Sum Of A Whole

It’s never easy heading out to shoot on gloomy, humid days like these, much less getting a stranger on the street to stop for a chat, but here, we found ourselves greeted warmly by Miyako, a visiting tourist and mother of two from Nagoya, Japan.

Despite the language barrier between us (our conversation had in bits and pieces with the help of Google Translate), Miyako readily agreed to be photographed, and was more than happy to be spotted by us.

Through our brief yet insightful conversation, we learned that this is Miyako’s very first visit to Singapore. When asked what local dishes she likes best, Miyako whipped out her phone excitedly and, in true mum fashion, showed us pictures of all of the good food she’s eaten, from dim sum to masala dosa, which she described as being “spicy, but very delicious”.

Blushing and breaking out into laughter in between shots, Miyako continued to share snippets of her life with us as best as she could—she’s here on vacation with her two teenage kids, while her husband remains back in Japan, unable to get time off work, and she cites the Japanese classic Uniqlo as one of her favourite brands.

Not wanting to keep her kids waiting, we snapped a few final shots of her and said our goodbyes, with Miyako thanking us for the experience, and us thanking her too for her time. As we watched her walk away with her kids by her side, we couldn’t help but smile and wonder if we made her day, just like she made ours.