Phantoms of the Bus Opera

We have people complaining about slow buses, now it's my turn to complain. However, I'll be complaining about people I dislike to be on the buses with. Enjoy and feel free to add on to the list =)

DJ Wannabes

They're deaf, they're audibly unsound, they're inconsiderate!

I don't know what's on their minds but they just like to turn on that loudspeaker of their handphones and blast songs for the whole of the bus to hear. Most of those songs aren't even audible through the stressed out speaker due to distortion! 

God knows what's on their mind when they do that, haven't they heard of the wonderful invention called the earpiece? Don't tell me that they expect 50 other people to use it so that the 4 or 5 of them can blast their 'music'? Genres involved are usually techno, PUNK rock, Chinese POP and POP. Irritates me!

Chatterboxes

Still noisy, but in a different sense.

These are the people that can't stop talking. And when they talk, they yell...

Imagine being stuck in a jam along the fabled lornie road/adam road stretch. Some jokers get on along MacRitchie and take the seats behind yours. Trying to 'enjoy the jam' they start to chat, and chat LOUD!

KAO PEI LA! WHO'RE YOU TRYING TO TALK TO? THE UNCLE BY THE OTHER END OF THE FRIGGIN' BUS ISSIT!? THAT PERSON IS JUST NEXT TO YOU! YOU DON'T HAVE TO YELL RIGHT INTO YOUR PARTNER'S EARS! HOW WOULD YOU FEEL IF I SUDDENLY YELL RIGHT NEXT TO YOUR EAR WHILE YOU'RE TALKING NICELY OVER THE PHONE! MAYBE I SHOULD ADD A FART OR TWO AH!

Kung Fu Masters

Not that they make funny acrobatics on the bus, they just tend to do things the wrong way.

It's slowly becoming a Singaporean thing to put up your legs and rest the knees on the seat in front of you. Of course, we cannot blame the passengers as we should've seen it coming when our people are getting taller yet we're cramping more seats into the buses.

But it's how they rest their knees that's the problem. Some like to rest the knees low, and with that they just feel the itch to press the legs forcefully against the seats. Naturally when that happens, the guy in front would feel the pressure at two points on his back. Not easy to rest on the bus if you ask me hmmm...

Doing so actually not only creates discomfort for the passenger in front, it also damages property. The seats aren't exactly solid; the lower portion breaks if you damage it too much and creates a hole with sharp edges. However, the upper portion where there're no markings prove to be much more able to handle physical stress. As such, I would lower my body and lift the knees to the point where they rest on the stronger parts of the seat. You don't have to press it in since they're supportive enough, and you don't risk paying a fine for damage to property.

Hoggers

No need to elaborate, check out the previous post on moving to the back of the bus.

Spartans!!!

No they don't run around naked and scream for no reason. The ones I'm referring to are those that force their way through crowds just to get to an empty seat.

Sometimes they're not even in need of a seat! I've come across a lady who rushed by 4 men just to sit down, only to get end up rushing by the same 4 men to get off the bus...

I say, if you're really in need of the seat, I would gladly give it up to you. But if you're so strong and capable that you can elbow and push aside 4 strong young men, I don't see why you cannot stand for another 4 stops.

Sleeping (not really) Beauty

We all get tired - Not enough sleep the night before, just got off work, accidentally had sleeping pills.

And when we do, we sleep. Thing is, we don't know what we do when we sleep until someone tells us about it (that's how I know that I fart in my sleep).

One kind of sleeper that irritates me are those that cannot sleep in one spot. Instead of keeping still, they sleep and let their heads droop closer and closer to your shoulders... It's ok if that's a hot chick doing it but when it's a huge sweaty gentleman.........

Nevermind! I remember seeing this chap sleeping in front of me a few days back. While his body keeps still when he sleeps, his head doesn't. It was hilarious yet scary to watch! His head will droop backwards, go back in an attempt to steady it, AND DROP HARD ONTO THE HEADREST! The guy incredibly keeps sleeping and lets the cycle continue! I could even hear the thuds his head makes through my inner ear phones!

The bus is a place I spend a large amount of time in. Most of the time I try to sleep and not disturb anyone. But when I don't, I observe the funny things people do. Maybe next time, if you see me on the bus, wake me up and show me something funny!

BAH!

Keep Our Toilets Clean, Aim Well

This was brought to my attention recently, perhaps one of the biggest reasons why the gents' tend to smell stronger than the ladies'.

We were changing out of our sports attires the other day after our NAPFA (National Physical Fitness Award) test, which I failed...
After the grueling 2.4km run, 2 friends and I went to the toilet to get changed. It was at this time when a certain somebody went over to take a piss over at the urinals.

We noticed that he was standing pretty far away, and decided to ask him about it. Guess what his reason behind doing so was, you'll never expect it:

"You see some people piss all over the place ah! Then it includes the ground. So I try not to stand too close in case I step on the puddles"

WOW!

And it doesn't make the situation any worst that whilst explaining to us, he was looking in our direction, oblivious to the fact that he was peeing onto the ground as well!

Genius, truly genius!

Good Engrish Campaign: No Smoking PLeeS

It's about time I should continue with my journey for good Engrish!

Special thanks to Syafiq for spotting this superb effort in the quest for good Engrish!

Well... I suppose we can't smoke PLeeS but Malboro's fine huh?

Besides, this is a 'MAll' toilet ok!

The Truth About 'Late' Buses

Singapore is just like any country out there - ang moh-fied, very popular political figures, rising cost of living.

But of course, we have different parts of life which are considered first class. Our social security, for example, proves to be beneficial to citizens and tourists alike. We are also first class in terms of government funds, never to worry about running low on finances while banks are crashing down.

Well, then there are the pretty good services. I tend to look at our bus system as one people can be proud of:)
However, it seems that a number of people fail to see that. Instead, they blame the bus services and traffic inadequacy whenever a bus arrives late. Living in Hougang and studying in Ngee Ann Polytechnic, I know how frustrating it can get when bus service 74 takes an extra 45minutes to reach my destination, resulting in a major reprimanding from the lecturer (or absentism in the process).

Of course, I beg to differ with those who points their fingers at the drivers and company. Why do I think so? While it is easy for me to get a seat, since the stop I board at is one of the first few in the route, not everyone gets a seat. Here comes the trouble - what do they do when they're left to stand on the bus? BLOCK THE BLOODY TRAIL!

There's a reason why we can't get to board the 'crowded' bus, or spend a minute at each stop. Here's why, there are people standing by the front end of the bus, blocking the way. This creates the second problem - the driver refuses to drive off as he knows that there are places behind and faithfully waits for these blockheads to wake up and realise the sanctuary at the back. Of course, it never happens and we take a minute to leave the stop.

So guess what? Even with a minor jam, our school's shuttle bus which travels from Hougang bus interchange direct to school only takes 50 minutes at max! Factor that into our travel route, that makes a total waiting time of 40 minutes along the bus stops!

Look, I'm not asking for passengers to squeeze like sardines in a can, I'm just asking for you to move to the back. You can leave your personal space if you want, just move in! Ok, so you want to stay with your girlfriend, go ahead and stand next to her, but PLEASE leave some proper space behind you for people to walk by! You don't have to bend of and let the other guy smell your butt do you?

BAH!

Moms Say the Darndest Things

Mom rarely takes day offs. She's too work oriented to do so.
Even though her job simply involves making coffee at the cafe and working out the cashier, she takes big pride in it.

But when she does take a day off, it would involve either of the few - temple, salon, shopping or cooking.
Recently she decided to prepare some dishes for the family, including a plate of chicken rice.

Whilst we were having dinner, my dad asked her why there were so many dishes.
Mom explained that the chicken that she bought was too small so she wanted to replace them with other stuff.

So Dad pointed out that she could've gone for the halal(certified for consumption by Muslims) chicken instead of only getting the non-halal ones.

Guess what my mom said?

"Dowan get the halal one la... The Malays got chant one..."

Immediately, we just started laughing! So after living in Singapore for the past 50+ years, my mom actually thinks that eating halal food would make you 'influenced', or in her own words "tio gong tao"(get cursed)...

Brilliant, this is what our senior generation teach us! HAHA

My Dad At 50mm

Ladies and gentlemen, meet my dad. 55 years strong, he works as a funeral undertaker.
The shot was taken with my newly acquired Minolta 50mm F1.7 prime! 7 circular aperture blades sure makes a nice bokeh!

Good Engrish Campaign: Unusual Price! NOW!!!

I was having brunch with Syafiq when 2 Chinese ladies came over and handed us this flyer...

Gee, I wonder what extra services they'd include if we went for the unusual price...

NOT THAT I'M BEING BIASED AGAINST OUR FELLOWS FROM THE PRC... but the shop was predominantly mainland chinese....

Cheers!

Good Engrish Campaign: Hang Ten Kids

It's nice to see that we're entitled to our hobbies, including child abuse :) How thoughtful!

Jokes aside, GOD I MISS THAILAND!!!

Jalan Raya with a Manjen (56kbps warning!!!)

18 Oct 2008

After much planning and even more cock-ups (thanks ah), we've finally managed to get things going and headed out for our Hari Raya (green packet) rounding :) Due to the legal/graphic nature of our mode of transport, I'll just keep it that we teleported around =p And who did I teleport with? the same group of people that colours differently from me!

The day started off at 11:00am, or what was supposed. A certain someone needed extra time to get ready so we spent some time waiting right at his doorstep.

With prince Mubarak finally ready, we headed down to Wani's house for starters. It's the first time I've had coke in quite a while already... Oh well! Phosphoric Acid, wash it down!

Very nicely, I thought I should introduce the first couple of the day. Look! They're even in matching clothes!

Special thanks to Syafiq (AKA wrong by default) for the wonderful drop of extra handful of bee hoon, it really went a long way... Finishing the lot of carbs, we went on to Mubarak's place for some hotplate action and of course, more drinks!

We spent the longest time at Zuli's place as we had to wait for Prince Mubarak to finish attending to his massive swarm of guests, 2 huge groups of them. Of course, since we spent the most time there, I'd spam more photos here. Some credit goes to Zuli's cats handsome and kurbit for being such nice hosts :)

Lol Syafiq and Siswand ALAF-ing (Act Like A Fool)

When you're out of ideas, anything's good. We headed down to Mustafa's place. Unfortunately only the Higher-Malay people know him so it was kinda awkward for me to go in anyways... He's got a cute lil' brother who's crazy over Ben10 though.

After this, we teleported over to pick up our last member... And there were 8 (don't know where mubarak and fiq went)


For our final stop, we made a trip down to Syafiq's place where the main attraction isn't just the burger...


Yes, we had a chance to peek into Syafiq's dark past as his mom started pouring out old photobooks! After some time wasting, the boys had to observe their prayers while the girls went into another room. The night's prayers are led by Mu. Lessons learnt? Don't walk in front of Muslim Men praying!

Thus marks the end of the day, here're some photos that did not make it to the main body~

Vel-Cum

Welcome,

To the new flickriver badge that I've fixed onto the top left hand corner of this page.

Now you can view my most interesting photos with ease!

Welcome,

To the craploads of stress that I have to get rid off before I can function properly.

I suppose new songs and new friends can help me with them...

Welcome,

Welcome,

Welcome,

Now I think I'm checking my phone too often... See la!

Mimic

Parrot
Originally uploaded by mysilentkaopei

Like a parrot that imitates the sound of another, an actor mimics the actions and mindset of others.

So I walk into the acting workshop with that in mind, set to put myself in the mind of another and let that mind take over.

As part of our homework, we were required to define 'imitation', 'real' and 'natural'.

It all seemed to stand together to me. Of course, I have yet to do my research so what I'm typing here are purely opinions.

By imitation, isn't acting in it's essence imitating another person? even if that person does not exist, he does live in our imagination and that's how interpretations come in. Well, if imitations of acts were to be put up, wouldn't that be an imitation of an imitation?

And by real, how convincing can it get? while reality tv is the in thing of entertainment now, how does one make reality of a fictitious environment then? even with the greatest actors around, i believe that the closest we can get to a reality would be a life-like act.

Natural acts find no difficulty in their expression. and a natural actor would usually produce a 'real' act.

3323

Buy it for the upcoming 4D I tell ya.

Here's what happened,

On Friday I went over to NP to submit my 100 surveys for the Lien Foundation. As I've reached there only at 6pm, I've decided not to head down to Cathay Photo to pass my friends a copy of my Final Cut software (sorry guys).

After which, I headed back to Hougang. After which I gave dad a call, who told me to da bao (takeout/packet) some Hokkien prawn noodles after I'm done with my dinner. With that I headed down to Block 684 with Yeo for dinner.

Finishing the bowl of noodles, I headed over to Block 682 for dad's errand. By then I had clean forgotten about my messenger bag, which contained my Alpha, 4gb Ipod Nano and the Final Cut software. Finished packing and just headed home without my bag.

It wasn't until midnight when I realised what I had left behind and rushed down to the Kopitiam (Hawker Centre). Of course, even with my mom rushing along with me, it'd be impossible to find it considering the fact that I had left it there for at least 4 hours.

Strangely enough, my mother was the one who had trouble sleeping. While I was busy dreaming about running  away from the police, my mom was flipping around in bed and keeping my dad awake haha!

The next day, I went down to the Kopitiam again and was told by the workers at the roasted food stall that one of the regulars had taken the bag after waiting for me. GREAT!

At 3pm I came back to the place and finally got back my bag. Indeed, there are good hearted people in this world! Dinner with dad and we bought the regulars 6 pints of Heineken as a token of appreciation. =)

Wassup with the number 3323? That's the last 4 numbers of my camera's Serial Number... Was intending to report it to the police until I actually found the bag... Yipee!

Goodbye.Hello

Goodbye

Kyoko, Rie and I met up on the 29th of September for some Thai food in Kovan. As Kyoko would be returning to Shanghai the following day, we thought it would be good to put up something like a 'last lunch' sorta gathering. Did I say that she designed the massage chairs under the company OSIM? So cool la! キョンキョン、もっと連絡してね？お元気で。

Speaking of the food, it's been a while since I've had Thai food. And the dish that I ordered was none other than the usual dinner that I'd get when there's no chicken rice - kapao gai (basil leaves and chicken). Now now, I already hear you moaning away wondering why couldn't I get something new for a change; I'd like to but I wanna see how authentic the stuff are first.

Overall, I'd say that it's about 90% similar to what you'd get on the streets of Bangkok. What's different? Soy sauce, it just tastes local... Great stuff nonetheless. You can even try out the hot sauce and I'd say they taste Thai! Just lacking the sprinkling of sugar over a hot plate of phad thai (thai fried noodles) that everyone goes for. I'd go there once in a while when I'm feeling rich though. $7 for an average meal is definitely not a Thai pricing my friend...

Hello

Say hi to my newly acquired 28-85mm f3.5-4.5 Minolta AF lens! This baby sure packs a punch, featuring a macro switch and awesome optics! Of course, this will be replacing my sad Sony DT 17-80mm kit lens. *Cues Awe sound effect*

I suppose it's not that hard to let go of the kit lens in the end... After all, the pictures are great, colours look great and just check out the bokeh from the macro!

Yes I know... That's my dad with his boxers in the background, that's his sleeping wear.

Sleep liao! Oh yeah, anyone interested in going to Haw Par Villa before school begins?

TVJOURN, DOCPRO, ACTING, OH MY!

BOOYAH!!!
My top 3 choices of electives, all in! Beat that =P

I've already known of this since monday, just wanted to wait til thursday when i can make sure.
Of course, this piece of good news just HAD to come with a consequence. Monday happened to be the day that our attachment/internship results came out.

Guess what? I got a friggin B+

Checking with the people around me, it seemed that A's are more common than B's and B+'s for the attachment program.
Oh well, at least it's managed to pull my accumulated GPA to 2.8... just hope that i get to keep this up to a 3.2 at least...

While sharing our attachment grades, Disa asked me this question: "Why should I ask around other people's grades?"
This led to my creation of 'Grade Sharing Ethics'. This is a set of rules that we should follow to facilitate the basic human nature of inquisitiveness. To put it simply, this set of rules will help us know each others' grades easily with ease and no harm will be done to our relationships. Here goes:

1. Ask as simply as possible - Cut the long story short, cut to the chase, get to the point. We just want to know their grades so it'll be better if we just pop up in their instant messengers and say ''Yo, how're your grades?"

2. Blame it on the lecturer - Rather than putting yourself down or boasting about your prowess, I think that it is wiser to just say 'aiyah must be Mr. XXXX's help!' This will direct any hate generated away from everyone and onto the lecturer. I know this is evil but it beats quarreling over a piece of paper!

3. 'not as good as you' and 'slightly better' - of course always phrase your words properly so as not to offend your potential groupmate!

4. Do not hide your grades - Many would think that it is better to not tell others your grades. Contrary to popular believe, doing so would generate gossip on both extremes. Very bad for your reputation!

5. Ask around and keep notes - It is always courteous to keep a note of the grades scored by those you've approached. This will help others get a clear picture of who's where. The other purpose is to prevent frustration; imagine 50 people asking you the same thing simultaneously!

Cheers!

Hana Yori Dango Final!

Went along with Kaori, Xin E and Gaynous (Sorry I dunno how to spell! Sorry!) yesterday to catch a movie none of you would imagine someone like me would even associate myself with.

Yes, the title says it all...

If you're familiar with Taiwan's ''Meteor Garden'', you'd probably be wondering why the characters in both movies have the same name. Guess what? ''Meteor Garden'' started off as a copy of the original ''Hana Yori Dango'' story before branching off into their own taiwanese storyline in the later seasons.

While the movie finishes off the drama series, it starts off from a point in the story where first timers are able to get a grasp of the situation before the story rockets off to the complications. Of course, prior knowledge of the background would allow you to better enjoy the story.

The combination of scriptwriting, music, acting and camerawork was enough to keep the viewers from dozing off. The last time I checked, the Dark Knight hypnotized an eighth (exaggeration) of the viewers to sleep through his film of the same length.

Of course, while the story is interesting, I still don't think that any movie should be SOOOOO LOOOOONG! It is almost impossible for any healthy human being to sit through the 2 1/2 hours without having to make a heart wrenching decision between thirst and the toilet.

One thing I don't really like about the film is that there're 5 young men for the female viewers to ogle at (6 if you include the thief) while there's only cutey Makino throughout a great part of the film! UNFAIR MUCH!?!?!

Jokes aside, I think that the film is worth the watch taking into account that it doesn't bother me to read the subtitles when I fail to understand the words and the fact that I had to hold my piss from the moment they reach the island (this was already shown in the trailer so I am not spoiling the movie for you =P)

3.5/5 Satays from me!

Overdue Photos

Been too busy with the COMEX to post some really old photos from long ago.

This was the best pick from my lot of photos taken during a getai, which is similar to what many would call a mini-concert. The interesting thing about these shows is that the songs featured are all of an older generation as the main audience are actually the spirits that wonder about during the 7th lunar month, also known as the Hungry Ghost Festival.

Random stuff you see in my room...

The COMEX 2008 28th-31st Aug

COMEX 2008 Singapore
Originally uploaded by mysilentkaopei

$900 in 4 days! (well... at least that's what I calculated)

It was a gruesome weekend for me as I worked at the recent COMEX promoting SONY Handycams and Alphas to some thousands of visitors. Of course, it's not my first time doing so at a major exhibition but every show feels like the first as we never know what kind of situation we could get into.

Possibly due to the inflation, there was a noticeable drop in sales and customers alike. I, for one, have seen the entire Handycam booth empty for the first time in my years of promoting.

Unfortunately, the fact that I've experience with SONY products didn't help me one bit, as I was appointed to the 4th level of the Suntec Convention building, which halls the competitor brands. On the other hand, the younger and greener promoters were assigned to the 3rd level which consisted purely of SONY products.

Well, the situations and prices can change over the years but the customers certainly don't. After so long of promotion, I've learnt to differentiate customers into different kinds.

A. Woodblocks
They don't talk, they don't move, they don't even respond to you. All they do is stand in front of your booth and stare at your products. Some eventually buy, but most of them just walk away after you let off a fart. Waste of customer space and oxygen to top it up. Woodblock them and ask your customer to squeeze at the woodblocks, it usually pisses them off.

B. Chatterbox
Similarly to the woodblocks, they're a waste of promotion space. Other than the fact that they will not buy anything, they have a super-mouth to get even the most experienced of promoters into trouble. These lonely beings are simply there for a chat, and telling them to buzz off would end up with a complaint to your superior even though they weren't potential customers to begin with. Avoid by engaging a real customer while he is thinking of words to blurt out!

C. Clueless
They have a lot of cash, they have a lot of time, but they have ZERO knowledge of the product. Although they are willing to make a purchase, be prepared to spend at least half an hour explaining the functions and operations to them. Engage only if the product they're interested in commissions well. Otherwise try a hit-and-run strategy and only answer questions they ask.

D. Bargain Freaks
They're looking at cheap, cheap and nothing but cheap. They don't care what freebies are coming together with the product, they just want it cheap. Even if it means buying it elsewhere at $100 cheaper and losing $300 of freebies, they'd do it. They are unavoidable as this nature only surface halfway through a sales talk. What's more, the TV retailers are corrupting the market so much with their 'last day promotions' that these bargain freaks often appear only on the last day before walking off upon hearing that nothing has changed!

E. Self-Opinionated Surveyors
They already have a brand in mind, but they just want to walk to the other brands to trash them just so they feel better about their purchase. If you need to do that to make your purchase a more enjoyable one, perhaps you need to be looking at what I'm selling???

F. Durians
Like how these beauties are harvested, the durians drop out of the blue and presents to you the greatest surprise of all - a finger pointing at a high end model accompanied by the sweet melody of ''GIMME ONE!''... How I love thee, if only more customers learn from these durians and do their homework before going out to try out the cameras.

Of course, customers are always customers, and the customer is always right. Being in the service industry has taught me to learn to be humble and understand that I am not always the man at the top of the hill.

Now, on to healing my throat from all that yelling... aaaaaAAAAA~~~~

Chao Zeh Bai!

This morning, while I was having my lunch at the vegetarian eating place, a thought other than the constant reminder that the handmade noodles taste great came to me - What is the point of having faux meat when you are abstaining from meat?

As explained by Hong You : "The intent is not to harm lives for consumption lor i suppose"

"eating faux meat is to so-called recreate the enjoyment of eating meat without the "harming lives" part"

they ban it altoghter

Would I be wrong to say that by eating faux meat, one is expressing an intent to have a taste of what real meat taste like? And in that, also express an intent to actually eat meat? Wouldn't that mean an intent to harm lives for consumption then?

If one says that he/she ate the faux meat because he chose to, and not because he/she couldn't, why call it faux MEAT then? Let's rename it (following footsteps of Matsumoto, who suggested renaming sweet curry to FLINFON) as er.... Zeh Bai! Zeh is the hokkien word for 斋, or vegetarian. At least that would be better than calling them faux fish, beef, chicken, mutton or pork!

Speaking of pork, I came across an interesting question - Would a muslim, who abstains from pork, eat faux pork?

Of course, this would apply to the Jews as well. I dunno why christians are entitled to babi (malay word for pork) though... Let me point you to Deuteronomy 14:8 of the Bible - "And the swine, because it divideth the hoof, yet cheweth not the cud, it is unclean unto you: ye shall not eat of their flesh, nor touch their dead carcase. 

And for the islamic stand, Ahmad Saleh says: when pork is not being cooked properly, tapeworm is present in the meat. this tapeworm could cause tapeworm infection whr the larvae actually travels from the intestinal tract and sips to the bloodstream. when this larvae situate themelves in the brain. they evolve and cause faulty neuro signals. this will actually trigger "fits". this infection was very common last time when inproper cooking methods was used. that is y to eliminate such incident, the Arabs( who was mainly Nomads and were greatly affected by it), they ban it altoghter. until now it has not be questioned so its still as its status quo.

If this is the case, modern man know how to cook all meat properly now, does that mean they can eat what they want? Similarly, would you eat something that you know is a representation of something unclean? For non-muslims, lets think of eating er... Chocolate ice cream that bears an uncanny resemblance to this morning's poop.

I shall leave it here, please leave a comment or tag about what your views are. I think it would be an interesting read for all. Personally, if I were to get myself a vegetarian meal, I'd be happy to just get vegetables, mushrooms and rice/noodles.

The Olympic Kopi Soh

"KOPI-O JI BUAY" (source: Reuters Photos)

Congratulations to China on winning Olympic Gold and SILVER! Yes I said Silver as well!

Curse me all you like, I am one of the many Singaporeans who are not exactly proud of that Silver medal. Seriously, why bother calling for foreign talents to compete in your place. Have you forgotten what you wrote in those propaganda books you label as our social studies textbooks? I remember a chapter talking about how Singaporeans learnt that they had to depend on themselves after the British left in WWII, do you? Of course, that is an extreme comparison but I think you know better. Honestly, I would rather a true blue Singaporean, or someone who've at least spent a great deal of time in Singaporean soil, participate and get trashed than let a mercenary claim a medal for us.

And to think that the Singaporean media is trying to make the nationalities of these people seem like it doesn't matter. I'm sorry but it does! Why is it that your voxpop shows people rejoicing for Singapore, and all of a sudden you throw in someone who says "I don't care if they're from China, so long as they're wearing the Singaporean flag on their jerseys. Our ancestors are from China too. Tan Howe Liang (our only silver medalist) was also from Sua Tau (Shantou) what."? Then shortly after that report your journalist gets overcome by the urge to inform the viewers that other countries are hiring foreign sportsmen as well. Look, just because other countries are doing it does not mean that it is the right thing to do.

Come to think of it, while many wonder if they will really sing the National Anthem if we won gold, I prefer to wonder if they even know how the words! Maybe Jiawei has learnt it by now, but I'm pretty sure that's not the case for kopi-soh lookalike Wang Yue Gu and definitely Feng Tianwei, who only joined the Singaporean team this year. (I know Yue Gu's only 28 and it's mean to refer to her matured looks, so shoot me.)

The week has been pretty eventful in China, one of such was the report that the opening ceremony broadcast contained computer generated fireworks and a lip-sync performance. In defence, the committee calls it a necessary point in portraying a perfect image, both vocally and visually. I must say it was quite easy to spot which firework has been computer generated.*cough*footprints*cough* However, I found it disturbing that Lin Miao Ke (lip-synch girl) is the one who's getting a major advertisement deal when all she did was stand there and smile. What about the voice behind it?

Come to think of it, if China justifies their deception with the need for a perfect image, doesn't that justify the actions of people who go online with fake pictures and details of themselves?

Well, I think I should move on to something lighter. I saw on Lianhe Wanbao's headlines stating that a certain female anchor for Channel 5's "Today in Beijing" apparently said the word F*#K on National LIVE Television! How charming... Seriously, why is she even on the show? Shouldn't they know better not to put an inexperienced artiste on such an important show? It's not like the Dancefloor whereby they could cut and cut and cut and cut and cut... Ya'kno?

BAH! I'm just in a Sir Rant-a-lot kind of mood. Laugh along if you may!

Note: Kopi Soh is what Singaporeans refer to as the ladies that work at hawker centers, their jobscope usually revolves around brewing coffee to bringing them to the tables.

The ALPHA Male

Ever since getting my DSLR on August 4, I've been going around pretty often with my camera. It's as if a shutter-bug has taken over me and I find myself snapping at every mundane object. For now, I am shooting with the 17-80mm kit lens, so picture quality is still not as good. However I aim to either get a 50mm prime or at least the minolta 35-70mm within the next month or two.

Click on the thumbnail for a bigger picture, as well as a quick link to the other pictures in the selection.
This is my flickr set!

C&C welcomed!



Fireworks @ NDP

For this set, I went to the National Day Parade (perimeter) to shoot the supposedly great fireworks~ Thing is, I didn't bring my tripod along. Thus I had to rely on the very impressive Super Steady Shot technology in my Alpha. These were shot on long exposures at f16.





Fengshui Reversal @ Singapore Flyer

This took place a day after National Day, when we decided to meet up to celebrate the end of IAP and IBP. I shall not post pictures of people lest I get threats.







Sometimes I just think people are too caught up in the brand game... Just because you're holding on to a camera-maker's camera doesn't make you a good photographer, you know?