the fullerton hotel

Beautiful isn't it, the Fullerton? I took this shot on my iPhone--its camera is definitely exceeding my expectations. The auto focus and exposure is so intuitive and matches where I want focused when I tap on the spot. It's amazing!

Since the opening of the casinos the number of visitors coming to Singapore has gone up. More and more people will come and admire the lovely colonial architecture alongside the dazzling new casinos and skyscrapers.

sigh-kus..

Found 2 haikus from Shanghai trip my itouch transferred to my mailbox without my knowledge.

Down at the west lake

Emperor's tea and pagodaa

Sun drenched, crowd swamped day

Beautiful Suzhou

Gardens stone and museum

Alas have no heart

思わず君のことが好きになった。。

そう言ったのに、今から君に会うことは大変になってしまったかなぁ。。じゃ、自分を幸せしてくださいね。僕も静かに頑張らなきゃ！

寝られないんだ。。

日曜日なのに、６時起きてしまった。まだ疲れているけど、寝られないなああ。昨日、映画が三部見た。

フィシュストリ

＜ミメミメ＞はさっきフィルム祭り見た映画（＜空気人形＞と＜水の花＞）と同じ。主人公は寂しくて幸せに探していた女の子たちだ。ちょっと悲しい気持ちあった。運良く次の２部映画は違った。＜フィシュー.ストリー＞は面白いし、可笑しいし、楽しんだ。最初にプロットは半分分からなかったけど、映画の最後２０分と明白になった。大好きな映画だった。

 LIVE TAPE

最後、＜LIVE TAPE＞はすごく斬新なフィルムだ。ショットは一つだけ、カットしなくて、面白いんだ。

shanghai...

日本語練習したいから、日本語で書こう。この写真ドイツパヴィリョン外で撮った。ドイツからのビートボクスバンドが演奏した。面白かったのに、暑いし遅いしまだ日本のパヴィリョン見てないし、コンサートの終わり前僕たち出た。

もう書けない。知っている言葉が十分じゃない。頑張らなくちゃ。。０＿０！

blown away by hong kong the oriental pearl

Photo taken with Lyn's Canon.

Just back from a memorable trip to Hong Kong over the long Hari Raya Puasa weekend.

The Chair

Just hanging around.

Under the bridge

Maybe it's her chirpy outlook or her beauty, I am unmistakably enraptured.

It's been some time since my last entry. My poor health has been creeping up on me and I am having less time for books. The Outliers was a good read in so much it articulated so well my own thinking that circumstances make the man, even though he seems to be to be pushing his argument a bit too far. I'm grateful to Dave for leaving that book, along with Playing the Enemy by John Carlin, in the kitchen so I can read them. PTE is a gripping account of Nelson Mendela's shrewd strategy of reconciling the antagonistic races in his country through the rugby World Cup, applying his wisdom of the fact that sports possess that ethereal bond between people that makes it a viable political tool. Anyways, I only have time for that whimsical emo-chic comic Shortcomings by Adrian Tomine. :p

NatMuse: Still the most beautiful building I ever worked in

Went museum-hopping with Angie today. One day I'll work in such an inspiring environment again.

An Orgy of Paper Planes

I love this picture I took on the job. A paper plane expert was giving a workshop on paper plane making and at the end of it he got everyone to throw their planes together, letting loose a paper blitzkrieg and, unsurprisingly, a hall of screaming, running and frightening-hyper kids. That anarchy was a picture-perfect opportunity but I wasn't prepared for it at all. The batteries in the flash were almost flat, my focus failed to keep up with the supersonic kids, launching their imaginary B-52s and F-15s before darting off to pick up another that crashed nearby. Camera at waist-level to avoid shy faces taking flight, I fired away, anxious I might not get any good shots. That will inevitably lead to me getting a good ear lashing from the Boss. No, I'm kidding. But I'm happy with this one. I can explain away, i mean, photoshop away the blur.

Chasing Tail-lights

Met up with wax to get my birthday present-Radiohead's best-of collection. As we drove down the familiar bends behind NUS for our favourite duck rice, I fiddled with the camera in my hands. Tried to get a shot of the raindrops on the windscreen with light bouncing off from the tail-lights. This was as interesting a shot as I could get.

22

sgcityscape
Originally uploaded by Kobacabana.

Saturday afternoon.
A few hours before work.
No spa weekend.
Twenty-two floors above
at a travel photo talk.
It made me yearn
for my blueberry moment,
y'know that movie
where Norah Jones left New York for Memphis
on a whim.
We left before it ended,
Faye and I.
While she's at the ladies
I soaked in this
magnificent cityscape
twenty-two floors below.
No this ain't New York,
but where's Memphis?


Addendum-sigh, Jake said my blueberry moment may never come. Foucaldian anopticons, systems, complacency... whatever. How strange to find an interesting colleague only to see him leave so soon.

HelliKobter!

Am I bored or am I bored?

Kuching

Kuching still retains many of the buildings we have demolished over the past few decades, if you ask me.

lazy afternoon

We went to another tribal longhouse village before we returned to Singapore. Although it is another tourist trap, the longhouse still retains some authenticity and the villagers’ lives are not obviously disrupted by tourism. The Ibans charge visitors some money which will go into the community fund for maintaining the longhouse and other services for the community. (My friend Claud complains about my laconic blog, but my tiny brain’s can’t remember much about what we did in Sarawak. My poor note-taking discipline doesn’t help either. :)
So anyway, the picture’s dedicated to my animal-loving friends. The little kitten was awakened from its lazy afternoon slumber by us crowding around them and was tried to see what was happening around it. But Mother Cat wouldn't let it go and pressed the kitten down to continue its sleep.

Headhouses keep heads, of course!

Well the headhunting practice has stopped since the fifties or sixties, according to the Bidayu villagers. However, the villagers still hold annual rites to pay homage to the spirits in the headhouse that look over the village. I'm not sure if it's true, but they said some of the skulls belonged to the Japanese soldiers who invaded Borneo during WWII. Once considered as status symbols, the heads of enemies and rival tribes have now been replaced by Mercedes and high levels of education. Looks like we're all heading towards modernization now.

Bidayu headhouse

What is the headhouse in the Bidayu village in Sarawak used for?
a) The headman of the village lives there.
b) It houses the heads hunted by the villagers.
c) It is the village hall.
Answer to be revealed soon...

Far away from home

From the university campus to the construction sites, a new generation of Chinese immigrants is becoming a regular sight in Singapore. We are on our way to hitting a population of six million and I wonder how this little city will look like in a few years. I hope all this pervading din and inconvenience from the neverending (re)construction will be worth it.

Singapore merlion

Copyright H.W.N.
I remember standing beside Faye as she took this picture thinking it wouldn't turn out right because the sun had already set. I was so wrong! The merlion never looked more surreal and iconic.

For more of her photography, check out http://chwnew18.shutterfly.com/

Basker in Chicago under Full Moon

There's no full moon in the picture. But the image of that huge moon just over the horizon remains etched in my mind, perhaps because I'm used to seeing it from the equator as from higher latitudes.
As for what the saxophone player was playing, I cannot remember now. I wonder if he picked that spot under the angels to serenade strangers on that lonely night. Strangers who do not know about nor give a damn about his hopes and dreams. Well at least the angels will always be there listening to him.

Sigh, this picture will work much better with a spot of flash on the sax-player. =(