Somewhere in Bencoolen, Waterloo, Bugis in August 2010

Wow! I’ve nearly forgotten about these pictures I took with my Olympus PEN E-P1 until I chanced upon them while scrolling through my August 2010 photo album!

So, here goes… a set from when I went on a stroll along this lively area:

Is this a traditional massage booth along the street? All you need are a pair of deft hands, some chairs, brollys (ah, my fave) and a few decades of experience. Oh, word of mouth and loyal customers help too.

Seems like I wasn’t the only one interested in what these people were doing - check out the people gawking from behind! Oh! Performing after grabbing some groceries, I presume? :P

New Moon Brollys dominate this area.

You don’t need to be on-focus all the time.. Off-focus, but you can tell what this is - the ice-cream auntie (how often do you have that? they’re usually uncles…) thought I was going to order - oops, sorry, wasn’t craving. Maybe next time!

I love this picture! I mean, amidst the influx of Western toys - and mind you aren’t they expensive - here comes a nostalgic reminder of the cheap thrills we get as kids passing by little toys like these… and I should have taken a video - this little fake Barbie on a bicycle goes round in circles! p.s. Check out the mat - traces of her bicycle tyres wiping off the dirt collected from the years (?) of sitting by the roadside.

$10 for a red t-shirt with 4 big logos from Silicon Valley! Oh wait, where’s Facebook?! Ahh, I’m sure this is an old design then. YouTube Myspace, and I’ll Google your Facebook and Yahoo your Hotmail? Okay, I’m not as funny as the original. Sigh.

Ha! This was funny, I snapped a quick photo of this trishaw, and the uncle saw me, rushed over quickly and asked me if I wanted to ride — oops! Sorry lah, I’m local - won’t pay to ride this. So cliché, even though it used to be a totally common public transport to the market and costs only 5 cents per ride back in the 60’s & 70’s.

Here’s the busy busy Bugis Street - crowded as usual, on a Saturday afternoon.

WHOA, momma. Are we entering space or a neo-disco arena? Wait, no. we’re still in Bugis Street… and this is just some weird beng-sy lighting on the ceiling.

Hey Adidas-man, watcha lookin at? NEVER seen a shiny Oly PEN before? hahaha - ok ok. We all love Bugis Street.

LOMO much? Vignetting & Square format - empty ZoCards rack @ the back - it’s a dying trend! Aww.