Miss travelling

Life hasn't been that interesting now since National Service started. Something all Singaporean sons have to go through as part of growing up in Singapore. One thing I have missed the most is travelling.

I came across this wonderful video recently and it brought back many memories of travelling especially the times spent in New Zealand. Here it is, enjoy it!

Water & Rocks, New Zealand from Metron on Vimeo.

Burning rubbers (Formula Drift Singapore 2012)

Went for the second day of Formula Drift Singapore 2012. Great performance from drivers of various nationalities with good weather, albeit the hot sun in the afternoon which resulted in me having some sunburn. The new Hachiroukus was on show as well. A couple of the 86s were in the tented air-conditioned room showcasing both the toyota stock and TRD versions. Many people were in there but I think majority were inside for the aircon but not the cars! There was a hot lap by three racers on the GT86 on the track to test out the performance of the car. Turns out to be quite good!

Was there mainly to admire the cars and enjoy the heat of the race so didn't shoot many pictures. But here are a few!

Tengku Djan chasing Daynom Templeman. And the mighty sounds of the rotary engine! 

Geoveen Hi clipping onto some cones at the last turn.

Rocker Loh chasing Jansen Tan.

A Toyota Supra, driven by Benjamin Chiam, crashed at the start of turn 2 and damaged the left side of the car badly. 

After being towed back to the team's tent, many passers-by crowded around the damaged car to look at the aftermath, while the driver (center) and the crew helped secure the rear bumper with cable ties.

Cars

Have been meddling with my car (second picture below), adding bodykits and doing certain things to the car's handling. The FD2's a great ride to have with a relatively good power output and handling, with a lot of potential to improve performance to the car. Anyway, this little car is newly bought over (although 2nd hand) so its still pretty much stock except for the aesthetics and some bars and lowering springs. Will be looking forward for better mods to make it a 'silent killer' in the future. Not a fan of loud exhausts without power. I'd love to have a fast car with the softest possible sound! :)

So recently, I've tried shooting a couple of cars just for fun. Hope to find more mean looking cars to shoot next time!

Monochrome India

I love India. Though having been there only once, I feel that the country has a special charm that seem to make the place beautiful. Not the kind of European-city kind of beautiful nor the crystal- clear sea resort of Bora Bora but it just feels attractive in its own way. Maybe it's the people there, or the wide array of smells and colours, or their culture. I'll definitely return to India one day to explore the big Indian sub-continent. The short trip to the southern part of India wasn't enough to fully appreciate the country and culture.

Here are some monochrome pictures of various scenes around the places I've visited. Enjoy!

Lights from an approaching train at Trivandrum station.

 A boy having lunch at an orphanage. 

 Children there lead a simple and carefree life, finding joy in little things. 

 Crowded street of Tiruchirappalli.

Entrance of St. Joseph Church, Tiruchirappalli. 

 People forcing themselves up an already full bus, some barely hanging on to the railings as the bus moved off.

 A friendly Indian school boy on the way back home from school in Sevapur.

Indian fishermen, Kairali Backwaters. 

Pulau Semakau

Took a day trip to an offshore island, called Semakau, on the South of Singapore. Also went there to shoot a mini-documentary as I've never done one before. Went there with my friend Ivan and we did not really know much on what to expect on this little island which is a landfill where the waste from mainland Singapore is burnt and dumped in Semakau. Actually visiting the island was the main purpose and the shooting thing was secondary.

The weather took a turn for the worst and rained heavily in the morning while we were on the way to the ferry terminal. Took shelter from the torrential downpour at a bus stop hoping the weather would be in our favour. However, after more than 20 minutes of continuous pouring, it still didn't look like it would get much better so we hired a cab to the ferry terminal.

The ferry to the island was delayed until the weather got better but we reached there eventually.

Wet ground at the dockyard area.

Only 15 minutes from the Pasir Panjang ferry terminal, we reached there and got ready to go tour around the little island. Started off with the inter tidal area but it was already starting to be covered by the rising tide because of the delay due to the rain.

The wet weather which had caused the trail cutting across the forest to the inter-tidal area to be flooded, were more than ankle deep at some parts. 

The only way to get to the inter-tidal area was to cross a short forest trail which were infested with desperate mosquitoes hungry for blood. Few people come to this island so the mosquitoes were really relentless. On top of that, the mosquitoes flew in swarms and looked like faint black clouds floating around.

The inter-tidal was only a 15-minute walk from the main road, but the mosquitoes didn't make it better. Anyway, the tide was already in and most of the shallow area was filled with the rising tide.

A wild Sea Bass amongst some corals.

A Knobbly Star Fish.

A guide showing the star-fish to a group.

Filming some of the corals.

So, we spent the day visiting various parts of the small island and filming whatever we found interesting. The best part was that Ivan had his legs stuck in soft mud near the mangrove area and sunk in to almost knee-deep and I had to pull him up with all my strength. Got all dirty and caked up with the thick soft mud but it was a hilarious experience! In the midst of my attempt to rescue him, I forgot to take a picture of what happened. What a waste!

Walked to the lagoon in the late afternoon to relax a bit after a very very hot day. Did a bit of time-lapse there and just enjoying the quietness with the setting sun.

I'm not sure what are these. I thought they were just seashells washed ashore but they actually moved!

Long shadows of the railing at the dock area.

Reflection of the sunset against the mirror of the guard post building.

A small boat approaching the dock to ferry workers from this island back home.

I found this cloud here very interesting as the placement makes it look as if the smoke from the oil refinery actually formed the cloud above.

Back home.

4 weeks are over.
Trip's ended.
New friends found.
Fond memories remain. 

Sun rising over the majestic peak of Sagarmatha (Everest).

Had an unforgettable time trekking in the Himalaya with the great hospitality of the Sherpa community, navigating the streets of busy Kathmandu, and temple hopping plus food eating in Bangkok. Easily one of the best trips in my life so far.

So... school has finally ended. It's another 2 more weeks before I fly to Nepal for an adventure high up on the Himalayan mountains. Looking forward to it very much. Been doing lots of running and walking around the forest in Singapore and recently just did a couple of trail runs. They're addictive I must say!

I'm getting back to being active in sports again, and the outdoors too, which I stopped for almost two years due to busy school life. Just got my dust-covered mountain bike out from the store room. Chain's all rusty and dried up, tires flat, suspension low pressure and totally not in a good condition.

Sent it for servicing and went for my first ride in over 2 years. It felt as fun as ever, or maybe even better. Gotta be riding, trekking, running a lot more now.

My trusty bike that wants to hit more trails.

Mountains and adventures

Can't wait to be back in the mountains for some adventure

Okay, so I have been a little busy at school since it has started a few weeks ago. Can't help but feel excited about finishing my studies in less than a month's time.

My brother and I have been doing lots of outdoor adventure together for a long time and have always been wanting to go to the Himalaya for some good trekking and climbing.

At last we'll be going there in March for some 3 weeks up in the high mountains. As a starter we will be trekking in the Khumbu or Everest region. No, not going for Mt Everest, yet, but I have a feeling that I will one day attempt it, along with more peaks in other continents, in the future. Have been eyeing on the Andes for quite sometime now, hint.

By the way the picture at the top was taken in the Swiss Alps half a decade ago. It's so nice to take some time off to be away from the massive cities and fast paced life to get in touch with nature, coupled with some walking or climbing adventure.

Adventure is something I'll always love doing and will never get bored of it.

Two Zero One Two.

First of all, a happy new year!

2011 has been a great year for me. School went well, graduating in another 3 months. Time flies. Travelled to a few countries for the past year, from -20 degree celsius to 35 degrees celsius, north to south hemisphere, seeing different cultures and people. Got the camera, the Fuji x100, that to me has been the best so far, just as 2011 was about to end. Hoping for the better year of 2012!

Doomsday in December? We'll see how that goes.

Just came home to a good sunset and snapped a few shots with the x100.

x100.. So awesome!

The Fuji x100. Don't mind that little gaffer tape coming off on the left, had a bad job sticking it there.

Ok, so I've gotten a used Fuji x100 a couple of nights ago. Did some test shots a here and there to get used to the jump from a DSLR to a rangefinder-like camera.

Wondering how this cheap-man's-leica performs, I found it to be a really awesome piece of tool for a tiny and lightweight retro-looking camera! First few images were shot in JPGs at aperture priority and the images came out more than decent!

Shall not blabber so much about the x100 for now and I can't wait to see how it turns out for the next two weeks of shooting. So I'll be back in the land of Kiwis again (probably for the last time for the next few years). Excited to see if this little toy will do justice for the country of New Zealand.

The weather forecast shows that the next few days are looking nice and warm. Looking forward to summer in NZ! :)

Ray & Cream Wedding Highlights

Ray & Cream's actual day wedding with a short session of photo shoot! Scroll down for more!