When you have time....

to go jalan-jalan...i would suggest you to go to Little India.
Dont forget to bring your camera...or cameraphone, like me :-)

My favourite place to shoot street photography...is Little India. There is always so much things to explore and find and capture!

I've been going to Little India for as long as I can remember, for the food, for the fresh produce, for the cultural happenings (I joined the Thaipusam procession couple of years ago) and...for the abundance subjects to shoot with my camera errr...phone. 

Klick the word Little India above, it will bring you to the map of the area. From Little India MRT, just go along Serangoon Road, go into Norris Rd, Upper Dickson Rd, Dunlop Rd, Veerasamy Rd, Chitty Rd, Kampong Kapor Rd...well, basically every lanes and road in this area. 

You will find this beautiful church Kampong Kapoor Church around Kampong Kapoor and Chitty Road. The parish Rev. Wong invited me to see the inside of the church, including their piped organ. It is beautiful! Will upload the pictures on separate post :-)

You will also find this beautiful Abdul Gaffoor mosque in Dunlop Street. It is hidden among rows of shophouses, so you will only see it when you are already very near to the mosque. Do visit this gem...it is beautifully preserved! 

My sister, aunt, mom and I finally found this gem!

Back Alley. Do you notice the designated parking lot for motorcycle here? :-)

Laundry day today :-)

Something has never changed

Back alley...from the otherside.

Hello Granny :-)

"Hello...this is me"

Happy Deepavali

Besok Hari Libur resmi di Singapura, umat Hindu merayakan Hari Raya Deepavali, festival cahaya.
Festival yang bertujuan merayakan kemenangan kebaikan melawan keburukan, terang melawan gelap.

Pada hari ini umat Hindu berkumpul bersama keluarga setelah selesai bersembahyang di kuil, merayakan hari baik ini dengan makan bersama.

Di rumah lilin dinyalakan dan rangoli, hiasan lukisan di lantai yang dibuat dari bubuk warna warni  menghiasi rumah-rumah umat Hindu, cantik sekali.

Anak-anak menyalakan kembang api karena kembang api dipercaya bisa mengusir roh jahat :-) berisik mungkin?

Desak-desakan di Little India, orang-orang sibuk berbelanja keperluan Deepavali.

Salah satu hiasan gantung untuk di rumah yang dijual di Little India

Tahun ini saya diundang merayakan Deepavali di rumah salah seorang teman. Karena tidak sempat membeli dessert khas India yang manis dan lezat rasanya, akhirnya saya membawa coklat saja. Waahaha....tidak level ya? Yah...tidak apa-apalah, lebih baik membawa sesuatu daripada tidak samasekali.

Lilin warna-warni...siapa mau beli?

Tidak ada pembuatan rangoli pada perayaan di rumah teman saya, hanya ada lilin di mana-mana. Tapi.... ada banyak makanan lezat menanti (lho...tidak ada hubungannya ya :-) Chapatti, sayur labu kuning, sayur terong, ayam bumbu, nasi briyanni ....hmmmm!



Happy Deepavali to my Indian friends who are celebrating the Holiday!

Mid-Autumn Festival

It's the time of the year again...to enjoy mooncake while admiring the full moon, hoping to catch a glimpse of lady Chang Er on the moon :-)

Do you want to know the story of lady Chang Er? Click this, however, it is in Indonesian. Will post the English version soon :-)


- Posted from my iPhone

My Book Project: "Oei Hong Kian - A Journey Through Three Cultures"

My book project is finally published! It took us several years to complete the rewriting process from Indonesian to English, but it is finally done. 

Several years ago i was approached by one of the prominent publisher is Singapore to do a book project. The story or perhaps i should say the book was ready, but it was still in Indonesian and Dutch. The publisher wished to publish Pak Oei's story in English, hence they asked me to co-author the English version together with Pak Oei. 

After I met Pak Oei personally and learned about his fascinating story, I said yes.

ABOUT THE BOOK

The book is an auto-biography of Oei Hong Kian, a prominent Indonesian dentist around President Soekarno's era. 

Pak Oei was a fourth-generation of Javanese-Chinese Peranakan in Indonesia. He witnessed the changes of history in Indonesia, from Japanese Occupation, Indonesia's Independence, the President Soekarno's fall and when the communist tried to had a coup d'etat in September 1965. He was western (Dutch) educated and was once President Soekarno's personal dentist. He also served many prominent personalities such as Vice-President Adam Malik, US Ambassador Howard Jones, Gen. S Parman and many more. Pak Oei gives special insights of the political situations at that time because of his closeness to these people.

His book also tells story across generation, from the time of his great-grandfather to his children and grandchildren, where three different cultures - Chinese, Javanese-Indonesian and Dutch influence their way of living.

What is the most interesting things about Pak Oei story for me is his recounts of events during his childhood, living in Magelang, a small town in central Java, being Chinese but very Javanese at the same time. His detailed story about the Chinese customs his family was practicing is very captivating. Anyone who is interested in social - culture studies of Straits Chinese in Indonesia would love to add this book into their personal favourite collection.  

WHERE TO BUY 

"Oei Hong Kian - A Journey Through Three Cultures" can now be purchased at  Kinokuniya  Singapore and Indonesia. Online purchase can be made through Straits Times Press as the publisher, Select Bookshop or Amazon (starting from 15 Sept 2012)

Price:  US$23.10   (SGD30.00-SGD32.00*)

Format:  Paper Back, 330 pages
Published:  2012/06, Singapore, 1st Edition
ISBN:  9789814342117

SB#:  053406 (120)

Xin Nian Kuai Le

This year is a Water Dragon year. My version of the holiday...in this series.






Last day before CNY, parents were busy fetchin their kids frm school.



Secondary school students paid a visit to their almamater school (primary) to wish their former teachers a happy new year.


Cute girl all dressed up to welcome the new year


Ohohoooo...luck is in my hand! Caught this orange thrown by the 'Lion' that was dancing in this mall. Huat ah!



Pomelo...the sign of abundance


Hmmm....sweet stuff only during NY!












Cupcakes with dragon design to be enjoyed on a reunion lunch at a friends place.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone