Expression vs. Economics

I'm an extremely emotional person.  


I see beyond the depths of skin-deep facades, and feel beneath the outreach of life's little textures; like a bug drawn to the blue light, my instincts are poisoned by the very essence that drives me.


So the challenge is this: Be the coconut tree along the beach front, or thrive like the solid oak tree down the road?  There are no two ways about this I'm afraid.


My only saving grace, is that at the very least...I'm putting some thought into it.  Fall not into the abyss of indifference.

Maybe someday.

I dream of a place,
Where the sparse forest meets the beach, and the cool water meets the land.

I dream of a place,
That's impossible to reach, though I know, maybe someday, I can.

I see a place,
Devoid of intrusion, with no apparent delusion, where my thoughts are finally crystal clear.

Like that sparse forest in the distance, where the cool water meets the land.

I see that place and I guess, perhaps; Maybe someday,

Recollections

Wendy and I are having the usual friends over at our place tonight, and we're planning to celebrate the crossing over from 2010-2011 in a rather peculiar fashion - eating Teochew Porridge at home.  That's right...no heavy stuff.  We'll probably watch the countdown on Channel 5, and pop open the Moscato that we bought for this occasion, and that will be it.  Trust me when I say this is considered a lot of activity for us, because Wendy & I slept through new year's eve in '99, only to wake up in the morning of 1/1/2000 to check that the lights worked, and then we promptly went back to sleep like any other day.

This year, however, as I'm cleaning the house in preparation for our guests tonight, I came across a receipt from an Arco gas station - something that I didn't discard upon returning from our trip to California in November 2010.

This year, however, as I'm cleaning the house, I'm going to come across many other items that have been left over from my experiences in 2010 and beyond - red packets from weddings come and gone,  the old car insurance policy from 2009, my boarding pass stub from a flight to remember on 11th February 1996, and two guitar picks from the early 90s during my jamming days with Julian & Winston.

This year, however, as I'm cleaning the house, I'm going to finally discard some of those things, especially the empty red packets, old car insurance policy, and yes....even that boarding pass stub.

There are certain things that will remain with you forever, and you should keep those things close to your heart.  There are certain things that are meant to be let go off, and only when you decide to let the feather out of your hands, will you finally give the winds of change a fleeting chance.  Let it go. Progress.

In the words of the great Spock; Live long and prosper.

Four Meetings & A Few Words

I first met Wen at Mel & Lynn's wedding, which i covered in Oct 2009. My first impressions of Wen were of his uncanny ability to make one feel at ease, with his genuine nature, soft-spoken tone of voice and a smile on his face that assured you that you were in the right company.

The second time I met Wen, was at Melben Seafood Restaurant, when Dennis & Charlene returned from San Jose, California to make arrangements for their wedding in June of 2010. It was at this very meeting where Wendy (my wife) discovered that Wen was her schoolmate at Nanyang Primary School, back in the 80s. Wendy tells me that Wen was one of the nicest people on earth, and I couldn't agree more.

The third time I met Wen again was at Dennis & Charlene's wedding. We didn't talk much because I was working while being as sick as a dog that day, and wasn't able to join them in the after-wedding party, as much as I wanted to.

Almost a year to the day we first met, Wen and I met yet again at another wedding. When I saw his familiar face, we shook hands, said hi, and I told him in a joking manner, "Dude, we've gotta stop meeting like this man." He laughed, and totally agreed with me. We made some casual conversation for a minute or two, before I had to peel myself away and got back to work again.

Yesterday was the 19th of December, 2010. I just found out that Wen had passed away at the tender age of 31, after he collapsed due to a heart attack, while having his favorite chicken rice and steamboat at Golden Mile. Wen's last words to Sharmin were,"Do you want some more chilli?".

It still feels rather surreal, and non of us can believe that Wen is no longer around. Despite not knowing Wen very well, I feel extremely saddened by his passing, especially since (at our last meeting) I jokingly said we shouldn't meet at weddings anymore ...a fact that suddenly holds far more weight than I can imagine.

Whatever the case is, I cannot help but look on the positive side of this experience. It has been a known fact that my inspiration in photography has been about the people. I am a photographer because people aren't around for the longest time, and as such, material things in weddings are somewhat secondary in my opinion. I've always cherished the opportunity to participate in the progression of people's lives, because I know that it is only through my eyes, that people can hold the best and worst experiences close to them, and grow with the memory of those experiences.

Somewhere along the way, I believe I lost track of my purpose in life, and I have been reminded of it once again.

So, to those who have had the honor of knowing Wen, I hope this image of him will give you the strength to move on with your lives, as much as he would have wanted you to.



In memory of Wen Tong, 1979 - 2010.

Undercover Food Review - Nasi Lemak Kukus

Having recently returned from a three week trip to California, I decided to drop by Nasi Lemak Kukus for my Asian food fix

Just a few weeks old, Nasi Lemak Kukus is nestled just outside the quiet old neighborhood of Thong Soon Green, along Upper Thomson Road. As you enter the sparse and clinical layout of the shop space, you're greeted by scribbles on the wall informing you of the contents of each plate of Nasi Lemak, and the availability of beverages to wash the grub down with. Simple and effective.

The approach is equally easy - choose between Chicken or Fish (as I was asked to), decide on a drink, and you're supplied with a plate of coconut rice and dried anchovies (with or without peanuts). Next, you bring your plate over to the kitchen, where they plop an over medium egg on your plate together with your choice of chicken or fish (of which I mysteriously got both).

The biggest and perhaps best surprise of the lot, is the Nasi Lemak chilli. While most places serve up no options, Nasi Lemak Kukus gives you a choice of 2 - spicy or sweet. The spicy version probably sits at 5 on a spice scale of 1-10, while the sweet version would come in at a
meager 3.

Sitting down at a well lit table in the back, I went through each part of the entire plate, savoring the explosion of spices in the chicken wing, which seemed to be marinated and battered with some form of curry powder, amazingly crispy peanuts and anchovies, lovely slices of fresh and chilled cucumber, and coconut rice that I haven't experienced at a food establishment in a long, long time.

All is not perfect, however. As much as I love the fragrance of the coconut rice, it did seem a little undercooked. Perhaps that feature of the coconut rice is a traditional trait of the cooking method, and I'd love some feedback from the owner about this in due course.

At the end of the day, while Nasi Lemak Kukus was worth the drive from Choa Chu Kang, I still yearn for my mother's rendition of this aromatic symphony.






Nasi Lemak Kukus
908 Upper Thomson Road
Singapore 787111
Tue - Sun: 6pm - 3am.

From California with Love

Just returned from a 3 week working/vacation trip to the bay area, and this is one of my favorite images I took over there. Many thanks to Dennis & Charlene for being wonderful hosts during my stay there, and I look forward to seeing them again when I make a return journey in 2011.

Expressively Joho has a new partner in the business!

Effective July 1st, 2010, I've joined Jonathan and Michael at Expressively Joho as a partnering photographer, and will be operating under the Expressively Joho (EJ) brand name. I feel like I've been given a new lease of life, since it was getting a little boring working alone, and having known Jonathan for a few years now, working with EJ is a breeze. Here's to good times ahead.

The old blog at reflection.sg is no longer in operation, and I'll be using this one for my personal posts, with some images thrown into the mix. My personal work website as of now is located at: http://reflection.taloslab.com/index.php