broylim / catalog

Night by Singapore River

We were too bored yesterday evening and had nowhere to go so we decided to head down to the Singapore River to take photos of the Merlion.

BUT ALAS! The Merlion was CLOSED!! What the hell!! I wasn’t expecting one of Singapore’s main tourist attractions to be barricaded away. I think it could be for maintenance but what bad timing! On a Saturday night…

Apparently, there are sources on the internet that says that the Merlion is closed for cleaning. Hmmm… Makes sense but still suck anyway.

So, here are some of the shots that I took yesterday. Not all of them are “nega+ive” worthy but good enough for this blog. :P Yes!! I’m biased!

Note: Photos are not in order because I’m too lazy to blog in order. :P

The Fullerton Building! Actually, I think this is part of the hotel but who cares~

This would be a good photo if the colors weren’t that hard to manipulate. Lots of distortion that I did my best to fix but oh well… :( Such a disappointment.

Remember my post on Day 3? The photo which I took of the hotel from across the river? This time, I took a photo of it across the street. :D

Customs House. I have no idea when this place was built or when it existed. I just know that there are lots of high class looking bars there. Too bad I ain’t alcoholic.

Some metallic pillar walkway that we walked past when searching for the Merlion. Yes~ We got lost!!

This really cute fountain on the opposite side of the Fullerton Hotel. Parts of the road was barricaded away so we had to walk through this really classy hotel IN SLIPPERS AND SHORTS to get to this fountain. Really embarrassing but that’s for blocking my path!!

More water. Forgot where this place is.

I didn’t know the Standard Chartered bank actually looks this cool at night. Keep a look out on my nega+ive blog for a better version of this photo! :)

Marina Bay Sands again… I think this is one of Singapore’s most photographed landmarks in recent history, thanks to me. :P Just that this time, it’s taken from a different side of it.

And unfortunately, the last photo of this blog entry; a ball light thingie just outside the Esplanade.

Okay. That’s all~ Visit nega+ive for 2 more photos not posted here!! :D

Alvin’s POP ~audience perspective~

Just a few months ago, I was in that spot on that fake patch of grass, doing all that marching, all that saluting, amongst other random stuff…

And yesterday, I was an AUDIENCE!!

That feeling is so different~ It’s almost like watching yourself from a different perspective but you know that it’s not you.

So, lots of my friends POP-ed (“Pass Out Parade” turned into a verb; Singaporean’s are really good at breaking the laws of English) and I attended it. Even though I did not meet all of them (probably because they didn’t even know I attended it in the first place), I still wish them all the best!

Now~ The pictures, which I honestly took like an audience without all the photography gimmicks and stuff… Okay, I lied but I wasn’t really concerned about the compositions and stuff because it was too challenging for me and time was of the essence.

Together with Yahya, Yin Zhi and Hazel (who were late :P), we went to the Marina Floating Platform and yes, we were late and that’s why, the first shot of the day was this picture. Okay… Look on the left now… The second block of tiny toy soldiers from the top left down is W coy; Alvin’s company.

And thank god the weather was not harsh on us. It was extremely cloudy (bad for photos but heck~ it was cooling). Probably also because the sun was still pretty low in the horizon so we did not get toasted in the grand stand. The skyscrapers of Singapore looks magnificent, no?

Yin Zhi watching the parade.

One of those photos that requires touching up to make it look so much more dramatic~ I love the colors of this photo and the hint of a blue sky on the right edge of the photo. Too bad there are some construction cranes in the front, creating some disturbances.

The Singapore Flyer… had nothing to do with the parade whatsoever.

And after that long speech from this woman who looked extremely small from where I was standing, the troops marched off to return their weapons and change out of their helmets and utility vests. Do you know that the helmet and vests are very heavy? That’s what I call “design that doesn’t work”. As if fighting a war isn’t tiring enough, you have these burden on your body.

And the audience started to stand up to take pictures of them marching off. There were ushers there to make sure that people do not block the views of the other audience and sadly, I was told by one of them to move away while I was filming the process.

I don’t know who she is but I like this picture.

Notice the darken streaks of grass on the field? You can tell where the troops were standing and where they marched through from these darken spots. Good thing the grass is fake, otherwise, it would cost a bomb to replace.

During the interlude, out of nowhere, these canoes appeared on the left of the stage. Totally random. But they disappeared shortly after that.

And here are the troops marching back in. Yes, it’s messy but why don’t you try! It’s difficult okay~ 

Look on the right side of the stage. Bet lots of people are wondering what that enormous gap is for. And now, look at the left side of the stage. 2 companies merging as one. Biggest stage fault of the entire parade.

And they tossed their caps after finishing the hair-standing BMTC roar! I actually took a video of it and this is just a screen capture of part of the video. If you want to watch the full video (which includes an unexplainable long roar [I know the reason why~ :)] and the actual cheer itself), visit my facebook page.

Watching them do the roar was really an indescribable feeling because I did that! I laughed at myself and now, it’s my turn to laugh at the others. :P I still can’t understand why they want us to do that in front of the public? To prove that we are fierce? NAH~ 

All hell breaks loose…

After the parade, the visitors are allowed to go down to the stage itself to rendezvous with their sons/boyfriends/friends/strangers. However, trying to get down to the stage itself is a challenge because of the huge crowd and the limited number of staircases. And to make things better, you have to squeeze through a whole troop of people/soldiers and you know what I mean…

After fighting/shoving/making body contact with strangers with sweaty arms, we finally found Alvin and his family~ And of course, I offered to take their picture~ Presenting to you Alvin, his mom and his dad!!

The fantastic friends Alvin have who came to witness his POP. Don’t think any of my friends are that nice to come all the way down early in the morning to visit me though… :P If you disagree, please enter your excuses reasons in my tagboard, thank you very much. :P 

Me and my new yellow shirt and Alvin in dreaded green. Please tell me I don’t look fat in this photo :P

Alvin and his buddy who’s name is a real tongue twister. Coincidentally, Alvin’s buddy is the boyfriend of my CTPP classmate, Daphne! What a small world! 

Apparently, they have a hand sign that I have no idea what it means…

So once we are done with taking pictures in the swarm of green, we shoved made our way out of the floating platform and walked towards City Hall MRT station but before that, I took a picture of Alvin and his mom with the skyscrapers as the backdrop.

Flash saved this picture because the cap was casting a shadow on his face, making his details less sharp. I can’t wait till I get my external flash!! There’s so much I want to experiment with~

Knowing that he will definitely be thirsty and sugar-deprived, I bought him a bottle of green tea while waiting for Yahya and the rest to arrive at the MRT station. I’m so thoughtful, no? :)

Alvin and the chipmunks friends! 

During our New Year celebration at Woodlands Waterfront, Alvin fell down while bringing in the pizza and his plasters are still on him until today. And I thought “X” plasters are only used in cartoons though… Notice Yin Zhi at the back? He’s in the process of folding his arm.

Clever soldier left his wallet deep inside his field pack and he had to dig for it by the Singapore River. I mean… for such an important item, I would put it somewhere accessible like in the side pockets mah~

Apparently embarrassed? :P

In case you’re wondering, the field pack weighs between 10kg to 12.5kg. That’s almost a whole sack of rice! Actually, I think the field pack is an amazing piece of equipment because you can really stuff a lot of things inside, like your utility vest with the helmet. But sometimes, you feel like you’re packing for a 3 weeks holiday with a single bag because you have to really maximize every single pocket and every single bit of space.

So we finally reached City Hall MRT station, not before me heading over to HMV to find ayumi’s “Love songs” but sadly, it’s not there. The rest of them went for breakfast while I tagged along with Alvin and his family to go back home.

Reached “home” and I slept! Instead of the soldier who walked over 24km plus the parade sleeping, I was the one sleeping because I was tired! Alvin claimed that he wasn’t tired and there was no kidding about it~ He didn’t even catch a single wink of sleep AT ALL!

Maybe the soldier in me is dissipating but honestly, who cares right?

After resting at home, me rest he played games, we went to AMKHub to meet up with the rest to have lunch.

Okay. WE didn’t have lunch. Only Alvin and I did because we didn’t eat anything at all, other than the few pieces of Oreo cookies. I had this new burger!! The McBistro Chicken Sandwich. My brother told me that it’s been on sale for quite long but you can’t blame me~ I haven’t had McDonalds for very long!

The meal is quite costly in my opinion, costing $8.05 without upsize. BUT the burger is really good! The patty is 1.5 times bigger than the McChicken one and so many times better and crispier! I love the huge piece of leafy lettuce they used (as seen above) and the cheese and tomatoes! The sauce is very good too! The bun is AH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I had never imagine myself singing praises for McDonald’s burgers but it’s really good!!

After lunch, we went to walk around and yes, that’s about the end of my day…

I have to book in later and that makes me sad. Hopefully, next week will pass by faster than this week. Now, off to have home-made lunch and then after that, I shall finish the remaining pages of “The Lost Symbol”!! :)

walk in the parks - making of

I’m so excited!!

As you have already known from my “publicity stunts” all across facebook, Twitter and now on tumblr, I went on a photo shoot trip with Laura and Yong Xiang on December 29 and yesterday night, I released all the edited photos onto facebook.

This afternoon, I’ve finally updated my “nega+ive” photoblog of selected frames to create a full album. COOL right?! I’m really excited about this project because I have never did anything like this before and secondly, I’m really in love with lots of the shots!

So, if you want to see the full album, titled “walk in the parks”, do drop by my photoblog by clicking on the link on the right. To access the album quickly, you can click on the album art (woo hoo!!) on the right as well.

Well, besides glamorous (I hope) and pretty (I hope too) photos, we took lots of random shots as well and over here, in this “making of” post, I shall talk more about the whole shoot.

Here we go~ *DISCLAIMER: Lots of photos!!*

We decided on the location of the shoot like just the day before. Actually, we had plans of going to Fort Canning Park for the shoot but I decided that it was boring (from experience with Rena’s shoot) and so, we decided on the Southern Ridges.

The Southern Ridges is basically a park connector connecting various parks such as the Mt Faber and Hort Park and in between, you get to see interesting architecture and bridges like the Henderson Waves and the Canopy Walk’s bridges. Really cool! In fact, you will never know that these places existed in Singapore unless you go explore.

These signs, as seen above in the photo, are displayed all over the parks because most of the places are covered with vegetation. Walking in it feels as though you are doing a route-march/hike.

There were LOTS OF STAIRS! Lucky for us, we woke up extremely early (at around 7:30am) and arrived there at around 9:00am so it wasn’t that warm but we perspired like hell! It was almost like morning exercise! Furthermore, we were in totally wrong outfits for this walk but who cares~ We were there for a photo shoot, not for a route march.

Besides interesting architectures, you will also see interesting plants, birds (though I never seen any) and butterflies along the 9km trail. This tree thingie, according to Laura, looks like a giraffe but I can’t see the shape though. Can you?

Mt Faber Park (or at least I believe it is). One of the advantages of waking up early in the morning is that the lighting is favorable. Isn’t the photo pretty? Well, I admit I did touch ups but hey~ Without the original photo, you can’t do much even with tons of touch ups, right?

The Marang Trail. It basically translate to “Welcome to the forest”.

Pretty sky!!

Sadly not the Eiffel nor Tokyo Tower but it’s still pretty interesting, no?

This was taken from Mt Faber and it shows that the place is really high up.

Throughout the entire shoot, we walked through the trails in search of interesting places for shots and this is one of the earlier ones that we took. Unfortunately, this did not make it into the final cut because Yong Xiang’s eyes were opened! Otherwise, it’s a really good photo~

If you decide to go explore the Southern Ridges one day, you have to keep a look out for these signposts because they are so important! Basically, they will point you to where ever you want to go, like what signposts do, but they are also pretty accurate. Unless you have a map or is born a natural navigator, you have to rely on this. Otherwise, you might find yourself wounded up in the middle of the forest hugging some tree.

More stairs… This flight of stairs is scary because not only is it steep, it’s pretty narrow and long. One wrong step and you will tumble all the way down and yes, you’re in the middle of the forest so you might just rot there without anyone knowing.

One of the main reasons why we chose the Southern Ridges is because of the Henderson Waves. It’s this really cool bridge that’s 36 meters above Henderson Road (in fact, it’s the highest overhead bridge in Singapore!) made of primarily wood! It’s wavy architecture is also really gorgeous~ I’ve seen it on TV a few times and always wanted to go there to take pictures.

The beginning of the bridge is marked by its name.

YIPPEEE!! Getting to the bridge wasn’t easy because we had to navigate through quite a long stretch of forest from Mt Faber but it was worth it. Do remember to bring a few water bottles if you intend to go there because you will sweat a lot. Furthermore, the vending machines there don’t seem to work.

Can you guess what that is? It’s actually the marking my back made. I lied on the ground to take a couple of shots and left this signature on the wooden ground of the bridge. The place is surprisingly very clean~ I hope it stays this way because you know, wood is a natural attractor of vandals.

Got Laura to lie on the ground too. I laughed a lot while doing this shoot because she looks like a corpse. I’m still laughing now when I see this photo because it’s so funny! Yong Xiang and I keep calling her 死尸 (dead body).

The side of the Henderson Wave is curvy and wavy, just like what you see over here. It’s really challenging to sit on the curves but again, it’s not meant to be sat on. Ain’t the couple sweet? I feel like a paparazzi following them through the whole day but hey~ Laura was the one who asked me for the shoot okay~

Yong Xiang left a signature too with his back.

Ain’t this FIERCE?!

Before heading out for the shoot, I asked Laura to bring some props (e.g. books, magazines, toys, etc) and this magazine is one of it. I asked her to use it and this is what she offered and I gave up.

Another 死尸.

The Henderson Wave.

In between, we had breaks because walking for such a long distance on only 2 tuna sandwiches for breakfast isn’t easy. While break-ing, Laura and Yong Xiang posed for this shot where Laura is treating her boyfriend like a puppy.

And then the revenge…

And this is how the road looks like from the Henderson Waves. It’s a long fall down~~

We walked along the Henderson Waves and somehow managed to find ourselves at this park. Apparently, it’s called the Telok Blangah Hill Park (as stated on the NParks website). This park was eerily quiet, with the exception of a few Bangala workers planting plants there. When we arrived there, we were all complaining of hunger and that’s when we decided to have sushi for lunch and throughout the rest of the shoot, I was singing “Sushi sushi sushi~”.

Since the park was so quiet, we backtracked a little and continued with our trail and found ourselves entering this long stretch of metal bridges, which I believe is called the Forest Walk. The bridge, I believe, is called the Elevated Walkway. SO CONFUSING RIGHT?! The website is not very helpful because it’s so complicated.

Anyway, the bridge is FREAKIN’ LONG!! In fact, I think it’s like the longest bridge in Singapore, ever! Basically, this bridge is constructed in the forest, well above the ground. If you’re afraid of heights, looking down will sure make your head spin.

Having fun on the bridge (or should I call it Elevated Walkway).

And there were quite a number of stairs that we had to climb as well. Don’t look down if you’re afraid of heights, because the metal ground is not completely solid; you can see what’s beneath your feet and that almost made me faint.

If you want to have an idea how tall the walkway is, brace yourself. This walkway is definitely fun, even though I’m afraid of heights, because there’s so much to see! The trees, the structures of the bridge, the sky, everything! But keep your hands to yourself because you definitely don’t want to drop anything from the walkway because it would be impossible to retrieve.

The walkway is winding by nature (not a straight walkway) and because of that, it seemed as though it’s never ending. I took this photo while standing on part of the walkway. Really cool, no? I think I will definitely go there again in the future because it was really fun. Laura and I even thought that this place can make a good runway because it’s so unique.

And we finally arrived at our destination; HORT PARK! Hort Park is really beautiful, featuring some greenhouses, a butterfly house (it’s not open yet though) and some other interesting flora and fauna. When you arrive at the end of the Elevated Walkway, after exhaling “FINALLY!!”, you will have to cross a short bridge to get here. We were greeted by this fish pond when we arrived and I took some shots of crazy Laura.

A cafe by this big body of water at Hort Park. You know what? I actually chanced upon Hort Park the day before the actual shoot when I went out to meet Chua Ying Ying to get my hard disk fixed. The building where I sent my hard disk for servicing is actually just IN FRONT OF Hort Park! So, the day before the shoot, I managed to explore part of Hort Park before shooting day, just to see how the place is like and I love it.

And finally, we found a place where we can get drinks and something to eat. These are the things that Laura and Yong Xiang brought along with them for their shoot. Apparently, Laura brought 3 sets of clothings along with 3 pairs of shoes while Yong Xiang brought a pair of shoe and I think a set of new clothings. Sadly, we didn’t get to photograph every single one because where do you expect my models to change? In the public?

I had Aloe Vera and Apple juice for my break! Felt heavenly! Didn’t eat anything though because I wanted to reserve the space for Sushi, sushi, sushi!!

Awwww~ Pure sweetness. I meant the ice-cream… :P

Hort Park is a FANTASTIC place for taking pictures because there are so many interesting structures and plants around! Yong Xiang found this huge, square, wooden platform and I took one of my favorite shots on this very platform! Again, Laura had to lie down but this time, she didn’t look dead.

Yong Xiang also found this gorgeous white gate, much to Laura’s dismay because she was getting tired, and I took some of Laura’s beauty shots over here. This crazed shot is a little bit too crazed to be usable, in my opinion, but it’s sure is entertaining to blog about! :P

One of the last creatives of the day, where I got Laura to pose on a patch of grass with the shoes that she brought laid out in front of her. Since she already brought those shoes, might as well use them as props right? Inspired by one of ayumi’s photo shoots from her GUILTY photobook but somehow, I cannot capture that feel but I did make this location shoot work out~ Visit my photoblog to see the final cut! This is Laura acting crazy again.

AND FINALLY FINALLY~ After the shoot at Hort Park, we called it a day and went back to Harbourfront Center to have our lunch+dinner at Sakae Sushi. Before that though, we went to Yoshinoya to sit for awhile because the unfriendly manager at Sakae Sushi said buffet only starts at 3pm. Well heck him!! Laura also managed to change out from her clothes to a new dress.

And at 3pm, we entered Sakae Sushi and had our meal!! I was hungry like hell but as usual, I cannot survive long in buffets because of my unfortunately/fortunately?? small appetite. 

歌うよ～　“寿司～寿司～寿司～！！”

Do y’all prepare your soy sauce by adding some wasabi inside?

As I sang Sushi for the whole shoot, Yong Xiang was craving for chawamushi. Honestly, I never really fancied chawamushi because… I don’t know~ I just naturally don’t have that craving for it. I tried the Sakae Sushi one that day and it’s not bad~

That’s just part of our plates, in case you’re wondering.

Weeee~ The wonders of shutter speeds~ Imagine if you’re having a sushi buffet and your sushis just zoom past you? That would be such a game, no? :D

So, that wraps up the whole shoot and this “making of” post! It was really enjoyable to photograph this sweet couple. THANK YOU, Laura and Yong Xiang for allowing me to tag along with y’all for the shoot and I hope y’all enjoyed it as much as I do!

For you, the readers, viewers, critiques and aliens out there who are reading and looking through the photos, thanks for that~ It means a lot to me when people are looking through my hard work and it would be nicer if y’all can give me constructive criticisms on my photos, yes? :) Leave them in my tagboard or go to my photoblog to comment, yes?

So~ Who’s going to be MY NEXT TOP MODEL for me to shoot? :D

Links:

nega+ive / walk in the parks - album version
http://broylim.wordpress.com/2010/12/31/dream-is-starting/

facebook / all photos - director’s version
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=262686&id=534557053

NPark website - Southern Ridges
http://www.nparks.gov.sg/cms/index.php?Itemid=73&id=62&option=com_visitorsguide&task=attractions