Fatal attractions

'Life will change without our permission. It's our attitude that determines the ride'


There are some people whom we're attracted to, and there are some that are just bad for us.It's not that they are inherently bad, they could be the type of person that brings out the worst in us, causes us to try to be perfect, be less natural, and we'll never be truly happy in their presence. We feel that we're not so clever and definitely not pretty.

It may not be caused by them, no, they could even be completely oblivious to our presence. But just being the way they are and being there brings a deluge of feelings in our soul. This leads me to the question,What makes us change ourselves?Knowing, that the person does not care, or could possibly not even be aware of your existence. Trying to shape ourselves to that person's world, doing what he does and liking what he likes. Why do we do that? Will we like ourselves better if we gave it a chance and went on this little adventure, or will we just regret that we never gave ourselves and 'it' a shot - whatever it may be?

I would like to think that if we had gone down this path too often, we'll never make the same mistakes. But I also think that to a certain extent, we cannot help what we're attracted to, even if it's bad for us. Sometimes it's good to not be entirely 'ourselves', but I think in the day-to-day, it's better to be natural.

Continuing on the thought of getting in touch with nature, I was happy to go on a daytrip across the border to Malaysia, in Pasir Gudang area - inside the Tanjong Puteri Golf Resort, for horse-riding! This was something I've wanted to do more often this year and hopefully I will be able to be a solo rider next year.

I'm always drawn to a great experience in natural settings and brought Dad along with me. His verdict was that this ride through tall oil palms, along the coast where we could see our dear Singapore (Pulau Ubin) across the sea, and in the grassy shrubs and local plants was far more better than the last time I brought him horse-riding in Bali on the black volcanic sands on the beach! I was really happy to have this experience, a mini-adventure of sorts while adapting to the corporate/start-up life in Singapore. I really can't explain the feeling that overtakes you while you are on a horse, trotting in the depths of nature. Just a feeling that I hope I can replicate in the most high tension days in my life.

Here is Mouss' site and he's great to reply on whatsapp on any questions you may have: http://amigoshorse.tripod.com/contact.html


Some more photos:

Making new travel friends in Penang, and visiting Universal Studios

My absolute favorite shot using film, taking a few images over and over. This was always unplanned as I just like to take candid shots most of the time nowadays. I like the feeling of when the man becomes one with the sky and a tree is sprouting from his neck =)

So my last trip of the year was not to Marseille, as I had originally expected.

Voila, I had a few more days of leave unexpectedly, so I decided to go to Penang, a place I had liked very much having been there twice but only for short stints of time. This time round I just wanted a quiet and refreshing time to myself, enjoying a book and some coffee, taking lots of long walks. These envisioned walks was almost impossible due to the suddenly sweltering weather that even I could not handle, it didn't rain at all (only on the last night I was there!) and anyone would need a respite from the heat after 20 minutes or so. Still, it was good. As always I am blessed to meet kind strangers there and never once felt lonely. Me and my travel friend stopped by a guesthouse on Chulia for a cheap beer to cool off and the owner was a natural entertainer, he even showed me his passport where he spent 'one night in Paris', and some incredible tales. Adding to that, he was waiting for his birthday when the clock struck midnight, so we hung around for a while, and I chatted briefly to a china lady traveller who now also resides in France.

I wasn't impressed with the postcards commonly found and knew the best ones were to be had at the Eastern & Oriental Hotel, in Georgetown, a short walk away from my chic hostel, a Japanese inn concept known as Ryokan; they were on Muntri Street. It was in our 4-bed dorm where I found to my delight and amazement 2 Finnish sisters who shared the dorm with me and my travel friend!

The Eastern & Oriental's front porch opens up to a rather unassuming horizon and that was where I had my comforting me-time sitting on the rock boulder, reading a book and waiting for the sunset. And also waiting for the postcard shop to open, because a sign had informed me the staff was out to dinner. My dinner was later a very delicious pizza with serrano ham and mushrooms la' italia, at Soul Kitchen just a few steps down from Ryokan. The folks at Soul Kitchen were kind too; they noticed I was losing the battle with the bloodsuckers of the night and was using one hand to put a slice of pizza into my mouth and one hand to swat the invisible squadrons with their electric tennis racquet shaped swatter (I love that contraption, it makes a satisfying sizzling sound when the enemy has been vanquished) and they kindly gave me a kind of balm to rub on my bites. Now you know why people prefer not to go al fresco at certain times of the day.

I had a very pleasant chat with the lady at the E&O's shop counter who gushed excitedly about Singapore once she realized I was a Singaporean. She was going to relocate for a while with her daughter to work there once again, and regaled many tales, I shared in her excitement for her new journey of 2013. It must not be easy for such a decision as there are many things to consider, for them, it entailed some hard months of savings just for a few months' initial survival without work in expensive Singapore. But they remain enthusiastic about enjoying another culture, a faster-paced one, despite the laborious shift work they would be taking. I wished them well and hope they had a good relocation. We chatted till the sun had set and I walked home slowly, resolving to enjoy what other people did in Singapore, instead of doing the boring old usual stuff.

On my last day in Penang I went with the Finnish sisters to Penang Hill. I was stoked, it was the very place I had wanted to go but did not want to go alone. We took a quite-modern furnicular, swiss-made, up the Hill, it zoomed up speedily and we went early to avoid the scary crowds arriving by tour buses, those we saw on our way back. There is quite a few nice hiking and biking trails, amazing jungle plants and we even saw a giant black squirrel and a large spider, possibly the only two wildlife spotted. I have always wanted to meet Finnish people because I know 2 in the same building workplace as I, and wondered about them at times.

Also, Julien and I had such a bad habit of saying 'finished (sounds the same as finnish)' all the time, we made a rule not to mention the Finnish so often!

I ended up doing the countdown on NYE with 2 Finnish men. Watching faraway fireworks from someone's roof. Drinking 'Finlandia' (Haha, they said they bought it because it was the cheapest at Bangkok airport.) mixed with our local passionfruit tea. The mix, and the fair one who doled out the mix was very popular with the taiwanese-looking girls at the house party we went to! They were really nice though a tad serious for their age being a tiny 21. Watched with glee at their trying sushi for the first time and really liking it, then finally seeing young people when I brought them to the 'young people spot' and met some Couchsurfers, on our famous Bridge at Clarke Quay. They were quite satisfied with the hordes there. They said they had walked around the city for a whole day and failed to spot any young 'uns. A devastating sign of our ageing populace. I liked their company very much, so far I have brought around many people of different nationalities here but I think my preferred type are those who are quietly observant, curious, and serious. Voila! So then I found myself agreeable to visiting the only one theme park we have, Universal Studios, with the two, and they were stoked to be like boys of 10 again and I was stoked to have someone manly to accompany me to rides I was not acquainted to. Surprisingly yes, I too felt like a kid of 10 again, and found I have no fear of falling, I just let myself be turned upside down and swiveled here and there quite happily. The Transformers ride was a remarkable experience and the Battlestar, everyone has to try both the red and blue rides!

I was inspired by the way they travel, it is not like the Singaporean way I am used to and unfortunately tend to fall back upon - the way of traveling and not enjoying the walk or the journey but rather too focused on the destination itself, the need to plan for every single itinerary even in pockets of time where the best is to just wander around and find some cool spot to while away the hours...not to mention the over-compensating of intensive shopping as almost everywhere we travel to, we find things are at such a bargain that it is a waste not to shop... and then we never wear the things we buy, because it would look too outstandingly ethnic. I'm different now, I impress people now with my dispassionate window shopping, mainly because I know my backpack is too small and also my wardrobe still has those dresses I never wear. I'm only a bit obsessed with finding nice bracelets, earrings and postcards still... ...

Meeting the young Finnish, I was reminded about the first backpacking trip I did when I was 19 with my best friend. Though it was only to KL and Melaka we felt like heroes carrying this backpack everywhere, and finally not traveling with our parents! The Finnish men were actually traveling together with one of the sisters I had met in Penang who was attached to one of them, they parted ways for a few days to travel independently, and after Singapore the men parted ways as well; one heading to Bali for 16 days and the other taking the slow train up the Malaysian jungle all the way to Kuala Lumpur. It's nice to travel like that, sometimes I need the independence and sometimes it's nice to meet again and share experiences.  Especially now that I like to take photographs, I may linger for a long time at a spot just to capture the essence of some old buildings or chase down some alley cats. And I think it's good to breakaway from the group for a bit.

They are one of the nicest travelers I've met and this unexpected short travel friendship really refreshes me for the new year as I embark on my own journey. 2012 was incredible, having some surprises and many moments I hold close to my heart. For 2013, I think I am a bit closer to finding a dream come true, and I will have a smile on my face as I remember the last trip of the year.

  If you squint you can see the screaming people...

Walking past street art by Lithuanian artist Ernest Zacharevic, at Jalan Penang

We explored the streets and the small town's market located just below Penang Hill. She is walking through ghostly people, LOL...

It was a lively morning market 

I heard some locals describing the weather as an 'yin tian', the kind of cloudy-foggy with heat that does not encourage a clear view. Still, it was lovely to be up there.

These street comics are made from twisted metal rods, delightful and informative on almost every street in Georgetown. I especially liked the one on Love Lane, it used to be where wealthy chinese merchants kept their mistresses and the metal rod art depicted a fatso hanging from the wall. LOL!

Quiet and clean, impeccably clean Batu Ferringhi. Quite a long stretch of beach peppered with funny barking dogs, hordes of starfish that only small Western kids bothered to throw back, and a huge jellyfish was spotted too.

It wasn't a popular spot for jetski, parasailing, etc, so the up side is that you can be the lone parasailer.

 My personal favorite and I think almost all Penang loves this street art by Lithuanian artist Ernest Zacharevic

 Trying to experiment with doubles and triples on film, here are buildings and boats on/in them. One day I'll be a famous photographer!

I didn't know starfishes had six arms/legs...

Batu Ferringhi beach and some ghostly forests =)

photo friday: gather the thoughts left behind, in july

How it all started was thanks to one man in my life. Pinky.

He knew me when I was at my lowest at the beginning of the year, moneyless, jobless, loveless and a lot of other things -less; and chose to still meet me, to still connect, to give me the dose of badly needed self-confidence. A quiet guy, he listened, listens still, to the reverberations in my soul. He reminds me of a lop rabbit I loved very much. Mushroom. The pet I adored, irreplaceably mine. Although that rabbit could not articulate anything, it always perked up its ears when I spoke to him. And with his big dark round eyes peering at me, it comforted me that in some intrinsic sort of way, he could understand. 

Pinky is the most positive person I know, and I sometimes wonder if he wasn't a figment of my imagination, something I had just fancied out of thin air. I even told him so, because he never once 'liked' any of my photos on fb..or interacted in any way besides on the phone or f2f... but he assured me he was real.

He told me to tell him what was grieving me in the romantic sphere, I couldn't, verbally, so I wrote it out in a letter, I wrote it imagining him listening with an empathetic spirit. This month, what I had written got selected and published on a men's dating site (american one!), to my amazement and pride. Thank you, Pinky.

He told me to 'just be happy', during my darkest moments where I became the melancholy, critical and overthinking shadow of my former cheerful and helpful self. 

Just be happy? Just be happy? How can I be happy when I am jobless, moneyless, loveless and a lot of other things -less?

So I found things to perk me up in the daily grind. I took a toy camera with me everywhere, and slowly became obsessed about documenting the old buildings in my area, Bukit Pasoh Conservation District, lovely old Peranakan and Chinese shophouse style buildings. I skipped lunch most days, just to spend the hour taking photos, or running to the photolab, processing, and collecting them. This activity brought some spirit to my disillusioned shadow. I wrote some articles.

I started my journeys.

I painted a wall, mural, something which kept me occupied on the too-lonesome weekends.

I found my dream job and met the founders of the firm. Even though it may not work out, I'm thankful.

Drew him sometimes, as a lion, an inside joke only both of us would know. He was always immensely cheered to find them, the drawings on my moleskine notebook paper, always hidden somewhere as a surprise. It was tough days for him too, but he never complained once. He was not very healthy. He had relocated halfway around the world just months ago. He had some losses in his life he never once griped about. He is the most positive person I know. 

I finished painting a wall.

This wall is in Melaka, Malaysia, in a UNESCO world heritage site, on the front of a guesthouse.

It took 3 weekends, each starting and ending with 5 hour bus rides to the location, and 15-20 hours for that wall's completion.

On the last weekend I went to paint my wall, I met a man who would change my life forever.

And all these, ALL THESE, (all....these....all these...alll.....thesessse *echoes bouncing off an imaginary valley scape) happened in July.

I said to Pinky on the 25th of July:

You are the most positive person I know.

No matter what or where, I hope you will always have a role in my life to play.

I guess you are my guardian angel. =)

He said to me, once:

Love

comes

without

Notice.

 

And for pouring a little bit of himself into me, I am thankful.

  

'There are pages in our story, maybe just one or two, where the character that holds the hammer
also holds the glue.'
-Tyler Knott Gregson

Sleeping all the way to Tioman

Snorkeling close to Monkey Bay.

This is how I went from Singapore to Tioman on a budget, with 7 others and it may contain useful information for rich travelers who want to become frugal travelers. Yes! Like me!

The last weekend I had slept in so many places I could not remember all of them...
No, nothing of the sort where I wake in different stranger's apartments - though maybe that's a story for another day...  I had decided a day before, to go on a weekend trip to Tioman. Having the Singaporean mentality of needing a timetable, always getting some telephone number (in case of emergency) and finding out the location of ATMs/moneychanger on the island, and bringing spare singapore dollars just-in-case, and of course, prior to the trip, must-read up on several blogs, lonely planet, tripadvisor, I would say that I was really spontaneous because I did not do any of the above. And also, I only decided to go on the day before the trip!

Okay, I admit I read what was published on tripadvisor.com. =) Hee hee.

So having really dark circles now since the last couple of weeks watching Euro Cup 2012, having went to Helipad for the first time ever (whole of Europe is there on that Thursday night, I feel unique, yay), went to Night Safari, Gardens by the Bay for the first time, a secret shisha place known as Magic Carpet, and did I forget to mention... last weekend early morning bus to Melaka... I really needed some restorative sleep for my liver and kidney function...

So on one hand I would be happier to stay home and sleep through the weekend, wouldn't I?





On another hand... I have not been to Tioman before... (and imagine my surprise when the group of people, 6 of them who I have not met previously, turned out to be super sweet people! Le French!)

And sleeping on the beach on a hammock (I assume there is a hammock) hearing the waves swish by is something I have not done in a long time. I also have not worn my swimsuit for a long time... =D

It was possible to sleep all the way there and back and not be too embarassed because my eyes were closed anyway, though I did notice some who could not sleep noticing me sleeping unglamourously... Heehee! I slept well on a row of blue chairs at the jetty, in the ferry, on a thin mattress where I could feel all the curves of my backside on the floor (but the floor was a good one, no complain there), in a hammock by the beach (yessss!), while sitting on the beach, in the taxi/private car driven by enterprising uncle, sleeping while pretending to be awake after lunch... I think I have accomplished the impossible. If everyone thought I was so chill... so zen... I am actually sleep deprived!!!

And now I have also mastered sleeping in the office with my eyes wide open. ZZZ.

Tioman was awesomeeeeeee!


Snapshots:

Malang Rock - The boat guide told me this was named 'Unlucky' Rock - Malang means unlucky/down on one's luck in Melayu, however no one knows the real reason for such an inauspicious name. Perhaps you will be unlucky if you hit your head on this huge rock. It does look imposing.


Random french girl who was solo globetrotter for 9 months. Salut.


We stayed in the budget traveler area of Kampung Air Batang known as ABC on the ferry stop.





My hammock, everyone should have a weekend lying in a hammock!

Salang Village:

Went to the other side of Tioman for lunch and spotted some Singaporean families, but most of the bodies on the beach were young Europeans on Summer vacation. Here is Salang Village and if you wish, you can easily snorkel from this shore to the left to some interesting spots.








This is my favorite place in the whole trip: Coral Island!!!







Coral Island - this is really a respite, an escape from city life, almost like a slice of paradise to me there were perfect laping waves, the cute brown rocks at the sides (looking almost 'strategically' placed like our fake rocks on Sentosa beach), sandy white beach. A little further in, there was a forest of dense foilage and a couple of large monitor lizards looking for little live creatures to devour. While the rest were enthusiastically snorkelling, I was enthusiastically taking a nap, floating with lifejacket on.

Budget for the frugal. (written by Kai Betrand Elvin on couchsurfing Singapore):

* To cross the border, that's a regular Singapore bus with ez-link,
* 30 ringgits for the bus to mersing, back and forth,
* 80 ringgits for the ferry, back and forth,
* 5 to 40 ringgits per night, depending on your choice, (We landed at Air Batang "ABC" from the ferry)
* 4 to 15 ringgits per meal, depending on your choice,
* Add around 70-90 ringgits for the snorkeling trip.

We took a taxi (actually a normal car driven by enterprising uncle who will agree to a fee), from Larkin to Mersing it was 160 ringgit total and from Mersing to the Woodlands CIQ it was 250 ringgit.

To note, we were exasperated by the uncompromising infrastructure of the small fishing village of Mersing, Once we disembarked from the ferry, we had to walk a distance to the bus terminal, almost impossible to find if you are a first time solo traveller. Then there weren't any seats on the bus for Sunday evening and there were few options for a group of 5. (4 can fit a taxi, 7 people for minibus.) Was told there would be a bus at 8:30pm but that meant two waiting hours of possibly finding it full, plus all the ticket counters were closed and only reopened at 8pm. Thanks to a local lady tour agent who helped us secure a private car to the Woodlands checkpoint we did make it back speedily, but it would be frustrating for those in a smaller group or with limited knowledge of local languages.

I would highly recommend everyone who goes to Tioman island to hop on a chartered boat even if you cannot swim or snorkel, it is amazing just being on the small islands around the area.

 

Photos are taken with an analog camera Superheadz (also known as Vivitar Ultra wide & slim). Film used: Agfa Precisa CT100. Processed by Shalom Colorlab.

Using lomography redscale film

Cute red post box on redscale film

Following the first time I used Lomography Lady Grey and Chrome Xpro, (yes, I am slow on the uptake, having found a good film I tend to buy in bulk the way my parents bought fruits and toothpaste) I decided to buy 3 rolls of redscale, (it comes in rolls of 3) of film.I took these shots (2 rolls) all in Melaka, Malaysia - what would be a better place, as the city is full of red buildings as well =)

It was quite interesting to see how the photos turned out. My observations:

Early morning (8am - 9am):
Muted reds, no strong contrast, almost grainy, black/silhouettes are stark, almost purplish on my screen

Noon time - 3 pm on a sweltering hot (30 degrees +) day:
Yellowish contrast, sun rays looks yellow, whole photo has yellow tinge

Afternoon 4pm onwards on a cloudy day:
I found this timing to have the most interesting outcomes. Some of the photos look sepia -ish and some shots has the totally yellow tinge + black, with no red, while others are almost the same as in the early morning with little contrast.

In sheltered areas such as doorways with no direct overhead light
All the photos are really with no contrast in areas where the sun is not overhead, where I took the photos they turned out quite dark, so best is to have a nice overhead sun!

Here are some of the people and beautiful old buildings I managed to capture.
I am super happy with the results of redscale despite my earlier misgivings. =)

Camera: Superheadz
Film: Lomography Redscale XR 50 - 200 35mm
Location: Melaka, Malaysia

Where to buy this film in Singapore: Many places, notably snapshop asia, lomography shop, almost all analog photo shops that sell lomography products


Early morning (8am - 9am):

Noon time - 3 pm on a sweltering hot (30 degrees +) day:

Afternoon 4pm onwards on a cloudy day:

I'm really, really surprised with the results of the redscale film as I thought it would produce slightly boring photos with little contrast, I imagined too that the red might be too glaring, but the subtly grainy effects with non-boring different tones make me now want to take many, many rolls of red...

And that could very well turn into a reality, but after I complete my journey with Xpro chrome, black and white film, and possibly my last roll of Ferrania Solaris 800. I took about 200 photos using Ferrania Solaris and was disheartened to hear that the factory in Italy had stopped production last year. I am a lover of grainy effect + pinky tone, so hopefully there will be a film someday that is able to be my constant companion.