You know, i love to send Christmas cards every year. I have my own little tradition that I write out cards with heartfelt wishes shortly after Thanksgiving. I do still always send individually bought Christmas cards to a few close friends. I'm kind of traditional, especially for holidays and celebrations. Many people find sending cards are too much of a bother when you can call / text / email / facebook / skype people so easily now. Call me old fashioned, but i still send cards in this growing 'e'-world. I love snowmen, so i usually buy cards with a snowman on them. I take time to pick really nice ones to send out to my friends. Hello to my dear close friends (i am sure you know who you are), i am gonna send out these nice Christmas cards tomorrow, so you should be able to receive it by the mid week. Thanks very much for being my great buddy all these years! Merry Christmas and best wishes for the coming new year! Ho, ho, ho! :-)
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Sometimes, Christmas presents come a little early as i just received an early Christmas present from one of my long-time friends, Irene who gave this nice photo essay notebook to me. I like the wording printed on the book, such so inspirational! I am often encouraged by friends and well-wishers to "be myself" and I agreed that this is, no doubt, very good advice. But how do we know what "being ourselves" actually involves?
How do we know which of the many facets of our character constitutes the "real" us? I have often thought that the best way to define a person's character would be to seek out the particular mental or moral attitude in which, when it came upon him / her, he / she felt himself most deeply and intensely active and alive. At such moments, there is a voice inside which speaks and says: 'This is the real me!' How does this work in practice? Street barbers were named as such because they operated along the "five-foot-ways" of shop houses or from makeshift tarpaulin tents by the road. These makeshift stalls comprised a bare minimum of a few chairs, a wall mirror, a cupboard and a few plastic bins with water. In the old days of Singapore, many street barbers were Malays but there was a fair share of Chinese and Indian barbers too. Full-service in the olden days included ear, nose and tongue cleaning. Ears were scraped of earwax with long thin metal rods hooked at one end. The tongue was cleaned of its white coating by a gentle scraping with the barber's knife. Malay and Indian barbers ended their service with a good head and shoulder massage. Under a tiny blue tent along a back-alley street, a barber who has beautified his loyal customers for ages carries on snipping away. Yet, time seeks to cut off its relationship with him as. I had a great opportunity in my life to watch how his dedication has kept the craft alive and how his humble establishment can still remain grounded, undeterred by change. Here's the pictures and story that i have collected for one of the least few remaining street barbers in Singapore, a vanishing trade and to be remembered - Barber Mr Lee and his shop located at 23 Amoy Street. Before that, i must say that while i was doing the photo shoot and the short story interview with Barber Mr Lee, my thoughts were steeped in full respect and nostalgia. Sometimes, waxing nostalgic about valued past experiences makes us feel as if our lives are full of purpose and meaning. Arriving at this rustic destination, as an avid traveller, i often feel as though i have moved back in time. If the past is a foreign country, then it is equally true that tourism transforms histories into proxies for a lost past. Such nostalgic journeys through space and time are inevitably bound up with the traveller's sense of home.
Tired of the mega-malls? Head down to Haji Lane, a small shophouse-lined street in the Kampong Glam area near Bugis. This area has always been one of my favourite retail hangouts. Most of the local wear in my wardrobe and accessories were actually bought from boutique stores at Haji Lane. I will always fork out time to drop by to do some shopping at this area whenever i can. New shops have opened recently and anyone is sure to find some treasures! Don’t go early, though – most shops don’t open till noon. The next time you have a whole afternoon free, take a trip down Haji Lane. Sometimes you just need to get out of the malls. You need a hit of creative smack. You need to find uber-cool with a capital U. Hot foot it to Haji Lane, here's what you will find........
This coming November 25th is Thanksgiving Day in the United States, Europe and Australia. It is usually celebrated every year on the 4th Thursday of November. So it’s that time again, the time where we stop for a minute and give thanks to everything and everyone who helps make our lives just a little bit better. It is a day for expressing thanks for the good things in life. I will start by telling you once again how grateful i am for the opportunity to touch lives by sharing my thoughts through my camera lens and writing. It’s been a good year for my photography work, much of them has been publicly recognised and published, something that i have always wished for in my passion and i'd like to give a big thanks to all the people and things that make that happen and also make me for who i am. So, i will continue to focus next year (and suggest you do too) on being more thoughtful, more sincere and more reflective on myself (yourself), my passion (photography) and my life (your life) as i count my blessings, so that i can continue to experience the thankfulness i am expressing. It is high time for us to show our gratitude for all the things we are blessed with. It is never too late to do so. Maybe this Thanksgiving Day is a good time to start. We will not be able to rewrite the past, but we can choose today to change the way we have been living our lives, to become grateful individuals. So, let’s remember the real purpose for Thanksgiving Day.
I also really appreciate anyone and everyone who takes the time to drop by at my photography blog. It’s a one woman's operation with a huge heart and soul. Thanks again for making this Thanksgiving a great one! Happy Thanksgiving Day! :-) Another happy day! What a great start to the weekend! One of my master pieces in the photography work (so far) is featured in the latest November issue of Digital Camera Magazine, a popular leading monthly photography magazine! I am so glad that my photo taken at the famous Cao Dai Temple in Vietnam and the unique religious movement of its worshippers got its recognition and shared with among all of you! My published photo taken in Vietnam features the inside of Tay Ninh Holy See, the seat of Caodaiism, its unique architectural style reflects its blended traditions. The photo was submitted for the "Your Mission - Travel" category released for publication in this magazine issue. It was a good chance to see one of my photograph masterpieces in print again nationwide, yippee! :-)
A happy day! One of my photo essays on my trip to Hangzhou 杭州 in May this year has been featured in today's MyPaper 我报 newspapers! My photo shoot at the century old historic Wu Zhen 乌镇 village is being featured, can't wait to share such good news with all of you. Yippee! :-)
Oh well, here I am again. Already somehow in mid-November and already somehow getting ready to depart soon again next month during the Christmas festive season for my year-end travel shoot. Where to? Going to Taiwan! When i left a high-flying corporate job in the financial industry a couple of years ago, i took time off to travel alone, on my own and it was what opened my eyes to photography in the first place. Ever since then, travel has been a very important part of my life. You can make your life what you want it to be, you can. It takes some work, but don't ever think what you have in your head, can't be what you have in your life. It’s not exactly the most normal work / life balance, but the blessing in that is i can carve out some time and make what I want come to life. And that is taking time off each year (as long as i can) to travel, to grow myself, to see new cultures, to stretch, to shoot amazing things and to get my feet on some new soil. So i'll be carrying my life on my back for the next month. I will try new things again. I will go to new places again. I will shoot some amazing pictures again. I’m way too pumped. :-) You can bet your bottom dollar that I will be posting images and telling my journey after i am back. You can also be assured that the pictures taken in this coming Taiwan trip will be an extraordinary one, i promise!
I will still be responding to emails while I’m over there but at a snail's pace, so please allow for that. I will be away from 25th to 30th December. Hope all of you will have a happy & blessed Christmas celebration ahead too! Taiwan, here i come, coming soon. :-) Hi everyone, not sure if you still remember that i told you all recently one of my travel photo stories taken in Hong Kong and Haikou, China will be featured in an upcoming local creative lifestyle magazine, out in bookstores releasing sometime in next year January 2013? The publisher actually got back to me again that they decided to publish both travel stories instead of one of them and that was absolutely a very good piece of news to me! The publisher, however, had put forward a request to me for some additional editing to my travel stories so as to make it more personalised. Without further, I spent some nights re-drafting my photo essays. Finally after much drafting and redrafting, I felt they were quite good. Let’s face it, travel is fun. But for those who live to travel, it’s not just about fun. It’s about experiencing life, meeting people, learning about cultures and discovering ourselves. Once we’ve traveled, we’re never quite the same. If that describes you, then stick around. I’m not sure what will come of the latter but for me, i am grateful for this photography essay opportunity that it gave me and for reminding me of the reason why I embarked on this journey in the first place.
My travel photo pieces will be out in January 2013 and I can’t wait to share it with you all when the time comes. I’ll still keep posting photos of course and will blog whenever I feel inspired. In the meantime, i'll still be taking a couple of massive leaps of faith. Stay tuned! :-) In Singapore, there are no lack of different varieties of ice cream to be found. Be it upmarket brand-names like Hagen Das and Movenpick or more affordable labels like King’s and Wall’s Ice Cream, we the locals are rather spoiled for choices here in Singapore.
I remember when I was a kid, I’d eagerly wait for the ringing of bells in the evenings. It was the sound that marked the arrival of my favourite mobile ice cream seller, who usually made his rounds at the ground floor of my flat once every few days. The ice cream vendors in Singapore, operate via bike or motorcycles strapped to a huge container, holding various ice cream. The makeshift contraption gives them added mobility and the ice cream vendors here are always constantly on the movie to find better spots to sell their ice cream. The vendors are able to sell their products really cheaply considering that they use only medium and low quality ice cream. A long-time friend, KH gave this nice blue-coloured camera strap to me for my pro-camera, he got it from Hong Kong, thanks so much! :-)
Good news! I was informed that one of my previous travel photography stories taken either in Hong Kong or Haikou (China) will be shortlisted for publication in a local creative lifestyle travel magazine, to be released sometime in January next year 2013! I can't wait for them to be published out in bookstores soon! Hooray!
Just a recap, you may browse the travel stories and photos in these URLs: * Hong Kong, Sham Shui Po 深水埗 Apliu Street Market 鸭寮街跳骚市场 (Travelled in April 2012) http://www.jenniferteophotography.com/1/post/2012/04/hong-kong-part-1-apliu-street-market.html * Haikou, China 海口骑楼老街 (Travelled in November 2011) http://www.jenniferteophotography.com/1/post/2011/11/-haikou-china-part-1.html You know, some self-encouragement words always stick in my head,"Do what you want to do, Jennifer, do your photography, you will have to make compromises through life at times, but never veer off the path YOU WANT, YOU CHOSE this, it's your calling, it fits, never give up. That's Life, that's what a real living is all about." I just wanna say to all of you that thank you so much for reading my travels all the while, my experiences and what i have been taught from others, mean the world to me. Photography is my passion and i will never give it up. There are many important stories i would like to share more and see them published in bookstores or through social media. I hope all of you can continue to help me to share with the world my travels, educative photos, people / groups that are actually making a difference in the world and to be able to get it published. Thank you once again for dropping by to read! :-) Street Art is a form of art, specifically visual art, developed in public spaces, that is, "in the streets", though the term usually refers to unsanctioned art, as opposed to government sponsored initiatives. The term can include traditional graffiti artwork, sculpture, stencil graffiti, sticker art and street poster art, video projection, art intervention, guerrilla art and street installations. Typically, the term 'street art' is used to distinguish contemporary public-space artwork from territorial graffiti, vandalism and corporate art.
Artists have challenged art by situating it in non-art contexts. ‘Street’ artists do not aspire to change the definition of an artwork, but rather to question the existing environment with its own language. They attempt to have their work communicate with everyday people about socially relevant themes in ways that are informed by esthetic values without being imprisoned by them. 我在这个博客上要提供的是生活的建议, 提供一些大家平时想不到, 或者想到了却一直没有去做的事情, 并且告诉读者, 怎么去做, 或者去哪里可以做到. 活得简单, 才能活得自由, 是一个再简单不过的真理. 仔细想想, 维持每天生活的必需品有多少? 其实并不多吧, 我们之所以要得多, 都是因为贪图享受, 然而一旦贪图享受, 就容易被物质所奴役. 你拥有的并不少, 但仍感觉不幸福. 有一些简单的道理, 可能我们都懂, 但却做不到: 1. 过简样的生活, 不被物质所累, 就能保持精神的自由. 2. 生活简单一点, 心灵就会更富有. 3. 物质简化一点, 思想就会更充实. 4. 欲望减少了, 就轻松能自在. 5. 少一些追求和享受, 就能更加拥有自我. 最宝贵的, 其实就是时间. 我们每天忙忙碌碌, 竟忘记了生命是如此的短暂. 到底每天我们都在追求些什么呢? 金钱? 还是名誉? 钱真的有那么重要吗? 有多少美好的人生享受, 如思想, 艺术, 爱情, 亲情...都不是金钱能买到的啊! 时间一天天过去, 生命也随之流逝了, 我们却忘了要享受它. 所以, 宁愿做一个有时间的穷人, 也不要做有钱的忙人. 从现在开始, 过简单, 间适的生活吧! 把欲望降到最低吧, 想得也要简单一点. 把时间拿来阅读, 看电影和简单的人交朋友, 思考及实践生活与人生. 即使上网也是用来和朋友分享与交流简样生活的体验与心得. 减少对物质的需求, 当身边的东西越来越少, 为杂物的担心和操劳也会渐渐减少.慢慢卸下肩上的压力和负担, 拥有更多属於自己的时间和空间. 时间多了, 心就静下来了. 等心平静了, 你就会有完全不同的人生体验, 相信我, 这完全值得. 生活越简单, 就越懂得生活.
当你渐渐能不以功利的眼光去评断, 就愈能享受别人发现不到的乐趣. 当感受自然变化的时间变多了, 心就能自省, 不再向外追逐了, 真实感受人生的乐趣, 也收服崭新的心境. 我们大家一起加油喔! :-) |
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