Lifestyle

Photographers capture S’pore culture spots for Chinese New Year

Shot on the iPhone 13 Pro Max

Published

January 26, 2022

GadgetMatch

Some of Singapore’s finest photographers whip out their iPhone 13 Pro Max to capture the country’s nostalgic spaces and traditions.

Like with any tradition, they are at risk of fading with time. But as Chinese New Year approaches, these photographers visit these places to capture and immortalize them digitally. Hopefully, this does not only help you look at Singapore culture fondly, but also encourage you to keep making memories and capture them beautifully.

Jason Lim — @jsnjnr

Taking a nostalgic walks through Haw Par Villa, photographer Jason Lim shares how a Buddha greets visitors halfway though the journey and notes “I remembered looking at my parents inquisitively when I was much younger, wonder how the Buddha managed to land on top of the pagoda”. Jason shot the image with the Wide Angle lens, using the surrounding leaves to frame and create a focus on the main subject, the Buddha. Found in the 10 Courts of Hell exhibit of the Hell’s Museum.

Jason share’s his “mom once told me that spirits would cross this bridge in the afterlife and their memories in earth would be erased, coming back again, I loved how Portrait mode captured the details of it”.

A familiar face found within the garden in Haw Par Villa is the Goddess of Mercy aka Guan Yin Ma.

“I made use of both the Wide Angle lens and macro function to capture it,” he said.

Jason shares it has been more than 30 years since he last visited Haw Par Villa’s Hell’s Museum exhibit. He says, “my parents would often remind me as a kid that if I misbehaved, I would land here and be punished by the Gods. It’s amazing coming back how detailed the exhibit is, especially when using Night mode”.

Taking a photo of The Pagoda, Jason notes using the Wide Angle lens while having an object nearer than the subject can create a great contrast or “bokeh” effect.

The macro photography on iPhone 13 Pro Max really captures all the details of the embroidery found on an altar.

Lauryn Ishak — @laurynishak

Commercial and editorial photographer Lauryn focused on places that brought personal nostalgia such as Beauty World Plaza at dusk, shot on Ultra Wide Angle. She shares “Beauty World is an iconic place in Singapore — most know it as a place that houses tuition centers and helper’s agencies. It’s not a place frequented by most Singaporeans unless looking for a specific store although the area is currently and slowly going through a little bit of a renaissance”

Snacks from our childhood seen at Nelly’s Retro Snacks – the assorment seen here is something I haven’t seen in many many years. It brought me back to my childhood when I used to buy some of these and I am surprised to still find then decades later.

Taking a walk through nature, an empty black and white bungalow on Malta Crescent in Sembawang shot using 3x Optical Zoom captures another era as “these iconic black and whites in this estate are currently empty.”

A close up of flora near Yishun and shot on Macro captures the ever changing greenery in Singapore.

Darren Soh — @darrensohphoto

Thomson Nature Park was formerly a Hainan Village vacated in the 1980s and then overgrown by secondary forest, so in a way, Singapore did forget about its existence until recently when it was turned into a Nature Park. Many Singaporeans are still unaware of its location or even its existence, so there is much to (re)discover there. Treks through the park early in the mornings will yield morning mist and dew which I have photographed with the iPhone 13 Pro Max”.

On the other hand, visitors to the Night Safari are almost always there for the animals, but since its opening, Darren shares the Night Safari has had an area right next to Upper Seletar Reservoir where the landscape is amazingly beautiful. “I have made three images in this area – here’s a tip, go right when the Night Safari opens at 6.30pm because you will need to trek by foot to the spot I’ve photographed near the Indian Rhino enclosure where you’d be greeted by the last light of day”.

CR Tan — @xlbcr

Having moved to the Katong/Joo Chiat area a year ago, Food Photographer and Stylist CR has found the neighbourhood is filled with heritage, art and culture hence retaining it’s charm among this ever changing city. He shares “there aren’t many high rise buildings around, mostly shophouses with interesting histories like the Peranakan Shop Houses which I am currently staying in.”

Some of the shots include wall murals done recently on shop houses around the hood which CR feels “give a pretty good refresh to the hood, adding more colours and charm to it. He used the Ultra Wide Angle to capture the murals in different perspectives.

CR shares he also happened to take a shot at nigh at Blair road after attending a ART x Wine Exhibition housed in one of the shophouses around the area.

The shot was taken at the back street of the shophouse around 10pm using Night mode, with the street light shining directly on to the subjects with an art piece leaned against the wall. The unique door design further accentuates the story in this photo.

Nicole Quek — @nicolequek

Photographer Nicole also focuses on Katong, a place that has had “significant meaning to me since I was child. This place brings back memories especially during the New Year when my grandmother was still around. It still amuses me until this day that this was a kampong where I used to run around barefooted”. Nicole share she “remembes vividly accompanying my late grandmother for walks along the shops. I wasn’t fluent in Malay as that was the only language she spoke. So I spoke gibberish hoping that she would understand me but all I remember was that warm smile on her face. It’s a happy memory for me whenever I walk around this area and coincidently I hanced upon this cute husky sitting across Roxy Square and her name is Roxy too! Portrait mode really helped capture her expression and the details of her fur”.

“When I was young, this door was like a portal of emotions and seeing it is really nostalgic for me. I remember running out to the door from the kitchen while playing catch around the alley and sometimes even getting punished here for being a naughty child.

But my most fond memory was folding paper boats with my family and watching it stream down the drain in this alley.

Nicole points out the Wide and Ultra Wide Angle is perfect for capturing the details of Katong’s intriguing alleyways or even the Unfinished beads on the Manik Kasut.

Nicole also shares an overview of the street she is very fond of using Night mode and adds “I shot this by using the bridge railing as a tripod. However with the advanced night mode, I still can shoot amazing and sharp pictures at night without worrying if it’ll turn out underexposed or blurry. I wanted to try creating some light streaks which I’ve never done before. This was shot by adjusting my shutter speed to 1 second”.

Ivan Kuek — @phonenomenon

While many have heard of the Green Corridor, photographer Ivan notes “what many don’t know is that it has a lesser-known sibling, the Jurong Railway Line. Leading westwards from the Bukit Timah Railway Station, the Jurong Railway Line was a 19KM-long railroad that connected Malaysia, then known as Malaya, to the Jurong industrial area’s docks, and National Iron and Steel Mills. Owned by the KTM Railway, the line, which opened way back in early 1966, was projected to generate a revenue of S$3-4 million annually. But with Singapore’s independence, its use was limited and it eventually closed down in the 1990s”.

Ivan focuses on the old Bukit Timah Railway Station and Clementi Forest taken through Macro photography and Ultra Wide Angle.

Entertainment

Netflix is getting a second F1 docuseries

Focusing on F1 Academy

Published

May 4, 2024

Luigi Leonardo

Image source: Bianca Bustamante (@racerbia), Instagram

Formula 1’s success these days owes a lot to Netflix’s Drive to Survive. In concise ten-episode chunks per season, the documentary series takes viewers through an entire season of the sport. Next year, Netflix is getting a second Formula 1 series, focusing on F1 Academy, to add to its motorsports slate.

The F1 Academy is a much smaller series attached to Formula 1. Before a few F1 races sprinkled through the season, 15 female drivers take to the circuit. Though the series only started in late 2022, its main goal is to grant developmental opportunities for female drivers in motorsports.

The newly minted series gained a lot of traction because of McLaren’s Bianca Bustamante, the first Filipino driver to win an F1 Academy race. She also has two other podium finishes in the series to her name.

Now, almost a year since winning her race, Bustamante will get her Netflix debut through a new docuseries simply titled F1 Academy. As the name indicates, the upcoming series will focus on the female-only series, much like how Drive to Survive focuses on the main series.

In production now, the series is set to premiere sometime in 2025. It will be produced by Reese Witherspoon’s Hello Sunshine.

Apps

Bumble introduces new logo, better UI, features

Better dating experience

Published

May 4, 2024

Her

Bumble is ushering a new era of dating. The dating app has just rolled out a new brand design. This includes a new logo and user interface with bolder fonts and refreshed colors and illustrations. Along these are many significant updates to the app’s features, giving users better ways to connect with others.

For instance, Bumble has added hundreds of new prompts and have refreshed the prompts UI to help members show off their personalities easier. Shared interests have also been moved to the top of the profiles for users to better spot commonalities. This gives users a snippet of profiles for them to know right away what they have in common. Furthermore, the app has also increased the number of required profile photos to four to boost the likelihood of matches.

Among the new features on Bumble is Opening Moves. This allows women to set a post-match question for their connections to respond to within 24 hours. This facilitates a more meaningful connection and introduces another way to connect outside of Bumble’s Make The First Move. Of course, they may directly message their match even if they haven’t responded to the post-match question.

Meanwhile, Bumble has also expanded its Dating Intentions right from the setup. This is so users can answer the question “What are you hoping to find?” with more accurate choices. Among these are Long Term Relationship, Life Partner, Fun, Casual Dates, Intimacy without commitment, Ethical non-monogamy, and Marriage.

This change stemmed from a Bumble survey that saw 68% of women struggle with people not being upfront about their dating intentions. When browsing, the expanded dating intentions badges will show right below the person’s profile’s “About me” in a section called “I’m looking for.”

Moreover, Bumble has renamed Best Bees to For You. Bumble is employing a new machine learning model to give users their daily set of four curated and relevant profiles based on preferences and past matches.

The changes are part of Bumble’s mantra to empower women to make the first move, flip gender roles, and take control of their dating app experience and dating life in general.

Deals

AirAsia ASEAN Explorer Pass gets PhP 1,400 off

Until April 30 only

Published

April 27, 2024

GadgetMatch

Haven’t planned your international vacations yet? Great news for Filipino travelers: AirAsia MOVE’s ASEAN Explorer Pass just got a lot cheaper. Until April 30, the pass is available for a promo price of PhP 13,488. That’s PhP 1,400 cheaper than its original cost of PhP 14,888. To avail of the pass, simply download the AirAsia MOVE app here.

The ASEAN Explorer Pass offers Southeast Asians a cheaper and simpler way to explore more destinations within the region. When subscribed to the pass, travelers will unlimited enjoy zero-base fares on international ASEAN flights to Bangkok (Thailand), Kota Kinabalu (Malaysia), and Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia). Moreover, they will be able to enjoy unlimited use of an exclusive promo code to save up to 50% on all hotel bookings, as well as AirAsia ride perks. There are also free AirAsia ride trips from KLIA Terminals 1 and 2.

So, if you haven’t availed of the pass and happen to be thinking of traveling to Southeast Asian destinations, now is definitely a great time to avail. Kuala Lumpur also happens to be AirAsia’s “central hub,” meaning connecting flights almost always passes through KLIA 1 and 2. This means if you plan on traveling to nearby countries like Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam, the ASEAN Explorer Pass is definitely one way to save on fares.

The low-cost airline’s digital arm released the Asean Pass last March, taking off from a previous promo called the airasia Super+. According to AirAsia MOVE’s December 2022 data, 80,000 international flights were redeemed and flown in a year from the Super+ offer, allowing travelers to save an average of PhP 17,900.