Photograph - Pinhole 1 - Fixed

Canon EOS 300D - All photos shot in Sichuan, China except for the first two which were shot in Yishun, Singapore.

Hi guys, am uploading the same pix from the previous entry. Discovered that I made a mistake in them. I was suppose to change the hue to give the photos a tint but no matter what I did it didn't seem to make that noticeable a difference. I just discovered that I didn't check the colorize box in the dialogue box, hence no tint. So have fixed it.

I've also been playing around more on photoshop and tried to make something soft-focused. So far have only done one, so check it out if you're interested.


Canon EOS 300D - Emei Mountain, Sichuan, China

enjoy =)

Photography - Pinhole 1

Canon EOS300D - Sichuan, China

Hi guys... been a while since I've posted new photos on the blog. Been so busy with work and learning some of the new Adobe CS3 software that I recently purchased, hence me not really having time to work on anything.

But yesterday was Singapore's National Day and hence, a public holiday. So I took the opportunity to spend some time working on some photos in photoshop. These photos aren't really shot by a pinhole camera. It's really a technique I learnt in a Practical Photography magazine. It's kind of cool even though I don't really know how close I'm getting to actual pinhole photography. =)

Anyway, here they are, hope you enjoy them.



Canon EOS 300D - All the photos, except for the last two, were shot in Sichuan, China. The last two photos were shot in Yishun, Singapore.

cheers

Sichuan - part 2

Hi guys. Here's the next Sichuan entry. Yes, I know it has been a while but I've been awfully busy, thanks for understanding. =)

Okay, after dinner on the first day of our trip to Sichuan, we were scheduled to watch a musical called Jinsha (金沙) , click here for English version. According to the Sichuan guide Xiao Xin, the musical was staged in Singapore during the Huayi Festival in Singapore. The Huayi Festival (华艺节), the Chinese Festival of Arts, is usually held in Singapore sometime during the early part of the year and is an annual event celebrating Chinese theatre, dance, music and visual arts.

I've not watch a large-scale musical in a theatre since watching Mamma Mia! at the Esplanade in 2004, I think. Xiao Xin (in case you've forgotten, he was my Sichuan guide) said that when Jinsha was staged in Singapore, ticket prices were going for about SGD100, now I'm not sure if what he said is true but from the pictures that I saw of Jinsha in the brochure, this musical looked relatively ambitious and I was looking forward to watching it.



But what I certainly was not prepared for was the theatre culture in China. Now, that's not to say that theatre culture in Singapore is great. I still remember quite clearly an article in the papers about crying babies at a SSO performance and annoying ignorant Singaporeans complaining about not being let in after they arrived late... eh... where have they been? It's been like that for decades and I still remember running like some kind of desperado to try and make it on time 20 years ago at the Victoria Theatre. Anyway, rant aside, the thing I wasn't prepared for was that some people were smoking at the back of the theatre and I had to breathe through my handkerchief for a bit. And get this, after the first half hour, you're allowed to take photos and video of the performance. I actually found the popping flashes distracting and couldn't bring myself to shoot any photos during the performance of a musical that obviously has aspirations to be the Snow Wolf Lake of Hong Kong or Forbbiden City: Portrait of an Empress of Singapore.

The musical itself was quite ambitiously put together and featured several lighting and other special effects which was pleasantly surprising considering the fact that the theatre itself wasn't in tip-top shape and when I first sat down and took a look around the place, I actually felt it was a bit on the shabby side. That said, a lot of thought and effort did go into the visual effects and even though the theatre was on the small side, they managed to create the illusion of grandeur and the sense of the epic nature of this tale.

The music isn't really that great. At least it isn't of the standard of many of the great musicals in the world and not even as memorable as Snow Wolf Lake and Forbidden City which had several powerful signature tunes that stay with you even after the performance. I must say that a lot of effort was put in but unfortunately too many of the songs sounded too similar and felt like an uncomfortable fusion of Chinese pop and Western musical styles. The music isn't terrible but just lacked a little something that's all.

Where this musical does fail is in the story. The story is at once simple yet complicated. It is simple in the sense that it is really in essence the story of a love that transcends time. It is a story of thwarted love over many reincarnated life-times. The backdrop to this love story is the discovery of the Jinsha ruins in Sichuan and the travel back in time to show the audience the lost Kingdom of Sun and how the lovers are torn apart time and again, lifetime after lifetime, till our current time in history.



Unfortunately, what should have been a simple tale of love is complicated by the far too many reincarnated lives and after a while the audience is lost. I know I wasn't the only one going "huh?" when the female character keeps dying only to reappear in some vastly different setting that didn't seem more modern than the previous. If each reincarnation had seem more modern than the previous, I think the audience would have understood that it was a different life. But because each reincarnation was set in yet another fantasy-like world, it made it hard to figure out if it was indeed another lifetime, the same lifetime or just a dream.

It also didn't help that the most interesting characters in the musical aren't the two lovers Sha and Jin. It was the Jester that I liked the best and while Fish, Jin's maid I think, was under-developed, she had an interesting relationship with the Jester and that in turn gave her character just that little bit of depth.



However, that said, the producers of this lavish musical must be applauded for Jinsha has many things going for it and is certainly a good enough production to kick-start this form of theatre in China. And while I didn't think they were entirely successful in trying to fuse Western and Chinese styles in the music, the story-telling and the costume design, yet they did manage to achieve so much that I think that Jinsha will prove to be an important piece of work in the history of modern Chinese theatre.

Sichuan - part 1

Fuji V10, Lomo - views from the plane

On the 14th of May, I took a five hour Silkair flight to Chengdu (also click here) the capital of Sichuan to begin my ten day visit of the province. After we were greeted at the airport by the local Sichuan guides, the lot of us that flew over from Singapore were split up into two buses. The reason for that was because in the larger group that flew with the tour agency from Singapore, a portion of the group was booked on the eight day tour which excluded Emei Mountain, a portion was booked for the ten day tour which included Emei Mountain and a group of five was booked on the ten day tour which went to the Shunan Bamboo Sea instead of Emei Mountain. I was with the ten day group that went to Emei Mountain. Travelling with me was a friend from Singapore who prefers to go by her online nickname of Oddfatty. =)

There were 27 people in our group and travelling with us were the Singapore guide Lucy, the Sichuan guide Tu Xin, a trainee guide from Sichuan Zhao Dan and two drivers Shen Sifu and Ren Sifu. Apparently, for long bus journeys, like the one I would be traveling on on our way to Jiuzhaigou, tour buses will need to switch between two drivers. This made me feel safer as I'd heard many a horror story involving accidents on the long winding mountainous roads to Jiuzhaigou.

We arrived in Chengdu in the middle of the afternoon, at about 3pm and our first stop for the day was Jinli Street (also click here). Originally, we were suppose to visit the Furong Ancient Town where we were suppose to watch a bianzhong bell ensemble performance but according to the guides, Furong Ancient Town is currently embroiled in a court case, so no bell ensemble performance and hence, the change to Jinli Street. It's a pity. I would have liked to have visited Furong Ancient Town and to view a bianzhong bell ensemble in person. The only time I remember seeing one was on TV and I think it was in a TVB series called Where the Legend Begins (洛神) and this being a TVB series, I highly doubt its authenticity.


A photo of these ancient bells. A pity I wasn't able to view this performance.


Canon 300D - A stone sign which says translates into "Scared Ground of the Three Kingdoms", shots of the street just outside of the entrance to Jinli Street

Anyway, back to Jinli Street. Jinli Street is next to the Marquis Wu's Memorial Temple (Wuhou Memorial Temple) which is a temple that is dedicated to the crafty and highly intelligent Zhuge Liang who was the Martial Marquis of the Kingdom of Shu during the period of the Three Kingdoms in China's history. Chengdu was then the capital city of the Kingdom of Shu and the Wuhou Temple stands as a testament to the rich history of Sichuan and the city of Chengdu.


Canon 300D - Sign introducing Jinli Street, entrance to Jinli Street, the door knob on the large wooden doors that flank the entrace to Jinli Street, little street stalls outside the entrance.

Jinli Street isn't very big but what this 350m street lacks in length, it more than makes up for in history. Jinli Street has a history that dates back to the Qin Dynasty which is some 2000 years ago!! During the period of the Three Kingdoms, Jinli Street was one of the busiest commercial streets in the Kingdom of Shu. Jinli Street's reputation then was closely tied to silk, more specifically the much sought after Shu Brocade.


Photo of a piece of Shu Brocade

Sadly, even though Jinli Street used to be famed for its silk, I actually don't remember seeing a lot of silk. But then again, I'm not much of a shopper and I really didn't enter that many shops so it is quite possible that I missed them. We were only given an hour anyway, so I busied myself walking through the street and snapping a few pictures of the rather pretty buildings and looking at some of the local street food for sale in the section of Jinli Street that sold food.

Although this didn't have the more authentic feel of the two old towns I visited in Guizhou (and yes, I do remember that I've yet to put those photos up :-) ), still the glossy varnished wood and the higher two-story buildings which grace both sides of the street really did resonate elegance and convey a sense of the prosperity this street must have known in the past.


Canon 300D - Jinli Street and yes, Starbucks is everywhere


Canon 300D - a child plays in Jinli Street oblivious to everyone around him


Lomo - Jinli Street

Apparently, the street was restored by contributions from the adjoining Wuhou Memorial Temple and then reopened in 2004 to the public. The new Jinli Street's buildings are modeled after traditional houses in the Sichuan architectural style from the Qing Dynasty so if I understand it correctly, the buildings themselves aren't really that old, just that they look like the traditional buildings from the past. Still, Jinli Street isn't without its more traditional charms. It's filled with little shops that sell traditional ware like Sichuan Opera (川剧) masks and figurines and little street carts offering traditionally made candy and paintings. There is also a little pavilion by a pond and a stage for Sichuan Opera. Apparently they have opera performances in the evening everyday but we were probably there at the wrong time and unfortunately didn't have the opportunity to watch one.


Canon 300D - Making candy, the little pond and the opera stage

What I also found quite interesting was the section of Jinli Street that sold Sichuan street food. My friend and I did buy a stick of "bingtang hulu" (冰糖葫芦). "Bingtang hulu" is candied fruit from the Chinese hawthorn plant and part of the reason why I am fond of this kind of candied fruit is because it's mentioned in several martial arts novels. The one we bought at Jinli Street is very tasty and the best I've eaten. We also bought some Dragon's Beard Candy, which is type of candy that I'm particularly fond of. The one we bought in Jinli Street is really rather nice and the threads of sugar are spun so finely that they melt in your mouth. The filling is a little different from the ones I've had in Singapore but I can't really identify what that difference is.


Canon 300D - street food stalls in Jinli Street, bingtang hulu


Lomo - street food stalls in Jinli


Canon 300D - Dragon's Beard Candy


Fuji V10 - Strawberries bought from fruit sellers near where the tour buses are parked

After our short trip to Jinli Street, we went off for dinner. The dinner was actually rather nice and I quite enjoyed it. Instead of just giving us the usual tour food dishes of vegetables, soup, fried eggs etc, the guides arranged for the restaurant to serve us several small dishes of more traditional Sichuan food. So we had several types of noodles and dumplings which I rather liked and found quite tasty. Luckily I ate a pretty full meal then as the food from here on to and back to Chengdu from Jiuzhaigou was mostly not very good at all.


Fuji V10 - Shui Mi Tao, a type of peach sold by a fruit seller outside the restaurant, a building in Chengdu

After dinner, we went to watch a Chinese musical called Jinsha and I'll talk about that in the next entry on Sichuan.

Later guys... cheers. =)