Monthly Archive for January, 2008
Two glasses of red wine
I either have too much time, or my priorities are a bit messed up. The fact I’m doing this at 1+am in the morning, a Tuesday morning mind you, is probably a sign of the latter. I feel I have OCD sometimes, and it’s in moments like these (I sing out a song…) that I really think I am more anal than anyone I know (and that’s pretty anal).
Pan-seared duck foie gras with roasted Granny Smith apple mille-feuille crusted with walnuts, fig compote and spiced
glaze of port wine and balsamico
Anyway I could not resist but do the text on these photos. I’m not sure if they look cheesy or tacky, but looking at them again it does come across as somewhat cheap restaurant-y. The sort of design that you’d find in some second rate hotel in the middle of Yorkshire perhaps with undoubtedly good food but a menu designer who grew up in the 1980s during a time when ‘avant garde’ was all the rage. Having said that, I did grow up in the 80s, and I don’t really design food menus or brochures. So if it looks somewhat suspect, forgiveness please. Then again, maybe it’s just that food with any text is bound to look, common, like a menu. And I suppose that is why fine dining restaurants don’t have pictures, otherwise it just looks like Cafe Cartel.
Nevertheless, I ought to say that these food photos are from the restaurant ‘Sage’, or otherwise known as ‘Sage, the restaurant’ (just in case you couldn’t tell), taken there by the special one (not Jose) on the special day. If there’s one thing that I must say without a doubt, it’s that the foie gras was absolutely exquisite. I have never tasted anything better.
The wonderful thing about Sage is that nothing is put on the plate purely out of design. Every piece has a function in your epicurean journey. That’s what really impressed me. Usually when you receive a dish that has a few things sprinkled here and a few items placed there, you tend to pick at the various items individually, and even cumulatively they fail to impact the taste buds on that tongue of yours. Yet the food here demands to be eaten together, and does it work? More than you can imagine. That is why the foie gras worked so well; it wasn’t just foie gras, but sauce and condiments that worked to a better end and complemented so well. The same for the smoked duck (below) and the beef (not present as it looked like a lump of something).
Do check it out. It’s at Robertson Quay.
http://www.sagerestaurants.com.sg/index.php
Applewood smoked magret of duck with savoy cabbage
braised with bacon, salad of slow roasted red beets
and foie gras sauce
(If you’re wondering, yes, the duck was rather bloody…)
I shall now contradict myself. I couldn’t wait to get round to looking at Tokyo Disneyland photos. I was a rather reluctant soul travelling to this commercial monstrosity, and yet what began as a cynical journey ended in a harmonious, melodious, joyful experience that brought me back to my youth. And the colours, oh the colours! Who would’ve thought cynicism could be blown away, not by a surprise, but by merely being satisfied with what one expected and suddenly realising that expectations met, are a joy that dreams are truly made of.
Digging for something
We had a Christmas carnival (on Christmas day) so of course this just meant having the opportunity to take cute pictures of kids doing the darndest things. Officially, though, it’s to document the life of the Church, so just for the record…!
Since I was talking about black and white photos previously, I just sort of realised why portrait photography is in black and white. At least, it seems to be the case in the many portrait shoots I have seen from professional photographers. I suppose, and this is my main conclusion, that it is done this way to remove the many distractions (namely colour) that interfere with an image that is not meant to portray colour, but instead, a face. And, pun aside, how else would want to see someone but in black and white, with no inbetweens. (And yes, I do realise there are lots of ‘grey areas’ but let’s not pick over the big black holes in my allegory)
Anyway, my point is, while all these childrens’ photos are so colourful, they somehow just looked better in black and white. Their expressions are more, for want of a better word, vivid, in monotone. If only life became sharper and clearer in black and white. Or rather. If only life were black and white.
In awe (of balloon)
Too loud!
Contented with simplicity
I love my balloon (I realise it’s out of focus which I hate myself for but it’s such a gorgeous pose!)
It’s too complicated
Broken hearted
60 year old man on skates in Shibuya
I must admit, at the risk of sounding rather trite, that coming back to the Japan photos is rather tiresome. I suppose as with all things new, after awhile, they become old, and I’ve really looked through these pictures a fair bit now. Which is why I decided to post up some black and whites. I decided, in rather cliched fashion, to call this series ‘tokyomonotone’, only because, well, ‘Tokyo B&W’ perhaps wouldn’t have looked so snazzy. And hey, branding something is always nice. I guess it could pass off as some fashion boutique selling… black and white clothes. Or maybe a design company that specialised in black and white design, and trust me, there’s a lot of outlets out there for monotone design, so if anything, monotone is not to be underrated.
The funny thing about monotone photography is that actually, I think it’s harder than colour photography. Moreso because of the importance of contrast, as opposed to colour. I suppose it’s rather similar to the difference between landscape and portrait photography. Personally, I find landscape photography relatively easier than portrait, only because when it comes to landscape photography, God does all the work - you just make sure you’re there, whereas for portraits, you really have to use your own skill and sense of angle to capture what is aesthetically pleasing. Similarly, with colour photography, colours are there, they just are. But monotone photography requires much more attention to light, or its lack thereof. The one thing monotone photography does do well is make blur shots look rather nice. It brings out the contrast, which is why you’ll find that most of my monotone shots are ones that were more or less ‘accidental’. Working on it!
Crossing the great Shinjuku crossing
I suppose the ironic thing about making Tokyo city shots monotone is that Tokyo is anything but a black and white city. Everything is a colour, exciting, glowing, neon. And if it’s not glaring at you, it’s subtly lighted, the small bar or the exquisite sushi bar, with their warm glowing colours.
I have no idea what you’d be ‘playing’ with
Regardless. I suppose after all this silly rambling about monotone photography, it’s really a ruse at wishing I was one of those suave individuals with an old leica film camera, with some black and white film in it. It does evoke those rather 70s images, does it not.
Tokyo Timetable
Christmas brought many things. Renewed hope in life, and a PSP.
To be objective about a PSP is sort of like being objective about your family. No one can touch it, no one should bad mouth it, and no one experiences it (in the many hours) that you do.
Nevertheless unfortunately for everyone else, there is a certain amount of ranting that henceforth erupts after PSP button pressing.
For starters, it is a beautiful machine. However, rather like the phones of today, encasing it in a protective case can sometimes mar the beauty that lies within, but is a necessary precaution. Secondly, the memory stick is a truly wonderful device that allows videos, music and, for some horrible, corrupt, valueless pirates, games to be launched from it. For your reference, you can put about seven or eight pirated games on a 4GB memory stick depending on their size, but that is purely from what I have read that those incorrigible individuals with no respect for the multi billion dollar gaming industry and are not willing to pay S$80 for a game do.
Complaints? Well, my neck hurts after staring at it in the MRT, but that’s really only when I travel from Buona Vista to Pasir Ris (which is actually far too often). My other complaint is that it takes up too much of my time. And friends become anti social around it (and as evidence of the power of the PSP that applies only to girls, not even guys). But hey, those are minor things when you think about the worlds and lands you can explore in that tiny little device. Long live seclusion, overgrown boys, toys and no social life.
Thanks to thee who endowed me with such great power in my hands.
2007 went a little like this:
London, Barcelona, London…
Sigh in Singapore
What the.
Wow.
Work work work, numbers, numbers, numbers.
Stupid people.
More work. Credit, credit, credit..
Wedding, wedding.
Wedding, wedding.
Youth.
Penang. Penang.
Taipei, Japan.
Christmas.
More sighing.
PSP!
Do you want more…
And 2008 has gone a little like this…
…responsibility?
Happy New Year everyone (and Merry Christmas while I’m at it)
You and I said
theroo, happyjz
theroo, jb, theroo, bao, jo
theroo, happyjz, theroo, happyjz, theroo, jo
theroo, , , theroo, giraffe
jo
theroo, Ber, Ber