Feel the power and emotion behind JUMP! 2008 (Jesus U Must Praise!) held at Fort Canning Green on 22 August 2008 in this gallery which features the musicians and singers who made the event such a success. Witness the raw energy in their expressions and gestures as they gave it their all in this intense 2 hours of praise and worship.
Click on this link for the full gallery.
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In what must probably be the most spectacular outdoor arts performance I’ve ever seen in Singapore, Studio Festi was in town for the National Museum of Singapore’s Night Festival on 18 & 19 July, and what a show it was!
“Studio Festi from Italy is internationally acclaimed for staging extraordinary large-scale outdoor theatrical performances, including the recent 100-day countdown to the Beijing Olympics in Macau.” - paraphrased from programme literature.
Here are some photos from the 9pm and 11pm performances held on 19 July. And true to an earlier piece of advice, I was down there armed with my tripod an hour before the actual performance. Though I managed to get a good spot directly across the road facing the museum, it also happened to rain; and if not for a kind gentleman who offered to share his umbrella with me, I would have been drenched. If you do visit my blog, I can’t say thank you enough for that kind gesture! 
The museum all lighted up and ready for the performance.
Aerial Ballroom Dancing
The opening act featured two graceful ballroom dancers.
I love how she soars across the front of the museum, with her partner longing below.
In the Waters of the Sky
Next up was another aerial performance featuring a graceful dancer and a huge floating ship. What really made this performance magical was the soaring melody of Nessun Dorma that accompanied this act.
The Flying Piano
A grand piano and ballerina suspended in mid-air, dancing gracefully to a tune of the night.
The Progeny of Dreams
A long line of dancers 3 meters then paraded down Stamford Road, stopping in between to show off their magnificent dresses and artistic poses.
Like the Moon
Two dancers float and twirl around a huge moon, while the real moon probably watched from a distance in envy!
Harmony of the Spheres
The final act of the first half featured two giant spheres with dancers suspended from them floating above the onlooking crowd. The crowd was enthralled every time the dancers swooped down on them and reached towards their outstretched arms.
No less spectacular was the 2nd half of the performance that took place on the Campus Green of SMU. This time, the audience was right up there with the various performers stationed around the area, ensuring that nobody missed out on the action.
This performer was mimicking an early day explorer with his long telescope.
There were also two breathtaking dances featuring the contrasting elements of fire and water.
Water Dance
The water dance took place at the center of SMU Campus Green with a dancer performing acrobatics both on and in a huge glass bowl that was filled with water.
Fire Dance
The fire dance was performed by no less than 6 beautiful and exotic looking ladies stationed at different spots around the area who twirled flares, fire batons and fire umbrellas.
The whole performance ended around 1am and although I was exhausted from 4 hours of near continuous photo taking, I really enjoyed the shows nonetheless and hope that they come back to Singapore for an encore performance again next year!
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With National Day just 2 weeks away, there is a constant rumble of jets flying over our HDB estate every Saturday around 7pm. I was very lucky to have captured this shot outside my study room window considering that I was totally unprepared. When they say to always keep your camera nearby, it’s really for moments like this!
The Black Knights in action!
Popularity: 26% [?]
Red Cliff by John Woo is a movie dramatization of the famous Romance of the Three Kingdoms novel and to kick off the movie’s launch in Singapore, some of the cast made an appearance at, of all places, Plaza Singapura. Great news for me as my office is just next door!!!
So the event started at 7pm, and I got there at 6.15pm (couldn’t leave the office too early!), and to my dismay there was already a bunch of people who had set up their cameras right in the middle of the area in front of the stage. And they had big cameras and flashes. And ladders. I could’ve sworn that I’ve seen them before at another celebrity/fashion shoot in which they campled right in the middle with big cameras and flashes and stood on ladders. Rumour has it that they are known as the ladder gang. I ended up at the left side of the stage with a very poor angle, but I remained in good spirits!
The event kicked off with two emcees (Jiafa 93.3FM and Cai Li Lian from 97.2FM) doing their usual thing to get the crowd excited by playing some games and talking a lot. In Mandarin. I kept myself entertained by snapping photos (and stupidly draining my flash battery in the process!).
Cai Li Lian, Love 97.2FM radio deejay and livewire emcee.
This dude admitted that he was really perspiring beneath his armour!
And this dude looked a bit like Jay Chou.
This dude just enjoyed posing for the camera. He actually held that pose for me to take a photo. Twice!
Finally, after 30 long minutes of entertaining myself and wasting batteries, the cast appeared!
From left to right - Chang Chen, Lin Chiling, Zhang Fengyi.
However, the real star of the night, judging by the number of flashes going off, was none other than Lin Chiling (or Lín Zhì Líng). Apart from being one of Asia’s top models, Lin Chiling also holds a double major from the University of Toronto and the title for sexiest legs in Taiwan. Tall on beauty and high on IQ, some people just have em all! For those of you closer to me, you’d have known that I wanted Ashley’s chinese name to be Zhi Ling. Didn’t happen though due to wifey protesting that it sounded too much like hers (does Zhiyi and Zhiling really sound alike?). 
At 1.74m, man, she is tall.
Behold - Taiwan’s sexiest legs!
Unlike her tall and leggy western model counterparts, Chiling has a very saccharine sweet look.
Genuinely making an effort to pose and smile for all her fans and the masses of photographers in front of her. Even the ladder gang didn’t faze her!
Whoa, I think she looked right at me!
My flash batteries were sputtering at this point thought I think it was really starting to feel the onset of diabetes.
Alway carry a super zoom lens like the 70-200mm with you to these type of events. It is heavy, but gets you these type of close-ups.
As a big thank you from the people of Singapore, the cast is presented with teddy bears from the Build-a-Bear Workshop.
Photography notes:
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As part of a campaign to promote Taiwan, the Taiwan Tourism Bureau (TTB) held a tourism fair at IMM on Saturday and invited mandopop singer Jolin Tsai and director Wu Nien-Jen down to say a few nice things about the place. Naturally, it was a good opportunity for me to practice a bit of event photography so I was down there with my 70-200mm trying to take some good stage shots. Other than having lots of fun taking photos, it was a real pity I didn’t understand a word as the whole event was in Mandarin!
She’s got a huge goodie bag/prize with her! So, who will be The One to win it?
According to wifey, Jolin is really famous and warned me to expect a big crowd. To be honest, I’ve never heard any of her songs before but I can see why she’s so popular among teeny-boppers.
And, if they had really wanted to bring someone famous from Taiwan down, they should have invited Lin Chi Ling instead! I mean, who is this director Wu guy anyway. Haha…
Can some kind soul translate what’s on the card for me? Click on the image below for a larger version.
Gracefully answering tons of questions from the emcee.
And from the audience too.
Come Visit Taiwan, OK? ><
Photography notes:
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Touted as the largest observation wheel (can I still call it ferris wheel?) in the world at 165m high, the Singapore Flyer is certainly a sight to behold especially if you’re standing underneath it. Today marked the official opening of the Flyer although it has been in operation since Chinese New Year.
Little did anyone realise (I certainly didn’t), that there would be fireworks during the event. Just as I was setting up my tripod to capture the wheel, the fireworks started; and miracle of miracles, I managed to press the shutter in time to capture the first burst. All in all, the whole display lasted only a couple of minutes, but I felt that it was much better than the NDP07 fireworks show.
It begins!
It’s almost a full moon.
I love those blue streaks shooting inwards towards the spoke.
Plus the beautiful showers of light shooting out from the capsules.
After shooting the fireworks, we proceeded to have dinner at Popeye’s, where they serve pretty nice burgers and fries. Price per set meal is between $6 to $8 and is probably the most affordable eatery at the place. Today, we also made an amazing discovery that Ashley knows how to dip her fries into tomato sauce before eating them!
Not only that, she is also turning out to be quite a budding photographer as we took turns taking pictures underneath the Flyer after dinner. Granted everything was nicely set up on a tripod, but it was still cute watching her peep into the view finder while she repeatedly pressed the shutter release button.
This one was taken by Ashley!
The night ended on a bit of a damper because when we finally got around to buying tickets, we were told that the next available ride was only at 11pm. That put a spanner in our plans but I guess we’ll return another day when the crowd is smaller.
See if you can spot the long queue.
When all else fails, there’s always the toy store.
Build-A-Bear Workshop
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It was a fun-filled IslandHope party to celebrate New Year’s Eve and say good-bye to 2007 in the company of close friends. As usual, there was lots of food to go around (pancakes, ice cream, chips - all staple food of the modern generation), followed by watching a powerful drama depicting the triumph of the human spirit that really puts one in a reflective mood (Balls of Fury), then partying on the Wii (how come that Mario is in every game I have!?) and finally watching fireworks from the top floor of the next block (the grass is always greener…).
When I look back at 2007, I feel really blessed and happy to have become such good friends with all the IslandHopies. This is what doing life is all about!
Happy New Year everyone and welcome to 2008! May God shower his blessings upon you this year and bring you joy and fruitfulness in all areas of your life - health, family, job, relationships, ministry, etc.
P.S. Anyone who can guess the manga that inspired the latest IslandHope Diaries “comic” gets a free lunch/dinner from me!
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Christmas is a really colourful holiday in Singapore. Every year without fail, major shopping malls along the Orchard Road belt would try to outstage each other in terms of who can put up the most unique and interesting Christmas decorations.
For parents, there’s good news to add to the festive cheer - the obligatory santa aside, some malls have gone the extra mile to organise really interesting events that are bound to thrill the kids. Here are two that we’ve stumbled across.
Moonlit Christmas by The River
Catch live ice-skating performances by championship winning skaters from Australia everyday at The Central@Clarke Quay (showtimes available by clicking on this link).
The theme of the week was Moon River.
After each performance, if you present the organisers with a receipt from any of the shops there, you can take on-the-spot ice skating lessons from the same performers. When I went, there were a lot of kids who just couldn’t get enough of the lessons. And, here’s a very interesting tip I picked up - if you ever find your hands on the ice after falling down for example, remember to clench your fists as fingers that are sticking out might get sliced off should someone accidentally skate over them!
Even though the stage of ice was pretty small, these 4 skaters still managed to dazzle the crowd.
Outside the mall facing Clarke Quay, there’s a big Christmas tree that’s a great spot for taking photos.
On Fridays and Saturdays, and on Christmas Eve, there are carolling performances around the tree in the evenings.
One of the best trees I’ve seen so far because the entire frame of the tree itself is made up of lights.
For the more adventurous, there’s always the good ol’ G-Max ride that’s bound to lift your spirits, literally. The ride has proven so popular that a second capsule has recently been added.
The height of the G-Max capsule after what must’ve been 3 oscillations.
An Olde Worlde Christmas
Apart from Centerpoint, Tanglin Mall traditionally has one of the best Christmas decorations. This year’s theme, as the title implies, includes replicas of European style log cabins giving the place a very traditional and rustic feel.
At 7pm and 8pm every day outside Tanglin Mall, artifical snow generators will produce an avalanche for 15 minutes. Some kids come really well prepared for this with swimsuits and goggles on. Ok, the goggles bit was just a joke but not the swimsuits! Everyone say together now - Foam Party!
Pity you can’t make snowballs with this “snow”!
This is followed by another 15 minutes of falling snow. My camera indirectly had a very good cleaning after taking all these photos.
Ashley thrilled with seeing strange stuff falling from the sky. Can’t wait to let her see real snow one day.
And also maybe stay in a real log cabin with a fireplace to boot!
Ok, that’s it! If anyone knows of other great places to bring kids for Christmas and New Year, just pop your suggestions in the comments. Merry Christmas in advance everyone and God Bless!
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My arm… hurts.
Yesterday, Zhiyi and I had a blast of a time playing with Ming’s new Nintendo Wii set. Together with other visitors like Livi, Geena, Merv and Sherry, we competed with each other in various Wii Sports games like tennis, bowling, boxing and fishing. Just like my first Nintendo set (NES Famicom from the late 80s if anyone remembers), Nintendo has yet again revolutionised the console gaming market with their hallmark motion sensing controls that use an ingenious blend of technology and interactivity. Simply put, being able to swing your arms around and see that translate to your Mii’s (Nintendo-speak for in-game character) movements truly puts the fun in fun.
How not to play with a Wii - letting immersive gaming go to far!
You can hold a Wii controller like a tennis racket - single or double handed. Need to tell the nutcase on the left that Karate Kid hasn’t been released for the Wii.
At the end of the whole gaming session, I heard the unthinkable - Wifey remarking if we should get one too! Whoa, need to blog this down (thinking of Christmas).
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Ashley would like to remember how much sacrifices mummy made to raise and take care of her. How mummy was so excited when she first realised she was carrying little Ashley in her tummy. How she watched her diet and got lots of rest so that Ashley would grow up healthily. How mummy suffered for 9 months without complaining to make sure Ashley came out into the world a happy and bouncing baby. How mummy ensured that Ashley had lots of milk to drink and toys to play with. How mummy would carry and hug Ashley to sleep at night. How mummy rushed home from work early everyday to play with Ashley. How mummy would sing and talk to Ashley and read her story books.
Ashley really feels like the most precious baby in the world when she is with mummy!
Spending the afternoon out at Botanical Gardens.
Ashley loves posing for photos! Today Ashley received two fresh red roses from church. And, Ashley got to wear her new white summer dress bought by daddy INK. Needless to say, Ashley was all ready to strut her stuff! 
Like mother like daughter.
Ashley would like to wish all mums Happy Mother’s Day!!!
I love you mum!
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