Random

Random shots taken during a rough week. All these pictures make me smile.

Joo Chiat-Katong

Joo Chiat and Katong, for Singaporeans these two places generally evoke thoughts on food especially the delectable delights concocted by the people known as Peranakan(bibiks and baba's , straits born chinese or Nonyas) . (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peranakan wiki knows all). I am sure in this very politically correct time in which we all live it is stereotypical to assume that all nonyas can cook just as it is to assume all french smoke and that every lady you meet in changi village at night is really a man. Alas times may change but our thoughts seem to stay the same, when i tell people i work very near katong the first thing they say is "wah so much good food" The problem is there really isn't that much of a variety, the difference between katong and say a food court is that in katong what little variety there is, is generally good. What i like about katong and joo chiat is the architecture plain and simple. I might add that while the buildings are often simple there are almost never plain.

The first picture i posted shows a row of beautiful buildings, all the buildings i am posting today are circa the 1920's maybe even a little later. The attention to detail and design is very impressive and while the Zen or minimalist style may be vogue around the world in katong Minimalism comes with a hefty dose of style, Nonya style.(click on the second pic for a closer look at the kind of detail i am talking about) Note the colonial style flower motifs and wreaths in white and the hand painted flowers on the tiles.

Most of the buildings were constructed as shop houses, with the downstairs being given over to business and the upstairs designated as the domicile or residence. One interesting thing to note is that most of these buildings are narrow and long, so floor space may be large but width small, i often wonder if this is too keep the prime frontage space use to a minimum so as to squeeze as many shop fronts as possible. Also lighting is very poor on the inside with very little natural light permeating into the middle of the buildings.

Just looking at third picture with the large ornate balcony shows that some measure of thought went into designing the living area. I don't have any pictures but traditionally the upper floors had a high ceiling to keep the place cool below its pitched roof.

Some buildings(very few and i suspect from a slightly later era) look squat and tough with very little deco about them and above is one of them. Looks like it was designed by an army engineer all substance and no song.(a rare example of a plain building)

The front entrance of two nicely restored buildings. The one on the right with the swing doors opens up almost immediately onto a public path. The one on the right has a small area, like a front porch.

These two are a pair of my favourites, the one on the right has a small enclosed space while the one on the left shows a typical shop house style building. I must add that sometimes the shop house was used totally as a residence and the front door would open into the family living room.

I really like this picture(left). Its the view through a back door of a soon to be restored shop house, and it shows the typical space saving spiral staircase. Nice to look at but i wouldn't want to be the fireman that had to hurry up or down those steps.

Finally i leave you with the second floor windows.


SIDEBAR-I have posted on the area before. Also if you click on the pics they will open a larger version. All pics have been resized downwards. IF you as i am sure you will be able to, find any typos do not hesitate and let me stress this point do not hesitate to keep it to yourself. I also tried to wrap the words around the pictures but cant seem to recall how i did it before.
WIKI INFO- Joo chiat is named after some dude named joo chiat(heh) and Katong is actually a a species of extinct turtle. It has other meanings for those go to wikipedia and find out.

Sunday.

I got another request for a wallpaper, yes it is true. Hard to comprehend eh? So i did it, i am running out of steam here and i reckon this might be the last for awhile lol back to photography for me eh. Actually its back to work for me....

Pixie Pond..alas another wallpaper.

I doubt this set of wallpapers will have many fans...as if the others did! But i like them and thats what counts. This one is "Pixie Pond" A complex mess of flowers, butterflies(and others) lace and sky. Too me its like a kids drawing, messy and nothing needs to make any sense.
I have had some questions on how i am doing these wallpapers, well i use adobe elements 4.0 an oldie but a goodie and i source for brushes and textures from free online sites.
SIDEBAR- they may look alike but there are some tiny differences between the two..i cant decide between the two so i posted both.

Hmm...need i say it? AGAIN

I did the first little wallpaper for my friend "The Pin" i reckon he will enjoy its "artistic" value as well as recall the figure in red from our past.. The second i did for someone else who asked for a black and white one. Note the similarities, with all my wallpapers. When i like something i really like something.

Wallpaper.....again

I am sure i will be doing this in other colours . The blue and the green are actually the correct size, Sherwin mentioned that he had to make adjustments and i went back and checked and found i had made a mistake. so all my earlier wallpappers are a little over sized.

Mayang Sari

We went to Bintan over the weekend, it was a very nice trip and a good time was had by all. The weather was very good and the water was perfect, cool, calm and clear. My little jungle baby had a wonderful time stayed up late, ate rubbish and was covered from head to toe in sand and i might add she was a hit with the Indonesians. A great family outing, with only the Gammy and Granpa missing! This was Caitlin's second trip overseas(since birth) the last time she was in Bintan she was still in her mummy's belly. Such a lucky girl, not even 15months and she has been on a plane to Thailand and a ferry to Indonesia. Thanks to the organizers and our special sponsors!

I didnt take much in the way of pictures, just a few here and there.

Random Pictures.

A crowd gathers at the scene of another mushroom on

mushroom attack.

Feet

Wallpaper Deux

a work in progress, although
it is my current wallpaper. More to come, by the looks of things.

Butterfly

This is what i do late at night when i cant sleep.
Wallpapers. For screens 1280x1024. I started with
the one on the top left. My Butterfly Series .Enjoy.

:)

as my daughter would say "There"