Tanjong Pagar Railway Station (Part 2)

If you missed it, Part 1 can be found here.

As mentioned in the first part, this shoot was done entirely on film. As I went through the process of having to go to a photo lab to develop and scan the two rolls of film, I couldn’t help but lament the inconveniences of film. Yet there is something distinctively satisfying about shooting with film. Good thing I’ve decided to hang on to my F6, I guess.

 

Workers on the tracks examining the Orient Express train.

Seats for waiting passengers just outside the platform. You can see how aged they are.

Some of the shops at the station. I peered into Quick Baggage and found that they are apparently still in operation. Not sure what they do though…

A man drinking his morning teh in the station’s main hall. He turned away when he saw me approaching, unfortunately.

Some graffiti on the station’s wall.

There is a resting area with bunk beds inside the station. I’m not sure who stays here, but I’m guessing that the lodging is fairly cheap.

A row of pay phones in the station. Always a treat to see these in Singapore – so many people here own mobile phones that they are very rare to find these days.

Not a great shot, but thought I should include a shot of the station’s exterior. This was the only time I wished I had a wider lens – namely my AIS 28m f2.8 – on me that morning. (I only had the 35mm that morning.)

After I got home that day, I went online to check out more information about the eateries at the station. I was just a little puzzled whether many Singaporeans visit the place for food. According to some blogs I came across, the satay there is supposedly quite good. But there are differing opinions on that, so I shall probably give it a miss.

Tanjong Pagar Railway Station (Part 1)

After the successful conclusion of talks between the Prime Ministers of Singapore and Malaysia last year, Tanjong Pagar Railway Station would cease operations this July. The new station, which will be the new terminus for trains coming from Malaysia, is to be located at Woodlands checkpoint.

I’d been wanting to visit the station for a long time, but never got down to it. In fact, the announcement of the breakthrough talks gave me fresh impetus to visit it, but it took me till December before I finally made my way down for a quick morning shoot.

This was also the first time I shot with my new Nikon AIS 35mm f1.4 lens, paired with the F6. As expected, manual focusing with the F6 was easy. The image quality was excellent too, judging from the scans. It could be my one-lens travel solution with the F6 (if I ever dare to venture with just a film camera in hand, that is). More reading material about the lens here.

I sneaked onto the platform, not knowing that I was not allowed in. I actually walked all the way to the end (I think the platform is about 200m long) before a station master rode his bicycle down the platform and asked me to leave. I managed to get a concession from him though – to take this picture and the next.

There were people inside the police post, and I think they saw me walk down the platform, but didn’t stop me. Haha. So much for security.

Welcome to Singapura! This is probably my favourite shot of the day. I’d actually wanted to take it from the inside, but as mentioned, I got chased out. I took it from the road that runs parallel to the platform. The blurry black marks are there because I shot through the fence.

A lazy cat trying to sleep on the platform. In the background is the Orient Express, the luxury train that runs all the way to Bangkok. I hope to take it one day.

One of the two coffeeshops located inside the station. I don’t know why there are two though. Both seemed to be filled with customers when I visited.

A man buying a train ticket from the counter.

Travellers dressed in spiffy suits and dresses enquiring about their Orient Express trip.

The check-in sign at the station entrance. You don’t want the Orient Express customers to get lost! They paid good money for their ride.

Colour photos to come in the second part… ;)

Addendum: Part 2 can be found here.

Blazing 28 debut

I bought the Ricoh GXR 28mm f2.5 today. Finally! Ever since it was announced in March, I had been very curious about this lens. After I bought the GXR in September for my Pakistan trip, I was even more eager to try it out – while the 24-72mm zoom unit gave me a taste of the wonderful features of the GXR, from the many customisable settings to the advanced shooting options, I was never entirely convinced of its image quality at ISO 400 and above. (As a side note, I believe the pictures ST used for my Pakistan article were shot at ISO100 or 200)

I got to try out the 28mm unit when I visited Japan in October, at Ricoh’s Ringcube showroom in Ginza, Tokyo, and I was quite impressed. It was a pre-production model, however.

Last month, the lens was finally released in Japan, and two weeks later, it has arrived in Singapore. I was so excited to hear that my neighbourhood camera store (MS Color at Ang Mo Kio Hub) had it in stock, and I rushed down to the store after I attended a function Wednesday night. Alas, it turned out that I had used up the available funds in my current account because I’d spent a pretty penny on a pair of sunglasses earlier in the day, and I couldn’t pay up! So I paid a S$100 deposit and went there during my lunch time today and snapped it up.

When I slid the unit into my GXR and turned it on, I could immediately feel its tremendous quality. What has impressed me about the 28mm:

1. Impressive ISO performance all the way to ISO 3200. Thanks to the large APS-C sized sensor. It easily trumps my 3-year-old Nikon D40X, even though the sensor size is the same.
2. Very sharp lens. I was very impressed when I looked at the LCD of the Panasonic GF1 in Japan. With the 28mm on the GXR, I have nothing left to envy.
3. Fast AF. Ok it wouldn’t be fair to compare to my Nikon lenses on this, but for a compact camera, the 28mm is very fast and responsive. Definitely good enough for most shooting conditions, except for action/sports.

What could have been better:

1. An even faster lens, say f2? (I think f1.4 might be a bit too much to as for in a compact camera)
2. 43mm filter size instead? Why on earth does the 24-72mm unit use a 43mm filter while the 50mm and 28mm use 40.5mm?
3. A gold ring instead of a red one? Ok that’s just the Nikonian in me. Haha.

The lens was put to use on the very same day, as I attended a long-awaited gathering of my primary school class. It wasn’t exactly a snapfest, as 1) I was late and 2) I think I was better off trying to catch up with the rest. But I got a few good shots, and I think I can expect plenty more for the lens.

More to come!

Eating dinner while everyone else was finishing dessert… Hehe.

Haw Par Hoppin’ (Part 2)

As mentioned in Part 1, there are many downright grotesque statues in Haw Par Villa, many of which I do not quite understand the relevance to the overall theme of the place. There was one particular exhibit that got me quite fascinated.

A rat in a suit drags a rabbit onto the wedding bed, as another rat-like creature, who appears to be the wheeler dealer who arranged the marriage, chats on the phone, perhaps to seal his next deal?

“Hello Mr Dog, do you want to order a rabbit too?”

And we have a deer drinking tea served by a tortoise.

It appears humans don’t quite have a place here, except to help hold the flower vase.

What do you make out of that?

Unfortunately, it was too dark to take any pictures inside the Ten Courts of Hell exhibit, as it was indoors. But here’s a preview of what’s inside:

A beheaded corrupt official greets you on the way in.

I noticed the poor state of affairs at the park. The exhibits are generally in various states of disrepair, with paint peeling off and spider webs everywhere.

As I was walking about I spoke to a Malay lady, who told me that she showing her extended family from Malaysia around the place. She said she lived nearby and come by often when she was younger, but it was so different then. Back then, the statues were very well-maintained, and the paint was always fresh and colourful. And people were not allowed to touch the statues. (She pointed that out as the kids crawled up the platform and chased each other around the statues in one exhibit.)

Leftover lanterns at the canteen. I wonder from when?

The shops and the canteen are now closed as well, but I was relieved to see vending machines in operation as I was dying of thirst after walking about since early morning. Another surprise – the toilets were actually quite well-maintained, with proper lighting. (I definitely can’t say the same for some coffeeshops elsewhere.)

I think I’m grateful that the current owners of Haw Par Villa are still keeping it alive. No doubt they are minimising all costs of maintenance, but hey, there aren’t many places of interest in Singapore that have free admission. May the place remain open for years to come – it’s truly a place that is unlike any theme park I have ever heard of or been to.

See you again!

Haw Par Hoppin’ (Part 1)

There are not many places of interest in Singapore. Whenever I'm overseas, and people ask me about Singapore, I find it hard to hype it up as a tourist destination. We have great food, lots of shopping malls and clean streets, but that is rather generic. We have historical attractions such as temples and mosques, but nothing as grand and old as what you would find in our neighbouring countries, which have longer histories. We have modern attractions like a world-class zoo and two mega-casinos, but they probably only cater to a select audience.

 

(But as a place to live, I would still say Singapore's better than almost all the countries I have been to.)

 

Anyway, there is one particular place of interest here that is still open but more or less forgotten. Haw Par Villa. I'd heard much about it as a kid, esp. about the infamous “18 levels of hell” exhibit, but its heydays are longer over. That they don't even charge for entrance now probably tells you the state it is in.

 

Weclome to Haw Par Villa!

 

Well so I was free on a Sunday, since Joanne’s working, and I decided to finally visit the place, after sitting on the idea for months. It was the perfect opportunity to break out my Nikon F6 for some film photography – I think it was the camera’s first outing since January. Just brought along the manual 28mm for some wide angle, and the 60mm macro for everything else.

 

Completed in 1937 at a whopping S$1 million – a lot  of money at that time – by tycoon Aw Boon Haw for his brother Aw Boon Par, Haw Par Villa has quite a colourful history. You may not have heard of them, but their family created the now famous Tiger Balm ointment, sold in many countries around the world. This was probably why Haw Par Villa was also known as the Tiger Balm Gardens. For a more detailed walkthrough of the villa’s history, do take a quick read here.

 

According to the explanatory sign, the brothers used to drive this around town. Way too cool.

 

The many statues in the park are mainly based on Chinese mythology. These include the scenes from literary classic Journey to the West, the aforementioned Ten Courts of Hell, and the Eight Immortals. There are also many statues of Chinese deities and of Buddha.

 

Buddhist monk Tripitaka/Xuanzhang, one of the main characters of Journey to the West, being seduced by demons in one of the classic scenes in the epic story.

Guanyin and Buddha.

Tea time for the gods.

Yet, there are also many other statues that seem to appear out of sync with the Chinese mythology theme. There are sumo wrestlers, lots of strange animals and even a Statue of Liberty. In addition, many statues are downright grotesque, and can easily freak out a timid kid, I think! I would loathe to be out here alone at night.

 

The Pig, from Journey to the West.

A really crabby lady.

Yep.

More to come in the next post…