Officially Beginning:
So in about 4 hours,9 members of my family arrive here in Singapore (right now they are in the midst of their 20th travel hour from California!), Felicia and I are rather excited and the wedding events, family dinners, tourism and all the other associated craziness is about to commence! Even Pikachu is ready!
Small Steps:
The Perfect Assistant
Above is exactly what I wrote on the back of the business card today when I saw National Geographic Photographer, Steve McCurry for the second time, this time at an event for the Straits Times journalist staff that my dear, soon-to-be-wife, snuck me into. He was speaking about going boldly and taking chances in life to get what you want in life, so I did exactly that. He laughed at what I wrote and asked if I never get sick either, to which I replied “..of course not.”
I am sure a photographer of his stature has plenty of assistants to choose from, but I still feel pretty good that I had the confidence to offer my services to him. Who knows if I will ever get a call, but at least the chance now exists.
Scariness and Glory:
The last two days have been insanely busy, and with only 12 days to go before the wedding we don’t really foresee any changes in our hectic schedule.
First came Saturday, our “Gift Day” which started off like Christmas if you were in love with fruits, veggies, jewelry and money. We stepped out of our room while Felicia’s mom covered our bed in good luck tokens, like oranges for prosperity, Pomegranates for lots of children (they have lots of seeds), evergreen pine so we can be ever loving to each other, and sweet bamboo so we can stay sweet to each other through the years, and a paper wishing us a 100 sons and 1000 descendants (I guess this is good luck, but it sounds like an awful lot of work to me…). Felicia also received her inheritance in jewelry and some money for bedding & sheets for the new home, given from mother to daughter. I was given money for pants and a new wallet (so I would have something to keep my lifetime of wealth in), and I also handed Felicia’s mother a red packet full of money to thank her for raising her daughter for me.
After the gift giving formalities, we headed out to hand deliver out wedding invites and small cakes to all the members of Felicia’s extended family. I really enjoyed the idea of actually handing your invites to people in person, but I will say all that driving and visiting can be tiring. The first stop we hit was Grandma and Grandpa’s (Mama and Yeye), and they spoiled us with a gigantic lunch which left me ready for a nap that I would never get. The afternoon flew by and before we knew it we were back at home working on our neverending list of wedding stuff.
Then came Sunday. My photography mastersclass with Steve McCurry was today, which was a extemely interesting slideshow/talk for the first half (it was 3 hours long), then he sent us outside to shoot for about 20 minutes, then we were supposed to come back in and get our pictures we shot review on the LCD screens of our camera for about 1 minute each. I was in “Group 2″ (of 2) which meant we had a little longer to shoot before getting reviewed, but being hot outside I ended up coming in and watching the Group 1 reviews. After a few minutes I noticed he was correcting on things like image sharpness, shutter speed, ISO and aperture (all things I feel VERY comfortable with), I was really hoping for a little artisitic critisism, his ideas about use of color and such.
When Group 1 was done I positioned myself to be first in line of Group 2 to be reviewed, and as soon as I sat down next to him I asked if it was alright if I showed my portfolio instead of just images on the back of my camera. He responded with a “Yes, please.”
I whipped out my 20 image, 8″ x 12″, spiral bound, black mounted portfolio of all my favorite travel images from the last three years and dropped it in this legendary photographers lap. My heart was beating fast and hoping I don’t look like a fool (professional portfolio reviews sometime will easily cost hundreds of dollars)….
We proceeded to sit there for the next 15-20 minutes, with the class moving in closer and closer to see my pictures, while he looked at all my images and commented on what he like and what worked. I was beaming with pride when I realized that he was actually enjoying looking at my pictures and was dumbfounded when he asked “Who do you shoot for? Are you making a living doing this yet?”
I responded that I was making a modest living that let me keep travelling and he confirmed that I was moving in the right direction to being a full time professional travel photographer… I couldn’t have asked for anything more to boost my spirits.
A Really Cool Bike:
So between massive amounts of wedding planning and crafting from my lonely tower which Felicia keeps me locked in, I was able to make a short trip into town to enter two of my photos into “The Unguarded Moment” photo contest that is running this week in Singapore at the Asian Civilizations Museum.
It is judged by National Geographic photographer Steve McCurry, who is also teaching a 3 hour mastersclass which I signed up for on Sunday. It cost me $200, but Epson is also sponsoring the event and is throwing in a brand new printer for that price, so I can’t really complain.
Anyways, things are going great here, only two more weeks until I am a married man!
Yes, I am “Researching”:
Felicia and I set out last night on research for our post-wedding night shindig. I love it when “research” involves a beautiful woman, drinks and some fun music.
A whole week!:
I can’t believe a whole week passed without me blogging, we’ve been so busy with all sorts of wedding tasks and activities that it just flew by.
I did manage to meet up with blog fan/fellow travel photo-blogger, T-roy. We ate lunch, talked cameras, and did an exceptional amount of walking while I (as his tour guide) proceeded to get us sorta lost. We ended up in front of Raffles hotel, home of the Singapore Sling, and decided to have a few of these refreshing beverages.
All in all, I have been doing well for the last week. Although I must admit, this heat wave the country is having right now is taking a severe toll on my productivity. So many days I just want to lay there and do nothing with a fan blowing on me…
Singapore Likes To Build:
Felicia headed off for the evening on some sort of lady-ish wedding-shower-thingy with a few friends and left me to fend for myself. Essentially I just took a nice long evening wander of some of the Singapore tourist attractions and took lots of long exposures. Quite fun.
Oh, and FYI the three giant buildings are part of the Las Vegas Sands company, and they will be Singapore’s first legal gambling. (I can’t wait!)
Busy, Busy:
Felicia and I are in semi-frantic, must-accomplish wedding mode right now. There is amazing amounts of things to think about that I never would have thought about. Anyways the days are flying by too quickly, only a month and some odd days until the big day!
If you are interested in the details, be sure to check out www.RobandFelicia.com
Before Being 30:
May 27th is the day before my birthday (30 this year), but it is also Arthur’s birthday. So the family of Wongs and their “Ang mo” (white man) headed out for a family celebration of him turning 56. We headed to one of his favorite places to eat, the Turtle House, where they serve their namesake. For dinner I enjoyed a variety of turtle based dishes (all farm raised) and some tasty frog legs. Much to my American friend’s delicate stomachs’ dismay, it was all quite tasty.
After dinner came something new for me, the family headed out to pick out some durians. Durian is an exceptionally foul smelling fruit, with an odor somewhere between molding bleu cheese and sweaty gym socks, but it is supposedly delicious after you get over the funky smell. Picking which fruit to buy is half the battle, and Felicia and her brother (Nick) rave about their mom’s ability at finding the right one. It is something of a Singaporean national pastime to select and enjoy this fruit, there are giant stands selling it all over the city. There are also laws that forbid you from bringing it on buses and trains because of the awful smell.
After a quick primer course in what to smell for in the selection process, I proceeded to stand there and smell a number of the fruits, much to the humor of the durian vendor (funny because I was white, not because I was smelling them). We bought about 1/2 a dozen of the fruit including one I picked, which was subsequently approved by Christina. Felicia and Nick were surprised that I could choose a good one on my first attempt.
After that we all piled back in the now foul smelling car and headed home to see how our picks rate. We made it home, spread some newspaper on the floor and I was taught how to crack these guys open (it involves a giant cleaver and lots of leverage). After a little work I was able to get one open and get a taste. The verdict: it has a very pungent and robust taste that is multi-leveled like a good cheese or fine wine, definitely something you can become a connoisseur in.
By the way, any of you out there coming to Singapore for my wedding next month that want to try this, let me know and I will arrange it.
Back by Her Side:
Barely coming off the jetlag and I find out this week is “Duan Wu Jie” Festival (or Dumpling Festival, or Dragon Boat Festival), in real world terms to me that means Felicia’s Mom wanted to know if I wanted to spend the day making dumplings to give out to everyones friends. Of course I said “Yes.”, for the sheer fun of cooking stuff and for the chance to get a day away from wedding planning *smirk*.
Felicia’s Mom and best friend, Bee Ping, laid out an assortment of fillings while I went outside to light the stove with my “Cock Brand Fire Starter“, when we were all set we grabbed our leaves and started stuffing and tying. Fold, stuff, tie, then mine falls apart. Fold, stuff, tie, then mine falls apart again. Even Arthur (Felicia’s Dad) got in on the festive fun. I notice Felicia is having a similar difficult time, along with her mother and Bee Ping who have only done this a couple of times themselves in the past. After a few more tries we decide to call up Felicia’s grandmother who has been making dumplings since she was 18 (61 years ago). Grandma starts to give advice but finally gives up and has Felicia and I come pick her up to come help.
We rushed off on a cross-country trip (Singapore is REALLY small) to pick up our dumpling savior and Grandpa who comes along because he is inseparable from his wife.
Mama quickly showed us how it was done, though even with her instruction I still lacked the finger dexterity to do it right. Eventually I was able to tie one so it didn’t fall apart but Mama just laughed and called it “Ang moh zhong.” (white man’s dumpling). I gave up and left the pros to teach Felicia how to do it, so she could make me dumplings the rest of my life.
We did eat these tasty dumplings a bit later, but unfortunately I forgot to take pictures then…
