Past in the Present – a photo journey in Pulau Ubin

Pulau Ubin. One of the last few places in Singapore to set sail into “modern”-hood. No road leads to the island, so by dependable old ferries we travel there.

Organized by Shriro, a distributor of Hasselblad, Zeiss and Geitzo amongst other things (fruits jams!) the photowalk was led by the calm confidence that is Keith Low, founder of Pictorial and current Fujifilm X-Photographer. Phew. That’s quite a fair bit of name dropping.

Yea. That’s him. 🙂

We reached Pulau Ubin early-ish and the locals are just about to set about their day proper.

Coffee stall is still waiting for it’s first customers but to Chek Jawa we have to head to…

…20 photogs with gears cramped into 2 mini buses. 😀

With some leg work to reach the boardwalk.

I’ve personally not been to Chek Jawa myself but I have read about how it is a virtually untouched mangrove, a haven for a wide variety of wildlife. Other than an Otter family frolicking and a few handsome birds, the high tide concealed most of the mangrove creatures that day.

The setting of the place itself is some grand visual display in itself however.

I swear I could just be there the whole day just to capture the ever changing spectacle.

Back in “town”, a much awake version, for us to tuck in and share the day and experiences.

There’s so much more to explore and discover on this little island. The kampung where the locals live, the west side of the island we didn’t visit and Chek Jawa all over again when it’s low tide… plenty of possibilities but I guess that’ll be excuses for me to come here in the future. 🙂

(P.S.: shots taken with XF18mm and XF35mm on X-T1. XF60mm was also brought along but wasn’t used at all; this may be the first time I got a hang of using wide glasses.)

man and guitar

once he starts, i was enthralled.

let him sing. let him weave his spell…

tourists at home – pt. 3

waking up early in the morning at Singapore’s shopping belt is definitely not a ‘normal’ affair for me. tourists probably. maybe landscape photogs catching first light.

but tourist i am for a weekend. so walking the streets i shall to indulge in the surreal calm.

hours before my wife’s up and we join the usual bustling crowd.

the difference: a heart

today’s mass production means life’s wants anywhere, any instance of time; screens for entertainment, cool climate at a press of a button, heck: when i click on the button below this post is readable for anyone who bothers to come read!

that’s probably why hand made items are a premium, a precious commodity. high end precision watches, crafted furniture vs run of the mill casios and forever on sale basement wardrobes. there’s that something that makes people queue up for traditional way of making things. even food.

or maybe i’m just old school.

rich, sweet, delectable

missus baking cookies; hubby busy clicking

measure, mix, beat

knead and simply shape

and to the oven
’till before it crumbles
and when noses pleased

little sweet aromatic nuggets
awaiting guests to savour

excuse the silence

it’s just that…

i got a beautiful wifey now!

colleagues’ night out, in monochrome

everyone needs a break. even if we do enjoy our job, some time-out here or there just got to happen to dust off the weariness from the daily grinds. and if doing so helps in making the workplace a better place to look forward to day in and out, wouldn’t that be a plus? 🙂

angles

everyone got their own views.

more often than not, their outlook to life is very much influenced by their upbringing. or history. nurtured. education?

everyone got their own views. on any given issue or matter on hand individuals weigh in on options they can deal with out of their own accord.

i think sometimes a solution to problems can be found only, and only if we change our angle of approach. i think we can try to put ourselves into each other’s shoes.

i think it’s worth a shot. it’ll be a struggle, but i’ll try.

🙂

(i’ll never be able to get the last 3, if i didn’t use something wider.)

encased or otherwise (back to the present in 3…)

some just wanna hang out. alone or with some friends.

at times, simple does it. yellow,

pink,

or just a spray of white pretties.

of course, there’ll be elaborate divas here and there.

oh well. big, small, plain or complicated, flowers just simply rocks!

(except for the last image the pretties have been caught in action at Gardens by the Bay, Singapore. http://www.gardensbythebay.com.sg/)