Noooo where's the snow. The temperature is definitely low enough but no snow. Only freezing rain.



Anyway, I watched James Bond the Quantam of Solace the day after it opened in Toronto. And Daniel Craig was here to promote it, but I didn't get to see him because I was too busy studying >.<

And movie tickets here are waaaay ex. Singapore's about 3 times cheaper.

Won't spoil the movie for those who want to watch it but haven't. So just go watch and be happy.

There was a Santa Claus Parade outside my window on Sunday, which woke me up from my beauty sleep. The thing about living downtown is that everything happens right outside your window. On Remembrance Day a while back, they almost fired the canons into my window, or at least I think it felt that way. Apparently the Santa Claus Parade has been held annually since 1905 (!). It was snowing during the parade, but it was wet slushy snow, only good for getting people soaked and cold and not much else. It was really heavy though. And the rest of Ontario has been having snowstorms, but Toronto got left out.

After the snow stopped, I slipped outside to see the parade and shoot some pictures of it, and it took me about 30 seconds to get from my room to the edge of the parade. That felt good. And I think it's an ang moh kid thing - but ang moh kids are just inherently cute, and the proportion cute kids is higher.



This boy was on the Sound of Music float, and from the way he carried himself and how comfortable he was with it, I have a nagging suspicion that he is actually a cast member of the musical that's now in Toronto. But I can't confirm that, because there are simply no pictures online.

And yes, that's snow on his hat.

Back to my quest for the perfect GPA. It's exam period, sucks.

I just got back from Cambodia earlier today.

I did visit tons of temples, and I'm not even sure I remember which one is which anymore. They all do kinda look the same after a while.

There were also the local markets, which I found particularly interesting, but terribly dark. I was shooting ISO1600 at the minimum in there.

But for now, I'll just concentrate on one particular place I visited, a lake called Tonle Sap, or Great Lake.


Looking at this photo, you'd be forgiven for thinking that Cambodians lived a relaxed life of luxury. But the truth couldn't be further away.

Tonle Sap's reality is a picture of devastating poverty, lacking sanitation and pretty much all hope of anything better than this.


Against the light - a Cambodian family traveling across Tonle Sap by boat.
An unexpected photo, because it broke most common sense photography rules, such as, you do not shoot directly into the sun.


A girl sitting next to her boat.


Window of one of the boat-houses.


Temporary houses near Tonle Sap.

I really didn't realise how absolutely idyllic the photographs looked until I saw all of them together on the computer.

So, for a reality check, here are some of the more realistic ones, the ones that show what is really going on:


Children waving from a boat - it isn't as innocent as it looks.
They're doing it in the hope that tourists give them a little money.


Living conditions.


Many young boys jump into basins like this and paddle around Tonle Sap, it's their form of transportation, and also to beg for money. This particular boy is a landmine victim, and there are a lot of such victims around. In the countryside, you constantly pass fields that have the sign DANGER: LANDMINE AREA. A deadly relic from their years of civil strife.


Cambodian children begging by the roadside near Tonle Sap.



Yes, Cambodia is a very pretty place, blessed with nice people, great  natural scenery and blue skies.

But beneath all that lies something else, a country deeply haunted by its very dark past, and highly uncertain future.

Performance of Giselle in Fort Canning Park by the Singapore Dance Theatre.

I wonder if I'm subconsciously creating all these things and opportunities in Singapore as reason for me to stay, or if they're there as a sort of consolation to myself in case I don't get to go overseas. Or perhaps they're there to remind me of what I'm going to leave behind.

...

I went to the NUS open house yesterday. I could really see myself there in August, and maybe it will be better than I think it will be. Then again, I would really be annoyed at the fact that the opportunities overseas are already there, just waiting for me to click on the 'accept' button. 

And here is a random photo taken on Saturday.

So I went there today with QX. 

It was surprisingly easy to get to, the bus stop is really near. I think that place has better transport accessiblity than my house does. 



Riding towards 'civilisation' at Lorong Buangkok. It's amazing how close the rest of the world is to that tiny enclave.

But it's a really nice place. Will go again, on a weekday, when there are more people about.

Play with me please... 

Met her today while out shooting with Jingyi.

She really wanted people to play ball with her. So I did, for a while.

I think it looks kinda forlorn and sad actually.

My A01B classmate, Wilson, has been bugging me to send him the pics I took of him after prom last year.

I have been very, very slow, but I finally found them and sent them to him a few minutes ago. Here's one.



Unposed, unedited and straight from the camera with an extremely minor crop. I kinda like the lighting.

I think I'm possibly overly obsessed over taking photos of the countryside because I feel rather deprived of these sort of sights.

Reached Mount Hutt Lodge today, and got really high over the view outside the window. I'm a little lazy at the moment, so I haven't made any attempt to photo stitch the pictures. So here's two other photos from earlier.

 
The river Avon - Christchurch's Hagley Park South.


My brother jumping on a trampoline at Mount Hutt.

More to come tomorrow!

(I think it's quite ironic that I get constant wireless broadband internet access in the middle of the mountains, but not in the centre of Christchurch.)

New Zealand rocks.

I went to the playground to shoot with the D300. First 'real' shoot for the camera. 

I decided to take photos of the kids at the playground, although I normally dislike taking pictures of people. I don't know who the kid is, but he's cute. 

For the record, the photograph's unedited, except for resizing. 1/320 at f/2.8, ISO 500. The D300 is good.

Something made me sign up for an LJ account today, and I think it's mostly because I wanna have somewhere to talk crap about photos and photography and other general crap. 

So well, it's an experiment of sorts, I'll see how it goes. And LJ because I don't like google's takeover of blogspot, and er, I am way too lazy to create my own layout. I love defaults.

Hopefully there won't be too many rants about certain upcoming examinations, but I don't promise anything.

I really wish it'll just hurry up and rain and stop looking threatening. 



Hold My Hand 
- 26 September 2007
- Pentax ME Super using (badly processed) Ilford XP2