Saturday, July 26, 2025

4184. PHOTOGRAPHY TIPS. A biking Grabfood rider. Use tv mode.

 A Grabfood rider near Crockford Tower hotel, Sentosa. 20 Jul 2025. 9am

Canon R5, tv mode, 105mm, 1/2000 sec, f/4.5, ISO 1600

TO BUY PHOTO:  shutterstock.com/g/toapayohvets

 

20 July 2025: 9 am. Crockford Tower Hotel (R).
Bright sunshine, blue sky, cool morning. Deserted downhill road near Crockford Tower which is an all-suite luxury hotel in Resorts World Sentosa.

Fresh air, gentle breeze swept my face. Deserted. Peaceful. No bird chirping. No butterflies or dragonflies but full of greenery. A tree with large clusters of pink bougainvillae greeted me "Good Morning". I was waiting to photograph the cyclists. Not your usual ones. The recreational well dressed in branded active wear cyclists.
 

I saw this motorcyclist. A Grabfood rider. He smiled when he zoomed down the hill slope to deliver the food. No time for hobbies like photography.  He has mouths to feed, bills to pay. He saw me, lens pointed at him. He smile radiated to his eyes. He was a happy gig worker. Self-employed. No bosses.





GrabFood delivers to Sentosa
 

GrabFood Delivery:
GrabFood delivers to various locations within Sentosa, including residential areas and popular spots like Tanjong Beach, Siloso Point, and Sentosa Cove. 

  • Pick-up Points:
    Grab has established designated pick-up points in Sentosa, such as the one near Beach Station and Imbiah Lookout
  •  

     

    Friday, July 25, 2025

    4183. PHOTOGRAPHY TIPS: Crockfords Tower. Use tripod, f/16, no image stabilisation

     20 July 2025:

    I have not stayed in Crockfords Tower Resorts World Sentosa which is a luxury 5-star all-suite hotel. I can't find a location to snap a good photo of this hotel from the ground level as it is sited in a compact area.


    However, a decent view of the Crockfords Tower is taken from the balcony of the 11th floor suite of Hotel Michael. I share this photo with viewers who may want a stock photo.


    PHOTOGRAPHY TIPS:

    Canon R5, tripod, AV mode, 24mm, 1/60 sec, f/16, ISO 100.


    Use f/16, focus at 1/3 from lower frame to get an overall sharp image of the background and cable cars. Good morning sunlight helps a lot. A tripod enables sharper image. Remove IS stabilisation to prevent blurring of photo when I pressed the shutter.


    I hope viewers who collect photos for their projects like this image attached.


    TO BUY STOCK PHOTOS OF HOTELS AND SENTOSA:

    www.shutterstock.com/g/toapayohvets


     

     


     

    4182. *****WRITING TIPS: Creative non-fiction. The power of SETTINGS in your writing from real life - Jenny Alexander

    CREATIVE NON-FICTION. The power of SETTINGS in your writing from real life - Jenny Alexander

    August 2024.  WRITING MAGAZINE 

    www.writers-online.co.uk

    Creative non-fiction makes true stories from the raw material of experience, and settings are an important part of the storyteller's craft. Use pathetic fallacy where the outer world reflects the mood of the character or intensifies the action. How many sad girls have gazed out on the world through windows streaming with rain? Pursuits and conflicts played out against roaring , thunderstorms. Lights never work when detectives search through a perfectly ordinary suburban house or flat?

    In creative non-fiction, you can’t make up the weather but use it and other elements in the settings to intensify the mood or emotional power of a scene. 


    For example, your protagonist walks across a city park on an overcast afternoon and not many people are around. If he feels happy (received good news), frame it as how lovely to have the park almost to themselves. He spots early daffodils, not just flowers. That tells the readers it's springtime. Happy protagonists will notice the blackbird's song, the budding branches on the trees, the early daffodils, how lovely to have the park to himself etc.  If passers-by wear shell suits, the scene will be culturally and historically different.  

    If he is anxious, not having many people around intensify his anxiety. If gloomy, he may not remark about the absence of people but notice the low sky, the drift of rubbish under the hedge, the dog’s mess littering the path.

    As well as using settings to intensify the emotion of a scene, use them as part of characterisation, letting a character’s environment show what they are like. Someone keeps all their herb jars lined up tidily, labels facing forward, suggests one kind of person: one whose pots and pans come tumbling out when he opens the cupboard door suggests a different one.

    Someone who loves to lie int the sun beside a blue pool with a cocktail is not the kind who prefers camping in the muddy fields and going to the pub for a pie and chips. 

    Settings is an economical way of giving information by the choice of detail. A happy protagonist spots early daffodils, not just flowers. That tells the readers it's springtime. Happy protagonists will notice the blackbird's song, the budding branches on the trees, the early daffodils, how lovely to have the park to himself etc.  If passers-by wear shell suits, the scene will be culturally and historically different.

    With creative non-fiction, it is important to make sure the factual details are right. If passers-by wear platform shoes two years before they are common, your reader will sense that they are not reading a true story as you are sloppy about details. How they can trust your honesty and accuracy in the story as a whole?

    Don’t worry about all details in your first draft, just write the story and the settings how you remember them but check the facts on your redraft. Memories are stories forged from facts in the cauldron of imagination, they can stray from what actually happened.

    Creative non-fiction make true stories from the raw material of experience and settings are an important part of the storyteller’s craft. Time, place, weather - they can be much more than just the backdrop against which the action of your story plays out.  

    TRY THIS:
    Really look around you. Take your time. Close your eyes and imagine you are in a joyful mood. Something wonderful just happened. Open your eyes and look around.
    What do you see? How would you describe the place you're in. Write for a few
    minutes.
    Try with other moods - sad, angry, fearful, bewildered. FEEL how you can
    describe a setting truthfully, changing none of the facts, but artfully, to express and intensify the emotion of the story.

    -----------------------

    Settings can also be an economical way of giving information by the choice of detail.
      

     MY EXAMPLE FROM THE DRAGONFLY STORY AT:
    https://2010vets.blogspot.com/2025/07/4180-wildlife-in-yishun-pond-and-ktph.html


    Khoo Teck Phuat Hospital Botanic Garden. Morning. Blue skies, slight breeze as ripples over Yishun Pond lake are visible. Not many passers-by. One young man exercising in front of me - facing Pond, hands up and stretched out, jumps up and down, repeats. Senior over 80s, tanned, slim, with phone in his left shirt pocket listening to his audio---no need to carry it. Heart affected by phone's EMF? Women wearing head scarves zoom past me on the PMAs. Bright sunshine. A glorious day to be outdoors. Joyful to be alive. 


    Looking for dragonflies and butterflies to photography. Only one seen hidden. It fluttered to another branch in the shade of the plants and leaves. An overweight female Security guard in her 50s, bespectacled, white blouse black pants sauntered to demand what I was doing. A tripod with Canon R5 pointing at the middle of the Garden. 


    "I am taking a photo of the dragonfly," I replied. She looked but couldn't see it or maybe could. Far inside. Zoom lens 24-105mm.  "It is OK if you take photos of the Botanic Garden," her commanding voice but not other parts of the KTPH. 

    Security guards get excited about digital camera. More excited at seeing tripods. "You need permission to take photos. Get moving if you don't have  proof."

      

      

    4181. TRAVELS PHILIPPINES - Flood in San Francisco La Union 25 Jul 2025.

    San Francisco in the Philippines is a barangay (village) located in the municipality of Agoo, in the province of La Union. It is distinct from the city of San Fernando, which is also in La Union and serves as the province's capital and the regional center of the Ilocos Region, according to Wikipedia. 
     
     
     
    Here's a more detailed breakdown:
    • San Francisco (Agoo): This is a specific barangay within the municipality of Agoo, with a population of 1,191 as of the 2020 Census. 
    • San Fernando (La Union): This is a component city, the capital of La Union province, and the regional center for the Ilocos Region. 
    • La Union: The province where both San Francisco (Agoo) and San Fernando are located. 
    •  
    •  
    •  
    •  
    • 27 Jul 2025:
      View from Gema's house, not flooded in her front garden 
      as she had built a concrete wall to divert the flood waters
      caused by typhoon 4, today 25 Jul 2025. 

      Across is a cylindrical building (L) which is a tower to dry
      tobacco leaves. Tobacco planted in Jan - Mar on field (beside
      the cylindrical building. Now padi field growing from Jun - Sep.
      The field is flooded now.
      A one-day flood will not affect the padi which had rooted and grown (see next image)

      House (R) of tobacco building is her relative's house
        




       
       
      20 Jul 2025. Light rain. NO flooding of paid field yet. Concrete wall
      in front of Gema's house. Gravel road not flooded till 25 Jul 2025. 
        



      House next to Gema's house has a large mango tree
      planted years ago. 



       
      Neighbour's house. Roof had been blown off by typhoon  

       
       
       
       
      A video
      25 Jul 2025


       

       

    Wednesday, July 23, 2025

    4180. WILDLIFE in Yishun Pond and KTPH area on 22 Jul 2025.

    Creative non-fiction makes true stories from the raw material of experience, and settings are an important part of the storyteller's craft. Time, place, weather - they can be much more than just the background against which the action of your story plays out.

    (Weather and other elements in your Settings can intensify the mood or power of a scene.)


    I am Dr David Sing, 75 years old. A grandfather of 5. I create this Wildlife video for them.

    On 22 July 2025, at around 9 am, I drove to the Khoo Teck Phuat Hospital (KTPH) to collect a form for my son. At the same time, I could walk my daily 5,000 steps in a green environment to take some wildlife photos of the area around KTPH and Yishun Pond. Sometimes there are no wildlife present to take memorable photos. Many Seniors have had lost mobility.  Hopefully, I would prevent sarcopenia in my leg muscles by walking at least 5,000 steps as long as I live. 


    Wildlife spotted are: 

    1. A rare sighting of a dragonfly, likely a young male or female Neurothemis intermedia with gold yellow abdomen, purple and green eyes. Wings are gold yellow with a tinge of red at border. See photo. An overweight female Security guard asked what I was doing when she saw me taking photo of the dragonfly with my Canon R5 camera placed on a tripod. "It is ok to take the photo of Botanic Garden of KTPH but not any other area," she said with authority and walked away. I didn't reply. Some security guards will question me when they see my tripod set up to take photos. If I use the handphone, no guard will bother.

     PHOTO OF BILLBOARD.  

    2. Around KTPH, two young waterhens loitered on the concrete walkway, not bothered with passers by. Not oblivious to the danger of being caught by some people unlike the older ones in some public parks I had visited.

    3. I walked along the Yishun Pond. Ripples in the shallow pond swept by a gentle breeze. Sunlight reflected over the waters. Green grass reeds of various heights on the banks. Trees and creepers strangulating the other plants to get sunlight.

    A female Junglefowl hen with some chicks appeared. Walked fast, chicks had to keep up. She used her claws to scrape the earth looking for insects. The area was sterile of insects. Even mosquitoes.

    Scraping the earth would reveal some bugs. That's how the family survived. The hen jumped at another adult hen near it to chase it away.

     4. A movement among the grass and the reeds at the edge of the Pond. A young Malayan Water Monitor stalks. Around 11am. Sunny. He is the world’s 2nd largest lizard. Prowling the edge of the pond. Eyes bright, long tongue flicking out of his mouth. 

    5. A young waterhen appeared.  Clucking with no fear near the Yishun Pond edge chirping away. One of them was near a moving young monitor lizard which did not bother it. I had a phone video made.

    6. A medium-sized butterfly fluttered fast and out of sight. I couldn't photograph it.
    7. Two mynahs hopped on the grass. Their numbers have been considerably reduced nowadays. Trapping and poisoning perhaps.

    8. REWILDING sign.
    9. Was the Asoka tree flowering? Yes. Few blooms and has lost its glorious appearance as evident from my photo some months ago.

    Above was an interesting encounter with different types of wildlife at one visit. Sometimes, I don't see any.    

    UPDATES:
    https://2010vets.blogspot.com/2025/07/4180-wildlife-in-yishun-pond-and-ktph.html

     


    CREATIVE NON FICTION
    Use the weather and other elements in your setting to intensify the mood or emotional power of a scene.



    22 July 2025. 9am. Khoo Teck Phuat Hospital Botanic Garden. Morning. Blue skies, slight breeze as ripples over Yishun Pond lake are visible. Not many passers-by. I felt the peace of the silence of this hospital garden.

    A small bird chirps and flies away. Clean air as no smoking signs are prominently displayed. A Botanic Garden for sick people. Small one. Running water. A plopping sound along the walkway across the small pond. Was it the sound of the suction pump? A few small fishes. No dragonflies or butterflies seen at first.

     

    One young man exercising in front of me - facing Pond, hands up and stretched out, jumps up and down, repeats. Senior over 80s, tanned, slim, with phone in his left shirt pocket listening to his audio---no need to carry it. Heart affected by phone's EMF? Women wearing head scarves zoom past me on the PMAs. Bright sunshine. A glorious day to be outdoors. Joyful to be alive. 


    Looking for dragonflies and butterflies to photography. Only one seen hidden. It fluttered to another branch in the shade of the plants and leaves. An overweight female Security guard in her 50s, bespectacled, white blouse black pants sauntered to demand what I was doing. A tripod with Canon R5 pointing at the middle of the Garden. 


    4179. Lee Kuan Yew's legacy for Samy, 80-year-old retired teacher

    23 July 2025: 8 am encounter with Samy.

     

     I met 80-year-old Samy this morning walking around Lentor Plain. He said he gave his old coins to friends who collected coins. I mentioned about somebody who wanted to give me a coin with Lee Kuan Yew but I did not accept it as I don't collect coins. This led him to speak up about Lee Kuan Yew's impact on his life. He had been a teacher for the past 37 years.

     

    1.  Around 1967, LKY's government said that only Singapore citizens born in Singapore could be teachers in government schools. He was asked to leave as he was born in India although he was given Singapore Citizenship earlier, after a few months applying for it.

    "I went to a missionary school to teach at St Margaret School in Farrer Road," he said. "It is a government-aided school and I was still paid by the government!". He stay in this school for over 30 years and later rejected a post as a school principal.

    2. "In the old days, the employer and employee contributed 25% of the basic salary to the Central Provident Fund," he told me how he was able to put a downpayment for buying a house off the plan in Lentor Terrace around 1969. Lentor Green houses were built and was being sold as the developer could not pay the bank. However, he could not afford the downpayment and hence bought Lentor Terrace house off the plan (plot of land with house to be built)>

     

    3. He had a government bursary for 2 years of his University study.

    4. He came to Singapore as a 10-year-old leaving his poor parents in India. He was sent to the Boys' Home operated by the Ramachandran temple, not associated with the "Boys' Town". 

    The Ramachandran temple helped pay for his primary education. His younger brother worked to finance his education but later he helped his brother to secure education in ACCA in the UK. The brother is a successful accountant in Kuala Lumpur now.

    5. Married. 2 boys and 1 girl. All grown up. They paid for a maid from India to help him and his wife in the house. Daughter had married a cyber security husband and both had migrated to Australia. His two sons lived by themselves and now he and his wife are empty nesters.

    6. A very healthy white moustached man who walks in the morning, meeting and talking to passers by. 

    7. He served as President of the Ramaachandran Old Boys. 

    "Lee Kuan Yew's policies had affected my employment as a government teacher, but I have no ill feelings against him as he had converted Singapore from a undeveloped country to a modern one."

    "When one door closes, another door opens," I said to him.     

    4178. PHOTOGRAPHY TIPS: Dragonfly at KTPH on 22 Jul 2025.

     

     

    REFERENCE:


    https://thaiodonata.blogspot.com/2011/03/neurothemis-intermedia-atalanta.html



    Family: Libellulidae
    Genus: Neurothemis
    Species: Neurothemis intermedia atalanta
    Common name(s): Paddyfield Parasol, Pale Yellow Widow, Ruddy Meadow Skimmer
    Thai name: แมลงปอบ้านใหม่กึ่งวิถ
    Habitat: Varied (Open lowland paddy fields to the edge of uplands forests)
    Province(s) sighted: Widespread (Khon Kaen); Nam Nao NP/environs (Petchabun);  Phu Rua environs (Loei); Widespread (Chiang Mai); Khao Yai (Nakhorn Ratchasima); Khao Soi Dao (Chantaburi); Kanchanaburi environs (Kanchanaburi); small pond, Kabin Buri;  Pang Sida NP (Sa Kaew); Koh Chang (Trat).
    Sightings (by me): Very common (except for the mature male)
    In flight (that I have seen): February-December

    A common member of the Libellulidae family is Neurothemis intermedia atalanta. It can be seen in many places from open wasteland to the edge of forests. I would say that the female is more commonly seen than the male.
     
     

    seen in Khoo Teck Puat Hospital Botanic Garden, 23 Jul 2025
    Possibly a young male or female adult Neurothemis intermedia.
    Tripod, Canon R5



    The male
    The male is easily identifiable. It is generally orange/yellow in colour. It has two broken black lines running dorsally along the abdomen. The stigma is black and becomes ochre as it ages. The eyes are cherry red dorsally. The base of the eye is green/white. It has feint markings on the synthorax.

    Strangely enough, the mature adult male is scarce - for me anyway. It is similar to the younger male, but the abdomen colour has change to a bold orange, and the colour at the wing base is more prominent. Though scarcely seen, this male was spotted in my back garden!
     
     
     


     
     
    The female
    The female is very similar to the young male. The black dorsal lines are thicker than the males and the terminal segments are generally darker. The colour at the base of the wings is generally much less prominent.
     
     
     
     
     
     
    22 JUL 2025: Shaded part of garden opposite Kopitiam
    Canon R5
    Tripod
    AV 
    105mm, 1/40 sec, f/11, ISO 400. 

    Neurothemis intermedia dragonfly.
     
    KTPH HAS a big billboard of photos of 30 species of dragonflies, but rare to spot one in the Botanic Garden today!
     
    TO BUY PHOTO:
    www.shutterstock.com/g/toapayohvets  
     
     
    --------------------------
     
     
     Rare dragonfly seen in Khoo Teck Puat Hospital Botanic Garden. It has a billboard showing photos of over 30 species of dragonflies, but in real life, as a patient or photographer, you will be fortunate to spot one, as in my case.