Chicken, Goat, House...

- Never Stop Dreaming -

The title of this entry was deliberately coded in such a way that only special people with animalistic and rural senses, people affiliated with the Kumpung Kid or a strong sense of rustic SG vibes before the 80s can decipher. So really no point trying because I know that if you are not in any of the category listed above, you are better off doing something else. Of course if you are shameless enuff, you can ask me directly for an answer (Like I will give...) but the FIRST CORRECT ANSWER that I receive in my mail will beg some goodies from Japan so hurry...(There are numerous hints hidden in this entry itself so find them and de-code it. No they are not the hints in brackets...hahaha!).

Question - What is encoded in the the phrase, "Chicken, Goat, House"?

[Rules of the House]
1. Anyone from SG who reads this blog can participate.
2. Only 1 entry per person.
3. Include your name and contact.
4. Answer in 1 sentence no more than 10 words.
5. Don't ask for hints...it's all here.
6. Don't bother visiting the market, there are no answers there either.
7. I set the game, the rules and prizes.
8. I can alter No. 7 in anyway, whenever and however I want.
9. Prizes will be ready for collection from 3rd Aug 2009 to 14th Aug 2009.
10. I do not entertain anything else than what is stated above.

:p

Updates and updates and more updates.

Finally after a long time, I have time to finally sit down and do some decent photography editing. I know I have been piling up a lot of photos that are waiting to be edited before I publish them since I am not a huge fan of simply pushing out un-edited photos. The rainy days for the past couple days were really good for my mental and physical health so I drew a lot of inspirations.

One of the main reasons that gave me time to do my photos were that I was so over hacking my ipod touch (and the now gone Iphone), getting Final Cut Pro to work only to find out that my Santa Rosa Mac is not compatible with it, meeting up with friends, planning to get a new camera, installing new applications, etc. Hmmm...I thought I said one of the main reasons...now that's quite a handful of reasons. Getting all these off my routine lifestyle and the abundance of time since the kids are having their tests, I hauled my beloved Mac to work and fiddled the photos from there. It's really time consuming since I had to salvage any useable stuffs and do a whole lot of editing. Then while looking thru the pictures, I found so many mistakes in my photography which had led me to exhaust my limited time to cover the flaws. Maybe my standards were a little high but that's besides the point for sub standard works. Until now I have only been able to complete the Star Studded Wedding for the after shoots...haven't even touch the night ones, the trip down south and the OTHER wedding.

Still trying to get aquainted with my new Canon 5Dmk2. The feel, the weight and the sound of the mirror flipping when I depress the shutter button are all so beautiful that I swore I could have held my camera snuggly to bed every night. Too bad I can't edit the HD vids since FCP can't work on my Mac...drats! Have some events coming up before I make my way back to where I used to be. Still am pretty messed up and undecided about packing my mini "cargo" to lug back. Hopefully I can empty as much as I can jsut in case I decid to move to a different city. Reserved myself a slot on one of the huge metal "birds" back and yes this time round I can say for sure I am filled with so much more anxiety than last year other than the fact that I literally have 7 weddings invites this year alone.

Still on the topic of weddings...seems like the usual Chinese wedding have become more of a hassle for me to look forward to less attend. Wedding at least for me is a private affair of 2 sweet lovebirds stepping into a new journey of bliss and happiness have turned out to be quite a sore to hear, to see and to experience when more people are invloved. The more brains cracking, the more complex the whole process will be so might as well keep it simple. Of the infamous Cardinal Sins, Greed, Gluttony and Pride strikes when such complications arises to ruin the sacred affair of what originally was deem to be the private affair of 2 people. I have to really confess that prior to every wedding event, I am so excited to grace it but only to discover the ugliness of it all as the wedding draws near. Parents can quarrel, siblings can squabble and relatives can be severed of all ties...I really can't imagine anymore how much damage can a simple and magnificient wedding can cause to all those around. I do believe that not only Chinese weddings are like this, Japanese ones are not spared either. It makes me dread Asian weddings as I aged thru the years...

Ok ok aside from all that...There are really a lot more things that I am actually looking forward to and one of them is of course to improve my photography. No doubt some friends may find my pictures to be pretty eye candy but it is by professional standard far less than acceptable. That is the hard cold truth I like to subject myself to since the warm consolation from my friends compliments are not beneficial for improvement. Maybe I am pushing myself a little further so that I can do more with it, hopefully make some side cash from it in the future. Photography is like a form of art so whether it is good or not depends on who looks at it. With a good range of decent gear in my possession, sub par works are not an excuse so I am really looking forward to more shoots with my friends here in Japan and also when I am back home. Had always wanted to visit the same places but to approach it with a different perspective. Well also to visit new places that was erected while I was away. I like to see pictures that I take in the way that is not possible in reality or too expensive to replicate in reality. Therefore I chose to manipulate it thru softwares that I am able to afford. That't that way it is so I do spend a lot of time fiddlying with the sliders...

Mmmmm...there are so many things I want to do when I am back. I want to eat Long John Silver's with cheese of course, I want to catch a couple of movies, I want to go for night drives, I want to chill (So have you figured out the encoded message yet) at Altivo or any of the other watering holes, I want to have bass blasting thru my ear drums at the clubs, I want to see the familiar faces that I like, I want to frame some scenes, people and places, I want to eat Laksa, I want to eat the crispy Nasi Goreng Ayam in Lucky Plaza, There are so many so many things I want to do when I am back and yet none of them is to stay in Singapore...how ironical. I just crave for all these temporary and then I guess it's back to my second base and to enticipate the in coming winter skipping autumn again.

Chinese food are not bad but mostly have been down the gutter given that they are prepared by dis-tasteful and rude PRC bummers. So Malay food like Mee Siam, Mee Sotong, Mee Goreng, Nasi Goreng Ayam, Nasi Lemak, etc have all retained their authentic favor and sweet Kumpung attitude. India food like Roti Prata are not bad as well since that is all that I eat from them. The bottom line is that if my favorite store is tainted by PRCs, then I shall boycott it. Don't want to waste my effort, energy and time over useless garbage.

Hmm why am I plagued by anger as I enter more stuffs...totally unplanned for. No I am not angry just a bit too excited to experience a change of environment. Looking back I do ask myself time and again that if I had the chance to do all this again would I still choose to pick this path? The answer is obviously without a doubt a YES. Made friends from different parts of the world, widen my narrow perspective by leaps and horizons, became a lazier person, became better in photography, improved my Japanese a wee bit, still can't coincide (Still not getting the hint?) harmoniusly with pesky insects, bought a decent car for the price of a DSLR in SG, ate Whale and Horse sashimi and the extensive list goes on and on.

But I doubt I will be amused by the same silly antics that the usual SG crowd like to display...Social ungraciousness. Forget the PRCs, locally bred aunties fighting for MRT seats, barging in before the door open, unruly behavior and not forgetting the middle age men and Ah Peks oogling at hot girls in not so hot clothes. Well for the first part words have been replaced by signs to convey message to the barbaric Cave Aunties because they have evolved towards the past to only response to simply signs that usually have a picture, lines or some form of real world representation like animals, birds or flowers than wordy and complex passages. For the second group, well the suppressed libido are seeking other channels of release since virtually safe Porn Publications and Medias are banned while lethal STDs services are legal. Man I say it's all about the money...or were "They" actually thinking that it's either the real thing or nothing else? Beats me though...

In an unusual twist of colors, lifestyles, insane temeprature and sounds, I am sure I will be quick to fall back on these comfort zones that I grew up with before heading back here.

Alrite...that's about it.

I miss you so much...