"Point that thing at me and I'm calling the police!"

That's what a bald headed, middle-aged man said to me as he walked up to my right, where my camera was slung over my shoulder, hanging against my hip. There I was minding my own business, with both hands occupied, holding open a copy of the 'Metro' and was actually reading it, when this wacko came up to me from behind and delivered the 'threat'. I was stunned for a moment and was caught, not knowing how to reply. As I mustered "But I'm not even holding my camera!", the man of average height, dressed in full black walked away, out of earshot. That's the first incident.
Then on another occasion, I saw the potential for a nice pic as I was emerging from Kenmore T station, walking up the flight of steps which would bring me from darkness into light. As I looked up, I saw two toddlers standing at the top of the stairs, and my immediate instinct was to bring my camera to my eye quickly and make a shot. However, before I could snap, I saw through my viewfinder, the mother of the kids quickly pulling them away from my line of view and I could hear her saying something like, "quickly move away!" Of course that totally ruined that potentially nice pic and I made one shot and continued up the steps. As I passed them, the mother rebuked me and said, " You shouldn't be taking pictures of kids randomly!" I muttered a soft sorry but again, I don't think she heard me.
Thereafter, I was a little hesitant to shoot people face-on and laid off it for awhile. I related these incidents to my PJ Prof and he made me share the stories with my class and opened it for discussion, about some of the difficulties of shooting on the streets.
Here's the pix that almost was...
You can just see the mom's finger motioning her daughter to move towards her and out of my sight. The pix would not have been a winner anyway cos that man suddenly came into the frame. Geez, got scolded for nothing!

MMJ

I rediscovered this pix while housekeeping my hard disk which is running out of space. Notice how in this digital age, hard disk space is never enough, no matter how big!
This was shot when we were in Bangkok last March. The little one arrived in BKK as sick as a little puppy, hence the fever patch on her forehead. We love BKK!
I think the blanket is on the wrong body...father and daughter sleeping in Silom Serene, a boutique hotel in...where else...Silom!

Typical Dinner

I'm not a cook. Never been one, and will probably never be one. But I have managed to 'whip' up edible dinners to save money instead of eating out. It's no fun eating out at a restaurant alone anyway, and having to tip at the end of the meal! So here's my typical meal. I'm a fan of black sauce, so almost all my dishes will include that in some form. My good mum sent me some "Made-in-Malaysia" caramel black sauce, which ended up spilling on all the stuff in the box in which it arrived. However, the hassle is more than worth it. So back to my meal. I can survive for weeks just cooking up a dish of cubed potatoes, onions and minced pork, finished in brown gravy of course. That with a full plate of white hot steaming jasmine rice and I'm a happy camper!
My favourite position: In front of the TV with my dinner on the Singpost Speedpost box, my temporary coffee table.

White Mountains in New Hampshire

"The White Mountains are a mountain range that covers about a quarter of the state of New Hampshire and a small portion of western Maine in the United States. Part of the Appalachian Mountains, they are considered the most rugged mountains in New England. The range is heavily visited due to its proximity to Boston and New York City." - Wikipedia.

If you think I've been having a whale of a time either gorging on lobster or making trips out of Boston every weekend, you'd be quite accurate in drawing that conclusion. Sadly though, this is ad hoc. Ken, my doctor friend who is heading back to Singapore after a 6-mth attachment at the Mass Gen Hosp (MGH) has been organising these trips to maximise the remaining weekends he has left before he heads back to slog city. We make these trips with at least 6 people so the cost for car rental and gas is split, amounting to no more than usd$30 per person on the average. Highly worth it! White mountains is BEAUTIFUL! and COLD!
It's slightly over 3 hrs drive from Boston (depending on traffic) and the must-see attractions are the Flume Gorge which is part of the Fraconia state park and the numerous waterfalls around the area. Another must is a drive along the Kancamagus Pass which cuts across the mountains and has several scenic lookout points where visitors can stop to take pix.

View of the mountains from the Glen Ellis Falls
Discovered in 1808, the Flume is a natural gorge extending 800 feet at the base of Mt. Liberty. The walls of Conway granite rise perpendicularly to a height of 70 to 90 feet and are from 12 to 20 feet apart.
I wanted to take my family for a visit when they arrive in Dec, but unfortunately, the flume is closed by late Oct.
It's ocassions like this that I feel pictures can never do natural beauty justice.
These two views are from a lookout point along the Kancamagus Pass.
Just wanted to put this pix in cos I like it! It was shot on our way down from the Flume Gorge. The hike was about 1.5 hrs from start to end, probably too long for toddlers.

Not Just The Chewing Gum Ban

In the west, Singapore is always known for its chewing gum ban. Not anymore. In the past two weeks, I've heard Singapore being mentioned twice, once by the Prof for my media law and ethics class, the other, in a book I'm currently reading. Both times, Singapore is mentioned in relation to the lack of freedom of the press. I know this is a long standing issue and we've all heard this before. But what I can say is things will change in time to come. It must change, and this change is inevitable. "Journalism provides something unique to a culture - independent, reliable, accurate, and comprehensive information that citizens require to be free. A journalism that is asked to provide something other than that subverts democratic culture. This is what happens when governments control the news, as in Nazi Germany or the Soviet Union. We're seeing it again in places like Singapore, where news is controlled to encourage capitalism but discourage participation in public life." - Bill Kovach & Tom Rosenstiel from The Elements of Journalism. The press in Singapore defends itself by saying that its reporting is "pro-Singapore", not "pro-government". Being a member of the press, I'd like to think this is true and believe there is some truth to this statement. Fortunately for us, we have a good government and for now, both the government and the press are working towards the same goal: to put Singapore on the world map and at the same time, give its citizens equal opportunities to make something of themselves. But I wonder if one day when the government changes hands, and the "pro-Singapore" becomes secondary to "pro-government", would we as the press stand its ground and stay true to journalism, despite the odds and the external pressures? Only then can Singaporeans and the world see the Singapore press for what it truly is.
It's unsettling and alarming to see Singapore being likened to Nazi Germany in the way the governments control the news. Well at least the two names aren't mentioned in the same sentence!

NEWSFLASH: As I'm typing this blog, I see a bushy-tailed squirrel momentarily scurry along the branch of a small tree just outside my window. I decide to enjoy the moment and not pounce to get my camera, which will scare it off anyway. It is within sight for just a few seconds. What a pleasant way to spend a rainy Saturday morning, sprawled on my luxurious sofa, legs stretched out, laptop on my lap and enjoying the gloomy but quiet morning which is just starting to break with the sound of traffic waking up.

The Simple Life

Here's my simply furnished apartment. It doesn't look like anything much, but believe me, moving each and every item into the house was no mean feat. I won't be adding much more furniture to my current set-up, except perhaps a bigger desk as the current one is too cramped with stuff already. I leave for White Mountains in New Hampshire in about 4 hours. Am taking a day trip with a few of my Singaporean friends. Hope to post some pix after I get back. Watch this space...

Everything you see in this picture except for the lights and the bookshelf on the left is second-hand.

In Excess...

Everything is BIG in America. Big food portions, big malls, big supermarkets, big quantities of everything, and big people. For people like me, a BIG advantage in that is there's no lack of BIG clothes to buy. It's a norm to find large sizes, a nice change from shopping back home, where clothes-makers think all asians are 'petite' sized. I went to a BIG supermarket today called Shaws and my jaw dropped when I saw their campbell's soup section. Here's why...
The cans are placed in dispenser shelves (they're placed horizontally and stacked on top of each other such that when you pull one out, the next one naturally falls to take its place) and there are SO MANY different types of soup I've never seen before. Some of the unique flavours are: Split pea ham and bacon; tomato bisque; chicken mushroom barley, just to name a few. They're not cheap though. A can of regular mushroom soup costs about usd1.59-1.79! Also, one of my favourite sections, the breakfast cereal shelves, are filled with so many different types of cereals that I get giddy looking at all of them! And they're so CHEAP! 5 boxes for usd$10! I now have a stash of 4 different types of Kellog's cereal in my kitchen cupboard, which brings to mind the image I have from TV's Seinfeld, who kept a whole row of different cereal boxes in the same fashion (more or less).

Bus stop on BU campus along Commonwealth Ave

He's Everywhere...

I never recovered the religious items that were taken from my apt. While some replacements are on their way, I did bring some more mini statues of Christ, St Christopher, The Holy Family and Mother Mary just in case we need it for long road trips. These are things one can't have too many of and I do believe in them.

Here Comes The Rain

It was the perfect day to sleep in and putter around the apartment in my comfy bedroom slippers. It rained all day and fog covered the skyscrapers in downtown Boston. I had to do a group project in the lousy weather, myself and another grad student doing the radio journo course had to go around the BU campus to look for people to interview regarding the Petraeus report and how they feel about the war and the troops in Iraq. Let's just say it was an interesting afternoon.
The Prudential Tower in Back Bay, Boston almost enveloped in fog. Its name was totally covered a few minutes after I shot this pix. I was on my way home after a night class at around 9.15pm.
"The Perfect Storm" threatens to dampen the small town of Gloucester, in another weather picture from last Saturday shot during our lobster trip.

Crustacean Invasion

It was a mini 'Singapore Day' for us six adults and a four-year-old boy last Saturday when we decided to head to Gloucester, which is north-east of Boston for another lobster feast. Gloucester, as my friends duly informed me, was the location where the movie "The Perfect Storm" starring George Clooney was filmed. We enjoyed ourselves. Thanks to Chong Keat who drove there and back during the hour long journey each way. Ok I'll let the pix do the talking...
Fishing the lobsters out of a rusty old tank.
The weighing tray was almost too small to hold our 4 lobsters. Total damage done: About usd$152 for 4 chunky lobsters at $11.95/lb.
All cooked and ready to be devoured. The fried clam strips, one of my fav snacks, were super delicious!
Don't you wish you were there? (evil laughter)
Little Bryan in front of the lobster/seafood shack which is just off a small road. There's free parking and you can bring your own drinks which saved us some money!
We adjourned to a quaint and cosy Italian cafe after lunch. There we met a photographer (an old-ish man using a basic Nikon digi cam) who hangs out at the cafe and makes pictures of the owner's regular customers. He then tiles the pix up on the wall. I like the idea! Interesting!

First Week of School

The fact that I haven't posted a blog in the last couple of days is quite indicative of the rather busy week I've had. One of the most challenging 'inconveniences' I've had to deal with is getting to my 9am classes on time! I have two (phew!) such classes per week and a night class which ends at 9pm. The profs for all my classes seem pretty decent from first impressions. All of them have a good sense of humour but typically demand class participation, something that I have to condition myself to practice, as they will grade us on how 'vocal' (or not) we are, in addition to assignments and exams. I've always been that person who just sits back and let others do the talking but I guess I can't do that now. It's been a tiring first week. I moved into my new apt over the last two days, thus my absence from blogging.
A small patch of green outside COM building is a mini sun tanning ground for students waiting for their next class to begin. While it is nice weather we've been having, I'd appreciate chilly weather more.

Seventh Heaven

Like a true Singaporean, I have to gloat when I come across a good bargain. My gem of a find today was in the form of a plump whole 1.25lb lobster at a bargain price of usd$10!!! Imagine paying S$16 for a super delicious, succulent, sweet, full flavoured 'chicken lobster', steamed in its own juice for 10 minutes, prepared courtesy of Shaw's supermarket which was offering the 'end of season' lobster sale at usd$6.99 per lb! I am fortunate that Ken, a Singaporean radiologist shared this gold nugget of information with me just before lunch time today. He lives in the same condo and will be heading home in about two weeks, thus he too feels the urge to 'live his last days in Boston" to the fullest. He told me about the sale and suggested we go together to the supermarket to get the lobsters, and bring them back to his apt to have lunch together. He also prepared two sweet corns to complement the lobsters. Having the two together for a meal was the most satisfying experience I've had in a long time. I relished every bite, picked out every ounce of lobster meat with all ten fingers and sipped the last drop of lobster juice by using its shell as a spoon, totally unembarassed at my display of such barbaric traits in front of a new friend, who was equally uninhibited when attacking the red crustacean. Now I know the importance of 'eating with the right company'! I am indebted to Ken for alerting me to this wonderful way of enjoying Boston's abundant seafood delicacies. I did not know that there's a season for lobsters and this period is the tail end (no pun intended) of it. I assumed that lobsters, like durians, can be had all year round! Even if I don't manage to have another lobster before the season ends, I am truly satisfied that I had my fill today, and the aftertaste and memory of it can probably last til the next season in April/May 2008! Oh did I mention that I have high cholestrol?

From a website titled "Value of Lobster": Boiled Chicken Lobster - "Probably the tantalizing and delicate flavor of lobster meat is found at its best in a fresh boiled chicken lobster, weighing one to one and a quarter pounds. A lobster of this size is estimated to be four or five years old. And the tail meat will be tough if you boil it longer than from eight to ten minutes." 'Nuf said. DROOL...

The Good, The Bad and The Beautiful

GOOD, cos I had a good weekend. A rather quiet and slow one.
BAD because the religious articles you see in my previous blog were taken from my apt. I think the cleaner took it, perhaps by mistake?? (I hope). It was gone when I went to the apt yesterday. I've called to ask but these people don't work on weekends so I'll have to wait until Monday to check. The only reason I think someone would take it is because they're very pretty and the crucifix actually has an LED light which beams from base upwards in blue, green and red.
And BEAUTIFUL cos we've had beautiful weather these past couple of days. Pretty blue skies, great for pictures, and warm sunlight, but not scorching hot. All in all, it was a nice weekend. Hope you had a good one!
The ubiquitous U-haul truck plying along a highway near the Target store along Somerville Ave. I didn't notice the tiny plane on the left when I shot the pix.
I have a 'thing' for lamposts against blue skies. Maybe I'll start a series on it...
The 'golden hours' in this part of the world seem to linger. The sun takes its time to set, or maybe it's because I'm noticing it closely and appreciating the falling light much more than back home.
A couple in a rather awkward hug waiting to cross the main junction at the heart of Coolidge Corner in Brookline.
My acquisitions for the day from Target. It was quite a struggle to carry all that up two buses and walk 7 mins to the apt. It doesn't look like much but it was heavy. The result was a big deep blue-black on my hip the day after, where I'd supported the laundry basket. No pain, no gain I suppose!

WOOHOO!

I got my apartment keys today! The first thing I did was to make sure the keys fit the locks, then walked around the apt to inspect it properly, took many, many more pix, of which you will see, and then my mum made me bring not one but two bottles of Holy Water to 'bless' each room by sprinkling the water throughout the house. As I sprinkled, I muttered some words of prayer, asking Him to keep us safe and happy in the apartment. Now comes the spending money part. I have to start buying stuff to furnish it, before school begins on Tuesday.
My mum bought a really cool crucifix which beams different coloured lights as well as a picture of Mother Mary for me to put in the apt. I still have to get at least one bigger crucifix for the living room, and these ones can prob go into the bedroom.
All the spaces in these pix appear bigger than they really are!! The panos are a little distorted, and the camera is playing tricks on your eyes. So what you see isn't quite what you get.
From L-R: The bathroom, the main door in white in the middle, a closet next to it, and the kitchen entrance followed by the bedroom with closet on the right.
The spacious kitchen with a brand new gas stove and tap fixtures.
Another view of the living room, with kitchen on left, and main door on right.
Come visit!