Goodbye Boston...

My stay in Boston abruptly came to an end...literally. I haven't had the heart to complete this final blog. Since I'm no longer in Boston, this blog will cease to exist after this last blog entry.

Fast forward to 2 months later. I started writing some time ago but only managed 2 sentences.
Fast forward to 8 months later. It is nearing the end of February 2009. Not finishing this blog has been hanging over my head all this while and I knew I had to finish it or else there would not be any closure.
I've just scanned through my blogs of our time in Boston, and I'm extremely glad that I made the entries. With time, we forget, but with powerful elements like photographs and words, moments that we treasure and record will always be with us.
For this reason alone, I will always believe in photography, cos that's something I can express myself best with. I'm not a person who is good at expressing myself with words, and I believe that I've been blessed with a God given 'talent' to photograph and I hope to keep at it til my last breath.

Back to Boston. We had to leave within 4 days after finding out that we had to leave the US by June 8, 2008 or become illegal aliens. My F1 visa had expired on my last day of term, May 19, and my student status with Boston University would cease to exist from June 9. I'd known that my F1 visa had expired but the relevant people at BU told me that I was given an extra 90 days grace period after my F1 expiration before I had to leave the country. This is the usual practice. However, my case was unusual as I had technically not graduated yet. I still owed my final thesis which I haven't completed to this day and because of that, I did not 'qualify' for the 90 days grace period. It's useless to point fingers now to say whose fault it was that I didn't know this fact. Of course, at the time, I blamed the people at the International Students relations for not realising this. It is common practice for grad students in my course, or for any other grad course for that matter, to take time to do one's thesis. My course allows me 7 years to complete it. Had the people there reaslised this, they would've known that I'd have to leave sooner, not later.

I guess I have to be grateful that they realised it in time for me to react and take a decision to leave with my family.
Whatever it is, I was extremely upset that our time in Boston had to end this way. In those few days before we left, we went through a whole myriad of emotions and decision-making. At first, we decided to stay on, despite the illegal alien status, as we were due to go for another major 2 wk trip to California. It was Tuesday when I was told of the deadline to leave the country, and we were due to leave for California on Wednesday, to meet up with Jill and Corrinne and mum's friend, Aunty Oi Leen. Then I decided that my mum would go on her own, while we head to Canada for an overnight stay, to return to the States the next day, hopefully under the 3mth tourist waiver scheme that Singapore has with the USA. Then we even entertained the thought of flying to California first, and try to make our way up to Canada from the West Coast. Things got so complicated and in the end, after talking to someone at the Singapore mission in New York who advised us not to take the Canada option, we decided to forgo everything and just leave the States by the end of Sunday.
Then came the logistics of vacating our apartment, getting rid of the things in it, arranging for shipping of our things back home, arranging all our flights, including my mum's, and trying to recoup as much from our California trip, which we had already paid for, including a couple of night's stay in Las Vegas. I felt bad for my mum as she came all the way only to have to miss out on this part of her holiday. She was looking forward to it, reuniting with her old friend, etc.
I was angry, sad, bitter and kept asking myself and God why this was happening, what was the lesson that He was trying to teach me?

The answer came soon after. The packing. The next few days were spent packing and in that short time span of 10 months, I had accumulated just too much. It was such an effort packing and thinking of how to get rid of all our stuff in the apt. We had bought too much, collected too much and it was such a problem now to even give it away.
I called Fr John to see if someone at the church would take everything. I'd wanted to sell the stuff on Craigslist, but there was just no time for it. I gave everything away to the Church. A futon, bed, toaster, a great sofa bed, bookshelves, tables, chairs, printer, tv, dvd player, everything one would need to set up a new home. Then it struck me that I was guilty of being too caught up in the material things. Not only that, I was wasting everything. I did not value the things I possessed and 'threw' money away too easily. These are exactly the values I am teaching Meg not to adopt. It has to start with us as parents to set an example for our kids to emulate. This whole episode taught me not to acquire too much cos at the end of the day, our lives, we can't take these material things with us. Of course, I'm no saint and I've not totally expunged these materialistic tendencies out of my system, but I do think twice and three times now before I buy anything.

Now that we've been back in Singapore for about 8 mths, Boston seems like a distant memory. I can't even remember some of the names of its streets, its 'T' stops, which we were so accustomed to back then. Despite our unceremonious departure, we'll always have our time and memories to keep. I still remember those times very fondly and how it was such a good time away from the comforts and familiarity of Singapore. It was an answered prayer and I will never forget it. It will always have a special place in my heart. Thanks to all of you for following this blog. I wrote it first and foremost to document and journal our time there, but I also wrote it for you. Goodbye Boston! Thanks for the great time and lasting memories!

Space Shuttle Launch

From New York to Orlando: We flew into Orlando from Newark and one of the highlights of the Orlando leg was witnessing our very first (and probably last) space shuttle launch. Discovery blasted into space on Saturday, May 31, 2008 and although we were about 20 km away from the launch site, it was still an amazing sight and the atmosphere was good. People cheered as the shuttle left a trail of white cloud (which is actually a steam cloud caused by its heat reacting thousands of gallons of water dumped onto the launch pad just before take off to protect the area from catching fire from the intense heat) behind. We got to Titusville, the next nearest town from Cape Canaveral just in the nick of time, a couple of minutes before lift off at 5.02pm EST. It was bloody hot and of course the best spots were already taken. But then we saw some people watching from the river with a rather unobstructed view and decided to wade into it out of desperation for a good view. Fortunately, it was low tide and a good roll up of our bermudas did the trick. It was all over within two minutes. We stayed behind to catch the rocket boosters disengaging from the spacecraft but lost sight of it after a while. We stayed in Orlando longer than necessary just so we could catch the momentous event. It was a perfect day (though a tad too hot) for a launch, with a rich blue sky peppered with clouds and an absence of wind. Awesome!
The water looks icky but it was alright. It actually cooled us off a bit!
As close as my wide angle lens could go...

Notice that speck of white in the distance off center right?

Katz's Delicatessen

This is a cool, cool place on E Houston St, New York's lower east side. Thanks to Ginnie for telling me about it! I meant to go there during our last trip to NYC last March, but didn't manage to. This time, I told myself, I had to go. This place was made even more famous (I'm sure it was already famous before this) by Meg Ryan's memorable scene in "When Harry Met Sally". You know it...if you don't, you can view it here. This place has got character. Lots of it. Its cool factor is way up there. The configuration of the place is like an 'L' shape, with long stretch made up of what they call 'cutters' on one side, and a wall of fame on the other. When you enter the delicatessen, you'll be given a ticket, somewhat like the old SBS bus tickets which the conductors punch a hole into, and each person gets one, and needs one to leave the place, a la Marche style. Then you find a seat at one of their numerous tables and after you've decided what you want, you approach a 'cutter' who will carve out their famed pastrami from a slab and put a few slices on a plate for you to taste. They stack layers of meat in between bread and there you have it. Katz's pastrami sandwich, "smoked to juicy perfection", they say. It tastes heavenly... I like meat so their meaty sandwiches (we also ordered the corned beef sandwich) were up my alley.
The other long wall opposite of the cutters is filled with photographs of celebrities who've patronised Katz's. There are too many to name but there are MANY pictures. The place has an old style, rowdy, "got attitude" kind of place. It's a must go if you're ever in New York. Their sandwiches aren't cheap though. The pastrami costs usd$15 but hell, it's worth it!
Their famous $14.95 pastrami sandwich. So goooooooddd...
The corned beef sandwich, which is also very good and also costs $14.95. Three of us ordered the two sandwiches to share, and we couldn't even finish them!
No frills, casual dining.
What are the old SBS bus tickets doing at Katz's? They write the amounts you've spent on the back of the tix. Did I mention they have good sweetened ice tea in their own house brand bottles?
Their wall of fame which includes pix of Bill Clinton, Michael Bloomberg, Dan Aykroyd, Meg Ryan and Billy Crystal (of course) and the list goes on...
Meg enjoyed their chicken noodle soup.
Crowded on a Friday afternoon.

Tourists invade NYC!

Tourists, meaning us. Of course we had to go to Times Square (AGAIN!). It was SUPER crowded with the memorial day long weekend contributing to it, no less. We also went to our favourite place in NYC, Chelsea Market (thanks for recommending it to us, Sue!) which is a paradise of mouth watering food and desserts all under one roof. It's a must-go place for us everytime we head to NYC. There's the great (but expensive) Hale & Hearty soup, heavenly cupcakes at Eleni's, free intoxicating smells of brownie cooking at The Fat Witch, the best chocolate milkshake I've ever had at Ronnybrook Milk Bar (make sure you ask for choco milk with your choco milkshake - the best combo - or they'll give you white milk), a chef's equipment mini-warehouse at Bowery Kitchen Supply, wonderful jams at Sara Beth's, fantastic pastry at Amy's bread and thick fresh salmon sashimi at The Lobster Place. It's a food heaven, what more could one ask for? DIE DIE MUST TRY! The police swarmed Times Square as well, though for very different reasons.
Meg's so happy because she has broken free from her parents' iron clasp and is indulging in Uncle Damian's and Mama's eager-to-please/spoil tendencies. See how he's carrying her?!
Don't have many pix of the market this time round. Was too busy eating! :) This is the facade of Ronnybrook Milk Bar. Its interior is very cool and its walls are made up of antique wooden milk crates. My friend Ginnie tells me the interior was done by a small Brooklyn design firm, Studio A+I, which consists of a Singaporean architect and two other partners. Such a cool milk bar!

Meg's Obsession

I don't know how or why she became obsessed with the Statue of Liberty but this is probably the one thing (at this point of time) that she's really into. She talked incessantly about it before we arrived in NY and wanted to go right up the statue, until I found out that the public cannot climb to the statue's crown or anywhere near the top. The highest one can go is the top of the pedestal, which isn't very high at all. So I managed to convince her that we didn't need to go to liberty island and that the view from the Staten Island ferry (free!) offered the best view. So last Thursday night, we decided to head to the ferry terminal after a late dinner at almost 11pm. We arrived just in time to catch the midnight ferry and headed back to Manhattan on the 1am ferry from Staten. It was a crazy thing to do, with a 4.5 yr old in tow (but this was for her) and by the time we got back to the apartment, it was almost 3 am! The subway was slow and there were diversions due to construction work. Horrible! So here's what Meg's been doing to honor the French made, 93-metre tall symbol of freedom and democracy.
Grandma and Meg peering out into the dark night to see the statue while trying to block reflection off the glass.
We were all trying to stay awake during the 25 minute ferry ride. We hadn't slept long before a very excited Meg started waking everyone up to look at the object of her desire.
You can just make out the statue on the right if you look hard enough!
The zzz monster conquers.
The little rascal even posed for the occasion!

New York, NY

We took the Bolt bus to NYC this time, instead of our usual Fung Wah bus. Costing the same at $15, the bolt bus is a good choice, it has wider seats with more legroom, the buses are new and best of all, it offers wireless internet AND a power outlet behind the aisle seats on the bus! It also stops at a more convenient location in downtown Manhattan, on 34th and 8th Ave.
I highly recommend it! The rain greeted us as we pulled into New York. A great inconvenience for a group of 4 adults, 1 child, 3 big lugguage bags, 2 backpacks, 1 snack bag and having to struggle with umbrellas as well. We took the subway to Ginnie's place (we house swapped. She's in Boston staying at my place while we, at hers in Brooklyn) and by the time we got to her apartment, we were pretty drenched and spent. Still, it was a relief to finally get there.

Waiting for Mama

So my mum and bro arrived last Friday night. They were supposed to land at 2215hrs but this Continental flight coming in from Newark (departing 2045hrs) is infamously late so as expected, they only touched down at midnight. This was an expensive inconvenience to us as we'd rented a car and parked at the Logan's central parking area, and 0.5-1 hr parking costs usd6, 1-1.5 hrs costs 9 and so on. So we had to leave the airport and come back later just to avoid the expensive parking charges. And we couldn't go back into Boston, as there are tolls involved, 3.50 per car. So we just hung around the Chelsea area (one route to avoid the tolls at Summer and Williams tunnel) and had a drink in the meantime. They've been here for a week, and we're currently in New York.

The Brimfield Antique and Flea Market Show

We happened to chance upon the advertisement for this huge antique show held only three times a year in Brimfield, MA, about an hour's drive from Boston. Since MJ is in a camera collecting phase, we decided to head there to try to find good deals for vintage cameras, and were ready to brave the 30,000 crowd and 5,000 antique dealers. It's the largest such show in the country and it was huge! It's impossible to visit every tent/booth within a day. I don't even think one can finish seeing it during the six days of its run. The entire show spans both sides of the road along Route 20, and runs for about 1 mile (1.6 km) on each side and is probably about 5 times (or more) the size of Chatuchak market!
The day was pleasant. Parking was ample and not exhorbitant, but one problem is the stuff's everywhere, so even though our objective was to find old cameras, there was no one place which has camera sellers all grouped together. It was the luck of the draw to find a couple of cameras amongst someone's collection of stuff - and boy was there stuff! I read on their website which said that if you can't find what you want in Brimfield, you'll have to live without it cos it can't be found anywhere else! We ended up with only one camera which we got for usd8 after bargaining it down from 12 and a couple of tiffen and hoya filters for 5 a piece. Overall, we didn't buy much but it was fun to go to such a huge show and looking at all the stuff people collect and sell!

The Stata Center at MIT

I remember seeing this building on the second day after I arrived in Boston. I was walking along Main Street in Cambridge and saw it as I passed Vassar St. I didn't know what building it was at the time, and when I later found out it's a Frank Gehry building, I chided myself, a Frank Gehry fan, for not knowing what it was in the first place. It's awesome. I finally got round to going right up and behind it to make some photographs. It's currently embroiled in a legal suit. The architect and the construction company are being sued by MIT because, unique as it may be, it's leaking. Nevertheless, its form interests me more than its function.

Daddy and Da

Here's a sample of what I've been up to the past few months. I took a class called "Advanced Multimedia Journalism" which basically consists of putting together a story with the use of pictures, video and sound. I worked with a classmate, Kaye Lin, who majors in broadcast journalism, so I shot the pix, and she, video and we exchanged our raw material but produced our own pieces for the class. Our story is about a gay couple who've adopted a son from Asia. Take a look if you have the time. It's titled "Daddy and Da" and is about 9 minutes long...

http://www.bu.edu/dev/com-vallance/multimedia/080501SYdaddyda.html

St Cecila's Church

My friend Corrinne told me about St Cecilia's Church when she heard I was going to Boston for a year. It's on Belvidere St right next to Berklee College of Music (her alma mater) off Massachusetts Ave and I have her to thank for introducing the church to me. Fr John Unni, the parish priest, is such a charismatic, intelligent, holy and fun person (and handsome too!). His sermons keep everyone on the edge of their pews, and after having listened to almost 10 months worth (minus the times I didn't make it to church) of engaging, funny, anecdotal homilies, sermons for me will never be the same again. Even MJ enjoys his sermons and, if I read him correctly, makes it a point to go to church for this sole purpose. Fr John has also taken a liking to Meg. He always gives her a hug when we pass him at the exit of the church after mass.
I've also volunteered my services to the church. I've become their official photographer of sorts. I shot Holy Week, and First Communion last Sunday, and have also documented the activities the parishioners engage in, like serving dinners at Pine Street Inn, a shelter for the homeless, and serving of Thanksgiving lunch at a home. I've gained more than I've given. The events were a joy to shoot, and Fr and his staff have given me due credit, even though I don't exactly need or want it. They've featured my pix twice on the church bulletin covers, and this Sunday's version will be of last week's First Holy Communion. I'll be taking my mum and bro to church this Sunday, and introducing her to Fr John, hopefully.
Fr John lighting the Easter candle on the pavement across from the church. Everyone then followed the lit candle as it entered the church in the night and its darkness.
Good Friday was very visual with the veneration of the cross on this huge cross. People were very emotional.
Washing of feet was done en masse. Anyone who wanted to partake in it was welcomed to.
The palms were blessed outside the church across the road, followed by a procession with everyone carrying their palms.

Hyannis

We went to Cape Cod yesterday but only as far as Hyannis, home to several generations of the Kennedys. Former notable residents include Judy Garland and Jack Kerouac. Also known as the "Capital of the Cape", we were impressed by its historic street, Main Street, with its quaint and numerous shops. The town was busy with traffic on this Saturday afternoon, but the beach was devoid of people except for one or two couples walking their dog as the weather was still rather chilly and not ideal for basking in the sun. We did see many inns and motels, little ones all over the town, which gave an indication that it gets really crowded in the summer. It's a 1 hr 15 minute drive from Boston, without traffic, at around 75 miles per hour (120 km/hr). We also stopped in Sandwich for lunch at Seafood Sam's and they served huge portions, and was cheaper than the place we usually go to in Gloucester. It was a nice day and a stress relief from all my deadlines this past week.

Picking seashells at the Eugenia Forte Beach, a stone's throw from downtown Hyannis.
One can't tell from the picture, but MJ is actually cringing from the cold. Notice the new toy he's holding?
Little Meg is growing up...fast.
I'll make an exception of putting a picture of myself in the blog, only to show you how long my hair is. I haven't cut it since I arrived. The only other time in my life when I've had hair this long was when I was in Primary 6! I just haven't gotten round to getting it cut, though I will soon cos I really can't "tahan" anymore!
The beach isn't particularly pretty, but we were keen to go to one, anyone, cos you can't go to cape cod without visiting a beach!
We also visited a lobster mart in Sandwich, right next to Seafood Sam's. I was tempted to buy one. It was going at a reasonable price of 9.95/lb, compared to about 12.95/lb at Shaw's supermarket in Boston, but I was really full from lunch and amazingly, not quite in the mood for lobsters, so we didn't get any. Also we weren't heading home yet, so it would've been difficult to keep the lobster alive for a few hours.

Goodbye COM!

This is where I spent the last 10 months. I bid adieu to the hallways and classrooms at COM (College of Communication) last week. It was empty that Thursday as classes had ended (but not my deadlines) so I didn't go with the rest of the class to the BU pub for drinks.
I enjoyed my time here overall. I've learnt a lot, not necessarily in how to shoot better, through no fault of the school, but having worked at ST for so long, one can't expect to crunch all that experience into a classroom lesson in less than a year... I've learnt several computer software programs which I've always wanted to learn, but never got round to it. I still have a long ways to go...but at least I'm now quite competent in Final Cut Pro, Adobe Bridge, Dreamweaver, Quark and Indesign. I'm pretty interested in web design and dreamweaver but I suck at it. It took me such a long time to get my website up, and I'm not happy with it. I want to learn flash and change my entire website. I just had to get it up quickly so my prof could grade it. I came away from the course realising that the photojournalist cannot just take pictures anymore. The world of multimedia has thrusted itself into print journalism and like it or not, that's the way we're going. A typical undergrad at BU's COM is a multimedia journalist. They don't just learn photography, they learn how to gather sound, and add that to their pictures in a multimedia clip. And to produce it under deadline too. We didn't learn video, only the broadcast students did, but a multimedia piece can consist of just pictures and sound. WashPost has one of the best multimedia websites around...and everyone models after them. ST's site, sad to say, needs a total revamp and has a lot of catching up to do. It's look is outdated and it's not edgy (a term the eds like to use) enough. And I'm not saying this because I think I'm an authority now, after a mere 10 mths in journo school. I've felt this way for a long time, but now I feel I have enough knowledge of the standards out there to say this without doubting my initial reservations. I hope I'll remember my time at BU and COM for a long time to come. It's been a significant period of my life, going to school at middle age, and seeing my college education with a different pair of eyes than the typical young twenty-something. I will always be grateful to those who provided me this opportunity, starting with God.
It's been swell, goodbye and good luck!

Four of my classes (out of 5) were held in this lab. That's my usual spot, where my laptop is...
The wall of fame, so to speak, where student works are exhibited. Here's one of three of my pix which made it on the wall, of Obama on the right.
Another one of Hillary. I never got to meet Bill nor Chelsea though...One of the best experiences I've had here was shooting the New Hampshire primary. I have my prof to thank, for encouraging us to cover it, saying it's right at our backyard, (which is so true) and a very significant political event which officially kick starts the whole campaign for America's next president. Seeing how the American press work and cover these events was priceless. Their 'live' setups are big time and everyone is very pro.
Last one of kissing dogs at an animal blessing in the church I go to, St Cecilia's.
See that sign "VII" on the door? There's a New York Photo festival on next weekend and the timing is so perfect, except that my mum arrives on Friday, and it would be next to impossible to go...well we've chosen not to go (regretfully) cos family comes first, right?