home, but sometimes still away.

after watching Beginners // 20th august 2011

2011-09-13T01:44:00.002+08:00

watching the character draw fireworks in the movie reminded me that i used to draw these fireworks a lot when i was younger too. we even drew them with crayons in art class and then painted black poster paint over them, creating the night. tonight's sparklers from our annual adhoc lantern adventure brought me back to this drawing again. :]

girl singing out loud on the train // 28th july 2011

2011-09-13T01:37:00.002+08:00

i saw and heard a girl wearing earphones singing out loud on the train yesterday. there were some premature aunties about to tsk and tut at her but i thought it was a nice moment.

i didn't want her to stop so i didn't pull out my camera but took out my notebook and drew the scene instead.

a little bit of everything // 2nd to 7th may 2011, seminyak, bali

2011-05-26T16:12:00.005+08:00

walking around bali, we saw these banana leaf trays of flowers and little samplings of food pretty much everywhere. they are offerings made by the balinese twice a day.

i was fascinated with the variety of colours, food and flowers and the tiny portions reminded me of finger food served at cocktail receptions. it seemed to me like each square tray was a summary or a sample selection of whatever was cooking in the kitchen or fresh in the garden that day and perhaps quite telling of the family or person who had prepared that offering.

moss // 7th may 2011, ngurah rai international airport

2011-05-26T16:02:00.006+08:00

once upon a youngerthattime, i went on a trip to bogor, indonesia, as a pseudo-scientist to learn more about mosses, lichens and liverworts. seeing these growing on a statue at the airport in bali during a recent holiday reminded me of that trip to bogor.

from one little red dot to the big red dot (part two)

2011-03-18T02:33:00.001+08:00

jiayou japan!!

from one little red dot to the big red dot

2011-03-18T01:02:00.005+08:00

these are some drawings i did in my sketch book while preparing photographs and write-ups i am contributing to a fund raising event that my friend (and moms) chris yap is organising to bring together various artists and art forms in our community for a good cause.

i hope the sun will rise again after the waves subside. jiayou japan!

(please pardon my pirated hokusai + that japanese wave pattern i was trying to recall quite unsuccessfully...that would be my wandering mind wondering about how waves have been quite a recurring feature of their art history. i hope we will all still be able to find the ocean and its waves beautiful again someday.)

undue importance (work-in-progress//a series begins)

2011-01-27T11:52:00.003+08:00

what happens when we accord something ordinary with undue importance?

light sparkling on the water surface,

a stray plastic bag aglow with the setting sun,

and perfectly embedded leds signalling the arrival of the train.

these are things we never quite pay attention to in our daily walks but yet are the very bits and pieces that form our everyday memories.

i begin to see in this series the unobvious things i am increasingly drawn to when i walk about with my camera.

droplets 10:11pm, 3:11pm + the day after

2011-01-27T10:51:00.005+08:00

10:11pm, 3:11pm 26th jan 2011.

retraced the day after - 9:13am, 2:13am 27th jan 2011.

(think i overestimated myself when i said that i was getting used to you being away.)

may time fly faster! for now...

meanwhile, drawing is definitely therapeutic. :]

drawings//colouring by 姑姐 and yw

2010-11-07T22:12:00.007+08:00

fish and duck by 姑姐.

duck and fish by yw.

duck and chicken by 姑姐.

goose draft by 姑姐.

goose by 姑姐.

happy crab by yw.

tree when troubled. 5+ am 3rd june 2009.

virus friends when suspected to have been exposed to H1N1. 25th june 2009.

fishes for 姑姐 to colour. drawn in the dark while staying over in SGH. 16th oct 2010. colouring completed by 姑姐 at home on 6th nov 2010.

my auntie drew for me and taught me to draw when i was a kiddo. i remember it was mostly fishes in various forms and often in great detail, based on pictures she saw in magazines or the fish we happened to be eating for dinner that day. i can't find any of those earlier drawings but a few years back i thought to start my aunt drawing again and it became a bit of a back and forth dialogue between us.

she was hospitalised recently. i didn't really know how to make her feel better and was feeling quite down myself but just instinctively brought this sketchbook we've been using along to the hospital when i stayed over with her and drew in the dark when it was impossible to sleep.

24 hour may day getaway // 1st to 2nd May 2010

2010-08-10T12:22:00.007+08:00

our 24 hour passport stamping excursion to a nearby island...

麻雀虽小，五脏居全 !

thankfully we've still managed go on our (at least) once a year IDiotic Travel Agency adventures two years after graduating, even if it was only for 24 hours...

ayam goreng, bebek goreng, keropokness, jus alpokat, A&W, $23 healthy spa massage, good sleep, sparkling sea, morning crawls in somewhat oily waters, passport stamped - nothing more to ask for really!

后会有期！

scalloped sky en route to genting on your camera // 14th to 18th june 2010

2010-08-10T11:39:00.010+08:00

thank you for being someone who would lend a photographer a camera! :]

又是黄花的季节。。。

2010-04-29T23:40:00.003+08:00

＊＊＊

今天下了一场突如其来的大雨。

我从友人的店在雨中步行到图书馆，在久违的 Level 8 看书。

在回家的路上决定试一试新的路程，试搭 Circle Line。

走着走着，突然在雨后的 Bras Basah 地铁站外发现又是黄花的季节了。。。

令我想起 Telok Kurau 小学体育场雨后的黄花地毯。。。

＊＊＊

你今天去了哪里呢？

来啊来啊: Chennai Chutney

2010-02-19T01:57:00.006+08:00

dear family and friends + other secret readers again,

some of my works from a workshop trip i was involved in last december will be part of an exhibition called Chennai Chutney that is opening

this tuesday 23rd feb 2010, 7.30pm to 9.30pm at Objectifs (56A Arab Street).

as part of the workshop process, our instructor had a fair bit of control over what was finally selected from the pool of images we gathered over those 5 days in Chennai and Mahabalipuram so you might find that it’s a little different from what i would usually put together for a final selection but i am really also learning to learn from how others see and work with my pictures.

the pictures were selected in a manner that should tell you not only about Chennai but also clue you in on the personality and vision of each of the 8 photographers.

please drop by if you can, have a look and learn along with me!

do let me know if you are coming for the opening so that we can be well-stocked with enough food and drinks for you. :]

thanks and i hope to see you this tuesday!

yan wei

* * *

You are invited to Chennai Chutney!

There is no Taj Mahal or Bollywood to capture the imagination of the would-be tourist to Chennai. In fact, one may at first glance conclude that Chennai is rather like chutney - a spicy vegetarian preparation that is merely an accompaniment to the main courses that are Agra and Mumbai. Looking beyond, however, the visitor is allowed the rare opportunity, amidst an intensely media-opinionated culture, to experience the city from a fresh perspective – his/her own.

Chennai Chutney features images by participants of the workshop led by US-based photo-essayist David H Wells. The photographers - Birgit Voogt, Eleanor Ng, Karen and Laurie Murrell, Duff Hughes, Ulla Gratton, Chia Yan Wei and Su Yen Chen – hailing from 6 different countries of origin and located across three continents - nevertheless blended incredibly well together in five days in December 2009.

From admiring ancient temples to ducking for cover from the unexpected heavy rains, the group got an unforgettable taste of the diverse flavours of daily life in Tamil Nadu state’s capital. It is hoped that the images in this exhibition likewise capture the spirit and soul of this sometimes sour, sometimes sweet, but always spicy city.

Photographers: Birgit Voogt, Eleanor Ng, Karen and Laurie Murrell, Duff Hughes, Ulla Gratton, Chia Yan Wei and Su Yen Chen

Opening reception: 23rd Feb 2010, 7.30pm – 9.30pm
Exhibition will run from 24th Feb – 23rd March 2010
Opening hours: Mon - Fri 11am - 7pm, Sat 12pm - 6pm

Venue:
Objectifs
56A Arab Street
Singapore 199573
t. +65 6293 9782
f. +65 6293 9723
e. info@objectifs.com.sg
w. http://www.objectifs.com.sg

For directions to Objectifs:
http://www.objectifs.com.sg/contact.htm

We hope to see you then!

"I won't be making much from this photo fair. Just come and see, and bring a print home you just might!"

2009-11-20T20:58:00.008+08:00

hello family and friends and other secret readers,

i will be selling a selection of my work at the Affordable Photo Fair at Objectifs (56A Arab St) this saturday 21st nov from 11am to 7pm. most will be from the i would be happy to see you guys around so do come by if you can!

if you are unable to come by on saturday or would like a preview of the works that will be on sale, do let me know and I'll send a pdf catalogue over to you.

there will be 13 photographers selling work at this fair and all prints will be priced at $300 and below so it's a good chance to be inspired by a wide range of fresh works and perhaps even collect some!

do send some generous and interested eyes over too if you know any. :]

thanks and hope to see you this saturday!

and yep, i should really stop overdosing on the "i don't remember much about that holiday. just you and me, and that beautiful dappled light" sentence structure.

see you tomorrow!

yan wei

***

You are invited to The 4th Affordable Photo Fair!

Look, learn and leave with local art!

Whether you are starting as a new collector or buying a gift for someone, the wide range of works you will find at the Affordable Photo Fair are original and unique. Best of all, it's a great chance to speak to the artist about his inspiration and how to care for the artwork.

Carefully selected by Objectifs, this small but exciting event promises a diverse variety of photography styles, from conceptual photography, to travel, documentary and fine art by both established and emerging photographers.

Participating Photographers include:
Angeline Tng // Phua Boon Wah // Dennis Ng // Jean Qingwen Loo // Choo Meng Foo // Nurul Huda // Philipp Aldrup // Sophie Jarry // Shaun Tan // Lim Swee Cheng // Ulla Gratton // Chia Yan Wei

. Date: Nov 21, Sat
. Time: 11am - 7pm
. Venue: Objectifs - Centre for Photography and Filmmaking (56A Arab Street, corner of Arab Street and Baghdad Street)

For more information, visit http://www.objectifs.com.sg/apf

Hope to see you then!

colour pencils in a hotel room // 15th to 18th june 2009.

2009-10-31T01:31:00.007+08:00

my eyes are melting and i have been thinking of malacca.

some drawings made with a big old box of colour pencils while staring at the sea//straits//蓝天白云微浪 earlier this year...

i'll be off travelling again very soon in december and then january for work and work, these two trips suddenly came in just as i was wondering not long ago if i'd ever get to travel for work.

"want come, don't come. one come, all come."

(some vague saying i remember from my childhood about waiting for buses. )

there's definitely someone listening in to all my thoughts.

i work seasonally

2009-10-23T23:25:00.004+08:00

from Spring to Summer

i am a photographer

from Autumn to Winter

i am a designer

and whenever i have the chance,

i dance!

(lines in my mind from the same night of 突发新闻)

(hrmm and i guess it would be more accurate to add a 'mostly' after the photographer and designer lines)

(and perhaps a bit of 'at least for this year' at the end)

(or more accurate to refer to the previous post below)

sunlight, moonlight & starlight

2009-10-23T22:33:00.005+08:00

又 sunlight

又 moonlight

还 starlight

sooner or later 一定 chaotar 。

突发新闻

2009-09-10T00:45:00.010+08:00

今天突然发现，好友都在国外。

数来数去数不清，数到不开心。 : (

（当然，这个城市里还是藏有

一

个，

两个，

一群一班，

老朋友，小朋友，

知己朋友，猪朋狗友（！），

损友，良友，

摄友，设友，舞友，

超级好朋友

还有家人。）

还有还有

还友还友

一个永远不会遗弃我的良友。

fishing in the sky and flying in the lake

2009-08-28T01:51:00.006+08:00

* * *

august 2009, marina barrage.

august 2009, marina barrage.

june 2007, lake by a sommarhus in sweden.

* * *

how time flies, while waiting.

风筝飞，日落下／／（天时、地利、人和）

2009-08-28T00:59:00.006+08:00

a few weeks ago, it suddenly dawned upon me that... i am currently twenty something..when i am thirty something, my parents will be seventy something.... when i am forty something, God-willing, they will be eighty something!! and i thought that my dad is so blessed that at age sixty something, he still has his mother around.

and so the next day i decided to start making it a point to mai tu liao with regards to things that we say we want to do together. and so i took them to Henderson waves cos we've been talking about going there for yonks.

and it was a wonderful impromptu morning. : ]

haha and earlier this week was part two of the new mai tu liao mantra... after finishing up some work in the morning and spending the afternoon in my childhood neighbourhood with my lindy hop ensemble friends for an AEP assembly thingie, i found the afternoon super sunny, windy and absolutely favourable for kite-flying.

and so with the kites i've been buying with much secret hope in my heart from the toy shop at tan quee lan the past few times i've been running errands in the area, i carted my parents off to marina barrage to finally go fly kite (literally) together!

after a few days of "风筝已备，只欠东风" the wind finally came accompanied with glorious sunshine!

wah i think it was the first time in my life that i've flown a kite so high up that it took almost half an hour just winding it back down when we had to leave. it was a real struggle to get the kite really flying high cos as my father pointed out to me, i had bought a kite meant for 3 year olds haha. we even had to tumpang the kite string. i think that means join it up. anyway wah sunshine, wind, kite and laughing parents.

song boh!!

回故

2009-07-02T00:16:00.009+08:00

在去年的这个时候我好像用了我的好光相机捕捉了一个小男孩在人群中带着超大的观阳镜的画面。不知道为什么，这个画面常时不时的浮现在我的想像中。。。

i was thinking about this picture i took about a year ago. with a little spectator boy and his oversized disposable shades for looking at the sunrise we were all sharing. wondering if it was really exactly a year ago, i went to check out my notebook from that trip and wow true enough, i really did take this picture exactly a year ago! 2nd july 2008. zhun until cannot zhun siah. wah my sudden moments of clear memory amidst my general lack of day to day memory do scare me a fair bit sometimes too.

一年前在阿里山的友团。一年后在回故的我。

时间啊时间，你可以不要飞得那么快吗？

记得在前往苏澳火车上偶然遇到的年长夫妇和也在毕业旅行的年轻情侣都很友善的主动跟我们交谈。阿姨还说我们好像还挺开心的。

好想念跟一伙人去长途旅行的感觉咽！

我们今年是否能去文莱探望文莱公主呢？

希望。希望。我们去实现吧！

milk

2009-06-13T21:50:00.014+08:00

i think this must have been the first time i found a little friendlet lying on my lap to drink milk. it was so strangely calming and comforting and a real joy actually.

it reminded me of some lyrics i heard/read recently:

日子很短只要是陪在孩子的身旁

i guess in that little pocket of time watching joash drinking milk i got a glimpse of what that might feel like. children are a blessing indeed. big joy in small packages.

i wonder how our friendlets would feel about all this facebooking and blogging and flickring and multiplying and whatnotting about them when they eventually do grow up and learn to start googling themselves. perhaps unlike us, they'd already be immune to all of this and find it perfectly natural.

photo by stanley cheong, from a time before i knew how to carry little kids.

time is flying.

i'm not sure if i'm on the same speed though. :]

the rain is so tempting

2009-05-07T02:15:00.008+08:00

i've been watching the lightning out at sea from my living room window every few nights amidst these recent weeks of crazy winds and lightning storms.

the nonstop and silent lightning reminded me of the northern lights that i slept under once many seasons ago but could not see. (clouds!!)

so much lightning, so many flashes of maybes before the rain finally trickled and then tumbled crashing down tempting me to run right out into it.

and then there was finally thunder loud and clear and once again, hours after the first flicker in the sky.

i need to run in the rain again! it's been too long of a little while now!

"I do set my bow in the cloud . . . "

2009-04-15T23:01:00.004+08:00

* * *

Genesis 9 : 8 - 17

8 And God spake unto Noah, and to his sons with him, saying,

9 And I, behold, I establish my covenant with you, and with your seed after you;

10 And with every living creature that is with you, of the fowl, of the cattle, and of every beast of the earth with you; from all that go out of the ark, to every beast of the earth.

11 And I will establish my covenant with you, neither shall all flesh be cut off any more by the waters of a flood; neither shall there any more be a flood to destroy the earth.

12 And God said, This is the token of the covenant which I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual generations:

13 I do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant between me and the earth.

14 And it shall come to pass, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the bow shall be seen in the cloud:

15 And I will remember my covenant, which is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and the waters shall no more become a flood to destroy all flesh.

16 And the bow shall be in the cloud; and I will look upon it, that I may remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is upon the earth.

17 And God said unto Noah, This is the token of the covenant, which I have established between me and all flesh that is upon the earth.

* * *

i got an sms from my othermother yesterday that reminded me to look up in the sky, for there was a rainbow encircling the midday sun at that moment. i strained my neck a fair bit to see it before having to rush out for an assignment but wow it was worth it. it's been a while since i've seen a circular rainbow, maybe years. it seems like there have been quite a few rainbows this year though, don't know if it's really been more rainbows happening or have people around just been noticing them more.

later that night my bible reading led me to this passage quoted above about Noah and the first rainbow in the sky.

wow it was surely no coincidence.

let us all look up and remember more.

here, there and everywhere.

2009-04-03T22:41:00.006+08:00

friends coming home, friends and smallfriends going away.

i sure hope the world is as small as we always say it is and long haul transport becomes greener and cheaper!

nothing would break my heart more than this.

2009-03-13T23:26:00.007+08:00

lately for some reason i have been thinking a lot, too much about mortality with regard to the people around me. and the phrase "nothing would break my heart more than -" has been making its rounds in my mind. so if i look at you with a frown that is a mix of distraction with a dash of disturbance, yup i might just be mentally counting down. it's really morbid i know, but maybe it's a season i am meant to go through before i come to terms with some things.

"nothing would break my heart more than . . . "
"nothing would make me happier than . . . "
"nothing means more to me than . . . "

these are really all about the same things, or the loss of them. some friends say that i seem rather hardy and adaptable but i find that it's probably also rather noticeable in my past and ongoing works that i don't deal with changes and loss very well. that might be why i choose to face these struggles and understand them and myself better through photography instead. sometimes this shows up even in my design work too.

whenever i find a line stuck in my mind as i do this moment, it usually ends up becoming the title of my next series but i'm afraid this time i don't think i will do it. words will hold my fears for now.

my faith leads me to believe in eternity. yet this same faith also includes the inevitable realisation that not everyone will partake in the good part of this eternity.

i just hope you know that nothing matters more to me than seeing you all in eternity.

我只希望你知道，对我而言，没有任何东西比能够在永生时看到你们更重要。

hopes are selfish in a way.

The Photographers' Stories Redux // 1st to 29th March 2009 at the National Library

2009-03-02T00:05:00.013+08:00

Exhibition
1st – 29th March 2009
Level 7 & 8 Promenades at the National Library Building

Official Opening!
Saturday 7th March 2009, 4pm
Level 7 Promenade at the National Library Building

Curator’s Walk
21st March 2009, 4 – 5 pm
Level 7 Promenade at the National Library Building

Since January 2009, 24 photographers have been exhibiting in various public libraries around the island. “The Photographers’ Stories” now culminates in this special group show spanning over the Level 7 & 8 Promenades of the National Library Building. Chris Yap, the curator, recreates new stories from the images, bringing with them new contexts to be perceived and admired. This show is also part of “circa”, a photography outreach programme that takes place biennially, for students aged 13 to 19 years old.

the little solo show that i had at pasir ris library is going to town!

it will be meeting up with the other 23 little solo shows and all 24 of our heartfelt solo stories will be brought together into one curated story in parts that unfold over the 7th and 8th levels of the national library building in town. be sure to check out both levels to catch the whole story!

yup, i know you can't read anything from those two panels so do come to the show to read - read the written stories and read the stories photographed.

enjoy! : ]

hope to see you on Saturday at the Opening then. 4pm on the 7th level hor!

好久没有这样哗啦哗啦的掉泪了。（勿担心，我不难过，只是被电影影响而已！）

2009-02-12T04:50:00.007+08:00

今天看了一部电影，又勾起了我对于回忆，时间和人生的一些启发和感动。

回家的路上我突然间又想起了某个痛处，一边开车一边哗啦哗啦地哭了。而今早我又感到了摸名的灵感，带了朋友送我的手帕插在裤子旁边的口带。

原来是种预言，手帕真的派上了用场耶。

when i am happy i take photos. when i am sad i take photos. oddly enough, the photos quite often turn out happy when i am sad and sad when i am happy. whichever happens, the process and the outcome usually work together as a healing experience, making me really feel better as a result. photography heals.

摄影能疗伤。

在哗啦哗啦的当而，我想起了数年前我也在回家的路途上感伤的事件，又想起了当时拍下的感觉，一到家后屏了命去寻找那一套画面，在差一点放弃的时候然我找到了。感谢主，若我找不到我一定睡不安。

几个小时前，为了记念再一度感受到回家时感处累累的经历，我再红灯前停车时用手机拍的：

零六年四月雨天。
在巴士公车即将到终站相机的单眼陪着我的双眼一起漠糊时拍的：

刚刚发现：原来我在那个时候就开时倾向我近日常用的漠糊式摄影了。真奇妙！

其实我看电影也蛮容易被感动到哭的。mamma-mia 也可以把我弄哭，我真的是赢了咯，哈。（可是今天看的当然不是 mamma-mia 啦。。）

现在终于可以平安入睡了。

。。。哦，现在真的跟零六年的那一天一样－－－突然下起倾盆大雨了！

我得去关窗了！晚安！

days by the sea // 在海边吃风的日子。

2009-01-11T17:08:00.012+08:00

i have always loved living near the sea/straits/coast and occasionally when quite far and quite away, the ocean.

坐在海边吹海风的感觉真爽。

The Photographers' Stories "I don't remember much about that holiday. Just you and me, and that beautiful dappled light."

2009-01-03T03:11:00.012+08:00

i will be having a little solo show very soon.

it is titled,

"I don't remember much about that holiday.
Just you and me, and that beautiful dappled light."

and yes, it is part of the continuing chapters of the story that began in june while i was not far, but quite away.

it will be at pasir ris library.

you will be able to catch it from monday the 5th of january until friday the 16th of january 2009.

2009! already! anyways..

it is happening as part of The Photographers' Stories, a collective of 24 solo shows by 24 photographers who will take turns over the next 3 months to show at 12 public libraries around the island.

warmest thanks to everyone big and small who helped to make this possible.

if you have the time, please do travel east and have a look at and have a feel of the show. do let me know if you'd like me to go to the far far east with you. if i am able to, i will be happy to accompany you.

useful fun facts about pasir ris library:

1 Pasir Ris Central St 3
#04-01/06 White Sands
Singapore 518457
Opening Hours:
Mon - Sun : 11.00am - 9.00pm

useful fun facts about The Photographers' Stories:

do refer to the facebook group for the full schedule of all 24 photographers.
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=52920233360&ref=ts

thank you and see you!

实在地实现？

2008-09-22T09:14:00.005+08:00

我想，设计也包括帮忙他人实实在在地完成他们只能够在脑里想或言语上形容的概念吧。不懂这想法会不会有一点阿Q?

说走就走！

2008-08-06T01:24:00.004+08:00

今天终于有机会继续读我在台湾的SEVEN买的书。那是本关于一对父子用步行环绕台湾全岛的真实记绿。看着书中的爸爸拍摄的照片，我突然感觉到一个要翻翻我自己不久前在台湾所拍摄的画面的冲动。很奇秒，原本累透的我竟然又充满了熬夜的力量。我想这也算是种爱的动力吧！感谢主赐给我这种因爱创造而比较不会累的力量。可是我毕竟还是人，明天必需上任另一种创造之类的工作，今晚还是先休息明晚再继续比较对自己对工作负责任吧。

那台湾的照片就得拭目以待咯。。。

"I don't remember much about that holiday. Just you and me, and that beautiful dappled light."

2008-06-23T05:40:00.013+08:00

(a preview of some ongoings)

(just had to let this out of my mind before going quite far and quite away and looking for other maybe better ways to translate this feeling photographically. see you all in 20 days!)

the tree that kenahded // while i was not far, but away.

2008-06-21T12:32:00.008+08:00

this was one of the first things i noticed the morning after i got back from genting last friday. i took a photo then and some line from a jack johnson song floated to mind. i checked on it again this morning after talking about it last night or rather some time earlier this morning. the tree didn't resurrect. some construction work has been going on at the front of this secret fenced up field i spy on from my window. i just hope they don't kill the field into another mammoth condo....just like the one i live in.

at least the mysterious grass circles i quite often wonder about are still there... but i guess they might have once been great trees too...

the remains of the may

2008-06-04T17:08:00.009+08:00

oke here's a quickpick of the events i have been caught up with.... i really need to stop filling up my weeks with nonstop days but then again i am glad that i.....

....shot portraits of my classmates for our gradshow and gradbook. i think these were the more tame shots, haha to see more power ones please go get a copy of our gradbook or well, ask me lah. heh. and i also put together this contact sheet as a farewell thingy for our power thesis tutor who went back home to finland a few weeks back.

.........caught a concert that i have been waiting for for the longest time haha. suffice to say, he is one of my favourites.

............performed with our friends in the lindy hop club in school at the university cultural centre. it was a blast! thanks to all who came down to support us in our little two minute debut haha. and yeah also realised i should probably start learning to differentiate eye shadow from wood dust after feeling totally lost backstage during make-up time...

.....................and survived our grad show at Central. yeah we sleepover in studio, we also sleepover at our own shows. must jagah our stuff overnight marh.. and sorry that i didn't do my invitations for this very thoroughly cos i was just stuck in nonstop days the past month....i promise that all of you will get proper invites in advance for the next show i am involved in, whatever wherever it'll be when it does happen!

and somewhere amidst all the madness above we also managed to run the sundown marathon...oke so we ran the team challenge which was just 10.5km each lah but still it was quite a feat considering we hadn't run such lengths for a long time. running at night was a lot easier as compared to the realrun we ran in the morning at sentosa two years back though so heh maybe we'll go for the marathon next year..but that'll definitely need a lot of real training....

so thank God for the past month, the past years, the many moments and the life ahead and beyond that wouldn't happen at all without Him!

i will be doing some goingaways in june/july. this time not far, but away. first to a church camp in awana genting from the 9th to the 13th and then to taiwan with the IDiots tentatively from the 23rd to the 11th. so catch me if/while you can!

time to reset my room // photos from february and march 2008.

2008-05-03T20:51:00.013+08:00

oke now that 4 years of school is pretty much over except for gradshow which will happen at the end of the month, i finally have some real time for myself and my family and my see less often but still love as much friends.

but first, i need to reset my room, back to the roomwithaview ikeacataloguesque glory it can be found in after a good packing session (usually around chinese new year) because my room is a place where i can......

see a stairway to heaven in a bleach accident.

be reminded to occasionally transcend reality by an oldschool old school exit sign.

find relief in my very limited floor space.

jolt memories with things i don't use so much now but still keep.
(muji slippers from koala for sweden and pseudo japanese blue and white ah mah slippers from the market.)

and thrive in some sort of (regularly but rarely) organised chaos.

hrmm come by sometime, i think we can fit about 2 humans and 10 beers in here comfortably haha.

oke oke no more beer, 10 ....... cups of good tea or whatever other goodstuffneverbluff lah.

like they say, design is a family affair...

2008-04-29T02:34:00.002+08:00

when channelling my seamstress roots failed, my mum who used to run a sewing school with her sisters stepped in. would not have survived without her.

not the most willing models, but ever caring. heh. my brother and my aunt in between moments of simulated interaction haha.

well i guess God is familyandmore too. this verse encouraged me through many a difficult night and has secretly become a part of my prototype heh.

and then there's family that you can choose - aka the good people you are blessed with as great friends. 远亲不如近邻。really true man. thank yous. the supernear, quitenear, notasnearbutgotcar and previouslyquitenear. :]

Jehovah-jireh. God has provided and thus i have survived. to God be the glory. thank You.

(and woohoo!!! can lindy anytime again now! haha priorities, priorities......oke and can taf club full-time again too. heh. joy!)

you know you've been sitting on your bum too long when...

2008-04-17T23:50:00.005+08:00

..... your chair systematically falls apart in front of you.

many days on my bum in front of the computer = broken chair......such is the thesis disease. not long more!! i hope!

friendly neighbourhood photographer

2008-04-15T13:35:00.005+08:00

realisations from a shooting break downstairs. do click on the picture to see it bigger and read it in flickr. hrmm if my handwriting is illegible tell me, then i'll transcript it into readable text here heh. :]

window to a storm // 12.05pm

2008-04-12T14:48:00.006+08:00

aish, as jane would say. hais, as i would say. may, may, come today.

unexpected rain // early early 11th april 2008.

2008-04-12T14:43:00.005+08:00

there were sharper pictures in the set. but hey sharper pictures and feeling sianded about unexpected rain at seven in the morning were never quite the best of friends anyway...

staring at the pool intently while waiting // 5th april 2008.

2008-04-12T14:30:00.005+08:00

while waiting for friendly neighbourhood friends to arrive for a saturday morning unwindmymind swim.

my auntie tells me she wanted to get my dad to take photos of us doing our pseudo synchronised swimming moves, but unfortunately the camera was not whipped out in time. (er....thankfully...or not..)

kitchen stories // 12th august 2007 + 29th march 2008.

2008-04-06T14:37:00.009+08:00

this is one of the first things i remembered seeing after getting home from being away in sweden for six months last year. i wanted to get a cup of water from the kitchen but was startled by this weird waving panda instead. my auntie had cut him out from a magazine and stuck him there to stop people from accidentally banging their heads against the sharp corner of a metal rack..

my auntie also has a practice of wrapping up all the vegetables and whateverthings in brown paper to supposedly help them keep better in the fridge. and she has this cool habit of sticking a leaf or some small characteristic part of the vegetable or whateverthing on the outside of the brown package so that she knows what is inside without having to unwrap to have a look. on one of my many late nights staying awake, i opened the fridge to check it out as part of my night time routine and was shocked to find these papers stuck outside two of the packages. i was like "wah!! aeroplanes!!" haha and then, "hrmm rocket lettuce??" and haha as i type now my auntie is scarily coincidentally unwrapping those two packages in front of me..and hrmm damn, no toy planes for me and not rocket lettuce either...just some regular cabbage or cabbage cousins.

on the same night/early morning, i leaned against the stove drinking my cup of water and was zoning out when i found myself staring at the floor, specifically staring at my old swimsuit from more than half my lifetime ago lying there on the floor. wah haha it is now the kitchen rag lor. really reduce reuse and recycle siah...though my inner designer quietly doubted the absorbency of an old swimsuit.

* * *

hrmm and kitchen stories is also one of my favourite little movies. i caught it at the film fest here some years back. it was a norwegian film about swedish researchers observing norwegian men in their kitchens so as to optimise their kitchen usage or something like that. and currently i forsee myself spending many late nights getting water and food in my kitchen really soon since our thesis is due at month's end. the calm has ended, let the storm begin!!! God be with us all no matter how things turn out. all the best!!

the rain after the sunshine // 24th march 2008.

2008-03-27T15:46:00.005+08:00

big light in the sky. (somehow the word gloombloom comes to mind..)

even the guy in the tv also kenahs the rain in a moment of suspended reality.

the big light in the sky that moves.

i've always lived in the sky almost all of my life. and as long as i've had a tv, i always end up finding myself spending some time watching it reflected out there in the middle of nowhere. not sure why, but it's always been somewhat therapeutic. maybe i am a secret television addict who doesn't watch tv much otherwise.

cospolaroidexpensive

2008-03-27T15:39:00.003+08:00

18th march 2008
this is part of many ongoing necessary personal projects spontaneously generated to momentarily distract ourselves from work. this was inspired after a dapow dinner at the aircon place cindy calls her lao di fang where we discussed how pigeon could take photo with his favourite photocopy shop auntie.... since polaroids are running out, we decided to turn to the most old school and most black and white of all neoprint machines. come to our studio gallery and add to the project! haha.

here comes the sun....(doo-doo-doo-dooh~)

2008-03-25T23:33:00.010+08:00

6:14pm

6:18pm

6:19pm

blue skies gave way to a glorious sunset on 15th March 2008 after many days of nonstop rain and greyness. i love my roomwithaview.

but the livingroomwithaslightlackofaview is also not too shabby lah...

6:20pm, same day.

and then of course it rained for days after that lah. oh well! but it's oke. i shall be thankful for both the sunshine and the rain.

airshow

2008-02-26T01:30:00.005+08:00

finally got to go after many years of wanting to go, thanks to an unexpected but most welcome 8.30am morning call amidst my zonkedoutness from the past week of hosting friends from abroad. much thanks to hun, her dad and his friends.

because i am feeling nostalgic.

2008-02-02T00:17:00.000+08:00

because i am feeling nostalgic before going for darkroom printing in school tomorrow with hun, and words are failing me, i dug up these old photos.

i feel like i am at a long drawn out moment before i have to make some big decision and yet am not even sure if i will manage to reach the point where i will have to make that some big decision.

oke lah, will try to enjoy this long drawn out moment as much as i can.

say :no: to negativity! oh, wait...

haha oke oke. positivity, yeah!

cambodia and then christmas.

2007-12-25T14:24:00.000+08:00

blessed christmas.

after being : : far, but not away : : for most of this year, i still felt like i needed to be : : not far, but quite away : : this school break. as part of our traditional class trips around southeast asia (somehow meeting up in milan when we were on exchange doesn't quite count as a class trip), we headed to siem reap and phnom penh for a short trip this december.

our trips had taken us from thailand, to vietnam, and now to cambodia. there are certain similarities but in some aspects the differences were stark. experiencing a place tends to be quite personal though. for me, cambodia was really hot - it was crazy hot weather everyday even though it was supposedly winter, but yet it was still a great place to be because of the people. the people were quite possibly even warmer than their weather, and there was this overwhelming feeling of goodwill wherever we went. we heard a spontaneous life story out of every person we talked with and really felt a sense of 'they really don't cheat your money siah' from the generous helpings of ingredients in the dishes we ate everywhere and the filled to the brim fill until cannot fill bottled water. i hope to go back again soon and learn to be as helpful to the people there as they have been with us.

hrmm and i should also apologise for previously thinking that people who pronounced phnom penh as PPPh-nom penh instead of Nnom penh were odd, yuan lai that's how the locals pronounce it!

blessed christmas once again, and hope that you all are having a restful and inspired holiday season, with a power and meaningful year to come!

fashional seasons : things to tell time by.

2007-11-15T18:02:00.000+08:00

you know you're in school too much when you start telling time by the way the cleaning auntie's clothes behind the toilet door in school change. and when you see the clothes change within a day, you know how long you've been in school. partly inspired by what a friend wrote on his blog about how there could be "a much better way to keep track of time than those design deadlines."

.....haha oke maybe this is not really a :much better: way, but it is another way.

in lieu of my favourite magical trees.

2007-10-22T00:51:00.000+08:00

shot on 23rd september 2007 in lieu of my favourite magical trees which i always point out to people whom i pass them by with - on foot, in car, in cab, or on bus.

my favourite magical trees are these two trees outside sheng shiong at geylang serai, which i always look out for every ramadan season when they start putting the colourful lights up in the trees but this year there were no more lights up in my magical trees. i was quite sad. i actually once drove there at 11pm one year with tripod, cameras and films in the boot, just to shoot the trees. the pictures from that shoot were admittedly and regrettably not great lah, they are in an album in one of my blue and purple set of drawers, but it was something i just had to do.

low tech zoom in ... ...

2007-10-22T00:13:00.000+08:00

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(because i don't know how to zhng my blog template so that the images above can be as big as and laid out almost exactly like the way i'd imagine them to be. uhm so please tilt your heads and scroll for almost full effect. heh.)

alternative places for book reading.

2007-10-20T01:28:00.000+08:00

this is the 5th in the lifelong series with the working title of "ransom letters". all letters are individually cut by hand and used only once for each "ransom letter" slide message set. message slides best enjoyed picked up and held up by hand against natural light, complete with occasional squinting, "eh what's this", and all.

this will be up somewhere at the library@orchard from 20th october 2007 to i'm not sure when as part of the My Library and I(nspiration) project before the library closes on 30th november 2007.

i first did sets of message slides like these in june 2004 when i was dealing with the somewhat traumatic moving house from my childhood home in tanjong rhu to my current family home along haig road. between then and now, school happened and the sets of message slides made back then were occasionally lost, discovered panickally that they were lost, and then thankfully always re-found with much relief and gladness.

will post up the rest when i next get the chance to stand on the school light table with no one around to wahlaoeh me. haha. or maybe more preferably, when i next stop by the memoryful place with the wonderful window that looks out to a little backstreet and the balloon that mightaswell be a lift.