My son asked if God made the bad people

Sometimes your children can jolt you out of a daydream with a what the *BLEEP* kind of question. I had just picked Kit up from preschool and we were happy with the comfortable silence you sometimes get after all the hugs and kisses and “I miss you” were said and done with.

“Mom, where do all the bad people come from? Did God make them? Are they bad or do they become bad?” asked the six-year-old. Woah. Babe, what have they been feeding you in school?!

What do you say to a child who has figured out in his sweet innocent head that since God made man, and God being good, so why would God make someone who is bad or evil? (“Let us make man in our image, in our likeness.”)

Ok so... this was what went through my head in that few split seconds after Kit asked the question. God made mankind as a reflection of his holiness. Yet at the same time, God gave mankind/Adam the ability to make choices. Mankind then made some lousy decisions and we fell from grace, et cetera, et cetera.

I am not a religious person; agnostic even. (This is the part where I risk losing FB friends because politics and religion are surefire ways to kill friendships.) What I have read or learned about God, Buddha, and other religious beliefs are based on what I’ve learned growing up among Christian relatives, studying in a Catholic school, reading, and travelling all over the world. So do I go the religious route. Or do I go all scientific with the nature versus nurture route.

This is what I told my child in the end. I told him that God made man (because this is what Kit believes in), but some people choose to do bad things later on in their lives. They might have learned it from other bad people or something happened which made them turn bad. Or, I paused, their parents might not have taught them the right things.

Our children are born a clean slate. We mould their life story based on how we see the world. How our parents have taught us and brought us up. Sometimes it is very overwhelming to know that my words and actions can change the child next to me.

He was silent after I answered him. I guess I’d have to be prepared for the next round of questioning.

Mr Lee promised us a garden city

Tree planting ceremonies were a big deal when I was growing up in the 70s. This initiative was part of our then prime minister Mr Lee Kuan Yew's vision of turning Singapore into a garden city because he felt it was "important that the whole island be clean, green and with everyone owning property".

I remember images of Mr Lee planting trees in some part of Singapore or another. I didn't think much of it then.

But now, I feel so much pride just looking at the big tall trees with their thick foliage and the thriving bird nest ferns sitting snugly on the branches. They are everywhere we turn. They are an everyday sight that many, I would imagine, have taken for granted. But these trees have brought so much joy to our family.

A tree is not just "a tree". It has seen my boys grow up as they walk to school. Its dead branches served as toy swords for my sons to play with. Its roots improved the boys' balance as they walked on the roots, with their arms spread out. Today, the three of us tried to see if we could hold one another's hand around a big tree near our house. We could. I couldn't see the boys' faces although I could hear them giggling away.

Mr Lee has left behind a beautiful legacy. One that I hope can be appreciated for generations to come.

Read the National Park's tribute to Mr Lee here.
The photograph was taken with the Fujifilm Instax Wide 300 camera.

MWAC: Try Jesus. He Never Fails.

Jesus loves me
Yes I know

Try Jesus. He never fails.
A broken down truck sighted before arriving at the historic gold-mining town of Coulterville in California (Taken with the Polaroid Sun LMS)

Kit asked me yesterday: "Mom, I would like to speak with God. Where is he?"

"He is everywhere. What do you want to say to him?" I said.

"I want to ask him to make us again when we die so that I can see you again," said my 5yo as he eyes welled up with tears.

MWAC: Tokyo with Polaroid

I don't care how you get here
Just get here if you can

(Taken with the Polaroid Sun LMS)

My superhero

My superhero playing with his traveling chess set after lunch in Kutchan, Niseko
(Photo taken with the LC-A+ using Kodak Portra 800 film.)

"Avengers: Age of Ultron" is premiering this week. So during dinner, husband asked the boys to name their favourite superhero. That kind of brought me back to early this year where I discovered my favourite superhero of all time.

We have all been bullied in school at one point or another. Kai comes home with his fair share of incidents. Amidst the tears, anger, and frustration, I discovered that on some occasion, Kai has been brave enough to stand up for friends who are being bullied. These are not just best pals whom he is helping; some are classmates whom he hardly knows. He told me of the harsh, nasty words/comments thrown by other boys, and how he would retort on the friend's behalf. A boy from his Chinese class apparently was so grateful that he gave Kai an old storybook of his as a present when school reopened this year.

It's not just standing up to the nasties. He has no qualms with making friends or hanging out with boys whom others do not care to hang out with. When a classmate lost control of his emotions (yet again) in the library and started crying, Kai said he cracked jokes to cheer him up. And they even spend recess together, their heads bent over the same book. He taught the friend how classic Chinese books should be read: flipped from right to left and read down the page rather than across.

I have no illusion of grandeur when it comes to academic performance. I know Kai is not among the top performers in school. He is not a top athlete nor a top musician. But what I am pretty sure of is that he is my superhero because what he does takes courage. And I tell him that he is my superhero because it takes a lot of bravery to do what is right and to do what others might not be willing to do. At the same time, I remind him that Superman has his kyptonite so to please handle himself carefully with bullies as not everyone use just words to exact hurt on others.

So yes, my firstborn is my superhero although he annoys me to death half the time.

MWAC: Little India and an encounter with the curious Indian man

I had noticed two Indian hearses parked in a public car park during my Saturday morning runs around Farrer Park, and I've always made a mental note to take some pictures "the next time". But the next time almost never happened because of some reason or another until I made what the husband deemed as an impulse purchase--the Fujifilm Instax Wide 300 camera.

But after I showed him my photos, he seemed somewhat mollified and also amused by my encounter with a curious Indian man who allowed me to take a photo of him. He had followed me after I snapped a photo of him, a curious bystander who was watching construction workers load trash onto a truck. I was initially afraid, and I should be as he was rather big size and can you imagine the apprehension of having a man tail you as you walked down the streets!

But I stopped and looked at him, and he stopped, shook his head in a friendly manner, and waved both his hands. Perhaps it was a greeting, a hello, a question. I didn't know what possessed me to point at my camera and make an ok sign to him, indicating that I'd like to snap a photo of him. To my amazement, he stood and posed for me.

We then stood in the street as I showed him how his image slowly appeared on film. When it finally came out, he smiled, I smiled. He shook his head and waved his hands, and we both went our separate ways.

He wasn't local. I don't think he is. Then I saw the SG50 banners further down the road, adorning Little India, and that's when I knew what SG50 means to me.

Indian hearse

Hearse 3508

Golden horse

There are many electronic stores like this touting great mobile phone deals

There he is, my curious friend (left)

My curious friend

A Chinese association in Little India

Mahatma Gandhi Memorial

The foundation stone for the building was laid by Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru in 1950 during his first official visit to Singapore as Prime Minister of India. The idea to build this memorial was proposed by 20 women during a memorial organised by the Women's Section of the Regional Indian Congress after Gandhi's assassination in 1948.

Hello?

SG50

Imperfection is beautiful

A piece of amber with an insect inclusion! Remake of "Jurassic Park" anyone?

I still remembered the day I joined the group chat that some mummies from Kit's preschool class had formed on Whatsapp. What started as a support group for our children's educational needs became a gossip channel, and we soon found out what one another do for a living, what our husbands do, how old we all are (assuming everyone's telling the truth, heh!), what's the best photo editing app, etc. And that's how I got to know Huiying, a gemologist. She had all the mummies' attention by sharing a picture of a $15 million blue diamond and that inadvertently got the daddies worried.

It's not often that one gets to meet a gemologist. Well, at least not me since I don't own many any big bling-blings that require grading.

Looking at the amber under the super-duper powerful Leica microscope.

Huiying's a director with Far East Gem Institute. She also certifies diamonds and gems and trains people interested in becoming a gemologist. Kai had been asking loads of questions lately (thanks to Minecraft) on diamonds and gems. "How do gems get their colour?" "Where can gems be found?" "Can diamonds be found near volcanoes?" "How does one split a diamond?" The list goes on.

With exams finally over, I asked HY if she would entertain an inquisitive 8yo at her workshop. I was so glad she said yes.

Ruby in granite.

Our jaw dropped when we entered her office and saw the collection of gems on display. Kai was hopping up and down like a crazed bunny when he found an emerald, which I just discovered is one of the rarest materials in the Minecraft world! What is refreshing for me is the chance to see gems in their most unpolished, uncut form as some of them were literally picked up on site from mines or mountains or whichever site HY and her family were surveying/working at. I love the colour of the two rubies^ encased in granite. Looks so yummy!!!

But Kai has his eyes set on a bigger piece of ruby….

Diamonds in the rough.

Kai wanted to see diamonds under the powerful Leica microscope but HY said perfect diamonds are so boring, and she brought out some really, really interesting specimens for him. We saw, for instance, a diamond with a garnet inclusion (a small piece of red garnet formed inside the diamond). The highlight for me was when she showed me diamonds in the rough^. They signify so much promise and I wonder what we'd see if we chip and polish away the outside.

I canceled math tuition so that I could bring Kai to HY's, and I am so grateful to her for the opportunity. It opened up a whole new world to Kai and it was an experience that we'd never forget. It showed him that there is beauty even in imperfection, and that is a message I told him to hold in his heart always. It's rough being a student in an academic environment focused on perfection, top grades, excellence in sports/CCAs, and it can get overwhelming for children with learning disabilities. He comes home from school some days, feeling defeated and totally unsure of himself.

It's ok, baby. What is imperfection anyway? It's just a definition. Make your own definition of beauty, baby, and the rest of the world will see it.

The Binjai tree in Spottiswoode Park Road

One of four Heritage Binjai Trees in Singapore
(Taken with Diana F+ with Provia 400X)

I was in Spottiswoode Park earlier this month to collect a python-skin bag to replace a cobra-skin bag that had tore under mysterious circumstances. (Snakes have very thin skin?) As I rambled down Spottiswoode Park Road, something made me cross the road to look at this lone tree standing in a field.

As I got closer, I saw a sign in front of the tree, which read:

Heritage Tree

Binjai (Mangifera caesia)

The Binjai is a large tree of the mango family, native to this region. It bears small lilac-pinkish flowers around April to June. It was commonly planted in villages for its brown potato-like fruits.

Spottiswoode Park used to be a nutmeg plantation in the 1840s. It was converted in the early 1900s into a residential area full of bungalows with gardens for employees of the Tanjong Pagar Dock Company (the present Port of Singapore Authority). The then residents or estate managers may have planted this Binjai for its sourish-sweet fruits.

I went online and found that National Parks has what it calls a "Heritage Tree Scheme", and it also has  a list of criteria that it uses to "qualify a tree to be endorsed as a Heritage Tree" (i.e. cannot anyhow call a tree a "Heritage Tree".) And according to the board in a separate document, there are four heritage Binjai trees in Singapore. So if you happen to be in area and if you want to see a "Heritage Tree", this Binjai tree is opposite Spottiswoode Apartments.

Foo Dog guardian
(Taken with Diana F+ with Provia 400X)

Spottiswoode has changed quite a bit since the mid-90s, which was the last time I walked the streets to take photographs of the neighbourhood and the railway tracks. Hip cafe joints have since popped up and the tracks are gone. I've always wondered what the refurbished two/three-storey houses look like inside but I can only imagine a mix of modern with old-time grandeur just by looking at the facade.

The statues at the gate are for fengshui reasons. The Chinese Lions (Foo Dogs) represents power and prestige. I didn't take a close look and I can't tell from the picture if this is a male or female lion; I am guessing female. The male is usually seen with his right paw on a ball, which depicts unity of the empire while the female will have her left paw on a cub, which represents thriving offsprings.

The eagle watcheth over
(Taken with Diana F+ with Provia 400X)

The eagle statue represents success and prosperity.

I love taking photographs of doors but I ran out of film so I'll definitely be back. It was a hot day (like duh), so Impossible Project's color Polaroid washed out all the colors, once again. Disappointing.

Sending our babies into the big (bad) world called life

Just as I hugged my 8yo after school one day, he whispered in my ears, "Mum, I have something to tell you but let's wait until we are far away from school."

I knew something serious was up. Kai only says this when he is upset with something that happened in school. I put my arms around his shoulders and we walked out of the school gate in silence. When we were far away enough and when he made sure no one was around, he told me this story he had heard during assembly that morning.

A man had abandoned his dog and the dog, instead of wandering off, sat there and waited for its master. It thought his master would come back for him. But his master never did. The dog waited and waited and eventually died of starvation and a broken heart. "I really wanted to cry, mum, when I heard the story," Kai told me. It must have taken a lot on his part to hold back the tears then; I know my son.

Kai was tearing as he told me the story. When he reached home, he finally burst out in tears. It took him a long time to calm down.

Kai is a sensitive soul. He has always been a gentle boy who is upset by sad endings and possible bad outcomes. I felt sad and scared for my little man who is growing up and is realising that bad things can happen. How do you tell a child not to be afraid of the real-world when sometimes as adults, we feel lost too?

As usual, I could only hold him as he cried and told him we'll never abandon our pets. Ever.

At night, I told him I am going to play him a song and he is to listen to the lyrics carefully. I told him that yes, there'd be times where he'd be disappointed, hurt, betrayed, or sad. I told him that I don't have all the answers and I wish, with all my might, that I can stop all bad things from happening. But I can't. The one thing I know I can do is to love him with all my heart and soul and I hope, that'd give him strength to tackle any curveballs that life has thrown at him.

And I played him this:

When the rain is blowing in your face
And the whole world is on your case
I could offer you a warm embrace
To make you feel my love

When the evening shadows and the stars appear
And there is no one there to dry your tears
I could hold you for a million years
To make you feel my love

I know you haven’t made your mind up yet
But I would never do you wrong
I’ve known it from the moment that we met
No doubt in my mind where you belong

I’d go hungry, I’d go black and blue
I’d go crawling down the avenue
There’s nothing that I wouldn’t do
To make you feel my love

The storms are raging on the rollin’ sea
And on the highway of regret
The winds of change are blowing wild and free
You ain’t seen nothing like me yet

I could make you happy, make your dreams come true
Nothing that I wouldn’t do
Go to the ends of the earth for you
To make you feel my love

- Bob Dylan, "Make You Feel My Love"

Walking the terrapin

(Photo taken with Diana F+ with Fuji Instax Instant Back)

Kit's preschool brought them to a wet market recently. Armed with some pocket money given by the parents, the children could buy anything with the money they have.

Kit came home with a terrapin. He could have bought vegetables. He could have bought sweets, spices, minced pork even. He bought a terrapin. Not to eat but as a pet.

Major URGH because we don't want to have anymore pets unless we are sure everyone in the family is prepared to take good care of them FOR LIFE. We are resigned; your baby brings home a pet and the last thing you do is to release it into the public pond or flash it down the toilet bowl.

So that's how Leo, named after a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle, came to live with us.

(Photo taken with Diana F+ with Fuji Instax Instant Back)

Kai has taken quite a liking to Leo. It's a red-eared slider (or red-eared terrapin), a semi-aquatic turtle. He brings it on walks in our playground by placing it in a little toy wagon filled with de-chlorinated water.

(Photo taken with Diana F+ with Fuji Instax Instant Back, multiple exposure

We didn't dare let Leo roam on the grass in case someone steps on it. And after a while, they forgot about Leo. And guess who had to feed Leo in the morning today. Mummy.

(Photo taken with Diana F+ with Fuji Instax Instant Back, multiple exposure)

MWAC: Color of Impossible Project film in Asia's weather

My blog is possibly getting a little schizophrenic but I'll like to think it's evolving. The boys are growing up and the issues they face (and I face) are increasingly complex, which explain recent posts that are on the serious side. Less of the cute stuff.

Plus maybe because I've passed the big FOUR-OH and with more time on my hands now that the boys are older, I'm digging out all my old film cameras (and buying new ones). This explains lots of photography-related posts lately and because photography gives me an opportunity to think about the objects I photograph, I've been writing about our country's past.

Big vase at Antique Row
(Diana F+ with Fujichrome Provia 400X)

I started my "Mom With A Cam" (MWAC) series in September 2013. It's like a photo-roll of the pictures I take in between cooking, chauffeuring, grocery shopping, doing volunteer work in Kai's school, and real-world work that I do for Mr. Boss-Man (i.e. husband) at his clinic. I bought a Polaroid Sun 600 LMS refurbished by the Impossible Project in June this year, and I started taking color photos for some of the Singapore heritage posts I did recently. (The Impossible Project purchased the last factory in the world manufacturing Polaroid instant film in 2008, and started manufacturing their own re-formulated versions of Polaroid instant films.)

I was horrified by the results. My color Polaroids didn't come out in colour, like in the CMYK sense. They are brownish, sepia-ish, bronze, reddish even. Some people, like my husband, would say the result is charming. I wouldn't mind if a few of them look like the colour of mud, but not when almost every image is washed out with hardly any other other colour tone.

The photograph on the right from Antique Row is what you'd get with a cross-processed color slide film.

I trawled the Internet for answers. Why is everything I'm taking turning brown/sepia-ish. Is it the camera? Is it the film? Is it ME??? The community of Polaroid users in Singapore isn't big to start with; film is expensive. Perhaps the answer is buried deep inside some photography forum thread? Well, I can't find it! I was stuck until I spoke with Noreen, a friend who is one of the founders of 8storeytree, a toy camera boutique in Singapore.

So. For Polaroid newbies out there in our island state facing the same problem, here's the answer out in the open and not buried in some forum/review thread. Consider it a community service since Impossible Project's films are expensive. (It's close to S$5 per film.)

It's the temperature. The color film, which is highly unpredictable to start with, is allergic to high temperature. With our temperature constantly at 30°c and above most of the time, you will get the result that you see here.

The solution? Here are a two options I can think of after discussing with another Polaroid photographer and the husband:

1) Bring a thermo bag with an ice pack (placed in a ziplock bag) inside and throw your film in for developing immediately.
I haven't tried this though technically the theory is sound. The ice pack should reduce the reddishness of the photograph. But one must plan for the photo shoot in this case; nothing impromptu!

2) If you're shooting at home, throw it into the fridge immediately for developing.
Once again, I haven't tried this option though technically it should work in bringing more blueish hues to the photograph. Experiment with how long you can leave it in the fridge for.

Growing up with an 8yo boy

Dear Kai,

It took me a while to pen this annual birthday post to you. It's not because I am lost for words; I've so much to say to you. Your daddy said something today that summed it all up. He said that you have to fight your own battles; I can't be fighting them for you.

That's what scares me. If I can, I'll be fighting all your battles but that'd make you an unhappy person when you grow up.

You've been asking if I still love you; who do I love more. Because I haven't been patient, because I want you to be the best that you can be. I have space in my heart for both you and your brother. Don't ever doubt that.

I've seen you grow so much over the past year. You pushed your own boundaries. You learned to ride a two-wheel bike. You scrambled up every rock possible in Yosemite whenever possible when in the past you would be afraid. You tried sand boarding in North Stradebroke Island and conquered the slopes. You snorkelled in Redang and took part in a fin swimming competition. Everytime you came home crying from school, you have no idea how broken I was inside although I had to keep a calm face in front of you.

Like you, I am growing up with you as your mother. Thank you for the opportunity. I love being your mother.

Happy 8yo birthday, my first born.

Love, mum

Appeasing the gods: A now-I-know series

Went through my photographs shortly after my Tiong Bahru in color post, googled, and had a "Orh, now I know" moment.

"Heaven Bestows Wealth"
(Taken with a Smena 8M with Kodak Portra 800 film) 

According to Wikipedia, Taoism is practiced by 8.5% of Singapore's population. Believers "hang a small altar, painted red, with the words 'Heaven Bestows Wealth' (天宫赐福) painted on it outside the house or simply a small urn filled with ash where joss sticks are placed. The smoke emitted from the burning joss sticks is believed to transmit their devotion and at times requests to the gods."

Forgotten yet unforgotten
(Taken with a Smena 8M with Kodak Portra 800 film)

The proper name for this is "brazier". These are two braziers which are permanently placed opposite my house, next to an unused field.

Tiong Bahru in color + appeasing the dead (and the gods)

With film (non-instant), depending on how frequent I shoot, I take a week or more before I see the results. This makes the husband ask: "Why don't you just take digital (photos)?"

I suppose I'll answer that another day but for now, this is the set taken with the Diana F+ on the same day we did the Tiong Bahru Heritage Trail.

The Hungry Ghost Festival was a big deal for my brother and I when we were growing up. 'Sweeping' the ancestral grave was a half-day affair filled with heat, sweat, and smoke. Lots of smoke.

My parents have some taoist rituals which they would religiously perform year after year, and the smell of burning joss sticks and hell money was a familiar one growing up. However, they never imposed their religious beliefs on us.

While walking round Tiong Bahru, I see lots of red (and some rusty) burners that residents will bring out from cold storage (i.e. underneath their block) during the Hungry Ghost Festival or other significant events. It is such a big part of our heritage but we really don't notice it much.

I've always wondered: Who owns these burners? Terence says it belongs to the government; I am kind of surprised no one has walked off with those in my neighbourhood. Then again, who wants a smokey, rusty burner in their home anyway?

Another common sight in Tiong Bahru is the items some old-time residents place outside their windows. Looking at them, I think it's a way of fending off evil spirits and bringing good luck to the household? They are quite a common sight along the corridor of the pre-war flats. Think of them as heritage art installations by Tiong Bahru locals; you can't get more authentic than that.

Antique Row: Relic hunting in Singapore

Entrance to Uncle Cham's shop
(Polaroid Sun 600 LMS with b/w film)

It was love at first sight. Well, at least for me. I was jogging down Turf Club Road on a horribly hot, balmy Saturday morning when I ran down a slope, turned the corner, and stopped in my tracks. I call it the "Antique Row".

I name thee "Antique Row"
(Photo taken with iPhone 5s)

To many, I suppose the items strewn in an haphazardly organized manner look like junk. The things there are old. Really old. Yet these are things that would excite people who love watching "The Pickers" I never admitted it; it's not something you outwardly declare. Say "I love to poke through junk" out loud and people will think you're not right in the head and has hobo tendencies or something.

But yes, I love to look through junk or rather, really old things. I love it when people turn old things to make them look beautiful again.

Uncle Cham feeding his beloved chicken
(Photo taken with iPhone 5s)

Why did the chicken cross the road?

On my first visit, the place looked creepy. Like haunted creepy. I made Terence promise to go back with me. On my second visit, all I brought with me instead was my Polaroid and the Diana F+, and that was when I met Uncle Cham. Actually, what greeted me first when I turned the corner were three chickens running across the road. Only then did I see Uncle Cham.

He was sweeping the driveway and didn't look creepy at all. Feeling like a reporter again, I decided to talk to him and see what else I can find out about the place. A friend of mine only managed to find two online reports of this place, which I can't even locate on Google Maps! Surely a place as unique as this would have a history that is worth sharing?

Owned by the Singapore government

Uncle Cham says the building has been around for as long as he can remember. "It's been here since I was young, and I am already 68 years old," he said with a laugh. He set up his antique business here after rent in the King George's avenue area went up, and he's been here only seven months. I reeled when he told me he rents the first and last units in this row. The landlord is the Singapore government.

"First and last? You mean this entire place is broken up into units?" I asked. It never occurred to me that there could be multiple owners or businesses; it looked so seamless from the outside as the items just flowed from beginning to end. That's when he said that there are 13 units in total, and there are four tenants here--him included. Another tenant also operates an antique business while the other uses it as a store to keep 'junk'.

Under the radar recording studio
(Photo taken with iPhone 5s)

But not everyone here runs an antique business. He pointed to a nondescript door to the left of his shop and said, "That is a recording studio." He later revealed that "those guys" also operates a photography studio. The way he said it gave it a very "under the radar" kind of vibe. Hmm.

An equine past: Storage for horse feed

Uncle Cham is very proud of how he tries to keep things neat and tidy. He's been arranging items around his driveway since he moved here and he promised that I will always see him sweeping his driveway every morning. When I asked him what the building was used for in the past, he said, "It was a place to store horse feed." BUT OF COURSE! It made complete sense.

We're chickens and proud of it
(Polaroid Sun 600 LMS with gold frame edition colour film)

You can read more about the history of horse racing and the Bukit Timah Turf Club, which opened its gates to members of the public in 1960. It's anyone guess how old the building that houses the antiques is. It might have been built in the 1960s or even earlier in the 1940s, when the member- and owner-only turf club was reopened after the Japanese Occupation.

Uncle Cham is also very proud of his chickens. Two roosters and a hen which had just laid an egg in a basket placed on top of a green refrigerator outside his main door. He tells me how the brown rooster is always bullying the other (the white one). I gathered they were a gift but from whom, I didn't quite catch. They are obviously well loved; their feathers are shiny and their comb is proud and red. He says he feeds them every morning, which was why I saw them running across the road earlier. Uncle Cham even demonstrated how he called out to his chickens.

So. Why did the chicken cross the road?

To get to the other side in time for breakfast.

A place with no correct address

Many friends have asked me: Just how do you get to this place?

Inside Uncle Cham's: Clashing beliefs
(Polaroid Sun 600 LMS with gold frame edition colour film)

I was dying to ask Uncle Cham the address to his shop since the building can't be found on the map. He says to tell people that it's 2 Turf Club Road but even then, that's not correct. Number 2 belongs to a school further down the road. "It's actually number 21 but there are no signs!" he exclaimed. So here's what you do:

1. Head towards The Grandstand at 200 Turf Club Road.

2. Travel straight down pass Pasarbella and instead of turning right to the carpark (which will lead you to Giant supermarket as well), you continue straight down the road.

3. When you reach a fork in the road, take the road on the right. There's a sign there that says "One Way Only".

4. You'd find yourself traveling alongside a big field, an area that they call "The Cage", which houses first a paintball centre (Tag Paintball), then a tennis school (Tanglin Academy), followed by a driving range, and finally a cricket field.

5. After the cricket field, keep left and go down a short slope.

6. Turn right at the end of the slope and you'll see Antique Row.

The first driveway on your right will be Uncle Cham's shop.

I only had time to poke around one of Uncle Cham's shop, and I will visit his second unit and talk to the other shop owner further down Antique Row some other day. In the mean time, I hope you'd visit him and have a look around. You never know, you might find a preloved item that you'd fall in love with. Give junk a chance.

More about Antique Row by other writers:

- Junkie's Corner- go forth and explore!

- Off The Beaten Track #1: Turf City Junk Shop

(Thank you Minchua for finding the articles.)

Remnants of a horse drawn carriage
(Polaroid Sun 600 LMS with gold frame edition colour film)

I will single-handedly make you a believer
(Polaroid Sun 600 LMS with gold frame edition colour film)

Will you play with me?
(Polaroid Sun 600 LMS with gold frame edition colour film)