- Never Stop Dreaming -
So here we are again, Monday, at my workdesk slogging to pass time with no visible signs of snow that really sullens everything. Bright blue sky, random pieces of clouds barely blocking out the harsh sun rays and to an extent to what some might proclaim, "Oh my, what a beautiful day!". Complete tragedy for me because I need snow and I do need it badly. Being away since Friday night and only to return on the pre dawn hours of Monday, all my precious snow have melted leaving not a single untouched, clean and white snow in sight...Bad bad bad.
The trip down to Osaka will entail numerous details so here we go...
Friday after school I headed home at around 1615 hours (my work officially ends at 1630 hours) clearing taking advantage of the festive mood to skive a few measely minutes. Reached home around 1635 hours and from then I took my time have a nice decent scrub down in the shower. Fluffed up my mane feeling really recharged and anxiety filling my mind about the Osaka trip. Exhilaration was to a point similar to Indiana Jones or Lara Croft because I could really feel the adrenalin flowing thru my body. Took a while to sort out the gear for the trip and then filled up my backpack with of course my precious camera. Draw out six slips of ￥10,000 notes from the envelop with much disgust because I know that these are my reserves. Did some last minute checks and then I saw my house faded in the rear mirror as I made my way to おぎのや。
I was about 10 minutes early to scout for the bus but 10 minutes into the pre-determined bus ETA (2010 hours) time, there was not a single bus in sight. Just as I was about to freak out my phone rang and I was told that the bus had already arrived but still there was not a single bus in my sight. Then I realised that the bus might have been parked at a different pick up point which was the case after I sniffed out the huge おぎのや compound. On board the bus, I realised that I was the ONLY passenger on board, pathetic I guessed. From there the bus made it's way to the darkness of the night with intermittent stops, either for toilet breaks or to pick up more passengers. By the time the bus reached the last pick up point in Matsumoto, Nagano prefecture, the bus was filled with more than 10 passengers including myself. From this point on it was a non stop high way route to Kyoto Station which I found myself tossing and rolling to get into a comfortable position to sleep. The bus had heaters beneath the seats on the opposite side of the aisle which was good for other passengers but not good for me since I dreaded the heat. The tiny 2 seats, confine space and warm ambience inside the bus was proving a little too difficult for me to snooze off. In the end, I simply gave up when I my watch vibrated at 0550 hours on Sat morning.
Peering out of the window, I realised that I was already far away from ricefields, mountains and sunken valleys but rather towering buildings, empty but well lit city streets and a very slight hint of dawn approaching. Since the bus will take approximately another hour odd to reach Osaka Station, I was not able to sleep anymore and that I was pretty excited and looking forward to the day, I was simply staring wide-eyed outside the window. Upon reaching Osaka Station, dawn was only beginning to settle in comfortably with light blue skies stretching along the horizon. I alighted from the bus and made my way to the nearest toilet to do the usual morning chores. Just when I was exiting the toilet and was about to call WY, I caught him walking in my direction. Well this was like the second time we actually met and on both occasions, by pure coincidence without prior arrangements. It's really funny how SGreans are connected via mental airwaves when they are put in vast lands.
Picking up 2 other fellow SGreans, Kathy and Daphne later in the morning we ended up in some uneventful cafe with not so decent looking wafers, rude staffs and was even told to keep our volume down. Ok I confess we were rather loud at certain point but the rude attitude of staffs really wasn't necessary since I had such high expectations of the Japanese service industry. Perhaps the young waitress wasn't the most average looking lady to be put out to the front lines so that would explain and fulfill the self-fulfilling prophecy that 丑人多做怪. After the lousy experience and breakfast of wafers which I had skipped altogether opting for plain can coffee off コンビニ, we were headed to Yodobashi. Here I tried once again my bargaining stint only to find out that I wasn't so lucky this time round and was rejected. Since defeat was not something I would take lightly and I was pretty adamant to buy my flash unit on this trip, I approacjhed another staff, a fairly decent looking young lady. Weaving a little charm spell, it worked in the end but with only slight reductions and I was forced to either take or leave the deal. I took it in the end at the expense of losing pieces of ￥10,000 notes in the process. Since Yodobashi credits points which works like money on your subsequent purchases, I grabbed a diffuser, battery cases and a new set of batts.
WY, D and K were also busying roaming Yodobashi while I continue my spree until Weili and his gf showed up. Then the 5 of us SGreans from different parts of Japan went on to Namba for lunch and also some shopping. Well I have been to Namba on the April trip last year with Mum, Dad, Brother and his family so I was pretty familiar with the streets and yeah, brings back memories as well. Had Ramen at one of the tiny joints in Namba before heading back into the streets of Namba and then finally back to Yodobashi in Osaka. Man we seems to be quite fond of Yodobashi because afterall it's a prominent landmark and everything else simply resolves around it. In the evening, 3 more SGreans, Joanne, Huiwen and Jing showed up. So it was a final combination of 2 awesome dudes, 6 fabulous home grown ladies and 1 Kumpung Kid aka "The One with the Menacing Camera" going into a Izakaya for dinner. While the lighting was fantastic, I was really obliged to try out the new flash after reading various periodicals on using it. I was brutally destroyed after the first initial shots with my subjects looking like as if they were to be hit by a on-coming 18 wheeler high beaming HIDs. I was really better off without the flash so I guessed I have a long way to accumulate field experience before I flash this light gun again.
Dinner was a combination of whinings, comparisions, gutter-uncensored material from anything to anywhere. Of course the food was fantastic and the free flow of liquids was definitely a party booster. After dinner it was カラオケ till 0600 am. Initial few rounds were subtle and easy where everyone else sang emo songs, slowly opening up their musical vocal chords. Then as the session progresses, I was really taken aback that most of these absolutely fabulous SGreans can sing Japanese songs with such ease that I would have mistaken them for a Japanese...W, double Js, D were really really good with J songs and K and J was especially proficient in English. I was too tired to pull out my camera to soil the mood so by 0430 am, I was already in LaLa Land. Exited the カラオケ at 0600 am, headed to Joanne's apartment with WY, D and H and while walking there after the train transit, it was actually raining tiny pellet like hail stones which I thought everyone else presumed it was snow. J's apartment was pretty amazing in a way because it resembled HBDs flats back home. I swore there was like a 98% perfectly modeled neighbourhood of HDBs. No pictures again because I was dead tired. WY, J and I snoozed till 1330 hours before WY and I headed out as not to impose on J any further. Again no pictures of the neighbourhood because we were actually running after the bus.
THANK YOU JOANNE DEAR for the kind hospitality...Hugs and Kisses
Sunday morning, WY and I headed once again to Yodobashi (WHAT?! AGAIN?!) but this time it was to one of the chain stores 風月 on the 8th floor of Yodobashi for モダ焼き which is basically お好み焼き with 焼きそば. WY and I totally screwed up the meal by attempting to split it, add sauce and spices and finally eating it. We were stopped 2 times by the staffs because it was not ready yet and then finally when we were ready to eat, we were greeted by sinister smiles and grins from most of the staffs in the shop because we, foreigners are really pathetic I guess. After brunch, we went to Yodobashi and WY grabbed a Bose headphones. Nothing eventful after that as we headed out to Osaka and Shin Osaka to locate and confirm out departure points so that we would not be stranded, broke and probably homeless. With only a couple of hours before our expiration in Osaka, we headed back to Osaka and tried our hands on racing games in some Arcade centres which seems to be a thing of the past back in SG.
1900 hours, WY headed out to grab dinner and then the long bus journey back to Ueda. I was waiting for Miki, a friend I made while I was in Osaka in April 2008. We had a rather nice dinner that was filled with nothing less than updates our lives since we parted in April. Great but time was a little short so once again I bade goodbyes to Miki before heading to Shin Osaka for the bus back home.
That's pretty much my weekend which left the Kumpung Kid broke, tired with a sore neck and dehydration.
Monday, January 26, 2009
Friday, January 23, 2009
Anxiety in Anticipation
- Never Stop Dreaming -
With just 1 day of awesome snow on Tuesday night, the capricious weather forecast seems to only bring more lies than snow. This year is really bad as compared to last year with regards to the amount of white fluffy cotton falling. By this time last year in late Jan, snow-capped mountains, white plains and excitement brought much joy into my otherwise peaceful life. Not quite the same this year, perhaps more people burning stuffs, perhaps more global warming issues, perhaps other matters like economic slump but whatever the cause, I am pretty annoyed that I am robbed of any decent snow. The worst that could happen in winter is rain like how it was reflected in November Rain by Guns 'n' Roses. Because in winter, rain are very much dreaded at least for me for the following reasons, -
1. It's FREAKING cold
2. It's noisy
3. Thunder and lightning are dangerous and rude
4. Troublesome because it wets everything
5. Dangerous when it becomes ice in the morning
Therefore in winter, snow is not only a sign to indicate IT'S FREAKING WINTER, here's my point, -
1. Totally silent
2. Brightens up days, nights and my soul
3. Superbly pleasing to see white white wonderland everywhere
4. Snowboarding is possible
5. Drifting is easily done without stressing out the tires
6. Food taste better when it is snowing
7. Keeps the temperature at a comfortable zone
8. Stays rather dry
9. Dances in the night lights
10. The ultimate elixir for happiness
Well sort of but you get my point...I am just not getting enuff snow so I am rather disturbed. The snow falls but due to high temperature, everything simply melts away. Snow 1 day, lapse for a week or more then uncertain forecasts...Man it's annoying especially when the weather report says 3 days of consecutive snow on Wednesday night and then comes Thursday, it simply changes to 1 day of snow, 1 day of rain and sunny days. I am outright jealous that my western counterparts are getting blizzard warnings, outrageous amount of snow and so much fun.
Snow aside somehow when I woke up this Friday morning, I was griped by a certain anxiety which seems lodged in an uncomfortable position between my throat and diaphragm. Totally impossible to correctly relate it with words. An anxiety that seems to cast a "Happy" aura around my head and angel wings on my back. I am rather happy to the extent that most will not notice that I might just be a little on the crazy side of the balance than happy. Part of the reason is because I am going to Osaka tonight to meet the other Singaporeans for a mini CNY party, an adventurous journey I presume and my conflicting thoughts whether I should get the Canon 580EX 2 flash on this trip. And then when I went to school this morning, yep it was still raining, overcast grey skies but by around 0850am, in the distance I saw what might just seem to be a re-collection of Nozawa Onsen snowboarding trips images. "Too late" I thought while curses and swears were filling my head. Just when I thought there will not be any shutter opportunities in such weather and leaving my camera back home, the view was simply beyond believe.
Try your best to imagine while I try my best to paint the image with words. The foreground of loosely clusttered Japanese houses against a backdrop of snowcapped mountains towering at 2000 odd metres. A sea of grey lucious clouds blanketed the sky with no sun visible. Then in the middle of this grey sea, just above the houses in the middle, there was an opening, a halo like circular opening with gentle golden rays peering thru like the arrival of God. Subtle and yet very brightly colored golden rays in long and dimishing straight lines. The numerous peaks and crevices of the mountains in the back could be seen basking in the golden rays while a low blanket of clouds shrouded the bottom 2/3 of the mountain like a cushion between the roofs of the houses and the mountains. The sides of this magnificent scenery simply faded into the horizon of grey clouds above and visible forests below. Only the circular section in what was described above received those golden rays which lit up the roofs and drew the outlines of various shapes in soft golden strokes. Like a town showered in a circular golden light from Heaven above against fantasy like nountains in the background, everything else outside this scene was simply an eye sore.
I really hope you can picture the image that I saw because it's almost like seeing a deity or celestial being decending from Heavens above.
So moving on to the anxiety, I am really excited over this Osaka trip both for reasons that I know and for reasons I have absolutely no idea. Contemplating whether I should get the new flash accesory for my camera was because since I am already going to a big city for this trip might as well get the flash since I am adamant to get it be it now or in the future. The only conflicting factors that I am considering are that I am already eating into the reserves so buying the accesory will deplete my reserves further and that if I get it in the future, I will need to fund another trip down to the big cities. Luckily for me, I am not at all affected by camera products that are made in Japan and in fact, I will be getting more accesory from U.S. taking advantage of the current strong yen. So looking at the pros and cons so far, my verdict would be that money can always be made but the current favorable exchange rates are pretty uncertain so I will bite the bait and help inject a bit of funds into the Japanese economy...Buy Buy Buy!
And so tonight I will take the bus at around 2000 hours and arrive in Osaka on Sat morning at around 0730 hours and God knows what's in store for me on this trip down to the Kansai region and meeting other crazy SGreans but the bottomline is that the anxiety in anticipation of the entire mental experience is really really healthy.
Happy Chinese "Niu" Year and let the ANG BAOs roll in (Lucky I am not married yet so still got a few more years to collect...Muhahahahahaha!). Wish my grandma and all the veterans (Mum and Dad, aunties and uncles) good health and all the young blood, riches from everywhere and my dear fellowship, God bless and a great Cow(wabunga) Year from Japan.
Dan "Miyagi" San akaKarate Kumpung Kid
With just 1 day of awesome snow on Tuesday night, the capricious weather forecast seems to only bring more lies than snow. This year is really bad as compared to last year with regards to the amount of white fluffy cotton falling. By this time last year in late Jan, snow-capped mountains, white plains and excitement brought much joy into my otherwise peaceful life. Not quite the same this year, perhaps more people burning stuffs, perhaps more global warming issues, perhaps other matters like economic slump but whatever the cause, I am pretty annoyed that I am robbed of any decent snow. The worst that could happen in winter is rain like how it was reflected in November Rain by Guns 'n' Roses. Because in winter, rain are very much dreaded at least for me for the following reasons, -
1. It's FREAKING cold
2. It's noisy
3. Thunder and lightning are dangerous and rude
4. Troublesome because it wets everything
5. Dangerous when it becomes ice in the morning
Therefore in winter, snow is not only a sign to indicate IT'S FREAKING WINTER, here's my point, -
1. Totally silent
2. Brightens up days, nights and my soul
3. Superbly pleasing to see white white wonderland everywhere
4. Snowboarding is possible
5. Drifting is easily done without stressing out the tires
6. Food taste better when it is snowing
7. Keeps the temperature at a comfortable zone
8. Stays rather dry
9. Dances in the night lights
10. The ultimate elixir for happiness
Well sort of but you get my point...I am just not getting enuff snow so I am rather disturbed. The snow falls but due to high temperature, everything simply melts away. Snow 1 day, lapse for a week or more then uncertain forecasts...Man it's annoying especially when the weather report says 3 days of consecutive snow on Wednesday night and then comes Thursday, it simply changes to 1 day of snow, 1 day of rain and sunny days. I am outright jealous that my western counterparts are getting blizzard warnings, outrageous amount of snow and so much fun.
Snow aside somehow when I woke up this Friday morning, I was griped by a certain anxiety which seems lodged in an uncomfortable position between my throat and diaphragm. Totally impossible to correctly relate it with words. An anxiety that seems to cast a "Happy" aura around my head and angel wings on my back. I am rather happy to the extent that most will not notice that I might just be a little on the crazy side of the balance than happy. Part of the reason is because I am going to Osaka tonight to meet the other Singaporeans for a mini CNY party, an adventurous journey I presume and my conflicting thoughts whether I should get the Canon 580EX 2 flash on this trip. And then when I went to school this morning, yep it was still raining, overcast grey skies but by around 0850am, in the distance I saw what might just seem to be a re-collection of Nozawa Onsen snowboarding trips images. "Too late" I thought while curses and swears were filling my head. Just when I thought there will not be any shutter opportunities in such weather and leaving my camera back home, the view was simply beyond believe.
Try your best to imagine while I try my best to paint the image with words. The foreground of loosely clusttered Japanese houses against a backdrop of snowcapped mountains towering at 2000 odd metres. A sea of grey lucious clouds blanketed the sky with no sun visible. Then in the middle of this grey sea, just above the houses in the middle, there was an opening, a halo like circular opening with gentle golden rays peering thru like the arrival of God. Subtle and yet very brightly colored golden rays in long and dimishing straight lines. The numerous peaks and crevices of the mountains in the back could be seen basking in the golden rays while a low blanket of clouds shrouded the bottom 2/3 of the mountain like a cushion between the roofs of the houses and the mountains. The sides of this magnificent scenery simply faded into the horizon of grey clouds above and visible forests below. Only the circular section in what was described above received those golden rays which lit up the roofs and drew the outlines of various shapes in soft golden strokes. Like a town showered in a circular golden light from Heaven above against fantasy like nountains in the background, everything else outside this scene was simply an eye sore.
I really hope you can picture the image that I saw because it's almost like seeing a deity or celestial being decending from Heavens above.
So moving on to the anxiety, I am really excited over this Osaka trip both for reasons that I know and for reasons I have absolutely no idea. Contemplating whether I should get the new flash accesory for my camera was because since I am already going to a big city for this trip might as well get the flash since I am adamant to get it be it now or in the future. The only conflicting factors that I am considering are that I am already eating into the reserves so buying the accesory will deplete my reserves further and that if I get it in the future, I will need to fund another trip down to the big cities. Luckily for me, I am not at all affected by camera products that are made in Japan and in fact, I will be getting more accesory from U.S. taking advantage of the current strong yen. So looking at the pros and cons so far, my verdict would be that money can always be made but the current favorable exchange rates are pretty uncertain so I will bite the bait and help inject a bit of funds into the Japanese economy...Buy Buy Buy!
And so tonight I will take the bus at around 2000 hours and arrive in Osaka on Sat morning at around 0730 hours and God knows what's in store for me on this trip down to the Kansai region and meeting other crazy SGreans but the bottomline is that the anxiety in anticipation of the entire mental experience is really really healthy.
Happy Chinese "Niu" Year and let the ANG BAOs roll in (Lucky I am not married yet so still got a few more years to collect...Muhahahahahaha!). Wish my grandma and all the veterans (Mum and Dad, aunties and uncles) good health and all the young blood, riches from everywhere and my dear fellowship, God bless and a great Cow(wabunga) Year from Japan.
Dan "Miyagi" San aka
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Nothing much just some personal updates.
- Never Stop Dreaming -
So after welcoming 2009 in a not so traditional partying way, after buying expensive toys, after meeting up with cousin Denis and Li Fern, after meeting old friends in Tokyo and adding new faces on Facebook, I am left wondering what's next. Because exactly 10 days after the New Year comes a day where nearly a decade and a half back, I taste Oxygen for the very first time. Now it's more like reminding myself that I am racing against Time to do everything necessary in those given constraints. Some really kind friends even reminded me that with each year celebrated, I am 1 step closer to my own grave...how sweet. Then of course I did receive a rather sweet long distance phone call conveying me the well wishes and the numerous other 2 dimensional ones I got on Facebook. Not forgetting the one and only special email well wishes coming for a small bear...Miss ya and my really awesome brother, Law who sent in a sms from Seoul.
Prior to this, I had already expected 10 and 11 Jan to be a rather hectic because of the schedule I planned for myself. On 10 Jan there is a 成人式 (Seijin Shiki), "Coming of Age Day" held in 軽井沢(Karuizawa) and on 11, in 上田(Ueda). Once a year this special event is held in January on different dates in different cities where youth who are of 20 years of age will be invited to attend some sort of ceremony. The main attraction of this event is that all the young ladies will don the 振袖（Furisode) which is equivalent to the 着物(Kimono) except that the Furisode have really long sleeves and is probably only worn to mark this event. Usually the long sleeves of this particular type of Japanese garments denotes an unmarried lady while a Kimono with short sleeves denotes a married woman. The assortment of colors and designs, the faux fur collar trimmings, etc makes it a great photographic journey to embark on. I had wanted to witness this event first hand and also to capture some frames for upkeeing sake so after waiting for almost 27 to 28 years, now was my chance. It's really an eye opener to see how these young girls who will take this right of passage to enter adulthood FORMALLY (because you can choose to not attend the event). Some of the really touching moments were lost due to my slow reflexes in preserving them in frames. Moments like how the parents open the car doors, put the zori slippers for their daughters who will then emerge from the car in their most delicate and gracious manner to slip their feet into the slippers. The scene kinda reminded me of ladies getting married off.
Alrite that aside, after 2 days of the event which usually spans like 2 hours or less, I had fired almost 290 shots in RAW. Much to my surprise, most shots on the second event in Ueda were horendously plagued with bad focusing. I was totally distraught by this set back because I failed to utilise the amazing lens in my hand. Begin still new and adapting to the sheer capabilities of this power lens was no excuse for me to commit such errors. I am unforgiving to myself because I have to work extra hard the next time round. So next will come the post processing which might take a little while.
As for my birthday on 11 Jan, there wasn't really anyone in particular I had wanted to celebrate my birthday with because the usual partying and booze intoxicating scenarios were long left behind in Singapore. In the end, it was just Haruka and her boyfriend, Miguel whom both I met for the first time a day prior in Karuizawa at the Seijin Shiki that graced my little birthday party. So much for living the lonely photographer's life...tsk tsk tsk.
Monday was a public holiday to commemorate the actual Seijin Shiki but I was too tired to do anything so I stayed home and looked thru the photos. Emi, Robin and Andrew who were with me on the Seijin event in Ueda on 11 Jan went ice skating on Monday and from the pictures uploaded on their facebook, it really brings back memories of those ice skating years in Singapore when I was like 14 and 15...geez I have to really stop reminding myself how age had caught up with me. Then on Tuesday, I took leave to go take my driving test to convert my Singapore 10 year licence to the Japanese one. It was snowing and really beautiful but in the end I failed the 10 minute practical test. I had already expected it because it was quite unlikely that anyone could have made it on the first attempt because going back to the basic was one thing but driving RIDICULOUSLY was the main reason I failed. The Japanese made the test to NOT test one's driving capabilities but rather to test how well one follow rules. Well, I didn't really take it to heart because the next schedule date was set on Jan 28 which hopefully I will make this time round.
With almost every single ￥ of my Dec salary gone thanks to the new toy, Tokyo trips, etc. I am forced to eat into my reserves for the snowboarding trip this weekend because I had promised a friend that we would go boarding together. Then before the Jan's salary is being released, I am going down to Osaka for the Singaporean CNY getogether which will whisk of another chunk of my reserves. Dang...must save must save must save but each day I am still looking for camera parts, lens, flashes, tripods, diffusers, reflectors, second cars, toys, etc.
All I need is a little more love in my life so hopefully I can control my expenses because more time is needed to appease a particular someone so less time is spent on shopping spree but where in the hell is that someone I am asking. Hope that God would be shining some light on the love aspect of my life because quite simply, THAT is the one thing that I am missing out now and I need it bad.
So after welcoming 2009 in a not so traditional partying way, after buying expensive toys, after meeting up with cousin Denis and Li Fern, after meeting old friends in Tokyo and adding new faces on Facebook, I am left wondering what's next. Because exactly 10 days after the New Year comes a day where nearly a decade and a half back, I taste Oxygen for the very first time. Now it's more like reminding myself that I am racing against Time to do everything necessary in those given constraints. Some really kind friends even reminded me that with each year celebrated, I am 1 step closer to my own grave...how sweet. Then of course I did receive a rather sweet long distance phone call conveying me the well wishes and the numerous other 2 dimensional ones I got on Facebook. Not forgetting the one and only special email well wishes coming for a small bear...Miss ya and my really awesome brother, Law who sent in a sms from Seoul.
Prior to this, I had already expected 10 and 11 Jan to be a rather hectic because of the schedule I planned for myself. On 10 Jan there is a 成人式 (Seijin Shiki), "Coming of Age Day" held in 軽井沢(Karuizawa) and on 11, in 上田(Ueda). Once a year this special event is held in January on different dates in different cities where youth who are of 20 years of age will be invited to attend some sort of ceremony. The main attraction of this event is that all the young ladies will don the 振袖（Furisode) which is equivalent to the 着物(Kimono) except that the Furisode have really long sleeves and is probably only worn to mark this event. Usually the long sleeves of this particular type of Japanese garments denotes an unmarried lady while a Kimono with short sleeves denotes a married woman. The assortment of colors and designs, the faux fur collar trimmings, etc makes it a great photographic journey to embark on. I had wanted to witness this event first hand and also to capture some frames for upkeeing sake so after waiting for almost 27 to 28 years, now was my chance. It's really an eye opener to see how these young girls who will take this right of passage to enter adulthood FORMALLY (because you can choose to not attend the event). Some of the really touching moments were lost due to my slow reflexes in preserving them in frames. Moments like how the parents open the car doors, put the zori slippers for their daughters who will then emerge from the car in their most delicate and gracious manner to slip their feet into the slippers. The scene kinda reminded me of ladies getting married off.
Alrite that aside, after 2 days of the event which usually spans like 2 hours or less, I had fired almost 290 shots in RAW. Much to my surprise, most shots on the second event in Ueda were horendously plagued with bad focusing. I was totally distraught by this set back because I failed to utilise the amazing lens in my hand. Begin still new and adapting to the sheer capabilities of this power lens was no excuse for me to commit such errors. I am unforgiving to myself because I have to work extra hard the next time round. So next will come the post processing which might take a little while.
As for my birthday on 11 Jan, there wasn't really anyone in particular I had wanted to celebrate my birthday with because the usual partying and booze intoxicating scenarios were long left behind in Singapore. In the end, it was just Haruka and her boyfriend, Miguel whom both I met for the first time a day prior in Karuizawa at the Seijin Shiki that graced my little birthday party. So much for living the lonely photographer's life...tsk tsk tsk.
Monday was a public holiday to commemorate the actual Seijin Shiki but I was too tired to do anything so I stayed home and looked thru the photos. Emi, Robin and Andrew who were with me on the Seijin event in Ueda on 11 Jan went ice skating on Monday and from the pictures uploaded on their facebook, it really brings back memories of those ice skating years in Singapore when I was like 14 and 15...geez I have to really stop reminding myself how age had caught up with me. Then on Tuesday, I took leave to go take my driving test to convert my Singapore 10 year licence to the Japanese one. It was snowing and really beautiful but in the end I failed the 10 minute practical test. I had already expected it because it was quite unlikely that anyone could have made it on the first attempt because going back to the basic was one thing but driving RIDICULOUSLY was the main reason I failed. The Japanese made the test to NOT test one's driving capabilities but rather to test how well one follow rules. Well, I didn't really take it to heart because the next schedule date was set on Jan 28 which hopefully I will make this time round.
With almost every single ￥ of my Dec salary gone thanks to the new toy, Tokyo trips, etc. I am forced to eat into my reserves for the snowboarding trip this weekend because I had promised a friend that we would go boarding together. Then before the Jan's salary is being released, I am going down to Osaka for the Singaporean CNY getogether which will whisk of another chunk of my reserves. Dang...must save must save must save but each day I am still looking for camera parts, lens, flashes, tripods, diffusers, reflectors, second cars, toys, etc.
All I need is a little more love in my life so hopefully I can control my expenses because more time is needed to appease a particular someone so less time is spent on shopping spree but where in the hell is that someone I am asking. Hope that God would be shining some light on the love aspect of my life because quite simply, THAT is the one thing that I am missing out now and I need it bad.
Friday, January 9, 2009
Life Thru Frames cont.
- Never Stop Dreaming -
Continuing the previous series of amateurish time preservation feats, I have once again dived straight into the wonderful world of "Speaking" architectural frames. The following are more frames of my school because given the @!#$%#&*!# economic situation, I can't seem to find opportunities that will see me as a candidate of choice so I guessed I am stuck here for another year. More $$$ to save to fuel this hobby since I cringe on monthly expenses. However there is a second hand Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IV going for ¥350,000 which is definitely worth considering. Dang but enjoy...
Continuing the previous series of amateurish time preservation feats, I have once again dived straight into the wonderful world of "Speaking" architectural frames. The following are more frames of my school because given the @!#$%#&*!# economic situation, I can't seem to find opportunities that will see me as a candidate of choice so I guessed I am stuck here for another year. More $$$ to save to fuel this hobby since I cringe on monthly expenses. However there is a second hand Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IV going for ¥350,000 which is definitely worth considering. Dang but enjoy...
Thursday, January 8, 2009
The journey of EF35mm F1.4L USM for a new home
- Never Stop Dreaming -
Bear with me people because I really feel that I have to give credit to this lens, how it all started to playing with it in the end. Before I got my hands on this first L prime from the Canon uber expensive range, I didn't really think much about the possibilities that I would wield in my hands. Indeed I have read numerous opinions and comments regarding Canon L lenses and most would have suggested that good equipment does play an important part in capturing great pictures. Back then I was really a greenhorn in photography with no prior knowledge about it...it was thru the numerous field experiment and set backs that I began to see more open doors of opportunities ahead. As time progresses, gone were the painful wall banging pitfalls...as my appetite for information grew, so were the time spent on reading and gathering resources online. Inspirations like Dazza and Joey Lawrence's style of photography drew me deeper into the never ending tunnel of creativity.
Where I reached a point of time where my photoshop skills grew along with my photography skills, I knew it was only a matter of time before my current set up would be limiting my ultimate potential. This afterall is an expensive journey of building up the essential gear to enhance the entire photographic experience. When your current gear from years back where you started out as an amateur began to limit your hunger for higher achievements, you tend to look for better upgrades to compliment your current skill level. Think of it as playing an RPG game...you start out as a novice with fairly acceptable default equipment. Though the best Boss-slaying powerful weapons might be available, your level and gold coins are your only limiting factor. Then again you can always apply "cheats" in game to get these high end items. But in real life we all know that this is not possible unless you really strike Toto or 4D. So moving along, you gain more experience to level up and at the same time increases your gold coins. Better upgrades are readily available now since you have already fulfilled the necessary criteria. Same in photography...you would probably start up with some basic or mid level equipment and as you progress, your skill will level up accordingly and you acquire better, more expensive gear. Though sometimes by a stroke of luck or sugar daddies or mummies, you are granted some level of wealth to start off with the best equipment. But your skills are not on par with the best equipment so you are most likely under-utilizing them which I have no intention to further this discussion.
Photography from the start which I have already known will be an expensive hobby to pursue. Afterall I might just be pretty unlucky to have so many expensive hobbies. But hey, I happen to be just one of those pesky kids who can't sit still since young because I was simply overflowing with creativity and silly antics. Thank God I picked up photography because not only did it allow me to channel my creativity energy in the right direction, my photoshopping skills and understanding of this whole idea of relating light and elements to artificial enhancement and abstract alterations of alternate reality greatly improved as well.
Therefore after using my current set up from 1.5 years back where that was all that I could afford back then, I have come to discover the limitations I was facing in pursing the style of photography I was after. As usual the net was covered with lots of essential info so I took quite a bit of time to go thru the different aspects studying reviews, comments, etc. before settling for a L prime instead of zooms or L zooms. The wide aperture offered only by L primes was the main factor that governed my choices with my 1.6x cropped sensor being second because every choice is subjected to a 1.6x multiplier. Price of course is factor present in everything be it in monetary or time measures but I had saved up sufficient to afford a decent L prime. Therefore I wasn’t considering non L primes as well because I wanted the huge leap and also to experience the much acclaimed L lenses. From the vast collection of comments on the EF35mm L prime, most claimed that they really should have got this lens earlier because it is simply too awesome to miss out on. Well it's the same for me because only 1 day after attaching it to my camera, I really can't find any reasons to remove it.
Of course the there are limitations of using a prime that is you really have to move around a bit to get the focal length right. Unlike zooms where you can simply stand in one stationary position and fiddle with the zoom ring to fit everything into the eye piece. But I guessed I could overcome this limitation to trade for a better image quality and also interaction with the subject which tends to be people and street objects that can span from anything to an unsightly trash can. The 2 primes that I was ideally considering was either the EF85L or the EF35L. Both offers excellent wide aperture for low light photography and also creamy bokeh and I wasn't really a pro in the strobe aspect so most of my pictures were taken without flash. Because the 35 would be roughly equivalent to a 56mm on 35mm film format, this marginally coincides with the actual field of vision of the human eye. While the 85 would be a good telephoto lens, the confine of spaces where I am most likely to take my pictures was too much of a limiting consideration. Besides the 85 L would be a behemoth to be fitted on my tiny EOS Kiss Digital X which might have balance issues. Of course I do not rule out the possibility of acquiring the other 2 lenses from the Holy Trinity of Canon Primes (35L, 85L and the 135L) in the future, right now I am really glad that I had the 35L “superglued” to my camera. Slowly I have come to terms to use it as a walkaround lens and work myself a weny bit more to get the focus correct.
Initially I was considering a used piece to conserve more ￥ so I went poking around MapCamera online, and other online sites for price comparisons between used and new. Then when I went down to MapCamera in Shinjuku, they had (I think) 5 used pieces. The prices were from ￥136,000 to ￥148,000. After spending like 45 minutes checking each and every piece right down to the seams of construction, 4 were rejected for scratches on the external plastic casing, dirty spots on the rubber focusing ring or fine wear lines on the inner groove and contact plates. Only 1 really remarkable second hand piece in a really 99.9% mint condition was calling out for a decent home this winter. Box with everything included including the plastic Canon wrapper for the lens. However there was no warranty for it so I went ahead to check out new pieces in Yodobashi (Shinjuku) because I could accumulate the points and use them as cash. Price was quoted as ￥183,000 which was significantly higher than the most online stores but because I am paying a rather hefty sum for such a delicate instrument of precision engineering, I thought I was better off "feeling" the actual thing than getting it virtually online. Thanks to tips and tricks from the internet I was able to bargain the price with the shop staff in Yodobashi to ￥152,000 for a brand new piece but he suggested that there were no points available. Now that clearly is not good so my options now were a second hand piece with no warranty at ￥148,000 and a new piece with no points at ￥152,000. With only ￥4000 difference, I would definitely opt for a new piece.
At this point I was actually questioning myself about the stringent and unsympathetic checks that I had passed on the used pieces. Afterall if they are not flawed in anyway I might as well be buying a brand new piece instead. Not convinced, I hesitated and re-organised my thoughts before fleeing to Yodobashi (Main) in Akihabara to try my luck there instead. Because I had brought my ￥ and was really determined to buy the lens on this trip to Tokyo but from where was the question. While browsing thru the selection at Yodobashi (Akiba), the staffs were indeed courteous and accommodating until I approached one young male staff draped in prominent black vest with red bold “Canon” scrawled across the back. He was nice and explaining politely when I inquired about the EF35L lens. Things took a drastic sharp and acute turn for the worse when I pulled the same stunt to force the price down to around ￥150,000. He was not convinced and gave me a much disgusted look but I wasn’t any feeble novice either when I exhibited my arrogant and uptight attitude to counter his because I believe that if you scratch my back I will tear off your face and make it into a butt warmer for my toilet seat…FEARLESS! I swore I had worse arrogance in other situations in SG as the worse customer any store could have imagined because the whole dramatic ga-ga at Yodobashi was a mere 5% of what I am actually capable of.
He conceded defeat when he suggested that he would ask someone else presumably with much more authority. Hey I used to work in various sort of front line to back line customer or sales related jobs so I know the SOP and tricks like as if there were inked on me. He came back moments later that he could offer the price at ￥152,000 which was what the other Yodobashi branch had quoted but…with the purchase of something else extra like a lens filter or something just to fill in \5000 more. At this point the entire situation actually reminded me of the usual practices in SG in Lucky Plaza and Sim Lim Sq which of course disgusted me a lot. None the less he did sweeten the icing on the cake by offering full points. Because I would have needed a lens protector anyway so I took the deal after some serious consideration. Getting the lens protector online would have been cheaper but I would have to wait until I get back to Nagano and this simply means that I CANNOT use the lens straight away. Yep I bit the bait that he offered despite the really unpleasant attitude I received. The drama continues because after paying for the items, I sat there for a cool 30 minutes testing the lens for back focus, defects, fault lines and anything that I could fault to make an exchange. In the end nothing much displeases me so I packed up and went over to the same F***** up staff, smiled and shook his hands with the harshest sarcasm in my smile to disgrace and rev up his hate meter. As I was exiting thru the escalator, I could see him gossiping to the rest of his co-workers who took snares at me but hey I got a good bargain so who cares. Besides I know I will definitely go back there to make more purchases in the future so the
This Canon EF35mm F1.4L USM prime lens is indeed a rare piece of gem superbly crafted. Although the AF might not be as fast as the EF-S17-85mm IS USM I was using prior and occasionally the lens tends to do a auto re-focus, the image quality was like what everyone else on the net had claimed, “Almost looks like post-processed”. This is indeed true but I wasn’t gonna take it for granted because for the first time in my photography escapades, I ended up shooting everything in RAW format and then twitching the sliders in Light Room before editing it in Photoshop. No matter how good the lens or camera is, post processing is still a strict routine that I follow but as compared to the previous lens, there is really less post production work. Playing with such wide aperture like 1.4 is indeed creative because the colors that fade into bokeh in the background was really surreal and the foreground colors were really sharp and full of contrast. Of course this little baby weighs more than my previous lens because more elements of glass were used. The size is acceptable and the obnoxious “Red” ring around the tip of the lens screams to the rest of the world that this is a L lens. Occasionally there will be other Japanese folks who really know their camera stuffs commenting discreetly about this lens which of course ended up with me discussing photography topics with their half acceptable Engrish. Usually before departing, I find myself trailing these random camera pros that use 1Ds and 5Ds and trying their humble magic to concert me to a FF devotee. I really have nothing major to complain about this amazing lens or to doubt any of Canon’s L primes except that they are really dangerous because they hooked you like poison in your blood. Once you get your hands on one, there is no turning back or denying it simply because it is really that good. Now that I have joined the ranks of Canon L primes, it is only natural that I sing nothing but praises for it. Though there is a huge range of Canon L primes, personally for me, I really like the 35, 85 and 135 at least for 1.6x bodies. Next I am actually considering the new 50D and the 580EX 2. Although the 5D is really tempting with it’s HDMI video recording function, I am not really sure I am ready for a FF camera yet and price would of course be another issue. So far there are many limiting comments concerning the 50D and the lack of video recording which will most likely put me off and wait for hopefully the 60D which Canon might be kind enuff to include video recording features.
Then one might wonder why a true bred photographer would want to include the video recording function in a DSLR. While there will no doubt be many conflicting arguments, for me it’s just a nifty feature to spice up the whole photojournalism experience. All in all I am still pretty happy with my tiny and feather-light EOS Kiss Digital X and EF35L combi. Packing an extra huge 580EX 2 or an EF85L would look ridiculously tormenting on the tiny camera body. Until then I guess I am better off playing with this current set up until a better camera body shows up.
Picture on.
Bear with me people because I really feel that I have to give credit to this lens, how it all started to playing with it in the end. Before I got my hands on this first L prime from the Canon uber expensive range, I didn't really think much about the possibilities that I would wield in my hands. Indeed I have read numerous opinions and comments regarding Canon L lenses and most would have suggested that good equipment does play an important part in capturing great pictures. Back then I was really a greenhorn in photography with no prior knowledge about it...it was thru the numerous field experiment and set backs that I began to see more open doors of opportunities ahead. As time progresses, gone were the painful wall banging pitfalls...as my appetite for information grew, so were the time spent on reading and gathering resources online. Inspirations like Dazza and Joey Lawrence's style of photography drew me deeper into the never ending tunnel of creativity.
Where I reached a point of time where my photoshop skills grew along with my photography skills, I knew it was only a matter of time before my current set up would be limiting my ultimate potential. This afterall is an expensive journey of building up the essential gear to enhance the entire photographic experience. When your current gear from years back where you started out as an amateur began to limit your hunger for higher achievements, you tend to look for better upgrades to compliment your current skill level. Think of it as playing an RPG game...you start out as a novice with fairly acceptable default equipment. Though the best Boss-slaying powerful weapons might be available, your level and gold coins are your only limiting factor. Then again you can always apply "cheats" in game to get these high end items. But in real life we all know that this is not possible unless you really strike Toto or 4D. So moving along, you gain more experience to level up and at the same time increases your gold coins. Better upgrades are readily available now since you have already fulfilled the necessary criteria. Same in photography...you would probably start up with some basic or mid level equipment and as you progress, your skill will level up accordingly and you acquire better, more expensive gear. Though sometimes by a stroke of luck or sugar daddies or mummies, you are granted some level of wealth to start off with the best equipment. But your skills are not on par with the best equipment so you are most likely under-utilizing them which I have no intention to further this discussion.
Photography from the start which I have already known will be an expensive hobby to pursue. Afterall I might just be pretty unlucky to have so many expensive hobbies. But hey, I happen to be just one of those pesky kids who can't sit still since young because I was simply overflowing with creativity and silly antics. Thank God I picked up photography because not only did it allow me to channel my creativity energy in the right direction, my photoshopping skills and understanding of this whole idea of relating light and elements to artificial enhancement and abstract alterations of alternate reality greatly improved as well.
Therefore after using my current set up from 1.5 years back where that was all that I could afford back then, I have come to discover the limitations I was facing in pursing the style of photography I was after. As usual the net was covered with lots of essential info so I took quite a bit of time to go thru the different aspects studying reviews, comments, etc. before settling for a L prime instead of zooms or L zooms. The wide aperture offered only by L primes was the main factor that governed my choices with my 1.6x cropped sensor being second because every choice is subjected to a 1.6x multiplier. Price of course is factor present in everything be it in monetary or time measures but I had saved up sufficient to afford a decent L prime. Therefore I wasn’t considering non L primes as well because I wanted the huge leap and also to experience the much acclaimed L lenses. From the vast collection of comments on the EF35mm L prime, most claimed that they really should have got this lens earlier because it is simply too awesome to miss out on. Well it's the same for me because only 1 day after attaching it to my camera, I really can't find any reasons to remove it.
Of course the there are limitations of using a prime that is you really have to move around a bit to get the focal length right. Unlike zooms where you can simply stand in one stationary position and fiddle with the zoom ring to fit everything into the eye piece. But I guessed I could overcome this limitation to trade for a better image quality and also interaction with the subject which tends to be people and street objects that can span from anything to an unsightly trash can. The 2 primes that I was ideally considering was either the EF85L or the EF35L. Both offers excellent wide aperture for low light photography and also creamy bokeh and I wasn't really a pro in the strobe aspect so most of my pictures were taken without flash. Because the 35 would be roughly equivalent to a 56mm on 35mm film format, this marginally coincides with the actual field of vision of the human eye. While the 85 would be a good telephoto lens, the confine of spaces where I am most likely to take my pictures was too much of a limiting consideration. Besides the 85 L would be a behemoth to be fitted on my tiny EOS Kiss Digital X which might have balance issues. Of course I do not rule out the possibility of acquiring the other 2 lenses from the Holy Trinity of Canon Primes (35L, 85L and the 135L) in the future, right now I am really glad that I had the 35L “superglued” to my camera. Slowly I have come to terms to use it as a walkaround lens and work myself a weny bit more to get the focus correct.
Initially I was considering a used piece to conserve more ￥ so I went poking around MapCamera online, and other online sites for price comparisons between used and new. Then when I went down to MapCamera in Shinjuku, they had (I think) 5 used pieces. The prices were from ￥136,000 to ￥148,000. After spending like 45 minutes checking each and every piece right down to the seams of construction, 4 were rejected for scratches on the external plastic casing, dirty spots on the rubber focusing ring or fine wear lines on the inner groove and contact plates. Only 1 really remarkable second hand piece in a really 99.9% mint condition was calling out for a decent home this winter. Box with everything included including the plastic Canon wrapper for the lens. However there was no warranty for it so I went ahead to check out new pieces in Yodobashi (Shinjuku) because I could accumulate the points and use them as cash. Price was quoted as ￥183,000 which was significantly higher than the most online stores but because I am paying a rather hefty sum for such a delicate instrument of precision engineering, I thought I was better off "feeling" the actual thing than getting it virtually online. Thanks to tips and tricks from the internet I was able to bargain the price with the shop staff in Yodobashi to ￥152,000 for a brand new piece but he suggested that there were no points available. Now that clearly is not good so my options now were a second hand piece with no warranty at ￥148,000 and a new piece with no points at ￥152,000. With only ￥4000 difference, I would definitely opt for a new piece.
At this point I was actually questioning myself about the stringent and unsympathetic checks that I had passed on the used pieces. Afterall if they are not flawed in anyway I might as well be buying a brand new piece instead. Not convinced, I hesitated and re-organised my thoughts before fleeing to Yodobashi (Main) in Akihabara to try my luck there instead. Because I had brought my ￥ and was really determined to buy the lens on this trip to Tokyo but from where was the question. While browsing thru the selection at Yodobashi (Akiba), the staffs were indeed courteous and accommodating until I approached one young male staff draped in prominent black vest with red bold “Canon” scrawled across the back. He was nice and explaining politely when I inquired about the EF35L lens. Things took a drastic sharp and acute turn for the worse when I pulled the same stunt to force the price down to around ￥150,000. He was not convinced and gave me a much disgusted look but I wasn’t any feeble novice either when I exhibited my arrogant and uptight attitude to counter his because I believe that if you scratch my back I will tear off your face and make it into a butt warmer for my toilet seat…FEARLESS! I swore I had worse arrogance in other situations in SG as the worse customer any store could have imagined because the whole dramatic ga-ga at Yodobashi was a mere 5% of what I am actually capable of.
He conceded defeat when he suggested that he would ask someone else presumably with much more authority. Hey I used to work in various sort of front line to back line customer or sales related jobs so I know the SOP and tricks like as if there were inked on me. He came back moments later that he could offer the price at ￥152,000 which was what the other Yodobashi branch had quoted but…with the purchase of something else extra like a lens filter or something just to fill in \5000 more. At this point the entire situation actually reminded me of the usual practices in SG in Lucky Plaza and Sim Lim Sq which of course disgusted me a lot. None the less he did sweeten the icing on the cake by offering full points. Because I would have needed a lens protector anyway so I took the deal after some serious consideration. Getting the lens protector online would have been cheaper but I would have to wait until I get back to Nagano and this simply means that I CANNOT use the lens straight away. Yep I bit the bait that he offered despite the really unpleasant attitude I received. The drama continues because after paying for the items, I sat there for a cool 30 minutes testing the lens for back focus, defects, fault lines and anything that I could fault to make an exchange. In the end nothing much displeases me so I packed up and went over to the same F***** up staff, smiled and shook his hands with the harshest sarcasm in my smile to disgrace and rev up his hate meter. As I was exiting thru the escalator, I could see him gossiping to the rest of his co-workers who took snares at me but hey I got a good bargain so who cares. Besides I know I will definitely go back there to make more purchases in the future so the
This Canon EF35mm F1.4L USM prime lens is indeed a rare piece of gem superbly crafted. Although the AF might not be as fast as the EF-S17-85mm IS USM I was using prior and occasionally the lens tends to do a auto re-focus, the image quality was like what everyone else on the net had claimed, “Almost looks like post-processed”. This is indeed true but I wasn’t gonna take it for granted because for the first time in my photography escapades, I ended up shooting everything in RAW format and then twitching the sliders in Light Room before editing it in Photoshop. No matter how good the lens or camera is, post processing is still a strict routine that I follow but as compared to the previous lens, there is really less post production work. Playing with such wide aperture like 1.4 is indeed creative because the colors that fade into bokeh in the background was really surreal and the foreground colors were really sharp and full of contrast. Of course this little baby weighs more than my previous lens because more elements of glass were used. The size is acceptable and the obnoxious “Red” ring around the tip of the lens screams to the rest of the world that this is a L lens. Occasionally there will be other Japanese folks who really know their camera stuffs commenting discreetly about this lens which of course ended up with me discussing photography topics with their half acceptable Engrish. Usually before departing, I find myself trailing these random camera pros that use 1Ds and 5Ds and trying their humble magic to concert me to a FF devotee. I really have nothing major to complain about this amazing lens or to doubt any of Canon’s L primes except that they are really dangerous because they hooked you like poison in your blood. Once you get your hands on one, there is no turning back or denying it simply because it is really that good. Now that I have joined the ranks of Canon L primes, it is only natural that I sing nothing but praises for it. Though there is a huge range of Canon L primes, personally for me, I really like the 35, 85 and 135 at least for 1.6x bodies. Next I am actually considering the new 50D and the 580EX 2. Although the 5D is really tempting with it’s HDMI video recording function, I am not really sure I am ready for a FF camera yet and price would of course be another issue. So far there are many limiting comments concerning the 50D and the lack of video recording which will most likely put me off and wait for hopefully the 60D which Canon might be kind enuff to include video recording features.
Then one might wonder why a true bred photographer would want to include the video recording function in a DSLR. While there will no doubt be many conflicting arguments, for me it’s just a nifty feature to spice up the whole photojournalism experience. All in all I am still pretty happy with my tiny and feather-light EOS Kiss Digital X and EF35L combi. Packing an extra huge 580EX 2 or an EF85L would look ridiculously tormenting on the tiny camera body. Until then I guess I am better off playing with this current set up until a better camera body shows up.
Picture on.
Monday, January 5, 2009
So this is New Year 2009
- Never Stop Dreaming -
So how was 2008 for the rest of you? So what do you have to say about 2008? So how did you welcome 2009? So what are your resolution for 2009? Yes there are many answers that I seek but...
Even before you serve me your answers on a mix platter of ups and downs, I would have already guessed that many of you would agree in unison that 2008 did start off pretty well but ended rather falling short of a lot of expectations. Especially with the economic crunch lucking dangerously towards the end of 2008 and into 2009. the gloomy forecast for years ahead and the not so prospective job markets are probably putting the festive moods away. I sure hope everyone had a great New Year Bash because for me, I embraced the New Year less the usual hardcore partying and getting wasted like the welcoming of 2008. Instead, I was busying getting acquainted with my new expensive toy, the ¥152,000 (SGD$2,420) Canon EF 35mm F1.4L USM lens. The price quoted by Canon was a whooping ¥205,000 but of course the street price was significantly lower. Because the points from Yodobashi Camera was pretty tempting given the price quoted was ¥183,000, I was still very much into purchasing this lens from them. Other reasons included of course was the sheer size of their shops (buildings actually) and the warranty issues. So once again harnessing the power of the internet, there were obvious loopholes to exploit so in the end I got a brand new piece at ¥152,000. The next closest was an excellent condition second hand piece at Map Camera (Shinjuku) going for ¥148,000 less any forms of warranty.
All that expensive toy aside (like real :p), quite literally I was roaming the streets of Kabukicho (Shinjuku) with a camera hung around my neck, quite ready to fire away. There I met some crazy Japanese and was overwhelmed by their kind gesture and warm hospitality. So moving on, I met Jenna and Henna from Germany and Todd from the U.S. Jenna was of course the perfect specimen for my newly acquired toy so a polite request for her to be my model was humbly accepted. Now witness the power of the lens...straight off the RAW files converted to JPEG using Light Room...Jenna.
Yes indeed street photography seems to be quite an exquisite taste but if you know the model personally, the rest is just the backdrop. So on 31st Dec, I met up with Mariko, my really good friend and Hitomi to crash at a rather gorgeous looking club hidden in the back alleys of Roppongi. The DJ spinning was Mariko's friend, Takafumi and the club was named Ultra Lounge. This time round I had my camera hidden inside the rather menacing looking aluminum case so that I could fool the usual club security but to my surprised I was actually told to take pictures. Hmmm...strings attached I would presumed and yep, the manager actually requested me to take a lot of pictures and send it to him personally. I would have asked for a fee...dang! While busying snapping away, everyone started to count down from 10 to bring in the New Year. Me...I was still shooting people and colors and too amazed at this tiny but expensive toy. And that was how I embraced the New Year, an official self-proclaimed photographer slaving for the sake of inspiration.
Well it's really not that I am not in the mood to party but I thought I was really better off capturing these essential memories and storing them at a decent place online and also sharing with many others than simply keeping them all to myself inside my head which I will probably forget after some heavy drinking. Besides I have really passed those wild partying years to an extent that self preservation and respect for the elements around me are really more crucial than mindless exploitation of youth. Alrite...pardon that fleeting rant so back to business. Quite literally the more I embark on this photojournalism hobby, I seem to find a uncanny sort of connection with my subjects. The camera may seems rather conspicous and poking into people's life but at the same time the pictures taken are usually considered an ice breaker to these strangers. Most of the time, they simply end up online somewhere when I don't even remember their names. At least for me it's rather interesting how a camera and photos can connect strangers in the strangest places. It is also a way for me to get comfortable with my subjects before advancing to capture more shots.
So here are some of my amateurish attempt to utilise my new TOY to embrace 2009!
"Hitomi sandwiched between Mariko to the left and Mariko's friend to the right. And yes I always thought Hitomi was gorgeous."
"Here I am trying to capture the rainbow array of lights against the sea of plain white bottles."
"This had to be one of my favorites because the contrasting background gradient really enhanced subject in focus finished with such soft light."
Of course I cannot forget the remarkable trip up to Nozawa Onsen on 27th Dec 2008 with Cousin Denis and Li Fern. Like all other Singaporeans, we are a huge sucker for the snow. No pics because my precious camera was not ready to be brought up the mountain to sustain possible fatal injuries. Meeting up with my D and L in Tokyo again, this time round I had the honor to test this new pair of specimens for this amazingly wicked lens in the streets of Harajuku.
"Somehow the contrast was exactly what I was looking for so I was glad that it did turned out right."
"Definitely fun framing the small digicam with Li Fern in it."
You see with such large aperture that only a prime lens can offer, the doors of creativity are never lurking too far. Like most comments on the net photography forums, I was really missing out on a lot of aspects in photography before I got this amazing lens. Ok ok I know I am really obsessed with this lens now but hey, this post ain't all about the lens.
Ok here in Japan when it comes to New Year, there are all sort of those goodie bags labeled as "福袋" and boxes labeled as "福箱" in most major stores. These are huge bags or boxes tagged at a fixed price with random goods inside. When I say random I mean the designs and colors because these are actually categorized into sizes and prices. So picking up one of these goodie bags from Adidas would probably contain anything from 1 t shirts, 1 socks, 1 cap, 1 sweater, 1 wrist band, 1 mug, etc. Apparently these goodie bags are really popular in Japan because most of the time the items inside actually exceeds the price you actually pay for it. In the past when the economy is good, there used to be such goodie bags offered by more expensive brands and may contain diamonds and other jewels but the current economic loom had render such goodie bag unrealistic because of the lower disposal consumer income. That aside, Li Fern did pick up a couple of fantastic deals like a pair of limited edt Timberland with velvet trimmings at a ridiculous price of ￥7,000 odd as compared to the usual ￥20,000 price tag for Timberlands. Last year my brother's wife Evelyn picked up a really sweet Timberland cheap too. Too bad the assortment of ladies' boots are so adorable as compared to the limited and unsightly men's boots...UNFAIR!
Staying in my friend's apartment 5 minutes from Shinjuku station was really convenient because I could roam the streets till the wee hours and not worry about hitching a ride back home so I had to really convey a huge gratitude to Morris when he is back. While in Shinjuku, I found a really gorgeous drinking hole which is what I had been looking for all this while. Quiet, mysterious and really really classy. Too bad the music did not matched the setting because classical music doesn't really go well with granite settings. This place is not cheap but for the ambience, I would love to visit it one every couple of months.
My other plans was to visit Meiji Shrine in Harajuku but like every other city with such huge devotee count in major religion, I wasn't even 500 metres near the compound of the shrine. A stampede was the only factor putting me away because I wouldn't risk anything to subject my new to to such fatal possibilities. Well another time perhaps so the next stop had to be in Akihabara (yeah GEEK TOWN) with Denis and Li Fern. Being toy whores, Denis was quick to snap up all his favorite figures and the appeal of the Mario figures was also too astronomical for Li Fern. While for me, I have yet found the ones I am looking for so I ended up buying a plastic 1/6 scale chair. Besides I was also restricting my expenses after the hefty acquisition. In Akihabara, I guess other than the other foreigners, Denis, Li Fern and me, everyone else was pretty much your typical OTAKU stereotype. No I wasn't making fun of them on purpose but you can verify this fact with Denis and Li Fern. 99.9% of the OTAKUs that stormed Akihabara's inside-the-building toy stores wore glasses, geeky dressing, weird color combi, backpacks, off the fashion scale hair style and below average looks. Everyone of them is a male and because they are most likely to be rejected by living female counterparts, they tend to shun real females and prey on such fictional fantasies which of course subjects them to the usual satire.
But here in Japan it's pretty skewed because these OTAKUs are on the extreme edge of the scale the the society that they live in fuels their existence. The great thing about Akihabara is that I really love the collection of toys they offer, a place where I can check out the latest gear, cameras, techie stuffs and the lovely cosplayers and maids loitering around. No matter how many times I have been there, I never grew tired of it because I myself is a geek hidden beneath a up trend fashion conscious cast.
There is still so much of Japan that I am really eager to frame up but I guessed my itinery is pretty tight for this month. Saturday, 10 Jan, there will be a "成人式" which marks the coming of age for Japanese ladies where they turn 20, all dressed up in uber gorgeous looking kimonos with FUR. So this year I did managed to hook up with 1 particular 20 year old young lady to crash such a eye candy event. Hmmm with the new lens my confidence has reached a new level so once again donning my photographer facade, I shall capture the pictures (for my fellow readers of course). Then on 11 Jan, which is my birthday which of course I have no intention of remembering it because I really dread reminding myself that I am hitting 30 soon...DAMN! So God knows what sort of parties are in store for me. 24 Jan I will be heading down to Osaka with another fellow SGrean for a Singaporean Chinese New Year get-together (Thanks Wei Yuet for the invite). After that, laying low and storing up more yen for the Spring Break where I will most likely head down to Kyoto to catch the Cherry Blossoms and perhaps more camera equipment.
So how about everyone else, care to share your plans, thoughts, comments, etc?
P.S. A very Happy New Year to everyone whom I know, may have known or may not know. God bless.
So how was 2008 for the rest of you? So what do you have to say about 2008? So how did you welcome 2009? So what are your resolution for 2009? Yes there are many answers that I seek but...
Even before you serve me your answers on a mix platter of ups and downs, I would have already guessed that many of you would agree in unison that 2008 did start off pretty well but ended rather falling short of a lot of expectations. Especially with the economic crunch lucking dangerously towards the end of 2008 and into 2009. the gloomy forecast for years ahead and the not so prospective job markets are probably putting the festive moods away. I sure hope everyone had a great New Year Bash because for me, I embraced the New Year less the usual hardcore partying and getting wasted like the welcoming of 2008. Instead, I was busying getting acquainted with my new expensive toy, the ¥152,000 (SGD$2,420) Canon EF 35mm F1.4L USM lens. The price quoted by Canon was a whooping ¥205,000 but of course the street price was significantly lower. Because the points from Yodobashi Camera was pretty tempting given the price quoted was ¥183,000, I was still very much into purchasing this lens from them. Other reasons included of course was the sheer size of their shops (buildings actually) and the warranty issues. So once again harnessing the power of the internet, there were obvious loopholes to exploit so in the end I got a brand new piece at ¥152,000. The next closest was an excellent condition second hand piece at Map Camera (Shinjuku) going for ¥148,000 less any forms of warranty.
All that expensive toy aside (like real :p), quite literally I was roaming the streets of Kabukicho (Shinjuku) with a camera hung around my neck, quite ready to fire away. There I met some crazy Japanese and was overwhelmed by their kind gesture and warm hospitality. So moving on, I met Jenna and Henna from Germany and Todd from the U.S. Jenna was of course the perfect specimen for my newly acquired toy so a polite request for her to be my model was humbly accepted. Now witness the power of the lens...straight off the RAW files converted to JPEG using Light Room...Jenna.
Yes indeed street photography seems to be quite an exquisite taste but if you know the model personally, the rest is just the backdrop. So on 31st Dec, I met up with Mariko, my really good friend and Hitomi to crash at a rather gorgeous looking club hidden in the back alleys of Roppongi. The DJ spinning was Mariko's friend, Takafumi and the club was named Ultra Lounge. This time round I had my camera hidden inside the rather menacing looking aluminum case so that I could fool the usual club security but to my surprised I was actually told to take pictures. Hmmm...strings attached I would presumed and yep, the manager actually requested me to take a lot of pictures and send it to him personally. I would have asked for a fee...dang! While busying snapping away, everyone started to count down from 10 to bring in the New Year. Me...I was still shooting people and colors and too amazed at this tiny but expensive toy. And that was how I embraced the New Year, an official self-proclaimed photographer slaving for the sake of inspiration.
Well it's really not that I am not in the mood to party but I thought I was really better off capturing these essential memories and storing them at a decent place online and also sharing with many others than simply keeping them all to myself inside my head which I will probably forget after some heavy drinking. Besides I have really passed those wild partying years to an extent that self preservation and respect for the elements around me are really more crucial than mindless exploitation of youth. Alrite...pardon that fleeting rant so back to business. Quite literally the more I embark on this photojournalism hobby, I seem to find a uncanny sort of connection with my subjects. The camera may seems rather conspicous and poking into people's life but at the same time the pictures taken are usually considered an ice breaker to these strangers. Most of the time, they simply end up online somewhere when I don't even remember their names. At least for me it's rather interesting how a camera and photos can connect strangers in the strangest places. It is also a way for me to get comfortable with my subjects before advancing to capture more shots.
So here are some of my amateurish attempt to utilise my new TOY to embrace 2009!
"Hitomi sandwiched between Mariko to the left and Mariko's friend to the right. And yes I always thought Hitomi was gorgeous."
"Here I am trying to capture the rainbow array of lights against the sea of plain white bottles."
"This had to be one of my favorites because the contrasting background gradient really enhanced subject in focus finished with such soft light."
Of course I cannot forget the remarkable trip up to Nozawa Onsen on 27th Dec 2008 with Cousin Denis and Li Fern. Like all other Singaporeans, we are a huge sucker for the snow. No pics because my precious camera was not ready to be brought up the mountain to sustain possible fatal injuries. Meeting up with my D and L in Tokyo again, this time round I had the honor to test this new pair of specimens for this amazingly wicked lens in the streets of Harajuku.
"Somehow the contrast was exactly what I was looking for so I was glad that it did turned out right."
"Definitely fun framing the small digicam with Li Fern in it."
You see with such large aperture that only a prime lens can offer, the doors of creativity are never lurking too far. Like most comments on the net photography forums, I was really missing out on a lot of aspects in photography before I got this amazing lens. Ok ok I know I am really obsessed with this lens now but hey, this post ain't all about the lens.
Ok here in Japan when it comes to New Year, there are all sort of those goodie bags labeled as "福袋" and boxes labeled as "福箱" in most major stores. These are huge bags or boxes tagged at a fixed price with random goods inside. When I say random I mean the designs and colors because these are actually categorized into sizes and prices. So picking up one of these goodie bags from Adidas would probably contain anything from 1 t shirts, 1 socks, 1 cap, 1 sweater, 1 wrist band, 1 mug, etc. Apparently these goodie bags are really popular in Japan because most of the time the items inside actually exceeds the price you actually pay for it. In the past when the economy is good, there used to be such goodie bags offered by more expensive brands and may contain diamonds and other jewels but the current economic loom had render such goodie bag unrealistic because of the lower disposal consumer income. That aside, Li Fern did pick up a couple of fantastic deals like a pair of limited edt Timberland with velvet trimmings at a ridiculous price of ￥7,000 odd as compared to the usual ￥20,000 price tag for Timberlands. Last year my brother's wife Evelyn picked up a really sweet Timberland cheap too. Too bad the assortment of ladies' boots are so adorable as compared to the limited and unsightly men's boots...UNFAIR!
Staying in my friend's apartment 5 minutes from Shinjuku station was really convenient because I could roam the streets till the wee hours and not worry about hitching a ride back home so I had to really convey a huge gratitude to Morris when he is back. While in Shinjuku, I found a really gorgeous drinking hole which is what I had been looking for all this while. Quiet, mysterious and really really classy. Too bad the music did not matched the setting because classical music doesn't really go well with granite settings. This place is not cheap but for the ambience, I would love to visit it one every couple of months.
My other plans was to visit Meiji Shrine in Harajuku but like every other city with such huge devotee count in major religion, I wasn't even 500 metres near the compound of the shrine. A stampede was the only factor putting me away because I wouldn't risk anything to subject my new to to such fatal possibilities. Well another time perhaps so the next stop had to be in Akihabara (yeah GEEK TOWN) with Denis and Li Fern. Being toy whores, Denis was quick to snap up all his favorite figures and the appeal of the Mario figures was also too astronomical for Li Fern. While for me, I have yet found the ones I am looking for so I ended up buying a plastic 1/6 scale chair. Besides I was also restricting my expenses after the hefty acquisition. In Akihabara, I guess other than the other foreigners, Denis, Li Fern and me, everyone else was pretty much your typical OTAKU stereotype. No I wasn't making fun of them on purpose but you can verify this fact with Denis and Li Fern. 99.9% of the OTAKUs that stormed Akihabara's inside-the-building toy stores wore glasses, geeky dressing, weird color combi, backpacks, off the fashion scale hair style and below average looks. Everyone of them is a male and because they are most likely to be rejected by living female counterparts, they tend to shun real females and prey on such fictional fantasies which of course subjects them to the usual satire.
But here in Japan it's pretty skewed because these OTAKUs are on the extreme edge of the scale the the society that they live in fuels their existence. The great thing about Akihabara is that I really love the collection of toys they offer, a place where I can check out the latest gear, cameras, techie stuffs and the lovely cosplayers and maids loitering around. No matter how many times I have been there, I never grew tired of it because I myself is a geek hidden beneath a up trend fashion conscious cast.
There is still so much of Japan that I am really eager to frame up but I guessed my itinery is pretty tight for this month. Saturday, 10 Jan, there will be a "成人式" which marks the coming of age for Japanese ladies where they turn 20, all dressed up in uber gorgeous looking kimonos with FUR. So this year I did managed to hook up with 1 particular 20 year old young lady to crash such a eye candy event. Hmmm with the new lens my confidence has reached a new level so once again donning my photographer facade, I shall capture the pictures (for my fellow readers of course). Then on 11 Jan, which is my birthday which of course I have no intention of remembering it because I really dread reminding myself that I am hitting 30 soon...DAMN! So God knows what sort of parties are in store for me. 24 Jan I will be heading down to Osaka with another fellow SGrean for a Singaporean Chinese New Year get-together (Thanks Wei Yuet for the invite). After that, laying low and storing up more yen for the Spring Break where I will most likely head down to Kyoto to catch the Cherry Blossoms and perhaps more camera equipment.
So how about everyone else, care to share your plans, thoughts, comments, etc?
P.S. A very Happy New Year to everyone whom I know, may have known or may not know. God bless.
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