Day 360 : John 3:16

Although I am blasphemous and a terrible backslider in faith who constantly denouces the existence of God as much as I affirm the pressence of Him, I am grateful for the Word and lessons in grace, compassion, love, forgiveness, humility and courage.

Merry Christmas to you and I pray for health, peace and a bountiful of the most beautiful things in life to happen to you, your family, friends, and all who can be linked to you

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16

Day 354 : Department Christmas Lunch

Our department had an early Christmas celebration this year to catch everyone before some of us go on leave. Just for fun, we decided on coming to work in red and green today. I wanted to suggest bling as the theme but most of my colleagues, although we are in the creative department, favour functional understatement instead of over-the-top dresscode so two-thirds of a traffic it is.

The year end feasting begins!

Day 252 : We Workout to Pig Out

Caught up with a gang of friends I got to know from the aerobic step class at Toa Payoh SAFRA in 2003. How time flies. We’d known each other for almost 10 years and kept in touch all this while over dinners even though the class had been disbanded.

Here’s our celebration of health, friendship and gluttony throughout the years…

Christmas themed class in 2003 where we bring on the festivities by wearing something green or red. I was all green like the Grinch.

Botak! That’s what the class instructress, Fiona, called me for the earlier part of 2004 when I went skinhead. This photo was taken during a Chinese New Year dinner gathering.

Christmas 2005 dinner gathering at The Vines restaurant at Novena.

Chinese New Year 2006 zichar dinner at a coffeeshop in Toa Payoh.

Dinner gathering to celebrate birthdays in 2007 at the bungalow of one of the step class members.

The feasting continues with a Chinese New Year dinner in 2008.

Spicing things up at a Thai restaurant along Kiliney Road in 2010.

2012 dinner gathering at Medzs, Millenia Walk.

Day 142 : Birthday

I have lost the excitement about my birthday a long time ago and am content to just let the day slip by without any fanfare. I don’t think I’m anything special so I don’t there’s a need to celebrate 21 May. As long as I am healthy, I have my loved ones with me and all is good, every day is already a celebration. As I grow older, I really appreciate the mundane and delight in normalcy. No change is bliss.

While I’m treating my birthday as a non-event, I’m so extremely, extremely touched by the more than 400 well wishes that came in on my Facebook and the presents I’ve been so lavishly given. It’s a warm feeling knowing people bother to celebrate you even when you’ve given up yourself.

I am so very thankful for all the Facebook friends, some of whom I don’t even know, for taking the time to post a birthday greeting on my wall and to Eugene, Siow Har and Juliana for the very thoughtful gifts that are not only heartfelt in what the presents are, but how they were given to me.

My most sincere thanks to everyone for making me feel so special, loved and blessed!

 

Day 132 : The Birth That Birthed Me

It’s birthday cum Mother’s Day celebrations tonight at Lai Huat Restaurant (17, Upper East Coast Road, Crescendo Building) and we had such a blast. Mum never seems to grow old and she’s such a big kid when it comes to singing birthday songs! Haha.

Words cannot express how much I love you, mum. You’ve gone through many devastating hardships but you are never defeated. Thank you for showing me inner strength, diligence, compassion, empathy and kindness towards others.

Happy birthday and thank God for you. You are forever beautiful in my eyes

Happy Mother’s Day!

The most beautiful smiles in the world are the ones that make us laugh on the inside.

Love you lots and lots and lots!

Day 122 : The Celebrations Begin…

A dinner with my parents and relatives for my stepdad’s birthday marks the start of a month of feastings. I am very thankful to be able to celebrate another birthday together with them and I thank God for the many, many more celebrations to come! Thank you God for your grace, mercy, and blessings

Day 091 : Manrriage

Attended the wedding dinner of an ex-schoolmate at The Legends Hotel Fort Canning last night. He married his boyfriend of 10 years. Can you imagine? A gay wedding here in Singapore!

The couple has requested that no photos of them be posted so they are not in any of the pics here because after all, our progressive nation has decided to keep the age-old Section 377A of the Singapore Penal Code. We inherited this law under the British-drafted Indian Penal Code of 1862. Section 377A criminalises sex between men and anyone caught violating this law can be jailed up to two years.

It is interesting to note that India, where the Singapore Penal Code originated from, has removed Section 377A and decriminalised consensual gay sex in 2009.

Anyway, this post is not about the right to have sex but a celebration of love. The wedding saw friends and colleagues of the couple turning up to witness their nuptials. No family members from either side of the grooms were present and the couple’s church friends also didn’t show because it was “against their religious beliefs”. I didn’t know Christianity to be anti-love and I’ve been a Christian all my life.

Their union may upset some and is unaccepted by law, but love needs no approval. Love is simple, but staying committed is not easy. When the couple exchanged vows and cockrings, I almost teared. It’s just so sweet and touching to be in the presence of a love like that.

Especially since this kind of love is forbidden.

The wedding was a black tie event and I only have rags to wear. Thankfully Jimmy came to my rescue with this sharp grey suit and bow tie!

I shouldn't be in this photo because I'm the only one who is still single... *tear roll down cheek*

Who's that cub? With my ex-classmate Chap, a man of multiple talents and good grades.

Ying Wen and I having oral sex with the camera.

The Mass Comm gang from Ngee Ann Polytechnic.

Never a boring bunch! Here's wishing the couple more fun times ahead in their life's journey as husband and husband!

Marina Bay Singapore Countdown to 2012

Happy new year! Hope you had a great time welcoming 2012. I had my countdown at Marina Bay and had a chance to view the celebratory fireworks at an exclusive vantage point, atop the roof of One Fullerton!

Thanks to an invitation by the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA), I was very fortunate to enjoy the fireworks without having to jostle for space along the people-packed waterfront while sipping Moet champagne and being served exquisite houvre d’oeuvres from the Fullerton Hotel’s kitchen!

However, my countdown evening didn’t start out with such finesse. In fact, I was kinda disappointed during the earlier part of the night and was resigned to having a nondescript slip into the new year. I was ready to give up trying to have a memorable countdown, but thankfully, an angel by the name of Juliana came to rescue me! Here’s what happened…

Merry seekers queueing to get into the Countdown 2012 party on The Float at Marina Bay. The bay area was gorgeously dressed up in lights for the mega event.

My invitation was for attending the Countdown 2012 party at The Float. Frankly, I’m quite done with all these massive ‘national’ parties. I used to love them… love the open-air loud music, the outdoor party mood, the jollying with hordes of strangers, but now, I prefer to just hole up some place away from the crowd in the company of close friends over drinks. Or just spend it alone.

Nothing could quite motivate my ass down to the annual countdown fiesta at Marina Bay. Not unless it’s going there to shoot fireworks.

Don’t get me wrong, Marina Bay is the best place to be to get all festive and catch the spectacular year-end fireworks but I no longer have the stamina to survive the crowding. I’ve shot the countdown fireworks in 2008 and the thought of having to park myself at the waterfront from 3pm onwards again to secure a good spot doesn’t appeal to me.

The party starts at 8pm with performances till the midnight fireworks before morphing into an outdoor clubbing zone till 3am. Gates to The Float opened at 7pm and we queued for 1.5 hours to get in. My friend said his fingernails grew longer while waiting. LOL.

So when URA extended me the invitation, I jumped at the chance because it meant no more waiting from mid-noon to midnight just to shoot that few minutes of sky blooms. My objective was very clear and fixed. It’s to have this year’s fireworks in pictures. And to ensure that I have the best spot, I arrived as soon as the gates were opened.

The best spot, according to masters and photog friends, is right at the top corner of The Float’s sitting arena closest to Singapore Flyer. That’s the spot I was after.

A sea of people ready to party! But not me. I was only interested in photographing fireworks.

But when I got on The Float, I got a rude shock… access to my pre-determined spot was out-of-bounds! My heart sank.

不甘心 that I took the trouble to come only to be deined my prime shooting location, I tried to seek permission from the ushers and security personnel in-charge. I’m not trying to be difficult. You see, URA’s invitation came with an ‘appointment’ of me as a Featured Photographer. I don’t know what I did to deserve such an honour but it’s one I take seriously. If I can’t have access to good angles for the kind of shots I have in mind, my photos will be a disgrace to be featured.

I have an added mission so I was earnest in being allowed access. No luck. The reason given was that if I was allowed in, other members of the public will follow. The thing that gets me scratching my head was this… why cordon off the area? When I shot for National Day Parade, all the seats were open.

Even if it was closed, what’s the big problem with letting photogs shoot there?

The spot I eyed was right at the end. The ticketed Countdown show probably didn't manage to fill seats so about half of it was closed. The Float can hold a maximum audience capacity of 30,000.

At the corner that I wanted to shoot from, from photos I’d seen of photog friends shooting from there, I could get a nice wide view that includes the Art Science Museum, Marina Bay Sands and the CBD in the background. Being further out also allowed me more sky space to capture the fireworks. At the spot that I had to settle on, I couldn’t get much of the sky in because my lens was not wide enough.

Beautiful scene but narrow framing because I don't own an ultra-wide angle lens. At this spot, I could foresee that I won't be able to get the full height of the fireworks with the CBD in my composition.

I was faced with a dilemma. Should I go since I can’t get good shots of the fireworks? Else I’ll be sitting there for hours to get bad photos. The entertainment was decent but I wasn’t here for that. And there’s the added stake of being stuck in the crowd after the fireworks if I stayed on.

New year... time for some self-reflection?

I half-heartedly decided to stay because I'm already all the way here. Might as well make the best of a less than ideal situation. So I started observing my friend for photo opportunities. It's not often we can get a shot like this!

At my moment of self-inflicted despair, I received a new year greeting from Juliana, who invited me. Feelng bad that I won’t have photos to show, I replied with an apology and indicated my plan to join my friend’s countdown gathering instead.

I thought she was out of town, but she wasn’t and come to get me at The Float and brought me to the rooftop of One Fullerton in hope that it’ll offer a better shooting spot. The walk there was made much longer than usual because of road closures so by the time we reached, I had only 30 minutes to find a spot, set up my shot and remember the settings to shoot fireworks. I was so kan cheong!

This is the first time I'm seeing Marina Bay fully lighted up at night from this perspective. Fab view! Unfortunately, the wind direction was blowing our way and we got the gamut of smoke fog and soot. Debris was flying into my eyes to the point where it's hard to shoot.

Then the worst thing happened. I forgot how to get the Bulb mode working to shoot fireworks! So I emergency dialled Siow Har and problem was solved. But my shots weren’t saved. I didn’t get any half-decent photo of the fireworks that night. And the wind was blowing in our direction so halfway through the pyro spectacle, our view was obscured by smog. And black soot was snowing on us.

I felt kinda devastated at my incompetent photography skills. Not one usable shot. I totally sucked. Which meant one thing, I should shoot fireworks at Marina Bay every year to get better!

Met this South African family on One Fullerton's rooftop. It felt so good to see foreigners enjoying my Singapore.

I didn’t expect so much internal drama on the first night of 2012. Thankfully, the champagne numbed the disappointments a little.

In many ways, this Countdown was out of character for me. First of all, I wouldn’t be out on such a night where getting home is a pain. We walked to somewhere near Chin Swee Road from Marina Bay before we got a cab by a stroke of luck. The route we took was approximately an hour on foot.

Secondly, I would’ve spent it with familiar, long-standing friends, or alone. Not with people I’ve only just known.

And lastly, I won’t be sober.

Juliana and I shared a Waterfall. This alcoholic cocktail tasted more potent at Verve Pizza Bar. The eatery is really quite a nice chill out shot by the bay with delicious pizzas and pretty affordable drinks. It's housed by the side of the URA City Gallery.

No good firework shots? Never mind. Good company is the sparks of the new year!

Well, there’s always a first for everything and 2012 began with the unusual. A good kind of depart from the comfort zone. The unexpected is what makes one year different from the next.

May the unpredictable continue to infest my days in 2012 so as  to keep life interesting! Thanks for the company Michael and Juliana.

The Exaiting Package

A package came for me... What's inside?!

It's an Apple... I feel like Snow White. Or Eve.

Delivered by the people who move the world.

Open sesame! Let's look inside...

It's the thinnest notebook in the world!

The iconic logo was believed to be a tribute to the father of computer science and artificial intelligence, Alan Turing. The scientist died of cyanide poisoning with an apple found next to him. There was a bite on the fruit. Apple denied its logo is a tribute. Turing is a homosexual. Remember the rainbow-coloured Apple logo?

Ta-da! What a fantastic prize this is!!

11-inch, 64GB MacBook Air. Retail Price : S$1,288.

THANK YOU Exabytes!!

This MacBook Air is the prize for winning first place in a blog contest to celebrate Singapore’s 46th birthday. Called “Show Your Singapore Spirit to the World”, the competition was organised by Exabytes.

When deciding to take part, I had doubts about the credibility of the company and the contest. But since I wrote a blog post about the 46th National Day Parade anyway, I decided to try my luck (see my entry here).  I’ve taken part in quite a number of blog challenges and I must say that Exabytes really made it painless and very easy to join, communication was very responsive, and the company honoured all the milestones stated of the contest. Really appreciate the respect they showed contestants.

Before this contest, I’ve not heard of Exabytes. But through it, I found out that the company is one of the top web hosting companies in the region that’s been around for more than 10 years. And the company has a very established base for corporate and individual web hosting needs across the globe through its highly competitive hosting rates. Exabytes also offers the lowest price for .sg and other domain names in Singapore.

Through my email exchanges with the Exabytes team because of this contest, I must say I’m very impressed with their response time and service assurance. That’s very important for any internet service provider. I’ve never met them face-to-face but I felt I didn’t need to. You are reading this from a tech idiot who always prefers a face-to-face meeting to get IT stuff ironed out.

So one day, if you come to this blog and you see that it’s become celebratelah.sg or celebratelah.com,  you’ll know who I’m self-hosting with. You can ‘Like’ Exabytes’ Facebook page here to be updated with the latest promotions, contests and technology news.

Once again, I would like to thank Exabytes for the opportunity to show my Singapore spirit and having me as a winner!

Speed Train to 37

This entry is 3 months late. It’s so overdued, my motivation to compose it gets thinner by the day, which is what I can’t say about my waistline. But I do want this to be recorded because it has been a really special time for me.

I’m talking about my 37th birthday. It was celebrated onboard a train! Now, that’s a celebration that doesn’t happen often. In the 37 years of my life, that was the first and perhaps most unusual setting for me to blow the candles.

The surprise celebration happened during my photography trip to Hanoi where we took an overnight sleeper to Sapa Valley. Last year, my birthday was fell on a trip to Kuching and this year, it’s Vietnam.

Maybe I should make it a tradition to go somewhere I’ve never been to on every birthday. Keep moving and don’t let getting older stop me from exploring life right?

Siow Har masterminded the whole thing. To which, I’m very grateful. I can only imagine the trouble she took to coordinate this on a foreign land.

She arranged with our tour guide Melvin of SGTrekker.com to get a cake and got every one in the group to come to her cabin for the train party. Such thoughtfulness and a ‘scheming mind’!

It was a very simple celebration with the birthday song sung and cake divided but it was totally memorable for the fact of the exotic location and that most of the well-wishes were new friends I’ve only met on the tour that day.

One of our travel mates, Ivy also has her birthday in May so we did a doublebill and we received this very personalised gift from Siow Har… a customised cardholder engraved with our names and a camera icon. Very unique!

As I got older, I’m very lazy with celebrating my own birthday or the birthdays of others. But I think, it has to do with how birthdays are usually planned and celebrated.

When we are younger, most parents would hold elaborate birthday parties for the kids. But as we grow older and that ability becomes ours to yield a party, we get complacent… until a friend or parents arrange something for us again.

I think after my mid-20s, I no longer make an effort to mark my birthday because to me, it’s no big deal. I don’t mean anything to me.

But when others remember and make an effort to celebrate for you, even if it’s just a casual dinner and simple get together, it showed you meant something to someone and he/she wants to celebrate your birth.

I’m thankful for all the birthday wishes I received on Facebook, over the phone and in office. It is always very heartwarming to know that someone bothered to remember and celebrate you.

I don’t expect anything, but what we are willing to do for someone else, something as simple as dropping a birthday greeting, shows not what influence we have on the other person, but demonstrates the yolk he/she holds.

But of course, the merits of a person extend beyond whether they remembered to wish us happy birthday or not!

The irony is that I don’t even receive a birthday greeting from long-standing friends whom I’ve done much for but I got well-wished by people I hardly know.

The train celebration was 2 days before my actual birthday and on 21st May itself, we had another ad-hoc gathering to commemorate the day, 37 years ago, that I arrived here.

This year also marked the year that I received the most birthday presents… 4 in total. For a time when I no longer bothered much with birthdays, 4 is a lot. Even if it was just an underwear that I received as a gift, it’s no brief memory of having received it.

Got this very bright and cheery orange-chrome ORIGINAL Adidas jacket and card synchronised to my actual birthday a week before the trip from a very thoughtful person.

They arrived as a registered package to my office housed within a box file meant to hold my resume and portfoliio as I expressed an intention to seek other career opportunities to this friend. The jacket cost S$109 but it’s not so much the value compared to the thoughts behind it to make it a very pleasant surprise.

Even my closest long-time friends don’t spend this amount of money and effort on me so I was naturally cautious about getting such a high-value present. Excessive generosity usually comes with certain expectations, said or unsaid, to fulfill.

Perhaps of me being too careful or the insensitive guy that I usually am, I must’ve screwed up the friendship with this giver. To this day, I don’t know what went wrong but overnight, we turned from being confidantes to something worst than strangers.

But that’s how life is. Just as our age never stays the same, a relationship changes too and it’s up to the people involved how they want to manage it. If it flourishes and lasts a lifetime, fantistic. If not, the memories of the good times keep us warm for having been touched in our lives one way or another.

This birthday also marked the first time I’d ever received a present from a company… the branded name in slippers, Havaianas. Thanks a lot!

When I received it in the office, I immediately tried it on for size. It fitted perfectly and my first thought was how comfortable they felt. So I took a photo and posted it on Facebook to thank Havaianas and share my encounter with it.

Almost immediately, my FB posting drew the ire and criticism from a secondary school classmate who accused me of being a salesman of the brand just because they gave the slippers to me free. He said he could get similar looking slippers for less that S$5.00 in Jatuchak, a weekend market in Bangkok. A pair of Havaianas cost in excess of S$30 per pair.

I frequent Bangkok and its famous weekend market. My shoe cabinet has no lack of slippers bought from it and the countless pairs I threw before atest my belief that cheap slippers can be comfortable too. But when I tried on the Havaianas, it really felt nice compared too all those I’ve been wearing from Jatuchak all along.

It was really for me, just stating a fact. There are quite a few things I have the privilege to receive as gifts because the companies hope I’d blog or talk about them. And I do. If I like them, I’d say I like them. If I don’t, I either don’t post or I’d make it known my humble unfavorable opinion.

It’s funny how that classmate picked up only my ‘salesmanship’ but doesn’t talk about the other things that were given to me but incite a negative review. If he didn’t bother to look through the sum of my postings, then I think it isn’t fair to make an anecdotal judgement.

Gosh… this post about birthday and presents degenerated to so much ‘politics’. LOL. It seems the older we get, the more complicated life becomes.

Next year, I’ll be 38.

I wonder what adventures await.

Showin’ Singapore Some Lovin’

Hope you all had a good break during National Day and showed some love to our nation! While you all relax and enjoy the National Day Parade, I was soaked in sweat until my underwear was very wet having fun at the parade venue. Instead of hunting for trigger-worthy moments, some of us NDP appointed photographers turned the cameras on ourselves and created our intepretation of The Singapore Spirit!

喜事成双！All good things must come in doubles! Siow Har is getting happily stars-struck.

Bang bang yee-ha! My birthday wish for Singapore, "Gallop ahead of competitions and may adversities be far behind!"

Jumpin' Jasmine spreads her luuurrrrrvvve for Singapore!

Zookeeper trying to reign in an escaped gorilla?!

Oh, it's just King Kong Ken wishing Singapore to 一飞冲天！Once fly hit the sky!

An 'S' jump because 'S' is for Staci and Singapore! Stay Super, Singapore!

Here's Winson's wholesome take on living in Singapore. Yeah, it can be a pain in the ( ! ) sometimes, but we are lovin' it!

May all Singaporeans enjoy more quality breaks and have a sweet life! Can be new poster boy for Kit Kat or not huh?... Ooi! Don't puke!

Happy 46th Birthday Singapore!

Aren’t the shots fun? Finally we get to have a break from shooting the audience and show to get our own NDP 2011 memories recorded. Thanks for all the great times during the series of NDP shoots that are a test of endurance and photographic dexterity.

But with passion, we made it. Just as Singapore made it through all the odds! That’s The Singapore Spirit!

Singapore National Day Parade 2011

Our nation has turned 46 and this year’s celebration was extra special for me because I was enlisted as one of the official National Day Parade photographers! I got to go behind-the-scenes of the rehearsals and have access to restricted areas and vantage points that scores of photographers would salivate over. Totally exhilarating experience!

But in case you think this is oh-so-very-glam… to be allowed onto the parade grounds, get onto the roof of Marina Bay Sands, and being let in to the Marina Promontory while the crowds were held back, turning green while glaring at us… it’s really not. Imagine lugging around 5kg of camera equipments from 12 – 9pm every Saturday for 3 months. My collection of cam gear is modest. The masters weigh on themselves much, much more with 2 or 3 camera bodies and lens the size of bazookas.

The afternoons were hot as hell and we had to walk a lot, climb up and down, sometimes run, while keeping an eye out for things to shoot. I so pity the persons sitting next to me on the bus home at the end of each shoot. Yet, my ‘hardships’ were nothing compared to all the performers, marshals, motivators and crew who made this NDP work.

3 Months of Hard Work

Now, all the 30 of us appointed NDP photogs have an agreement with the organising committee that we will not post any of the photos taken on Facebook, albums or anywhere else online. The photos were exclusively used for NDP publications and official website until the release of the NDP 2011 coffee table book later on. After that, we can post our photos online. But I asked for permission and have been graciously allowed to share these shots with you on this blog!

They are very simple shots, probably the worst amongst all the photogs, but I hope you can see The Singapore Spirit as I saw in them…

Rehearsals started at various schools and camps around Singapore in May before coming together for combined rehearsals at the Marina Bay Floating Platform. This photo was taken on 14 May 2011.

Stunt skaters added a great sense of movement and speed to the show. The guy in the black singlet is a choreographer for one of the show segments. Having to bark instructions at the performers, no wonder his face is drained of smiles.

The photogs were engage to follow the rehearsals 3 months prior to the actual show on 9 August but I believe choreography work, planning, and training started way before. Before this NDP ended, the committee for next year’s parade has already been formed and brainstorming for ideas! I have the good fortune of being asked to shoot again next year. Woohoo! Another great opportunity to learn!

Circle of friends. Thanks to the students of Ngee Ann Poly for this great shot. Psst... I'm a graduate from Ngee Ann Poly too!

Do you know who are the best friends of any photographer? Cam whores! I am one myself. Hahaha... Love this pic!

Chairman EXCO, Col. Alvin Kek with street dance performers that opened the NDP show. Fantasticfabulisticgrooverlicious moves they have!

Col. Alvin Kek with the lions of Singapore.

Am I seeing 2 Clark Kents?

Another photographer's BFF! Her smile brings so much joy and glee!

The opening act running onto stage during casual rehearsal. Even though it wasn't for real, they put in such energy and commitment to what they do. *Applause*

Portrait of a Nation

The NDP is a celebration by Singaporeans for Singaporeans. And non-Singaporeans. Foreign talents have been a hotly debated issue during the recent General Election. Personally, I welcome foreign talents be it the brains that Singapore is still ‘catching up’ to or those who are doing what we don’t want to do. Singapore started and prospered as a colony of migrants to begin with. If the current incoming FTs are threatening our way of life, is it because our identity isn’t strong enough to convert assimilate them in the first place?

It’s not an easy issue. We are a very small country with no natural resources. To sustain growth and the current way of life for Singaporeans, we need to build critical mass internally for consumption leads to spending, leads to incoming investments, leads to sustained growth against an increasingly homogenous global economic backdrop. And Singaporeans are not producing more Singaporeans. The low birth rates have been the side effect of high cost of living and the need to spend more time to earn the dough rather than knead it.

So what now?

I’m not running for presidency so I’ll leave the intelligent questions to the smart people. All I think I know is this… we import water and a lot of stuff because we don’t produce them. It seems like people are our latest imports. It’s no longer about protecting our Singaporean identity, but how to extend it to our new members. We need to be united for the good of all.

Despite the controversy that the Fun Pack Song attracted, I love the designs. The bags were also of sturdy built with many pockets within rather than just a high-class designer recycle bag to hold goodies.

But one thing that’s not good, is mishappened plagiarism! During the rehearsals, I heard the doctored Bad Romance by Lady Gaga. I thought to myself, “No, no, no, no, no.” It’s filled with so much cheese, the Piped Piper of Hamelin could just overfed the mice to kill them instead of using his flute. A popular song with a strong fan base won’t survive being dumbed down like that.

I actually took a video of the Fun Pack Song during rehearsal because of its absurdity but deleted it as I thought there’s no need for me to keep since I cannot post. Thank goodness that doctored song didn’t go on. Even if full rights were obtained.

But it was a good effort in trying to inject popular culture and be HIP-hop. Hopefully, future attempts won’t flop. HIP = Honour Intellectual Property.

Whatever the hits and misses, being there at so many rehearsals and the main show, I can really feel the sense of pride Singaporeans have for our tiny red dot. It gave me many goosebumps moments!

I always think, “Who would want to watch NDP live? The long wait to the start of the show, it’s hot and sweaty and packed with people. Such a hassle. So much trouble.” But I was so wrong. When I posted on Facebook that I’m a photographer for NDP 2011, I got a slew of messages from friends asking me for tickets.

Having attended my ‘first’ NDP in a long time, I can understand why people want to watch it ‘live’. The feeling of being in unison with fellow citizens regardless of race, language or religion is just awesome!

A 5-Act Musical

This year’s NDP took a fresh new approach in the form of presenting the show as a musical that traces the life and times of a Singaporean family through different eras. The show was a star-studded spectacle led by Sharon Au and Timothy Nga. Hosts for the event were Gurmit Singh, Suhaimi Yusof, Denise Keller and Berlinda Lee.

Livewires Denise and Berlinda were ever so full of energy and shenanigans during rehearsals.

Their Wonderwoman costumes spiced up the parade while Gurmit and Suhaimi provided lots of jokes and made the tedious rehearsals so very enjoyable. Sorry guys, didn't put up your pics coz the gals were chilli crab hot!

Key highlight of the stage this year was the Cube installation. The 3D mosaic piece swivels to either form a complete projection canvas or reveal performers hidden behind them.

Air jumps display by the Singapore Red Lions. Parachuting for a landing this year was much more challenging because the space to touchdown was narrow and precise.

The show included a segment that showed Singapore's military prowess and defence readiness through an integration of hardware (the tanks, the choppers, the artillery machines) and software (the people, the systems, the intelligence).

Masters of the parade. They said that when they are in ceremonial uniforms, they cannot smile and have to project a stern, no-nonsense image. But look what we managed to make them do.

Look... they are carrying their own guns! No maids to help.

The impressive colour parties of Singapore's Armed Forces.

Don't play play okay.

Following the military display, the show proceeded with a parade of floats, tall puppets and explosion of colours. Love this psychedelic elephant. So very trippy and om-inducing.

The 5 Acts were titled Present, Birth, Growing Up, Progress, and Majulah! to capture the Singapore Spirit through the eyes of a mother and son. Kinda weak and the theme song this year, In a Heartbeat, didn't raise my ECG. But the seamless blending and use of different visual elements and surprises were pretty cool. But everything happened so fast, it's hard to shoot.

This is a lousy shot but it's the best I could get. Assigned photographers were brought on stage in batches by chaperones to shoot the show. We were on stage for about a minute and then got to go. Good training for ninja photography!

Fireworks from 3 Vantage Points

The show started at 6pm sharp and ended with a pyro-musical at about 8:05pm. Fireworks were released during the 3 combined rehearsals and 3 National Education (for primary and secondary school kids) rehearsals but they were scaled down with the full force unleashed on the actual day.

I am very, very privileged to see the fireworks at three different locations and here are the shots… 

Got to go on the roof top of Marina Bay Sands and it's not at the Skypark area where all hotel guests were. We got to shoot from an extended balcony rim just below the skypark. First time I ever got on top MBS and the view is... is... is... *lost for words*

View of fireworks atop Marina Bay Sands.

View of fireworks at stage front and behind the audience. Forgot to bring my tripod that day and this was shot using handheld.

View of fireworks from the Marina Promontory. Great place to get the whole firework in sight!

Majulah! The Singapore Spirit

After months of intensive shooting for NDP 2011, I’ve learnt a lot. A big thanks to the many veteran photogs (some of them who have continuously done this ‘national service’ for 10 years) for teaching me so much and sharing with me tips on how they shoot the different show elements. My appreciation too for the Publications team for taking good care of us.

The theme this year is Majulah! The Singapore Spirit (“Majulah” is Malay for “Onward”). It seems the over-riding spirit now one of complain. But to me, nowhere in this world is perfect. So while we have our grouses, let us not forget to count our blessings and continue to strive forth in these times of volatile earth and global economy.

Happy Birthday Singapore! 新加坡，生日快乐！Selamat Hari Jadi Singapura! இனிய பிறந்த நாள் நல்வாழ்த்துக்கள் Singapore! These photos are my present to you. Hope you like them!

Code Red at Coke’s 125th Anniversary

“All I want is an ice cold Coke.” That’s what I would always say when I have the Sahara in me. I’m not quite into fizzy drinks but my one weakness is cold, cold Coke. With a lot of ice. On a really hot day. Or after a long savoury meal (buffets!). Do you share my craving? Heh heh…

I think every corner of the world knows Coke. Studies have shown that Coca-Cola is among the best-known trademarks in the world and purportedly the second-most widely understood term in the world after “okay”. So when this brand that needs no publicity invited a small fry like me to its 125th birthday party, I almost fell off my chair. It would be interesting to see what Coke did to get so big. And of course, maybe I get to ‘steal’ the secret formula! (Fat chance. The closely guarded recipe is locked up in a bank vault only few knew.)

First time to a Coca-Cola event & thought I may feel shy if I don't know anybody there. But thankfully, met many blogger friends and any place that a group of bloggers gather, fun is never far behind! The who's who of the Gen Y bloggers are (left to right) : Darren Ang, Mint Leong, Calvin Timo, Tiffany (Coke), Jayley Woo, Estelle Kiora, Alvin Lim, & Yong Wei (front).

The party painted level 3 of the stylish downtown NOMU condo development red. Quite an unusual location to hold a commercial event since it's a private condominium. I guess that reflected how much Coke is a part of people's lifestyle by partying at a residence.

Attended mostly by the honchos of Coca-cola's business partners, the exclusive trade function lasted from 7 - 9 pm on a Monday night (30 May 2011). As you can see, it's not a let your hair down event.

This bucket makes me want to swim in it! I thought the party would serve nothing but the caramel winner so I was pleasantly surprised to find 2 special alcoholic Coke-tails for the night - Cuba Libre (with rum) & 125 Special (with vodka). I just love the name... Coke-tails.

We share the same name & almost same surname! This is blogger Darren Ang who goes by the moniker, Darren Bloggie. From his blog, I know he's ever spontaneous & readily helped me fill in the blank for a shot of this classic Coca-Cola ad. Delicious & Refreshing or not?

Do you know when was Coca-Cola first started? 1886 in downtown Atlanta, Georgia. Do you know when Coca-Cola came to Singapore? 1936, franchised by Fraser & Neave. When did Coca-Cola came to be known as Coke? Coke was first introduced in 1942 and became a registered trademark in 1945.

Since we are bubbling down memory lane, here’re 2 of the most memorable Coca-Cola commercials for me especially the “I’d Like to Teach the World to Sing”. It was the anthem that awakened my social consciousness during childhood.

I used to collect Coke bottles. It didn’t matter how heavy they were, I would hunt for Coke bottles and cans in the countries I visited and lugged them home. I displayed all of them on top of my cupboard and I get such a sense of pride when classmates came over and admired my collection. But I’ve given them to another friend who’s a bigger collector than I am a couple of years back. I know he’d take good care of them. Many of the bottles still have Coke in them after all these years! Mint condition.

Perhaps being a Coke fan paid off. During the party, a lucky draw was held and 15 guests get to walk away with exclusive Coke memorabilia. I was one of the lucky ones!

Got a Coke book from the lucky draw. The commemorative edition is bounded by a red velvet cover embossed with the contours of the classic Coke bottle. Within its pages is a collection of pop art, images, advertisements and celebrity photos with the iconic drink throughout the 125 years.

I may have donated my Coke bottle collection to my friend, but I gained these 2 limited edition commemorative bottles to restart my collection again. The clear glass bottle is a replica of the Hutchinson Bottle used between 1894 and 1901. The Aluminum Contour Bottle was introduced in 2005 for use at special events and a popular collector's item. The Aluminum bottle is marked with the 125th anniversary logo. Who knows, maybe it'll be worth a lot next time like the Andy Warhol's black and white painting of a Coke bottle. It sold for $35 million at Sotheby's in Nov 2010!

On top of the bottles, guests also received the limited edition Coca-Cola stamps in the door gift. Only 2,000 sets of these stamps have been produced. If you are philatelic, you can own them for S$19.90. Order at https://shop.vpost.com.sg/.

Man, I feel like a Coke now after creating this blog entry!

New Travel Blog – Explore Life Lah!

Today is my mother’s birthday. To mark this special day, I’m giving ‘birth’ too… to a new travel blog, Explore Life Lah!

Thank you so much for supporting Celebrate Life Lah! all this while and I hope my lifestyle posts have managed to connect with you in some ways. As you can see, of the many topics that I ramble about here, a large part has been travel-related entries. I had the good fortune of going on some sponsored trips coupled with an increased frequency of overseas trips in the last 2 years. From these vacations, I’ve accumulated a backlog of tips and information I hope to share.

For a while now, I’ve felt the need for the travel topics to set up their own home. Here are 2 reasons why :

- Smoother continuation for story flow. In the process of continuing to clear my backlog of travel posts, it’s confusing for me to put up multiple entries about the same place weeks or months apart with a bunch of unrelated blog chatterings in-between. For you who follow the travel stories (thank you very much for following!), I believe it’s confusing for you just as it is for me.

- Streamlining for easier research. Before I go on a trip, I usually search the web for information about the destinations and attractions. Some of these sites have really given me great help so this is my way of ‘contributing back’ to the travelling community by adding another voice that could hopefully help in itinerary planning.

Travel stories, tips, advice, reviews and photos... explorelah.blogspot.com.

While I’ve thought about birthing Explore Life Lah! for a while, I only started working on it after I returned from my Western Mediterranean fly-cruise trip a week ago. So a lot of the things are still works-in-progress. More destinations will be added as I start to port my previous travel posts from this site to their new home. Blogspot doesn’t have an import button like WordPress does so it’s a tedious process of transferring post by post over.

Why don’t I just use WordPress for Explore Life Lah! and make it easier on myself? Well, like the title of the travel blog suggests, I wanted t explore another blog service. There are things that Blogspot does better than WordPress, and vice versa. For one, Blogspot has better apps support than WordPress, but images takes a slightly longer time to download compared to WordPress. When you visit Explore Life Lah!, do wait a moment for the images to load completely.

Once again, thank you so much for reading and I hope you’ll find the new travel site to be worth your while visiting. To visit Explore Life Lah!, please click here. Thank you.

Yifon Letter to Health 一丰给健康的情书

非常开心在一丰有限公司及 Vibes Communication 联手举办的部落格竞赛中得了第二名！此比赛是一丰首次通过部落格的途径宣传新系列玻璃瓶装蘑菇产品。希望通过时代人的口碑，分享对此产品的体验

本来，奖品只限一份 S$1,000 现金奖，但一丰看到了参赛者对蘑菇产品的热情与参赛部落格的创意素质，决定增添第二（S$600）和第三名（S$400）让更多人有奖。由此可见，一丰是多么“人”的一间公司。想必这份以民利为本的理念也摘扎到产品里！

简单的颁奖仪式在 Gallery Hotel 举行。照片从左到右：第三名得主 Elaine Chua，我，新传媒艺人周颖小姐及第一名得主 Ellena Guan。

12月23日 – 我与其他优胜者出席了一丰通过 Vibes Comm 所举办的庆功宴，也在这个亲密的宴会上领奖。那庆祝什么呢？首先是庆祝这项部落格活动达到成功。整个活动的策划与安排由 Vibes Comm 的 Daen Ng 包办。

在短短的两个月内找来了二十几位新加坡顶尖的部落客一较高低。我很庆辛能被选中，受邀参预比赛。要在短短的几个星期内搞好一个宣传活动真是很不容易的一件事。但，一丰和 Vibes Comm 办到了。

Gallery Hotel 的厨师应用一丰蘑菇创造了几道美食。有素食蘑菇‘鱼生’、蘑菇沙拉、熟悉的杂菇培西兰花、西式蘑菇烘饼、意大利式蘑菇汤饭及中式蘑菇炒面。食谱虽简单，但显示了一丰蘑菇的多元化。

第二项要庆祝的是一丰的一系列玻璃瓶装蘑菇产品还没正式打广告就已经卖得通红。这样的销售成绩意味了好的产品往往自己会说话。我本身蛮喜欢吃蘑菇的，因为这种菌株类食物富含独特的植物养素和维生素。

在食物营养学界里闻名的普渡大学并对蘑菇进行了多项研究。 结果显示，蘑菇具有抗癌、抗肿瘤及中和免疫系统的奇功效。它们也含有强力的抗氧化剂，能助于减缓身体的老化迹象，促进健康。

出席晚宴的贵宾除了玻璃瓶装蘑菇代言人，周颖之外，还有一丰有限公司的老板 Ted Ngo。

宴上有熟悉的笛曲轻绕耳弦，我们也为开年抢先捞起‘鱼生‘。我也结识了相似本地美姐演员李锦梅的 Vibes Comm 老板娘 Charlene，同事Kenneth 及开心宝，Jacqualine Chan。

在创作参赛部落稿的期间，我和家人品尝了所有六种一丰蘑菇口味，个人的感觉是它们虽然是瓶装食品，可是吃起来感觉很新鲜美味，口感特佳。而且一打开就能吃了，非常方便。我最喜爱的口味包括茶树菇（Teatree Mushrooms），滑子菇（Nameko Mushrooms），还有辣味白灵菇（Bailing Mushrooms）。

朋友们不妨尝试把一丰蘑菇加配到快熟面或任何佳肴上增添口味及营养成份。一丰蘑菇可在各大超级市场买得到。售价每瓶 S$1.95。

周颖是新传媒八频道年度台庆剧《破天网》的主角之一。她为人友善并谈吐诚恳，希望往后多从电视上看到她的媚影，祝她大红大紫！

那为了参加这项比赛，我绞尽脑汁，费了不少失眠夜才决定以漫画的方式呈献一丰蘑菇轻便，可口，健康的优势。这是我在部落格里第一次放上漫画，也是首次于专业设计公司 Orgnix Creatives 合作。虽然漫画的视觉感没有达到我的理想，但要在那么短的时间内画好整个构思已经很辛苦了漫画师。所以我将于 Orgnix Creatives 分享一半的奖金！

如果你想看一看我们三位得奖部落篇的话，请点击以下的网址：

Ellena Guan – http://ellenaguan.blogspot.com/2010/12/goodness-of-yifon-bottled-mushrooms

Darren Ng – http://celebratelah.wordpress.com/2010/12/03/yifon-mushroom-va-va-vroom

Elaine Chua – http://writeonwhite.com/2010/11/26/yifonmushrooms_chinese

很快 2010 即将过去。希望大家在新的一年里身体丰康，龙马精神，事事如意。。。在 2011 年开始为自己和家人的健康写一封情书！