24th August 2006 - Viktor's Birthday Gathering @ Geylang

24th August 2006 - Vik's Birthday

It was another birthday gathering on that day for my fellow faithful Liverpool supporter and a great colleague as well.



This gathering was organised by Ah Lye, assisted by myself. We settled to meet at Geylang Dou Jiang You Tiao and Beef Kuay Teow near Lorong 8. Ah Lye did a great job in organising this gathering, kudos to him !





I went there later than most of the rest, when I got there, they were having desserts and drinks. Our mascot cutie Dr. Xavier was also with us and he does attracts a lot of attention whenever he was around us, sharing the limelight with Vik, whom doesn't mind at all.

Lots of fun, chatting and photo taking. Sean, Ray, Ah Lye and myself were happily snapping away photos on my EOS 300D. We also got a creamy coffee chocalate cake? for Vik. Hope you folks enjoy the photos posted here ......



"You'll Never Walk Alone" - Liverpool Football Club

Introducing my new Canon Professional L Lense - EF 70-200mm F4 L USM

Owning this lense has always been my aim and I am glad to be the proud owner of this awesome piece of glass at a good price.

L series lenses by Canon belongs to the professional range and their quality can be seen in the quality of the photos taken. Before this purchase, I owned another L series lense, EF 17-40mm F4 L USM.

My present scope of usage for the 2 professional lenses are as follows:

(1) EF 17-40mm F4 L USM : Events, weddings, landscape, travel
(2) EF 70-200mm F4 L USM : Events (Sports, concerts), wildlife, travel

I am looking foward to test my new telephoto lense and post some photos for you readers to view.

Folks, let me present to you ........ EF 70-200mm F4 L USM

Quick update again

It was a busy month in August as you can read from my postings.

I would be writing up on a birthday gathering and to announce another new professional telephoto zoom lense to my arsenal of camera lense and accessories on my blog pretty soon.

There was a posting that I done up the night before but I was left short-changed when my posting was lost when it was being uploaded to Blogger. With that incident happening to me, I would now post my writing and publish it first before uploading the pictures into my posting. Technology and the internet is really wonderful but it does has its shortfalls.

Remember folks, always do a backup !

Extra ! Extra ! Read all about it !

Month of August 2006 was a great month for me in my field of photojournalism, probably still some way to go before I developed my distinct and personalised style of photo taking and journal writing.

I got the opportunities to take photos for fireworks, Dragon Chapter and Dragon Scout Group activities. Took some assignments (details are P & C) and have some other assignments upcoming (based on good faith and goodwill). I might have a big project coming up and it is still in the planning stage.

So what's extra ? Well, some new equipment is coming in, commercial partnerships are established, seeking improvements in skills and exploring other fields of photography, most probably in studio portraits and commercial photography.

Last but not least, thanks (yes! you, the guy/gal looking at my posting!) for reading my humble works and enjoy looking at my simple photos !

BBQ Gathering @ Normanton Park, 15th August 2006

Another BFC organised outing again !

This time round, it was organised by Isaac (aka Massagi) who took a lot of efforts, arranging for the football, BBQ food and pit. Well, he took a bit of his own sweeet time coordinating for the outing but being Massagi, that's him !



Some of the folks went earlier to buy food, drinks and stuff during lunch time and they went earlier to play football. I joined later in the evening as I got training and other business matters to attend to.



Met Ray @ Clementi Central to get Otak but can't find any, therefore, got Indian Rojak instead. Although I am a west side local area guy, we boarded the wrong bus and took a slight detour. It was embarrassing and kena suaned by Ray.

Reaching Normanton Park, the BBQ was starting. Upon hearing they bought charcoal from NTUC, I knew it wouldn't burn that easily (or at all). Luckily, Massagi bought another packet of charcoal and I took over and set new fires. Ray was a great fire starter too and we both got it burning and going.



Once the fire was started nicely for cooking, the rest of the folks took over and started cooking. We just eat and eat, took photos (Ray & Sean were taking turns to take photos of the whole BBQ) chatting and playing with Dr X. He sure is chubby, lovely, handsome, cute and very popular among us.





Had to clear by 2300 hrs, everybody went home with happy memories and lots of food in their digestive system. We would probably see more of such activities soon .....

Hope everybody there has lots of fun!

Dragon Scout Group Day - 12th August 2006

Dragon Scout Group Day 2006

The event more commonly known as DSG day, this eventful day was very special to me, evoking many many memories back to the days when I was a Boy Scout with the Dragon Scout Group (1990 to 1993).

It was usually a football competition between the patrols and the tradition still remains today. Before that, we had a Group photo taking session, I took the opportunity to take Group photo with another fellow Dragon Scout, Nicholas Chee. I felt very proud to be able to take the Group Photo again, the last one I did was in 1993 when I helped to take the Group Scout photo for the 70th Anniversary. I looked foward to play a supporting and guiding role with the Scout Group and contribute back to the Dragon Scout Group, for all the invaluable knowledge and friendship I developed over the years till date. I would look foward to pass on my scouting and life experiences to the juniors (in time to come & in stages).



After a serious and funny photo taking session with our Radin Mas Primary School brother scouts, Dragon Scout Group with their ventures, leaders and old boys. The Dragon Chapter proceed on with a short informal meeting and mixing with the younger folks. We were also planning for our Dragon Scout Group campfire on 2nd September 2006. For all the old boy scouts out there, mark the date down and let's all come back and enjoy the good old days we always love when we were Boy Scouts!





We later went around and watched the football matches played between different patrols and our new Dragon Chapter members (youngest members) went to the final and challenged Barracuda Patrol for the Holy Grail, it was a very intense and exciting final with Dragon Chapter and Barracuda coming very close to scoring goals galore. However, the match ended 0-0 (FT) and 0-0 (AET). This led to the the dread penalty shoot-out, both sides were scoreless until Barracuda broke the deadlock with the sudden death penalty kick. Congrats to Barracuda Patrol on winning the Cup and Dragon Chapter left a mark in the history of Dragon Scout Group on 12 August 2006.





As for the Radin Mas scouts, they had their own games and they were really having lots of fun, how nice and lovely those kids were enjoying themselves. Don't we sometimes wish for life to be fun, laughing and enjoyable? My Scouting Life with Dragon Scout Group gave me that.....



Finally, lunch time ! Great food (I was very hungry) and a big happy extended family gathering tucking in. Lots of chit chat and reviving our scouting memories.



The photos would be uploaded to the forum soon, still arranging with Hongliang. For you old boys out there, do keep a lookout and pop in and read my postings on our Dragon Chapter activities and Dragon Scout Group activities too !

Cheers to all and have lots of fun! Big thanks to Hongliang for inviting us back to Dragon Scout Group Day and be part of the Group photo taking !

8th August 2006 - Singapore Fireworks Festival - Team Singapore

The 2nd fireworks was performed by Team Singapore on the eve of Singapore's National Day Celebrations. Due to the fact that this was held on a public holiday eve, it was very crowded and by the time I arrived at around 2000 hrs, I could hardly walk with many people sitting down around the Esplanade area.

Finally, I managed to wriggle my way to the end of the Esplanade portion , walking into the Marina Bay park area. It was slightly less crowded and I managed to get myself into a point whereby the people were sitting down happily and showed no signs of standing up during the fireworks.

Prepared my DSLR w / tripod and cable remote and I put my brief case with my camera backpack down, huge relief as I made the mistake of carrying 2 bulky items. Adjusted my DSLR settings after seeking advice from Jeff.

With the fireworks firing off @ 2100 hrs, I did manage to take slightly better pictures than my previous attempt on saturday. It was an exciting time for me as I loved fireworks, especially on the grand finale segment.

Hope you guys enjoy the humble fireworks display (Pardon the distractions again!)

5th August 2006 - Singapore Fireworks Festival 2006 - Team Italy

The month of August consists of many celebrations for Singapore National Day on 9th August. There would always be great fireworks display held at the Marina Bay area and it will definitely attract big crowds to the Esplanade, Fullerton area and Benjamin Sheares Bridge area.



The first fireworks display was by Team Italy on 5th August 2006. A bunch of us colleagues went down and joined in the crowd and enjoyed the fun ! We bought takeaway Burger King from Millenia Towers and proceed our way to the Esplanade. It was already quite crowded and we had a tricky time finding a good location to set up my DSLR and space to cater to us folks.





Finally, we managed to settle down at the end of the Esplanade footpath area, an "open air" area. I prepared my DSLR set up w/ tripod and remote control switch while the rest of the boys munched away their burgers and fries. I did not take the pictures of them eating though....

The fireworks started off at 2100 hrs by His Excellency, President Nathan, of the Republic of Singapore. Watching fireworks is always one of my favourite activities and I will always enjoy it thoroughly. Overall, as I was still inexperienced in taking fireworks pictures, the pictures did not come out that good. Nevertheless, I would have learned from this wonderful fireworks, and improved on my skills. Do keep a lookout for my 2nd set of fireworks festival display by Team Singapore.

Just my humble pictures (pardon the distractions) ......

Dragon Chapter 1st Social Activity - Bowling session at Mount Faber Safra

The Dragon Chapter Committee organised our 1st social gathering and activity for the old boys of Gan Eng Seng Dragon Scouts. It was a bowling session at Mount Faber Safra and we had lots of action in our bowling and chit chat session.





Most of us played 2 games and the person with the most points got a treat from the person with the lowest points (siew mai , fan choy), so much fun and laughter and the excitement and fear of not being the person with the lowest points !

Mark was awesome with his pre-bowling stance and concentration before he bowls the ball, Hongliang was estatic when he got a strike, jumping up and down !





We, the Dragon Chapter Committee would be looking foward to organise more social acitvities for the old boys and we are strongly enouraging all the old boys to keep a lookout for our activities schedules. Looking at our photos , we have old boys from different batches and era, coming down together and reuniting the spirit of Dragon Scouts. It was deja vu for all of us and there were lots of fun , chatting, catch up with old friends and making new friends.



To all the old boys reading and looking at the photos, I hope that I would be able to stir up the Dragon Scout spirit in you and come join us !





Looking foward, there are some Dragon Scout Troop activities and I am especially looking foward to Dragon Scout Day on 12 August 2006. I would be going down early to take photos for the Dragon Scout Troop and their activities, bringing back many many wonderful memories for me (and for all of you old boys too !). Please do drop by on that morning and have fun together with the new and old Dragon Scouts !

On top of that , we do have something really nice that the old boys would like and be able to identify with. Do come down and the mystery would be revealed to all of you old boys !



Onward, Dragon Scouts!

Take The City Walk - 29th July 2006

I was asked by my friends to join in the "Take The City Walk", a charity walkathon, on 29th July 2006 organised by TOUCH Community Services.



TOUCH Community Services is a not-for-profit voluntary welfare organisation and they aid people from all races and religions. Further details on the TOUCH Community Services, who they are and what they do, could be found in their webpage

TOUCH Community Services

This event was organised in conjunction with our National Day celebrations 2006 and it was held at the Padang. There were 2 routes for the charity walkathon, Red route or Green route.

Route Map

We were taking the Green route and we gathered at the Padang for warm up and preparation for the walk. Once we were ready, we were flagged off by the Guest of Honour, Dr Vivian Balakrishnan, Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports, and Second Minister for Information, Communications and the Arts.



There were lots of people there from all different ages, race and religious faith. We started our fun walk, enjoying the morning sun and friendly, carnival atmosphere. The Green route consists of walking inside the Central Business District and it was really peaceful on a saturday morning.







Eric and I walked pretty fast ahead of the rest of the pack and we had a good chat to catch up on old times when we were Boy Scouts together with Gan Eng Seng Dragon Scouts, how time flies ...



Returning to the Padang, Eric and I went to take our photos for the 4 Million Smiles Project. We took a rest, enjoyed the carnival at the Padang, met up with Sam, one of the official photographers there. After the rest of the pack joined back, we proceed to Tiong Bahru Market for lunch and had a good meal there.

At the end of the day, it was a really wonderful and enjoyable event, let us all remember as we advanced in prosperity and wealth, we must not forget our fellow people who has not catch up with us yet.