest David Kinnaman's book, titled You Lost Me, which I'm reading right now.

PS: this post is written on Blogger app on iPad, which is long overdue..finally ;)

Immortality

Some are like water, some are like the heat
Some are a melody and some are the beat
Sooner or later they all will be gone
Why don't they stay young
It's so hard to get old without a cause
I don't want to perish like a fading horse
Youth is like diamonds in the sun
And diamonds are forever
So many adventures couldn't happen today
So many songs we forgot to play
So many dreams are swinging out of the blue
We let them come true

Forever young, I want to be forever young
Do you really want to live forever

Forever Young - Alphaville

There are so many things a person can do, and could never do in their lifetime. I always wonder why people run out of things to do. I personally need more than 24 hours in a day. There are so much to learn, to read, to do, places to visit. The thought that you can learn about everything in this world is both ridiculous and arrogant.


Meanwhile, I want to share a good testimony from the late dr. Richard Teo

Five years is long enough to call a place home.. sometimes I just miss it.

Enjoying Things

The present generation, at least from Gen X (interestingly, the term coined by Robert Capa, co-founder of Magnum Photos) onwards, suffers from lack of concentration and short attention span. Thanks to the various electronic gadgets like radio, TV, iPod, iPad, and the advent of internet.People tend to multi task, thus dividing their concentration to several things at the same time.

I have this bad habit of eating and doing something else.. usually reading, be it a comic book, newspaper, or a magazine. The drawback of course, is that I cannot fully appreciate the taste of my food. Although, in my defence, its not haute cuisine either (sorry mom).

I thought about writing this post when reading Petite Anglaise's blog posts regarding food. Its dormant now but the archives are there and its highly entertaining especially if you have nothing to do in office. Hopefully I won't get dooced.. which is highly unlikely since I have tendered my resignation last month.. hee hee
The blog world seems to be much more colourful back then, before the advent of facebook, which some female teenagers mistook for a diary of their lives. But honestly, who ever wrote 'I'm in the toilet' or 'I'm going to sleep' in their diary?

Back to the topic, I think the French had it right, the take their food very seriously. They even stare at people eating their food in the streets. Good thing I didn't do that while I was in Paris. The French sit and enjoy their food properly and slowly, they only take proper meals, and don't like to eat snacks in between.
In the years of living abroad, I get to taste some of the better food available, albeit for a price. Don't worry, I still have my arms and legs. I have come to appreciate the taste of pork soup ramen (tonkotsu), local fish soup (yes.. fish! believe it or not), and the delight of a cod sushi, and occasional Subway sandwich.

To some extent... I cannot fully enjoy a beautiful scenery when I'm with a gorgeous girl for example (or vice versa, in case some gorgeous girl reading this post gets offended, I wouldn't want that would I?). And also, enjoying music or radio when I'm doing something else (internet browsing, photo editing, book reading etc) which requires some level of concentration, so now I just turn off the music.

My place to go list:
- Europe : French rural area, Italy, especially Tuscany and Lake Como area. Switzerland, and the eastern Europe.. Greece.. um.. well.. basically the whole Europe
- Japan : Osaka, Kyoto, Shirakawa, Tokyo and the Hokkaido
- America : national parks like Yosemite, Zion and Yellowstone
- China : exotic remote places

And it will be nice to have friends to go along.. although for some places they'd be a lil bit older when I finish taking pictures..

The 90/10 Rule

I have tons of photos right now in digital form, some 200 GigaBytes from around 20.000 pictures to be precise.
Some photographer throw 90% of their pictures and only keep what they deem as 'keepers'. But I see them as a documentary of my life's journey, it also serves as a journal for my photographic achievement and skill. And occasionally, one boring looking photograph can be turned into a stunning classic black and white, you'll never know.

Technological progress (like Lightroom 4!) also can salvage what you thought as bad picture into a beautiful one. Not necessarily because of bad technique or lack of skill, but often the limitation of our equipment and situation. Like this one.. I shoot with lens hood on, with reasonable aperture, and it still suffers from fringing at the corners. I am (or rather LR) still unable to fully correct the fringing, but man.. the colors and shadow details are stunning!

PS: and I shoot... RAW(R)!

Standard

Its funny when I now look at old pictures that I thought was good back then... suddenly its not that great anymore. I guess as we become more experienced and have more refined artistic sense.. the old pictures just don't cut it anymore.

Lightroom.. and The Age of the Internet

Well.. if you haven't notice what age this is.. I welcome you.
Yesterday, Adobe has release Lightroom 4, its workflow and photo editing software.
Its been highly anticipated by the photo community, including me, who have tried the beta version.
I find the image rendering improvement alone is a significant factor to upgrade from my current LR3.
However... there is just one problem... pricing. Adobe decided to charge international customers more than its US buyers. This pisses a lot of people, moi included. I mean.. what were they thinking ? Do they think we are stupid? Adobe has bright developers, but clearly its management/marketing is not. I don't know what game they are playing, especially after the Photoshop upgrade fiasco. I think they could be the next Kodak.

Recently, I went to the local watch retailer and ask about a model that I fancy. Its quite expensive, so I went home and think about it. Then I browse around and I found the model on Amazon for almost a grand less. Unbelievable! Guess which one I bought from?

Kodak

Kodak has filed for bankruptcy protection. From what I've read all over the internet, employees and management consultants gives similar explanation, that they brought it upon themselves. I don't deny that they have great products, but that alone won't make them successful forever. They need to take care about other things like marketing, customer relationship, etc.
Its sad to see their decline, but I really think technology will eventually fills in the gap that film left. I think the only thing that digital have to catch up is the highlight roll off. Many people talking about film color rendering, but with a good color profiling, that should be no problem. That being said, the best time to live is now, its time to move on.
Or watch a movie.. Midnight in Paris, starring Owen Wilson. :)

Hollywood wants $$

So there is this.copyright law debate in the US. My view is that this is just a technological advance which Hollywood doesn't want to accept is not ready of.  I mean, the digital revolution has outdated the printing press. And the whole physical distribution chain. As much as I love printed books (and I just visited a very nice bookshop yesterday), I think it will be replaced by ebooks someday. I can subscribe 20 issues of NatGeo on iPad with 30 percent cheaper than printed magazine. Photographic book publisher Blurb now can publish your books to iPad too. Artists alike can publish themselves to wider audience. Youtube is a good example, a lot of unknown young artist record their own music videos and gain thousands of followers.

Anyway, I had a brief popularity yesterday because my picture was featured on TOP. Although I was excited that my picture is featured on a widely known photo site, I was also disappointed because it is not chosen as a print candidate. But now looking at the other photographs that also didn't make it, I'm quite relieved. I mean, obviously there are those which is better than mine.

Will I ever go professional? Probably, but the idea of people telling me what to do bothers me a little. Anyway, I've been into other things lately, such as architecture design.
Two books I bought recently are Terence Conran's Essential Small Spaces and Essential Bathrooms. I like the bathroom guide better, because like it says, bathrooms are sanctuary inside a sanctuary. A place where we are shielded from the outside world's problem. The book is not intended exclusively for professionals I think, but rather for DIYers. Simple thoughts and design considerations can change your bathroom dramatically!! (OK I might be a little exaggerating)