LOMO

I bought myself a LOMO-camera - the limited edition Golden-Half - on my 30th birthday. I read about it in the internet and love the effects, especially the half-film feature. This means that a 36-roll film can turn out 72 photos, with 2 shots appearing in each picture. And well, it's a film camera, nothing digital about it. So it's really about how you carpe diem!

When I received the package by post, I was really excited. The package was exquisite (of course lah, it's invented by the Japanese!)! And the Golden-Half is really cute and pretty! There were 10 Golden Rules of Lomography on the package:

1) Take your LOMO with you whenever you go

2) Use it all the time, at any time - day & night

3) Lomography does not interfere with your life, it's a part of it

4) Get as close as possible to the objects of your lomographic desire

5) Don't think (William Firebrace)

6) Be fast

7) You don't have to know what's going to be captured on your film beforehand

8) You don't have to know what's on the film afterwards either

9) Shoot from the hip

10) Don't worry about the rules

In the next few weeks, I continued to be excited and started to preach by the golden rules. I carried the Golden-Half around and started to learn how to use it and capture things ( prefer to refer to it as moments) - on my way to the swimming pool, on my way to work, at the shopping centre, from the window of my room...

Sadly, the first 24-roll did not turn out as well as I expected! The photo-processing shops do not have half-film processing facilities and so all my photos turned out as a normal photo without the two shot in one picture effect! And I did not really know how to use the LOMO very well - only 14 picture were developed (meaning I wasted 17-roll!)! Tsk tsk tsk...

I have since started on my second roll in March for my trips to Malacca, Hong Kong, Macau and Muar Town (in Johore Bahru, Malaysia). There's really no rush to finish the roll and I just shhoot what I feel like. Not sure how many pictures have been taken - the counter says 30 (let's see what happens when it hits 36). And I'm going in search of a photo-processing that can develop the photos and make them turn out the way they should!

Well, I guess that's the beauty of a LOMO- to expect the unexpected and see how things turn out. And perhaps that's life - to treat each day as a vacation, enjoy each day to the fullest, follow your heart and let it unfold its surprises...

Laidback Malacca

My friend S asked me to join her on a trip to Malacca in March. She went on a photography trip last year and really enjoyed herself. Her friend J also joined us.

It was a weekend trip. Malacca is about 5-6 hours' drive from Singapore, and we reached in the afternoon. Had lunch at Secret Recipe at the shopping complex next to Equatorial Hotel. The price is the same as Singapore but in Ringgit! So it was good value for money. With no plans for the day, we decided to shop around the area and check into the hotel at night. We had dinner at a food stall for malay food with rice, cockles, curry chicken etc. It was very local fare and cost around $4-5 per person - very cheap!

The adventure began when we went in search of our hotel after a taxi-driver declined to send us to the hotel as it was very near. However, it took us hours before we found it after going in circles (thanks but no thanks to the directions given by the friendly people in Malacca). It was getting dark and the directions we were given took us to dark streets, which was quite scary. Luckily, we met a kind couple who offered to take us to our hotel which was indeed just a few turns away. The people in Malacca are really friendly and that's one of the reasons why I like the small quiet town.

We went for a half-day tour the next day which started from Equatorial Hotel. The hotel people told us how to get there and indeed it was a few streets away, a few minutes walk away. We took a ferry ride, visited the square, went to the Peranakan museum, had lunch at a Perankan restaurant (and chendol which was yummy!) before our last stop at Chinatown (Jonker Walk).

For the rest of the day, we just explored the street which was lined by old dutch colonial houses (which I really like). Each house was long and stretches with several courtyards- it was interesting to know that in the past, houses were taxed in terms of their width but not their length. Hence, the smart Malacca people build long houses to avoid tax and create maximum living space.

We bought the famous pineapple tarts - there was this panda flavoured pineapple tarts which my mom loved! We stopped for drinks at the Geographic Cafe, which overlooked the street, so we spent some time watching the world go by! Then we had dinner at the famous chicken rice shop, which was nice but a bit commercialised. As I looked back, it was a very very relaxing day. Often, we would try to do so many things in a day during a holiday and end up very very tired. So this is another reason why I like Malacca - the slow and quiet pace of life. You cannot really find a lot of things to do.

And on our very last day in Malacca, we went shopping and I bought 3 pairs of shoes (shoes are must-buys in Malaysia - good value for money!). As usual, shopping got the better of us. As we spilt up to do our own shopping, J went missing for a while in the mall but thankfully she was found. We had to rush for lunch (I had McDonalds :P) before the bus ride back to Singapore which took about 4 hours - it was a very smooth journey back home and we were very happy that it's so much shorter than we expected.

I did not take many photos on this trip. As I turned 30, I have taken less photos but enjoyed more moments.

旅行的意義 (Travel is meaningful)

I really like 旅行的意義, a song by Taiwan singer, Cheer Chen. That was one of the reasons why I first bought her CD. And I also like many songs in her latest album, 太陽, which I think is a friendlier album. I could relate to so many songs in it!

So this year on 5 April, I went to her concert in Singapore at the Singapore Indoor Stadium with my friend, SF. My first pop concert! While I admit that I am not a Cheer Fanatic (her fans were really 'on'), I had fun waving the light stick, laughing at the encores after encores after encores and just enjoying the music and the company of SF and many like-minded people around me :)

So Cheers to 30! Cheers to Cheer Chen! Cheers to 旅行的意义! Enjoy!

作词：陈绮贞 作曲：陈绮贞 编曲：李雨寰

你看过了许多美景 你看过了许多美女

你迷失在地图上每一道短暂的光阴

你品嚐了夜的巴黎 你踏过下雪的北京

你熟记书本里每一句你最爱的真理

却说不出你爱我的原因

却说不出你欣赏我哪一种表情

却说不出在什麼场合我曾让你动心

说不出离开的原因

你累计了许多飞行 你用心挑战纪念品

你蒐集了地图上每一次的风和日丽

你拥抱热情的岛屿 你埋葬记忆的土耳其

你流连电影里美丽的不真实的场景

却说不出你爱我的原因

却说不出你欣赏我哪一种表情

却说不出在什麼场合我曾让你分心

说不出旅行的意义

你勉强说出你爱我的原因

却说不出你欣赏我哪一种表情

却说不出在什麼场合我曾让你分心

说不出离开的原因

勉强说出你为我寄出的每一封信

都是你离开的原因

你离开我 就是旅行的意义