Reflections

Happy Birthday Singapore

I like train rides. I get to read, listen to podcast, watch videos and detach. I also get to people watch. Here are some images from my train ride home from Britomart to Pukekohe on Thursday 7 Aug 2025. I made these images in the later half of ride. Between Puhinui and Takanini. I like how the internal train carriage is layered upon the scene through a reflection on the window pane.

I first started using presets or filters to change the look of my photos when instagram came onto the scene in 2010. It was such an easy app to use. With a few clicks, my photos take on different looks and moods. I used filters or Lightroom presets on and off over time but I've not actively used them since I picked up a Fujifilm camera 6-8 years ago. Recently however, I thought I try them out again. Something to give my creativity a gentle shake up. Here are some experiments I made of my favourite image from the series above.

The first image is my straight out of camera jpeg. The other three are variations I made.

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Happy Birthday Singapore.

Thanks to Youtube, I watched the Singapore National Day Parade from the comfort of my home in Auckland New Zealand, the morning after. The country I grew up in knows how to put on a good show. There were so many familiar moments from my own participation in the military parade years ago, to cherished songs that I grew up listening to. Credit to the producers, I was brought on a roller-coaster ride of emotions. I was happy, grinning from ear to ear. However, I also experienced a strong undercurrent of melancholy and guilt. I am who I am because of my life in Singapore, the good and the bad. I ran away to avoid the conflict of responsibility and personal identity. I could not balance the two. As I grow older, I feel the isolation of not belonging anywhere and a recognition of an unfortunate inability to change things due to my growing introversion.