MWAC: PaserBella, the less glamorous perspective

(Photos taken with LC-A+)

MWAC: Revisiting Havelock and Zion road

Dragon guardian of Giok Hong Tian temple

Burning of hell notes is not allowed here (Giok Hong Tian temple)

Peek-a-boo dragon (Giok Hong Tian temple)

Near our "$2 shop" (Covent Garden)

Goodbye (Covent Garden)

To all my ex-colleagues from Miller Freeman/CMP: We grumbled about moving to Havelock road but when our CMP-days came to an end, it was a sad farewell for all of us. Who could forget Covent Garden and the "$2 shop" that fed the group of hungry editorial staff? We all moved on to new jobs, new challenges but the flats in Covent Garden continued to exist for a while until they had no choice but to move with the times.

(Photos of Giok Hong Tian temple taken with Seagull 4B-1 TLR using Fujichrome 120 ISO64 T64 film; Covent Garden flat taken with the LC-A+ using Kodak Portra 160 film.)

Read more about the disappearing Zion Road Estate here.

With eyes closed

Kit in a quiet moment. Rare.

Life is very exciting with Kit around. I've seen him sped down slopes on his scooter bike with nary a care in the world. Then he'd fly over his bike when it stopped suddenly after hitting a drain/curb. I've chased after him when he zoomed off and jumped straight into the deep end of the pool at three years old and no, he couldn't swim then. I still remember the scene: him disappearing into the pool while I'm still 2m away, arms outstretched.

With him, life is sometimes like watching a disaster unfold on TV in slow-mo. I see the sequence played out frame by frame, with a drawn out, strangled "noooooooooooooooooo" coming from me.

Sometimes, I feel like closing my eyes when I see him speeding down yet another slope, nearly hitting yet another a jogger. He's too fast to stop. I hold my breath when I see him run down a slope, trip over a rock, and at the last minute recover in time to land on both feet safely. I look to the skies when, instead of standing at the side of the longkang (drain) to catch fish, he squats and swims with the fish and explore mouldy rocks. I am praying for intervention, that he doesn't drink the water while he's at it.

There's a strong urge to close my eyes but I don't. I may need to avert an accident.

But I close my "eyes" because childhood is about exploration, getting hurt, having fun, and picking yourself up after a fall.

No one warned me parenthood is such a delicate balance.

(Photo taken with a LC-A+ using Kodak Portra 160 film.)

That's how they got their tan

Redang, Malaysia (October 2013)

We snorkelled three days out of five, including my 4yo. They saw sharks, turtles, lion's mane jellyfish, and loads of other fishes they couldn't name.

They played at the beach everyday while we drank beer and sipped wine.

For the first time, Terence and I didn't feel like babysitters during a vacation. We felt like we've got our old life back, the one we had before this thing called "children" came along.

It's a coming of age trip.

(Photos taken with a LC-A+ using Fujichrome Provia 400X film.)