Sam’s Photo Blog

The past week I was in China and I had some opportunity to visit a local market.

A barber shop at a street corner. I asked a co-worker to get a haircut together but he refused.

Fruit stands selling lychee in drive-through style. Man-powered taxis passing by each other.

Construction cranes at the outskirts of the ever-expanding cities.

I have been interested to learn about the different perspectives of the media between the East and the West. The West has been unrelenting in pointing out the flaws and shortcoming of China, which is growing at an incredible rate. There has been a lot of public attention toward sub-standard products, the pollution to the environment, and the human rights issues.

On the other hand, the people in China seem indifferent to government policies or actions as long as it brings about continual prosperity. There is also a hope that the upcoming Olympic will fix many things and China will be able to demonstrate its powers to the world.

With the large population, it is perhaps necessary for the government to exercise higher control to regulate the flow of the people. This control extends over to the tightly controlled media channels and internet censorship. The news networks and propaganda are filled with motivating idioms, stories, and statistics regarding increased levels of production at all levels.

No doubt the government has been putting a lot of resources into improving the infrastructure and road networks. One advantage is that China has access to technologies and experiences learned from developed countries. However, corruption and cutting corners are big concerns for the safety and reliability of these buildings. Time will tell.

The high population density and small living quarters have a large impact on the lifestyle on the local population.

The people are very intense and rushed. In office buildings as the elevator door is opening, someone would be jamming on the close button… During line-ups they always think the one next to them is moving faster and can’t seem to settle into any particular line.

The people place a lot of emphasis on expressing their individuality through their accessories such as cell phones, PSP, NDS, and….hair. There are stores dedicated to selling cell phone cases, straps (cartoon character, flashing lights….), NDS pens, and stickers. The convenience of the SIM card allow them to swap to the newest cell phone models consistently.

There is definitely a high Japanese influence in Hong Kong, most people my age have dyed their hair and the guys seem to like hairstyles that resemble a bird’s nest (just in time for the Olympic s!). For the more affluent, car modifications range from turbochargers, huge spoilers, tinted windows, and big mufflers…

Or curtains, action figures on dashboards, baby-on-board and Hello Kitty stickers.

It is very funny to read the writing on the shirts, often worn by unsuspecting wearers that bought the shirts at a bargain deal. Many have either really bad grammar or really strong sexual connotations. Below is an example from the MTR (subway).

Hong Kong is an endless bombardment of advertisements. They have even installed TVs in the buses to promote the “Mega Dance” weight loss program as well as skin whitening products. In order to drown out the background noise, the people like to talk very loud and in gruesome, exquisite details on the bus and in the MTR.

Some of the stories include:
- a man who works at the mahjong parlor and pays his second wife in China $6,000/month, who spends it on mahjong…
- a girl breaking up with her all-too-dependent boyfriend over the phone
- a pair of Pilipino guys flirting with two Pilipino girls sitting beside me (thinking nobody would understand their English)…
- a restaurant owner who eats at her competitor’s place everyday and calls her store to report the number of beef balls in the bowl of noodle today

The other passengers have evolved to ignore all these incidents by focusing on instant messaging, playing on NDS/PSP, or hum softly. Such is the life in a very crowded city full of different individuals.

As a very small country measuring 42 by 23 km in size, high ranking Singapore government officials are better paid than president of the USA. Its government has very high decision making power but does not abuse the power, the corruption rate is one of the world’s lowest.

Their subway, known as the MRT, is extremely well planned out and thus owning a car is not necessary. The public washrooms are extremely clean, though there is a fee of 10cents and I wonder if they lose money hiring someone to collect the fees.

I had the chance to meet Frank and Luke, fellow Pentaxians I met online. They were very kind and showed me the local Singaporean lifestyle and sights which added so much more to the overall trip. Frank decided to shoot film for the day, it was interesting to hear him worry about running out of film. :D

This is Sentosa, a resort island connected to Singapore, containing many of the key tourist attractions. Shuttle buses provide the connections between the different attractions on the island.

Underwater World, visitors can walk through an underwater tunnel.

Apparently built-in cellphone cameras are not replacing the digital point & shoot cameras, though I doubt it is any use inside an aquarium.

Next up was the Dolphin Lagoon show. The late comers sat in the sandy area in front of the chairs but some of them would not sit down and was quite annoying and unfair to the others.

I wonder how much power they can output in order to leap out of the water.

Outdoor Jazz performance, food, sunset. Not bad.

The Jurong Bird Park. The tropical climate allow them to house a wide variety of species.

But by far the best thing in Singapore are the people. The crime-rate is very low so the people are warmer toward each other and it is a joy just to walk around the street and see the different cultures and colorful shops.

Probably due to the diverse mix of people in Singapore the people are very accepting toward other ethic groups and English can be understood everywhere.

Their smiles are so beautiful and so genuine. They don’t seem very rushed and would usually strike up short conversations.

Overall it was a fanastic trip and I met a lot of cool people along the way!

Hope you have a wonderful day! We will go for cake when I get back :)

Btw, Chewie says happy birthday too.