Friday, May 29, 2009

Superstitions or Tradition?

Yesterday was 端午节, better known to the English loving Singporean society as the Dumpling festival. So the story goes that this guy jumped into the river for his country (i'm too lazy to get the full picture so do yourself a favour and google about it!) and the people wanted to prevent his body from being eaten by the fishes. The idea was to throw rice dumplings into the river while at the same time riding around in long boats to search for his body.

Here in singapore, we do equally funny things. Fine, MY MOTHER does equally funny things. Here's what happened...

Apparently, the 12pm sun on this day is very 'powerful'. As a tradition passed down by my late grandmother, she decided to hang her wallet out to sun. According to my mother, her mother used to bring EVERYTHING out into the sun at this hour. Of course, now that we live on the 16th storey, that's not possible now is it? Nevertheless, I seriously found it amusing that anyone would do that. I've never even heard of this practice!


That aside, there are other practices that most of us Singaporean youths know of:

1. Eating Dumplings.
EAT YOUR DUMPLINGS! DON'T THROW THEM INTO THE RIVER! While the idea of stuffing rice with random stuff and wrapping in a leaf might not sound appetizing, I assure you that it's a unique taste everyone would love!

2. Dragon Boat races
This has become an annual event. As dragon boats require superior coordination between 20 men, as well as crazy endurance, this event has become an interesting sport to spectate.


3. Showering at 12pm
Similarly for the sun, water at 12pm is also considered powerful. As such, everyone in my family takes a mandatory shower at the sacred time. Even if we're out, we'd make the effort to wash ourselves with a towel or something, maybe wipe the face and arms and stuff.

Anything else?

Fact: One of my grandfathers (both of whom have passed away before I was born) died from eating rice dumplings! Apparently, he was feeling bloated after eating the delicacies and thought that fizzy drinks could aid digestion. A few days later he was announced dead in the hospital. Moral of story? Don't drink fizzy drinks when you're feeling bloated hehe

Thursday, May 21, 2009

Snapshot Bangkok

Graduation! What's next? GRAD TRIP!

So immediately after the graduation ceremony, 6 of us headed off to the Land of a Thousand Smiles, Thailand!

While it was unfortunate that we went during the rainy season, I must say that the trip was enjoyable thanks to the company we had. Valuable lesson learnt too, although I shall not share about it anymore.

ANYWAYS! I took the liberty of taking some photos whenever I had some 'Bruce Time'. That's when I walk around alone with earphones blasting. Call me weird but I like being alone sometimes.

Central World

MBK Traffic

BTS line ALPHABET OF THE DAY!

STOP! royal escort on it's way

Bridge to Siam

Humble Abode

Pedestrian Crossing

Lonesome Cart

Chatuchak - Perimeter

Chatuchak - The Clocktower

Bangkok's Chinatown

Street Vendor i love this auntie, she kept my stomach full for 5 months during my internship!

Streets of Bangkok

BOO!Myself

Sunday, May 10, 2009

For Sale: 1999 Macau Returns to China Commemorative Coins


Selling this set of Coins for $4,000. No separate purchases since we're clearing them.


1999 "Macau Returns" Commemorative Gold Coin.
Face Value - 1,000 Patacas
Mintage - 1999
99.99% Pure gold
VERY RARE
Sealed


1999 "Macau Returns" Commemorative Silver Coin.
Face Value - 100 Patacas
Mintage - 38,888
Has a 24-karat gold piece embedded.
Sealed


Macau Specimen Set.
1999 Macau Uncirculated Coin Set
This was in Conjunction of Macau's return to China in 1999.

Feel free to email me at matsukaze69@gmail.com for enquiries

Friday, May 8, 2009

The Obsessive Compulsive Post

I do not have Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD), neither do I have anything against OCD. This is just a simple observation I made. If you have any problems with this post, you seriously need to get your brain checked, or rather your logic will do.

Had a great time chatting with the brothers from AlphaDSLR, followed by the short walkaround shoot with Willis and Terry.

After the tiring night, I decided that perhaps it'd be a better choice to take bus 147 home instead of the MRT since I can sleep on the bus throughout the hour-long journey.

Unfortunately I couldn't, I don't know why...

It was then that I observed something really interesting.
Apparently there was a slightly OCD (I think) uncle seated 2 seats in front of me. He seemed OCD enough, constant scratching his forehead in the same manner every 10 seconds or so.

What occured to me as interesting wasn't the fact that the uncle was OCD, but what happened to the people around him.
With the presence of the uncle around, the other passengers began to scratch themselves too! It's like looking at the uncle scratch himself makes them feel itchy! At this point I couldn't help but smile and look away...

Thursday, May 7, 2009

Rarity at Macritchie

Hong You, Sean and I decided to take a trip around Macritchie Resevoir on May Day, since the 3 of us had nothing better to do and the LAN gaming shops were bound to be packed...

How happy I am to have gone for the trip instead! The trip was filled with rare events!
1st up, a squirrel!
Squirrel

Next up, a monkey that looks like Sean!
You Looking at me?

And another monkey that has 2 tails! (i'm just joking...)
2 Tailed... Miles?

As we travelled further, we came across this skink giving a demo on how reptiles keep warm.
Sun Bathing

At the treetop walk, I tried to take some shots of this guy... Until someone walked over and said that we're not supposed to overtake, while he was overtaking me...
Insect on a bridge

Another rare sight! A Bat sleeping in the open sun!
Bat

As we were walking back via the boardwalk. We came across a magnificent sight. A middle-aged lady tried to walk by the inner side of the path in an effort to avoide the snake, only to be greeted by a downpour of snake poop! Had i shot this earlier, You would be seeing a burst of poop instead of just the snake's ass... Still a rare sight, nonetheless...
Snake's Ass

Snake's Head
*points to above*As I was shooting this, some people walked by. One of them stepped on this, totally oblivious to what it was!
Leftover Lunch
Yes, it's half a rat.

Right before keeping my gear and heading out, I shot this. Sure, monkeys are very common there. But have you seen one doing this?
YUMMY!