Photography with Samuel

This is one photoshoot I didn't particularly enjoy. It was done in a home studio with poor condition. I've been to several home studio and have absolutely no complains till this shoot. The aircon wasn't working and the backdrop was a pale blue uneven wall..... The theme creative makeup attracted me to agree on the shoot but the makeup didn't turn out creative enough for me. The hairstyle was also terrible and I have to photoshop the picture for more volume.

And worst? Bad photographer attitude...... My first and hopefully last blacklisted photographer. Sorry, I don't quite buy your shit.

Homemade Chocolate Mousse

In this dessert, I've adopted Nigella Lawson instant chocolate mousse recipe and it work wonders!

Normally, you need to make chocolate mousse a good few hours, or better still a day, before you want to eat it, so that the egg yolk sets and the whisked whites permeate everything with air bubbles. Forget that: here there are no yolks, no whites, no whisking, no waiting. Lack of raw egg, incidentally, also means that you might be happier giving this mousse to small children, though I certainly feel they shouldn’t be the only beneficiaries.

Ingredients

150g mini marshmallows
50g soft butter
250g good dark chocolate (minimum 70% cocoa solids), chopped into small pieces
60ml hot water from a recently boiled kettle
1 x 284ml tub double cream
1 tsp vanilla extract

Directions

1 Put the marshmallows, butter, chocolate and water in a heavy-based saucepan.
2 Put the saucepan on the hob, over heat, though keep it fairly gentle, to melt the contents, stirring every now and again. Remove from the heat.
3 Meanwhile, whip the cream with the vanilla extract until thick, and then fold into the cooling chocolate mixture until you have a smooth, cohesive mixture.
4 Pour or scrape into four glasses or ramekins, about 175ml each in capacity, or six smaller (125ml) ones, and chill until you want to eat. The sooner, the better!

Photography with Satch & Johnston

I'm stranded, confused... Photography by Micheal again. This time round, we have Johnston with us and we are off to Old Changi Hospital (OCH) for a shoot!


Johnston's masterwork!

I had a great time in OCH even though it was drizzling and humid. We were quite lucky that the lighting was sufficient despite the rain. There's two ways to enter OCH, one of which is guarded by security. Luckily Micheal knows the correct journey and we had to climb dark eerie stairs to reach shooting location. Indeed it's slightly frightening but it's bright day light!

Information from SPI, Singapore Paranormal Investigators:

Old Changi Hospital

History

Built in 1930's, together with an A/E opposite the road and several blocks of commando barracks cum Changi prison nearby, the Old Changi Hospital (OCH) is situated at Netheravon Road in Changi villages. It has quite a long and rich history for being the former hospital of today's modern Changi General Hospital in Simei and Toa Payoh Hospital equipped with world-class facilities.

With its classical design, one can see that OCH is a typical replica of buildings built by British Colonial architects in the early 20's. Surprisingly OCH was not meant to be a hospital when it was first built (same for the A/E). The British was planning to have a heavily guarded military location in the east of Singapore. The site was strategically selected for it is high on top of a hill overlooking the sea surrounding most of the east side and the south side of the island. For about 10 years before the war, this classical 7-storey high building compound was used as military command quarters and barracks.

During the assault of the Japanese aggression from Malaya in February 1942, Changi was targeted as one of the first attack points. In a day or two, it was occupied by the Japanese army moving from Puala Ubin. Soon after that OCH was converted to a military hospital where all the wounded soldiers and civilians were attended to. After the Japanese Occupation ended, it was converted back to its original self, as a public hospital and later with a Military ward on the third level.

From February 1997 onwards, OCH was closed for its hospital operations were replaced by the new Changi General Hospital. It got isolated and left vacant there since then. According to some insider sources, the abandoned OCH will remain as it is but it will be re-open for the 'public' soon during 2005 for the Army Camp or for the Officer Cadet School (OCS) Trainees.

However, stories about the building being haunted started in the early 40's. The Hospital itself had 70+ years of rich history when it survived from the dreadful World War II that took place from 1942 to 1945, witnessing the fall of Singapore and the brutal tortures towards the prisoners of war (POW) that happened there. Therefore, seeing spirits of all races and of different nationals wandering around in the compound would be a common sight.

If you are thinking of visiting the hospital in the hope of bumping into a spirit of any nature, go with 2 or 3 friends. If you go beyond that, you will never see it as they are all hiding behind the window pane or the back of the door WATCHING at you. But of course, you can go there alone, however you will never find yourself ALONE.