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I saw this book by Rene Liu 'Happy Birthday（生日快乐) @ Eslite Bookstore in Taipei one of the nights and bought it straight away without thinking. The movie has left quite a deep impression on me and so this book kinda added to the collection.

I love the images and the little wordings that compliment the shots. The layout is to my style - simple, minimalistic and clean.




(pardon the poor scanning - din want to destroy the book by breaking the spine)

I wanted to get another of her (Rene Liu) pictorial book <我想跟你走> but couldn't find it... sigh..

Labels: Images, Inspirations, Photography, Ranting, Taipei, Thoughts

Posted by ShutterBug at 02:38 | Permalink | Comments 2

(click for larger version) - chanced upon a spotlit playground on the way to dinner at 市政府


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Labels: Clover, Images, RICOH GrD, Taipei, Travel

Posted by ShutterBug at 19:42 | Permalink | Comments 0

This trip to Taipei has done me quite a bit of good. I'm definitely rested and I had time to recomposed myself for the rest of the year ahead. I've learnt to appreciate abstracts and blurred pictures shot thru my PnS and I love the results!

The weather there is a definite welcome as opposed to the usual humid weather in Singaland. Food's cheap and good.

Anyway, more pics to share:

凉面.
The story goes like this: we went over to SiLing （士林夜市）Night market and decided to have ourselves a bowl of liang mien. 3 types of hotness to choose from so Ead and I went for the xiao la (小辣）while WS went for the zhong la (中辣). A good thing coz it's enough to kill our tastebuds. Ohh, the ultimate? kwang la (狂辣)... I dread to think how we even can stomach it....

麻辣凉面
Location : 台北市士林区大西路74巷2号
Tel : 02－2883-5272

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顶级甜不辣. (This is for DomesticRat :)

顶级甜不辣
Location: 台北市万华区 (龙山寺捷运站 - 华西街夜市）

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赤板拉面.

赤板拉面
Location : 台北市中山區南京東路1段140號2樓
Tel :02-25676373

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Enough of food.... here's more shots from the GrD:


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(click for larger version) - Act cute...


(click for larger version) - The End

Labels: Clover, Friends, Images, RICOH GrD, Taipei, Travel, vacation

Posted by ShutterBug at 18:31 | Permalink | Comments 5

Hmm... just for the fun of it, we decided to go for a haircut and color in Taipei...


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(click for larger version) - a group of youths playing with fireworks near Nan Shi Jiao MTR station

The weather has returned to normal (18 degrees) and it kinda signals the end of the trip for us also as we prep ourselves to return to reality. The past 10 over days were quite relaxing and I have made the best out of the Gr-D.. it has indeed has proven itself in versatility as well as an ideal travelling camera for me. The only thing is that sometimes I just wish for a tele version to shoot close ups without having to go so close.

Well, after this trip, I'm looking forward to the May diving trip to Manado with the dive gang!

See ya all back home!

Labels: Clover, Images, RICOH GrD, Taipei, Travel, Us, vacation

Posted by ShutterBug at 23:47 | Permalink | Comments 7

The temperature has finally gone up to the normal 13 - 15 degrees here BUT the little drizzle still kinda annoying.

Just came back from a 4hour KTV session near our hotel in XiMen. The partyWorld here's way.. Waaayyyy better than Singaland's: I mean every room you have your own toilet within the room, very intelligent KTV interface for selection as well as gauging your skills etc, cheap insuite food dining and the room size is huge even though it's stated small (easily accomodating 6 persons).

We went to watch Norbit earlier in the day at Ta Chien Cinema. Location? Underneath the 6 star Westin hotel in Nanjing East Rd. Extremely funny... plus I am always a fan of Eddie Murphy's dark humor not forgetting to mention the beautiful Thandie Newton who reminds me of an old friend now in England.

Ta Chien Cinema / 大千電影院
Location: Nanjing East Road, Sec. 3, No. 133, B2 / 台北市南京東路3段133號B2

We finally found the darn Ramen store in Taipei Main Station area... it's located like 4 main section away and only chanced upon it today after carefully retracing our steps we took 2 years ago (our last visit). Despite the search, it's all worth it coz the ramen still taste excellent. Pics later.

赤板拉面 - some blogger who has tried it. I personally recommend The Seaweed Ramen : a must try!
Location: update later

Anyway, just 2 shots today:

(click for larger version) - Clover in her Parka. I'm trying out a new technique in postprocessing...


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Labels: Clover, Images, RICOH GrD, Taipei, Travel, vacation

Posted by ShutterBug at 03:59 | Permalink | Comments 1

The temperature has once again dropped to 9 degrees... The last time we were here, it was also 9 degrees.. something we are familiar with BUT ill-prepared for coz we were prepped for a slightly warmer temp (15 - 20 degrees)... in the end, we just went and bought some thicker clothings coz it's kinda hard to enjoy ourselves when the wind is so darn cold.

The air-con in the commercial buildings are in fact warmer as compared to stepping outside the buildings.... how's Taipei so far? Well, somethings has changed but we are enjoying it here although the routine of eating and shopping and walking still doesn't change but I guess it's the company and the mood of relaxation that's more important. The discovery of new eateries and cutesy stuff hidden in some obscure corner of a street added to the experience of being in Taiwan. Not so much of sceneries here unless we head outskirts of the city but the weather kinda dull it for us.

I'm getting my sleep cycle back to normal already although Ms Clover is still in the hibernation mode every morning... it's really a trip to get out of Singapore and go back to leading a proper life where we can slow down for a while and enjoy the world that pass us by.

Anyway, another small batch of photos to share:


(click for larger version) - Ead and WS are going back to Singapore today... Bon voyage!


(click for larger version) - The late night coffee


(click for larger version) - Zzz ...

Labels: Ranting, RICOH GrD, Taipei, Travel, vacation

Posted by ShutterBug at 10:58 | Permalink | Comments 2

Monday -

The temperature has dropped suddenly to 12 degrees... very shiok sia... except when the wind blows, then you will shiver or shudder from the cold. Anyway, not much words but more off-shots from the Gr-D.


(click for larger version) - Girl @ Danshui (淡水）


(click for larger version) - Fisherman @ low tide


(click for larger version) - Sakura flower @ Yang Ming Shan


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(click for larger version) - Abstract shot of Ead under very low lighting.

Labels: Friends, Photography, RICOH GrD, Taipei, Travel, vacation

Posted by ShutterBug at 00:21 | Permalink | Comments 7

The weather in Taipei has been optimal for streetshooting and portraiture but I guess I want to shift my attention to shooting some night shots with the Gr-D.

The 'red' pic was shot in a club called 9%.

9% :
222 Jinshan S Rd Sec 2, Taipei (台北市金山南路二段222號B1, B2)
Telephone: (02) 3322-6162
Open: 9pm to 3am, Sunday through Tuesday; 9pm to 4am, Wednesday through Saturday
Average meal: NT$600 cover charge includes all you can drink
Details: Photo ID required; credit cards not accepted

Hmm... Friday was supposed to be miniskirts night but hey! it's miniskirts almost everywhere in Taipei streets coz it's kinda in fashion right now. The happening portion is on the B1 level where Ead reported bar-top dancing, hot (really hot) girls and nice grooves to the music. Will post more shots taken in there later.


(click for larger version) - Ms Clover

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Saturday.

Ms Clover has gotten some runny tummy so she couldn't join us @ Jogoya as she would like to rest in the hotel room. So the 3 roving photogs went on our little expedition to the East area. The food in Jogoya stil taste superbly great. After dragging ourselves from the humongeous meal we just ate, we went a-walking to the nearby Eslite Bookstore to grab some magazines and browse thru their excellent selections of photography books. Since Eslite closes late (2 am), we were in there for almost 2 hours.

Jogoya :
台北市松壽路22號3樓 (華納威秀旁)

Along the way, the yellow construction fencing created a wonderful backdrop for some abstracts:


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Coffee was next after Eslite bookstore and by the time we were done, it's almost 2am. I have always wanted a shot of the empty street of Taipei coz the lightings from the storefronts and the tungsten streetlights just has this appeal to me.


(click for larger version) - I really love this shot.

Labels: Clover, Friends, Images, Inspirations, RICOH GrD, Taipei, Travel

Posted by ShutterBug at 09:45 | Permalink | Comments 2

Well, finally my lazy bones has decided get my arse to take a trip down to the 3rd floor to enjoy the free wireless internet....

The past 3 days in Taipei was again, something of a homecoming to both Ms Clover and myself (not that we are Taiwanese but that we really love the culture here).. a lot of things has changed and we kinda missed seeing the foodcarts packing the streets of Ximen Ding and enjoying hot food from them but on the whole, it feels great being back here...

Weather wise has been fine and well, like-minded companions like WS and Ead are a fun bunch to be with since we are not rushing for time or the type that must wake up early to seize the day :D Yupz, we always leave the hotel around 12pm noonish and just take our time to go around..

Hasn't really start taking serious photos yet coz I want to really relax on this trip and not think about photography for a while. But with the Ricoh, I managed to play around and got some happy snappies around. Stay tuned for more :)

Just a few snaps from our short trip to Danshui.


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Labels: Friends, Images, RICOH GrD, Taipei, Travel, vacation

Posted by ShutterBug at 17:05 | Permalink | Comments 2