My 2011 in pictures

2011 was certainly an eventful year, but I still can’t say for sure if I could call it a good year.

Work-wise, it was by far the toughest year since I started work. Had to deal with the disappointment and anguish of not getting the reports when I went to Japan to cover the March 11 disasters. Tougher though, was coping with the change to local news reporting, which has made work-life a little more colourful but infinitely more stressful. (I’m still debating if it was the right move)

PICTURE OF THE YEAR: The Workers’ Party’s historic capture of a GRC at the May 7 General Election is easily one of the biggest events of the year, and I had the privilege of witnessing and capturing the electrifying atmosphere that night. The real bonus was submitting it to my paper’s photo desk and having it selected for our front-page the following day. It doesn’t get bigger than that for me.

On the other hand, I think little has changed in terms of my personal life. Still dating the same (wonderful) Joanne, still hanging out with the same friends. Went on two holidays – both of which were to places I have visited before (Hong Kong and Tohoku, Japan).

As with the previous couple of years, I guess the bright spots are the good photos I managed to take during the course of the year. The May 7 General Election was arguably the biggest event of the year in Singapore – not just because of the result but also the socio-political changes it brought on, and I was glad I used my time off work to visit the various rallies, as well as the results announcement at Serangoon Stadium.

Exploring the Arakawa Line

Tokyo is known for its complex train network, with 13 subway lines and two major railway lines serving the city centre. Just like any other new visitor to the city, I was overwhelmed when I first took a look at the train map back in 2007, when I was about to leave for my exchange in Japan.

In the smaller Japanese cities, however, residents are served mostly by buses, and some like Hiroshima and Okayama (which I have been to) have tram lines serving the city centre.

Many public bus services still run through Tokyo – I commuted by bus to my train station almost every day when I went to school there. They charge a flat rate of 200 yen and are incredibly punctual. (I believe it’s partly to do with good planning and a general lack of traffic on the bus routes.)

But did you know that there are still trams in Tokyo?

One of them is the Arakawa line, which opened in 1913 and now serves a few suburbs just north of the JR Yamanote line.

Last week, on the second day of my holiday in Japan, Joanne and I took the Arakawa line from one end (Waseda) to the other (Minowabashi). Earlier in the day, I’d brought Joanne on a tour of the Nishiwaseda campus where I’d studied, so actually it was a no-brainer to finally take the chance to explore the line.

Ready to board the tram at Waseda station? It’s located just behind the Nishiwaseda campus library. All adult passengers pay a flat fare of 160 yen, regardless of how far you go. The trams are also fairly regular, with a frequency of about 8 minutes in the afternoon. It got surprisingly packed after just a few stops though!