Milestones and Mindsets
In recent months I celebrated two important anniversaries; the day when, as a young child, my family arrived in Australia from Chile and the day when, as an adult, I left Australia, in early 1999, to start a new life in London. While the first of those dates has remained a constant for me, the [...]
Cut
It’s been a hell of a day. Actually, it’s been a hell of a week – and, it’s only Tuesday! As I mentioned in my last post, I’ve had a cyst that has been causing me some discomfort. I first suffered with it in Hong Kong, some years back, but it responded to treatment and [...]
Notes From The Road – Summer In Adelaide
I’m in the middle of a short break in Adelaide. Being Chinese New Year, I decided to head away from the oppressive heat of Singapore to enjoy the oppressive heat of Adelaide. And, boy oh boy has it been warm. Yesterday it was over 35 degrees celsius, which felt even hotter sitting in the glorious [...]
Singapore Six Months On
Today marks the six month anniversary of my move to Singapore. It’s been a bumpy transition. My mood, my health and my enthusiasm for this town has gone up and down during the weeks and months I’ve been here. Over the weekend I was chatting with a friend who also moved from Hong Kong to [...]
A Better Music Scene In Singapore?
Tomorrow I’ll be attending a music industry forum here in Singapore. It’s exactly the kind of thing I swore I wouldn’t be doing this year. I’m going out of respect for the organisers, the speakers and because I actually believe it could be the start of something good for the local music scene. But, with [...]
Begin Without Disappointments
I love the title of this old ad, for Western Electric radios: Begin Without Disappointments. It’s my motto for January! I’ve already nailed my colours to the mast for 2012. It’s going to be a fascinatingly different year. The changes have already been made and the new routines feel very good indeed. The important thing [...]
A Year Of Blogging Highlights
For the first time since 2006, I’m ending a year feeling good about the state of this blog. My blogging goals for 2011 were simple; double the average daily traffic and put up at least 150 posts (this is the 172nd post of the year). I figured, in the most basic of ways, that more [...]
Merry Christmas
Christmas begins tonight in our household. We share a Christmas dinner, say some prayers, open presents, tell stories, and go to bed way too late. Tomorrow we’ll laze around playing with the new toys, take a swim, write thank you notes, go for a long walk and end the day watching a few Christmas films. [...]
What Christmas Means To Me
I love Christmas – I love the serious, spiritual symbolism and the cheesy, crassly commercial chintz. I’ll take it all, secular and profane, theological and nonsensical. Perhaps most of all, I love that, as the Beach Boys so blatantly put it, “Christmas comes this time each year.” With such an open ended love of the [...]
12 For 2012
Around this time last year I wrote two lists; of things I wanted more and less of in my life. Last year’s lists were an exercise in setting goals, articulating hopes and ending frustrations. Yesterday I went through those lists and made some comments. Although it has felt like a frustrating year, it’s good to [...]
Looking Back On My “Goals” For 2011
This time last year I wrote some lists; the eleven things I want more of in 2011 and also eleven things I could do without. Now, as the year draws to a close, it makes sense to look back on that list and see how things panned out. Looking back, here’s the eleven things I [...]
Singapore And SoundCloud Searches
Earlier this year I played a small part in helping kick-off HKSocial, a monthly breakfast meeting, for creative types in Hong Kong who are interested in better understanding Social Media. Despite having moved to Singapore, it’s nice to see they haven’t forgotten me, yet, as I was reminded on Friday when my Twitter stream lit [...]
7 Kinds Of People You Need In Your Creative Universe
Sustaining yourself in a creative endeavour, be it photography, music, design, writing or any other art, requires relationships. You can’t do it alone. People won’t just “discover” your work and you’ll struggle to bounce back from the inevitable setbacks and disappointments. Moreover you’ll need folks that can help you stay true to your goals, focussed [...]
Here Comes The Rain – Again
“Here comes the rain again Falling on my head like a memory” Yesterday it rained in Singapore. Of course, that sentence could have been equally true almost everyday in the past few months; or so it seems. It’s raining often and hard here and, to be frank, the rain is getting me down. Today I [...]
Advent Is Coming Again
Bored by Christmas already? Frustrated that the decorations, food and “Christmas Specials” seem to arrive earlier and earlier every year? You are not alone! Here in Asia we seem to be stuck in an endless season of retail extravagance. Mid-Autumn festival runs straight into Halloween and/or Diwali, which crashes into Christmas, which merges into Chinese [...]
Stealth Photography And Other Urban Problems
“Do you think I can’t see you, crouched over there, with your giant camera and massive lens? Do you think I don’t know that you’ve been taking pictures of my daughter and I while we sit and talk about her school day? I came here for a few moments of quiet conversation and a cup [...]
Home In Singapore
My recent adventure in Mexico was so full of highlights. I’ve stood, in scorching sunlight, on a mountain filled with 2,500 year old ruins and crouched by candlelight among locals keeping vigil for Dia de los Muertos. But, now I’m back in Singapore and there are definitely some things I’m looking forward to; like seeing [...]
Packing Again
Last night I got home from Adelaide and tomorrow I’ll board a flight to Mexico on a photographic adventure. I’ll be travelling via London, and then taking a bus from Mexico City to Oaxaca. On the way back I’ll be stopping off for a quick break in Miami. Every trip I try to pack lighter, [...]
Books By The Metre
This picture, of my non-fiction books, was taken while organising and unpacking my personal library. I was lining the books up along the floor in order to figure out how many linear metres of shelf space were needed. I’m having shelves custom built for the small room that will be an electronics free reading space. [...]
Hong Kong Recapitulated
I’ve come to the end of a quick visit to Hong Kong. This was mostly work with a little bit of relaxation thrown in. Saw very few people but had the chance to walk a little in the paths I trod during my five years here. As always happens with these kinds of return trips, [...]
Can You Hustle?
Last week I was having one of those really cool meetings that make this whole “creative” work thing worthwhile. Great location, with a cool person I respect, talking about a project I’d love to be part of. Then I was hit with the kind of question that can be (well, for me at least) really [...]
Vanishing Point
As much I enjoy exploring the world, travelling and moving from country to country, there’s something I don’t enjoy – the process of packing, unpacking and setting up a new home. It’s not just the nuts and bolts of home-making, it’s the feeling of being unknown in a “foreign” land. Here in Singapore we’ve got [...]
Singapore, So Far
Earlier this week I flew back to Singapore to begin this new chapter. Naturally I’m being asked “how are you finding it” and, as you would expect, I’m in a bit of a funk. It always happens, the early enthusiasm about being in a new place gives way to the reality of building a life [...]
Lessons From The Slow Sojourn
I recently had the chance to spend a couple of beautifully wintery weeks in Adelaide, seeing family and generally taking a break from the stress of moving country. As I mentioned previously, my plan was to go offline, take some photos and do some deep and serious thinking about the future. As happens so many [...]
Fernando Gros is a musician, photographer & writer based in Singapore. Born in Santiago de Chile, Fernando grew up in Sydney and has also lived in London, Delhi and Hong Kong.