Lim Chu Kang Jetty

Last Friday was a public holiday (Hari Raya Pausa) and it started raining around 11 am in morning so I just lazed around the house doing some readings and surfing the Internet. Around 4pm I received a call from a colleague asking me if I'm keen to go out to take photos and off course I replied: "Yes!”

I packed my gears and went down to meet him and we headed to Dairy Farm in Bukit Timah but we couldn't find the entrance to the park so we headed to Kranji Park to take some micro photography of insects. There were lots of insects and lots of mosquitoes too! After a short while, we couldn't stand bitten by the mossies so I suggested going to take photo of an old jetty at the coastal area of Lim Chu Kang Road.

The old jetty has been there for a long time, I went there during my Pre-University years back in the eighties and the jetty is still there today. Surprisingly, it is still as busy as it was years ago. Small bum boat fetches passengers to and from the off-shore kelongs. Fish mongers also use the jetty to load their trucks with fishes from the kelong and suppliers use the jetty to send fish food to the kelongs. Of course, there are the occasion fishing enthusiasts using the jetty to get to their favourite fish spots! To us photographers, it is a good opportunity to capture people going about their business.

So here are some photos I took at the old jetty.

Mid Autumn Festival

The Mid Autumn Festival is here again. There are lantern display along Clarke Quay River Promenade. The theme for this year lanterns incorporate Chinese Legends, literary classics and 12 Chinese Zodiac animals.

There are Chinese musical performance and dance performance by performers from the prestigious Beijing Dance Academy. If you are hungry, there's also a Taiwanese Food Street selling 台湾小吃. If you are tired after all the walking, there is also a foot massage stall, where you could get a foot massage. Finally, you could challenge your oponent to a game of Chinese Chess or take part in the Latern Riddles competition.

There is something installed for everyone. As for me, I preferred to walk around taking pictures and soaking in the Mid Autumn Festival mood.

Photography after work

Recently one of colleague, Joe, bought a Canon EOS 50D camera and he was anxious to try it out so he asked if I could go out with him to take some photos after work. I agreed and invited another colleague, Eugene, to go along. Eugene has been using the EOS 50D for quite awhile now and he is very familiar with the camera's operation and settings. I reckon Eugene will be able to share his experience with Joe.

The following day, all three of us brought our camera to work and headed out for the photo-taking session after work. This year, our National Day Parade (NDP) will be held on the Padang and I wanted to take some pictures of the NDP setup. Eugene said he has not been to the Helix Bridge and he would like to take some pictures there. With the two locations on mind, we walked from our One George Street office along South Bridge Road to the Padang then crossed the Esplanade Bridge's underpass to Marina Bay. Finally from Marina Bay we walked to the Helix Bridge.

We were pretty fortunate to choose the right day for a photo-shoot. The cloud formations were very dramatic and it helps to create a more interesting outlook to the otherwise familiar landscape! When we reached the Helix Bridge, Eugene was quite disappointed because the bridge was closed for our Youth Olympic Games (YOG) rehearsal.

Despite the Helix Bridge closure and feeling quite tired after the long walk, we were all very happy with the photo session. I managed to take photos of the NDP setup. Eugene took some wonderful sunset photos and Joe managed pick-up a few photo tips from both of us and he also to take some good photos too!