His heart is melting,
from the warmth of the engines,
that take him off into the skies,
like the flare in her eyes.
And she’s stalling,
deep inside,
And in the March monsoon that’s coming,
she’s getting out of sight.
And in the name of the crosswinds of the Straits that meet,
and the South China Sea,
up high, he’s gliding through thousands of feet,
to ground the agony she sees.
But in the cold rough clouds that are bitter,
and it hurts it’s a distance to reach her,
he looked up to the stars at Orion in vain,
“Why can’t we just love like Airplanes?”
Well, life at school had been quite hectic. Submitting assignment after assignment, and it seemed as if I didn’t really have time to do the other things that I loved to do, including blogging. It’s finally the summer holidays and I am looking forward to the long 2 months of relaxation ahead of me!
During one of the weeks of the school term, I suddenly had this whole crazy idea of publishing a book. Well, it’s crazy because number 1, I suck at writing. Number 2, I’m still quite too young to publish a full fledged book. However, just recently, I saw that dream came true for me, and that dream was the Little Gray Dot photo-book.
At the end of the term, I compiled all of my notes together and stitched them together to form pages of little paragraphs to accompany my photos. Afterwards, I started choosing the photos that I really liked to go into the book. To be specific, the photos were street and cityscape photography that I had taken over the past few years since I started my interest in the field of photography. I really feel that this book would work because I doubt that nobody out there have ever stitched together a nice little book comprising of photos that weren’t even captured using professional cameras. That’s another double-edged sword thing because I realised that the quality of the photos won’t look as great as well… however I just went with the risk.
The aim of the book is to show people around the world a different perspective of Singapore. Most people think that Singapore is a very typical city, however, I believe otherwise. Under the rapid development and behind the concrete jungle, there are things in between that people tend to miss that makes Singapore, Singapore. Those little things are what I like to call things that contribute to the diversity of the society of the city that I live in.
For the cover page, I managed to choose this picture of the Singaporean skyline that I took from the rooftop of a residential block. I spent a few hours designing the cover page as well as testing out what fits. Afterwards, I went ahead to choosing how many pages I wanted and so, I stick to about 100 pages since it fitted nicely within my budget. Then comes the tricky part of how I wanted to place my photos. This took me a few days because I couldn’t perceive how large the photos would look in real life. The other part of the book I had to complete is the writing bit. Well, this didn’t take me long because again, I basically just stitched up my past writing work into paragraphs.
After a few days of hard work, I finally did it. I published my first book ever. And I am really excited to hear responses from the public on my book! It’s exciting because I know I’m a guy who loves to hear criticism from people and through that, I can improve myself! Nevertheless, this is definitely a milestone in my life and something that I would definitely look back to in the future.
Busan, located at the South-Eastern tip of the Korean Peninsula, is widely known by historians as the city that bore the brunt of the Communist Invasion by North Koreans in August of 1950. While the rest of Korea was subdued under Communist control, the tide of the Korean war depended on the defence of this last remaining city. Of course, the UN was successful in pushing back North Korean forces in the September of 1950. Well, considering the fact that this only happened 65 years ago, which is relatively not too long ago, I was excited to see for myself the scars left behind by the Korean War since I’m a history junkie.
PUBLIC TRANSPORT
It was about a 7 hour plane ride after a few-hour transit in Kuala Lumpur. From the airport, we took the subway to our little motel in Haeundae, where we stayed for the next 3 days. For the most part of our trip in Busan, we used the subway to get to places, and this is probably a much better option than taxi or bus if you really wanna get to know more about the culture and the people here.
In this city, it seems that a high percentage of the demography go to the elderly since I pretty much see a lot of old people everywhere. Well, my first impressions of the people here are great! Especially the elderly. From what I observe, they must really love children since on almost every train ride they go, they would invite my 6 year old younger sister to sit on their laps, and they would play with her, or give her a treat or two.
To be honest, subway rides can be a little boring and strenuous. Especially when you have to travel long distances or you have to transfer train lines a couple of times (which means that you can’t sleep for the entire duration of the journey). However, my experience in the subway here is way different than what I normally have in the MRT back in Singapore. Keep in mind that most of the people are the elderly, and of course, they are not the tech-savvy group of people who would stick their faces to their smartphones (which I highly doubt they own) playing Candy Crush or fishing likes over at Instagram. Instead, train rides are opportunities for them to socialise, get to know others, and share stories.
I remember finally getting a seat next to this elderly man after standing for a long period of time. Well, minding my own business staring blankly towards the floor when he started gently tugging my black glove that I was wearing on my left hand. In my head I was thinking, “What is this guy trying to do?”
I mean it was out of nowhere and I didn’t know the man at all. So I turned my head towards him with the “confused-stare” look and he immediately asked me with a smile in a soft, frail voice, “Cold?”
I replied with a simple nod of the head.
He went on to ask, “Where you are from?”
“Singapore,” I acknowledged.
With a heart-warming grin on his face, “Welcome in Busan.”
He continued by asking for my age and he started talking about the things that he did when he was my age. He also shared about his work life and stories when he was transitioning into his work life. It was evident he was not proficient in English but he did make the effort to form coherent sentences for me to understand. I went ahead to ask for his age and to my surprise, for such a fit looking person, he claimed that he was 72 years of age. For me the fact that he was 72 is surprising for me since there is a high possibility that he saw the war happened when he was a kid.
After a little bit of story sharing, the train finally reached his intended stop. He gave a small bow, stepped outside of the train onto the platform, and waited for the train to leave. Only when the train left, he gave a small bow and waved at me with the same heart-warming grin on his face.
Who knew the subway can be an interesting place!
I notice that here, there are quite a number of Christian Missionaries too, preaching at entrances.
MARKETS
In Busan, the best place to try seafood would be at the World-Famous Jagalchi Market at Nampo. It offers a wide variety of seafood that you can take away or that can be cooked on the spot by the stalls there. However, Winter isn’t the best time to look for seafood since most of the seafood isn’t available during the season. Due to the limited selection, I didn’t actually try the seafood since (fun fact) I don’t like to eat Crustaceans; but my other family members seemed to enjoy it.
We visited a couple of different markets selling all sorts of things from clothes, to food. I think the most interesting thing I noticed was the street food. Usually, you would buy the food at the stall, and then walk away with the food, or there are tables for you to actually enjoy the food; but here, they prepare the food for you, and then you consume the food on the same table while standing. I have no idea what I tried that day (it was good though) but it seemed to be some form of “vegetable pancake” sort of thing (I’m not a foodie so yeah). And of course who would forget the Kimchi. To be honest, I wasn’t a big fan of Kimchi before I visited Korea; this absolutely changed my perception of this dish.
For some reason, I really do enjoy the being in the environment of a wet market. Seeing the hustle and bustle of it, people calling out to each other, neighbouring stall owners joking with one another, it feels like you’re in a vibrant and colourful place.
As I walked down into the corridors, I noticed that majority of the stalls sold Kimchi, and there were many different ways to prepare them. This whole time I thought Kimchi was like a single dish on its own (again not a foodie). There were some mixed in with fish or even crab.
Apparently the people here are like really hyped up about churros because you can really find them literally everywhere.
SIGHTSEEING
On our last day here, went sightseeing around town in a tour bus, and later on, in an open-top bus. The tour bus went through a couple of hills where we got sort of like a bird’s-eye view of the shores of Busan, and also a little bit of nature.
We unexpectedly stopped by an aquatic museum of some sort since the bus driver wanted to have his lunch. In the museum, were displays of preserved fish and live fish in little aquariums. There was also a small bay next to it where fishermen just do their thing.
Later on, we transferred to an Open-Top bus at BEXCO to do some sightseeing. The temperatures was about 10 Degrees Celsius, and it sounded like a bad idea to sit in an open area when the bus is moving at such a high speed, but it was all worth the fun. Instead of being just a mundane bus ride, it somehow “transforms” into a roller coaster ride when cold wind gush into your face at high speeds. On top of that, there were breathtaking views too.
STREETS
It gets dark like really early around say… 6:00pm, and so there isn’t really much to do at night except to just watch the people of Busan carry on with their normal lives. Well, I did a little bit of experiment with long exposure on my phone’s camera and it produced some spectacular results!
Anyway, the most interesting part of my stay here iswatching the people of Busan carry on with their normal lives. I mean it’s something I really do appreciate; seeing people load carts off carts, children playing “catching” with one another, couples teasing each other, and you can find all of these on the streets.
…and we have construction workers too.
…little children going on field trips.
Apparently, here, cardboard collectors are a common sight too.
I guess I can say that what really made my trip here in Busan memorable was the people. Like how they made me feel like I’m no stranger here. I really do believe that the impact the people left on me here is really something that I will not forget for a long time.
For more pictures from Busan, do head over to my VSCO Grid!
Aidilfitri! The happiest time of the year! Well my family and I did lots of stuff to prepare for this occasion. Recently, I got a job so I had some independence on the use of my money. Might as well use it to decorate my bare room. Got a bunch of wine boxes from a nearby wine store, gathered all of my souvenirs from my travels, and mounted a little display on the wall. I also had painted some black acrylic paint at the side of my workstation and did some chalk art.
Mounted some new stuffz!My new chalk art!
Afterwards, I went to the store room to help my grandmother to sort out some stuff. I found this old keyboard that can’t be used no more so I kinda made good use of it.
Turned my room into a mini music studio haha!
On Aidilfitri, mostly, I look forward to tasting the food. On the eve of that day, my grandmother started cooking loads of dishes from Rendang to Ketupat. As for the Ketupat, before we can actually steam it, we have to weave the “shell” of it first using some sort of leaves-which-I-don’t-really-know-what-it’s-called.
A box full of weaved KetupatSome vegetables for the dishesLeaves used to weave the KetupatRendang!Rice grains used to fill the KetupatMore Ketupat!
It was like 11pm at night but our house wasn’t ready yet. We still had to paint the living room white and do some gardening. Traditionally, we would hang colorful lights in our backyard.
“Lampu kelap-kelip”
Haha I slept at 3am the following day. Arranging books, dusting the living room, et cetera.
At a nearby mosque, we started Aidilfitri prayers at about 8:15am. The mosque was kinda packed with people so we actually had to pray in the middle of the road.
Aildilfitri PrayersHaha right in the middle of the road
Actually the best part of Aidilfitri is that we get to spend time, and ask for forgiveness from other family members. Honestly, I hadn’t cried for a long time.
It was my second day in Bali. Woke up and prepared myself at about 7:00am in the morning for a two-hour drive to the mountains. My family and I were planning to go for a cycling tour in a few of the villages there. As we went up the mountains, our sightseeing landscapes were basically a bunch of paddy fields after another.
Balinese Rice Paddy FieldsMore Paddy Fields!
We started our cycling tour at the peak of Mount. Kintamani, also known as Kintamani Volcano. At the peak, we were greeted by a breathtaking view.
View of Mount. AgungNot gonna fall off!Another view of Mount. Agung, Bali’s highest point, in the background.That’s me!
The temperature at Denpasar, the “main” city in Bali was about 30 degrees Celsius. At our current location, it was about 15 degrees, kinda a shock to me, but luckily we didn’t need jackets since the Sun was keeping us warm.
Anyways we had our delicious breakfast in this little restaurant. Simple fried rice, and some tea. Afterwards, we immediately started our biking journey!
Our yummy Breakfast!Lol I’m all the way at the back.
Our first stop was at a Primary School. It was a holiday so there weren’t any students there. There were a couple of teachers there though. Awkwardly staring at us outside their staff rooms, each holding a cup of tea, as we trespassed the school’s boundaries. The Primary School had about 2 small blocks; one for the staff rooms, and one for the student block, which only consisted of about four classrooms. The tour guide told us that a normal school curriculum had about 3 recess times (haha I wished I had that in my school), and students are allowed to go home to have their lunch (I got even more jealous).
The Indonesian flag flies proudly in front of the classroom blockA classroom entrance with Balinese-style features
The tour guide also told us that before school starts, normally, the students would pray – according to their beliefs. In a typical Balinese community, there are Hindus, Muslims, and Buddhists living together in harmony. Normally, the Hindus would pray in a nearby temple, which was a stone throw’s away from the school.
A Hindu shrine in the school compoundA nearby Hindu templeHindu temple entranceA ‘Candi’ with beautiful patterns
Well there was a small village nearby and I did a very brief look-around.
A street in the nearby villageA tuckshop in the village
Afterwards, we continued cycling downhill passing a couple more villages. It’s interesting how there’s a temple every few minutes.
A typical Balinese Hindu temple
Along the pathways, as we were going downhill, we could find villagers carrying on with their own normal lives. And on top of that, the villagers whom we passed by were friendly too! Almost very single villager waved their hands frantically in the air, and shouted “Hello” with their wide smiles. It was as if they knew us personally.
A villager taking a strollA lady villager carrying stuff overA farmer pushing a cart filled with banana leavesProbably resting after a few hours of workSome of the children who greeted usThis child happens to be taking a walk outside his home
Our next stop was a paddy field. The farmers there let us give a taste of what is like beating the rice grains.
Farmers working hard in the fields
Afterwards, we visited a Balinese home which was under-construction. We explored the different parts of a Balinese home; which included the kitchen, bedroom, guest area, and a family praying area.
Family praying areaBaskets on the shelves of the kitchenWall patterns of the kitchenA child playing with planks of wood in the Balinese houseVillager working on the roofVillager constructing the bedroom
We ended our tour at another village. There was a busy market in the village with loads of villagers shouting out offers for what they were selling. We closed with a dance by a bunch of young Balinese girls and had some authentic Balinese cuisine.
Wrapping up dried seedsA kid playing with a kite near the marketOone of the Balinese dancersAn elderly woman takes a break outside the marketOur lunch! NomnomnomBalinese village ‘skyline’
It was Ubin Day, and I volunteered for a coastal cleanup of the beaches on Pulau Ubin, an island in the north-east, still trapped in time. It was the first time in a few years I revisited this island. It’s an interesting place to go to since it is one of the last few villages we have here in this country. In just a 10-minute boat ride away, you are taken to a completely different environment and place. Well I finished my duties helping out with logistics and stuff, and there was a 2-hour break before the coastal cleanup starts. So, I decided to take the time to explore the island’s main village. Here are some of the photos I took during my time there.
Bum Boat to Pulau UbinPulau Ubin Main VillageA Temple In Pulau UbinAnother View Of The Main VIllageOne Of The Drink Stalls In The Main VillageProcessed with VSCOcam with p5 presetA Typical Kampong HouseA Bike Rental ShopAlleyways In Between The ShopsA Bike Rental Shop Owner Looking Out For CustomersAn Underused PierTaxi Service
Sadly, my phone kinda died halfway through so I didn’t really get a chance to take more pictures of the village. Anyways, see you again Ubin! :’)
Danish Danial Bin Anuar 