My friend went to a criket game in SG over the weekend… and he got stumped…

Some things do not change around the world, and are cross-cultural – the world of sports…

This is the Grandstand of the Singapore Turf Club.

Empty as it is a weekday morning visit.  Imagine it packed on race weekends with punters… and people of leisure, etc.

Some says it’s vandalism, some says it’s art. What’s your verdict?;)

Who loves scribbling on the wall? (Raise your hands:))
Here in this Cafe called ‘Gone Fishing‘ you can scribble, doodle, write and express yourself as much as you like…While writing this post, I recalled a friend (Shirley), who is a Graphic Designer ex-colleague of mine.

Once we had a short tea break together, and we were casually talking about childhood ‘signals’ that gave the preview of what our occupation are today. She told me that she loves to draw on the wall when she was a little girl and her mother would yelled and screamed at her, warning her umpteen times not to do that. And now she became a Graphic Designer:)

In Singapore, it’s considered an offense to ‘vandalize’ and I really think this place has a great idea, making it ‘an outlet’ for one to chill and express freely! Is there a place like this in your city?:) Take me there (by taking a photo of it! and share with us)

This playground under these lights looks like a colourful and relaxing place:) It’s almost twilight and all the little children has gone home awaiting dinner.

Over the last weekend, we had a birthday party and I ordered a cake… a blackforest cake.

Pictured is the cake, home-made by BeeLeng of Gone Fishing. It is their signature dessert cake, which is an absolutely must try for blackforest lovers out there who happen to come by Singapore.

I have had blackforest cakes all over parts of Europe and the UK and I think this one matches up to international standards!

Yum yum… slurp! *oops*

This is a bagful of ignots… paper gold ignots.

As part of the Qing Ming tradition and Chinese beliefs, the netherworld would require money, and so we burn paper money for their receipt. Again, this is a symbolistic act of filial piety as you do not want your ancestors to be poor in the netherworld, but instead be well taken care of. Usually, relatives all chip in to fold these together and come armed with loaded bags fill of folded paper money. There are various kinds (and dominations) of paper money as well… the paper are folded and then burnt instead of just burning the whole stack. This probably allows better burning quality, but the other point is an opportunity for the family to make small talk and catch up with each other while they sit around folding the paper money.

Rather elaborate and interesting, yes?

Decided to continue on the Qing Ming series of photos… the Gone Fishing series will continue after these photo series are done.

What you see here is the second half of the procedures… it is held at a clan association where the ashes (in urns) are kept in niches. There are food displayed for offerings and the display last as long as the candles burn… thereafter, the family tucks in into the food as a finale to the gathering.

Pictured are the joss sticks offerings that came from a rather large family of 4 sisters and 2 brothers, with a total of almost 20 second-generations and 5 third-generations.

Yesterday was Easter for many… however, in Singapore and perhaps most of the Chinese population in the world, it is a Qing Ming weekend.

Qing Ming is a day where we are supposed to go to our ancestral tombs to clean and tidy up, pay respects during our annual visits as a sign of filial piety.  An obligation Chinese folks keep.

Although the majority of Singaporeans are cremated, there are still a number of burials in our relatively small cemeteries.  Here is a shot of a typical Chinese cemetery in Singapore and it was sure crowded today!  The actual Qing Ming day was Thursday (Holy Thursday) but we have 10 days before and 10 days after the actual day to fulfil our obligations.  Usually, those who passed on recently would be visited in the prior 10 days, and for those who passed on quite a long time ago, the visits are during the latter 10 days.  This year, the Easter long weekend helped ease the crowds to the cemeteries but is was still crowded nonetheless.

Anyways, have you seen cemeteries so crowded ever?  I took this shot across the road with a superzoom lens as I wasn’t even able to drive in the narrow cemetery lanes!

Something different from another perspective in another part of the world…  Happy Easter!

Fill in the blanks:-

”Don’t be afraid to………………… ”

Just the other day, there was a slow shower…

then it drizzled continuously for a cool afternoon…

I walked past the garden back home and noticed nothing except for the wet tropical weather. But when I came back down for a stroll with my kid, I was looking for things to “show & tell”. That was when I noticed these droplets lined up on the leaves of a monocot.

I made a special third trip back to the spot to get a picture. It is a bit pixilated at ISO1600 on a 10D though.

Some things in life, past us without notice… And we notice not till we slow down.

Have a good Easter weekend!

This place certainly has lots of character. Just like Duende Cafe which Zsolt and I went to, during our recent trip to Prague (Czech Republic)…Lots of free expression is encouraged at a place to ‘chill’ like this.

I especially like this ‘outline of a man in cap with a fishing rod’, it’s made with a kind of special bendable material (i guess its cane) being the first greeting icon. I find it rather unique. Besides the name of this Cafe is ‘very alternative’ too;) For an example, if someone ask:-

Q: ”Oh, where’s Zannnie?”

A: ”Zannnie’s GONE FISHING!”

)))

And that was exactly where I was yesterday;) recommended by Chris (aka the MadScientist) who is my lonnng time-old-good-friend. Being at this place, I suddenly had the idea of running my #6 MCQ Quiz on this post:-

Guess how many years have I knew Chris?

(A) 16 years

(B) 14 years

(C) 10 years

(D) 18 years

Mini Prize: The ones who guess it right will get a Postcard from Singapore:)

Good day to all! This is MadScientist reporting for my first foray into the (photo)blogging community!

What’s happening here is that I am getting a tutorial of how to administer this site from Zannnie. I will be co-authoring with Zannnie, a long time friend of mine.

We are now at an elusive cafe in the depths of Singapore heartlands having a slow afternoon tea. This cafe is a place for the unhurried soul, seriously… so, if you are ever down to Singapore, do drop by this cafe called Gone Fishing (pic above). It is my favourite haunt for the weekend afternoons. Here, you get to discuss philosophy with the operators of the cafe, write anecdotes and quotes on the walls, express your artistic talents, host parties, etc. Truly inspiring… perhaps I should begin a series of photos based from this cafe.

Check out www.gonefishing.com.sg

Cheers!