Pongol.

It was a rather quiet day at work this morning, i should say half a day really. I knocked off at 1230hrs and a friend and i went to an abandoned house i heard about in pongol, nice looking building with a high ceiling, large rooms big bathrooms but as i said abandoned, i reckon its waiting to be torn down.

I actually spent more time photographing the servents quarters then the main building, seemed abit more interesting

The pics themself are nothing special, just another set of pics to document an old building

On the grounds of the building we stumbled across a doggy and her two pups, very cute. Its so sad to think of them all alone in that house ..so if you know anyone that wants a couple of cute little puppies drop me a line.

Got back at around 2, had a it of lunch played with the puppy while TLOML rested and then we went to pasir ris for the great introduction between Dolce and Pepper, lo and behold we met Glen and clan there as well! A nice time for dogs and all. Dinner was lovely Salt fish fried rice and sweet and sour pork from changi village we the two of us brought home and filled our bellies to satisfaction.

Nostalgia

The baby is due any time now! It could be today or next week but any day now another little simon will pop out. I had lunch with my mum today and we had a look at her photo albums. Nostalgia, thats the word and looking at the pics thats what i felt and still feel. Above is a pic of my mum in her youth, prob in her teens ! sitting next to her is her sister in-law and her assorted neices and nephews who now have children and grand children of their own!



Above is a pic of my Dad, Sgt Simon. He signed up with the british army before his 16th birthday and told them he was already 16!

Edwin met Lucy and they were wed!

Above is my granny from my dads side and on the right is my grandpa(now you know why i like to wear hats) from my mums side.

An early pic of the Simon Kids, and now i am having one of my OWN!


Checkout the bed Alison and I are on! what a cool kiddy bed not a sharp edge on it, mind you its solid metal! Like my doll?

170506

Weedila
These are pics i took some time back but just never found the right time to post them. So here they are, not that this is the right time but it aint the wrong time either.
Branch(my current wallpaper) this pic has so many things wrong but only one thing right and that is the fact that i like it.

Its been a busy few weeks for me, having been out of the office since the 18th of april. I really havent had much time for photography, with the baby coming in a few days most of my time is spent at home keeping TLOML company of course with Pepper AKA fatty. Last weekend was pretty nice, on friday which was vesak day Moo, Doo,Jamie and Atun came over to help touch up the paint in the babies new room(pics to be posted in TLOML's Blog) as well as set up stuff like the cot. Its all systems go for us here in the baby factory,i am both nervous and excited!
On saturday night TLOML and i went to the Ritz Carlton for a lovely dinner,it was prob the last fancy dinner that two of us would have before we beacme three, the place was awash with salmon, raw tuna(lovely) and many other delights including some great choclates(when i laid eyes on them i knew ...migrane and i wasnt wrong). After a great meal we didnt have the energy to go anywhere else but home.
Mothers day, we met Jamie and the Doo at the pasir ris dog run/pet shop as Jamie wanted to get some stuff and we wanted to let fatty play with the other dogs. She was running and jumping, trying hard to look like lassie i think. From pasir ris we went to jalan kayu to get some flowers for the many mothers around. Being mothers day we had planned to meet my sister and her brood at my mums place for lunch but lo and behold upon arrival my mum was no where to be found! It seems she had gone out with her friends so we ransacked her fridge, utelized her hosue and had a lovely meal. Back home, i bathed the dog, did some gardening, took fatty for a walk and went with bil to pick up dinner for our respective homes. A nice close to a pretty nice weekend at the back of a pretty horrid week.

Metaphor

Its been a rough day, and it doesnt look like its gonna be any better tom. Things didnt go as planned which i am used to but instead of getting worse, it got MUCH worse. Anyhow i took a walk to try and calm down but that didnt work so i took 1 picture(above). and if your into metaphors the pic is full of them. Below is a pic i took a couple of weeks ago but never posted.

CROC!

(just added this pic)

WOO HOO! Went to Sungei Buloh this morning(with Doo and Jamie), and it was pretty bare..not many birds...a couple of monitors. Then everything changed as we were walking back to the visitor center a couple pointed out a nice looking crocodile(bout 6ft maybe abit more) laying in the shallows. It was tough to get any shots that werent obscured by branches or leaves, and i reckon even after jamie and i moved down the slope till we were around 10ft away from the croc this is the best i could do. Dont forget i was very excited while i was doing this!! so forgive the poor pictures. The pic below was taken in 3 parts and then merged.

I have seen many many crocs some big ones and some little ones but this is the first wild crocodile i have ever seen much less photographed. Mucho Excited
Yesterday was a full day as well but i shall blog that abit later.

SECTION, 12OCLOCK CHARGE!

So i shall not go into all the bad things that happened this week, i shall just say this MISSED MY BROTHERS FLIGHT on friday, so i didnt get to say a proper goodbye to my godson, niece, bro and sis in law. I was very very disappointed.
After a full day at work today, yes saturday...i came home to the nice pink room that the DOO and JAIME painted! lovely. Thanks to the two hardworking painters who were rewarded with hotdogs and a couple of beers, cheap labour i say.
AS you know i havent been very active in the photography department so i decided to take some pics of "ARMY MEN". There will be more to come but for now enjoy.

I left the troops abit out of focus to give the "not important" effect.

Yes i know they all look pretty similar atm but i am tired so given time i think this series will evolve.

"Sian" is the word of the day

You ever feel "Sian" i cant think of a word in english that can convey the right emotion that goes with being "sian", the blues? downer? thats how i feel now "Sian".(if you have another word i would love to know)
So here is another photo-less post. When i get home at night i am really to tired to post any pics and until i leave Bukit Timah and go back to my safe haven of Sengkang i doubt i will be doing much in the way of uploading pics from work.
We went to the Doctors over the weekend for TLOML's regular check up all is well though the little one is not so little anymore! On saturday i went to my mums place to hang out with the kiddos from oz, along with the machado kids we went to the playground and played then we went to the park and played somemore!
On Sunday a lovely outing to the zoo was organized by TLOML and i was very suprised when i got out of the car and there was the DOO awaiting our arrival, with a bag of lovely sandwiches.
Philip, Phil Jr (megan and michael were sick) turned up as well along with Eileen(sis in law) Becky, Edwin(godson) and Gabriel our cousin. SO all in a nice morning of animals and kids.
Thats roughly what happened over the weekend, and now i am back in bukit timah...sigh and sunday seems oh so long ago. The one saving grace at the moment is that i have a couple of books to read and am reading 4 books concurrently, Winstons War a trashy yet exciting book on the pre war days, another book on the ten years prior to ww2 focusing on churchil's life also a book by a birtish tv journo on reporting in general but mainly of his time in afgahnistan, i also just finished two books bravo20 and a biography of frank sinatra. Except for the bravo book the rest were purchased at the book fair recently. I have different books for different moods, one for the bus, one for lunch time, one for the bed and dont really like to sleep without reading a page or two at least. When i have nothing new to read i tend to go back to old favourites like old copies of national geographic sometimes i awake to find myself surrounded by yellow bordered magazines....
its 1330 now and i have another 5hrs here today....sigh....


i almost forgot my disclaimer. IF you should find any typos please refer www.idonotcare.com a site for the many things in the world I DO NOT CARE for. :) havbe a nice day

What a difference a day makes.

33 thats just a number like any other but for me, today, its my age for the next 12months. How do i feel? i dont rightfully know, though i do know i am no gazelle now, more of a water buffalo inside i feel 16. The things that excited me then still excite me now, camping with my boys, playing with them laughing like 8yr olds without a care in the world and damn the stares . Some things excite me more now then they ever could have 17yrs ago ..i married the girl of my dreams my childhood sweetheart who tries so hard to make me happy, we have a beautiful home we got the dog and we have a little bundle of joy on the way, problems? cheh of course we got problems, in the fairy tale i was supposed to be flushed with cash and was able to give my family all they desired but alas i live in this world and not in a fairyland. . I often wonder what my father would say, how he would be so proud that i married Mischa, how he would play with my "on the way" daughter, how he would probably tell me to tuck my shirt in and stop walking round like a loafer, today of all days i wish i could hear his voice even if he said "lets clean the storeroom" but once again such is life and i am left with memories.
I often think back to our house in opera estate and feel abit sad that my family is scattered across thousands of miles and how even when we are together we seem so far apart, maybe its the knowledge that we will all go back to our homes and that we throw ourselves into our own lives that make it s so easy to forget everyone else. IS there more i could do? of course there is i could call more often or write but that 4 letter word "lazy" creeps in and i always think that will be tomorrow but someday tomorrow will be too late. So that is my BIRTHDAY resolution that i will try harder.
i dont like celebrating my birthdays, not cause of getting older but because i will forever tie my birthday to my dad who passed away suddenly 3 days after one of my birthdays. but if i can have my family with me then sorrow will pass into the night.
When my daughter is born the next phase of my life begins where i forever will be responsible for this little life, where i will become the daddy...i hope i have a little of my father in me so i dont get lost along the way.

Suddenly i realise that this post might seem depressing so i shall snap back into what is the regular flavoured edward and tell you something that makes me feel all is well with the world. AS i type this my wife is fast as asleep, we watched James Bond-Moonraker together which i love, my puppy is sitting on the desk snoring away, Kenny G( yes i am a fan) is playing in the background and on the chair in front of me are bags upon bags of baby clothes, now you tell me how you cant be content with such a life. MY cup of life isnt just half full, its half full of coke. :)

My two cents for the day.
We shall walk in the sun and save the shadows for rest, for in the warmth of the sun and you by my side i can face anything.
Holding hands is better then ice cream

Easter Sunday........New life

Here is my newest little cousin Dylan! Easter sunday was his baptism so off we went to St.Theresa's Church bright and early for a lovely ceremony.

Above is his mother my cousin Dallas, looks just like me right(she is the white filling of the oreo and i am the outer shell)?

The lovely family, left to right Dylan, Dallas,Dev(handsome) and the father of the boys Gopal(i should say he is the most upbeat person i have ever met!). I also cant get over Dallas having TWO kids already, i still think of her with her goldilocks type hair and big eyes running away from me as i tormented her!


After mass i was surprised to see my brother and his family All he way from Australia!
i knew they were down and staying with his in laws but didnt expect to see them in church! what a pleasent surprise.

My Niece Rebecca, oh dear how she has grown!

My godson Edwin(named after my dad) Just like his godpa handsome bloke!
He as grown so much too i cant get over how tall he is!

An attepmt at a family picture

The picture below was taken by someone other then myself...ahem.

eggs, chocs....easter

The great Machado easter egg hunt. lots of chocs and lots of cheating! even the dogs got in on the action!

Delayed post....

Its been really busy everywhere, with the baby on the way we have been trying to get all our stuff sorted out so i havent really been posting or taking many pics, its an excuse i know...anyway sometime last week i took a short walk to a temple near my place of work and took a couple of shots. I wasnt impressed at all with the results but heh u cant win em all eh.

With the claw pic i intentionally left the lady in the background i felt it gave a look of menace...not sure if it works but i played around with the contrast for the below pic to see if the effect was better...

The Temple below is actually next to the one i went to photograph, i like this pic for no apparent reason.

Dispatch From Bukit Timah

0940 Bukit Timah- As i write this dispatch from the foot hills of the bukit timah nature reserve i find my mind wandering to the evnts of the past 10days and the fact that i have not posted a new blog since the 10th. Its not that nothing has happened, if you check out Alisons blog u will see some of the stuff i have been doing, its just time. time to squeeze in a little post. I havent brought my camera to work in a couple of days so no pics to post. anyway back to my post, i am not in my normal location of sengkang but have been sent by the powers that be to this site while the manager there lingers in hospital. IT could have been worse ...but how i am not really sure. As i write this the pest control people are fogging just outside my window, contractors are repairing a gate, the technician is sorting out some intercom faults and i have jjust inspected the security books. seems like enough work for the day but alas no....
i got in the office at 0730am having obtained a lift from the Doo, which saved me at least 40mins on the train and 2 bus rides. Being 1 1/2hr early for work i took a nice nap.....i can now see some people outside the office so i shall end this weird post here...

edward simon live from bukit timah

Nile Babies, Memphis Of Exemplar

So its another catty post. On sunday i entered cat country and although i do seem to have alot of cat pics in my blog its only because i think cats photograph better then dogs. My feline foray was in support of a good friend whose Cat was taking part in the cat show, from the above picture you will realise that cat owners are not all there....bats in the belfry as it were lolol I took a number of pics of Memphis NONE of which and let me say that again NONE of which came out remotely nice(i am very very disappointed.). So i decided to post some long range shots. Congrats to memphis who is now a Champion Cat having won a number of ribbons and for coming in 10th place over all.

Evan and Memphis

Professional Cage photography, Ska

Iron Chief Satyo Koizumo inspecting her ingredients. Actually its one of te judges checking if Memphis fits the breed standard.
After i left, i went home and TLOML, Pepper and i went to the Moo+Doo Mansion to meet Jamie who is down from Aus and is starting work today at ngee ann poly. Pepper as always is wary of him for some reason or other, she cant seem to make up her mind! All in all a nice sunday...and today the horror that is monday has begun.

Sidebar-If you discover any typos and stuff please feel free to place them in the kitty litter provided.

MEOW

As some of you know i work in a condo, and that the estate cleaners keep a couple of cats. Above is one that we have had since he was a tiny kitten, almost 2yrs now and his name is CAT....yes thats right. Some people call him Merah but thats just a nick name. His mother was a black cat who was named BLACK. She is no longer with us. CAT doesnt not like cameras and when i am carrying one he tends to walk away as if he didnt even know me. When i am not carrying my camera he will rub up against my legs as if we are best friends. Below is our newest cat, found as a tiny little kitten and nursed to his current status as number two male cat. They have named him TOMBOK which is supposed to refer to his clr.
The lighting wasnt ideal, and i tried not to use flash for all the pictures, so if you find the eyeballs abit dark blame it on the rain
I took the tiny toy spaceman for a walk in my estate today, poor fella he hasnt been out in a while.

Lunch @ Me casa

On the 26th of last month we had some members of my family and extended family and friends over for lunch.It was a chance for family members who hardly get together to meet up after a long break and tell tales of yore lol.
Tlomy made a lovely chicken curry with some help from atun and Mil-Doo while Nanny Lucy made a nice beef rendang and some great coleslaw. The doo also made a salt fish pickle which a certain member of our clan cant resist! All in all a good time, i hope that we can do this a bit more often!
Thanks to the official photographer of the day Mr.A.Pereira as well as the official emailer of Photographs Mrs.A.Pereira.
Any typo errors found should be forwarded to the esamnination branch of cambridge university. The layout seems to have gone abit bonkers eh.