Most Memorable day in a year

My most memorable day would be the 3rd of November 2012.

It all started out with a few phone calls between my friends and I, asking one another if we are interested to join the Canon Photomarathon at Marina Bay Sands. We are all photography hobbyist and have yet to take part in a big event like this, so we decided to join for fun and get experience.

3rd November, a Saturday. Woke up very early at around 5.30am as we have to register at the venue from 7am onwards. The tiring and anxious feeling does feel weird and I couldn't set my mind straight. Taking the mrt to bayfront mrt station was an hours trip from my place. Upon reaching there I saw many Professionals photographers lugging their big and expensive equipment. For the start I do get intimidated. 

After registering, we went to change into the event's tshirt. 9am, they announce the first theme of the competition, "Wonder". I was completely lost for the start because "Wonder" can be interpreted in many ways but I have to make a better interpretation. So I knew what I need in my photo and I went to hunt for my subject, followed by both of my friends. 

We went back for our 2nd theme, "Harmony". First thing that came to my mind, Cultural racial harmony. But I know many people was gonna target that idea so I dropped it. Instead I wanted to try something fun, I went to buy a pack of m&m chocolates. The photo didn't turn out to be what I wanted. But the clock is ticking and we have to get back, so upon tapping out from the mrt gantry, I saw my friend's tripod bag which gave me an idea straight away. I borrow my friend's macro lens and the tripod bag. Shot outside the MBS walkway and I decided to chose that picture for submission.

For the last theme, "Pleasure". What's there to be pleasures about when we're all tired and half dead from the past two themes. My mind couldn't function properly and I just randomly used my friend as the subject and shot the photo. 

I remember telling Chermaine when we were sitting down at the waiting area while waiting for the results. I said "it's ok la I don't want to go Hungary (the best of show will be able to go to Hungary for a phototrip) if I can win a normal prize I'm more than happy.

So the moment comes when the emcee starts to release the results theme by theme, one by one. As he announce the first theme, "wonder" I saw the photos taken by other participants and its all nicely taken! My confidence level instantly fell to the ground and lost all hopes in myself. As the 2nd theme results were being announce, the emcee said slowly word by word, "ok... For this student category theme 2 harmony, 2nd prize... from the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts... (That point of time, my heart stopped and in my mind was like who else from Nafa joined and I didn't know?) JERRER LEE! The moment I heard my name, I stunt for 3 seconds and told my friend, "Oh my god! It's me!! It's me!" I jumped for joy and ran up the stage to collect my prize. I was super shock and nothing could express how I felt at the point of time. When I went back to my seat with my friends, they congratulate me and said I did a great job and I deserve it. I told Chermaine, "it's ok this is good enough, I don't want the Hungary trip prize already". 

So I calm myself down and wait for the release of the best of show results, where they announce the student category first. "The best of show student category for the 10th canon Photomarathon goes to....... JE...R...RER ....LE..E! Chermaine and Chee Kin went wild, they started congratulate me and I went numb. I went up the stage to collect my prize again. When I met them again back downstairs again, Chermaine said "omg Jerrer you're going to Hungary!! Omg omg la!" 

Honestly speaking, for the past 21years in my life, I have never received such a surprise and shock in my life that could make my heart stop for that few seconds. The feeling is unexplainable and indeed is the feeling of accomplishment. Big thank you to Chermaine and Cheekin for taking part with me :)

Cartoon in Real Life

Pokemon in real life

I believe almost every kid born in the 90s will know about this cartoon and we would have imagine what if Pokemon are part of our daily life, will it be fun or catastrophic?

One morning, I woke up with a "pokeball" on my bedside table. As curious as I thought, I picked up the pokeball and wonder what is this sci-fi looking tennis ball doing in my room. To my curiosity what this little ball can do, I throw it on the wall and a beam of light flashes the room and a little cat-looking creature stood in front of me. 

This little creature neither bark nor purr, instead it let out a squeaky voice "Pikachu", it looks too cute to be true. As I gaze and stare at it, I heard screams outside the house and I saw people running so fast as though they're running for their lives. I wonders what a normal day could turn into a full of surprise. A amber-skinned looking lizard with gigantic wings which looks more like a dragon was seen flying in the sky gushing fireball out of his mouth. 

This day has really gone wild with weird creatures in our lives. A few months later, we start to adapt to our lives living with this "pets". Instead of harming us, they could actually help us in our daily lives. 

For example, my cat-looking creature which i named it "Pikachu", its an electric type creature, it could discharge electricity from its little body and help to generate electricity for our home. My neighbor's pet is a gigantic bird which could fetch him from place to place in the air. 

So if these pokemon were part of our daily lives, it could be of a useful thing I suppose?

The Story behind every face.

The Story behind every face - Uncle from Chinese Opera

I was helping my friends out for their FYP Documentary and we got to interview this Uncle who does Chinese Opera.

He shared his stories with us and his perception towards Chinese Opera in the current society. Even though he was speaking in Hokkien, (which I could understand a little) I could feel his passion towards Opera. He was pleading to us that hopefully we could help spread a message that the Government would lightened the restriction and allow them to perform in public places to pass down the Chinese Opera to the younger generations. 

As we were interviewing him, I looked at the wrinkles on his face and he reminded me of my late Grandfather. My grandfather was someone I looked up to, he took care of me ever since I was a kid. The uncle said he practiced Chinese Opera since young, he said "Chinese Opera is not something that everyone can learnt, you had to have passion for it and is interested to learn." He told us, back in the days when he was young, he practiced Chinese Opera from day to night. Its very sad to know that the art of Chinese Opera isn't passed down to the younger generations. 

Character write up - Katniss Everdeen

Katniss Everdeen

Katniss Everdeen was born on the 8th of May in District 12. In the story, she is 16 years old prior to the 74th Hunger Games, she is 5'7" tall.

Katniss was close to her father and spent time hunting with him in the woods, he taught her about hunting, nature and how to use a bow and arrow. Her father also taught her to swim in a pond deep in the outlying woods. When she was 11 years old, her father died in an explosion underground in the mines where he worked, leaving her to take care of her mother and sister. 

In order to protect her mother and sister, she volunteered to take her sister's place in the 74th Hunger Games. She found out that the other tribute from her district was Peeta Mellark, the boy who had saved her family from starvation during her mother's depression by sneaking her some bread from his family's bakery shop.

Katniss's has a mother and sister, her only next of kin apart from her late father. As they are her only two family members, Katniss takes good care of them and treasure them a lot and that explains why she volunteered to take her sister's place in the Hunger Games instead.

The antagonist of the story have to be the people of the Capitol and the rich people from other districts. The district gave a small amount of money to Katniss' family to allow them to grieve for a month before her mother was expected to get a job. If her mother did not get a job, which she will be deemed as an unfit mother, the district will then send her mother and her sister to the community home. 

A story behind this song -

Turbulence - Bowling for Soup

The introduction of the songs starts off with a plucking of the guitar strings, that caught my attention and makes me eager to listen to the rest of the song. 

2 years ago, the very first time I heard this song on the radio and until today I can still remember the lyrics of the song, it motivated me through many tough obstacles and I persevered.

The lyrics of this song clearly explains my thoughts and the situation I had in the past.

"Its so hard to figure out, which way to turn. There's no going back now, all your bridges burned"
this is the first verse of the song, it explains the thoughts I had where I can't find a right direction of life and I've been thinking too much about the past which caused me to be unsure of my directions in life.

"Storm clouds all around you, but a blue skies on the way."
This is the pre-chorus of the song, which is also a very motivation phrase to me personally.
I constantly remind myself with this phrase whenever I met with a bad situation. "Things may be bad now, but eventually it will clear up and resolve."

"And we're all just passengers tonight, and we're all just traveling through our lives. We will reach our destination, so just hang on for the ride. Say a prayer and close your eyes, it's just a little turbulence."
We are all traveling on a very long journey, a journey of lives where we are all passengers. But every journey comes a point where its our destination which is our goal. So say a prayers and hang on, its just a little turbulence which affects our mind a little.

Last but not least.
"Take a look around you, look how far you've come. Your whole life in front of you, you've only just begun. We've all got our problems, but they're just bumps in the road. If you only keep on fighting, there's no where you can't go."
This second verse really keeps me going on and tells me not to give up. Every journey, be it our lives or a bus ride, there's always bumps and unstable roads, but if our minds are strong like the engine of the car, we can definitely over come the humps and slopes of live.

My Childhood Memories: 童年

At the age of 4,  I lived with my grandparents and my elder brother at a 3-room HDB flat in Hougang. Hougang, to many people it may seem like a placed filled with elderly people, that may not be the case to me. My elder brother and I loved Hougang for one special reason, Digimon Cards. Every kid has their childhood favourite cartoon character, Digimon is our favourite. 

My elder brother and I have been collecting digimon cards for many years and we has got a similar goal which is to get the ultra rare digimon cards. 20cents for a digimon card may take us into consideration as we were still a kid. Nevertheless, that didn't stop us from our goal.

But, there is a problem with my elder brother. Even though we both loves digimon cards, he wouldn't share his cards with me and the fact that he's able to afford them as compared to me. That affects our relationship as siblings, but that didn't stop me from my goal. 

One day, I felt desperate and decided to steal some money from my grandma's wallet. While my grandma's in the toilet, I quickly took the chance to steal some coins from her wallet so I could buy more digimon cards. If grandma finds out, I will be caned and all my digimon cards will be gone. As soon as my grandma came out, I already have a 20cents coin in my pocket. 

The next morning, my grandparents brought me to the market. I quickly ran to the trading card machines and tried my luck. With my one and only 20cents coin, I prayed. As I dropped the coin into the machines and twist the handles, I prayed and wish that all the efforts would pay off. 

I opened my eyes, hmmm something shiny, something glossy and hard. OH MY, I GOT AN ULTRA RARE DIGIMON CARD!! I jumped for joy, got so happy that I ran around the playground to show off my achievement. 

When I got home, I lied on the sofa smiling and staring at the card. But to prevent my elder brother from finding it, I decided to keep it in a secret box. 

The next morning, I opened my box to find my rare digimon card only to realised that it went missing. I look through the entire wardrobe and all around the house, I asked my grandparents if they saw my digimon card or if they took it, but there was no luck. I kneeled down on the ground and make a fuss, cried and screamed to the thought of going through all that difficult obstacles to get the 20cents from my grandma's wallet and the luck to get the ultra rare card. There  my brother lying on the sofa watching the television, smiling to himself with a ultra rare digimon card sticking out of his pocket.