Tip for Bruneians traveling to Singapore: Accessing DSTinternet abroad.
As you may know, the Nokia E71 has essentially replaced my laptop for e-mails and instant messaging when I am on the road. As a DST 3G Prima subscriber, I discovered that DSTinternet access point worked when roamed to SingTel network (Starhub and M1 failed). I also happily discovered that establishing a 3G data connection in Singapore had been consistently quicker and more reliable than doing the same at home. The only thing I have yet to discover and something I don’t look forward to are the killer roaming charges!
In spite of the economic downturn, I made an effort to visit Singapore to have coffee with friends and colleagues who are in the photography profession. ‘Bad times’ is no reason to network any less. If anything, this is the time to establish more networks. It’s become somewhat of a year end tradition for me since Starbucks Rendezvous two Decembers ago followed by a solo parenting experience in A Day At Sentosa last year where Jamie and Jewel had a blast—wanted to bring them along on this recent trip but we had a different mission—much needed Retail Therapy!
This trip, a short and terribly exhausting one I should add, we stayed at one of my late father-in-law’s relative’s HDB flat and the view from their living room is simply beautiful every night. On our way there from the airport, we experienced a stormy night with loud thunders and streaks of lightning bolts accenting the illuminated skies. These were photographed from the 16th floor in Kallang and the only photographic documentary equipment that I brought along was my EOS 20D, a 50mm f/1.8 lens and 4GB CF card on a single battery.
↑ click on image to view larger version
The lightning effects are simulated. By the time we settled in the flat, the storm had somewhat disappointly cleared up. I get beautiful sunrises from my Seria house but a Singapore nightscape on a stormy night would be quite something to capture.
↑ click on image to view larger version
↓ Dotted lift buttons designed for the convenience of the blind. As a kid holidaying in Singapore, I would occasionally stay at an aunt’s place when she used to live there with her husband. For as long as I can remember now, our more recent trips had seen our share of stay along Orchard for a different sort of convenience—shopping.
↓ RETAIL THERAPY BEGINS HERE …
→ RETAIL THERAPY TIME OUT ←
Because we stayed away from the Central Business Districts, our morning routine is closer to home—fresh market, buzzling coffee houses, noodles, etc instead of Starbucks, McDonalds, Subway and the likes along Orchard Road.
This owner was kind enough to cut open a fresh jackfruit for this photo op. I know for a fact that pictures like this would get jackfruit lovers salivating in a sec. So ladies and gents, this one is dedicated to your craving taste bud :)
↓ Coffee Museum @ Tiong Bahru.
Right place, right time for coffee lovers like me. The yellow slimy fruit just doesn’t do it for me.
RETAIL THERAPY continues …
I visited Orient Photo at Sim Lim Square to pick up some stuff and ended up walking away with more than I planned. Women always say they cannot have enough shoes or bags, this store has enough camera inventory to make your head spin. I walked away with some Pocket Wizards, a long overdue ND8 filter and a Crumpler-made CANON EOS neckstrap from Canon @ Vivocity.
↑ While at Orient Photo, I tested a 50mm f/1.4 with the photo above when I really should have tested the 50mm f/1.2 instead. What was I thinking?
↓ I was being a busy body and couldn’t help eavesdropping a conversation between the store owner and a Caucasian photographer who was testing a Carl Zeiss 85mm f/1.4 on his Nikon D700. It didn’t take him long to confirm it and I ended up keeping the box: Carl Zeiss Planar T* 1,4/85mm ZF—I won’t disclose the price he paid for the piece but suffice to say, it’s still a lot cheaper than a Canon EF 85mm f/1.2 II.
↓ My EOS 5D with 70-200 f/2.8 fitted with Pocket Wizard Plus II and Crumpler Canon EOS neckstrap. More Canon poison? Need directions, Glenn? :)
↓ On the morning of the Singapore Marathon 2008, a peek out of the window at 6.50 AM overlooking an early Tai Chi session in progress.
I took a walk from the Kallang HDB flat, and a rather long walk I should add, to reach the cordoned off intersection of Kg Bugis where I was early enough to have seen the first runner run past. I think I stayed long enough to see about 50 runners before I decided to walk back to join my family for breakfast. Getting lost on my way back was a lonely experience but an experience no less. Being a Sunday, the roads were pretty much deserted with the occasional bus or taxi passing by. Instead of back tracking where I came from (which was very easy) I chose a direction that I thought was shorter forgetting that I was born without the benefit of a GPS DNA (men and directions!).
Quite literally a truck load of spectators!
↓ The title of this post “marathon” refers not only to the Singapore Marathon event but also the every day marathon rushing from one venue to another. Chaotic madness above ground, equally nuts below the tarmac. What interests me about Singapore and about the one thing that has kept me sane is the variety of people and their lifestyle that I find interesting and cannot get enough of. Someday I might even be crazy enough to walk around Singapore with my 5DII and 70-200mm … endless supply of people photos! (Did I just drop a hint there?)
↓ OK this one is a weird one but I can explain. I had lunch with two photographers who happened to drive Honda Stream only one of the two is a newly launched RSZ model. “CC” is a proud owner of the RSZ and I got to ride in one to some hilly part of Sg for a casual “twin Stream” shoot and fortunately, mosquito bites were by far the more unpleasant experience.
↓ This was shot on the last night of our stay—exhausted, worse off credit ratings, homesick … er .. umm .. maybe not homesick but were definitely exhausted. Our host had been very generous and the location was great with accessibility to food and transport just a stone’s throw away. I have to get some work in Singapore to visit it more often.
↓ Go ahead Starbucks. Surprise me with free coffee delivered to …. BRUNEI!
This was the only Starbucks joint I managed to drop in for a quick shot of Cappuccino.
RELATED SINGAPORE LINKS (in case you haven’t had a chance to click on the links above)
Jan, how much was the pocket wizards?
great post Jan. I love SG myself too, always making it a point to go over once a year. Great shots of the marathon. Too bad i was IN it, otherw i would hv tried taking shots too!
Oh yea! Crumpler Canon straps?!?! Poison indeed! I want one! (Soon!)
5D Mark II? Did I read that right? And that strap really poisons me. Anyone going to S’pore?
Just to add to Jan’s comment on the RSZ a little.
The RSZ was launched by Honda in JP about 2 years ago. Parallel importers (PI) in Singapore were importing them in like nobody’s business, such that the only authorized dealer here, Kah Motor (KM), were losing quite a bit of the market share.
So KM decided to take a bite into the PIs pie by importing the RSZ with sunroof by end of this year. I took no chance and booked a unit, since the idea of changing my Mit Lancer to the Honda Stream was lingering in my mind for quite a while. Not because of anything else, but my family members were too many for a 5-seater Mit Lancer.
oh yea, congrats on the new buy. looking forward for your review on the 5DII hehe
Oooo 5D2 :D Nice nice :)
Is there a Nikon Crumpler strap???? Hrmphf
Hey Jan…
Again you came to Singapore and you didn’t tell me! Saw the images you took from where you stayed. My best friend lives in Kallang too and her house has the same view. Looks like you might have stayed at the same block.
Anyway, I was waiting for you to come over because I wanted to introduce you to a sculpture collection that a local art gallery is selling. The concept was created by an up-and-rising Italian designer based here, and brought to life by a Singaporean sculptor. Pity about the missed opportunity. Do check out the sculptures when you can lah: THE AUSPICIOUS SERIES
And please let me know when you’re next in Singapore!
Merry Christmas =)
Looks like you got yourself some early Christmas presents huh Jan! Haha… Don’t we all need a retail therapy like that?!
Great work on the “lightning” (looks real!) and the 50mm 1.4 is so poisonous, guess the 1.2 would have “kill” me instantly then. ;)
I want two of that RED CANON strap…hehehe
Cool! I would like to know how much you got the pocketwizards for as well!
Great writeup on Singapore. I love the place too, especially its local food. Though it can be abit too spicy at times. Thats singapore tourism for you. =)
From retail therapy to physiotherapy, from one poison to another, the trip was unfortunately too short. I was unable to meet the people with whom I had made tentative plans for coffee, some for the first time including a couple who “met” through SHIMWORLD. I have a soft spot for the Lion City that stems from a combination of over a decade of employment with a Singapore IT firm and also from the warm hospitality of friends and fellow artists I came to know over the years.
Although STEPHEN LOH and I did not meet this time, the only one time I stepped into Starbucks was a pit stop for a double-shot cappuccino. If you recall my previous post about ZEMOTION and her book SOMETHING BEAUTIFUL, I met with Jingna’s sales rep to pick up a copy (numbered 104/999) that had been autographed earlier in my name before she left for Paris. Dexter who survived an afternoon with me in Seria had first look at her brilliant images.
@ eyan
The Pocket Wizards seem to be the only idea that would work where the Canon ST-E2 transmitter likely fails—in large venues and out in the sun. It’s frustrating when flash refuses to fire when expected and a number of incidents convinced me that these are the way to go. I’ve not had a chance to test the advertised 500m range yet and since ETTL is not supported, manual flash is something that comes with a new learning curve. Oh, they’re less than $400 each and something I hadn’t researched enough, on Canon Speedlites only the 580EX-II has a factory sync port that hooks right up whereas the 580EX require modification to the foot adapter.
@ d3xlabs, kantalensa, eyan, Nicholas Leong, Ed, CL
About the Canon Crumpler neck strap, I’m not interested in keeping it and had just strapped it to my 5D for a teaser picture. I’m not a big fan of neck straps and prefer the hand strap instead. Circumstances involving handling of two bodies made it more convenient to use the neck strap instead. I know what you’re thinking and yes, I’ll let it go for $50.00 (contact me if you’re interested.) CL, there may well be a Nikon Crumpler equivalent but such items are rather poorly documented on the web it can be frustrating to find. The Canon piece doesn’t appear on Crumpler’s web either.
(Heading out for a swim to burn off the calories from Singapore and late night snacks). Something that may be of interest to note is on the day I stepped out of the door to catch a flight to the night I got home, I wore a pair of Nike ACG Sidewinder the entire trip. No doubt a pair of seasoned sneakers would have been much more comfortable to walk in for long hours but consider the number of times I was going in and out of many fitting rooms, slip-ons had greater appeal.
Kantalensa, you read right about the 5DII and for very good reasons. The ISO 3200/6400 sample imagess and video footage I’ve seen so far (with exception of the newly discovered ‘black dot phenomenon’) makes for a compelling case:
Links from Vincent Laforet’s Blog
7 Days, 7 Shoots – EOS 5D MKII
Reverie is now back online
“Reverie” Interview now online
Before news of the EOS 5DII made headlines, I’ve worked with my associate Anthony who uses a Nikon D3 I have seen how fantastic its high ISO performance is and am sold on the confidence that the EOS platform would be equal or exceed expectations. According to a review I came across, the 5DII excelled at ISO 3200 and its ISO 6400 was a tad noisier than the D3 but the 5DII retains more details. I think the verdict speaks volumes.
The 5DII and high ISO 3200/6400 isn’t for everyone. I recently had a discussion with a 5D owner that quickly escalated into an argument over opinion differences. So, eyan, it’s unlikely I will do a 5DII review when a good friend in Hong Kong has set the wheel of in-depth review in motion:
How High a Resolution is 21.1 Megapixels?
Canon EOS 5D Mark II ISO6400 shots
New Canon EOS 5D Mark II Finally in My Hands Now!
I consider the 5DII a revolutionary tool for the discerning artist and the super clean ISO3200/6400 performance has literally created new latitudes in photography previously not available in film and this suits the way I work my digital 35mm and my selection of f/2.8 lenses.
nice that canon crumpler strap! and that Carl Zeiss 85mm f/1.4, so poisonous!
Post up more about the Pocketwizards..how its work n etc hehehe really interested with that Poison…;-P
in spite of the economic downturn? lol how are you effected (directly) by the economic downturn? do tell
I really do hope starbucks sends you coffee man :)
Keep us updated!
-Gerald
The Canon Crumpler strap will have a new owner soon. Despite the “for sale” notice, it had taken the keen eye of a lawyer to have noticed the small prints. I’m certain when the item exchanges hands, news of it will resurface sometime, somewhere, somehow. I also learnt earlier this afternoon that a small group of EOS 40D owners have begun a group buy for the Crumpler strap. It’s one thing to have this influence, I’m not so sure I would encourage it! :P
So, all this talk about shopping, surely there is no “economic downturn” is there? Look beyond the word “shop” and understand the difference between shopping for the sake of shopping or shopping to invest in new equipment for work. And as far as work goes, I think the Pocket Wizards are, in my professional opinion, a great investments, the red strap is eye-candy (and in principle, no longer mine). I’m curious as to how you managed to have stereotyped me into the category who isn’t affected by the current economic situation, directly OR indirectly. I’d be happy to divulge if your inquisition is genuine and sincere.
Your IP address suggests you’re in Bandar Seri Begawan, I wonder if you had somehow seen me in an expensive vehicle which I do not own (but in fact drive a 10 year old car), or had shown up at a functions in a suit that may appear to be designer but which is far from it, or had seen me eating in a nice restaurant when in fact I was being treated to a nice meal. Ever cross your mind that apart from shopping in Singapore, I was in fact looking for opportunities to take my business elsewhere? Has it also crossed your mind that my clients are hit by the economic downturn that jobs have been cut and spending power restricted?
Right now, a shot of Cappuccino from Starbucks, however remote a chance, seems promising (at the very least, someone in Singapore has shown more support than someone who is on the same IP subnet!). The “economic downturn” is very real and if it has not affected your pay check, directly or indirectly, then consider yourself a privileged exception.
I still want to go to Singapore LOL. The shots from the apartment was great. You should go to Taiwan, There is a Starbuck at practically every corner. PS: There is one at KK airport too but no Burger King.
hi janshim,
haven’t got a chance to talk to you much after my hungary trip, but nonetheless i hope you enjoyed your trip in sg and hope we were hospitable enough for your liking!
pocketwizards? planning on strobing? hope to see those works soon! (:
cheers!
Superb Photographs friend I like this post as well
Singapore Tourism
Nice Lightning photographs awesome to see
such a sensational clarity on this picture