A predictably long post for the holidays!

I had not blogged for such a long time!
Well yea two odd weeks is a really long time for me.
I have so many things to share so this is probably gonna be a really really long post with lots of text but I will include lots of images as well :3

First up, I had quite a number of emails regarding my last post on my wants and needs. So a tiny little update would be that I am scraping the 16gb iPod nano and Audiotech earphones off that list. The nano is cute and all but thanks to a really lovely seller, I got myself an iPod touch and a fabulous ultimate ears earphone to go along with it. Yes history is repeating itself. I am getting more than what I initially wanted but before anyone starts screaming at the way I am handling my finances, I really regret not getting the iPod touch earlier! I mean the iPod touch along side with Heidi and my 35mm lens are the best three things I bought this year that changed my life!

Alrights, Heidi is not exactly a life changing purchase rather, more of those moments of impulse where I go OMG I WANT A VOLKS CHIKA IN MY LIFE but I still love her as much.

My 35mm is brilliant. I am so glad I got a prime lens. In fact if I had the budget, I would have gone for a 35mm f1.4 as that lens really changed the way I shoot! Love that lens to bits and the fact that it is so small and compact means that it is a main stayer in my camera bag and almost always on my 5D.

While my iPod touch is really helping me to get my thoughts going with an app called Evernote my notes, reflections and musings are now all in one place instead of being on different papers in which I lose them really easily. I can also listen to Eric Clapton anytime and anywhere!

In fact, I might even add an iPhone to the list it has a really brilliant camera that is so much better than the iPod touch ! Well I could sit down and justify why I bought the iPod touch the whole day but I am happy and that really matters no? (:

I'll post an image of the iPod touch soon once I get rid of the horrible skin it came with. All in all, it was a brilliant deal and I can finally watch all my photography videos on the go! How cool is that? 

For now, here is the box opening of my earphones!

I am really digging this earphones as the note separations are so good! well I was over budget by like some 100SGD so it better be good:3

Legs:3
Its not really what I had in mind but it works.

So the holidays are over and I was just reading and catching up on some of my friends blog posts and they really have such a happening and exciting life. It's really brilliant that they are into the festive season and enjoying every single bit of it. Posting up images of snow, people frolicking in the snow, eating ice-cream in the snow (Jun's blog) and practically doing everything with a snowy background. While here I am in the country that never snows.

This is as close to snow as we get...
Actually its more like foam to me. 

I was about to ramble on how unfair life is that my friends get to scream bloody murder at the weather while I am stuck in the darkroom with chemicals to shorten my life but I shall leave that for next year because I actually had fun this holidays! Yea I was still working on my images and I am still really busy but I really enjoyed myself from Thursday to Saturday! At least for about 3 hours everyday. This is probably a surprise for me as I had never really celebrated Christmas. In fact I spent my festive holidays shooting with W last year! Besides that party tkk threw back in 08 where half the 'atendees' attended the party via webcams and we had virtual kisses flying around the room, Christmas is generally a silent affair for me where it's just a day where people put on ridiculous headdresses, ugly looking Santa hats and get away with it while strolling down Orchard.

If you are wondering, those hats cost 5SGD.

If any of you out there are wondering, the images that you are looking at are pretty much shot on Thursday and Friday. I mean I was exhausted on Thursday. Anyone would be that tired if they spent the entire day muttering incantations of hocus pocus that their silk screen would turn out fabulous with just one try. My silk screen looks hideous but thats life and I am not about to redo the bloody thing at the cost of time and money for something that I would probably give to my dog.
Hideous silk screening aside, I bumped into my old friend C in the oddest way ever after school. She was looking for a Christmas gift and I was on my way to the library to return a book and we saw each other at the entrance of this random shopping center. It was really really odd. Like fate was playing with me that day or something because both of us live in different directions so the chances of us going to that same random shopping center were so slim! Near zero even as I never head to that direction unless I have to return books urgently.
As compared to those days where she kept her hair as short as possible, looking at her swing her long hair around is really something I have to get used to! It was a great catch up session with her and I am really happy that she is ever so ready for whatever the future is gonna throw at her and she has really set on studying medicine. This really got me thinking. What the hell am I doing?

I mentioned in my journal on deviantArt that I was gonna crank up my ISO to 3200 to shoot something on the 9th of December. But here I am approaching Christmas and all I had done was a box opening and a very failed video shoot. I was so busy that time just flew by and I literately shot nuts in December. So as exhausted as I was, I fed my dog, picked up my camera and went down to Orchard with no expectations in mind and was so glad I did what I did.
Orchard for a Thursday was pretty packed and I managed to get some pretty interesting images. Thing is, I probably shot very differently from how I did last year as I was aware of what I was doing. My thought process behind each image is still really messy and if you were to meet me then, you would probably find a strange suspicious girl with her camera mumbling to herself that she hates what is happening in the foreground or that she should go closer.

So about an hour plus into my shoot, I received a call from G and the gang. They were drinking at CHIMJES which is near City Hall. I told myself yea no big deal. I've done this before. I can walk from Orchard to City Hall without getting lost. Just walk straight.
Well, guess who ended up at Clarke Quay. Which is kind of like the opposite end of where City Hall is supposed to be.

So I was at Clarke Quay and I refused to walk any further. I headed down to Mulligans and I bumped into M and another lecturer from my school! The best part is, that lecturer animated one of my favorite movies of all time! -Space Jam.
So I just pretty much went hi ~<3 *blanks out*
He is an amazing animator and together with M, I had so much fun there. Jai was simply amazing and the music was so good! He practically played all my favorite songs that night and you will never get sick of those songs!

Come Friday was Christmas eve. It started out being pretty mundane as I had work and post processing to do. I looking through what I shot the previous night and I told myself I can do better than that if I had waited for the right moment. So guess who dropped her work and went out to shoot(:
I am not complaining that I did that just that it was hell to finish all my work on the weekends.
Orchard was bloody crowded on Christmas Eve. And by crowded I mean I spent an insane 40 minutes to get from ION to Takashimaya. It was a pre Christmas madness.
What made it worst was that people were spraying some foam thing to mimic snow. ON MY HAIR. murder aura It is so sticky, disgusting and simply a pain to wash off. But it makes a great image:3 I will post the set on my photoblog and the LFI gallery. soon.


Either ways, I got a call from H to meet him and a few others at the Acid bar at Emerald. Its been ages since I stepped into Emerald so in a way, I welcomed the change. Then again, I was out of that place after 15mins. I mean I have nothing against the wine but I can't put up with hearing failed Bon Jovi songs. I left the Acid bar for KPO to join J and before I even made it to her table, I walked out because they were playing some horrible techno music.
So what was I supposed to do then? The trains were extended, I really want to either listen to some good live music or have really good wine which is all the way at Holland V.
I went down to Mulligans. Again(:

I swear I love that place. I met Amy and her mum from Australia and Amy is just drop dead gorgeous! Her features are simply beautiful and she would be a joy to photograph! I spent the Christmas countdown at Mulligans and I think I mentioned this already but I swear I love that place. Fantastic music with insanely priced alcohol but the music more than makes up for it.

Surprisingly, I did not bump into any drunkards that night! Even though so much alcohol was consumed!

Saturday was Christmas and this was the day that I originally planned to go to Mulligans despite having been there for the past 2 nights. I spent the whole afternoon rushing and finishing up my work and sleeping through a concert in the evening.
Headed down to Mulliagns after the bloody concert and I met up with Amy and her mum along with a really young and cute newly weds! I bumped into D and A there. The funny thing was that A went up on stage but my face recognition skills were so bad I did not know who he was until more than an hour later. Sometimes I think my Picasa recognizes faces better than I do.
Jai was incredible as usual. You can never leave once he starts singing! I really love how its like a big family at Mulligans! Although they should give like a regular student discount or something(:

So three consecutive day at Mulliagns and a hell lot of money spent on drinks later, Christmas is over. Well technically its not over because Christmas is a season but still, its back to reality and to the dark room where I am questioning why am I doing vandykes and cyanotypes when I should be discussing about getting to your vision and shooting. T_T

Before I forget, if any of you guys ever want to get me a present or can't afford anything on my 'want list', please do not give me a soft toy because it will probably end up with my dog. You could try giving me a box because I have a box fetish but I would probably drill a hole in it and turn it into a pin hole camera. So what do you get for me cash that I would love to have?

Creative Live photography workshops

Yessu. 399USD for 6 awesome workshop. I have the one on Vision Driven photography by David duChemin but still, this is a really awesome offer! In fact, I would love any amount in the form of gift certificates because I know that I can learn so much from these workshops and it will be fantastic to have them. So there. I just cured your headaches(:

My brain is still fired up and ready for another long essay at the moment but my body say it is time to sleep so there. I hope you enjoyed my ramblings(: Although this post is way shorter than I expected it to be so I guess you guys are spared!

In any case, happy holidays and take care everyone!

Damai di hati dan damai di bumi!

Shameless 'self portrait'(:
Have I mentioned that I love my hair?

Tag replies:

Agata: Hope you are well in Russia! It must be freezing there.

JKT: haha have you like quit your job or something? You must be slacking at some corner as you are never there when I was in Orchard.

Will: Have fun in the UK! Hope you are not stuck at the airports.

Esther: Hey Esther, I've been really busy. But give me a ring or a text! I would love to go down to Mulligans with you soon<3 Take care!