A day in town with Chankeet
After a long hiatus of not writing anything meaningful, my photo-laden posts are coming back. I find that my entries constantly cycle between photography, design, bookmarks and tutorial – not something that I am particularly proud of because I would love to strike a balance between the four. But since I already getting started on this entry – which is, sadly, yet another photo journal entry – I should just let things take their own pace.
It was last Thursday. My afternoon lecture and tutorial class were cancelled and I only had to attend one plant biology lecture in the morning – sparing the day for myself. I learned that Chankeet, a college classmate of mine whom I haven’t been in touch with until he got a camera lately (which gave us things to talk about, hah), was clearing his leave on that day as well so I asked whether he wanted to meet up somewhere. Since his treated me lunch at Crystal Jade the week before, I am determined to get back on him for that.
The rest of the entry have been tucked behind the read more tag. Oh, and I have chronicled this entry on my Flickr photoset too – check it out if you’re interested or if you’re not intending to go through the entire wordy entry, heheh.
We met up in town around 12pm for lunch. Hoping to beat the lunch crowd, we decided to have lunch early and headed for Astons at Suntec City soon after we met up at City Hall station.
At Astons, Suntec City.
Being people who live to eat, both of us were discussing over IM what and where to get lunch for our town outing. In the end CK recommended Astons because he had lunch there with his NS friends before and said that it’s very economical.
He was very right! Astons looks very simple at my first glance – a non-descript stone wall, floor of poured concrete and a glaring devoid of any other interior decoration. I’m glad that the owner didn’t spend too much on unnecessary flair and extravagance because that will mean passing the cost savings over to customers like us. The atmosphere was okay, the service was average – well, I don’t expect much from them too after reading the reviews of the so-so customer service.
Here comes the bomb – the chicken chop that CK had cost less than $7 while the prime ribeye I had only made me $14 poorer. The combined prices of our food could only get us a measly plate of spaghetti in other Western food outlets around town, considering the high rental, terribly overdone interior decor and unnecessarily attentive staff :P
One thing I had to pick with Astons is that they serve the receipt right up after you’ve placed your order. Not a particularly pleasant thing but then again, I shouldn’t be whining so much when I take the price savings into consideration. It’s funny how much flaws I am willing to overlook for huge price discounts – especially for food!
CK's chicken chop and my ribeye. Omnomnom.
Oh and I tell you the sauce that they serve with the rice is awesome. Their fries taste different (at least, from what McDonald’s and many other Western food outlets in Singapore have to offer).. at least different in a unique way. The ribeye was done the way I wanted it to be (medium rare) and I have nothing but praises for that.
I couldn’t really remember what we talked over lunch since we talked just too much that day, but I vaguely remember talking about how his camp life is and, oh yea, the dirty couch in his office that he didn’t want to sleep on.
After lunch, upon his suggestion, we went over to Esplanade to get some photos.
CK and the other photographer.
Another photographer and his female friend were taking photos of the art exhibition on display at the walkway leading from City Link Mall to Esplanade. Unfazed by our presence, he started taking photos of the lights. CK and I were busy shooting the artworks and occasionally we took photos of each other taking photos.
Radiance
Sunlight from a cloudy day filtered through the glass of the skylight and radiates around the opening. Above me was a net hanging from the ceiling. Symmetry was obviously lacking but I’ve tried my best to align the net with the skylight – speaking of which, perhaps it’s the asymmetry that made it beautiful.
The florist's
Through the squeaky clean display windows of the shop, I took a sneak peek at the interior of a florist. It’s a little heaven in there!
What's on the phone?
Moving our way up towards the Esplanade library, we spotted this huge wall displaying the crayon artworks of little kids right at the escalator landing. How lovely! We stopped for a little while to admire their work and to take some photos.
It has been a long time since I looked at a painting or an artwork, so I examined the works carefully. It’s heartening that the judges chose those that look genuinely drawn by children’s hands as the winners – I’ve seen one too many paintings that look too good for their age, probably created with lots of help from mommy and daddy.
In front of the huge wall.
The wall exhibit in its full glory!
The display adds an interesting burst of colours to the plain brown wall. I love it! :)
We headed for the sky garden at Esplanade, hoping to catch a glimpse of the cityscape but a slight drizzle that starting falling shortly after we set foot on the top floor hampered our plans. Defeated, I suggested Max Brenner Chocolate Bar for a perk-me-up. CK and I were busy checking the menu at the doorstep at Max Brenner’s when a waitress approached us and asked if she could help us out. When CK replied that “we’re just looking”, she chirped “Oh, that’s great!” and disappeared behind the glass facade. This is the first time I’ve received a positive, cheerful response even when we didn’t show much interest in getting anything. Got to love their service! In the end, we still settled for Max Brenner’s.
Multitasking - one hand on the phone, the other on the camera.
We starting taking photos once we got seated, and took a very long time deciding what to get. CK was on the phone with mommy dearest and he was taking a photo at the same time, haha!
CK's ice blended oreo cookies and my chocolate souffle.
If you’re looking really carefully, you will notice that the ice blended oreo cookies (spelt coockies on the menu and CK insisted that it should be pronounced at COCK-ies but he changed his mind when the waitress asked for our order, lol) drink is served with a metal straw. Perhaps that’s the kind of straw you don’t want to find yourself nibbling on – I have a very bad habit of chewing on them and I will definitely chip my teeth if I do so with this drink.
Photo for the drink!
We spent another good 10 minutes taking photos of our food. My vanilla ice cream happily melted away because I didn’t know that the souffle was that warm, lol.
To the left is a photo of CK snapping away on his drink. To be true, we were still a little too bloated from the meal as Astons (although it seems that the serving at Astons is small, it’s actually very filling). So we talked even more over his drink and my souffle.
I remembered talking about how our friend in JC got harrassed by his project mate at the latter’s home – J was bouncing on R’s lap and R was so freaked out that he left in a hassle shortly after. I LOLed so hard at that. I have no qualms with people having different sexualities but that is really one interesting experience to talk about. Oh CK also shared his shower experience in army, which sounds far from pleasant. Imagining bathing in cubicles without any doors or blinds of any kind, and with a queue of comrades waiting right outside the cubicle pestering you to finish bathing asap. On a side note, my other friend whom I went out with today told me that he was even forced to share a shower with someone else because there was simply not enough time for everyone to bathe. Owwwwwwww mans.
A smile for the food!
The last photo taken before we dig in. As you can see, the side of my ice cream in contact with the chocoalte souffle had already joyfully melted into a gooey mess :P
After high tea at Max Brenner’s, we were shivvering so badly from the cold (at least, for me). CK couldn’t finish his ice blended cookie drink so he made me finish the rest of it. Brrrrrr. The weather was a little towards the cloudy side that day and it was freezing cold in Esplanade. We left the freezing hellhole and went out to the waterfront promenade.
A photoshoot in town
On a Thursday? What an odd choice. Perhaps they wanted to avoid the weekend crowd :) A photographer and his assistant took group photos of a bunch of professionally-dressed office workers. Sweet!
We slowly made our way to the floating platform. After climbing a flight of stairs, we arrive at the spectator’s stand. It’s actually pretty huge! I will post a panorama of the place soon when I am finally done with stitching it up.
Array.
A beautiful array of blue seats at the spectator’s stand opposite of the floating platform. Haven’t been to this place before, I asked CK if the seats are comfortable. He gave me a grin as I tried them out. Not. Then he pointed the other opposite end where the dark green seats were. That’s where I sat with Yueqi for the National Day Parade celebration.
HDR - Singapore CBD
A pseudo-HDR of the cityscape of Singapore’s Central Business District (CBD). It is generated from one single RAW file and processed using Photomatix 3 and Photoshop CS4. I hope I didn’t overdo the HDR effect!
At the spectator's stand.
We roameda round the area a little. This place was packed to the brim during big events like the F1 race and the National Day Parade but it looks so desolate, quiet and peceful on an ordinary Thursday afternoon. Never have I been to a place so big and yet to empty.
Couple by the waterfront.
A couple sits by the waterfront near the concert stage outside Esplanade. What a lovely scene!
Are you thirsty?
A peddler at the bottom of the Esplanade Bridge greets passerby with ice cold drinks and ice creams. Chankeet bought the ice cream bread and I had a can of coke instead. I had a hard time choosing what to have – should I settle for a bottle of mineral water? Or do I need some caffeine rush/perk from Redbull? In the end I still picked my all-time favourite.
The chocolate souffle I had earlier is still making me feel nauseous when I see food :P haha. Speaking of having too much food in a single day! CK was trying to make me have some of his bread but I was totally not interested in having a bite :/
RAWR! Ice cream bread!
CK is posing for the camera but he was genuinely enjoying the bread.
We walked along Singapore River and took a few photos there. It was a pretty quiet and slow day. I think everyone was totally zonked out after four days of hard work and can’t wait for TGIF.
Skycrapers along Singapore River
Skyscrapers loom above the waterfront sidewalk along Singapore River. A boat stops at the tiny pier to the right. Building height restrictions in Singapore made the three tallest buildings in Singapore to stand at a height of 280m.
Checking.
Double checking his shots before he moves on. CK is one careful photographer.
We arrive at the Parliament House. I played with a stray cat outside the fences of the place as CK looked on. He took a few photos of me with the cat :) the stray smells a little bad and I feel so sorry for it. I washed my hands later at a washroom because I couldn’t bear to touch my camera with all that dirt on it.
Traffic arrows
Traffic arrows – In Singapore, they are kind enough to paint arrows at junctions to tell you where to go :) got to love the perspective in this photo! We crossed the junction and stopped by Peninsula Plaza to check out some accessories for our cameras. CK was looking for a cleaning kit for his camera but in the end he decided that he should get it off a photographer at Clubsnap instead of being ripped off here. I finally got a new 49mm filter for my Konica Minolta lens. It was filter-less for the past three months and I was so afraid of getting it scratched.
Dinner @ Xin Wang Taiwan Cafe
As night falls, we wondered where should we go for dinner – initially I was consdering the prospects of dining somewhere near his home because I will need to get my external HDD back from him, but he was thoughtful enough to bring it out that day. We wanted to head over to Marina Square to get food but before we manage to reach there, we were abducted by the lovely menu at Xin Wang Taiwan Cafe so we picked that place to have our dinner instead.
What's on the menu?
We whipped out our cameras, startling the guests seated at the tablesright beside us. We snapped away happily – even when the waitress asked for our order we said we’ll place it with her later. Haha! On the table to my right was a group of girls from NTU, I think. Their timetable looks exactly like mine.
CK browsers through the menu with camera in hand. He picked some fermented chicken thing for dinner. I was a little indecisive with what kind of noddles I should get, so the waitress helped me out by suggesting I should try their sesame oil chicken noodles, their chef’s recommendation.
For drinks, CK ordered their signature milk tea while I chose to have their iced honey lemon tea. Mmmm.
CK and his milk tea!
This is the photo I used for the cover of this entry :)
So this is our dinner.
CK’s fermented chicken chop finally arrived! Not any part of his dish tasted like fermented stuff though. Right in front of me is my bowl of sesame oil chicken noodles.
Sesame Oil Chicken Noodles!
Here’s a close up shot of my noodles. The chicken is swimming in the soup underneath the noodles so you can’t see them. I’d give it 8/10 for the taste :) Although it’s a rather simple dish it tastes really great.
Yea, hello there!
A last photo to wrap up this entry, a portrait of CK. I’m so going to make him pay me for this nice photo, muahaha.
Have a great week ahead, everyone! Hope Monday isn’t going to be too harsh on everyone.
the oreo glass is definitely a designer glass. :P
Sounds like you had a great time with CK! That food from Aston’s looked delicious… and I’m super-jealous of you for having a chocolate bar where you can go. We don’t have one in Sudbury. X_X
That looks like loadsa fun! Oooh sesame oil chicken noodles. I crave for it! Hehe. I used to eat it with chicken wine. I miss Chinese food, and here all the oriental dishes are overpriced and don’t exactly taste that good like those back home, and from what I can remember Singaporean food is just as nice!
Ice cream bread is delicious :D I used to mix all sorts of weird food together when I was young hehe :D
The sesame oil chicken noodles that I had was actually a rather simple dish without much special ingredients, but God knows what awesome stuff they’ve put into their soup. The soup stock is the best thing I’ve ever had in a long time!
Ah, and yea I hear many of the horror stories of how bland and untrue the Chinese/Oriental food overseas tastes like. I remembered a friend who toured Niagara Falls during the summer earlier this year said that the supposedly Singapore Delights restaurant around the area didn’t sell any food related to Singapore. They served baked rice instead. LOL!
Ice cream bread is very delicious, yea! It sounds like an odd combination at first but it definitely tastes damn nice, or else it won’t be that popular in Singapore. What else of weird combinations have you tried before? I tried pepper with apple. Actually it gives apple an interesting twist.
I mixed peaches with oranges before. It tasted… interesting. And oh, there was this one time I added tomato sauce to a herbal chicken soup (forgot what type). It tasted delicious though my siblings turned green :P
I don’t mix my food much now, but I will do that once I’m alone or something. People usually stare and watch me whenever I eat weird stuff XD
Oh wow, what do I comment on first! :)
First off, your trips & outings always sounds like so much fun. I must make it a point to do that more often. It’s been raining here for weeks so it’s quite rare to even get an opportunity to go anywhere! But then again, I do love the rain, hehe.
Great photos, Teddy! I especially love the ones of your friend. The florist photo is gorgeous, I would have loved to see that shop. I really admire the huge bookshelf in the Chocolate Bar. I would LOVE to have one just like that in my place!
I really enjoy the photos you share of your country. It’s so different yet still have many similatiries has America. It’s always so much fun to look at. I really like the ones of the skyscrapers! I don’t see those very often. I do live near a large city but I rarely ever go there because of the crime. So I’m too used to seeing houses & apartment complexes, hehe.
OH! Every dish you had looks so yummy. Even the steak did.. which is odd because I don’t enjoy that type of meat. :P The ice cream dish looks amazing.. and very pretty too! The soup is definitely a dish I would love — even right now since the weather is all rainy and cold. Yum! I don’t think I’ve seen noodles that thin before, hehe.
Great post, Teddy. I enjoyed it as always! I must add that I really liked the wall of children’s art. That’s so special! We have something similar to that at our local zoo. There’s a long gate with lots of art from children of all ages. I’m like you though, I admire them more when you can really tell that it was made with the hand of a child. I love it!
Oh, actually you can make your trips and outings fun too! :) Usually I will plan in advance what to do so that we won’t be too lost when we run out of places to go, but sometimes I’ll play a little random game where I leave some time out so that we can decide on the spot where to go – to give things some randomity or else it will be too methodical and boring, haha!
I never liked rainy weather because it forces me to stay in the room, but sometimes it makes a good opportunities for you to shoot rain and water droplets without the need of sophisticated timing (since one can simply do the trial and error with so many millions of raindrops around). I know Ember has a fondness for water droplets and his shots will definitely be a source of inspiration for me when the rainy weather hits!
Ah, the florist shop. I had a hard time taking the photo because I wasn’t sure what the florist will do if she sees me taking photo from the outside – although from a legal point-of-view it is not illegal to do so, I always hate confrontations with over-protective business owners especially when it comes to photographing their display cabinet items. So I quickly took the photo while she tends to the other flowers in the shop, just in time before she returns to the bouquet she’s working on.
I didn’t get a chance to check out whether the books on the shelves in Max Brenner’s is for real or not! I only know that in IKEA, they use fake books for their display shelves haha!
Oh, the steak! Yea I think you’ll find it hard to swallow because you aren’t very accustomed to the taste of meat, especially when it’s prepared medium rare (means there’s still some degree of rawness in it). It’s slightly pinkish on the inside… which might turn you off :P I regretted not getting their salad sidedish because the table next to us had salad and their brocolli looked so divine!
Sorry to hear that your city centers are so riddled with crimes. It’s sad that the police force is unable to do much because of manpower contraints, bribery and all. It’s such a dangerous out there. When you visit Singapore one day you’ll realize that people like me actually don’t mind walking in the city at 1am in the morning – although there is a low crime rate, there’s still crime so we are still cautious but we aren’t too afraid to head out.
I think the apartment complexes in the US are nice! I have a fondness towards low density residential structures – townhouses, terraces, bungalows, semi-detached homes, apartments and etc. Some of them can look really nice, or simple (which totally suits my minimalist taste, heh).
Wow, do you have a photo of the children’s art at your local school? I’m curious how it looks like, heh! Genuine children drawings never fail to evoke a sense of emotional attachment in me – every single stroke and line has so much feeling, freedom, innocence, joy and creaitivity in it.
I’ve always admired your dedication & passion for photography. It’s something that I love yet usually never find the time to do it. It’s not that I don’t have enough time — it’s just that I never think of doing it anymore. It’s sad because for awhile, I would snap photos of everything.. now it’s kind of rare for me to pull my camera out. I need to find that motivation like you do! I’m thinking about purchasing a new lens sometime this fall & also checking out books on Nikons and photography.. and try to learn something new. :) I’m eager! So that’s a start, I suppose!
Anyways.. I’ve been thinking about how much fun it would be to plan a photography outing with my sister (the one who’s 3-4 hours away) She has a new passion for photography as well and we’ve always talked about going out someday and snapping random photos of things. I think I’ll surprise by planning an excellent outing for whenever she gets back home! It’ll be deep in to autumn by then so I think that’ll produce some really amazing photos. I love all the fall colors! (Something you guys probably don’t witness there.. right?) :(
Eeek. Steak! I’ve actually tried it once. Chris’s mom prepared it for me and I actually liked it — I felt guilty, but I ate most of it! I had to cover it in ketchup though, hehe. I do like some meat products.. although I cringe every time I’m at the market and see all those uncooked meats.. eek! And yes, medium rare is something I could never try, lol. My hamburgers are always WELL done! Almost burnt, teehee.
Ohh.. I would love to live in a beautiful city that was safe enough to walk around. But then again, I’d probably be too scared to even if it was pretty safe. Because there is always some crime — every where. I guess I’m pretty paranoid when it comes to things like that.. but I suppose growing up in a place like I did, it’s understandable. According to Forbes Magazine, Memphis, Tennessee (where I’ve lived for 13 years) is now ranked #2 of the most dangerous cities in America. Almost beating out Detroit. There’s conseversity over Memphis being that high on the list but others will tell you it’s at least in the top 10. It’s horrid! And sad.. Memphis use to be a place my mom would take us occasionally for the circus, for city walks, and local concerts & shows. Now I, along with so many others, refuse to even drive through the city. :|
And since Memphis is so close to where I live now, we’re all worried that the crime will eventually reach us. It’s scary. Memphis really is a great place and with the right sort of people.. it could be revived. They just had their election for major so I’m interested to see how that turned out!
On a much better note! hehe Apartments are wonderful. The ones I live at are pretty safe & well kept up. It’s nice being surrounded by so many neighbors.. it makes you feel safe! I don’t even feel alone really when Chris isn’t home. There’s people below me, above me, and across the hall from me. So it’s quite a neat living space. :)
Oh! I’m not sure if I have any photos of the children’s drawings that were on display at the zoo — I wouldn’t doubt that I did! I’ll have to dig through my hard drive and check. :) And I agree! Children’s art is so wonderful.. My little niece loves to draw & color so I’m always watching her as her little hand grasps a color pencil and draws random lines on the piece of paper. I so badly wish I could get in side her head and see exactly what SHE sees she’s drawing. :) It’s wonderful how innocent & free they are! I absolutely love my niece’s art work — I have a few samples of her work on my fridge even, hehe.
Happy friday, Teddy! Or.. is it Saturday there? Hmm. It’s so confusing. :P By the way.. have you received anything in the mail from me lately? :P
Oh my gawd! Your post card just came through the mail today! :) Thank you so much!
I will write more about the post card. I was jumping with joy and was bouncing off the wall when I saw your postcard in the letterbox, awww thank you so much, Trina! Thanks for picking me as the person whom you sent the postcard too, teehee!
Actually, I’m about the same as you – out of a week I usually spend less than a day on average in serious photography act. I don’t carry my camera to school unlike the time when I first got my camera. For some reason, the novelty wears off in awhile.
From time to time I’ll get this photographer’s creativity block and I understand how sad that feels. Sometimes you’ll just stare at your camera and think – why did I spent hundreds/thousands of bucks of this junk just for me to stare at?
But that doesn’t spell the death of the hobby :) occasionally I force myself to pick up my camera and go outside. I engage in this silly act of making myself take a picture every 100 steps – that doesn’t only jog my creativity but also to get myself in the mood of it, hah. It sounds really stupid but sometimes, it just works like magic!
Wow, a new lens this fall! That’s really exciting – I’m starting to wonder what kind of lens will you be getting – wide angle, portrait, fisheye? I can’t help but imagine you with a spanking new lens when the surrounding scenery is so perfect for photography! Yea, it’s kind of sad that we’re in perpetual summer 365 days a year – the environment lacks the dynamics of the ones you have in temperate regions. We only have monsoon seasons when there’ll be huge amounts of rainfall, which is just about time now.
Oh, so you’re not a strict vegetarian. It’s nice that you give yourself the chance to try meat out from time to time :) I know friends who are strict vegetarians and sometimes I feel sad for them because they won’t know how meat tastes like. Self-made vegetarians like you, I have my respects for them. You help the environment for eating less meat but also knows how to treat, pamper yourselves one in a while, heheh!
You reminds me of my grandma who refuses to eat any fish products because she doesn’t like the texture of fish. What she eats is the handmade fishballs of a noodle stall near my house – other than that, she doesn’t touch fish products at all, haha! And in some cases when she has to eat fish, she’ll drown the fish in lots of ketchup, just like you!
Sorry to hear about the high crime rates in the downtown area – it must be a terribly unsafe place to go when night falls. You have to take care when you visit town – you’ve probably heard this a million times before but having Chris to accompany you to town will make you feel a lot safer :)
One thing I love about the neighbourhood overseas is that there’s this neighbourhood spirit. In Singapore, most of the families here are nuclear in nature (i.e. reduced to the very basic components, usually the parents and one/two kid(s), and that’s all). The concrete jungle of government build apartments only help to further straitfy and segregate the society even more, something that I feel very sorrowful about. Neighbours here don’t really talk to each other, unlike in my hometown Malaysia where at least there’s communication and gatherings of the neighbours, invitation to parties and etc. It’s almost non-existent here.
I can’t wait for your to blog about your new interior of your revamped unit! I believe Chris and you have an impeccable taste when it comes to art and design. Woots! I hope the assembly of your new dining set went well, heheh! I think Alana will be so thrilled to see you having a whole new interior when she drops by next time.
We just entered Saturday an hour and a half ago :) haha! Have a great Friday and weekend, Trina!
I really enjoy your photo posts. Being an amateur photographer (sadly without a DSLR just now) your everyday shots and text is kinda inspiring.
@abdusfauzi: Ah, definitely! It looks so nice right? It even has a hole for you to push the metal straw too – how thoughtfully designed!
@Natalija: It was a day well spent! I never regretted spending most of the day in town although I had a big-ass presentation the next morning – it just feels good to hang out with a college classmate, have good food and go on a photo-hunting trip in town. Sorry to hear of the lack of chocolate bars in Greater Sudbury, but you can always make your own – and it saves you a lot of money too! Teehee!
@Jamaipanese: Thank you so much! I’m flattered to hear that my photos are inspirational – although I’m very well aware that my photography skills are not up to the standard yet :)
Woohoo! So glad the postcard got there safely. I sent it at least three weeks ago so I was worried it wouldn’t make it there. That little postcard as been through a lot, I’m sure! I wonder what all countries it has been through, hmm. :) How exciting!
And you’re most welcome! I immediately thought of you when I thought up the goal in the first place. Not only did I OWE you something from the lovely card you sent Chris and I, but you’re and awesome friend and I think you deserved it. I’m glad you liked it! :) I just love sending cards to people, it makes me so happy! So I’m glad you enjoyed it & it surprised you as well, hehe. I’m sneaky like that.
Ohh, I actually got my camera out last night to snap a few photos. It wasn’t much, but it was enough to strike that excitement in me again! I have no doubt that I’ll be out a lot this fall/winter taking photos. It’s my favorite time of year. I wish I could fly you over here so you could witness the wonderful weather we’re having. It’s been raining a lot lately — BUT! It’s gotten a lot cooler and the air smells so great. You’d love it!
Although, I would definitely love to travel to your side of the world too. It’s always been a dream of mine to travel — to learn new cultures, to witness new things, and meet new people! Such fun. :D
I’m not sure what type of lens I want just yet! I originally wanted a 50mm lens. But now I just don’t know! There’s so many out there.. I wish I could afford a few of them, hehe. But I don’t want to completely spoil myself. I need to work towards something, right? :) I’m excited though! I think it’s going to the only thing on my Christmas list this year, hehe.
Hehe, you’re grandmother reminds me of my grandmother! My Gma has always been a vegetarian but every now and again, she’ll try a little meat. VERY rarely but she still enjoys sausage or bacon.. stuff like that. She’s even eaten fish before, many years ago, and I about freaked out lol. I’ve tried fish three times (actually tried a bite last night!) but I don’t like it much. It just has this certain taste to it that I’m not familiar with. :| I really enjoy beef & pork the most. And chicken is a new one that I’m loving as well. :) I’ve been trying to get use to turkey but it’s been hard! I have tried turkey sausage though — and it was delicious & tasted so much more healthier!
But yes, I’m not a strict vegetarian at all.. I do enjoy meat every once in awhile. Like last night, I had the yummiest bacon hamburger at my favorite restaurant called Outback. Was so yummy! :)
Wow. I have learned so much about Singapore from you. I’m sad to hear that the neighbors aren’t as friendly as they are back home for you. That’s terrible! I love friendly neighborhoods. There’s some out here that even get together to have block parties, or a huge neighborhood yard sales. Fun stuff! There’s even whole neighborhoods out here that come together to decorate their homes for Christmas. It’s definitely a great sight seeing ALL the houses decked out in lights. So wonderful! I’ll have to take photos for you this winter when I go. :)
Enjoy the rest of your weekend, Teddy! :)
I couldn’t thank you more for the postcard, Trina. I’m now deciding what to do with it – to keep it in my empty drawer or to pin it up. I think I’ll be going for the first option since I couldn’t bear to drive a pin through the postcard. I totally love the illustration at the back, and believe me, it wasn’t smudged or smeared in any way! What a miracle, considering that it made it’s way halfway round the globe. Did you send it by land mail or air mail?
Don’t mention about that card – it’s something that Chris and you deserve and I feel bad for not being able to help out or do anything for both of you when you got married. I would have immediately volunteered my service if I’m in the US :)
Now you’re making me itching for your autumn/winter photos! I believe the scenery there will only get better by the day for autumn – for it being such a lovely season of the year filled with firey and earthy tones. I’d love to be there to see it for myself, but I think looking at your photos will stave off that craving for the moment being until I save up enough for a flight to and back from the US, haha!
Actually it won’t be prohibitively expensive if you visit Singapore – and there are plenty of friendly backpacker’s hotels around the tiny little island here; or Malaysia, where I can actually host both of you! The only problematic part of it will be the flight tickets, since it’s going to cost a bomb and make up around 60% of your travelling budget. Sucks that it costs so much to fly.
Ah, the lens! I think you’ll love the 50mm portriature lens – they’re a joy to use and let you discover the essence of taking photos that are out of focus. Everything looks lovely with a huge aperture :) if you need help when it comes to getting lenses, feel free to ask me because I’ll be more than happy too! I wouldn’t say that I know everything about lenses but at least I will try my best to tell you what cool stuff to look out for, heh.
Your grandma’s story made me chuckle! It’s cute that she enjoys some meat from time to time, just like you. Oh, so you love beef and pork! Both have rather similar texture although they have distinct, unique tastes. Chicken feels different! My grandma dislikes fish for the same reason as you do – she isn’t a big fan of the ‘weird’ taste in fish. And she’s horrified when being served with undercooked fishballs / fishcakes.
I’m envious of the neighbourhood spirit you have over there! Never have I heard in my community or among my friends that neighbours help each other out for the Christmas decorations – usually we mind our own businesses, a sad way of life in my country :(
Speaking of which, I can’t wait for Christmas when I believe you’ll be posting all the lovely Christmas photos, especially those with Alana inside :)
Enjoy your weekend too, Trina!
I worry that I bother you with my lengthy comments sometimes, lol. I appologize if I do! I know it’s a lot of reading. :P I actually enjoy it though! It’s wonderful that we have so many stories to share & advice to give. Or just talk about random things. :)
And I would LOVE your help for my lens hunt. I really don’t know what I want exactly. I’m going to look around and see what lens does what and then I’ll definitely get back to you on that! :) Thanks, Teddy!
Oh wow, I am surprised to know the post card didn’t get smeared or torn up. And I’m guessing it went by air, silly. Since we have a huge ocean separating us. :P Unless they have boats that deliver mail? Hmm. I think next time I’ll ask the mail lady if I can somehow get it there faster. I just made a dollar for the stamp and stuck it in the postal bin. :)
Oh man, if it wasn’t for the ridiculous cost of a flying, I would be traveling all the time. It’s horrid how much it costs to fly now a days. :| Even if you by in advance it’s still pretty high! I would love to get one of those credit cards that rewards you with flier miles.. that would be cool! Maybe I should look into that, hmm.
Hehe, I can’t wait until Christmas time either. I am really looking forward to getting out there and taking more photos. It’s such a wonderful hobby.. I hate for my camera to sit there and collect dust. :| Especially when it’s so beautiful outside. — well, not right now.. but it will be soon! It’s COLD as hell though. The weather dropped so quickly, it’s crazy! It’s about 45F (7C) out side now. Brrrr.. but I enjoy it. :) It’s nice after the hellish hot summer we have had! Now I get to wear boots, coats & scarves, hehe.
I will definitely share my photos of this winter with you. And you can beat Alana will be in most of them! Haha, I actually just uploaded one of her to my Photoblog. :P
No, they’re not bothering me at all! I’m overjoyed and honoured that you’re leaving such long comments! I hope you don’t mind that my replies are sometimes a little late, haha! I love the fact that we have so much to talk about – from your apartments new paintwork to photography.
If I’m not wrong, you’re using a Nikon camera, aren’t you? I’m not very familiar with the pricing for Nikon lenses but I think they’re more or less around the range of Canon, perhaps a little more expensive but definitely cheaper than the Sony lenses that I’m eyeing – they’re always so highly priced (one reason why I get second-hand lenses instead). My best guess is that a 50mm f/1.8 lens (specifially, the Nikon 50mm f/1.8 D lens) will suit you the most, since you’re a huge fan of portrait photos. Of course, the lens can be used for non-portraiture purposes too :) there’s even a Flickr group for photos taken using the lens – Nikon 50mm f1.8.
I’m believe most of the mails today travel by air, since yours took around three weeks to arrive, it would most probably have travelled via that route. A land mail would take at least a month or more to arrive I believe, heheh! Most of the mails delivered today seems to travel by air – I checked with my local post office last time when I mailed your card over and the receptionist told me that I’ll have to specifically choose land mail if I want it, because they’ll mail them by air by default.
Yea, if it wasn’t for the ridiculous cost of flying! If airplane tickets are tad bit cheaper I would have left my mark in many places – I don’t mind bunking out in a rundown backpacker’s hotel or someone else’s couch (see couchsurfing). I’m not a frequent flyer so I don’t know how the flier miles work – one will probably need to fly a lot to get a complimentary plant ticket, haha! I prefer to travel by train because it’s so nostalgic and got that really country, rural feel that I love – sucks that we are not connected by land in any way, or I would have happily embarked on a month-long trip on the train.
Wow, it’s a mere 7C out there? That’s insane. It’s as warm as hell over here, especially this weekend. I guess I asked for too much rain – remember I was ranting about how much rain we were getting, so much so that all of us were having problem drying our laundry the past week? When Friday came and go, the weather suddenly turned into a warm, arid and dry one – my Saturday load dried in less than 4 hours under the sun. Whew!
I can’t wait for the autum and winter photos of you (and Chris, and Alana plus all your other family and friends). I love looking at people’s family photos especially during autumn and winter photos because the scenery is so great. And I absolutely love the autumn and winter wardrobes of you people :) the scarves, boots and all. Sweet!
u only eat dessert like that…wow… i can’t imagine your tummy feels hurt.
Btw love all your pics…but my fav is A beautiful array of blue seats…damn….what a lovely pic…