Long City !

The shoot at Great Wall finally arrived !! The trip I had been anticipating since arrival in Beijing a month ago ! We started off at 840am and reached back "home" at about 6. We climbed for 3 to 4 hours in all. And another 3 to 4 hours was taken up on the road to and from Chang Cheng.
BUT first ! EAT. ahahs the first meal of the day - Cheese Burgers and Banana pie which I said I was gonna try before going home :D And incase you think the strawberry milkshake is for me, its not ! h3h3 apparently someone else other then myself likes strawberry milkshake (I detest the ones from Macs tho, tastes like fernleaf milk sh*t :P) [at one time, drinking cartoned and non powdered milk was sort of a luxury for me .... but that was a long time ago]

Actually, the banana pie tastes very much like goreng pisang... surprising the Macs back home do not sell this.. to be honest, I rather dislike banana, especially raw ones, but Im willing to make exceptions (UNLIKE garlic.) - and no, bread is no exception for garlic. I only eat it if its chopped into tiny bits where I can't see or taste muvh of it. We took a cable car up to the wall. My doubts were confirmed when it was more like a lift than a cable car. Nowonder noone wanted to queue on that side of the ticketing booth :P Atfirst, I was like eh ?! How come got 2 booths but only one booth got queue ar ?? Not like either of the booth is empty or one booth lady more nicer then the other what.. The ticketing lady at the unpatronised booth then called to our ticket buyer (XS) and he jump at the chance of not having to queue.
Haha, fun experience, but I think XS did not really enjoy his ride :P He was apparently a little scared of heights, so I deduced, when he refused to look out of the SHELTERED cable car on our way down from the wall. Im guessing it must have been nasty for the poor chap to have to sit this open air lift. (like the ones you sit at ski resorts) The wall from inwithin the wall.

"dare deviling" :D
Tried to look for imaginary frames, in this case, the arc entrance frames the watch tower.

Lets just say the trip down was more covered.. And we were also lucky to have sat the specific coach that Bill Clinton took during his visit on June 28th 1998 :P

The many shops that flank both sides of the streets as we approach the foot of the wall.

Over the years, the shop keepers learn simple english from gai jin's- "cheap cheap, looka looke, good price, comm'on I give you good price, higher, you want T Chirt" and one even asked me "T chirt I give you cheap, 1 dollar" I replied in chinese "one yuan?? where got such pricing, too good to be true (I knew ofcourse she meant 1 US dollar, and was confirmed later :P)
The dinner AT 3+pm.....
Same dish as last time, small river prawns, only this time, it costs 4rmb more, was less tasty and was shared amongst 3 people. Proportion etc. can say was similar ba, negligible difference.
What is wrong here ??? Take a guess. For those in the know, you will prolly be saying stuff like "orh hor, poor thing " or thinking it along those lines lar... Just as I was about to dismount the wall I screwed up.. popped the 70-300 into my coat pocket, and forgotten about it. And when I jumped off from one of the pillars I was standing on, I was reminded of the lens in my pocket ... by the sound of glass shattering.... Thank God - and I really do, cause the only glass that shattered on this fateful day was the HOYA 62mm UV filter :P I thank too, whoever put this particulat filter together, or whatever machine for that matter. The lens was completely intact from the knee level (my knee) to brick ground impact ! But now I gotto spend more money on a new filter.... guess its better to spend 1/10th the amount on a new filter than on a new lens :P

周末又来了 !

The weekends are finally here again !!! Can't forget when I awoke last Monday, thinking "oh God, its the beginning of another long week..." "Then on Tuesday it was oh man, ok nvm, atleast tomorrow its mid week" Wednesday - YEs mid week, tomorrows Thursday, which means 2 more days ! And now its already another friday of the week ! My first night at Jin Rui Da Sha still clear in my mind, TZ fetched me from the airport, with a nice sign with my name on it, which was not required in the end, cause I arrived early :P And then there was the "ah crap, 2 months of work ahead of me, but yet another side was - Wonder what new people I'de meet "
Before I know it, my time left in Beijing is 2 weeks.

This weekend, TOMORROW, will be "the big one", in that we are going to the great wall, one of my objectives for coming to Beijing. With extra canisters of film loaded, my bag packed, I await the 2 hour+ ride to the long wall with its long history.


Some dude was selling these 3 buggers at 50RMB each... outside the overhead bridge just at the door step of the office building. KAWAIiiiiii !!! JL went nuts lar when presented with this photo hahas. . as expected of a dog lover.

Nothing much of interest happened this week, first 3 days were more or less spent on photography in the studio (I do love photoraphy, but studio photography .... its just mentally draining, trying to position your products in the nicest way possible to present in the catalog, and at the same time making sure that all features and all the patterns on the products are clearly shown... then theres the light issue and shot angle) And the worst is, its all done in ONE ROOM one room no bigger then a normal bedroom, of which like 70% of the space is taken up by the studio lights and the big display table. So we basically shot hundreds of photos in this one room with the company's 400D.

On Wednesday however, I got a "get out f work free" pass :P Boss brought me to WuKeSong camera mart again. This I tell you, IS camera haven. You've got the old, you've got the new. I got glimpses of the Argus C3 (brick camera), the TLR Rolleiflex, 35S/T Rollei, Zorki, Zenit, Leica, Hassebald .. You name it, they got it. Then theres also the BIG 2, Nikon and Canon, and the many other new model of cameras (D40, D80, D200, MK2n etc. etc.) The main objective was ofcourse, to get me a new bag which could serve both photography and school purpose. (currently by babe is just wrapped up in bubble wrap and cramped into the front pocket of my North Face with the 70-300mm).

Tada ! My new pack ! Kodak medium formats' for scale.

Today was TGIF, JL and me essentially planned an outs for dinner at some steamboat place. Then just 30mins before fang gong, boss came in asking us what we had in mind for the night, and so our plan was out in the open :P So it was me, JL, Boss, and Rob at this place!This is some good sh*t la.. hahas One MaLa (spicey) and the other was TCM or something lar (traditional chinese medcine :P) Both were real good ! And with 4 plates of beef slices .... we had no doubt a REAL good "feast" !
This is a library near the office, but this was not the place I went to today ofcourse.. I was heading down to collect photos shot in at Dong Shi Shi Tiao earlier. For 5RMB per roll of film washing, and 28RMB for 36 prints (or 8Jiao's per 4R print) Its freaking dirt ! Ofcourse, needless to say, Im going to develop all my rolls before heading home :P

Ah ! Signs of spring's arrival ! Flowers begin to bloom :P

Today (Tuesday 27th March) Marks the 500day mark before Beijing Olympics 2008 !
Even before the actual event, there have already been stores set up OFFICIAL stalls for the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Due to the widespread of fake goods in China (including olympic soveniers) the govt has seen fit to authorise specialty stores to sell Olympic soveniers, I believe that most other stores would therefore be fakes if not obtained from such autorised stores.

Been attending services here, thanks to boss again, at this place called Tong Ren Yi Yuan (Tong Ren Hospital), thats where we tell the cabbie to drop us off at, then we just walk thru some alleys to reach this place.Hah ! No cencorship can cencor the word of God, as you can see, this is the crowd/ cluster f*ck at any ONE of the three service :)

This being the 4th week in china, meaning Ill be left with 3 more weeks, and thanks to the saturday flight back home, 2 weekendsin Beijing, I decided to "slack" no more ! Went to the Temple of Heaven or Tian Tang as it is called in chinese. Was quite a nice place for photog, Interesting facts on the place - It was used to sacrifice animals which were supposed to be pure (like when Moses only offered pure animals as sacrifices to God). This was a place, where even the emperor himself, the most powerful of all men at that time humbled himself to ShangDi (God) [WHICH again shows that the people actually believed in 1 supreme being], anyway, the book is called Fate of our Fathers (of Faith?) can't really remember, its local (meaning singapore). And oh .. I remembered one more thing - Why we were (me and jie and mum i think) so reluctant to walk tian tang last time .... IT IS ONE BIG PLACE !!! Loads of open and long path ways to walk.. er, thanks to boss for sharing his book with me, I understood the history behind the structure, which made the trip ever more fun for me.

THIS IS NOT Tian Tang, its just a random street shot I took whilst on the cab on the way to Temple of Heaven. Danged Temple made me spend 50RMB on entrance.....

The structure at the foreground is the place where they prayed for good harvest. And the first place you visit the moment you go to Tian Tang. Obviously, tour groups like this will be present, especially on a Sunday.

One of the "street performers" on the way to the various Tian Tang locations. There are many performances like this, magic shows, juggling, music etc. To keep the people occupied whilst making their way to the main attractions.

Being the Singaporean that I am, I stayed and listened to one of the tour guides FOR FREEE ! :P h3h3 had the nerve to snap a picture too:P This is the layout of Tian Tang.

Gaming transcends all ages h3h3 !

For me, not only that, I knew nothing of the place, to me it was just another "flower garden" or historic relic (when I was in like pri/ lower sec). And I also had not much interest in photog that at the time, making the answer to the "whats in it for me " question -nothing- ! :P To bad my digital PNS camera decided "hey, this is Kens big outs, let me run out of juice ...." and so there were quite a few nice ones lost to digital but captured on film nonetheless :D

Been spending quite alot of time in the company's photo studio, as they are planning to revamp their product catalog, so new and nicer pictures are gonna be used, which means rephotoing most of their products. Got my hopes up at the prospect of PERHAPS being able to see an EOS-1D in action :P The lack of light in the studio requires longer exposure time on my camera, therefore capturing the magnificant movements of the photographer.

But I was instead greeted with the EOS 400D. The constraptionyou see attached to the Hot Shoe is a sync device which sync's the shutter release and the flash from the studio lights, which are obviously more superior to the built in flash. But the lens mounted was the 28-135mm 900SGD mofo.... I so wanna kope this lens for my EOS-1 at home :D

Anime MADNESS !!!! The stuff in China is just SOOOOO freaking cheap (with respect to anime stuff that is), One of the goodies which I recovered from my first trip to the store. Din even noe it was in there till I finally opened the package :P a blessing in diguise (the disguise being the chinese words which described the contents, but which I failed to completely decipher >.<)

Ichigo 100% !!! Finally got my hands on this splendid piece of work ! and for the price of 16SGD after discount, it ain't that bad at all :P This set comes in 5 books, each book contains 4 series (unlike the ones at Kino which goes by one book per series, which makes it necessary to purchase all 19 books in order to complete the set. At 5SGD per book, from Kino that is, that is just CRAZY) - zz But with this purchase comes in the purchase of what I call, and augmented good but necessity nonetheless - CHINESE Dictionary..... lucky I brought one over :P For the love of Ichigo 100%, I shalt brush up on my chinese by reading this book. Must becareful liao, I risk blowing my wad on anime paraphernalia .... NOT paraphilia (as I discovered whilst searching for the correct spelling to the latter :P eeks. go find out the meaning for this yourself :P)

It translates - This way to Staff Haven (or if you wanna be a pessimistic bit*h about it, this way to staff canteen.. :P) Nonetheless, my 100+ jiao zhis (dumplings have been mostly consumed from here :P I dare say atleast 70+ dumplings or so Ive eaten in the last 3 times they served that delicacy. And with Qin Ming jie coming (the one where chinese go shao mu [clean ancestors coffins and pay respects], I think Ill be eating more :P Its a chinese tradition to eat dumplings during Qin Min.

想当年

After many years of searching, I finally found it !! Remembered of this piece we heard in Sec4 when "AhYee" played it whilst we were photo shooting for the product catalog at the studio :P

榕树下

路边一棵榕树下

是我怀念的地方

晴朗的天空

凉爽的风

还有醉人的绿草香

和你绕过小路弯弯

情人山坡看斜阳

晚霞照上你的脸

情话绵绵说不完

啊~~你可想起榕树下

可曾想起绿草香

路边一棵榕树下

是我见你的地方

甜美的笑容

亲切的话

还有默默的情意长

你曾陪我流涟春光

轻轻细诉心中怨

记得春天已过去

只是旧事不能忘

啊~~你可想起榕树下

可曾想起绿草香

路边一棵榕树下

是我怀念的地方

晴朗的天空

凉爽的风

还有醉人的绿草香

和你绕过小路弯弯

情人山坡看斜阳

晚霞照上你的脸

情话绵绵说不完

啊~~你可想起榕树下

可曾想起绿草香

Saturday in pictures

Enemy UPFRONT ! The moment I drinkth from this can, I knew I was fratonizing with the enemy, but who cares, its free and plentiful in the office's pantry !!! hahas

Today was photog again, this time at Confucius Temple and Lama Temple, however, due to ongoing constructions, we never really got the chance to take many good shots... well, I guess its not just about the photography, its about the company Im with too ba, so its not all wasted :)
When you see a fellow human being living in such conditions, you (or atleast I), at that very moment said a thankyou sincerely and from the bottom of my heart to the Lord. [this one really no joke, we're hell lucky to have Spore, even if we live in the lowest conditions in Spore, I dun think it comes near to this..., I for one, am very grateful to be born in a family in which I do not needa worry about my 3 meals a day or paying for college tution fees.. I only wish that I can grant my future family the same luxury my parents have granted me, should I have a future family tt is :)]
More houses. These are the back alleys behind the nicer or modest shop houses, where the inhabitants eagerly welcome foreigners and perhaps struggle to pay rent ? Some dude tell me its 40RMB a month, but to those guys, 40 could be alot.
Imperial Lane, this is the road which is flanked by buildings in which the emperor himself used to lecture, as such , the buildings are very old. Looking at the state of the buildings which the people are living in now, its hard to believe that the most powerful man in China once teached in one of these structures. (notice the arch entrance at the far end with the 2 red pillars, it stands as proof of the importance/ splendor this place once held) [So I was told, only such places would have such a arches overhead]
Lama temple, from the outside. Confucius Temple could not be entered, as it was mostly under construction, and the bi*ch at the entrance was trying to charge us 10RMB (full price) to enter.... now, tts theres a task for my

AF 70-300mm :D Another shot of the Lama Temples
Their primary form of fuel, I think, are these charcoal blocks (the round tubes with holes in them) these brownish ones are spent.
These are unused, and ready to use. The picture supposed to be black though, like what I saw... figures..
Junk/ Antiques on the street site.

Brothers In Arms !!! Behold, the Nikon D200 and F65 respectively !

Random entrance shot, similar to last weeks Dong Shi Shi Tiao, anyway, both are part of old beijing and the Hutong area, so its the same lar :P Just different settings. This one I can say i more modernised though, than last weeks one.

I prayed and I looked hard .....

God answered -

I actually found an Anime specialty shop in the middle of this old Beijing street !!! SOOO strange that they would open a shop here :P hahas

My spoils for the day :D ..................

[to whom it may concern : the surprise is spoilt ;)]
.. YEah you'de better smile when I take your picture, I just spent deposited a sh*t load of RMB's in your shop :P
And for dinner !! Egg fried rice and river shrimps !
(Though the egg fried rice still cannot beat FeiChui's one back home, I mean Im not looking for FC's standards, even the xiao long baos arn't FC's standards, but atleastthey still taste real good for the price. the egg rice on the other hand, though good for the price 4RMB, is constantly bland.. that I needa mix in chilli's which is also my favourite :P)
The portion was ..... demoralising... I must have eaten 50 or more of these pinky finger sized shrimps... I expected a much smaller plate, but got one fit for 3 people... (like last weeks curry chicken :P) ~ ITATEKIMASU !

Sayonara !