The Dancer at Clarke Quay

It was an extremely short weekend for me as I succumbed to a massive bout of flu, but I still managed to catch a glimpse of Clarke Quay just before it descended into a night of debauchery for party-goers.

Without further ado - also because I have a less-than-stellar consciousness at the moment - I present some photos on a bridge at Clarke Quay.

Father's Day drops in June, so kiddo, I hope you know what to do.

This old man was dancing to some really catchy tunes right there on the bridge. For someone his age, I imagine it must be really strenuous on his body even gyrating for short periods of time.

So infectious, this kid couldn't help himself from joining in to boogie.

Sadly, not a single person from the 'cool' crowd even stopped to appreciate him. I feel embarrased that I call these people my fellow citizens.

Like I said, the weekend was extremely short for me, but I was still gifted with great service and a heartwarming sight of a dancing old man, and that makes me happy enough.

Take care of your health, the flu bug's rampant in Singapore recently. Be well.

 

The one where I went cycling to a park in town on a Thursday night.

Last night was Thursday night, the night April 12, 2012. It was the night before April 13, the second Friday the 13th of 2012. A dear friend had just witnessed a stranger's suicide in the morning, and he was undoubtedly affected. Me? I was sneezing my brains out for almost the entirety of the day, and busy pondering the mistakes of my life so far, simply because it was Thursday.

Thursday was not a good day.

So we decided to go cycling let out the proverbial steam. I also took some photos to remind myself that there is always beauty in the breakdown.

Here are Thursday night's photos.

Hipsters could never recreate this. A look into Kampong Lorong Buangkok.

I know I know, some of you out there are big time hipsters who prefer nothing but the oldies because for some reason, you seem to "connect". I have nothing against you, but disproportionately large glasses against your uninteresting faces can only do so much for your credentials (read: not a lot).

Hidden in the north-east of Singapore is Kampong Lorong Buangkok. Now THIS is old. THIS is real, frickin' ancient stuff, which is unlike your "keepin' it real" kind of real.. real.

You could hardly consider Singapore an old country but its 50-yr ascend from kampongs (Indo/Malay word for "villages") to endless high-rise apartments is nothing but phenomenal for a booger on the world map. Seeing this kampong in the middle of landed property and HDB flats off Yio Chu Kang Road is just plenty amazing. If any of you have ventured along the Park Connector Network connecting Ang Mo Kio Ave 5 and Sengkang, then there is a very big chance you might've totally missed it even if it was right beside your exercise route.

Without further riff-raff, modern people of Singapore, I present to you Kampong Lorong Buangkok in pictures.

This is not a joke; Punggol does look like this now.

To many, including my buddy Shaun who's featured in this post, Punggol has always been a land for when you have absolutely nothing else to do.. to not visit anyway.

Located in the north-east of Singapore, the neighbourhood is a part of the ongoing Punggol 21 plan to be turned into a residential new town. Because it's some old town part that was supposed to smell like fish, or something.

Now, there's one thing you should know about me - I don't care much about anything else apart from cycling and taking photographs. To say more about Punggol would require more research on my part, but that would absolve you of the chance of using Google. I cannot bring myself to take that away from you. Just know that Punggol is currently is part of an intricate network of cycling paths called the Park Connector Network designed by the government for cyclists

I could go on with a 5,000-word long post on what I feel about the lack of awareness for cyclists and the sport of cycling in Singapore, but that is another post for a different day. Now, we talk about a fun day of discovery for Youjin, Shaun and I. These buddies and I go back to our days in Mass Communication at Ngee Ann Polytechnic, and they've made me incredibly happy by recently getting bicycles. So we celebrate by riding.

One Sunday at Ang Mo Kio Avenue 10

Having lived here for the better part of the past 10 years, I've always known that the void deck at my block was nowhere close to being empty of life. In fact, every Sunday morning, many folks - mostly senior gentlemen - would gather at a designated area of said void deck with their lively, singing pets.

Birds. Birds of all kinds. They were all in cages, but they were always singing. Perhaps of happiness, maybe to mate, possibly cries of escape. I don't speak bird so I shan't dwell too much on this.

So I was recently jolted by a couple of like-minded individuals to the fact that I hadn't once taken a shot of anywhere in my neighbourhood, and especially of this weekly affair. Off I went and decided to go on a little "adventure" which led me into the nearby wet market that was always bustling with life.

I have to admit: This is my first ever experience taking a camera and actually shooting in a wet market. What I found though, was that these neighbourly folks didn't seem to mind a camera in their faces as much as those in the city. Why is this?

Anyway, I'm gonna be out cold for the night in a bit, so please, do enjoy this, and go appreciate your own neighbourhood just a little more than you have. You might learn it's not so mundane at all.

iLight at Marina Bay

Blast from the future.

She's the only one I can see clearly.

It's a beam!

The Lighted Lotus of the Galaxy Here.

One love, a decade in the making.