Singapore Arts Festival 2012 Media Preview

Posted on May 16, 2012 by ckng

The Singapore Arts Festival will be here again from 18 May to 2 June. I had the opportunity to attend the media preview along with a few other bloggers and it was a fun night.

The stage for FLUX,a performance by Théâtre du Centaure (France) set against the backdrop of the SIngapore Skyline. This shot is taken from the rooftop cafe at the Festival Village.

The event started on the rooftop cafe at the Festival Village at Esplanade Park where the festival GM Mr. Low Kee Hong gave a rundown of the programs and what to expect. The media preview takes us through a few of the key performances which will be staged at this year’s festival.

Festival GM Kee Hong giving the members of the press and media an overview of the performances at the Singapore Arts Festival.

XII – In Search of 13

To start off, we were treated to a performance titled XII – In Search of 13. This is a light-hearted performance revolving social/national issues in Singapore (such as the issue of the China family who tried to forbid their Indian neighbour from cooking curry.) Twelve contenders vie to be the ultimate national icon amid all these social issues.

The commentator speaks to Mr. Merlion and introduces him to the audience.

A member of the press/media randomly picks a contestant to fight with Mr. Merlion. It turned out to be the Getai.

Ms. Getai performs a short dance routine before the fight begins.

Ms Getai is no match for Mr. Merlion and is taken down within moments of the fight.

Mr. Merlion emerged as the winner and shows off his muscles.

Kids Art Village

This is an area of activities and performances curated by groups kids from various schools and community groups. During the preview, we were given a song performances from 2 groups of kids as well as a preview of Tangle.

Kids from the Kids Gallery Singapore performs "Talking to the Animals."

Festival GM Kee Hong getting all tangled up.

A spray of conffetti marks the opening of the Kids Art Village.

Flux

Pronounced flu, Flux is a performance by Théâtre du Centaure (France). It tells a story about the existence of mythical centaurs among us. Unfortunately we didn’t really get to see much of it as we had to rush to the rehearsal of Mark Chan’s Flight of the Jade Bird at the Esplande Theatre. I’ll have to return to see it again.

A projection of a centaur onto a spray of water with the Singapore Skyline in the background.

Flight of the Jade Bird

An operatic tone-poem presented in song, music, dance and spoken words, Mark Chan’s Flight of the Jade Bird tells a story of a young boy’s friendship with the last remaining jade bird and dilemma of whether to stay and fight the battle against vulgar materialistic change, or take off to join his brethren in a transcendental realm.

To get to the rehearsal, we were led through a labyrinth of corridors in the Esplanade Concert Hall before we arrived backstage, truly an eye-opener for me.

Rehearsal of "Flight of the Jade Bird".

Dizi and Sheng players

Singers

Cellists/Erhu players.

Percussionist

Belinda Foo conducting the musicians for the Flight of the Jade Bird during the rehearsal.

For more photos of the media preview, please check out my Flickr Set.

 

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Marina Bay Sands At Dusk (Or How I Failed to Shoot the Supermoon.)

Posted on May 5, 2012 by ckng

I had originally set out to shoot the Supermoon which is supposed to happen on the 5th and 6th of May 2012. With some research and help from YS and excellent tools like Google Earth, we found that the moon will rise at about 6:20pm on 5 May 2012, at an azimuth of 106°. With some luck we should be able to get it to appear to rise behind the ArtScience Museum beside the Marina Bay Sands.

Very unfortunately, there was heavy rain in the early morning and the day remained gloomy thereafter. Seeing the skies are not completely covered with clouds, I headed to the Esplanade Bridge. Using the iPhone’s compass, I found a possible location, set up my camera on the tripod and waited. And waited.

One hour passed and there is still no sign of the moon, super or not. I saw that over at the horizon it was kind of cloudy and concluded that this is not going to work. With a heavy heart, I packed my gear and left, walking towards the Esplanade.

Then, magic happened. I saw pink hues forming in the skies and the glass facade of the Marina Bay Sands reflected some reddish hues from the sunset. I immediately setup my gear again and took a few shots, This was the first and the best I had, as the magic has faded as quickly as it came.

Marina Bay Sands against the pink hues of the sunset.

It was the consolation of the day and at least my trip is not wasted.

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Garden of Light

Posted on March 31, 2012 by ckng

One of my favourite installations of the i Light Marina Bay 2012 festival is the Garden of Light. Commissioned specially for the festival, it is created by Singapore’s Hexagon Solutions and uses 3D digital mapping technology to project animation onto the petals of the ArtScience Museum.

My shots of that installation all had black skies and I’ve always preferred to do night shots at the so-called magic hour when the skies are still blue, so with 2 more days to go before lights out for the i Light Marina Bay 2012 festival, I decided to reshoot it, this time at the magic hour.

Boon Hwee, YS and Kit were also with me on the Helix Bridge waiting for the sun to go down and for the projectors to turn on. When it finally did, we were glad they projected this image of a meadow instead of the one with the butterfly on a dark background. We had much preferred the meadow scene as it looked much nicer. :)

The Helix Bridge, Marina Bay Sands, and the Garden of Light by Hexagon Solutions projected onto the ArtScience Museum.

The Garden of Light against the backdrop of the Singapore Skyline at dusk.

With this done, I also sought to redo another shot I got accidentally from a previous shoot, with rays of light from Marina Bay Sand’s “Wonder Full” light show emanating from the back of the lotus-shaped ArtScience Museum.

When I did that shot, it was drizzling and the Garden of Light projection was turned off. I wanted one with the projection as well as the beams so I waited at the same location for the point when the beams come on, and I am happy to have caught what I wanted this time round.

A scene from the "Garden of Light" installation projected onto the "petals" of the ArtScience Museum. At the back, beams of light emanate as part of the "Wonder Full" light show at the Marina Bay Sands.

Before I end, here’s a video of the Garden of Light I shot using the iPhone 4S on my first trip to the festival. It was actually quite shaky as I was holding the iPhone with one hand and remote triggering the Nikon D7000 on a tripod with the other hand. YouTube’s image stabilisation did a pretty good job of stabilising it.

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i Light Marina Bay 2012

Posted on March 25, 2012 by ckng

Now in its second edition, i Light Marina Bay is dubbed as Asia’s first and only sustainable light art festival. I’ve missed the first i Light 2 years ago and made a point not to miss it again this time.

Spanning the entire Marina Bay area including the Merlion Park, Marina Promontory, the Float @ Marina Bay (a.k.a. Floating Platform), Waterfront Promenade and the area in front of the Marina Bay Sands, it consists of 31 light installations created by artists around the world. The installations made use of energy-efficient lighting and aim to create awareness of energy-saving lighting technology for the urban environment.

Due to the large area which the festival spans, I visited it 3 times in order to see and (try to) cover the installations. Here are a few which I found to be more interesting.

Light of the Merlion

For many years, the Merlion has been an icon of Singapore, and for this edition of i Light Marina Bay, OCUBO from Portugal has been commissioned to produce the installation titled “Light of the Merlion.” This is an interactive installation whereby the visitors can try their hands at “painting” the Merlion in colourful splashes of light using an interactive touch-screen display. The colours are then projected onto body sides of the Merlion’s body.

A girl "paints" the Merlion in bright colours while a family member looks on happily in the background.

The Merlion "painted" in colourful shades of light projected onto its body. In the background is the Marina Bay Sands Integrated Resort and the ArtScience Museum

The Merlion lit up with colourful projections against the backdrop of the Singapore Skyline.

Garden of Light

Utilising 3D digital mapping technology, the Garden of Light is an animated projected onto 3 of the “petals” of the Lotus-shaped ArtScience Museum. It uses light and sound effects to tell a story about environmental sustainability and highlight the beauty of the natural world.

The fully lit-up installation titled "Key Frames" In the background is another installation titled "Garden of Light" projected onto the ArtScience Museum.

The Garden of Light installation as seen from under the Helix Bridge.

"Garden of Light" as seen from the pod nearest to the Marina Bay Sands/ArtScience Museum.

The Gate

Created by Li Hui from China, The Gate uses many low-powered lasers framing a door, conveying the sense of entering another realm.

"The Gate" by Li Hui from China.

I also had the accidentally opportunity during an event organised by Marina Bay where during a toilet break, a few of us participants discovered that the “back” of the installation is just as interesting.

The back of "The Gate" is just as interesting as the front, with the reflection of the lasers at the bottom forming a nice symmetry of the laser lights.

EnLIGHTenment

EnLIGHTenment is created by Edwin Tan from Singapore, and uses a series of multi-coloured light tubes to give the visitor a “Yes/No” answer after he presses a button at the console. It’s quite fun to stand and watch/photograph the visitors as the installation answers their questions. These are usually more fun than the installation itself.

In a show of racial harmony, a Malay woman and a chinese child have fun playing with the EnLIGHTenment installation at i Light Marina Bay 2012.

A couple seeks an answer at this installation titled "Enlightenment" at i Light Marina Bay 2012.

There are many more installations (27 more to be exact) and I won’t talk about all of them here. Visit my Flickr Photoset to see more photos of other installations or visit the festival and soak in the atmosphere. i Light Marina Bay ends on 1 Apr 2012.

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Venus and Jupiter Conjunction

Posted on March 15, 2012 by ckng

I had the opportunity to witness the peak of the Venus and Jupiter conjunction on this Mar 15th. This is when these 2 planets appear to align and show up on the night sky as 2 very bright spots. According to reports around the world, this phenomenon is at its highest peak tonight.

I was very lucky to find the conjunction happening right at my doorstep, so I got the tripod and camera out to the corridor, pointed it towards the planets and took a shot. It was also nice to have the HDB flats opposite to act as foreground interest.

Venus & Jupiter conjunction at my doorstep on 15 Mar 2012 09:31pm SGT. The brighter spot on the right is Venus, and the on the left is Jupiter.

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Thoughts on the Lytro Camera

Posted on March 2, 2012 by ckng

Lytro Cameras. (Picture courtesy of Lytro Inc.)

Launched last year and recently shipped, the Lytro camera is a revolutionary camera from Lytro Inc. which uses light field technology. The main selling point is that it allows you to readjust the focus of an image after it’s been taken, thereby eliminating the blurry shots that supposedly plague consumers.

Following its announcement, there were a lot of interest surrounding it, and many people, including my non-photographer friends were raving about how impressive the technology was. My photographer friends and I were however, unexcited. Some pundits are even decrying the death of photography as an art form as this encourages the “spray and pray” attitude when taking photos.

Conceptually, this sounds like a great idea. You can now shoot without a thought of where the focus point is, and then adjust later. How much nicer can that be?

Well, consumer digital cameras and camera phones like the iPhone 4S now takes very high quality pictures. I’ve noticed that most of the blurred shots I’ve seen are actually blurred due to camera shake and not the camera mis-focussing. They also tend to be taken in less-than-ideal situations (e.g. in a bar) which gives rise to slow shutter speeds, causing the camera shake.

Such cameras have small sensors and a very deep depth of field, which makes pretty much everything sharp. In fact, it has so much depth of field that trying to create a portrait with a blurred background (i.e. bokeh) is quite an impossible task under most situations. Image stabilisation technology is also helping to eliminate camera shakes (to a certain extent) and reduce the chances of blurred pictures due to camera shake.

This reduces the practical use of the Lytro’s “focus after you shoot”. And unlike a conventional camera, whereby you can actually get a picture of everything being sharp by using a smaller aperture, photos taken by the Lytro always have a sharp and a blurred portion, similar to pictures taken with a wide-open aperture. Do you really want every picture to look like that?

Secondly, there’s the post-processing (aka selecting the focus point) after you shoot. It’s already quite hard to convince the average consumer to shoot in the superior RAW format (if their camera supports it) as it’s just too much work for them. The last thing they want to do after a trip is to edit 1,000 pictures. So most pictures are uploaded straight to FaceBook, etc, including the unrotated ones. One might argue that you don’t have to edit, but doesn’t this make the “focus after the fact” feature useless then?

Thirdly, the Lytro takes photos at a resolution of only 1080×1080, slightly less than 1.2 megapixels, good enough only for the web. Though megapixels alone does not make a great feature, this is a very low resolution by today’s standards. Any modern smartphone and compact camera can take very high quality, sharp photos compared to the Lytro. In fact, Nokia has just announced the 41 megapixel 808 PureView phone.

Lastly, there’s the ergonomics of the camera itself. Unconventionally shaped, it makes holding it difficult. The small low-res touchscreen LCD (26mm x 26mm with only 49,000 dots) makes image reviewing difficult. It’s possibly also difficult to select the focus point from the such a small screen when shooting.

In conclusion, I think this is a great idea on paper, but it needs a lot more refinement to be really successful. Right now, I think it’s only a novelty/gimmicky product.

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Abandoned Temple of Lao Sua (Old Hill)

Posted on February 22, 2012 by ckng

It was at the end of our walk at Bukit Brown Cemetery and we were talking to Tien under the Ole Rain Tree when Gilbert asked if he knew about an abandoned temple in the area. He did not, but he referred us to Raymond Goh, one of the co-founders of the Asia Paranormal Investigators (API), who was chatting with a group of friends. He not only knew about it, but he immediately got all excited up, stopped whatever he was doing and quick as lightning, we now have an impromptu tour to explore and find the temple.

We were actually tired and hungry but the thought of looking for an abandoned temple like Indiana Jones gave us the energy to continue. Besides, we asked and we can’t possibly back out now.

Raymond and gang managed to mobilise a few cars (the speed at which this happens is simply amazing) and we drove a short distance along Kheam Hock Road to an area under the Pan Island Expressway (PIE), climbed up a slope and walked alongside the PIE on a grass patch before continuing our trek inside the woods. The drivers along the PIE must be wondering what the hell is this group of crazy people doing there.

Trekking alongside the PIE.

The temple was actually located in another section of Bukit Brown known as the Lao Sua (Hokkien for “Old Hill”) and after a short trek, we are there.

Raymond posing outisde the temple.

The temple looks like it’s been abandoned for a long time. The roof had collapsed and nature has already begun to reclaim it.

Abandoned temple of Lao Sua.

Incense Burner

Collapsed roof and a dragon carving

The altar

Old temple sign.

Light streams in onto an old brick wall of the temple.

Lizard eggs on the temple wall.

Unknown ancestral tablet

An old joss paper burner at the temple compounds. It's designed so that the smoke from the burning joss papers emit from the lion statue's mouth.

On the way down, we took a different path and almost got lost, but we managed to find our way via the barking of some dogs and also Raymond’s memory of the place. We also found time to take a group shot.

Groupshot of us.

Near the end of the road is a “tomb house” where the tomb keeper apparently stays in. It’s a shed built on top of an existing tombstone and looks quite well equipped.

The well equipped interior of the "tomb house" where the tombkeeper stays.

Front view of the tomb house along Jalan Halwa. From this angle, it looks like any other kampong hut with no signs of being on top of a tombstone.

A short walk later, we arrive at the junction of Jalan Halwa and Kheam Hock Road, near where we started. We parted ways there and headed for the much needed lunch and a nice cold drink. It has been a rather exciting and fruitful day.

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A Walk in Bukit Brown

Posted on February 21, 2012 by ckng

I was never quite keen on visiting cemeteries. In fact, I remember as a kid, I would always dread going to the few cemeteries to pay respects to my departed elders. They were always overgrown with plants, ridden with mosquitoes, hot and the many graves and plants made it difficult to move around in.

However, when Gilbert invited Boon Hwee and I for a walk to Bukit Brown, I decided to put all my  apprehension aside. The Bukit Brown Cemetery was in the news lately as the government has decided to go ahead with building an 8-lane expressway across it, thereby eradicating a great many graves, many of which hold significance in Singapore’s history and heritage.

The cemetery was named after the first owner, George Henry Brown, a ship owner who arrived in Singapore from Calcutta in 1840s. The site was made into a municipal cemetery in 1922 let by committee leaders Tan Kheam Hock  and See Tiong Wah.

Interestingly, cemetery was also known as Kopi Sua (Coffee Hill) by the Chinese. This was apparently referring to the coffee-coloured soil of the hill it’s on, and not so much about coffee being planted there.

On arriving at the cemetery, I discovered that it was actually a quiet and peaceful place, filled with lush greenery which reminded me of the KTM Rail Corridor which I have visited last year. It’s also one of the last few places in Singapore which modernisation has not taken over. But this won’t be for long, hence the formation of multiple groups lobbying for its preservation.

The main gate to the Bukit Brown Cemetery. This is no longer functional and no longer close.

The moss-encrusted wrought-iron gate of Bukit Brown Cemetery.

A little beyond the moss-encrusted wrought-iron gates is a large raintree which is affectionally known as “The Ole Rain Tree” by the conservationists from the Bukit Brown Facebook group and their recently-launched blog. The enthusiasts gather under the tree every weekend to spread awareness of the place as well to collect signatures for a petition to save the Bukit Brown Cemetery.

A big rain tree at the cemetery affectionally known as "The Ole Rain Tree".

Beyond this, the lush greenery is evident all around, and being an isolated area, away from the hustle and bustle of the city, there is a sense of peace and quiet. People can be seen strolling, cycling, jogging and even riding a horse in the compound.

A woman walks across a lush green field at Bukit Brown Cemetery.

Triple Tomb of Ho Siak Kuan and his 2 wives

A path surrounded by greenery

A collection of graves among the lush greenery of the Bukit Brown Cemetery.

A small boy rides along a path in Bukit Brown Cemetery on a bicycle.

A rider from the Polo Club takes her hourse on a ride in Bukit Brown Cemetery.

A group of 4 takes a walk in the lush green surroundings of Bukit Brown Cemetery.

A volunteer guide gives a talk to a group of visitors about the tombstones.

Near the entrance is a cluster of tombstones, and one of them actually had a gate. This was probably owned by one of the more well to do families who had the funds to build additional features such as these for their tombstones.

A gate to one of the graves as seen from the "outside".

We had originally intended to locate the more prominent graves using the map provided on the Asia Paranormal Investigators‘ (API) website, but unfortunately some of the markers they have kindly placed have dropped off (or removed) over time and we cannot reliably locate them any more. So we decided to just take a leisurely stroll instead.

Ignoring that fact that this is actually a cemetery, it actually feels like strolling in a big nature park, at least in the day time.

A large tree with ferns growing on the branches.

 

Another green path.

 

A creek which runs through Bukit Brown Cemetery.

A curtain formed by the hanging roots of a Banyan Tree.

Before long, we stumbled into an API sign leading us to the tombstone of Ong Sam Leong, the largest in the cemetery.

A makeshift sign directs visitors to the tombstone of Ong Sam Leong, the largest in the Bukit Brown Cemetery.

We decided to check it out and after a short hike, we arrived at the tombstone.

Spanning an area equivalent to ten (!) 3-room HDB flats, it’s the biggest tombstone in the Bukit Brown Cemetery. It was elaborately decorated with floral tiles, bas-relief carvings, stone lions, sikh guards and there was even a moat with fish around it in the early days. The moat has since dried up but the sheer size is still impressive.

Here is a panoramic view of it. Click on the image for a larger version.

Panoramic view of the tombstone of Ong Sam Leong, a prominent businessman in the late 19th century, surrounded by lush greenery of the Bukit Brown Cemetery. This took some time to locate, and we would have missed it if not for the tags placed by API nearby. This is the largest tombstone in the cemetery, spanning an area of ten 3-room HDB flats.

Closer view of Ong Sam Leong's tombstone showing the floor tiles of the courtyard.

Two different design of floor tiles cover the courtyard.

Bas relief carvings on the Ong Sam Leong tombstone.

Sikh guard and stone lion

On the way back to the entrance, we came across this rather interesting tomb and its Sikh guard statues. Unlike the others we’ve seen, this pair was painted in colour.

Unlike the other tombs I've seen in Bukit Brown, this one has 2 painted Sikh Guards, so they are "in colour" compared to the rest which are in "black and white".

Close-up of the painted Sikh guard statues

At this point, we were tired and hungry and wanted to call it a day. However, we ran into Tien who was collecting signatures of a petition under the Ole Rain Tree. Out of curiosity, Gilbert asked about an abandoned temple nearby. We got directed to Mr. Raymond Goh, one of the founders of the API who got very excited and enthusiastic and started an impromptu tour to the temple. This is to be our next adventure, but I’ll leave it for the next blog post.

Meanwhile, please show your support for the preservation of the Bukit Brown Cemetery over at the Facebook Group and blog. You can also share your experiences and photos if you’ve visited the place with the others at the group and blog.

For more photos of my walk, do check out my Flickr set.

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An Evening With the Sin Hoe Ping Puppet Troupe

Posted on February 19, 2012 by ckng

I’ve never seen a marionette/puppet performance in my life, so when a friend Belinda Tan posted in Facebook about the Sin Hoe Ping Puppet Troupe performing outside the Asian Civilisations Museum, I went for it.

Held on 16 and 17th Feb from 6-9pm, the performance is part of the Regenerating Communities project, an initiative for remaking Empress Place featuring cultural art forms to revitalise communities and reaffirm cultural identities. According to the Creative Director, Jeremiah Choy, the time chosen allows the audience to experience the puppet performance as the sun sets, giving a different visual experience as the sky darkens.

The Sin Hoe Ping Puppet Troupe is currently led by 62-year old Mr. Yang Lai Hao who has been learning and practising the art form since he was 7. He bought it over from his master, Mr. Zhu for a token sum of $3,000. It is the only remaining Heng Hwa puppet troupe in Singapore and Mr. Yang mentioned during a Q&A session that he is looking for successor to take over the troupe and keep the traditional art form alive. He has a cousin from Putian, China who is interested but unfortunately due to some red tape he is still unable to come over to Singapore to continue the legacy. Let’s hope this will be resolved soon so that this will not end up like the many other traditional art forms which have disappeared over the years.

The colour stage of the Sin Hoe Ping (新和平) Puppet Troupe before the performance.

The puppet cast of the chinese classic, "Journey to the West". The monkey god Sun Wukong is represented here by 2 puppets, each of a different costume.

Mr. Yang also plays the Suona and Dizi, a wooden chinese flute.


The crowd at the venue, eagerly waiting for the performance to begin.

Jeremiah Choy, creative director for the "Regenerating Communities" project gives a introductory speech at the beginning of the performance.




Scenes from "Journey to the West. The puppets along with the skills of their puppeteers are agile enough to even do a sommersault!

Mr. Yang at the backstage manipulating his puppet.

Mr. Yang is all smiles as he takes questions from the audience.

The team members of the Sin Hoe Ping (新和平) Puppet Troupe, consisting of puppeteers and musicians.

Mr. Yang poses with a puppet of Sun Wukong, one of the characters of "Journey to the West"

Other than traditional puppets, Mr. Yang has also developed a new type of puppet which is meant to be more easily manipulable and appealing to the general person with their cuddly and cute appearance. It features battery-operated motorised legs and is featured in the next performace, “Monkey’s Wedding”.

A scene from "Monkey's Wedding".

By dusk, the stage has taken on a different look, with the warm and colourful lights of the stage set against the evening sky.

The stage of the Sin Hoe Ping Puppet Troupe set aganist the backdrop of CBD buildings at dusk.

The stage of the Sin Hoe Ping Puppet Troupe, now brightly lit in colourful bulbs.

I also took a few shots of the backstage, where the puppeteers are hard at work manipulating their characters while the musicians provide the sound track. The last performance is “Wusong Fights the Tiger”, another Chinese classic.

Musicians and Puppeteers

The puppeteers from the front, shot from a low angle.

To give an idea of what the puppet performance is like, I’ll leave you with a short video which I’ve shot from the “Wusong Fights the Tiger”. This is where Pan Jinlian encounters the tiger at Mount Jingyang.

Once again, many thanks to Belinda for notifying and inviting me to the event. It has been a real eye-opener and a pleasure to shoot. For more photos, please visit my Flickr set for the Sin Hoe Ping Puppet Troupe.

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Singapore’s Chinatown At Dusk – Re-shooting An Old Shot

Posted on January 19, 2012 by ckng

Many years ago, I took a photo of Chinatown from the Chinatown Food Centre at Smith Street on my Nikon Coolpix 950. It was a long exposure shot showing the “food street” along Smith Street as well as the iconic 3-storey shophouse in Chinatown. It was close to the Lunar New Year, and a night market has been setup. People were walking through the streets, looking for new year bargains and goodies, and the long exposure rendered them as a blur trail. The few people who happened to stand still during the exposure remained still in the shot, contrasting against the river of moving people.

Chinatown at Dusk, 2002

It was one of my favorite shots, but it was “only two megapixels” although it made a nice 8×10″ print which I used to show many people what a measly 2-megapixels is capable of.

I had always wanted to go back there and reshoot the scene using modern day equipment and also get a higher resolution file, but always put it off as I don’t quite enjoy bashing through the crowd.

Recently, Kit, YS, David and I went for a short walkabout in Chinatown one afternoon and we went to the upper floors of Block 353B above the food centre for some aerial shots of the place and I kind of like the view.

Chinatown from the above.

Still wanting to replicate my 2002 shot, I bashed through the crowd one weekday evening after work. Before that, I thought I wanted a evening shot of the above before the sky goes black. So up I went to Block 335B, put my Joby Gorillapod SLR Zoom on the parapet wall, mounted my Panasonic LX-3 on it and took a shot.

Modern skyscrapers of the city forms a contrasting backdrop against the conserved old shophouses of Singapore's Chinatown at dusk.

Happy with the shot, I tried to go back to the location where I took the 2002 shot. Alas, 2 trees have now been planted in front of that viewpoint, so it’s no longer possible to get a proper shot. A white tentage has also been setup along Smith Street (you can see it in the photo above.) Worse, a bright spotlight is also erected which essentially ruins the shot.

I was disappointed I couldn’t replicate my earlier shot anymore, but the consolation is that I now have a new angle of the place, which I also like.

To all the chinese out there, here’s wishing everyone a happy and prosperous Lunar New Year!

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