Old is gold

Old is gold, originally uploaded by G2clicks.

I was reading this article while working from Starbucks in this mall in KL (http://www.digital-photography-school.com/travel-photography-subjects-architecture) and clicked on a related article which happened to be this (http://www.digital-photography-school.com/travel-photography-subjects-old-people).

A really weird co-incidence happened. This old lady was sitting on the next table at this Starbucks waiting for her grand-daughter. She started talking to me after I finished reading the line in the article that said "In the comment area below I encourage you to post a photo you’ve taken while traveling of someone old"

I started talking to her, had a nice conversation in her broken english and sign language and here is the picture.

Isn't it crazy?

Welcome!

Welcome!, originally uploaded by G2clicks.

Restaurants in Singapore (and I have seen this in Malaysia too) put a fat guy holding a menu or pointing to the restaurant menu.

This small restaurant in Little India in Singapore had a very interesting 'fat guy' figure. The guy was dressed like an old Indian man. He even had a 'dhoti' on. The wall behind has feedback from customers.

The place had 'awesome' written all over it but I had no time to sit and eat. I clicked this & walked away.

Awesome twins

Awesome twins, originally uploaded by G2clicks.

I clicked two separate photos of the 2 medals and collaged them in Picasa. These are the medals I got from the blood bank for my 5th & the 10th donation.

The 5th donation medal looks nicer in my opinion. They are the same size but one looks bigger because of how close I got while taking the photo.

Got yours? :P

Go G2!!!

Go G2!!!, originally uploaded by G2clicks.

Someone once told me "blood donation is the easiest way to help the community". I have tried to remember that and have tried donating blood as often as I can.

Last month, I reached my 10th donation in Singapore this year and the blood bank sent a text saying I need to come down and collect medals. I was so excited and went to collect em today. The staff took this photo for me.

I am going next week for my next round of donation but couldn't wait for another week to collect this. After almost a year of doing this I think I can safely say "blood donation is the easiest way to help the community".

Beware Car

Beware Car, originally uploaded by G2clicks.

Beware of car. It bites. You trouble in. Welcome Thailand to.

(For those of you who did not understand the description, the photo was taken in Thailand)

Not everybody's life is all song & dance

Not everybody's life is all song & dance, originally uploaded by G2clicks.

This picture was taken from a bus. It was a rainy day and the construction workers were heading back to their homes.

These trucks that carry them do not usually have roofs so on a sunny day you see them sweating. Today I saw them trying to protect themselves from the pouring rain.

There are a lot of construction workers in Singapore who come from China, Bangladesh and my home India.

Almost Natural

Almost Natural, originally uploaded by G2clicks.

You know why I called it almost natural. Right? The waterfall is natural because it was rain water running down these steps.
The 'almost' is because I was near a concrete building and not in some hill.

Today was an interesting evening with rains and me getting on the wrong bus and ending up at this place.

Danger! Danger!

Danger! Danger!, originally uploaded by G2clicks.

Saying it once isn't enough because the human mind goes into a state of shock when you say 'Danger'. Your whole life flashes in front of you and you start thinking about life instead of trying to save yours.

In Thailand, they warn you twice so at first you are worried and go into a state of shock and next to bring you out of it.

Sorry for 'your' inconvenience

Sorry for 'your' inconvenience, originally uploaded by G2clicks.

At gate 1 & 2 the inconvenience was all mine but at gate 3, the inconvenience was all yours.

Which is why I am "sorry for your inconvenience".

This was clicked at a construction site near my hotel in Thailand.

Caution a pit!

Caution a pit!, originally uploaded by G2clicks.

Thailand has some really funny signs. Take this one for example.

Who do you warn / caution about pits at construction site? In Thailand, you caution 'a pit' in such a case

Ronald 'Thai' Donald

Ronald 'Thai' Donald, originally uploaded by G2clicks.

Everyone knows Ronald McDonald. Everyone also knows that Thailand is a land of smiles and are famous for the respect they have for their guests.

McDonald's outlets in Thailand have Ronald McDonald standing with his hands folded and smiling representing the local culture.

I love how McDonald's customizes everything per the local culture. I love the menu they have in McDonald's in India. This is how they make the profits they make.

It was probably me ;-)

It was probably me ;-), originally uploaded by G2clicks.

In Thailand, there is a war cemetery of soldiers from the European side in the colonial side when Japan was trying to capture more and more territories in Asia.

Me & my friend decided to find soldiers who were born on the same day as us. My friend found his August 4 buddies very easily.

It took me some time but I managed to finally locate a September 23 soldier. His name started with a 'J' too.

Lazy? You must be crazy!!!

Lazy? You must be crazy!!!, originally uploaded by G2clicks.

I love these huge birds. Some of them can not fly but are still part of the bird family. Their bodies are too heavy for them to fly.

These big birds exude calm and grace in my opinion. I will try and take more pictures of these birds on my next visit.

This one was taken at the Singapore Zoo earlier this year.

White but not the iPhone

White but not the iPhone, originally uploaded by G2clicks.

All white tigers in the world are of India's Royal Bengal Tiger's descent. White tigers tend to be bigger in size than the usual tiger & fyi the white tiger is not an albino version of the normal tiger.

I captured this one when I went hunting. Naah...I am kidding...this one was at the Singapore Zoo.

Donate Blood!

Donate Blood!, originally uploaded by G2clicks.

Donating blood is safe, healthy and the only way blood banks in your neighborhood can get blood to help patients suffering from Thalassemia, undergoing a surgery for accidents, cancer, etc.

You can donate your platelets once every 4 weeks and whole blood can be donated once every 12 weeks.

I am trying to do it as often as I can and recently met someone who did about 80 donations over 20 years. Now that is some commitment.

Basketball

Basketball, originally uploaded by G2clicks.

This year's NBA season is starting. I don't follow the sport. That's what TV news tells me.

Here is a picture of a local baskeball match I attended earlier this year or sometime last year I think.

It was between Singapore and Indonesia. The Philippinos in the crowd were supporting Singapore because the winner of the match was to host Philippines in a week.

Singapore lost the match and the Philippinos were more disappointed than the Singaporeans in the crowd.

Peacock

Peacock, originally uploaded by G2clicks.

I was planning a trip to Malaysia earlier this afternoon and remembered this photo I clicked on my trip last year.

This beauty was spotted at the KL bird Park and I have a video on my youtube channel of her dancing.

It is true that peacocks dance when it is about to rain because it did rain right after her dance.

Mini Globe Trotters

Mini Globe Trotters, originally uploaded by G2clicks.

I think I took my first ever flight when I was 20.

I bumped into a family from Singapore at Penang Airport.

Their kids looked like expert travelers and had this very cute Barbie backpacks cum trolley bags which they were flaunting with pride.

When did you take your first flight?

Laguna Coupe

Laguna Coupe, originally uploaded by G2clicks.

Just want to let everyone know that the Renault Laguna Coupe is out.

Just experimenting a little with camera features and throwing some photos out.

Disclaimer: No one paid me to put this photo up.

"You don't know who I am?"

"You don't know who I am?, originally uploaded by G2clicks.

Eastern Asia has people following so many different religious traditions. Taoism is one such religion.

I am, in no way, making fun of the religion here but their idols look very different. Look at this one for example which looks like a very normal person.

Pardon my lack of knowledge on the topic and feel free to tell me who this is in the comments section of the blog.

PS: I have added more photos from the same monastery which you can see here or in the slideshow below.

Fish Kiss

Fish Kiss, originally uploaded by G2clicks.

Teenage fish caught kissing. If you are the mother fish, you might want to keep a check on what your fish do after school.

(I love the tiny ripples in this otherwise still water shot.)

I'm lovin' it

I'm lovin' it, originally uploaded by G2clicks.

A photo of this kid enjoying a lollipop on Singapore's national day.

I remember being crazy about chocolates and volunteering to go buy groceries for mom. She would let me keep the spare change which I then used to buy chocolates.

Heart

Heart, originally uploaded by G2clicks.

Am I the only one who sees a heart that the swans' necks made? I have seen better images on the internet but never knew it was going to be very easy to click one for real.

Swans look very pure and lovely & I love going to Singapore Botanical Garden Swan Lake everytime I can.

This was clicked at the President's palace in Singapore.

"Kid: Technology made my life boring."

Kid: Technology made my life boring., originally uploaded by G2clicks.

Wifey: Honey! Please take daughter with you.
Hubby: Cannot lah. I am going photography.
Wifey: TAKE HER OUT WITH YOU.
Hubby: Alright. I will backpack her.

Kids love new stuff but this kid hated the new stroller her parents bought. The stroller had settings to convert it into a backpack to leave the parents' hands free.

I bet one of these days while using this stroller, the kid would pop out and the parent wouldn't notice.

Cycle

Cycle, originally uploaded by G2clicks.

I love Pulau Ubin. It is an island off Singapore where everything is like it was a few decades back.

You can rent bicycles there. Cycling against the wind going downhill is one of the best thrills you can experience.

This is a picture of the cycle I rented while at Pulau earlier this year.

Rambutan - Give me red

Rambutan - Give me red, originally uploaded by G2clicks.

I love rambutan. I don't think I have eating this fruit in India but the lovely Singapore government imports this fruit from Malaysia.

I think this is one thing I will miss when I leave Singapore for good other than the 'lah', 'leh', etc lingo.

I don't know who that is. Do you?

My landlord's daughter is just over 2 years old. Her mum was showing her some old pictures on the laptop when I got home. She loves looking at photos and I see signs of a immense love for computer and images in her.

I was surprised...no wait...shocked when I saw what I saw. The kid was able to recognize every one else in the photo except herself. EXCEPT HERSELF. Shocking right? At what age does the human brain start comparing images that it sees with images / visuals it has seen in the past? I am going to see if I can find that out.

The kid was unable to recognize herself in photos taken at different stages in her life. We showed her photos when she was 3 days old, 1 month old, 3 months old, 6 months old, 12 months old, and recent photos when she was 2 years old. She recognized herself in the most recent photos but in the old photos, she kept referring to herself as 'baby' which is the generic term she uses to talk about kids or other children not herself. Mind you, she did recognize her parents in the old photos but couldn't recognize herself.

The reason, I think, she was able to recognize her parents was because they haven't changed noticeably in the past 2 years while she failed to recognize herself because she has changed soooooo much in the last 2 years. Her brain hasn't developed to see something, identify potential similarity with past visuals (of herself in this case), compare the two and make that logical connection. Right now she can just see things & compare it to, lets call it, recent memory and recent would mean just over 3 months or so I am guessing. I have seen kids recognize themselves in front of a mirror and I have seen this girl recognize herself in front of a  mirror and on a TV screen (when turned off) reflecting her image back as all that is extremely recent memory. Right?

I am going to check with my psychologist friends and see if I can find out more about this. For now, since we are talking about old pictures & since this is a photo blog, here is a photo of me when I think I was 7 or 8 years old. Leave your comments about the article or the photo in comments.

Raging Bull maybe?

Shadows in the world we living on

Shadows in the world we living on, originally uploaded by G2clicks.

When there is no one around to take your photo but you are so attention hungry that you want to be in a photo very badly, take your own photo by standing under the sun with your camera.

This doesn't work very well in the night so please find someone to take your photo and stuff you need thereafter ;-)

Starfish on Starfish

Starfish on Starfish, originally uploaded by G2clicks.

I couldn't resist placing the first starfish on the second.

Art lessons in school is where we would throw one geometric shape on another for the picture to look interesting. This was doing the same thing in real life and not on paper.

Lonely Star I mean Starfish

Lonely Star, originally uploaded by G2clicks.

It was one of those days when the light was perfecto for taking these pictures. I have a couple more awesome starfish photos taken at the same place.

This one also will fit in the "wallpaper extraordinaire" category like the other one.

Main aur Meri Tanhayee

Main aur Meri Tanhayee, originally uploaded by G2clicks.

A scene from one of those 'Main aur Meri Tanhayee' days ;-)

Poor Devdas is sad because Chandramukhi & Paaro refuse to change their relationship status on facebook.

Passion

Passion, originally uploaded by G2clicks.

Sports bring out passion like nothing else.

Take a look at this casket that a Ferrari fan carried to the Sepang GP (2010). He was wearing a matador's outfit and had a hat on that read "Matador Alonso Kills Red Bull".

Sepang is one of the nicest F1 race to attend because of the passion that people bring to the circuit.

Yahooooooooooo!

Yahooooooooooo!, originally uploaded by G2clicks.

Another experiment.

This time it was the Yahoo wire-manager (to manage flow of wires at your office desk) and candles burning in a tiny glass.

Clicked at a fantastic party hosted by Yahoo for my team in Singapore. We love you Yahoo.

Growing up or Growing old?

Growing up or Growing old?, originally uploaded by G2clicks.

A quick photo from my 25th birthday celebration last weekend.

Ooh and also in the photo, The Awesome Cake and some smelly scotch (Chivas Regal or something). The cake was for me and the drinks were for my buddies.

Growing old is mandatory. Growing up isn't! ;-)

Reflections

Reflections, originally uploaded by G2clicks.

There is something about these 'reflection' pictures I love. I love how still water reflects everything back just like a mirror would.

I think I am going to click a lot of photos with such settings so shout out if they get boring and I will avoid posting them. I will still go out and click em though :-)

How to Party err Potty in Indonesia

How to Party err Potty in Indonesia, originally uploaded by G2clicks.

A picture is worth a thousand words and this picture is worth a million mentions because it teaches one how not to party err potty ;-)

Clicked by a friend in a men's wash room in Batam (Indonesia).

Unusually Usual

Unusually Usual, originally uploaded by G2clicks.

This is no flood scene. This is from an island village where houses were built on stilts, the lane to walk was built of wooden planks and there were people actually riding their bikes on it while I was scared the first few meters of my walk with water on both sides.

I celebrated Hari Raya (Id) with a friend's friend and their family in this Indonesian Island village.

A Door Bell but a little different

A Door Bell but a little different, originally uploaded by G2clicks.

I recently visited this island village in Indonesia where life was very different and houses were built on stilts and people were very friendly and everything was very antique of sorts.

This doorbell (not electric if you notice) was fairly loud for its size but I wonder if it is used at all. The doors to many houses were open most of the time. I had a wonderful weekend there.

There but not quite there

There but not quite there, originally uploaded by G2clicks.

I was at the Singapore River near Esplanade and decided to try running in front of the camera and snapping out of the frame at the next moment.

Looks spooky in a nice way or umm nice in a spooky way maybe.

Lantern at the Lantern Festival

Lantern at the Lantern Festival, originally uploaded by G2clicks.

Lantern festival is a very colorful festival where kids walk around with paper lanterns lit with burning candles inside.

The day, where I clicked this photo, was perfect. There was traditional Chinese music in the background, loads of colorful lanterns, people distributing moon cakes and everyone having a good time.

Gateway to Whateverland

Gateway to whateverland, originally uploaded by G2clicks.

You could look at this as a puddle of water or you could look at it as the earth opening up a gate to whaterverland which will let you escape from this world into a world like Terabithia, Narnia, Hogwarts, etc.

Right when I saw this puddle, all I could think of was these movies and the other worlds if there are any.

Upside Down

Upside Down, originally uploaded by G2clicks.

Looking at this egret sitting on that rock was nice and I took some photos zoomed into the bird.

I noticed the water was still and I could capture good reflection photos. Here is the result.

This was taken at the Japanese Garden in Singapore which is a wonderfully peaceful place.

Starfish

Starfish, originally uploaded by G2clicks.

I call this the wallpaper extraordinaire. Look closely. The picture is badly focussed but there is a certain calmness it brings every time I see it.

I think this is my wallpaper at my work and home computer and has made me efficient too. I put very few items on my desktop thanks to this.

Cat napping

Cat napping, originally uploaded by G2clicks.

You think you are the only ones at peace at a place of worship? I was at a monastery and couldn't look away from this cat. Very close to the huge Buddha statue, this cat was at peace.

The photo could have been better but I did not want to get too close & wake her up.

A mummer - the oldest, simplest and the most interesting character ever

A mummer - the oldest, simplest and the most interesting character ever, originally uploaded by G2clicks.

A mummer is one of the oldest entertainers and there is something about a mummer that still catches your attention every time you see one. The little kid has probably never seen one before in her real life as most of her and her friends' life are now spent online.

Do take your kids outdoors every time you get a chance. They will see, hear and learn a lot of new things and experience the outdoors a little more every time.

"Daddy Daddy, I can't see the clown"

"Daddy Daddy, I can't see the clown", originally uploaded by G2clicks.

Look how many father's have their young ones on their shoulders at a street performance. I don't have kids but this love for one's own little version must be a wonderful feeling I am guessing.

Thats a Sale!!! (Unforgettable Signs)

Thats a Sale!!! (Unforgettable Signs), originally uploaded by G2clicks.

Wouldn't you just buy from this store? The sign is so convincing, isn't it? 'Bloody Good Price'

PS: The photo is not clear because I am still learning how to take good photos. This was taken in a night market in Penang, Malaysia and my buddy was asking me to make it quick because we had a cab to catch :)

Bird 'Watching You'

Bird 'Watching You', originally uploaded by G2clicks.

Look at how the pigeon was looking at me when I was taking this. I was a few meters away and clicked this on full zoom. It was a rainy day and the bird was trying to dry up.

Monkey said "I asked for a doctor not a fat photographer"

Monkey said "I asked for a doctor not a fat photographer", originally uploaded by G2clicks.

Nature speaks and this monkey's expressions speak of how very little is done for thir kind. At Bukit Timah Nature Reserve, one of the brochures said that these monkeys are 'permanently' put to sleep if they get aggressive in public places. What a shame!

World of our own

Habits are so hard to change, so difficult to get rid of. They are almost like addiction and when you are asked or forced not to stick to your habit you experience some of the most uncomfortable moments. It is like taking you out of your comfort zone and when you are out of your comfort zone you don't know what to do. It is like being on a new planet, in a new world like Pandora from Aavatar and not knowing how things work here.

My new landlord is getting the house repainted and getting all the wires, lights, etc replaced with new ones. It was a Saturday and I headed out and when I was leaving the electrician told me that there will be no cable, internet when I come home just for tonight and I told him I will manage. I had a good evening and got home after dinner at about 10.30 and I had no idea what to do. I am so used to getting home, turning on my tv and getting online that it has become a habit. I even have a ritual. I walk in, turn on the light, turn the fan on, turn the computer on, put my phone, wallet, wrist watch, etc in the drawer when the computer is booting, check my email inbox and my social network profiles, change into something comfortable after putting my clothes for wash and getting something cold to drink from the refrigerator.

This day, I got home and had no idea what to do. I felt so uncomfortable, so out of place, so 'this is not where I live', so weird. For the first time I opened the drawer where I keep my books and pulled out a book. I went to the nearby park, called a few friends with whom I had not spoken in ages and then started reading. Something interesting happened then.

I noticed that all the construction workers gathered at that time and hang out at the park. There was one guy walking with a guitar. He was walking with a guitar in his hands playing the guitar as he was making his way to where his friends were sitting. He was one of the popular friends because of his guitar skills I am guessing. He was walking with a very different confidence playing his guitar and humming a song and he looked like was is in the moment completely out of this world. I looked up as the guitar sound got louder and as I looked up the guy stopped playing and had a very apologetic look on his face. As he got closer he said "Sorry to disturb your reading". I felt bad that I disturbed him and got him out of his almost perfect dreamy world back into this world where he is one of the many construction workers and did not have a life where he is the lead man, the center of attention, the musician that he was in his almost trance like state. I said "No problem" and smiled to show him that that minor distraction was no big deal and he had no reason to be sorry.

He made way to where his friends were gathered. There was an instant joy on everyone's face when they saw him, they exchanged hand shakes and high fives and he started playing and singing. He went back to his dreamy world where he was the king and everything and everyone else was not more important than him and his singing and I got back to my reading.