Photography is one of my favorite ways to see the world.
Check out my beloved camera collection, read about my workflow or my artistic vision, or buy my zine (coming soon).
A few firsts:
Ticket to ride.
Carousel.
Boats.
I probably won't go there for another ten years. Other than wanting to spend time with my friend, a place like Fisherman's Wharf simply accelerates my social and Covid-19 anxiety. I also don't like the shops and food there, but I know it's not for me.
When I'm back in Singapore it can be easy to fall into old habits: sleeping in till late, staying out late, doing all of those things I used to do. On my recent trips, I'm trying to remind myself that I've been away for so long my parents aren't getting younger. My parents' daily routine starts with: picking a different hawker centre every morning to eat at. I try to join them, if I can wake up (they leave extremely early).
Bukit Merah View is one of my mum's favourites. It's relatively low key and quiet, but has some heavy hitters. More importantly, there's a wanton noodle stall there run by one of our distant relatives (my mother's cousin..?). It's very simple, but always tasty. It was even recommended in Michelin Bib.
The nice thing about a hawker centre is that it's usually attached to a wet and dry market. After a leisurely breakfast I was able to wander over to the other side to pick up some essentials: like the Feng He Yuan first extract dark soy sauce. None of the dark soy sauces I get in the US compare, and it is absolutely essential for some of the traditional Hokkien and Teochew dishes that I try to cook abroad.
While I don't relish waking up at 6 in the morning when I'm on vacation, food, and family is worth it: and in this part of the world, food and family is one and the same.
Purveyor of soy sauces, chilli pastes and dried goods in Bukit Merah View market.
Carrying a retro TLR camera around my neck was fun. Many older people in Singapore looked at it, wide-eyed, and told me that they used to love their Seagull or Yashica cameras too.
Breakfast with my parents.
My distant relatives' simple, but very good, wanton noodles. If you're expecting KL style lardy savory wanton noodles, you will be disappointed: this is a basic Cantonese Singaporean style plain wanton noodles with bouncy noodles and good, basic ingredients.
View of the wet market in Singapore with tall public housing behind it.
(All photos taken on Yashica Mat 124G, Portra 400, self-dev in Bellini C-41 kit, scanned on Fuji Frontier)
I find myself spending more and more time in SF and Oakland Chinatowns. I love Chinese bakeries, so those are obviously the best places for me to get my fix. In SF Chinatown, check out Yummy Bakery and Stockton Bakery. In Oakland Chinatown I am partial to Napoleon Super Bakery. In all of those spots, pork floss bun, butter cream bun, hot dog bun, egg tarts: those are all classics. At Yummy Bakery definitely try the 'egg white tart', Japanese cheesecake and pineapple (bolo) bun. There are no pineapples in pineapple bun.
When I see old Chinese people staring at food in windows, I'm assured that that, too, is in my future. I mean I already stare at food in windows, especially in Chinatown, but I am looking forward to many more years of doing that.
A walk around Chinatown.
Abundant delicious foods.
Chinese delis look like this. This is a great spot, by the way. The chicken wings by the pound are great value.
(All photos taken on Leica M3, Minolta 40mm f/2 M-Rokkor, Fuji Superia 400, self-dev in Bellini C-41 kit, scanned on Plustek 8200i)
This neighbourhood is meaningful to me. I spent a lot of time here as a child, running about after church, going to eat all of the food, visiting people, going to get charcoal (from the back of a lorry here) and fresh coconuts (grated at the back of a little market here).
I think my child's consciousness of the outside world was first formed here. I first became aware of the world in Tanglin Halt. There were Indonesian women who would take the ferry from Batam to sell food items from the market here, and I remember talking to them and wanting to know more about their food cultures, their language, and how I could take the ferry too (and I would often make the journey in the other direction, when I grew up).
Now that it's all been set aside for redevelopment, I feel a little sad. Some bits of it remain. But I know that when I return next, it's all going to be different, or gone. Such is life in Singapore.
I lost too much money to these machines, as a child.
Public housing apartments in Singapore's Tanglin Halt estate.
Going, going, gone.
All going to be gone.
The old school prata man remains.
All photos taken on Yashica Mat 124G, Portra 400, dev and scan by Whampoa Colour Centre.
If the Burmese population in Singapore were a city in Myanmar, it'd be one of the top 10 cities.
We have many Burmese grocers, restaurants services in Peninsula Plaza and Peninsula Shopping Centre, conveniently located across the street from each other.
Here's what it looks like.
Snacks.
Menu.
Offerings.
Tea shop.
Groceries.
If you'd like to try Burmese food, my favorite restaurant at the moment is Mandalay Style, in the basement of Peninsula Plaza (try the fried chickpea tofu, tea leaf salad, tofu salad and Shan noodles).