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Gear

"Melvin is sold out to the Nikon system (sorry Canon shooters). He shoots with Nikon D80 and Finepix S2 Pro dslr bodies. Mel loves using the 50mm f/1.8, and 80-200mm f/2.8D most. He also has a Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8, and a Tamron SP 90mm f/2.8 Macro. For lights, he has two 500W/s studio strobes, but prefers to carry an SB800 Speedlight "because it's not as heavy". He packs all these equipment in a lovely Crumpler 'Karachi Outpost' backpack. He has other nice stuff too, but just doesn't want to tell you."

About

"A native of Borneo, Mel only recently traded his headhunter's machette for a digital SLR and a SCUBA tank."

Archives

drained Monday, April 23, 2007 |

I can handle life in Singapore. The long bus and train rides. The brisk walks. The fast pace of city life. In fact I like it. Can't say much about home though. Home drains me. I can't handle 'here' and 'there' at the same time. I'm not Superman.

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One week down Friday, April 20, 2007 |

I just love the design concept. Sweet.

Clocking in our attendance is as simple as getting our student card scanned. Lateness in noted, and 30 minutes of accumulated late time earns a full day of janitorial work!

Jacquerene and Maggie taking a breather. They spent many mornings scanning student IDs.

Here's a familiar face to folks at home. Kenneth clocking in, with Fui Lee in the background.

It's Friday, and I'm here for exactly a week. Just a short post though. The week went well. Shook off the flu bug. Settled in with my daily commuting routine (an hour per way). Made lots of friends. And have the whole Saturday free! Will be thinking of the DC crew, take care guys! :o)

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Beautiful people Wednesday, April 18, 2007 |

I'm down with something that suspiciously resembles flu. One stuffed nostril, the other runny, fever on and off, and one really itchy (sometimes sore) throat. I've been taking cold medication which is both blessing and blight at the same time. One moment I'm feeling really good. Then sleepy. And then delirious. I try to rest but sleep eludes me. Oh man.

[Two hours later]
Feeling much better now (sniff). Decided to stay indoors and edit some pics I shot in class today. First time bringing my camera to school. Shot with the 80-200mm f/2.8. I'll be without a wide angle lens for a while, as the D70s' kit lens (18-70mm) is at the office back home.

Here's a sample of what I shot today, just to give you folks back home an idea of what the beautiful people here in Singapore look like. :o)

Ps. Derek - quite an imposing figure - is a soft spoken man and gifted in ministering during worship. I cried alot the last two days, truly anointed man. His voice even sounds like Ps. Kong Hee's!

Ps. Audrey on the right, man you should hear her teach. Very hip mom of 2, I really enjoyed her class. On the left is our Mandarin interpreter (haven't got her name yet). She's lightning fast with her English to Mandarin processing.

Lifen is one of the school's full time staff. She has the task of sorting out all our student visas, and a lot of other things.

This is Annabel (hope I got that right), lead vocal for our worship sessions before class. She has an amazing voice.



Some friends from Team 1 (L-R): Vivian, Esther and Joo. Got to know them during our orientation day games. Always smiling, these three sisters.

Michael, fellow Damien Rice fan and lighting maestro. He's working at the lighting console as I shot this. He's also a team mate.

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Back to school Tuesday, April 17, 2007 |






Chubby the Wonder Shizu
Nikon D80, 50mm f/1.8, available light.
Shot on RAW, processed with Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop.


A special note to the DC ZETA crew: sorry for not being able to reply to all your IMs. If you see me online and don't reply to your messages, it's not because I don't like you ok? Lol! I'll try to cover as much as I can on blog posts so you all can know how I'm doing. Thanks for understanding. :o)

I had a good weekend. On Saturday I was at the Singapore Indoor Stadium to catch Ps. Benny Hinn's healing service. Stood in line at 5:30pm and got caught in the rain! Needless to say I have found how useful a small folding umbrella is (shared one with a church member) and have since bought my own. The queue was a long one. Took about an hour to get in; by that time my back and the lower half of my jeans was soaked. Good thing the stadium was not too cold! The healing service is something to remember. Saw people walking after being wheelchair bound for years, and other miracles. I was caught up in an extraordinary atmosphere of worship, it was really good.

On Sunday I moved in to my new place! I have a room to myself - wonderful! Also spent the day with Cynthia and Melvin Yap and bought a few things (Sigg bottle, Crumpler bag). I was really blessed by this couple, and loved staying over at their place. Btw, Chubby the Shizu is their dog.

Yesterday (Monday) was orientation day at school. My intake is quite big with 460 students in all. We were divided into 20 'duty groups' of 20+ students, where each group is supposed to take 1 week of classroom set up and cleaning duties. My group is the first one, and has a mix of really easy going people. Ages range from early 20s to late 50s.

Orientation was fun but really tiring. It was an Amazing Race style of game where each team had to complete tasks all over Singapore. We went from West to East and ended South... literally moved around more than half the country! Took us 8 hours to finish. Had a steamboat dinner and prize giving at the end.

I had two regrets though. One was that I didn't bring my camera (ouch!!!). Second, I brought my school stuff in my new Crumpler sling bag... which I didn't need at all. About 10kg of dead weight on either shoulder for hours on end. It was tough going, felt like the last trek we did to Kaiduan in December '06.

Today (Tuesday) classes began in earnest. My group is on duty this week. This means I need to arrive at school by 8 a.m. Which also means I need to leave the house by 6:45 a.m. My journey begins on foot with a 15 minute brisk walk to the bus terminal and then an hour by bus. I could take the MRT, when but when factored in the feeder bus journey it came to the same travel time.

This post is a personal best for me in terms of word count! I'll go back to photoblogging tomorrow, as I'll be bringing my camera to school for the first time. Take care everyone, God bless!

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Lion City Saturday, April 14, 2007 |

Missing Home, Missing You
Nikon D80, 50mm f/1.8, available light


It's my first morning in Singapore.

My hosts have left me the keys to the house and charge over a Shizu and two tortoises. Had the pleasure of making breakfast for the three 'kids'. Aside from them, I am alone.

I'm grateful for time and space to gather my thoughts. Much has happened on the way here. My journey to Singapore started much earlier than my 10:15 flight the day before. I say it all began about a year ago. But that folks, is another story.

John Eldredge summed it beautifully in his book Wild At Heart when he said that every man has a battle to fight, an adventure to live, and a beauty to rescue. At the core of these three tenets is a man's heart. Without his heart, a man is nothing. A man's heart is created to the wild and free, reflecting the image of God who created him outside the Garden of Eden. Eve may have been formed in the Garden, but Adam was made from dust taken from the wilderness. A man who seeks God is wild at heart.

I believe a man's heart is broken not by challenge, but by the gradual numbness that comes from daily living. Numbness that calcifies over time, leading to porosis of the soul.

I know the reason I am here... is to find my heart once again. For without my heart I am nothing.

Thank you for your prayers and support. I am so glad I'm not alone in this journey. I am so grateful.

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