Archive for the 'This I like' Category

Black Eyed Beans?

Published on March 9, 2010 in This I like and Usual Ramblings. 1 Comment Tags: , .

Lyn (my boo) and I were walking along a street near Le Yuan and came across this bubble tea shop. I quickly snapped a photo and we made our way hurriedly. The guy at the door looked like he wants to kick my ass. Really, I mean look at him…

So my initial thought was, “Wah so creative, I wonder where they get their inspiration from….hmm..”

Still can’t put my finger on it…can you? Oh by the way, I wonder if they monkey they featured are related… ;) More interesting experiences from Shenzhen coming soon.

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Seafood in Shenzhen

Published on March 7, 2010 in This I like and Usual Ramblings. 0 Comments Tags: , , .

In a bid to get some pampering after a hectic but oh so lovely wedding this year, Lyn (my boo) and I took a short trip to Shenzhen and Macau in early January. Shenzhen is one of our favourite destination with affordable (cheap more like it) massages and seafood. Nevermind that Lyn has only been there three times and me twice, but we somehow have always seem to discover hidden gems as we venture deeper into the charming city.

If you so happen to pop by Shenzhen for work or leisure, do plan to have one of your meals in a street called Le(4) Yuan(2) (please excuse the pinyin, I’m not too familiar writing it in Mandarin). To us, Le Yuan is a bustling street with seafood restaurants at both sides with tanks upon tanks of live fish and long rows of shell fish. Having visited Le Yuan about 10 times during the course of our visits, we could easily brush aside touts looking out for tourists like us and make our way to one of the many preferred restaurants in our list.


Left: Take your time to select your seafood outside the restaurant | Right: We are not great fans of how animals are kept there, but yeah there are loads to choose from ranging from pigeons to rabbits and snakes

Great variety aside, Lyn and I are constantly amazed at how affordable seafood can be in comparison to Singapore. For a mere $35 per couple, we could order a few dishes including bamboo clams (my favourite), oysters, braised pork, vegetables, king prawns and even some beer. Here’s some of what we happily devoured during our trip there:


Left: Some herbal soup | Right: braise pork belly and intestines


Left: Salt and pepper prawn | Right: Spinach with century egg


Left: Bamboo Clams (yums) | Right: Scallops

Left: Steamed fish | Right: Conch


Left: Sea urchin | right: Steamed prawns


Kingway beer..not bad actually

More photos in my Flickr album here.

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A strategically located john in Dhaka

Published on March 6, 2010 in This I like and Usual Ramblings. 2 Comments

I was going through some old photos in my Macbook a couple of days back and noticed this:

Of course my initial though was that it is one of those misfired photos and I probably didn’t noticed or had the time to conduct a quality check. So I was about to delete it and it hit me, the photo was actually shot intentionally. It was sometime late last year when I headed to Dhaka, Bangladesh for a very much sleep deprived touch and go business trip (yeah, choice destination I tell you). My colleagues managing the Bangladesh account put me up in a really posh and secured Raddison Hotel that comes with all the bells and whistles one would want to have in a place like Dhaka.

So after about a five or so hour flight with a significant portion going into reading proposals under this tiny yet effective airplane light (not too sure what you call it), I arrived at the Raddison at about one in the morning pretty much stoned and looking forward to rush straight to the throne upon checking into my room (yeah I know, the details). The room was not shared and being a boy, I didn’t bother closing the bathroom door and just sat there. And there it was, the close to perfect view of the TV. It dawned on me that I can actually rotate the TV console watch cable programmes while going about my business. I was close to tears.

That is a view I never thought would be possible for poor people like me. I mean sure the rich can easily afford to customise an experience like that but me? Not in the next few years perhaps. Needless to say, I spent quite a while in my favourite place while in the hotel. Good times…good times… :)

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Chingay 2010

Published on February 28, 2010 in This I like and Usual Ramblings. 6 Comments Tags: , .

Thanks to a colleague of mine (or rather ex-colleague), I scored a two-day photographer pass to last week’s Chingay at the Pit Building. While I personally felt last year’s performances (photos here and here) were staged better terms of photography ease (its a lighting thing), this year’s parade seemed to have captivated me differently with no backdrop and the parade route flanked by spectator stands.

Prior to the event and given that I had a little more than an hour and a half to the parade, I popped over the back of the parade route where the performers were standing by. Amid the busy atmosphere with last minute tweaks to the floats and final preparations is a carnival with performers from various associations hanging out with one another. I must admit it is really heartening to see people of all ages, races and countries dancing, taking photos and talking to each other. A scene I have always felt embodies the very essence of what our country works every hard to succeed in. Thank God we are culturally and racially tolerant.. :) .


Left: One of the many big tents housing the performers | Right: Japanese performers dancing to the tunes by Filipino musicians


Left: Performers from everywhere with a little photo opportunity | Right: One of the many scenes as performers prepare for the parade


Left and right: Animal floats

The pre-parade started on time with performers entering from the left (if facing the Pit Building). Led by the 501st Legion, Singapore Garrison, we were treated to a formation of Star Wars fans in Stormtrooper uniforms. This was followed by some Brazilian dancers shaking their way to the other end of the Pit Building with accompanying fire breathers, my favourite in every Chingay.


Left: The 501st Legion getting ready to march | Right: Brazilians dancing their way through


Left and right: A little close up


Left: There are musicians… | Right: …and fire breathers

The parade then continued but from the right this time with over 8,000 performers from various associations and countries dancing their way through. The Pit Building was split to three sectors where they are required to perform at every one of them. Of course this excludes the other areas following that. Hats off to them for their efforts. It was hot and humid but alot of fun.  Here are some of the moments captured:

Opps, think I might have gone all “posting-happy” and inundated you with a floodgate of photos. My apologies if they take forever to load. But I guess you can see where I’m going, there were loads happening that night. I look forward to shooting again at next year’s Chingay. Until then, happy last day of the CNY :) .

More photos in my Flickr album here and here.

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So the Tiger begins…

Published on February 17, 2010 in This I like and Usual Ramblings. 2 Comments

This year’s Chinese New Year weekend started off pretty well for me. Not only was the NBA All-Star 2010 scheduled during the holidays (meaning that I don’t need to take leave to watch) with Paul Pierce taking the Three-Point Contest (Goooo Celtics!!) and the East beating the West by a tiny margin the following day, my favourite band Angels & Airwaves released their new album for free.

Corniness aside, 2010 is going to be a really exciting, yet uncertain year for me. Not only did I get married but was successfully transferred to another department giving me an opportunity to learn more about the functions of what we call a line unit. Earlier this year, Lyn (my boo now wife) and I penned down on a nice flat at a central area. Yes, we are about to join the ranks of thousands of other newly wed couples and become home owners (well at least for us, the next 84 years).

Looking at HDB’s letter on my first appointment mailed to me a few days back, I can’t help but wonder how far I have come. As much as I feel thrilled, there is a sense of fear that only ‘growing up’ will resolve. During the reunion dinner I had with my relatives, I told my cousin how growing up sucks. There goes the usual reliance on close ones, long-term financial commitments (we aren’t that rich unfortunately) and that sense of no turning back.

Don’t get me wrong, I know I have grown up and have been one for years. Its just that it hasn’t really set in until recently. I guess I have been so busy doing what grown ups have been doing all the while that it hasn’t hit me mentally. Now as I look back, I breath a sigh of thankfulness seeing that the decisions I made in my life until now was not something I would have considered more than ten year back. Moving on, there are many decisions this year that I will need to make and I hope they are for improvements.

The start of 2010 was rather bumpy for Lyn and I. After getting married, I seem to encounter a number of odd experiences that seldom, and in some cases never happen to the both of us (nothing unnatural). Thankfully, I am not the superstitious sort and blame carelessness and ignorance. Let’s just call it teething issues, never mind that we have been living together for over three years prior to tying the knot. I will never entertain any thoughts on superstition and would rather give it the finger than let it take over my life.

Now as I stare in the face of the year of the Tiger, I know that I have to be careful with the decisions I make. Life unfortunately is not as forgiving as back in my younger days. With that, I end this somewhat “emo entry” (hey, you should be thankful, I don’t normally go in that direction) and wish all my readers (if there are any) a stellar year of a Tiger. Let’s stop whining and take every negativity as challenges and opportunities. And should there be changes in self, let it be a change for the better, the world is already as messed up as it is… ;)

Happy New Year all!! Let’s do something this good year… :)

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Hartman broke my lens…broke my heart

Published on February 8, 2010 in This I like and Usual Ramblings. 6 Comments Tags: , , , , , , .

It was a double heart breaker for me yesterday afternoon at the Singapore Indoor Stadium. Not only did Satria Muda Britama take the Singapore Slingers down in the third and deciding semi-final game of the ASEAN Basketball League (ABL), the visiting team’s star player Alex Hartman was responsible for breaking my AF-S DX NIKKOR 18-105mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR lens.

I have always considered the photographers’ zone at any basketball game as some sort of a war zone. With stray basketballs flying at any direction at top speed and players crashing into you (these guys are big), photographers require quick reflexes to pull their cameras away from their face and either stop what’s coming towards them or brace themselves for some heavy contact. While I have been rather quick and fortunate all these years sitting at the Slingers’ court with a fantastic view, I guess I wasn’t quick enough on Sunday.

Nevermind that I caught a number of really interesting shots during the first two quarters, it was during the middle of the third quarter when the incident happened and everything went downhill from there. It all started when Slingers’ import Marcus “Dude you are really killing me with your reckless drives and turnovers” Ng drove into the paint for a very contested layup and drew a foul. Hartman in the heat of the moment, caught the stray basketball and threw it at the photographers’ direction with his right hand in frustration. That was when the ball went straight towards me, hit my lens and sent it flying towards another photographer.


My last shot before the incident

With that, my lens was pretty much busted and all attempts to self repair was unsuccessful. A small but significant piece of the lens broke off. Hartman in an unsportsmanlike conduct pulled off one heck of a dumb-ass move. While I was able to mount my lens on the camera, it was extremely loose and the photos captured were completely dark and off. Well done Hartman…well done!! You broke my heart!! Honestly I don’t really care if that was unintentional. Everything is on tape and I’m pretty sure at least half the spectators saw what happened (does anyone have a copy?). Thankfully, a fellow media photographer passed me his fish eye lens and I continued shooting knowing that I could have gotten better results if my lens wasn’t broken.


Left: The busted area | Right: The piece that broke off

Moving on, I’m probably going to write to the ABL and Satria Muda Britama about the incident. These teams are normally insured and I hope to get the team to either replace a new lens or bear the full cost of the repair. More of that soon ~cross fingers~

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Slingers one win away from ABL Finals

Published on February 1, 2010 in This I like and Usual Ramblings. 3 Comments Tags: , , , , .

In a series where the stakes are high and bragging rights prevalent, the Singapore Slingers edged forward and took game one of the best of three in the Asean Basketball League Playoffs against the Satria Muda BritAma, 87 – 68. Playing with confidence despite trading basket at both ends, the Slingers put up with tough defence from the visiting team before starting to pull away as the final 10 minutes began ticking.


Tip off!!

Top scorers for the home team went to our American imports #31 Kyle Jeffers and #35 Michael LeBlanc who collectively made 43 points, almost half the team’s final score. Both players also made double-double pulling down 10 rebounds each and were perfect at the charity stripe.


Left: Jeffers making a hook | Right: Jeffers hitting a buzzer beater


Left: Michael going the other way | Right: Making a trey

Our other imports also contributed significantly with Philippine sensation #19 Al Vegara together with #21 Marcus Ng contributing 10 points each. Al also made four assists and three steals while Marcus got six rebounds.


Left: Al can drive… | Right: Al can shoot


Left: Marcus going to the other side | Right: Finishing a perfect alley-oop

Local Slinger boy #10 Hong Wei Jian did us proud again putting up 11 points, two assists and three steals. While, most of his points were taken from the free throw line, he almost had a perfect night missing only just one. Most notably is his constant fearless drives to the bucket in the face of big defenders resulting in a number of clashes and hack-downs. Let’s just say not only did he really take it for the team, he made the visitors pay with his free throws.


Left: Wei Jian goes for a contested lay up | Right: Taking one for the team before going to the charity stripe

Our visitors although put up a good fight were unfortunately not able to respond to the Slingers’ arsenal. Their only main scorers were #43 Nakiea Miller and #8 Alexander Gordon Hartman who walked way with 18 and 21 points respectively. Only Miller had a double-double night with 13 rebounds. The rest of the squad were unable to respond.


Left and Right: Miller going in


Left: Hartman completes an alley-oop emphatically | Right: Heading to the rim

The two teams will meet for game two on Wednesday in Jakarta, Indonesia. I’m pretty sure Satria Muda BritAma has a score to settle and will give the Slingers a run for their money. Game three if necessary will be held in Singapore this Sunday. Honestly, as much as I would like to see the Slingers play live (with a fantastic view), I’m rooting for a sweep ~starts waving a broom~. Gooooo Slingers.

You can read more of the game at the Slingers’ website, Redsports and Len’s blog.

More photos available in my Flickr album here.

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LOVE in 15

Published on January 31, 2010 in This I like and Usual Ramblings. 5 Comments Tags: , .

My favourite band Angels and Airwaves will be releasing their new album titled LOVE in 15 days (US time considered) time. I’m not too sure if the release date, 14 Feb 2010 is intentional given their title, but word has it that they were supposed to release it during Christmas last year. All I know is that I’m just so looking forward to it. My last encounter of them during their concert here last year got me screaming like a lunatic and in more ways than one (okay, so I panicked initially), made me feel young again – nevermind that I was surrounded by youngsters more than 10 years my junior.

It has been a long while since I followed a band so closely. The last I remembered was the Offsprings in my teenage years. Not only did I have the honour of coming almost face to face with with a band I love during their concert (yeah I got good seats), I walked away with their autographs which is now sitting proudly beside my PS3. With two albums completed and the third soon to be released, I find myself in a familiar position as I was a little over a year ago, waiting in anticipation, and very…very excited.

Thankfully, the band released a teaser in the form of a single titled Hallucinations from the album. The song was made available for free via their website, and if that doesn’t already rock…check this, so is the album. Yes you read right, the album will be released free of charge due to corporate underwriting. In addition, the band also plan to release a science fiction film with the same title on the same day and yes you guessed it, also for free. How awesome is that? ;)

With a little over two weeks to go, I’m taking some time to pull the old albums out again for a little nostalgia time. Good times…good times… :)

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ETA 7 Days

Published on December 26, 2009 in This I like and Usual Ramblings. 4 Comments

If my blog’s inactivity is any indication how busy I have been recently, you would probably know I am pretty much neck deep in a tonne of  to dos. Sevem more days into the big project and I can’t tell you how much I am looking forward to beginning a life with someone that symbolises all things Godsent. Emo stuffs aside, our photographer Kin Leong whom we engaged for our solemnisation has been hard at work making sure that our dollars invested are well spent. In addition to making plans to meet us prior to our big day in hopes to document our planning stages, he also blogged about our experience giving us much love. I won’t go further given that you can read all about it here. Thanks alot dude..you rock!!


One of the photos taken by him.

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Of Michaels and LeBrons

Published on November 25, 2009 in This I like and Usual Ramblings. 4 Comments Tags: , , , , , .

Both Michaels from the Singapore Slingers were spotted wearing LeBron basketball shoes during Sunday’s game against the KL Dragons. While Michael Wong chose a flushed look with a black pair of Air Jordan socks and black Nike Zoom Ambassador, Michael LeBlanc looked totally pimped in his new Air Max LeBron VII and his signature ‘God First’ socks.

Judging from the shoes that LeBlanc has been wearing so far, I couldn’t help but think he likes ‘webby’ designs with lines crisscrossing over each other. His previous pair was a Hyperdunk with similar designs. Yeah, courtside seats are fantastic. You get to see everything up close… :P


Left: Wong’s Air Zoom Ambassador | Right: LeBlanc’s Air Max LeBron VII

Speaking of LeBlanc, he has a blog although not updated for a few weeks now. Thanks to Len for bringing this up to my attention. I noticed he took a photo from my blog and posted it in his without attribution. Thankfully, I’m a Slinger fan and he can help himself to as much as he wants.. :)

Goooo Slingers!!

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