Growing Older

I had my first cup of coffee when I was about 5 years old, and it puzzled me as to why my parents and grandmother loved the hot bitter drink so much. I preferred to gulp down cold drinks in the shortest possible time. It didn't matter if I got a brain freeze from doing that, it never deterred me from gulping down my drink again and again.

But recently, I find myself picking hot drinks over their cold counterparts. It could be a cup of coffee with milk, teh tarik or even milo. Perhaps my changing taste is a sign that I'm growing older. Or I've picked up the lifestyle of the old folks after working with them for the past six months. It's not just the preference of drinks that has changed, the way I live my life has changed slightly too. I'm living life a little slower, sipping my drinks instead of gulping, and enjoying the little things. Whereas in the past I would prefer to sit on the inside of any restaurants / cafes / coffee shop, now I choose window seats or seats that are nearer to nature in general. I really do sound like an old man now. I walk slower too and I don't run for the traffic lights anymore. Instead, I make sure that I take in the view around me, be it flowers, buildings or just looking at people walk by. I never used to like taking walks around gardens or beaches, but now, I want to bring my girlfriend to these places for frequent walks.

I guess slow living has helped me relax quite a bit, and has taught me how to enjoy life the way it was meant to. But hopefully, I don't start finding joy in playing bingo too soon.

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P/S: If you're ever in East Coast Park and you want to buy drinks at Killiney, don't buy their coffee. You can buy any other drink but their coffee. My parents got their kopi-o (coffee black) while I went with kopi-c (coffee with condensed milk), and we couldn't drink more than 3 sips of it.

The Everyday Remarkable

(31/07/15 - 31/08/15)

For a long time, I took photos of the everyday remarkable on the streets. I looked out for things that people tend to overlook, be it a broom hung on a wall or just pots of flowers that went unnoticed. I found these things to be remarkable and they were and still are my favourite subjects. Even when I took street portraits, I never had a specific 'type' of subject I wanted to shoot, it's always what most people would see on the streets. These were things I would look out for when I went out to take photographs, be it new locations or old.

But I never realized that I was overlooking some things myself, the very things that existed in my house, the things that I see everyday. So I started looking through my things, digging out those that have been kept away in my cupboards and other storage boxes. The longer I worked on this project, the nearer the items were to my everyday life. Before I knew it, I was using things like my stationery and my socks. 

These are my 'Everyday Remarkable'. 

A Gameboy Advance passed to me from my cousin when I was a kid. Also the gadget that got me started on Pokemon.

Apparently, I enjoyed Chinese Chess as well.

I used to play table tennis every morning in secondary school with a few classmates.

My first two phones. I found out that I'm a sentimental person through this series.

Phone cases for my old iPhone 4 which now resides with my younger sister.

This album was an impulse buy, but at least it makes a good decoration piece.

My Billabong wallet that I used during my primary school days. I really am a sentimental person.

My badges and rank from my days in Boys' Brigade. I was really proud of my achievements.

Naruto soft toy that a teacher bought for us when I was 14.

The Nikon FM2, which belongs to my dad. Also the first camera I used (when I was a kid). Sadly, it's not working now.

My dad's old film lenses which have since been passed on to me.

Reading is one of my favorite past-times, next to taking photos.

A sock from Korea. It's been worn so frequently that it now has a hole.

All of my stationery arranged as neatly as I could. Neat isn't my forte, as you can see.

My first aid kit consists of plasters, panadols, medicated oil, Zam-Buk and sanitary pads (I keep some with me in case my girlfriend forgets to bring hers.)

年年有余; it's not Chinese New Year, but I use this pouch to store miscellaneous stuffs and because 余 is my girlfriend's surname. So when directly translated, it means having her every year. I find that particularly meaningful.

My alarm clock. Fun fact - it was out of battery when I took this shot.

My polaroids with my girlfriend, all kept in a plastic, and then in a box with all of our other stuffs.

My current phone and the camera I use whenever I don't bring my camera out.

It's always good to carry a pack of tissue, you never know when you need to sneeze or when nature calls and the toilet doesn't have any tissue.

For this project, I used two vanguard sheets, one pink and one yellow and of course, random things I found in my room. Who needs a proper backdrop when you've got vanguard sheets haha. But vanguard has it's limits. Since it isn't very big, bigger items would not be able to fit inside the frame and because of that, there were many big items that I could not use for this series. Other than that, I think it's a good substitute as a backdrop for many other starting photographers who lack the money to buy a proper backdrop like me. For 20 - 40 cents, you can get a decent background for product photography. Of course, it can't be used for portraits unless you're intending to take fill-the-frame close up shots. For portraits, I would suggest getting a bigger and thicker paper / canvas / cloth and if you're daring enough, splatter it with different colors of paint to get a one of a kind backdrop. You'll have to find some way to hold it up against the wall though.

You can also view this on my VSCO Journal: http://leexiuzheng.vsco.co/journal/the-everyday-remarkable

Or on my Wordpress: https://thefakeseanlee.wordpress.com/2015/08/31/the-everyday-remarkable/

Prince Coffee House | Lunch with my Mummy

A few weeks ago, Nicolette and I went to have lunch with my mum near her workplace. We went to this place called "Prince Coffee House", which was highly recommended by my mum. I honestly thought it was a Thai restaurant when I first entered because of the way it was decorated and because of the staffs' uniforms. My mum had to explain to me that it was not Thai and was in fact inspired from the early days of Singapore and the Singapore Airlines (SIA) uniforms. I was quite surprised to know that this place has been around for over 30 years! 

We decided to buy a Western set meal each and share among ourselves. Since my mum can't eat chicken due to her Chinese medicine, I got the fish and chips, Nicolette got grilled fish and my mum ordered pork chop. Each set meal includes the main dish, a drink, a soup and dessert (ice cream or fruits)! The price is reasonable too, around $10 for one set, especially when they give you so much. The taste, was without a doubt, very good (thumbs up). Their mushroom soup was damn creamy and good. Being a huge fan of mushroom soups, this one was beyond satisfying. Just looking at the photo while I'm typing this is making me crave for their food. That's how delicious it was.

I would definitely go back there again with Nicolette in the near future to try their other set meals (most probably the chicken ones, sorry mum). Prince Coffee House is not just known for their affordable Western set meals, they sell Hainanese / Chinese food as well. I might try those too in future haha. But what they are really famous for, is their chicken pie. It was a shame that we didn't get to try that (partly because I didn't have any room in my stomach left for more food). I'll just have to add that into the list of food to buy there. 

A closer look at my fish and chips

Ice cream!

After lunch, my mum told us to take a walk around Haji Lane and take some photos since Prince Coffee House is located there. We strolled around for a while before my mum had to go back to work, so Nicolette and I walked by ourselves. We found ourselves entering 'Grammah', a shop that sells female clothing inspired by what our grandmothers wore during the 70s and 80s. They also have an assortment of old school goodies inside the shop, which takes you back in time. Nicolette saw a blue long dress that she really liked and immediately went to try it on. After trying it on, she decided to buy it because she really loved the dress. We didn't stay at Haji Lane for long and we went off to Tanjong Pagar to talk.

Prince Coffee House

249 Beach Road

Nearest MRT: Bugis

Grammah

66 Haji Lane

Nearest MRT: Bugis