one of the most happening street near tanjong pagar and outram park area..
come weekend, most young adult would linger from pub to pub, most would just stay till late night , some getting drunk, some trying to find the right partner for one night fun, some just wondering around just for the sake of following their peers, hoping they wont be left out...

I quit following the crowd for years now, reason, simply becos i found that there isnt any strong reason why I need to be there..except some volunteer who are there to distribute condom at pub, educating the young adult on safer sex...

end the of the street , there are few spiritual places, one church and here we have the buddha tooth relic temple, some friends told me " who knows when the person time is up, he or she would turn to such holy places, and pray to have all their sins or some say bad karma to be washed away...Hmmm, well maybe there will be one out of million..I dont know..

Take a closer look at the building right behind, thats the HDB/flats for elderly who live alone...and most of them are 60 years old and above and oldest I met was 90 something..some are "Ma Jie"

The income to survive is to pick up newspaper, recycling card boards, steel and other recycle items twice daily. Each trip lasted 1 to 2 hours and they could earn about SD$ 3-5, good enough to let them survive for one day if they choose to cook themselves.

I was a volunteer , a videographer to broadcast one of the less privileage granny years back, she couldn't afford to pay for her new denture, hence we offer her the services at our fhoundation free clinic(which could cost up too sd$800 to over 1000.)

Granny welcome us to her home, and a small unit with no room, just one bath room and kitchen.
Due to her poor living condition and she could hardly swallow food, she and her middle age daughter with slight mental disability only take blended food like porridge. We did watch her cooking and the porridge certainly look tasteless...

when i asked where is her bed? she just replied, we have been sleeping on the floor at night..
I was shocked with the answer..and then i asked..what about if youre feeling warm at home, isnt there suppose to be a fan? she said "ohh hot ah" then she walked to the recycle corner and pick up her favorurite chinese new year cardboard and start flipping at me, infact i was video shooting her..she asked, "cool right? " I felt so ashamed thinking how I used to left my aircond on when i was not in my room years back!

We later followed her to pick up newspaper and card board for an hour and became real tired as it was a hot day. I suggested to get some drink at coffee shop..I was trying to adjust her heavy loads and at the same time asking her " Granny, how much you can earn from such heavy loads"...she replied happily .."here alot already, maybe sd$ 2!" We look at each others silently.
I was having difficulty to push the load after our coffee session as it was really heavy but granny at late 70 walk at very fast.

Granny enjoyed the coffee very much and at the end, the bill SD$ 3.90 for 4 of us...Simple calculation, Granny have to work twice daily just to pay for drinks..We of course settled the bill and pick up the "calculation" on our own way.

there were only 3 of us, a video grapher, a photographer and a writer...we could not imagine a simple visit to granny place make such a great impact to us. Granny news, was well received and being broadcast. As volunteers, we met occasionally and still carrying the common understanding that we need to be wiser on spending our money and also learn to appreciate our resources, water, and electricity..

I still believe some people might gain peacefulness in such beautiful Tooth Relic Temple, but for 3 of us, the building right behind, the story inside every single unit of the family, left us a huge impact and sort of like a life long learning process to appreciate what we have in life. Those experience shared by Granny will stay in our heart for a long long while..

In Buddhism, there is a saying "there is no holy places, no holy person but holy moment" and those half day being with Granny was simply Inspiring!

There was a period of time, when i would carry kilos of news paper from my office to Granny's home and left the old news paper at her door side. When my colleagues bought me expensive mooncakes during mid autumn festival, I would bring the mooncakes and passed them to Granny and her daughter as I wonder how long they haven't taste such expensive and delicious mooncakes.

I guess I dont need to explain much why I would order "Orange juice" or "Fruit punch" once in a very long while when I am with my friends at certain club for drink and would leave before at 11pm to catch the last train:O)

Looking at this picture from that building right behind the temple, sort of like a gentle reminder to me. "To wish to nar

Do one thing everyday that scares you.

This is my fifth and final photo for the Everybodys Free (to wear sunscreen) theme. This photo is really kinda crappy for the theme. I had plenty of options for todays shot but I did this. this theme didn't come out what I wanted so I think I will end it. anyway, why am I scared? Driving scares me sometimes. today I was really tired, it was really dark, it was misting and foggy and it was like 5:30pm... rush hour. People in this state take a lot of unnessisary risks and driving here can sometimes be a white knuckle experience. Sadly I kinda do do something that scares me everyday, not because I want to but because I sometimes have to. I am refering to high places, they scare me and I have to go up in high places every day for my job. I guess I am fulfilling this part of the song. anyway I went to my parents to make some thanksgiving preparations for tomarrow and on the way home decided to go here and try to take some photos of the traffic in the fog. none of those photos really came out, but my shots did... so whoo hoo... I guess. Anyway I am still kinda tired so I will stop typeing now. as promised I will paste all of the lyrics to the song that I have been refering to this week below. there are a lot of great words in there.

Ladies and Gentlemen of the class of ’99
If I could offer you only one tip for the future, sunscreen would be
it. The long term benefits of sunscreen have been proved by
scientists whereas the rest of my advice has no basis more reliable
than my own meandering
experience…I will dispense this advice now.
Enjoy the power and beauty of your youth; oh nevermind; you will not
understand the power and beauty of your youth until they have faded.
But trust me, in 20 years you’ll look back at photos of yourself and
recall in a way you can’t grasp now how much possibility lay before
you and how fabulous you really looked….You’re not as fat as you
imagine.
Don’t worry about the future; or worry, but know that worrying is as
effective as trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing
bubblegum. The real troubles in your life are apt to be things that
never crossed your worried mind; the kind that blindside you at 4pm
on some idle Tuesday.
Do one thing everyday that scares you
Sing Don’t be reckless with other people’s hearts, don’t put up with
people who are reckless with yours.
Floss Don’t waste your time on jealousy; sometimes you’re ahead, sometimes
you’re behind…the race is long, and in the end, it’s only with
yourself.
Remember the compliments you receive, forget the insults; if you
succeed in doing this, tell me how.
Keep your old love letters, throw away your old bank statements.
Stretch
Don’t feel guilty if you don’t know what you want to do with your
life…the most interesting people I know didn’t know at 22 what they
wanted to do with their lives, some of the most interesting 40 year
olds I know still don’t.
Get plenty of calcium.
Be kind to your knees, you’ll miss them when they’re gone.
Maybe you’ll marry, maybe you won’t, maybe you’ll have children,maybe
you won’t, maybe you’ll divorce at 40, maybe you’ll dance the funky
chicken on your 75th wedding anniversary…what ever you do, don’t
congratulate yourself too much or berate yourself either – your
choices are half chance, so are everybody else’s.
Enjoy your body,
use it every way you can…don’t be afraid of it, or what other people
think of it, it’s the greatest instrument you’ll ever
own.. Dance…even if you have nowhere to do it but in your own living room.
Read the directions, even if you don’t follow them.
Do NOT read beauty magazines, they will only make you feel ugly.
Get to know your parents, you never know when they’ll be gone for
good.
Be nice to your siblings; they are the best link to your past and the
people most likely to stick with you in the future.
Understand that friends come and go,but for the precious few you
should hold on. Work hard to bridge the gaps in geography and
lifestyle because the older you get, the more you need the people you
knew when you were young.
Live in New York City once, but leave before it makes you hard;
live in Northern California once, but leave before it makes you soft.
Travel.
Accept certain inalienable truths, prices will rise, politicians will
philander, you too will get old, and when you do you’ll fantasize
that when you were young prices were reasonable, politicians were
noble and children respected their elders.
Respect your elders.
Don’t expect anyone else to support you. Maybe you have a trust fund,
maybe you have a wealthy spouse; but you never know when either one
might run out.
Don’t mess too much with your hair, or by the time you're 40, it will
look 85.
Be careful whose advice you buy, but, be patient with those who
supply it.
Advice is a form of nostalgia, dispensing it is a way of
fishing the past from the disposa