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

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.

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.

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)

We, the citizens

I try to stay away from the topic of politics in my socialmedia updates. I know of people breaking up their friendship on Facebook because of politics. They do this by 'unfriending' a friend (or should I say then friend?). Curses are exchanged online between 'friends' because they are rooting for different parties. Even objective comments are received with venom. Suddenly, I see a side of some friends and acquaintances which I otherwise don't get to see when they are posting pictures of their food.

(Taken with the Fujipet Thunderbird, Lomography Color Negative Film 400ISO)

Kit's school is located near the Elections Department, and he always asks if he can go in. I don't know why. I always tell him it's not THAT kind of place you can visit just for fun. ("Why, why, why," the questions continue.) I think most of Singapore forgets about the Elections Department until voting time. I think most of us don't think about our role as a Singaporean until election time or until August every year.

(Taken with the Fujipet Thunderbird, Lomography Color Negative Film 400ISO)

During our last trip to Japan, I was bowled over by just how often I get thanked for the simplest things like when I gave way to a stranger on a crowded street, for instance. But as we were queueing to board the plane after a two-week stay, I was transported back to Singapore although we were still in Tokyo. A Singaporean mother had dropped her family's boarding pass. I picked them up and passed them back to her. With just a blink of her eyes, she took it from me sullenly and walked off.

I don't read eye language, thank you very much.

But on certain days, I get pleasant surprises. Bus drivers who waved thank you when I gave way to them. A truck driver who stopped just so I could turn although he had right of way. That dear man really, really made my day.

Nasty people exist everywhere but somehow it feels worse when you're treated badly by your own countrymen. And if I could pick a song to describe this feeling, it'd be "We take care of our own" by Bruce Springsteen.

And then there are days where it feels extra nice, extra special when that someone who is kind or who responds with kindness is your fellow countrymen. I don't have a song for this; just a pledge that starts with "We, the citizens…."

Playing in Yosemite and yes, I'm still around….

It's been a while since I wrote because... well in Singapore, when your child starts formal school, most parents end up getting very involved in the child's education. Whether it's chauffeuring the child from one enrichment class to another or actually providing enrichment themselves. I do a mix of both and I also have an actual job that pays and keeps me busy half the time! I write, take photos, and talk to bloggers/journalists so you can imagine by the time I have time to myself, I don't feel very inclined to write some more.

I am still taking photographs with any toy camera that I can get my hands on and recently, I also purchased the Impossible Project's Polaroid Sun 600 LMS instant camera but more about that later.

We just came back from an amazing trip to California and a highlight of the trip was Yosemite National Park. I've written a post in the past on tips on trekking with toddlers/babies and some of our treks with my young urbanite toddlers:
- Trekking in Blue Mountains, Australia
- Grampians, Australia

I am updating the tips with some slight changes as during this recent trip, both boys are definitely too old (8yo and soon-to-be-5yo) to be carried for long distance and too young to be walking/trekking for long distance on their own. So we chose treks/walks that they can manage although we brought along our trusty Macpac Possum in case Kit got tired. Here's my updated list on trekking with children in this age group.

1. Get fit and choose a trail that the whole family can manage

Look at Kit! He's sticking out all over the place! We took turns to carry him… uphill.
(Taken with Olympus OM-D E-M1)

The get fit portion of the tip includes the children. Urbanite children who get wheeled around in strollers most of the time won't be able to last very long walking in the great outdoors and some of the walking trails are not wheelchair or stroller accessible. Get them used to walking for long distance, bring them out for walks, runs, cycling trips, increase the distance over time. We did the Mirror Lake Trail which is a 3.2km walk to the famous Mirror Lake and back. Kai did very well on his own though 'bribes' are also necessary to keep him going.

Kai had been to a few treks with us but Kit is still a newbie; we've carried him in the Macpac all the time until this trip so this is an initiation trip for him. We carried him for a short distance uphill but he walked most of the 3.2km, and you can imagine that little fella was dead beat at the end of the trip.

2. Stop, rest, and play

Shoes off and into Mirror Lake.
(Taken with Fujipet Thunderbird using Lomography Color Negative 800ISO film)

Little children will need to rest often so expect your trip to take longer than expected. Plan your day so that you don't end up in a bad situation i.e. starting a trek late in the day and not having enough daylight to make it back. The trip to Mirror Lake is expected to take 1 hour but we made some stops so it probably took us 1.5 hours or so. Find scenic spots to rest, drink water, eat snacks, and have fun. Which brings me to an important point….

Kai scrambled to the top of a big rock halfway through the walk just to see if he could do it, and
he wouldn't stop after he discovered he could!
(Taken with Olympus OM-D E-M1)

3. Carry your own trash. Don't leave it behind.

(Taken with Fujipet Thunderbird using Lomography Color Negative 800ISO film)

The only thing left behind by you should be your footprints and whatever Mother Nature herself discards. Snacks are important for walking with children. It serves as a bribe and takes their mind off the ache in their feet and how tired they are sometimes. Bring a plastic bag along for storing trash or if you forget, just stuff it into your bag for disposal later.

4. Carry enough water and change of clothes

(Taken with Fujipet Thunderbird using Lomography Color Negative 800ISO film)

If you drive, you have the option of leaving a set of clean clothes in your car that you and the kids can change into. Trekking can be dirty business. If you don't drive, bring them along. The boys got wet splashing around Mirror Lake and I forgot to pack a change of clothes. But thankfully the weather was so dry that their clothes dried as quickly as it got wet.

Terence and I once ran out of water while trekking in France. That was before the kids came along, luckily, and it wasn't funny at all! So bring enough water for everyone and spread the load.

5. Have fun, talk, and most of all, enjoy the silence

(Taken with Fujipet Thunderbird using Lomography Color Negative 800ISO film)

It's ok for the kids to get dirty and let them play. But play safely of course. No horsing around right next to the cliff! The boys really had a whale of a time splashing in the icy cool water, climbing over rocks at the bottom of a waterfall, finding long sticks as walking sticks and getting splinters in their fingers for doing so. If they were noisy (and they do get VERY noisy), I didn't even notice. They were lost in the moment and we were happy for them to be lost.

Photography notes (if you are interested):
I carried two cameras with me on this trip--the Diana F+ and the Fujipet Thunderbird. Terence carried the Olympus OM-D E-M1. I am constantly amazed at the results delivered by my toy cameras and the contrast they pose to what you see around you (and which is accurately captured in the Olympus.)

MWAC: PaserBella, the less glamorous perspective

(Photos taken with LC-A+)

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.)