A very happy Thursday! My photo essay under pen name 蓝天游 on Prague, Czech Republic 捷克布拉格 is featured in Lianhe Zaobao 联合早报 旅游特辑 dated 13 September 2018 special travel edition《古美浪漫布拉格》! Thrilled to see it being featured nationwide in print! Special thanks to Lianhe Zaobao, you have made my day! :) Thank U so much 感谢、感恩 。

My photo taken @ Yoyogi Park in Tokyo  东京浪漫之秋在代代木公园 during a worktrip last December is featured in today’s Lianhe Wanbao 联合晚报 捕捉意境之美 ! Thank U so much 感谢、感恩。

The Hong Kong Island line was extended to the East at the end of 2014, with Sai Ying Pun station being the final one to be opened in March 2015. I have travelled there a few times and it is a very interesting MTR station.Not only do you have to take an escalator to reach the middle level, but you actually have to take a lift up to the street level. That’s how far down the station is.
 
There is a wonderful artwork depicting the neighbourhood – it is a painted bas relief created by Ms Louise Soloway Chan. Chan, originally from Britain who has lived in Hong Kong for over 20 years. Her artwork, 3D bass relief panels in Sai Ying Pun Station, bring together the past and present of a neighborhood where a congested, traditional wet market shares a wall with trendy Western-style cafeteria, both overflowing with the intense minutiae of daily life. The artwork shows different sights from Sai Ying Pun, for instance the escalator that has been built up to the High Street...the people shopping at the wet markets and little shops of the area...the day and day activities happening on the street of Sai Ying Pun....

西营盘铁路车站，是港岛线西延段最后一个通车的车站，以紫色做车站的主调颜色。西营盘站最大的卖点是富有当区特色的艺术品，是整个港铁网络中 “艺术气息最浓厚” 的车站。

来自英国的着名浮雕艺术家LouiseSolowayChan的3D浮雕作品，以西营盘社区街景做主题，细心观赏，街上的招牌、地盘布置、街市景象、石墙大树、人物表情都很神似，栩栩如生，实景感觉十分强烈。艺术品以西环生活面貌为主题，港铁希望乘客可于欣赏艺术品时，感受西营盘的历史文化。

Take a stroll in the streets of Hong Kong and we can find history left many its footprints: from historical sites to old buildings in all sorts of styles reflecting the old times, as if each has a story to tell. The legacy of these sites are well kept through “Revitalising Historic Buildings Through Partnership Scheme” imposed by Hong Kong Government to enhance the awareness about the importance of historic heritages through conserving and redeveloping historic buildings into good use.

Located on a hillside at Lai Chi Kok, Jao Tsung-I Academy was formerly a hospital compound. The site was used as a seaside customs station at the end of the 19th century. In the many years followed, the site has been served as a quarantine station, a prison, an infectious disease hospital and a psychiatric rehabitation center before it was closed in 2004 and left vacant until Professor Jao Tsung-I, a world-renowned scholar on sinology, selected the site for revitalization. Today the Academy serves as a cultural hub to facilitate cultural exchanges and contribute to the society in need. 

我自问未算是个文青，但每当放假想沾一身文化气息时，我总会向身边的文青朋友打探好去处，结果走了大大小小的展览、市集、咖啡室。。。走马看花过后，悟出一个真正具文化深度的地方需要环境人事兼备，单单在昏黄的灯光底下饮杯咖啡只能谈得上悠闲，称不上有文化。今次我又经朋友介绍香港文化游去处，到位于荔枝角的饶宗颐文化馆攒了大半天；喝杯茶、看本书、睇展览，就在鸟语花香中当半天文人。我经常很羡慕外地有很多古蹟，因为很喜欢那种历史沉淀的感觉。

其实香港也有充满历史感的地方，这里是饶宗颐文化馆。我早闻国学大师饶宗颐的大名，而文化馆以大师命名实有文化承传之意。一代国学大师饶宗颐教授在今2018年二月六日辞世，享年101岁。饶宗颐不但系国学大师、东方学家、艺术家，对书法、书画、诗词、古琴亦造诣极高。著作无数，亦获奖无数。佢嘅研究领域除了历史文化、宗教经典外，更系现今少有精通甲骨文及敦煌学嘅资深学者，对弘扬传统中华文化贡献良多，备受社会尊崇。

​Sometimes a picture really is worth 1000 words.

​I thought there might be a few lessons to be gleaned from these novel posts in Hong Kong and perhaps some reminders to carry into the week ahead.

A sweet addition to my food adventures in Hong Kong is tofu pudding, called “dau fu fa” or bean curd jello. As a part of Hong Kong’s cultural heritage, tofu pudding is a simple dessert in contrast with Hong Kong’s fusion dessert trend. Tofu is a delicacy that transcends many cultures and cuisines, a simple dish that can be plated in a myriad of forms, textures and flavours. From silken to puffed, sweet or stinky, from China to Japan, Taiwan, Malaysia and beyond – this basic ingredient made from just soy beans, water and a natural coagulant has become a historic staple throughout the Asian continent. The soft tofu has a smooth and silky texture, and it can be served hot or cold, making it a delicacy for any weather.

In Hong Kong, tofu plays another important role – it’s comfort food. I’ve talked about Hong Kong’s craving for nostalgia before, but it was only after a bowl of warm dau fu fa that I saw just how much food plays a part in this culture's yearning for the past.

Hidden in the midst of Sham Shui Po’s street markets, Kung Wo has been around for a long time making soy products from scratch. They have been operating since 1958. I had the hardest time finding this place since I had no idea what it was called and barely knew my way around the area. Serving up silky smooth tofu pudding, sweet delicious soy milk and tasty tofu squares smeared with fish paste, Kung Wo is one of Hong Kong’s hidden gems. If you’re in the area, definitely hunt this hole in the wall down and enjoy a delicious bowl of tofu pudding or two.

Today is the big day! I am celebrating my 8-year blogiversary. When I look back at my older posts I love seeing how much my blog has changed and grown. It’s so great being able to share my thoughts, experiences, ideas and travels with all of you. Life is a carnival that is full of fun and joy, ups and downs, shocks and surprises, meetings and partings.

So is blogging.
​
Eight years is a long time in the blogosphere, and I’m glad to still be around. This is a really special milestone because eight years ago this week, I decided to try something new and enter into this world that I essentially knew nothing about. I didn’t have a lot of expectations when I started blogging. I also didn’t tell a lot of people I had become a blogger. I remember when I decided to create a photography blog, is that blogging was a way to find my own self. It would force me to get out, to explore, to learn and make new discoveries. And maybe, just maybe along the way, I’d eventually inspire other people to do the same thing in their lives.

​I’m grateful to you for visiting this blog, reading my posts, sharing your views, supporting me, which makes all the difference to me. Whether this is the first time you have stopped by or you have been here since the beginning, I want to say thank you.

There are a lot of ways to get creative with street photography. The more you look around for interesting scenes to photograph, the more you realise the power of reflections. They are everywhere. Reflections are another kind of shadow. 

In reflections of the buildings we work and live in, hides a wonderful world, a prodigious one, with different laws of physics. Light reflects with inimitable consequences, perspective lines are deforming, typography and color loose there significance and become beautiful shapes and forms, they play a new role within a composition.

Although summer in Hong Kong is a rainy season, there is always something interesting to shoot with the rains. Rain is one of the best times to photograph in because it can make all types of surfaces reflective. Just train your eye to notice them at first will eventually make it second nature.

倒影与影子虽然都有 “影” 一字，但两者却有截然不同的面貌，影子可说是本体遮蔽光线后的形象，但倒影则是反射后表现出来的形态，在真实世界里，可说是将3D立体实景，转化为2D平面的魔法。此外，受到光线方向、光源质感，以及反射材质影响，相较实体可说是多了不少趣味。虽然香港的夏天正值雨季，但下雨天也会帶來有趣的拍攝題材。当水面平静时，岸上景物实景与水中倒影一实一虚，遥相辉映，极大提高了整个画面的空间纵深感与视觉冲击力，极具美感。摄影是一门光与影的艺术，水中的倒影则将这一点体现得淋漓尽致。

倒影就如同镜子一样，反映着真实世界，但果真的是如此吗？透过一些构图上的刻意安排，或是后制的处理，都能让呈现出的倒影与真实不同，而从这当中其实可以悟出不少做人处事的道理，利用摄影这项兴趣，进而获得其他启发或收获，真是一举两得。

In music they say the spaces between the notes are just as important as the notes themselves. Similarly in photography, it can be the spaces that are not in the light that add impact to an image.
 
Shadows help tell a story and enhance the mood and visual power of a photograph. In fact, they can be so interesting, that they “overshadow” the subject itself. By focusing your attention on the shadows, you can create beautiful compositions full of contrast, form, and minimalist simplicity. An object and its shadow will strengthen each other. Sometimes you might even want to cut the object out entirely, and play with capturing only the interesting shadows that are cast by it.

Hong Kong is a lot different to shoot in from Singapore. I like detritus and darkness, shadows and noise, so for me the backstreets and markets of Hong Kong give me the things that I want. Photographing shadows works best with strong, simple shapes that make interesting graphic designs such as flowers, sharp lines, or even human beings. After all, who hasn’t taken a picture of their own shadow as it stretches out across the sidewalk in front of them?

街拍，可以是寻找你眼中“别人故事”的最佳方式之一，而影子和黑白片最配。我特别喜欢用黑白照片去表达自己眼中的“别人”，因为没了色彩的装饰，需要你更认真去表达你的内心，和周遭的一切，所以黑白片常被大家认为是最容易产生故事的方式。 

影子有更多的可能性，这就像是打开了摄影世界的另一扇大门。我们都可以通过调整光线类型、角度和明度等，让影子给人物创造立体感。简单来说，影子是另一个可以说话的主体，那些平平无奇的小动作都能拍出感觉，看影子就能脑补出一个故事。

我很喜欢一句话：影子，是你在太阳下的碎片，而把碎片拼凑起来，你会发现影子背后的故事。

​I recently travelled to Hong Kong. Yes again. It’s somewhere that I always want to go to every year, the streets, the neons, the vast amount of people. There really aren’t many words that can fully describe the energy of Hong Kong and how that energy transforms from day into night. It’s magical, the sun dips and gives way to a sea of neon signs as they flicker alive. The evening commute begins and a new energy starts pulsing through the very heart of the city. I don’t have a particular project that I am working on with regards to the streets of Hong Kong. I like to walk around to see and learn about the city. I like to get lost and see where I come out. Singapore does not have this attraction for me at the moment, maybe because of familiarity of the setting.
 
Hong Kong is a highly fast-paced city. Sometimes it is absolutely disorienting. ​One of the things that you will notice in this blog post is the sense of motion. Because Hong Kong is such a busy city, I feel like I need to convey a sense of motion in some of my images to hint at just how quick the pace of life is in Hong Kong.

With street photography, people often think of the typical black and white, static and candid captures that freeze the action. This may be popular, but it’s also great to break the mould and apply some creative uses of slower shutter speeds. After all, street photography is about anticipating and capturing a moment before it’s gone, which often requires the photographer to react within a split second of a moment unfolding in order to grab the moment. Adding a slower shutter speed shutter can help add drama to street photographs, in fact there are many different times when a longer exposure may be beneficial in bringing out the essence of a street moment.

香港是一个繁忙的都市，每天上下班的时间街上总是行人如鲫。如果想营造人来人往的景象，慢速快门是一个简单而神奇的方法。我通过一系列的长曝光摄影拍下的照片，抓住了这个人口众多的大都市真正繁忙的节奏，展现了川流不息的人群和车辆和那快到令人眼花缭乱的速度。每张照片的曝光时间为五秒钟。看上去好像是把现实世界的五秒内发生的事情封装在了一张照片中一样。在这些照片中，似乎可以听到从四面八方的人潮中传来的喧闹的声音。
​
这张相片给人一种人潮如浪的视觉效果，虽然行人的样子和身影没有给清楚凝固，但人像残影的快速流动，偏偏将街道喧哗繁荣的气氛，形象地表现出来。加上静止的街道背景与人像残影形成强烈、鲜明的对比，无意间便流露出一种静中带动的感觉。

Situated along Jalan Kledek in the heritage Kampong Glam district, it is Singapore’s first Photography and Vintage camera museum and hosted in the world’s largest camera shaped building. While the museum showcases about 1,000 vintage cameras dating from the 19th century to modern times, the founders have more than 7,000 vintage cameras in their personal collection, which has taken them close to 20 years to amass.

A collection is not made overnight, especially a vintage camera collection. It takes years and sometimes a lifetime. You cannot be an impulsive buyer otherwise you might get burned. You go thru a process of learning like where to buy, what to buy, which cameras are highly collectibles which are not, what is the right or ideal price for a certain piece and so on. You have to be very careful not to go over your budget. You have to get information of the world market prices for vintage cameras. 

To acquire something that is rare is like owning a treasure. But i suppose it gives more meaning as a collector if the collector can share this to other people for them to see and appreciate. For me, a collection, to be meaningful, should be shared with other people. If you keep it to yourself then you deprive yourself the respect you can gain from your passion and the knowledge other people could acquire from your collections.

复古，是文艺圈永不落后的话题。近年来，复古相机也一次又一次的向我们证明他们卷土重来的势头。撇开各类胶片风修图app不说，身边的胶片小发烧友们基本人手一部美能达或富士，不论是造型还是成片，还是等待一卷胶卷拍完，洗出来的惊喜时刻，都是一种返古又情怀的文艺玩法。虽然我并不是什么相机发烧友，但对于相机却有种情怀。我一直觉得相机是一个挺伟大的发明，能让我们每时每刻都能摄下最经典，最想记忆的画面，不让它从时间里流逝。我人生第一贵必买，并不是包包或首饰，而是相机。

位于新加坡甘榜格南历史区的古董相机博物馆，展出了从19世纪末到2000年代初的大约1,000台相机。原本是个空房子，业主将其改建成建筑外形像一座摄像机的私人博物馆。

Whilst exploring Taiwan last year, with my usual eye out for street art, I noticed a couple of those electricity boxes; the kind you don’t usually notice. I don’t know what the correct name for them is – Electricity transformer boxes or kiosks? Circuit boxes? Junction boxes? Electric utility boxes? Anyway, I’m talking about those boring-looking grey metal boxes that control the electricity supply to nearby buildings.
 
So, the reason I noticed them was that they were colourfully painted. And then I spotted more.  You can’t miss these painted electrical boxes throughout Taiwan. They are virtually everywhere, and most commonly painted with landscapes or flowers. I’ve snapped a handful of them to share with you, during my walks around the city. Each box is painted on all sides. No two boxes are painted alike, although you will see recurring themes and color palates.
 
Permission for the street exhibition was given to brighten up Taiwan’s main streets. The only regulation was that the electricity warning sign couldn’t be painted over.