Reading: love in lower case

August 18, 2017, 6:25 am

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This was a random book I pulled out from the library and a fun read. A short existential love story with a literature professor as the protagonist, referencing and alluding situations to all of my favourite authors and literary pieces during my angsty late teenage years and through university from Goethe’s Sorrows of Young Werther to Kafka’s Metamorphosis and The Castle.

I loved how the author explored linguistics differences in the language of love through key literary pieces. It also reminded me how colourful the long german words were to describe situations aptly. I suppose the Chinese have their idioms, but the Germans have their terms like “Die Vergangenheitsbewaltigung“, “torschlusspanik“, “Schadenfreude” that tickles my German friends because I use them in the exact context to sum up a situation and I don’t even speak German!

A fun, lighthearted read with interesting characters.

 

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Reading: When in French, Love in a second language

August 26, 2017, 5:28 pm

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I made a note to read this book by Lauren Collins as I continue to learn how to navigate my intercultural marriage with a French man.

The book is somewhat interesting, anecdotal and also a discourse in linguistics in some chapters (which I found rather dry and difficult to get through). Kind of wanting to cover too many topics at the same time, which distracted from an autobiography which I thought it was.

I wanted more spice of life and hilarious episodes… it also felt a little unfocused, neither an autobiography nor a treatise in linguistics. I’m in the camp of 3/5 stars reviews on Amazon.

While I didn’t have similar linguistic challenges – I already spoke French when I met my husband since I majored it in at University and I grew up speaking 4 languages, so picking up the nuances of another was less of a challenge.

I do identify with the hilarity of cultural immersion that I still struggle with, given that the husband and I met in Beijing and have lived in Asia the past 8 years of being together. There are insider jokes, socio-economical, political jokes that is impossible to grasp unless one lived in France.

When I picked up my livret de famille, the lady at the consular offered to help me apply for a French passport, which I politely declined as I would never give up my Singapore one. But that was encouraging because for anyone to be offered a French passport, you must have at least high school level French – which includes being able to discuss literature and some cultural topics.

Fortunately for me I did European history at A levels and remember the odd details of the 1789 revolution and all about Bonaparte. Then I read Flaubert and Baudelaire at university… so, I suppose I found French before my husband found me.

 

 

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Photography Project Photo a day #1

August 27, 2017, 2:43 am

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I was inspired by the Digital photography blog post on first steps to improve your photography is to make the effort to take a photo a day and stock take with this 365 days photography.

Well, here’s day one. I think limiting oneself to a photo a day makes one more mindful of what moment to capture in the day. I didn’t cheat to take hundreds to upload the best one.

The flight back to HK was delayed, but fortunately no turbulence with a storm brewing. Instead we were treated to gorgeous cloud porn and a sunset. It was care bears cloud kingdom meets an infinite horizon with cotton candy textured clouds and visual swirls of what you get when you add milk to a cup of black coffee.

Looking forward to next week’s photography class I signed up for.

 

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Photography Project Photo day #2

August 27, 2017, 11:25 pm

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It’s actually harder than I thought to be disciplined enough to take a photo a day with my DSLR as I don’t religiously carry it out with me every single day.

Here’s a photo from my terrace.

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Photography Project Photo day #3

August 28, 2017, 11:28 pm

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Part of the photography class I took, learning how to work with manual settings to take good photos in the night. Still getting the hang of the holy trinity of ISO, Aperture and shutter speeds.

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Photography Project Photo day #4

August 29, 2017, 11:30 pm

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Learning more about lighting and motion blur… and shooting with a tripod.

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Photography Project Photo day #6

August 31, 2017, 11:35 pm

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I love the moods that candle lit spaces create, but it’s hard to capture sharp images in the dark without a tripod. I think the leaves and diffuser bottle looks pretty well defined, so I think I didn’t do so badly here. I struggled however with the garden photo below.

Let it too much light… and unsteady hands. It surely didn’t capture the magical tropical environment of this garden of the Suhring twins restaurant in Bangkok.

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Photography Project Photo day #7

September 1, 2017, 11:45 pm

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I decided not to cheat and edit any of the photos as it’s an exercise to compare 365 days of photos and how much better I get at knowing my camera’s manual settings.

Here’s mini fish burgers at Bangkok’s Sühring twins restaurant.

Very delicious and I did the photos quickly but mindfully, in an attempt not to interrupt dinner.

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Photography project #8-#14

September 9, 2017, 10:08 pm

≫ Next: Reading: The man who mistook his wife for a hat by Dr Oliver Sacks

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I think daily posts are tedious, so I’m rounding up weekly posts. :)

I don’t know if I am improving at this, but I think as with every new skill, it’s a work in progress. I am getting the hang of shutter speed and aperture, hopefully it’d get easier and become more of an autopilot intuitive setting rather than a tedious thought process of what is going to work.

None of these images have been edited and are as they were shot.

This graffiti is cute and apt because it’s where all the construction workers come for lunch, shirtless and sweaty slurping their instant noodles with spam. Or having rice with a running omelette and dubious looking pieces of meat.

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Reading: The man who mistook his wife for a hat by Dr Oliver Sacks

September 12, 2017, 10:21 pm

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My friend Mita recommended me this book and it was a great read. I didn’t know much about Dr Oliver Sacks until I was having a conversation with a friend who is a prof in neuroscience and another neurosurgeon friend. I was also recommended to watch the movie “The Awakening”, which I haven’t had a chance to get my hands on.

The case studies in this book read like fiction – and it makes one question what then is real or not because the brain works in such fascinating inexplicable ways. The stories in the book explores everything from the effects of brain tumours, trauma to the brain to schizophrenia and dementia.

Mindfulness and changing thought processes with positive affirmations and what not, this book is a different level of deep dive into the brain and how it works. Fascinating and scary at the same time as it makes one wonder what is reality or make belief.

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PHOTOGRAPHY PROJECT #15-#21

September 22, 2017, 1:13 am

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Wanchai wet market, two ladies kept moving and chattering in the frame so I thought I’d just shoot it anyway, the mad business of a weekday morning marketing session. I didn’t realise the right side of the frame in a way gave the picture more”depth”?

Love the yellow crocks. :)

Spot the dog in the background ;)

Dinner at Terrior Parisian was… so so. The black pudding however was delicious.

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Photography Project #22-#28

September 25, 2017, 5:46 am

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A different shot of these Masala tea. The tea however is more a tea latte than a masala chai.

I never noticed the little hoops for the melons to sit on in case they roll off the rack.

I haven’t figured out how to take sky shots where it doesn’t compromise the colours of the leaves and capture images as the eye sees. I am still working out shutter speed and aperture and hopefully by the end of the project I can see progress.

Likewise, I love how the sun shines and colours parts of buildings in densely populated Hong Kong island, but at the moment the photos don’t reflect the moment at all.

Everyone has that awkward tall friend. And this tall plant slouching out to the side reminds me of the beauty of how nature grows.

Light and shadows at golden hour at the Macau ferry terminal.

 

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Reading: Gut

September 27, 2017, 9:17 pm

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A couple of friends were reading Gut and recommended it. It starts off accessible and fun – an easy to read educational book on our insides, but I have to admit I didn’t finish it because it got annoying with the constant need to insert (not funny) jokes to lighten certain issues and after a while the fart jokes got old.

I didn’t finish the book, so it’s probably unfair of me to comment, but so many friends enjoyed it. Pretty much a book about your insiders in layman’s terms without having to navigate medical jargon, peppered with plenty of lame jokes.

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Photography Project #29-#35

October 6, 2017, 10:22 pm

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Slightly late on this one, had friends visiting and working on a few projects lately, including sewing, which takes up alot of my mindful meditation time in full focus.

Some days, I also struggle to find something to photography everyday, which forces me to look deeper and harder to find beauty in everything and every day life… and things that spark joy.

Above: Love this little Smudge look alike in the neighbourhood juxtaposed against the playground.

 

Always a soft spot for sweet and sour pork. Hong Kong versions are always more vinegary than I remember of the Singapore versions.

Yumcha Hong Kong style. I wanted to spotlight the kettle but somehow the people’s faces got in focused instead, which doesn’t look too bad apart from the old man’s face being cut off!

Finding beauty in everyday life – like this little sparrow!

Amazing Fukuoka squid, courtesy of my husband. Michelin fine dining.

Weekend homebaked Comte cheese scones.

Visit from my friend Olive, soft focus, but wished it was in sharper focus. Trying to act more quickly rather than mull for ages over aperture and shutter speed!

 

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Photography Project #36-#42

October 14, 2017, 3:49 am

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Lots of food photos as it’s been a little hectic and stressful this past week and I forgot to stop daily to look at the beauty in daily life. None of these photos have been retouched as I’d like to track the process and journey of evolving and getting to know my camera and light.

I am still learning how to take great photos of the sky and trees – not getting the blue skies in here.

I love how plants “piggy back” on each other  growing out of nowhere and everywhere in the eco system. If only mankind was that open about sharing too.

temple and palm trees. What a wonderful juxtaposition.

Little K, 3 years old with a giant leaf. I love how kids look at everything with wide eye wonder.

Smoked duck at Lucky house private kitchen.

Sichuan at Deng G Hong Kong. Still figuring out how to capture action without too much blurr.

The Hong Kong experience. Communal table sharing, loud chattering over average dimsum.

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Sewing Projects

October 15, 2017, 6:08 am

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I haven’t been reading as much as I’d like to as I haven’t been going to the library and am currently slowly getting through all the books I bought but haven’t read. Currently reading “Eating Animals” by Jonathan Safran Foer and slowly digesting it.

My friend crafty academic is a woman of so many talents. She recommended a couple of sites to buy and download patterns to get started. I think children’s clothes are a little easier to sew than adults outfits. This reversible pinafore is a 1101 and you can find the free pattern at Melly Sews. 

I made a couple of dresses for my friends’ little girls.

These photos aren’t great as I took them with my phone. Sewing is so meditative that I am fully present and this time I couldn’t multi-task with getting photos styled and shot.

  

I’ll update more on this post when I get photos of the little models in them. You can have a look at what I’ve made so far.

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Photography Project #43-#49

October 18, 2017, 5:09 am

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I bought a new 50mm lens for my Canon D1200, also known as the “nifty 50” and portrait lens. I hesitated getting one because I wanted to first get to know my basic kit lens and camera, but I gave in to temptation. The effects are remarkably different.

Here’s baby J, truly his parents son and a gourmet in the making.

 

Can you spot the bee? I used shutter speed priority to try to capture this, but I guess the bees were flying too quickly.

I was helping M get a new lens for his camera as the other one broke, and ended up trying out the 50mm lens for my own camera and caving in.

This is the “red lips” plant, on my Singapore walk finding local edibles with GOS, I learnt about these red lips leaves. They can be steeped in hot water for a tisane or used in cocktails. I have usually seen them in bushes of green leaves peppered with red leaves, but it’s the first time I see them growing out from tiny branches in red. 

Testing depths of field with the side walk flowers. I love Singapore for this – it’s full of greens. Something I used to take for granted.

My gorgeous friend S, also one of the most fashionable and nicest people I know.

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Photography project #50-#56

November 2, 2017, 5:16 am

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I have fallen slightly behind taking a photo a day and posting them!

I didn’t think finding beauty in daily life would become a commitment and I am trying to focus on one thing and doing everything better and being present.

Here’s St John’s Cathedral right on Garden Road. Lots of nature themed photos this week.

I still haven’t learnt how to manage getting the green leaves in colour.

Admiring beautiful flowers after lunch at Helena May.

St John’s Cathedral

Love the light streaming through the canopy onto tree barks and leaves.

MGM Macao’s current art installation. Loving the floral themed – featuring many flowers in Slyvia Plath’s poems. Poppies, Irises, tulips.

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Photography project: #57-#63

November 12, 2017, 1:32 am

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The large park right on the harbour at Sun Yat Seng memorial. I used to run along here when I lived in Hong Kong 5 years ago, closer to my old neighbourhood. So much lush greenery not far from central and people picnicking on a week day.

I love sunshine creeping through the crown of trees creating light shadows on foliage.

Oh well, another Macao run for work. Never bore of this view.

Rainy weather at HKIA.

Magic hour at Sun Yat Sen memorial park.

Sunset and seagulls at the Kowloon star ferry terminal.

The Aqualuna sailing the Hong Kong harbour.

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Photography project #64-#70

November 24, 2017, 7:17 pm

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Tried to capture the reflection of magic hour glow on the ICC building, but lacking mastery, turned out as a golden blob.

Took this photo in pretty poorly lit conditions with the 50mm lens, and rested the camera on the floor to keep really still. Love this photo of Smudge and didn’t want to edit or crop out the overexposed bit of the floor. This was without flash and my aperture was wide open.

The rain clouds in Singapore chasing parts of buildings.

Spot how many birds there are in this photo? 3. I took this from the top of the tram in Happy Valley.

My favourite thing is the golden hour light streaming into the apartment and casting shadows. The photo doesn’t do it justice.

The other morning I looked out the window and this made me laugh so hard. The same giant teddy bear is still sitting there.

I grew up on Hong Kong films and often times, cemeteries were the backdrop and set for plenty of scenes (especially the 1990s triad movies). In land scarce Hong Kong and the hilly terrain, even cemeteries are built in tiers. Right across this catholic cemetery is a Parsee cemetery, the tombstones vary quite vastly.

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