Photojournalism, Travel and Nature Photography

Please kindly change your bookmarks !

2009-05-17T00:37:00.002+08:00

Dear readers

First and foremost, thank you for dropping by here !

Please kindly change your bookmarks to my migrated photoblog and personal blog

- Photojournalist !

- Personal Blog

This photoblog would not be closed down and would serve as an archive and history.

Thank you once again ! Hope to see you at my other blogs !

Update for EntreCard Droppers

2009-03-25T09:59:00.002+08:00

To: EntreCard Droppers

Thank you for dropping by and dropping your EntreCard.

My EntreCard had been deleted for this blog because I haven't been updating this blog for the past 90 days.

Don't worry, drop by my photoblog

http://www.photojournalist-tgh.tv

And Personal Blog

http://www.tangenghui.com

Thank you all for your continuous support !

Change of URL

2008-10-28T08:15:00.000+08:00

Dear Readers,

Please kindly change your bookmark to my new photoblog URL

Photojournalist !

Thanks and see you all there !

Toronto Weddings - The Perfect Wedding Guide

2008-10-20T23:56:00.001+08:00

Are you are a couple looking for the ideal wedding photographer to take beautiful and sweet moments and memories of the best day of your wedding day ? Do you need to look a place for wedding photographers, videographers and planning guides ?

To all the couples, look no further away! The information is right here ! The Perfect Wedding Guide ! The Perfect Wedding Guide is the RIGHT PLACE to find and learn everything on the Perfect Wedding, the COMPLETE source for Toronto Wedding Information ! This is where you would find the MOST COMPREHENSIVE range of products and services necessary to plan a wedding in Toronto, ranging from where to find bridal gifts, decorations, wedding planners etc etc, this is the one stop solution for you !

Whether both of you couple are looking for Toronto Wedding Photographer, information on Toronto Weddings or even videographers on Toronto Videos, do drop by The Perfect Wedding Guide and you would not regret !

With my passion in photography and learning, The Perfect Wedding Guide is an awesome site that provides a ONE STOP solution for everybody involved in Toronto Wedding ! A very resourceful wedding site, very helpful and very informative!

For all the lovely couples planning for their Wedding out there,

Welcome to The Perfect Wedding Guide !

Metamorphosis !

2008-10-12T21:21:00.000+08:00

My photoblog had .............

METAMORPHOSISED !

Please kindly bookmark to the new site ! Thank You for all your support !

Singapore Motorshow 2008

2008-10-06T00:50:00.000+08:00

The Singapore Motorshow 2008 was a much smaller event than the previous Motorshow 2 years ago.... Probably in the year 2008, many car brands could be concentrating on the first Formula One Night Race in Singapore and with the current financial and economical climate, that could be a shortage of funds available for events such as the Singapore Motorshow.

I went down on the saturday night, walked around and enjoyed the different car brands on display. It was a a lot smaller, hopefully, it would still be coming back in 2 years time, when the economy would be better by then (hopefully).

Just to share my photos here with all my readers ...... not as many as previous years ...... Hope you all enjoy them !!

I got Nico Rosberg Autographs !!!

2008-09-30T01:34:00.000+08:00

The Singapore F1 GP was over, however, there were still some post activities happening around Singapore.

I was informed by my friend that Nico Rosberg, our Formula One First Night Race, 2nd Place Winner would be at Besk Denki at Ngee Ann City for an autograph signing session ! Since he had placed himself in Singapore's F1 history, I wanted to get his autograph !!!!

Getting quickly into action, I searched my Friday Practice photos and found a decent photo of Nico Rosberg Williams F1 car in action ! I immediately did a bit of post processing and printed out into postcards for Nico Rosberg to sign !

Thanks to my old friend, I managed to get 4 autographs, kept 1 for myself and gave 3 away.

Would be sharing on the challenges of F1 night photography soon !

300th Post : Reporting on Singapore F1 GP - Friday Night Practice

2008-09-27T14:01:00.002+08:00

Before I started writing on the Singapore F1 GP Friday Night Practice, I would like to thank all my readers and supporters first. This is my 300th post !

Back to Friday 26th September 2008, the 1st day of the Singapore F1 GP event, a great carnival that I was looking foward to. Met Jack and walked towards the Marina Square Shopping Centre via Suntec City and entered from Gate 7, around 3pm. Everything was wonderful, even at that time, there were already a good crowd starting to stroll inside.

There were support races to grace the Singapore F1 GP event, by Formula BMW, Porsche and Aston Martin in the afternoon from 3pm to 6pm, and the crowds were given some great practice driving sessions and how potentially loud the sound of the powerful engines would be. The weather on Friday was good, sunny and humid without the rain and thunderstorms.

Met Michelle, fellow UQAAS Committee member, walked around the various locations of the race circuit. From the One Fullerton at Turn 13, we walked towards opposite Victoria Concert Hall at Turn 11, had to walk a longer distance due to diversion. Along the way, did a bit of shopping and sightseeing at the merchandise store, that's the F1 carnival for you !

After watching the support races, we walked back to the Padang and saw something Uniquely Singapore, tables and chairs on the road, with food stalls beside it. You don't get much opportunities to have such open air dining in Singapore anymore ! We sat down, bought our drinks and dinner, prices are a bit steep though, had a nice cold beer with compliments from Jack, chatted and shared about cars !

After dinner, we all proceed to our grandstand seats, Jack & mine at Marina Square. The F1 Practice session had begun ! The sounds and roars of the F1 engines were really deafening and we forgot our ear plugs. Due to the driving lines of the F1 cars, our seats views were blocked as the F1 cars were driving very close to the edge of the safety barrier in front of the Marina Square Grandstand, as they need to do a right angle 90 degrees at Turn 16, driving into Esplande Waterfront and Bay Grandstand.

After enjoying the deafening sounds, watching how the F1 cars were driving, I was convinced that the Singapore F1 GP circuit is fabulous ! The F1 drivers who had doubts initially, doesn't seem to show it as they were driving pretty good in a totally unknown circuit in night conditions !

After the 1st practice session, we decided to walk around the circuit again, revisiting the locations that we went earlier today in the afternoon and captured different views of the F1 cars in action. It was a very big test of my photography skills till date, night shooting conditions under ample lighting conditions, very fast flying F1 cars, wire fence barriers that makes it very difficult for photographers to shoot.

Soon after, it was time to call it a day. The F1 cars went back for rest and analysis, while we made our way home to rest from a long day of fun and cars.

Do check out some of my Friday Practice photos here !

My 299th Post is a Summarised Update

2008-09-25T00:41:00.000+08:00

The last week till date had been very fun and hectic and roller coaster. This was the storyline

- Super Import Nights (pre-preparation and Day 1)

- University of Queensland Alumni Association of Singapore ~ Wine Symphony Function

- Super volatile financial markets turmoil and shocks, more time had to be allocated to this area and provide advisory to my clients during this last week

I had yet to write up my photojournalistic reports on the Super Import Nights and UQAAS Wine Symphony Event, only posted links to my Flickr site for selected photos from these 2 events.

Other areas need to blog would be introducing The Wine Symphony and upcoming events !

Sorry for the slow reporting, meanwhile, check out my photos !

Photos from UQAAS Wine Symphony Event 19th Sep 2008

2008-09-20T10:38:00.000+08:00

Check out my University of Queensland Alumni Association of Singapore Wine Symphony Event on the 19th September 2008 !

Hope you all enjoy viewing the photos and I would write on our wonderful networking event and The Wine Symphony in the next few days !

Photos From Super Import Nights 2008 !

2008-09-19T02:54:00.000+08:00

Check out my Day 1 photos of Super Import Nights 2008 !

Hope you all enjoy it ! I would be blogging about them in the next few days !

Mid Autumn Festival @ Radin Mas Primary School

2008-09-13T13:06:00.000+08:00

During these few days, there would going to be a number of Mid Autumn Festival celebrations happening around our different neighbourhoods.

On 12th September, Radin Mas Primary School and its neighbourhood Bukit Purmei and Telok Blangah Rise, had their Mid Autumn Festival Celebrations at their school compound, with a great carnival and the students setting up stalls for games and drinks.

The Radin Mas Cub Scouts were also involved and had 4 tables to set up their stalls, being the Big Brother Scouts, Gan Eng Seng Dragon Scout Group, from the young to the Old Boys (a few of us), came down and helped them in the running of the drinks, food and games.

It was a fun time, they had their MP to grace this event and they had a big lantern there too ! We bought some food and drinks from the Cub Scouts too and they all had a fun time too !

The simpler things in life can be so much fun ........ like the young kids ;)

My Top Photos Collection !

2008-09-12T01:12:00.000+08:00

I had just done up my Top Photos Collection from my Flickr site

Do drop by and take a look !

Top Photos Collection !

Thank you folks for all your support !

My Blog is "Attacked" - Read from Firefox

2008-09-09T20:41:00.000+08:00

In the morning of 9th September 2008, my blog here faced a situation that I haven't encountered for a long time. My blog was redirected to a lottery site after it finished loading.

Till now, it was a very frustrating, tiring day for me to work on finding out the roots of the problem and I haven't rectified it yet. Viewing from Safari and Internet Explorer had issues while Firefox now currently had no further issues.

I would like to sincerely apologise to my readers here if you were re-directed to another page and I am still trying to find the solution to it. Update you readers soon !

Mid Autumn Festival by the River - 6th September 2008

2008-09-08T00:05:00.001+08:00

After my adventure at the NBA Madness that was held at Marina Square, had dinner with Ray and Vik before we all split up to do our own stuff.

For me, I had planned to visit Mid Autumn Festival by the River, whereby the lanterns and lights were on display beside The Central and opposite Clarke Quay, along the Singapore River. When I reached there, there were quite a crowd of people of all ages, both locals and tourists, soaking in the event.

The Mid Autumn Festival is a significant day in the Chinese Lunar Calender, with history and origins from folklore, myths and history. Wikipedia does an excellent job to summarise on The Mid Autumn Festival, do drop by their site to read on the different versions on the history of The Mid Autumn Festival.

Another key component of this wonderful event is Mooncakes, whereby there were many different varieties and styles evolved over modernisation and they were getting more interesting, I am not the biggest fan of Mooncakes, however, if I had the opportunity, I would do a special blog post on the various mooncakes.

Back to the festival, there were many different light ups along the river, 12 Chinese Zodiac animals, deities, myths and folklore, history. It was a great family festival and if you are touring Singapore, do drop by and take a look ! There was also an awesome performance by a Shanghai Martial Arts Performing Troupe, that I didn't manage to get information on, performing outside The Central shopping mall. When I was there, it was raining heavily and I couldn't manage to get a good location to take nice photos of their wonderful performances, in the midst of difficult conditions and non-ideal shooting location.

Do drop by my flickr site for more photos !

Oh, let's start counting down to the 15th day of the 8th Lunar Month ! Bring out your lanterns and start lighting up the sky !

NBA Madness 2008 Singapore - Marina Square

2008-09-07T01:01:00.000+08:00

It was a normal internet surfing at the local photographers forum known as ClubSnap and I came across that NBA is coming to Singapore !

The event was known as NBA Madness 2008 and Singapore was one of its destinations, for NBA to showcase its sports to the other parts of the world. Actually, basketball here is very popular, nevertheless, it was a great tour and exhibition by NBA.

A great carnival, with games for the young and old, saw the NBA the Larry O'Brien Championship Trophy, slam dunk, dribbling and shooting competition, NBA stars coming down guest appearance. I went down for a few hours and only caught the Orlando Magic Dance Team performing, beautiful ladies that lights up the carnival and part of the slam dunk competition and the dribbling, passing and shooting competition.

Didn't stay longer than I would usually do, went out for afternoon coffee with Ray and Vik after that. Do check out some of my other photos here ! Hope you folks enjoyed the NBA Madness 2008 too !

Oh yeah , I am a LA Lakers Fan ! Remember "Show Time" by Magic Johnson ? ;)

For a Weekend Laugh!

2008-09-06T12:16:00.000+08:00

That was a special blog post by my friend Raymond, who helped me with an awesome and hilarious marketing of my personal blog and flickr.

It all started with this photo.

Do drop by his special post and have a read ........ and have a great laugh !

Have a nice weekend !

My Latest Hi-Tech Toy !

2008-09-05T00:16:00.001+08:00

This is a little bit late post on my latest high-tech toy from Apple .................

Presenting the Apple 3G iPhone -

Having lots of fun with it ! Love it to bits ! Do check out my personal review here on my personal blog !

Nike10k+ Human Race 2008 ~ 31.08.2008

2008-09-04T00:07:00.000+08:00

On 31.08.2008, there was a worldwide event known as Nike+ Human Race 10k, coming together for a noble cause and healthy lifestyle. My philosophical thoughts could be found here at my personal blog.

My photo blog would be presenting to you memories and photos of the running event and carnival -

My Goodie Pack

Starting

Ending

Do check out my other photos of The Human Race here !

Were you at the Nike+ Human Race 10k in other parts of the world ? Was it a fun run with a great carnival in your city ?

Let's all not forget the blessings given to the organisations supported by The Human Race !

RSAF Open House 2008

2008-09-03T00:08:00.001+08:00

The RSAF Open House 2008 was opened to the public from 30th August to 31st August 2008 and the visitors were treated to a great show of aerial display, fun games and carnival, informative display on the modern 3rd Generation Army and Airforce, and last but not least, the displays !

I reached there with my cousin aroudn 1+pm, the weather was good, sunny and bright, although with dark clouds looming in the sky. After clearing the security entrance, we were greeted by the "veterans" of the RSAF, the retired air warriors of the 1st and 2nd Generation. I forgot to take photos of them, I used to train in the UH-1H years ago !

Moving down, turning to the main ground, we were welcomed to the main showground ! Many different fighter jets, transport planes and ground military vehicles were on display. There were many people around especially families with children. They were very keen to sit inside the fighter jet to get a feel of it and were queuing up for it, so were the helicpoters, the Apache AH-64 and Super Puma. Other performances included the arming display for the different fighter jets, precision timing and teamwork.

Inside the hangers, it was turned into an exhibtion ground, showcasing the latest technology used in the RSAF and the history and development of the RSAF, brought back memories when I was a small kid looking at the fighter jets flying in the sky during major events such as NDP. There were also a great sense of pride when I saw how our RSAF had become a global citizen, helping countries around the world in humanitarian relief missions. We had grown a lot in the past 43 years !

The weather soon changed, strong rain and winds hit the RSAF Open House, luckily, we were resting in the stadium gallery, away from the rain. It was heavy and I was afraid that the aerial display would be cancelled. However, it stopped in time and the aerial display proceeded a little bit later instead of the usual stipulated timing.

The aerial display was an awesome performances consisting of

(1) Parachuters arriving from the sky
(2) Operational readiness by the figher jets squadorn
(3) Cooperation of armed forces and fighting machines (fighter jets, apaches, super puma, chinnok, charlie 130)
(4) Fighter Jets flypast

I had a great time photographing the aerial performance ! Although I was blocked by my fellow visitors, missed out some good photography taking opportunities.

Do check out my photos collection at Flickr !

Hope you all enjoyed my post and also enjoyed your trip down to the RSAF Open House 2008 !

F16 Black Knights at RSAF Open House 2008

2008-09-02T01:19:00.000+08:00

For the aviation fans, this year 2008 was a great to take many different photos of airplanes. One of my memorable photography moments were taking our F16 Black Knights during this year's NDP 2008 rehearsals.

I was there at the RSAF Open House 2008 on 30th August 2008 and Black Knight 1 was on display ! It definitely attracted a huge crowd and many of the F16 Black Knights pilots and ground crew were there and they also had a booth to showcase their videos and the names of the performance patterns that they adopted.

Do you remember the HEART shape a.k.a. the LOVE produced by the F16 Black Knights during NDP 2008 ? It is called FLAMING HEART ! They had the performance patterns printed nicely on the boards, do drop by my photo collection of the F16 Black Knights and see the names of their performance patterns !

Keep a lookout for my post on the RSAF Open House 2008 !

Updates again !

2008-08-31T11:54:00.000+08:00

Folks,

In a few hours time, I would be participating in the Nike 10+ Human Race, a short run, worldwide event, something different this time. Looking foward to enjoy the run and post party and running and carnival atmosphere.

Do also look out on my upcoming posts on

- RSAF Open House 2008

- Apple 3G iPhone photos

- Nike 10+ Human Race

See you folks later ! Have a nice weekend !

Counting Down to Nike+10k Human Race on 31.08.2008

2008-08-28T00:24:00.001+08:00

On 31.08.2008

A world running event, The Human Race 10k, with 1 million runners, 24 cities, for a noble cause.

See you folks there !

Singapore Fireworks Festival 2008 ~ French Romance

2008-08-25T00:08:00.002+08:00

The Singapore Fireworks Festival returned again in 2008, with the countries France and Korea performing.

I didn't manage to get my tickets in time and I had to make my way and squeeze with other people at the Esplanade. Due to my half marathon on Sunday 24th early morning, I only went to take the fireworks performance by France, called French Romance on 22nd August.

Reaching there rather early, I didn't realise that the fireworks would only start at 2130hrs and lasted about 15mins only. Well, I enjoyed my fireworks nevertheless, my humble fireworks photos are displayed below -

By using the same fireworks platform for National Day Parade 2008, the fireworks were a lot closer to the people at the Esplanade and it offers a different challenge and difficulty. However, if you are sitting on the Marina Bay Gallery, it would most probably be an excellent angle and perspective to capture the fireworks photos.

Hope you all enjoy the fireworks ! Do drop by my flickr for more photos !

I ran across the Marina Barrage !

2008-08-24T10:57:00.000+08:00

This morning, I just completed the Sheares Bridge Run and Army Half Marathon, it was a good run for me.

A very interesting part of the running route was running across the Marina Barrage. As I was a runner and did not bring my camera to take any photos, you can drop by their websites and take a look at their construction and development.

The Marina Barrage is almost complete and it is a very beautiful sight of the Marina Bay city skyline. When the Marina Bay area is fully developed in the near future, it will only get better.

I feel this region will be transform into a very vibrant area with excellent greenery and running tracks and last but not least, it might be another excellent location to capture fireworks at the Marina Bay.

Do keep a lookout, I would be writing on the Fireworks Festival French Romance soon.

Still waiting for 3G iPhone

2008-08-22T11:10:00.000+08:00

Today, there would be people collecting their latest gadget, the Apple 3G iPhone.....

As for me, my earliest appointment date that I would be able to book would be on 28th August, mine got pushed behind, well ....... I have to bear with this for 1 more week ........

Oh, btw, fireworks festival tonight, didn't manage to get the tickets in time, planning to go Esplanade, squeeze with people and watch there and there is an alumni event tomorrow.

Share with you people when I upload it here !

3G iPhone is coming to town !

2008-08-19T20:46:00.000+08:00

The toy that I had been waiting for ............... is finally arriving on 22nd August with its pricing plans

3G iPhone by Singtel

Still waiting for the email to inform me of my password and I would be to log in and make the necessary appointment to collect it .......

To be updated ........

Planning to Attend these Upcoming Events

2008-08-17T22:27:00.000+08:00

It's an exciting and lively month, with many upcoming activities, events and festivals with great opportunities for photography ;)

They are as follows -

(1) Singapore Fireworks Festival 2008 ~ 22 & 23 August
- Didn't manage to purchase the tickets in time to get a seat on the gallery, planning to squeeze at the Esplanade to take photos of the fireworks festival on 22nd August.

(2) RSAF Open House 2008 ~ 30 & 31 August
- A great opportunity to take photographs of the aircraft and performance ! Planning to go on 30th August

(3) Chinatown Mid Autumn Festival Official Light Up and Opening Ceremony ~ 31 August
- For lantern lovers, with the opening ceremony, it is the time whereby you can get very near to the giant lanterns in the middle of the busy roads of Chinatown !

(4) COMEX ~ 28 to 31 August
- For IT fans and there are definitely photography opportunities !

That's all for now folks ! I would post them up here if I attend them and take photographs !

Stay tuned !!

Keep you people posted for September 2008 events, festivals and activties !

A DSG Photo Book Update

2008-08-15T00:38:00.000+08:00

Folks,

Do you recall my posts last time when I was involved in the Dragon Scout Group 85th Anniversary Celebrations in 2007 ?

To recap, do drop by here to learn more on the 85th Anniversary Campfire and Dinner.

I was also helping out partially in the 85th Anniversary Book and I am very proud and happy to see the launch of the Dragon Scout Group 85th Book, launched on 08 / 08 / 2008 !!!!!

Once I officially get hold of the 85th Book, I will broadcast it out !

Stay tuned !

A Special Photos Collection

2008-08-13T01:18:00.000+08:00

A collection of photos of the F16 Black Knights during their NDP 2008 rehearsals and NDP 2008 flying performances !

NDP 2008 - From the Esplanade Bridge Part 2

2008-08-12T01:10:00.001+08:00

As the Marina Bay skyline turns dark, big birds of many beautiful different colours started sailing and flying to the Marina Bayfront, greeting the crowds around the Marina Bay area, celebrating our nation's 43rd Birthday.

Right now, it was a patient wait for the finale, that many of us waiting and watching the National Day Parade at the sides were waiting for. I prepared my DSLR for fireworks mode, setting up my standard operating routine to take fireworks, making adjustments to my tripod, angle of inclination and wide angle view of the skyline whereby the fireworks would be shown.

Soon, the moment of truth arrived. It was the start of a very beautiful series of fireworks, I always loved the opportunity to take fireworks whenever I had the chance and the NDP fireworks really gave the birthday celebrations a bright and happy finale ending !

However, the weather was not really kind to us on the Esplanade Bridge. The smoke didn't clear and it got stuck there in the sky, some of the fireworks were engulfed by the smoke and the letter "S" wasn't able to be seen from our point of view. I could only capture a glimpse of it, camouflaged by the thick smoke.

3 different sets of fireworks, bringing the 43rd National Day Parade Celebrations to a close. A fitting and beautiful end to a wonderful birthday celebrations. The poor weather would not dampen our moods.

Hope everybody enjoyed the NDP 2008 !

NDP 2008 - From the Esplanade Bridge Part 1

2008-08-11T00:08:00.001+08:00

On the 9th August 2008, Singapore celebrated its 43rd birthday at the Marina BayFront.

With many rehearsals leading up to this grand finale, I had been following them over the saturdays, giving me a good time to take different photographs from different locations, angles, perspectives and understanding the flight and performance pattern of the F16 Black Knights.

I was there about 2 hours before the pre-parade segment, managed to find a spot on the Esplanade Bridge. The weather looked great on one end, however, the Eastern side was dark and cloudy. Initially, I thought, it would be fine, the weather would clear soon but it wasn't to be, soon dark rain clouds filled the skyline and started drizzling. As time goes by, nearing towards the start of the parade, it drizzled, stopped, drizzled, stopped and with strong windy conditions.

Nevertheless, the pre-parade segment commenced in the bad weather conditions. The erratic drizzle and poor weather didn't deter the people to move off, even though there were significant movement on the Esplanade Theatre and waterfront. The Red Lions Parachuters had a very tough task on hand, with strong winds constantly changing in directions, we had to salute them for their courageous efforts and skills for giving Singapore's 43rd Birthday a wonderful performance !

Even though the weather was slowly clearing, there were still the drizzle and stop situation. The Singapore Flag Fly Past came and everybody around the Esplanade was cheering it loud ! The bad weather wasn't going to dampen the mood there !

Soon, the moment a lot of us had been waiting for. The F16 Black Knights flying in to salute the nation on its 43rd Birthday ! A grand finale performance after many hard hours of training. It was very popular with everybody there at the grounds and they were cheering for it even though the afterburner was really loud with their low level flying and high altitude climb. The best birthday gift was the HEART and everyone of us cheered !

Happy 43rd Birthday Celebrations !

Happy 43rd Birthday, Singapore !!!

2008-08-09T23:46:00.000+08:00

Happy Birthday Singapore ! 43 Years Young !!!

I would write up on my time on the Esplanade Bridge at the National Day Parade 2008 soon ...

Meanwhile, do drop by my Flickr and take a look at my photos first !

Have fun everybody !

Biggest Fireworks I ever seen ~ 2008 Beijing Olympics Opening Ceremony

2008-08-09T00:30:00.000+08:00

The 08/08/2008 had just passed and I had witnessed one of the best events ever staged.

It was the 2008 Beijing Olympics 2008 Opening Ceremony, my inner most thoughts were collected and written down here.

However, from a photographer's perspective, the Opening Ceremony had the biggest fireworks display that I had ever seen, absolutely huge and awesome ! It was simply amazing on just the fireworks alone, not to mention the performances too. Being a fireworks fan, I had to give this special, dazzling and spectacular fireworks performance its due credit and praise !

Let the 2008 Beijing Olympics Games Begin !

Photography Sharing Tips - How to take out of the Ordinary Photos

2008-08-07T10:30:00.000+08:00

In the continuation of my photography sharing tips, I came across this interesting photography article by PopPhoto.com, on "5 Out of the Ordinary Photo Trips".

Photographers, travlers love to take many different types of photos during their time away in a new country, city or town. They would definitely have wonderful memories of their beautiful time, however, do you ever think of taking more exotic photographs, visit more exotic locations ?

In this article, there are 5 great suggestions for some great adventures and out of the ordinary photography sessions

(1) Chasing Tornadoes

(2) Snorkel with Penguins

(3) Capture Lava Flows

(4) Discover Shipwrecks

(5) Dog Sled by Day, Get Photo Tips by Night

The above selections are indeed something so unique, probably only the braver ones would be chasing torandoes or capturing shipwrecks. Do drop by their site and read in greater detail on their selections.

I would love the idea on the Snorkel with Penguins and Dog Sled by Day, Get Photo Tips by Night, something diferent from the normal holiday travel trips. I would probably research more on them in the future and make plans to take some Out of the Ordinary Photos to my collection !

Happy Photo shooting !

Tagged by iWalk, U2?,Let's MEME !

2008-08-06T01:17:00.000+08:00

I was tagged by iWalk, U2? on 26th July for MEME and I was really busy before being able to proceed on with this MEME !

Ok ...... Here goes

Here are my 4 Things :

4 Jobs that I had

- Guest Services Officer

- Temp Customer Services Officer

- Retail Executive

- Hotel Internship

4 Movies that I can watched over and over again

- Star Wars Trilogy

- Forrest Gump

- Indian Jones Trilogy

- The Simpsons Movie

4 Places that I lived

- Singapore

- Malaysia

- Australia

- Shanghai, China

4 TV Shows that I liked

- CSI Miami

- CSI New York

- Band of Brothers

- Heroes

4 Places that I vocationed

- Tokyo

- Shanghai

- Brisbane

- Phuket

4 of my Favourite Dishes

- Char Kway Teow

- Fried Chicken

- Roti John

- Satay

4 Places that I rather be Right Now

- Bali

- Bhutan

- Tibet

- Nepal

People I tag (in random order)

- Jack Lan

- Eunice

- Zhigang

- Elizabeth

- Alex

- Yong Kok

- Samantha Teo

- Scene This Scene That

- Raymond

- Joel

- Jayce

- Lisa

- Kee Yit

- Bobbie

- Nature Nut / JJ Loch

- Huali

Hope you all have fun folks !

Photography Sharing Tips on Vocation Photos

2008-08-06T00:24:00.000+08:00

Folks,

I had been taking many photos and sharing with people in a photojournalist style to convey my event, adventure and coverage of the events, functions and travel stories.

As I improved in my photography skills, it dawned upon me from my personal development learning via my personal blog also, on the importance of sharing, teaching and mentoring. Therefore, I would also start something similar here, in the fields of photography. By doing so, I would improve on my knowledge too and bringing my photography to another level, a worthy breakthrough.

I came across this article by PopPhoto.com, on "Six Vocation Photos That Can Kill You", since I am a hardcore photographer who loves to travel, this article made a lot of sense to me and KNOCKED some common sense back into me too. There are 6 crucial points to take note -

Falling into the Grand Canyon
Attacked by Wildlife
Attacked Underwater
Drowned by Waterfalls
Struck by Lightning
The Wrong Place at The Wrong Time

I recalled climbing Mount Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia during December 2007, monsoon season, reaching the peak area could be dangerous if you choose to deviate away from the designated route, once you fell down, it's like free fall, nevertheless, it is overall still a safe mountain to climb. Therefore, folks, please be very careful of this particular kinds of terrain.

Drowned by Waterfalls - Another of my favourite outdoor adventure, just loved to be under the waterfall or jumped into the waterfall pool. Looking back, I need to be less reckless.

Lightning - To be struck, it's pure lottery and freakish. However, in Singapore, you have a higher chance, Singapore has more lightning appearing.

My fellow photographers, do drop by their sites and take a look !

Photos Uploaded on Flickr !

2008-08-05T00:51:00.000+08:00

Folks,

For the 2 events that I went and took photographs, I had selected more photos and uploaded them on Flickr !

Do drop by them and take a look !

National Day Parade Preview 2008

National Dog Walk 2008

Hope you all enjoy them !

Cheers !!

National Dog Walk 2008 ~ 3rd August

2008-08-04T00:51:00.001+08:00

What do you get when you have many dog owners bringing their dogs out to the park ? You get a fun day of carnival, gatherings, dog grooming, competitions and many happy dogs running around, making new friends.

It was the National Dog Walk 2008, organised by Noah's Ark CARES, held at the West Coast Park Dog Run compound, the event started from 10am and ended 7pm. I only got there at around 4pm, hoping to catch the dog walk charity event at 430pm and take photos of the different breeds of dogs in playful action.

Well, I found myself at the dog running compound, enjoying watching the different types of dogs playing with their owners, fellow doggies, and strangers. There were also a competition to test the dog's capabilities such as agility and speed, with a well-designed circuit for the dog to go through with their owner. It was fun watching them in action especially the Siberian Husky completing the circuit in hot Singapore weather !

In between, it was very fun and also very challenging to take the dogs in action around the other parts of the field, whether playing with their toys or with their new found friends. Their movements and actions were very fast and changing direction very rapidly, however, there were also the lovely and peace loving doggies that would sit down on the chair or lie down on the grass patch and let you take their photos !

Oh, by the way, my lovely Japanese Spitz was very tired from her morning adventure at the National Dog Walk and couldn't go back for the walk at 430pm. She's kind of overweight and it affected her 4 skinny legs. She needs slimming class.........

NDP Preview 2008

2008-08-03T11:34:00.002+08:00

After weeks of practice, it's the time for the National Day Parade Preview 2008. I decided to head for the Suntec Convention Centre for the Ceremonial Flags Uncasing Ceremony first, being the Preview, it was the full dress rehearsal for the Grand Finale on 9th August 2008.

Besides the full uncasing ceremony procedures, the public watching the uncasing ceremony were given a short video presentation on the two giant television screens on the history of the ceremonial flags and colours, the importance and relevance in Singapore today. It was also an eye opener for me too, going back into the history and understanding our roots better.

Thereafter, I took some photos of the Colour Party, Guard of Honour Contingent and supporting uniformed groups contingent marching towards the Marina Bay Front. Today's security and road blocks were a lot stricter and safer, and it was more difficult to move across to the Esplanade. When I got to the Esplanade Bridge, I had already missed most of the pre-parade segment, the Red Lions Parachuters, jet-ski displays etc..... The crowds were getting bigger but not too jammed packed yet.

I finally managed to find myself a spot on the Esplanade Bridge closer to the Esplanade and waited for the action to start. The weather was very good yesterday and it was very exciting to take photos of the National Flag Fly Past, Black Knights awesome aerial display in the clear blue sky !

After that, waited for the fireworks to start. It was a very windy day and tricky too. The smoke just kept on blowing into the direction of the Esplanade Bridge and some of my photos had a lot of smoke inside it ! We at the bridge were not spared from the ash of the expanded fireworks, it dropped on us due to the strong winds blowing towards the people on the bridge, it dropped on our clothes, hair and even landed into our mouth !!!!

It was a fitting grand finale of fireworks, very beautiful and Happy NDP Preview 2008 !

Do drop by my flickr site for NDP Preview 2008 photos !

K1 Grand Finale Day 2 - 27th July

2008-07-31T00:05:00.001+08:00

After my adventure with vintage cars at the Raffles Landing site, I slowly made my way to the Singapore F1 Pit Building. The weather was a bit hot and I just pop into shopping malls along the way to enjoy the cooling air-conditioning.

There were supposed to be people joining me today but in the end, I went alone instead, I would still continue to go ahead and enjoy my photo taking and sports cars adrenaline high octane action.

On the sunday, there were more people coming to this carnival, there were more activities especially catering for the children, there were many of them at the Tamiya mini-racing cars, kiddy rides, drawing and colouring competition. Besides, there were super car sprints too, nice to see sports cars doing time laps on the F1 track, especially watching my favourite Skyline GT-R, the latest version in action ! Go-Karting was just as popular and there were also more people watching the show cars on display and many photographers catching the action at the various locations at the Singapore F1 Pit Building.

Back to drifting, more action, seems like people who signed up for the drift clinic and trying out their sports cars on drifting. Maybe I was there at the wrong time, not much information was broadcasted to the public on the drifting segment.

Being a sports car fanatic photographer and a public viewer, the drifting event segment wasn't well lay out, I understood the need for safety distances and barriers, always posing a challenge to take photos from such constraints. Moreover, it probably doesn't give enough media coverage to the drifters too..... Oh yeah, I am a drift fan.

Overall, this carnival was different from the car events I been before, it's great to have different types of racing, sports cars, go-kart and saloon cars events catering for the young to car fanatics to families. It's a good build up to the upcoming Singapore GP.

Do drop by my flickr site and view the K1 Grand Finale photos !

Singapore Heritage Festival 2008 - Vintage Cars

2008-07-30T10:06:00.001+08:00

In conjunction with the National Parade month in August, Singapore had been organising for the past 5 years, an event that attracts both the young and old, locals and overseas visitors. The event is our Singapore Heritage Festival.

There are many different events happening at the Singapore Heritage Festival 2008, do drop by their website and read about their various events and activities. Do join in the fun too !

As for me, being a photography and car lover, the vintage cars from Singapore and Malaysia and other countries too, came together as part of the Singapore Heritage Festival Vintage Cars Grand Prix and Concours display at the Raffles Landing site on 27th July 2008. I was a bit late therefore, I couldn't catch them racing in action on the road (within speed limits).

I remember viewing the vintage cars at the National Museum Singapore and could identify some of the vintage cars. However, there were more different vintage cars on display at the 2008 event ! Sometimes, they do not need more words and introduction, admiring their classic beauty and racing power of the vintage cars are an art by itself.

Do drop by my flickr site and enjoy viewing the vintage cars !

K1 Grand Finale Day 1 - 26th July

2008-07-29T00:08:00.002+08:00

After exploring the Singapore Garden Festival at the Suntec Convention Centre, I went down to the newly completed F1 Pit Building behind/beside the Singapore Flyer for the K1 Grand Finale Carnival Day 1.

There were 2 days of events and I went on both days. As I reached at about 4pm++, some of the earlier events had already passed. There were many different types of events happening concurrently and I felt that it was a rather family-oriented car carnival, with kiddy rides, playground for young children, go-karting on the F1 track and pit stop area, drifting for drifters, sports cars display and Audi R8 sprint ride for children 7-12 years old.

Met Collin and Isaac at the event, we went around exploring the F1 pit building area. I was very excited walking around, it's not often you can explore such venues, and F1 is coming to Singapore very soon, a Night Race too ! Collin and Isaac went to queue up for Go-Karting while I walked around the pit area, looking around.

When the 2 of them finally got onto their Go-Kart, I was there to snap photos at them and I was laughing at Isaac, who can't put on the safety belt and harness on the Go-Kart (I would reserve this hilarious drama to a specially dedicated post for Isaac) ..... Haha ....... Well, soon, they were driving away on the pit stop and F1 track, short distance with fun !

Thereafter, continued exploring the Tamiya mini racing car toys booth and mini racing cars circuit. Isaac played around the remote control cars and got himself a mini racing car from Tamiya !! Drifting was around the same location and we watched some nice drifting action taking place.

On the saturday, there weren't too many people there, marketing was done by K1 Motorsport and there were different types of car related events inside the Grand Finale itself. As for sunday, which I would write a separate post on, was better and more people arriving, especially the young children.

I am a car fanatic and photography crazy, it's a 2 hit combination. Looking foward to the upcoming F1 Singapore GP.........

It's Cars and more Cars !

Singapore Garden Festival 2008

2008-07-28T00:08:00.003+08:00

In the month of July and August, they would be the 2 months whereby we would be to participate and enjoy many different types of events in Singapore.

One of them was the Singapore Garden Festival, well, before I write further, I have to thank my cousin Ching Ching for giving me a weekend ticket to the Singapore Garden Festival, the Singapore Garden Festival really blew me off, 2 floors of the Suntec City Convention Centre and the whole convention hall space was occupied.

The exhibition on the 6th Floor were divided into:

Level 6

Landscape and Fantasy Gardens

Featuring creations by local designers and top award-winning garden designers from around the world including Australia, Germany, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore, Sweden, South Africa, Thailand, United Kingdom and United States of America.

Floral Windows to the World

Featuring colourful and vibrant cut-flower displays and floral masterpieces with stunning set design and lighting by floral designers from Belgium, France, India, Norway, Macau and more.

(Information and Link from the official website)

It was a real eye-opener, t here were so many many beautiful landscape designers from different parts of the world, that graced this wonderful event and showcased their world class landscape designs and horticulture. I really had a wonderful time taking phot os, there were some outstanding displays that caught my attention -

(1) Touching the Tulip by Nico Wissing

(2) Painting with Nature: An Everchanging Landscape by Dimitri Xenakis & Maro Avrabou

(3) Seeking Shangri-La by Peter Cheok

(4) IMBIZO yase Afrika by David Davidson

The above were my personal favourites and there were still many world class displays there too, the whole 6th floor of the convention hall was filled up and I was moving very fast to move around the various displays to take as many different photos.

I used my EF 17-40mm F4 L initially to capture most of my "landscape" photos first before switching to my EF 70- 200 F4 L for my "portrait" flowers photo shoot, trying to produce macro flowers using my telephoto lense ;)

Thereafter, I went down to the 4th floor and it was another set of flowers display -

Level 4

Singapore Orchid Show

Showcasing Southeast Asia’s rich and diverse heritage of orchids. A dazzling display of the most diverse botanical family and the most important plant group in the international floriculture industry.

Garden Fiesta

Offering educational, recreational and entertainment activities catering to the public, families, serious gardeners as well as hobbyists.

Vibrant MarketPlace

Offering a wide array of plants, gardening and landscape products and services, and arts & craft – all under one roof

Clarin s Learning Garden

Here, children will get to learn through fun and games to love and respect Nature by being more aware of and making every effort to reduce their carbon footprint.

It was simply orchids and orchids, well, majority of them;) ..... It was a venue whereby I was asking myself, there were so many different breeds and varieties of orchids ? I threw my

self a challenge, to take as many different photos of the orchids on display there.

It had been quite a long time since I went to take photos of flora and fauna, used to love taking photos as it gave me a very quiet time to enjoy and improve my photography while enjoying the beauty of Mother Nature.

Do drop by my Flickr Set for more photos !

After an enjoyable photo taking session, I proceed on to my next event destination, K1 Grand Finale Day 1 at F1 Pit Building, with Isaac and Collin.

Stay tuned !

Summary and Preview of my upcoming posts

2008-07-27T22:19:00.000+08:00

Today, on the sunday 27th July, I went for a day of automobile photos taking. Firstly, it was the Singapore Heritage Festival - Vintage Cars, followed by K1 Grand Finale Day 2 at the F1 Pit Building.

Many posts to write, more photos to upload onto Flickr. A preview of my upcoming posts would be as follows:

- Singapore Garden Festival 2008

- Singapore Heritage Festival 2008 - Vintage Cars

- K1 Grand Finale @ F1 Pit Building

- Ray's Last Minute Birthday Gathering

- A possible special post for Isaac.

This would most probably be the schedule blog postings here (subject to changes and last minute introduction of new stories and events !)

Thank you all for your support and readership ! Remember to bookmark here !

Quick summary of friday and saturaday events

2008-07-26T23:28:00.000+08:00

It had been a hectic and fun friday and saturday for me. Different activities, would be planning to write up about them soon -

Friday 24th

(1) Ray's last minute birthday gathering (waiting for pics from his hp cam)

Saturday 25th

(1) Singapore Garden Festival

(2) K1 Grand Finale Day 1

Stay tuned, folks !

Professional Interior Designer

2008-07-26T10:39:00.000+08:00

A home is a very important part of our life, it's where we sleep, wash up, eat, cook, host parties and many other interesting activities in your home.

Whether you are a new homeowner or an existing homeowner, do you face dilemma when you wanted to do renovations for refurbishing an existing home or planning to come up with something different when you purchased your new home? When it comes to interior design for your home, it can get really frustrating, working with different groups of people, therefore, you will want a professional interior designer that understands your styles, tastes, needs, desires and requirements for your home and not those of the interior designer.

I have the recommendation for you, Kajagamdesigns, Interior Design New York, they are the great interior design consultants, helping you the homeowner, to formulate designs that suits the homeowner's personality, style with the professional flair from Interior Design in New York City. They would sit down, listen to you the homeowner, and work closely with you on your whole interior design planning. For existing homeowners, do take this opportunity to have your kitchen and bathroom renovated, they are the experts in Bathroom Remodeling in New York City, if you are planning your entire house renovation, look no further, Kaja Gam Designs is your professional interior designer solutions and services provider.

A new home with an awesome interior design and planning handled by Kaja Gam Designs, or a wholly renovated existing home, it will definitely make your home more cosy and comfortable for yourself and family. The warmth and love of the family in a home with the interior design matched to your personality, style and preferences by Kaja Gam Designs is priceless.

Another Weekend of Photos Taking

2008-07-26T03:01:00.000+08:00

Today is the start of another new weekend.

It had been a hectic week for me, handling different business matters and client servicing. This weekend of photos taking would be good for me to de-stress before going back to my work flow and routines again.

Some insights of the photos taking opportunities of events

- Flowers

- Vintage Cars

- Go-Karts

- Car Carnival

Bookmark here ! Coming to my photojournalist blog soon ..............

A Perfect Internet Web Design Consultant

2008-07-25T09:58:00.001+08:00

Folks,

Do you currently own websites for personal and businesses ?

Have you ever encounter website design headaches, whereby after scratching your head, you still can't come up with a good website design for your website ? Do you have an excellent website but it is not getting the international readership that it really deserves ?

If you faced the above issues, look no further, introducing a perfect internet consultant known as Diggy, a web design company ! Established since 1997, they are a highly experienced Internet Marketing and Website Design Company with an excellent track record, with more than 1000 websites produced by their dedicated and talented staff. With their vast years of Website Design and Internet Marketing experience, they would be able to grow and expand your website along with backend support in the areas of database management and development and hosting facilities.

Choosing Diggy the Web Design Company is the way to go !! They are highly experienced, your one stop solution for your Website Design needs, personalised service, excellent quality of service provision, technical and Internet Marketing expertise, all these wonderful points at a great value of money !!

Whether you are a personal account, small business, medium to giant corporate entities, Diggy is the perfect solution to growing your website, marketing, business, sales, productivity, management of your sites and customised web development projects.

Look no further, drop by into Diggy the Web Design Company now and contact them for their Website Design and Internet Marketing customised solutions !

Studio Festi @ Singapore Night Festival ~ 19th July 2008

2008-07-22T00:08:00.001+08:00

The National Museum of Singapore organised its first Night Festival at the National Museum of Singapore and Singapore Management University Campus Green, with a dazzling and extraordinary performance by Studio Festi from Italy, with the theme of their magnificent performance, Dancing Sky.

I rushed there after taking the first set of fireworks from the Esplanade Bridge earlier, met up with my Cousin Ching Ching at the Singapore Arts Museum before crossing over to the SMU Camp us Green, even though we were early, it was getting crowded with many people, we just made our way and could only stay on the Campus Green side, apparently, was quite a great view of the various performances actually.

When the performances started, the people there were given an awesome display of artistic aerial performance, fitting to their theme, Dancing Sky. For greater details of the various different performances, do look into the National Museum of Singapore website and have a deeper understanding ........

Meanwhile ........ let my photos speak

After a first half of fantastic action, the performances from the National Museum of Singapore turned towards the SMU Campus Green, where we were standing, therefore, we turned around and enjoyed the second half of the Night Festival........

It was a very enjoyable night for photo taking, do drop by my flickr site for more photos from my time enjoying Dancing Sky at Studio Festi.

A Wet Rehearsal on 19th July 2008

2008-07-21T00:08:00.000+08:00

For those readers who had been following my photoblog postings, I had been attending the NDP 2008 Rehearsals, taking photos from different locations and angles. Personally, I found it to be very interesting, great opportunites to take photos, examining and analysing different shooting locations for the various performances from the land, air and sea.

There is always something new, something different. Before this rehearsal, it came to my attention that my friend was part of the Guard of Honour marching contingent. Decided to meet my old friend and catch up with him at Suntec City before the Ceremonial Flags uncasing ceremony. Took some photos for him, chit chat before he went to prepare and I went down to get into a position for the Ceremonial Flags uncasing ceremony, that was available to be watched by members of the public.

The uncasing ceremony is a very important and solemn ceremony for the military forces and especially during our National Day Parade, whereby we would be to view the various military formations. As I was brought up in a environment whereby I learned the importance of maintaining and following traditions, since my scouting days. The Ceremonial Flags uncasing ceremony is very important and solemn, I strongly urge the public viewers to show the utmost respect for the ceremony when the ceremony is being conducted.

Thereafter, I walked over to the Esplanade to catch the pre-parade segment, and I realised that if I wanted to catch the pre-parade after catching the Ceremonial Flags uncasing ceremony, you might be missing out on them if you do not walked fast enough over in time and it might be very crowded on the actual day itself.

The weather was very dark, a wet weather evening. The F16s Black Knights air display was changed from the past few rehearsals and it was a very refreshing, new and challenging perspective to take photos of them in top class action, given the dark gloomy rain clouds.

While waiting for the fireworks to arrive, the rain started pouring down on us, it wasn't heavy rain but the winds were a little bit strong and blowing into our face, I was at the Esplanade Bridge and I was quite wet eventually. A lot of people started leaving due to the rain, I persisted, praying for rain to stop. It didn't but I continued and took the first set of fireworks. By then, I decided that I needed to pack up and rush over to SMU & National Museum for the Singapore Night Festival and I needed to get myself dry first.

And off I went ......... to the Singapore Night Festival @ SMU and National Museum ........ coming up in the next post !

Stay tuned !

Upcoming Posts + Photos of my New Working Desk & Books Collection

2008-07-20T09:55:00.000+08:00

Folks,

I had a wet saturday while I was taking photographs outside. In the upcoming posts, I would be writing up on my adventures at

NDP Rehearsal 2008 on 19th July 2008
Singapore Night Festival - Studio Festi from Italy, on 19th July 2008

However, just to show my new working desk that I recently changed, the office work desk is purchased from Solos (S) Pte Ltd, do drop by their site and take a look at their wide range of office furniture products and design planning!!!

And last but not least my personal books and CDs collection !

Stayed tuned folks !

A Cleaner CMOS Sensor

2008-07-19T00:24:00.000+08:00

On tuesday 15th July, I decided to send in my trustworthy Canon EOS 30D for a long overdue servicing...... Sensor Cleaning.

My flickr friends were highlighting to me on the apparent increase in number of dust, spots and dirts. I went back to my trustworthy retail outlet, The Camera Workshop, and sent it in for sensor cleaning. For my international readers, The Camera Workshop is located at 3 Coleman Street, Unit 01-27/21, Peninsula Shopping Centre, Singapore 179804. The place where I got most of my camera stuff and accessories.

Finally on friday, 18th July, I collected back my Canon EOS 30D and lady boss showed me 2 photos, before and after cleaning........ well ........ I was amazed and shocked at the number of dots on my sensor (probably 20++) ........ In conclusion, a must do servicing.......

Looking foward to Saturday's photo taking events ....... Keep a lookout here !!!

Giant Love Heart

2008-07-17T01:17:00.002+08:00

I had been taking the Giant Love Heart, produced by our awesome and talented F16 Black Knights, trying to get it as beautiful as possible.

iWalk, U2, a fellow travel blogger, suggested on my flickr that "it is the best moment to say "I Love You" to your girlfriend...... "

My dear readers, when you see the Giant Love Heart, remember to say the magic and beautiful words and spread LOVE to everybody !

Upcoming Travel Photography Competition & Exhibition

2008-07-15T01:40:00.000+08:00

The Singapore International Photography Festival is scheduled to take place from 8th to 31st October 2008 and in conjunction with this event, there is a fringe event known as "Asia Mosaics - Travel Photography Competition and Exhibition".

For more details and information, do drop into the official websites here :

- Singapore International Photography Festival

- Asia Mosaics - Travel Photography Competition and Exhibition

For my fellow travel and photo bloggers in Asia, do consider taking part in this event !

I am thinking of entering this competition, I feel it will be an excellent event and competition to test myself (in travel photography), ever since I was introduced to photography at a very young age by my dad and turning more serious into my hobby about 3 years ago.

Folks, if you drop by into my Flickr site and find outstanding travel photos in my collection, that you feel I can submit, do feel free to drop me your views and recommendations !

Good luck with this competition folks ! Last but not least ...... Enjoy taking many many travel photos !

Poll Needed : Which Fireworks Photo You Like Better

2008-07-14T00:31:00.002+08:00

Folks,

During the past 2 saturdays, I had took fireworks photographs and I would like to run a poll of your opinions on which fireworks photo do you prefer .........

I have attached the map for reference (From Google Maps)

View Larger Map

(a) Fireworks Photo taken from the Esplanade (in front of the Stage@Powerhouse)

(b) Fireworks Photo taken from the Esplanade Bridge (Esplanade Drive)

Just to get a feel which location should I choose to position myself for taking photographs (fireworks especially) on NDP 2008.........

Do drop by my flickr site for more photos for comparisons and analysis !

A Different Shooting Location - A Different Perspective

2008-07-13T00:11:00.001+08:00

On 12th July 2008, it's National Education Show 2, another fun filled day of NDP 2008 rehearsal. I decided to drop down again and this time round, I decided I needed a different shooting location, to have a different perspective.

The location I decided to set up my camera and location was on the Esplanade Bridge, with a wide angle view of the Esplanade, Marina Bayfront and Merlion Park. I happened to bump into another fellow photographer, Billy, whom I met at Vivo last week.

A fresh challenge, different views, lovely opportunities. The weather today was excellent and the show was a lot more energetic and exciting, building up to our upcoming nation's birthday.

Presenting to you, some of the selected photos of National Education Show 2, from the Esplanade Bridge.

Do check out my other photos on my flickr site !

Hope you all enjoy it ! Counting down to NDP 2008 !

National Education Show 1 - 2008

2008-07-09T22:29:00.003+08:00

In my previous posts, you had seen the photos of F16 fighter jets flying and performing in well rehearsed display of aerial powers, a heart shape in the sky, the floating platform, "giant balloon".

Well, these were just leading up to our NDP 2008, and on 5th July 2008, we had our National Education Show 1 , for about 27,000 people and having 10,000 Primary 5 students inside, watching the preview of the upcoming NDP 2008, more details were released inside the Straits Times Article.

"The National Education Show is funded by the Ministry of Education (MOE). It aims to instil a sense of pride and patriotism in our younger children and it builds on the common space that MOE has provided as part of the national school system" - Official Link HERE

There were a lot of action and people in a sea of red colour at the Marina Bayfront Floating Platform but before that I was at the Suntec City, watching the ceremony whereby the ceremonial flags colour party contingent were unveiled in a traditional and proper ceremony. For those who understood and appreciate ceremonial parades, this is very important and significant. I grew up with a highly respected Dragon Scout Group with a rich and long history and flag break and flag lowering ceremonies were observed and executed with important traditions and significance.

Thereafter, I moved over from Suntec City to the Esplanade and I was there to continue practicing my photo shoot, firstly capturing the parachuters arriving from the skies, the National Flag fly past and for the awesome F16s Black Knights, I thought I was ready for them but the timing changed !!!! It was a real test for photographers like us, quickly snapping photos of the high octane flying performances.

I felt that I was able to capture the F16s Black Knights better (lesser blur images), nevertheless, still a lot of room for improvement. While the performance w as going on the floating platform, I prepared my tripod and got myself ready for the fireworks, one of my favourite photography interests. Finally, the grand finale came and I was very happy to be there and be to capture the fireworks display, love watching fireworks !!!!

Folks, there would be more action coming up in the weeks ahead ! Do keep a lookout here !

Visit by Pallada from Russia

2008-07-07T00:08:00.002+08:00

Being a world class harbour and trading port (in its early days), ships from many parts of the world do drop by Singapore on their way around the world.

Last weekend, Pallada from Russia, a Sailing Tall Ship, used for the training of cadets, arrived in Singapore for a visit and it was moored outside Vivo City. It was in the local news and there were coverage on that tall sailing ship, currently on a 9 months trip around the world. It was great to see something different sailing into Singapore, the last being the Gotheborg in January 2007.

Seeking new photography experiences and objects to take, I went down to Vivo City and explored the might Sailing Tall Ship Pallada from the outside, moving from her bow to stern and going up to the 2nd and 3rd floors of Vivo City, taking photos of the ship.

While I was taking photos on the 3rd floor, trying to take photos of the observation platform on the ship mast and pulleys and guylines, something that most people may not be too interested to take photos of. I got to know Francis, who is currently working as a full-time photographer, had a very interesting and interactive chat with him, ranging from views of photography to selling photos online.

Please do drop by my Flickr site for more photos of Pallada !

It's interesting to know more people who loves photography yet have their own field of expertise and preference. I still love the area of photojournalism !

Next stop, National Education Show 1 at the Esplanade, coming up shortly.............

Please Vote For Traveler.Folio !!!

2008-07-05T00:31:00.000+08:00

TravelerFolio.com is an inspiring travel photo blog. If you like the blog, vote for it. Thanks.

Vote for Travelerfolio.com

A fellow photo blogger that I got to know from social networking sites ! Do vote for her !

Photo Gifts by Photofun.com !!

2008-07-04T01:23:00.000+08:00

Folks,

Over the years, technology, research and development, and lower cost of electronics production, had given us photography lovers many more opportunities in taking a lot more photos and many many more people are joining in the fray with digital cameras and mobile phone cameras.

Therefore, with a huge treasure box of photos, you definitely want to share and give Photo Gifts to your loved ones, family and friends. The gifts can be in the form of Print Photos, Photo Albums, Photo Books, Photo Calenders, Photo Cards and many more selections !

Look no further, introducing PhotoFun.com ! A very friendly and easily accessible Photo Sharing website whereby not only do you get to share your photos, they can be printed, using FujiFilm paper (My Favourite and Recommended Choice for Photo Prints - Being An Avid Photographer, I would make FujiFilm my FIRST Choice). With the wonders of technology and the Internet, you can easily submit your photos online for printing at low, competitive and attractive prices !

Whatever Photo Gifts solutions you plan to look at, hop into PhotoFun.com now and have lots of fun with your beautiful photos, scrolling on the various ultra friendly selections panel (exactly like my Apple Mac OS X !!), start your photos sharing and printing !

The photo prints or the beautiful photo albums can be the most lovely gift you can ever give to somebody that they can cherish for life !

Happy Photo Printing @ PhotoFun.com !!!!

I Love My APPLE !

2008-07-03T00:08:00.000+08:00

Based on a true story ......................

There was once an avid photographer who loves high technology stuff, gadgets and information technology. When he was getting more engrossed into photo taking, a new challenge dawned upon with regards to post-processing and screen colours management. He was gradually introduced to the White World of another fruit, that was seen to be special, different and unique.

Photo Link: http://www.waterfootprint.org/images/gallery/original/apple.jpg

The fruit was APPLE. Initially, he was hesitant like many others, checking out the APPLE Homepage, reading forums, asking his friends on the pros and cons of APPLE technology and platform. After making a decision to join the White World, he procrastinated again and dragged the purchase of his White High Tech Gadget. His APPLE user mates gave him a very good verbal thrashing and poking fun of him, all in the name of good faith, goodwill, fun and laughter, peace and joy !

On a particular Friday the 13th, June 2008, he decided enough is enough, he will buy his long awaited Macbook. That person is ME !

The Macbook that I had was the 2.1 GHz armed with 120GB HD, with wonderful accessories of 4GB RAM, E-Shield, Keyboard Protector and a soft case. For more information on the specifications of the Macbook that I purchased, do visit APPLE SINGAPORE and it is a very friendly website !

I have the best of both worlds running Mac OS X Leopard with Boot Camp installed with it, 4GB of RAM powering dual operating systems of Windows XP and Mac OS, absolutely perfect ! The iPhoto is simply awesome and superb, being an avid photographer, it gave me the controls and functions that I long wanted so badly inside my system. Moreover, the graphics and display is beyond imagination, my photos were really given a huge boost with the superior display features. By the way, there are still many more cool programs in Mac OS !

Folks, this White Toy is Cool, Smart, Professional, Beautiful and Best of Everything !

Grab your APPLE today ! You Will NOT REGRET !

Oh, by the way, did I mention that I am waiting for the arrival of Apple 3G iPhone ?

For Star Wars Fans !

2008-07-02T01:17:00.000+08:00

When I was a young boy, there was a movie that mesmerised me for the rest of my life and until today, I am still a fanatic. That movie was known as Star Wars.......

Moving foward to 2008, there were many new changes and developments to the Star Wars Trilogy Series, there were a total of 6 movies in the Star Wars Trilogy. I had my comics and story books of the Star Wars series but I didn't collect any of the toys and although I am "pass" childhood stage, I would love to buy and collect Star Wars Lego !

Upon reaching Singapore Toys & Comics Convention 2008, I was brought back to my childhood days and when I saw a lot of Star Wars toys and costumes, it was really exciting for me and I couldn't keep myself still, moving and checking out many Star Wars stuff !

Do check out some of the awesome Star Wars collection that I photographed during the event and I dedicate this post to all Star Wars fans ! Do check out my other Star Wars Photographs on my Flickr !

May the Force Be With You !

Revisiting The Child Inside Me - Toys & Anime !

2008-07-01T01:11:00.000+08:00

Everybody in their entire life, was once a young child, nothing to worry about, just wanted to play and have fun, don't want to attend school, have your favourite toys and anime comics and toys.

My wishes was fulfilled when I went and visited Singapore Toys and Comics Convention 2008, held at the Suntec City Exhibition Hall. I was quite surprised to see a huge crowd of young and old, squeezing into the Hall, we have many people who still have the child and play in them !

Well, there were many different types of comics, toys and anime on display. Depending on what were your favourite anime cartoons, toys or comics, there was something for everybody there ! For a start, there were Gundam, Transformers, Star Wars, Lego, Racing Stimulator, Nintendo Wii etc etc .....

Great to feel young again and get in touch with the child inside me again ! I can't said every possible anime, comics or toys would be there, nevertheless, it was something special and different experience, love to see more such conventions in the future ! More toys, anime and comics !

Oh, the Star Wars collectibles there were awesome ! Do keep a lookout ! I am dedicating a post for my favourite movies series Star Wars .........

Upcoming Reports and Postings

2008-06-30T00:38:00.000+08:00

Folks,

I haven't been able to post and write up on my latest adventure with my DSLR and Macbook yet, many things on my mind to complete and write up, planning to deliver excellent quality photos and journalistic reporting and content here !

Nevertheless, do look foward to the following :

Singapore Toys & Comics Convention 2008
Special Report on Star Wars Collection @ the Singapore Toys & Comics Convention 2008
Updates on photographing high speed flying action
My Latest Toy - Macbook Update

Meanwhile, do drop by my flickr site to take a look at the photos first !

Mustang Singapore by Grinder-Man @ Flipside Festival

2008-06-25T00:22:00.000+08:00

After watching a great acoustic guitar unplugged performance at the Esplanade Concourse, I went out to the Waterfront Canopy to catch another performance, that was something mysterious to me based on the brochure and description on the Esplanade website.

Well, I was blown away by their intriguing performances, unique and very different from the various artists performances during the Flipside Festival at the Esplanade. There were lots of movements, artists with their black boxes on their heads, in perfect choreography and movements, knowing their routes, movements, dances and actions.

The Hardwarezone Forum link gave a very good description of the Mustang Singapore performance, " GRINDER-MAN is an art performance group that creates audacious happenings combining contemporary art and continuous motion in locations ranging from art museums and galleries to concert halls and clubs. To date they have performed in New York, Singapore, Israel, Sweden, Rome, Cologne, and Paris."

Well, further research into this awesome group, led me to their website and it dawned upon me that it was an international performing artist group. It had been some wonderful weeks of artistic performances and I was glad to enjoy and view different world wide artists performances during the Esplanade Flipside Festival 2008.

Do drop by my flickr site and take a look at my other selected photos of Mustang Singapore by GRINDER-MAN !

Jack, Rai & Alvin performing at Esplanade Flipside Festival

2008-06-24T00:23:00.001+08:00

I was at the Esplanade again, walking back after catching a sneak preview of the upcoming National Day Parade rehearsal and I was there to watch a wonderful performance by Jack, Rai and Alvin singing Superhero songs.

They were really awesome and the trio really mesmerised the crowds there, especially with their many different songs.

The trio sure give the Flipside festival a different touch and feel from the various different types of artists performances !

Updated 26th June - their official website is at this LINK !

Sneak Preview of an Upcoming Event

2008-06-22T23:26:00.000+08:00

On the 21st June, I was finishing my window shopping at Suntec City and Marina Square, decided to cross over to the Esplanade to catch a glimpse of any rehearsals for our upcoming National Day event in August 2008.

I had to confess that I wasn't disappointed and it was a mini-preview with the performances, parade, Black Knights display was really awesome ! I had a great time and very challenging time taking photos of the high flying and octane performances by the Black Knights !

For the photographers planning to capture the Black Knights performance, I would like to share some challenges I faced -

Changing background lighting from sunset to low light, must be ready to change your ISO accordingly
Very fast action, fast lense needed
Another DSLR with wide angle lense or digicam - to take the beautiful photo of the heart shape formed by the Black Knights, it is very challenging (not ideal) to change lenses when you are capturing the Black Knights in action
Your position on the parade itself, don't be under the trees at the Esplanade, you would miss the action

Besides, I also caught a glimpse of the fireworks firing points and zone of the fireworks display in the Marina Bay and CBD skyline. It was a short display of fireworks but I was very happy to be able to view it !

Looking foward to the next few rehearsals and honing my photography skills to capture high speed flying performances ! Do drop by my photos site and have a look at the other rehearsal photos !

The BIG NAZO Creature Show

2008-06-17T23:22:00.000+08:00

Last week, I saw some great performances by artists at the Esplanade, the Flipside event, in conjunction with the Singapore Arts Festival. The puppet performance was intriguing and on 14th June, I went back to the Esplanade after my event shoot at Vivo City and caught a very different puppets performance.

This time, it was people dressed in giant aliens costumes, singing lovely songs, some great oldies that I recall e.g. Satellite of Love, dancing around, cracking jokes and providing lots of fun and laughter to the crowds. It was an awesome show, felt great to see another wonderful artist performance, I always admire and like such different shows by people from all over the world, coming to Singapore to showcase their work.

Well, hope you folks enjoy watching the giant aliens in action !

Creatively Thai 2008 Street Fashion Runway @ Vivo City

2008-06-16T00:48:00.000+08:00

On 14th June 2008, after finishing my advisory and consultancy appointment with my client and his family at Vivo City, I went to walk around and discovered a fashion showcase event in the Central Court and South Avenue on Level 1.

Being curious, I decided to pop down and found about this fashion event called Creatively Thai 2008, showcasing young designers from Thailand with their unique and eye-catching designs. Moreover, on 14th June itself, there were 3 street fashion shows on 1pm, 4pm and 7pm, with models strutting down the stage showcasing various different fashion designers awesome designs.

Somehow, I didn't know about this event until I was inside Vivo City, well, can't resist the chance to do fashion photo shoot, therefore, I caught the 4pm and 7pm fashion show. It was very nice to see a new and unique style of fashion designs, although I am not a fashionable person at all and my selection of clothes would probably be classified as poor..... LOL .... In between 4pm and 7pm, caught up with Raymond and had coffee and snacks while he tried out my Macbook without much songs or photos added. Would let Raymond try out more when I get my transfer of data, information and stuff transferred across from my old laptop to new Macbook.

Anyway, back to the fashion show, at the 7pm time slot, it was getting crowded and I didn't manage to get a good location to position myself, end up standing behind photographers and some of my photos were blocked by their heads, DSLRs and flashes ! Nevertheless, I still managed to get a few decent shots and it was enjoyable.

At the end of the show, I managed to get to know photographers there who were also photographing the 7pm fashion show, nice to chat with you George and the other fellow photographers there too !

Oh, this event was jointly presented by DEP - Thai Trade Center, Singapore and supported by Vivo City and the best surprise for me was having a chat with Thailand Tourism Embassy staff who were there for the 7pm fashion show ..... Nice to talk to you folks !

Hope you all enjoy the photos and more photos can be viewed at my flickr site ! Let's support the fashion designers from Thailand too !

2 photos - Alumni Lucky Draw Gifts & A New White Toy

2008-06-15T23:11:00.000+08:00

Recently, I went for networking events with my University of Queensland Alumni and I was very lucky, winning a pair of wine from Symphony Hills.

Thereafter, on Friday 13th, I finally purchased my long awaited Macbook, sitting side by side my trustworthy and semi-retired laptop (soon to be full-time desktop).

Well..... it's Apple Time ! Currently exploring and learning new cool stuff in my macbook ...... bringing my photography to a new level and producing my portfolio album (finally) !

Updates

2008-06-15T14:56:00.000+08:00

The last week had been a busy time for me, bought my new toy on friday the 13th, it is white and really beautiful.......

It is a Apple Macbook ! Anyway, still have a lot of things to be done for my macbook......

Nevertheless, it has an awesome program for photographers like me, the iPhoto, simply wonderful, useful and awesome, looking foward to post processing my selected photos for my photography portfolio.

Back to photography, on the weekend 14th June, I was at Vivo City, meeting my clients for a business appointment, after the appointment, I saw that there were a fashion event called Creatively Thai 2008 and stayed back behind to take some photos before hopping over to Esplanade for another segment of the Flipside festival.

Do keep a lookout, would be uploading and writing up about the posts of the interesting events in the next few days.

Photos uploaded

2008-06-12T02:12:00.000+08:00

Hi folks,

I had uploaded some of my recent postings photos into Flickr -

(1) Little Feet Theatre
(2) BAM (Canada)
(3) Ojarus (Japan)

Do drop by the above 3 links and take a look ! Hope you folks enjoy viewing the photos !

Little Feet Theatre @ Esplanade

2008-06-11T00:38:00.000+08:00

Do you like watching puppets performances ? Well, I do recall watching a few different kinds of puppets performances from different cultural groups and styles, it was fun and enjoyable especially when I was younger.

After watching Ojarus and BAM, I proceed to the concourse inside the Esplanade and waited on the sofa while waiting for the next artist performance, Little Feet Theatre by Veronica Gonzalez from Italy.

It was a very fun and lively puppet show by this beautiful lady using both her arms, feet, hands and head. She gave a wonderful smiling performance, getting the crowds excited and the children glued to their seats mesmerised by her awesome performances.

With different suitcases for different skits, we were shown to a great level of laughter and excitement, made me feel young again and enjoying myself in this form of artistic performance. A great Saturday evening of watching different artists performances at the Esplanade........ enjoyed myself .......

Explosion ! by BAM (Canada)

2008-06-10T00:21:00.000+08:00

Folks, if you recall in my earlier post, after viewing the performance by Ojarus from Japan, I walked along the Esplanade waterfront and walked towards the Stage@Powerhouse, waiting for the next artiste showcasing their acts.

They were known as BAM from Canada, a great bunch of guys, really funny and entertaining with their drums and acts. They were crazy yet hilarious and there were lots of cheers and laughters, as their performances captivated us and captured the crowds support and cheers !

A really unique performance, great to see them in action and their drums performances, something different from traditional drum beats and performances. It's a wonderful time for laughter and stress reliever for us, and it is really great that Esplanade has brought in many different and awesome artists to perform in Singapore for their Flipside event in conjunction with the Singapore Arts Festival.

Ojarus @ Esplanade

2008-06-09T00:30:00.000+08:00

With the Singapore Arts Festival going on currently, the Esplanade in conjunction with the Singapore Arts Festival, organised Flipside, many different events across the various Esplanade venues from 29th May 2008 to 22 June 2008.

On 7th June, I was waiting for the performances to start and sitting at the cosy sofas at the concourse area. Suddenly, I saw Japanese clowns with their painted faces and gear, moving out and starting their entertaining performance.

It was really hilarious and I had a fun time watching their performances as they walked from the concourse to the waterfront canopy. On their way there, they made fun of many people there, providing great entertainment for all.

At the waterfront canopy, the crowds started to gather and watched their performances, laughing at them making fun of themselves and people there. A good stress reliever and always love the to watch artists arriving from overseas performing in Singapore.

Dropping by the Esplanade

2008-06-08T00:21:00.000+08:00

The Singapore Arts Festival 2008 is currently going on and there are many performances and events held at different venues across Singapore.

The Esplanade is a key venue for the Singapore Arts Festival 2008 and while I was at the Esplanade and nearby areas, I went around and enjoy the Marina Bay scenery. Well, the sea was brownish due to the heavy rainfall in the morning and afternoon, many activities could be seen on the floating platform, with their lights switched on.

Folks, especially for my international readers, they are preparing for our National Day Parade 2008 in August....... for my local readers, something interesting for our NDP 2008 ......... Do keep a look out !

After enjoying the scenery and taking photos, I went around and inside the Esplanade for the Flipside events there held in conjunction with Singapore Arts Festival 2008 ........ Do pop by in the next few days and read about my write ups !

Don't Leave Home Without It !

2008-06-05T00:12:00.000+08:00

Folks,

I had been an avid traveler + photojournalist, visiting many different places and countries around the world and currently planning more places to visit.

Therefore, I would like to share with fellow travelers on the importance of Travel Insurance, something that they must have it before traveling for their holidays or business or work. There are 2 travel insurance portals that I found really useful, do consider them when you planning your next travel trip.

Looking for travel insurance? Apply online and receive a free no obligation quotation today!

Purchase your travel insurance online with Direct Line

Wish everybody a nice and wonderful holiday, take lots of photos !

Sundown Marathon 2008 Finisher

2008-06-03T01:18:00.000+08:00

On 1st June 2008, at 0000hrs, I embarked on another marathon run, known as the Sundown Marathon, it was an awesome run, my account and experience while running was penned down in here, do drop by and take a look.

At the end of the run, it was really exhausting, however, I am really happy that I have COMPLETED SUCCESSFULLY my marathon run (even though my timing wasn't as good as my previous 2 marathon runs) ! Added another medal to my 2 full marathons finishes ......... Another breakthrough !

Visiting DSG Group Camp 2008 - 31st May 2008

2008-06-01T23:47:00.000+08:00

The Dragon Scout Group held their annual group camp again from 30th May to 2nd June 2008 and 3 of us old boys, decided to pop down and visit them at the group camp on 31st May 2008. This year, they decided to change their usual camping grounds and went camping at the school field instead.

Nevertheless, it was a good change in my opinion and refreshing too, something different and unique from the usual camp sites the group usually goes to. It was great that Zhigang and Junjie went down with me and we had a fun time revisiting our wonderful scouting memories, stories, catch up with our senior Hongliang, who is one of the 3 teachers in charge of the scout group.

With 4 old boys walking around the field and visiting the various patrol camp sites, it brought us back many fond memories of our scouting activities and camping days. Hongliang asked the patrol leaders to show us their campsites and gave us an insight into their gadgets and camp craft. Given their special theme for this group camp, being environmentally friendly, it was a great achievement with limited resources !

I reckon Zhigang and Junjie had some fun, asking questions on the designs and practicality of the camp craft designs, it was deja vu for us visiting our patrol campsites that we once used to lead and I was happy for both my fellow mates to be in touch with their roots and juniors of Dragon Scout Group. Zhigang and Junjie were also introduced to some of the senior ventures and leaders too, brining more old boys closer together.

Had dinner there, tasting the food cooked by the senior Ventures, had a great catch up on our former seniors of DSG and many different topics for discussion and chatting, lots of memories and chat exchanged.

It was a short visit, nevertheless, very fun and enjoyable.

Back from KL

2008-05-26T23:43:00.000+08:00

On last friday early morning around 0200hrs, we drove up across the Causeway into Malaysia, before heading up, ate a hearty supper before driving up the North South Highway to Kuala Lumpur.

Had a very good drive up there, I drove Jack's powerful and steady Honda Civic FD2 up the highway in the night, love driving very late in the night. Upon reaching KL, Patrick and I went to MINES Convention Centre for the Millionaire Mindset Intensive Seminar while Jack went out on his own to find the hotel and attend to his matters.

It was a hectic 3 days of seminar and not a lot of time to go out and explore KL, haven't been there for many years. Anyway, still managed to get some shots of Bukit Bintang where we stayed in Hotel Allson Genesis.

Jack (left), Patrick (right)

Finally, before I took the coach on sunday night (as the other 2 guys were staying for 1 more night), drove around KL for sightseeing, took the photos of the twin towers before heading home on the midnight coach ride.

Do drop by my flickr site and take a look at my small collection of photos !

Road Trip Up to KL

2008-05-22T21:46:00.000+08:00

Folks,

Going to travel up to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, a road trip, hope to catch up with old friends, visit KL since many years ago.

Do check out why I am going up North in this post !

Have a nice weekend !

Southern Ridges Discovery 2 - Henderson Wave Bridge

2008-05-19T23:12:00.000+08:00

Folks,

Following up from my previous post on the Southern Ridges Discovery, I walked over from the Alexandra Arch Bridge, into Forest Walk and reached Telok Blangah Hill Park. From this point, you could either start on the Hilltop Walk of Telok Blangah Hill Park or you could walk along the road with the signboards leading you to the Henderson Wave Bridge.

It was pretty crowded that day, saw many people of all ages, families, photographers, pets, cyclists, in the Southern Ridges parks. Hopefully, this would lead to more Singaporeans being more active in the outdoors and enjoy the greenery that we still preserved and appreciate that Singapore is not just a concrete jungle.

Upon reaching the Henderson Wave Bridge entrance, I was awed by the new icon of Singapore ! It was really beautiful and very well designed ! There were many people on the bridge, enjoying themselves. As I walked along the bridge, I was able to view many different sceneries of Southern Singapore, our heartlands, our sea and our central business district.

I slowly walked up and down, taking photos, saw many different photographers, around the evening time, when the sun was about to set, the sky was lighted up and many of us were at the Mount Faber Park side, taking photos of the sunset.

Singapore is a small country, however, we have our gardens, parks and beautiful sceneries that make us unique and special. Let's all get into our outdoor gear, go out and enjoy trekking the bridges of the Southern Ridges Park and outdoors.

Do drop by my Flickr photo site for more photos of the Southern Ridges Discovery !

Southern Ridges Discovery - Forest Walk and Alexandra Arch Bridge

2008-05-17T22:55:00.000+08:00

The landscape and terrain of Singapore is not just a country of flat land surrounded by the sea. She had its fair share of different hills and geographical terrains that offers Singaporeans and tourists an area of trekking and exploration.

In the Southern sector of Singapore, there were a few hills and ridges beside each other and they were separated by roads cutting through them. Recently, after extensive planning and action by URA Singapore, the Southern Ridges of Singapore were finally connected by bridges !

The Southern Ridges connects Mount Faber Park, Telok Blangah Hill Park and Kent Ridge Park, with 2 new iconic and prominent bridges spanning our Singapore skyline, namely Alexandra Arch Bridge and Henderson Wave Bridge.

Further information on "Discovering the Southern Ridges" can be found here and a copy of the Southern Ridges Map can be found here. I decided to explore a segment of the Southern Ridges today, and decided my start point to be Alexandra Arch Bridge. Once alighting from the bus service 51, I started taking my camera out and snapping photos!

It was something that I looked foward to and began walking up the elevated trail into Forest Walk, an area of secondary forest of Telok Blangah Hill. Nice and beautiful sceneries with lots of greenery, great to be back with nature and enjoying the fresh air, tranquility and peacefulness. Although, it was pretty active with lots of people trekking up and down the trail......

Although I couldn't really see any wildlife, there were many different plants, leaves and flowers for us to learn something about nature out there along the trail. The route would be a very interesting and challenging for runners, narrow paths on certain sectors facing big crowds. Overall, it was really fun, tomorrow I would write up on my next segment of the Southern Ridges Discovery - Henderson Wave Bridge.

Do keep a lookout and meanwhile, do drop by my Flickr photos collection of the Southern Ridges Discovery !

A Small Window View

2008-05-17T01:12:00.000+08:00

Looking through a small window view, do you know what is happening ?

Helping Fellow Global Citizens

2008-05-15T00:18:00.000+08:00

In my personal blog, I wrote a post on "When Mother Nature Strikes".

With so many news reporting on the 2 natural disasters happening in Asia within the space of 2 weeks, it doesn't feel good at all to see the situations in China and Myanmar. People from different parts of the world, had came foward to raise funds for the people affected, with countries instructing specialist search and rescue teams on standby to assist China when a official request is made.

We can all do something, to help our global citizens, contributions, raising more awareness, prayers and love for all. Conversing with a fellow blogger, iWalk, U2?, who had roots in the Chengdu, where she grew up in, wrote about the impacts of the earthquake. I tried my best to encourage her in this tough period, with many fellow bloggers dropping in and encouraging her too. Our thoughts and prayers will always be with her and the people affected by the disasters.

It's also a strong signal by Mother Nature, reminding us to take care of our fragile ecosystem.

A Dog & A Cat

2008-05-12T00:10:00.000+08:00

My friendly family dog , a Japanese Spitz, very sweet and loving, people love to give her a pat ...

While I was on my way to my auntie's home, I saw a cute cat ........ with a very lazy pose .......

Well, this cat gave me some fierce look ...... check it out on my flickr .......

Portfolio for My 1st AD Wedding Photography

2008-05-06T23:52:00.000+08:00

Folks,

I was given the honour and opportunity by Wen Liang and Portia to be their Official AD Wedding Photographer and it was my 1st official project. My thoughts, feelings and write-up was collected in this posting.

Today, I was given the permission by Wen Liang to select photos from my AD photoshoot and place it in my Flickr site for display.

Do drop by my Flickr Portfolio and take a look !

Thanks for viewing and support !

A New SlideShow Widget by BlogsJam

2008-05-05T23:13:00.000+08:00

Photojournalism, Travel and Nature Photography Widgets by blogsJam

Do drop by BlogsJam and take a look !

Crossing 5000 views for my Flickr photo site

2008-05-04T23:02:00.000+08:00

I had taken many photos over the years and I had been uploading my selected photo works up into my Flickr Photo site and my 1st photo was uploaded on 4th August 2007.

Today, I checked and saw my Flickr photo views crossing the 5000 views count, I won't say it is a big number to pop the champagne, however, it was really good to know more photographers from all over the world.

Do pop over my Flicker Photo Site and I have a photo dedicated to my 5000 views mark !

Happy photo taking ! Take more photos !

SDSC Events : Speed Racer - Chartiy Premiere on 6th May 2008

2008-04-29T23:22:00.000+08:00

Folks,

With motor sports being the hot topics in Singapore nowadays, I was showing my Formula Drift posting and photos to my friend Stefanie Ang from Singapore Disability Sports Council (SDSC) and she mentioned to me about an event organised by SDSC known as :

Speed Racer - Charity Film Premiere

Do drop by their events calender link and take a look, let's all help support SDSC and our motor sports scene in Singapore !

Very HOT Action from Formula Drift Singapore 2008 - Synposis

2008-04-28T00:59:00.000+08:00

Folks,

Were you part of the Very HOT Action of Formula Drift Singapore 2008 today at the Singapore Changi Exhibition Centre ? Many HOT driving and drifting action and performances by many different drivers from all over the world .... and on top of that, weather was really good and VERY HOT !

Well, I was there in the morning, arrived at about 1000hrs and the action had already started ! This was the qualifying rounds for the afternoon rounds of competition. Besides, drifting action, there were also displays of tyres, cars, accessories and other automobile related displays.

There were many people attending this event and it was a good turnout blessed with HOT weather, almost dehydrated. Photography was challenging around the racing route because the safety distance from the route was a fair bit of distance that even a standard telephoto lense may not be able to capture the views that you liked.

I even went and walked down to the car pit area and met up with my friend Jack Lan and the Vis Works Autolab crew and their highly tuned competition car Nissan S15. Had fun taking photos inside the car pit area and away from the HOT sunlight burning my skin, there were also many people walking around the area too, walking around admiring the various competition sports cars and their engines.

Soon, I went back and continued taking photos of the afternoon rounds of competition whereby it was slightly different, from Formula Drift Singapore Website : "Based on drifting’s traditional “head-to-head battle” format. Drivers attempt to qualify, in single judged runs, to be one of the sixteen drivers that will enter the main competition bracket (similar to NBA playoffs or drag racing). During the bracketed “head-to-head battle” competitions, drivers are paired off in head-to-head competition of skill and nerves. The sixteen drivers will be weeded down to one final winner."

The action got even more exciting along the way and the Formula Drift USA drivers joined in and make the challenge even bigger and higher ! The fans were treated to awesome driving and drifting performances and it was a great time for me.

Motorsports in Singapore is getting more popular with this Formula Drift Singapore and the upcoming Singapore F1 GP...... besides, Singapore would have its own racing track beside Changi Exhibition Centre in the near future.

Do check out my other photos on Flickr !

Had a great time at Formula Drift Singapore 2008 ! Would write more in details over the next few posts !

Counting Down to Formula Drift Singapore

2008-04-23T02:33:00.000+08:00

Folks,

This coming Sunday, 27th April 2008, would be Formula Drift Singapore event, looking foward to this hot octane sports car drifting competition event.

I was invited by Jack, to visit Vis Works Autolab, in Johor Bahru, Malaysia, a team that would be coming down to Formula Drift Singapore and participating in the competition too ! The last time I was inside a mechanic's garage was during my tertiary days in Australia, getting my 82 Celica GT patched up and serviced on a regular basis.

They were in the process of fine tuning their competition sports car and it was a great eye opener for me, getting hands on helping out and enjoying the processes of modifying a sports car. Didn't take any photos this time, nevertheless, keep a lookout for Formula Drift Singapore on 27th April......

Earth Day - 22nd April 2008

2008-04-21T02:13:00.000+08:00

On 22nd April 2008, a worldwide event known as Earth Day, would be going on.

My thoughts on Earth Day were penned down inside my personal blog, please do pop in there !

Being a photographer, photojournalist, traveler, blogger and writer...... I strongly encourage everybody to take action and play a role (small or big) to make our Mother Earth a wonderful place to live in, for ourselves and for our future generations.

While writing this post, I was thinking of the environments in Singapore that may not be there in the future, it's time to start my mini photojournalist project.......

Singapore Flyer Official Opening - 15th April 2008

2008-04-16T00:18:00.001+08:00

The Singapore Flyer, a new icon of our Singapore Marina Bay skyline, was officially opened on the 15th April 2008.

First and foremost, I had to thank my friend Louis, who gave me the opportunity to be part of the official opening and joining in the fun and my bird's eye view ride of Singapore CBD and Marina Bay night sceneries.

With many VIPs attending, there were many events in place around the Singapore Flyer premises and the visitors were entertained to nice fireworks too ! Wished I brought my tripod but I knew it would not be allowed on the ride therefore, I had to take fireworks photos using hand held.

Fireworks lighting up the skyline during the Singapore Flyer Official Opening

We could only board the ride at around 2130hrs, designated boarding time but due to the massive numbers of visitors, we only managed to hop on the capsule around 2230hrs. Before that, had a good time chatting with friends Louis, Cindy and Eric at the bistro restaurant O'Learys on the first level of the Singapore Flyer. As there were a bit of a long queue, Eric, Cindy and myself were chatting ourselves away and sharing stories and experiences.

Soon, we were able to board the Singapore Flyer ! It was a great experience for me, the queue was long but it was worth the wait because I was really looking foward to be the top of the Singapore Flyer and have a bird's eye view ! The night views were very beautiful and it was a great opportunity to take night sceneries photography. There was a heavy downpour earlier in the evening and the glass panels on the capsule were a bit wet, thus making photography from the inside challenging !

More photos of the Singapore Flyer Official Opening can be viewed at my flickr site !

Photoblogging for 2 years

2008-04-13T23:46:00.000+08:00

On 10th April 2006, I took my maiden step foward into the world of blogging with the help and guidance of my friend Jack Lan.

Moving the time foward till today, my photoblog is 2 years old ............. I had lost track of my photoblog birthday until I was looking at my archives list on the right side bar of my blog and saw April 2006 on the top of my archives listings.

Reflecting back on my photoblog, it had grown significantly, making many new friends from different parts of the world and allowing me to take photos, pen down my thoughts, travels and adventures - Me as a photojournalist that is passionate on photography, travel and writing.

I would like to take this posting to say THANK YOU to all my readers ! Without the support, comments and links exchange, my photoblog would not had grown much at all !

Moving foward and advancing to bring my photojournalist blog to greater heights !

Dragon Scout Group 86th Campfire

2008-04-07T00:03:00.001+08:00

Folks,

Gan Eng Seng Dragon Scout Group has a very long and rich history in Singapore and I was proud to be an old boy of DSG since 1990. It was great to be associated with such a wonderful history and I deeply appreciate what scouting in DSG had done for me in my growing years.

On 5th April 2008, in the morning, I witnessed the handing over of the Patrol Leaders Council from the Secondary 4 to their Secondary 3 counterparts. It brought me back many different memories of my time as a scout in DSG, can't deny the fact that time has really fly ! After the secondary 4s handed over, they were moved on to their new adventure, Venture Scouting in DSG. Before the whole group went on to prepare for the night's 86th Anniversary Campfire, we went on to take the various patrol photos for future legacy and memories.

After the initial photo taking sessions, the group went on to prepare for the night's campfire. Everything was under control and going well, I also took the time to help out for a while with their preparations and took photos of them in their preparation. Although I never came back as a full fledged leader, coming back regularly for major DSG activities as an old boy aka Dragon Chapter gave me a lot of satisfaction, pride, old and new friendship and fun !

During the evening, it started raining heavily and we had to prepare for the wet weather program. However, we were blessed when the rain stops in time before the official start time of the campfire and the boys and girls double quick time dry and clean up the campfire arena for the real campfire with burning firewood.

There were lots of fun and the boys and girls enjoyed themselves a lot. Even though campfire may not be totally the same during my era, some things never change, the spirit and friendship of scouting.

I was very happy to see a number of DSG old boys of many different eras coming back, as DSG grows in the future, it is very important for the old boys to be always keep in touch and stay connected via such major DSG event.

Dragon Scout Group Family - Past and Present

Only with the support, participation, networking and connection of the past and present DSG family, would Dragon Scout Group grows even bigger and stronger.

Once a Dragon Scout, Always a Dragon Scout.

Asia WOW @ Raffles City - 29th March 2008

2008-04-03T00:04:00.000+08:00

There had been a number of fashion show events held at various major shopping centres and after my earlier photo shoot at Central, I pop by for a chat with my friend Daniel Ong of the The Camera Workshop, before heading down to Raffles City for their fashion show event.

The fashion event was known as Asia WOW : The Catwalk, featuring 4 famous designers with their latest designs

Kanchan Panjabi from Hong Kong
Jun Escario from Philippines
Teddy Or from Singapore
Kiata Kawanda from Indonesia

The event was held on the 3rd floor of Raffles City and I could only watched from the side railings because I couldn't get inside the show area. It was a real challenge due to the distance and the lighting available for this fashion catwalk event.

Had a fun time taking photos, admiring the beautiful models showcasing beautiful dresses and ladies fashion clothings.

More photos can be viewed here !

Geometrics @ Central - 29th March 2008

2008-04-01T23:14:00.000+08:00

Last Saturday on the 29th of March 2008, I went down to Central for another round of fashion catwalk photo shoot.

The theme was Geometrics - "Dominating the scene for office and party outfits are prints, checks, art-deco and monotones" - as listed on the official website showcasing the various fashion events.

I was a little bit late but still enjoyed myself thoroughly with the fashion photo shoot, great chance to improve my fashion/catwalk/portraits photography. Hope you folks enjoy the photos !

More photos can be seen here !

2008 Spring/Summer Fashion Show - Flora Revival @ Central

2008-03-23T01:28:00.000+08:00

The Singapore Fashion Festival 2008 is coming to town and it will be held from 28th March to 6th April 2008. Besides the glamorous fashion events, shows and displays, major shopping centres and fashion brands also take the opportunity to showcase their latest range of fashion design.

The Central organised an arts and fashion event and there was the Spring/Summer Fashion Show - Flora Revival, showcasing feminine floral prints on beautiful dresses and blouses, that could worn for both office or casual.

It was a very fun event, great to back shooting models walking down on the catwalk and it wasn't too crowded, managed to get a good location without being squeezed out. However, while I was happily taking photos of the models, my flash became cranky and gave me quite a number of problems. Therefore, some of my photos didn't come out that well and would need more attention in post-processing.

More photos can be viewed here !