Showing posts with label Subject: Streetshoots. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Subject: Streetshoots. Show all posts
Bugis Street
Bugis Street -- which used to be Singapore's transvestite haunt -- was the place to go to for delicious food and snacks when the rest of Singapore sleeps. Few could resist the tantalising chunks of juicy beef bathed in hot steaming soup of quo tiow, especially when a huge bowl filled to the brim cost a measly S$0.50!! Those surely were the good old days of the 70s and 80s!
Now transformed and sanitized, Bugis Street today is usually identified with Bugis Junction, a totally cool and hip place for youths and families.
After walking thorugh the various levels of Bugis Junction, I was attacked by hunger pangs. I decided to go up to the Food Junction on the 3rd level, where I had a bird's eye view of the streetscape below:
The Food Junction was one of the better food courts I've patronized. The interior layout of the place was attractive, neat and clean. The quality and presentation of the food served was noticeably several notches better than at other food courts.
It was tough deciding which stall to patronize, but with my stomach growling, I quickly settled on a familiar and evergreen dish: Hainan chicken rice!!
The portion served was more than ample for one person. With a plate of veggies ($2.00), the Hainan chicken rice ($3.80) came with a bowl of steaming hot chicken soup flavored with spring onions, though a few sprigs of fresh coriander leaves would give it more flavor.
Now transformed and sanitized, Bugis Street today is usually identified with Bugis Junction, a totally cool and hip place for youths and families.
After walking thorugh the various levels of Bugis Junction, I was attacked by hunger pangs. I decided to go up to the Food Junction on the 3rd level, where I had a bird's eye view of the streetscape below:
The Food Junction was one of the better food courts I've patronized. The interior layout of the place was attractive, neat and clean. The quality and presentation of the food served was noticeably several notches better than at other food courts.
It was tough deciding which stall to patronize, but with my stomach growling, I quickly settled on a familiar and evergreen dish: Hainan chicken rice!!
The portion served was more than ample for one person. With a plate of veggies ($2.00), the Hainan chicken rice ($3.80) came with a bowl of steaming hot chicken soup flavored with spring onions, though a few sprigs of fresh coriander leaves would give it more flavor.
21 Chandee Town
After 2 weeks in Krabi, we went to visit Ethan's granny in Chandee. The journey in our trusty 22-yr old Honda Civic took about 3 hours.
Chandee is one of the southern train stations along the North-South railway. As is a common occurance, commerce took root in the vicinity around the train station, and a small town and market place developed. Rubber is the main commodity of the area and most of the townsfolk are shop owners or earn a living as food vendors or rubber tappers.
The town has its charm with quaint little streets of cement, and no road dividers. Parking is free, there is no building control, so you will see 6-storey buildings next to single-storey shophouses. Anybody could simply set up shop in his own abode. Or push a cart to sell cooked food on the street without worrying about getting a licence. Tax? ...eh, what's that? Reminds me of Singapore 40 years ago!
Spy the lady sitting in the corner of the picture above? The forlorn look said it all: who will buy my veg? The veggie seller was indifferent when I snapped her picture. Seemed like selling vegetables for a living is not easy, especially when a competing stall is next to hers.
Or is it because thai people generally don't eat veggies in their daily diet? Yes, it is true! Maybe she is better off selling fish, like the lady below. The fish seller had a much happier time -- counting her takings for the day! Ahhh.. nothing feels so good as grimy, wrinkled baht notes!
The pretty gal in the picture willingly obliged when I asked if she would like her picture taken. She was in a flower shop with her mom, cleaning and bundling flowers for sale. Chandee people are indeed warm and friendly.
Chandee is one of the southern train stations along the North-South railway. As is a common occurance, commerce took root in the vicinity around the train station, and a small town and market place developed. Rubber is the main commodity of the area and most of the townsfolk are shop owners or earn a living as food vendors or rubber tappers.
The town has its charm with quaint little streets of cement, and no road dividers. Parking is free, there is no building control, so you will see 6-storey buildings next to single-storey shophouses. Anybody could simply set up shop in his own abode. Or push a cart to sell cooked food on the street without worrying about getting a licence. Tax? ...eh, what's that? Reminds me of Singapore 40 years ago!
Spy the lady sitting in the corner of the picture above? The forlorn look said it all: who will buy my veg? The veggie seller was indifferent when I snapped her picture. Seemed like selling vegetables for a living is not easy, especially when a competing stall is next to hers.
Or is it because thai people generally don't eat veggies in their daily diet? Yes, it is true! Maybe she is better off selling fish, like the lady below. The fish seller had a much happier time -- counting her takings for the day! Ahhh.. nothing feels so good as grimy, wrinkled baht notes!
The pretty gal in the picture willingly obliged when I asked if she would like her picture taken. She was in a flower shop with her mom, cleaning and bundling flowers for sale. Chandee people are indeed warm and friendly.
Krabi Town Center
Maharaj Road -- pictured above -- is the road in Krabi Town. The only department store, Vogue, is located along this road. So is the wet market further ahead.
Strangely enough, almost everywhere you can see hair-dressing saloons or pharmacy stores. I wondered if Krabi people often fell sick, resulting in a proliferation of medical halls. Could there be another reason?
As roadside food vendors are very common, there is only a single air-conditioned food outlet. And that is Kentucky Fried Chicken located in Vogue department store. There is also a Swensen ice-cream parlour, located opposite KFC in Vogue.
Maybe because of the air-conditioning and the brand image, KFC seemed to be doing a roaring business, even though the menu prices are on the high side for the average thai, ranging from 50 baht for a smallish 2-pc chicken meal to 200 baht for a set meal comprising 7-8 pcs, coke, french fry, and 3-pc drumlets.
To give you an idea of living costs in Krabi: average rental for a room is 2,000-2,500 baht per month, and 4,000-5,000 baht for an unfurnished townhouse. Average wage for a local grad appeared to be around 7,000-8,000 baht per month (~S$340). However, a local grad we met told us she earned only 5,000 baht as a sales staff in Telewiz.
Given the low average wages in Krabi, we were quite surprised to see that KFC was doing well despite the high menu prices.
Can you spy the structure atop the peak in the distant mountain? That is a Buddhist shrine and temple, reached by climbing up a 1,200-step stone stair cut into the mountain side. It is said that the climb is hazardous, for the stair has no railing and is slippery. No wonder I didn't see the shrine listed as a tourist attraction in any of the tour brochures I collected in Krabi Town. A pity we didn't have time to visit the shrine, for the scenery of the surrounding landscapes would have been breathtaking !
14 Singapore - Krabi
The confirmatory email stated ETD 11.45 AM at Changi Terminal 1. Ethan and I arrived at CT1 early, in fact too early, for unknown to all the passengers, Tiger had rescheduled the flight to 3.45 PM !! We learnt from a SATS ground staff that Tiger was short of planes, and had 24 hrs ago arranged with Valueair to use its plane. hmmm...so they had ample time to notify customers.
But no warning, no email notification, not even an "excuse me" !
No, we didn't expect royal treatment from a budget airline. But some basic courtesy would have been appreciated.
With 4 hrs to kill, I decided to hunt for some photos inside the terminal building at Changi. Some shop displays attracted our attention, and we took some shots.
After 80 min flying time, we touched down at Krabi Airport -- it was a perfect landing!
Everyone was happy as they strolled out of the plane and onto to the immigration counters, a short distance away.
Krabi, here we come!!
But no warning, no email notification, not even an "excuse me" !
No, we didn't expect royal treatment from a budget airline. But some basic courtesy would have been appreciated.
With 4 hrs to kill, I decided to hunt for some photos inside the terminal building at Changi. Some shop displays attracted our attention, and we took some shots.
After 80 min flying time, we touched down at Krabi Airport -- it was a perfect landing!
Everyone was happy as they strolled out of the plane and onto to the immigration counters, a short distance away.
Krabi, here we come!!
Dusk at Orchard
Dusk is a special time at Orchard Road. You see many people hurrying home after work, clutching their brief cases and handbags, quickening their steps to get ahead in the queue for buses or taxis.
D70, 24mm f/2.8D lens, 1/60s@f/7.1, ISO320, +0.3EV, AWB -2
Dusk is also the time when the sky is most beautiful, coming aglow with the colors of sunset, with the street lighting just switched on..
D70, kit lens@35mm, 1/500s@f/7.1, iso1000, +0.3EV, AWB -3
The shops are not crowded at dusk, for everybody is rushing home.
Jewellery stores and book-shops, amogst others, are quite empty during the evening rush-hour.
D70, 24mm f/2.8D lens, 1/60s@f/7.1, +0.3EV, ISO500, AWB -3
NLP in practice? The store seems to believe in pitching to the subconscious, using full-sized display ads of beautiful women adorned in equally alluring jewellery. Hey, man, what're you looking at?
D70, kit lens@22mm, 1/40s@f/5.6, +1.0EV, ISO1600, AWB -3
You can leisurely browse at book-stores at this time. No one is there to quibble with you if you decide to read a book. But most will take it easy at the many al-fresco cafes and watering holes along the Orchard shopping belt.
D70, 24mm f/2.8D lens, 1/60s@f/8, +0.3EV, ISO320, AWB -3
Dusk is also the best time to drop into your favorite department store. No crowds to jostle and hustle with.
I never failed to be amazed at the modern-day "koyok seller" in department stores. Forget your sales or marketing seminars or whatever you learnt at uni -- these practitioners will teach you a thing or two about hard-sell and effective pitching. Heck, they can even get an eskimo to buy a freezer from them! Reminds me of the time they sold big ticket Travel & Hotel Stays to friends of mine...
D70, 24mm f/2.8D lens, 1/40s@f/8, +0.3EV, ISO1600, AWB -3
But almost everyone is heading home! All engrossed in their thoughts. What will I cook for dinner?
D70, 24mm f/2.8D lens, 1/60s@f/7.1, +0.3EV, ISO320, AWB -3
The pedestrian mall along Orchard is wide and spacious. A pleasure to stroll, to watch and to see others going by. A place to see and be seen!
D70, 24mm f/2.8D lens, 1/60s@f/7.1, +0.3EV, ISO450, AWB -3
An avenue of luxuriant trees add to the charm of the Orchard shopping belt.
D70, 24mm f/2.8D lens, 1/60s@f/7.1, +0.3EV, ISO1250, AWB -3
Singaporeans don't like to waste time. Why not cross the road when there is no traffic? And no cop around to catch you for jay-walking?
D70, 24mm f/2.8D lens, 1/60s@f/7.1, +0.3EV, ISO900, AWB -3
The last stretch before reaching home to a warm dinner!
D70, 24mm f/2.8D lens, 1/60s@f/7.1, ISO320, +0.3EV, AWB -2
Dusk is also the time when the sky is most beautiful, coming aglow with the colors of sunset, with the street lighting just switched on..
D70, kit lens@35mm, 1/500s@f/7.1, iso1000, +0.3EV, AWB -3
The shops are not crowded at dusk, for everybody is rushing home.
Jewellery stores and book-shops, amogst others, are quite empty during the evening rush-hour.
D70, 24mm f/2.8D lens, 1/60s@f/7.1, +0.3EV, ISO500, AWB -3
NLP in practice? The store seems to believe in pitching to the subconscious, using full-sized display ads of beautiful women adorned in equally alluring jewellery. Hey, man, what're you looking at?
D70, kit lens@22mm, 1/40s@f/5.6, +1.0EV, ISO1600, AWB -3
You can leisurely browse at book-stores at this time. No one is there to quibble with you if you decide to read a book. But most will take it easy at the many al-fresco cafes and watering holes along the Orchard shopping belt.
D70, 24mm f/2.8D lens, 1/60s@f/8, +0.3EV, ISO320, AWB -3
Dusk is also the best time to drop into your favorite department store. No crowds to jostle and hustle with.
I never failed to be amazed at the modern-day "koyok seller" in department stores. Forget your sales or marketing seminars or whatever you learnt at uni -- these practitioners will teach you a thing or two about hard-sell and effective pitching. Heck, they can even get an eskimo to buy a freezer from them! Reminds me of the time they sold big ticket Travel & Hotel Stays to friends of mine...
D70, 24mm f/2.8D lens, 1/40s@f/8, +0.3EV, ISO1600, AWB -3
But almost everyone is heading home! All engrossed in their thoughts. What will I cook for dinner?
D70, 24mm f/2.8D lens, 1/60s@f/7.1, +0.3EV, ISO320, AWB -3
The pedestrian mall along Orchard is wide and spacious. A pleasure to stroll, to watch and to see others going by. A place to see and be seen!
D70, 24mm f/2.8D lens, 1/60s@f/7.1, +0.3EV, ISO450, AWB -3
An avenue of luxuriant trees add to the charm of the Orchard shopping belt.
D70, 24mm f/2.8D lens, 1/60s@f/7.1, +0.3EV, ISO1250, AWB -3
Singaporeans don't like to waste time. Why not cross the road when there is no traffic? And no cop around to catch you for jay-walking?
D70, 24mm f/2.8D lens, 1/60s@f/7.1, +0.3EV, ISO900, AWB -3
The last stretch before reaching home to a warm dinner!
Killiney Road
Newcomers to the D70 are often dismayed with their first pictures out of the Nikon D70. "Why are the pictures so dark... And the colors so dull and drab?"
It need not be so.
In digital photography, white balance -- and an understanding of it -- is critical to getting good colors. Since the quality and quantity of light ie color temperature varies from location to location, you need to change and finetune the WB setting appropriate to your shoot.
For an introduction to white balance, click here.
For a more indepth treatment, see Moose Petersen's excellent article on WB at nikondigital.org. He recommends you don't use auto WB, but experiment and set your own appropriate to the location. He has found for instance that Cloudy -3 comes closest to his everyday shooting color temperature / WB needs.
A WB setting more appropriate for our tropical sun is provided by David Chin. Those without prior background in digital photography would find his approach to the D70 camera settings highly commendable.
In Singapore, I use the following as my general everyday D70 setting, and has been pleased with the results so far:
White Balance: AWB -3
Hue: -3
Saturation: Normal
Sharpening: None
Compensation: +0.3EV
Color Mode: Ia (sRGB)
Sharpening is set to none because the in-camera sharpening -- owing to a small buffer -- is weak compared to NC or PS. For this series, Quality was set to jpg - fine, large and color mode to Ia.
Below are some photos taken at Killiney Road under the 4 pm sun with the above settings:
D70, kit lens @18mm, 1/60@f/8
Killiney & Somerset Road junction
D70, kit lens @18mm, 1/60@f/8
Killiney Post Office0D70, kit lens @18mm, 1/60@f/8
A family clinic at Killiney Road
D70, kit lens @18mm, 1/125s@f/8
Killiney Road view of Comcentre
D70, kit lens @18mm, 1/160s@f/8,ISO800
Bakery that is popular with the growing expat community in the area
D70, kit lens @22mm, 1/200s@f/8
Killiney Boutique & Spa
D70, kit lens @70mm, 1/320s@f/8
More businesses springing up in the area
D70, kit lens @18mm, 1/60s@f/8, ISO640
Pho Vietnamese Restaurant -- Pho is a condiment for soups that is most popular in Vietnam
D70, kit lens @48mm, 1/250s@f/8, ISO200
Perfect kaya toast and egg breakfast at the popular Killiney Road Kopitiam
D70, kit lens @18mm, 1/30s@f/8, ISO1600
Orange Lantern -- afternoon lull
D70, kit lens @18mm, 1/250s@f/8
Pre-war Mitre Hotel being refurbished -- will it be retained as a charming motel?
D70, kit lens @70mm, 1/100s@f/8, ISO200
Devonshire & Killiney Road junction
It need not be so.
In digital photography, white balance -- and an understanding of it -- is critical to getting good colors. Since the quality and quantity of light ie color temperature varies from location to location, you need to change and finetune the WB setting appropriate to your shoot.
For an introduction to white balance, click here.
For a more indepth treatment, see Moose Petersen's excellent article on WB at nikondigital.org. He recommends you don't use auto WB, but experiment and set your own appropriate to the location. He has found for instance that Cloudy -3 comes closest to his everyday shooting color temperature / WB needs.
A WB setting more appropriate for our tropical sun is provided by David Chin. Those without prior background in digital photography would find his approach to the D70 camera settings highly commendable.
In Singapore, I use the following as my general everyday D70 setting, and has been pleased with the results so far:
White Balance: AWB -3
Hue: -3
Saturation: Normal
Sharpening: None
Compensation: +0.3EV
Color Mode: Ia (sRGB)
Sharpening is set to none because the in-camera sharpening -- owing to a small buffer -- is weak compared to NC or PS. For this series, Quality was set to jpg - fine, large and color mode to Ia.
Below are some photos taken at Killiney Road under the 4 pm sun with the above settings:
D70, kit lens @18mm, 1/60@f/8
Killiney & Somerset Road junction
D70, kit lens @18mm, 1/60@f/8
Killiney Post Office0D70, kit lens @18mm, 1/60@f/8
A family clinic at Killiney Road
D70, kit lens @18mm, 1/125s@f/8
Killiney Road view of Comcentre
D70, kit lens @18mm, 1/160s@f/8,ISO800
Bakery that is popular with the growing expat community in the area
D70, kit lens @22mm, 1/200s@f/8
Killiney Boutique & Spa
D70, kit lens @70mm, 1/320s@f/8
More businesses springing up in the area
D70, kit lens @18mm, 1/60s@f/8, ISO640
Pho Vietnamese Restaurant -- Pho is a condiment for soups that is most popular in Vietnam
D70, kit lens @48mm, 1/250s@f/8, ISO200
Perfect kaya toast and egg breakfast at the popular Killiney Road Kopitiam
D70, kit lens @18mm, 1/30s@f/8, ISO1600
Orange Lantern -- afternoon lull
D70, kit lens @18mm, 1/250s@f/8
Pre-war Mitre Hotel being refurbished -- will it be retained as a charming motel?
D70, kit lens @70mm, 1/100s@f/8, ISO200
Devonshire & Killiney Road junction
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