christmas 2008 (the moments)

christmas is aroung the corner, more photos to come soon...

ironies

my deepest condolence for michael and their family. life is full of ironies, while i celebrated the birth date of a friend yesterday, the news came to me that another friend has left this world.

"do not bother to spend time seeking for journey to heaven, as eventually the journey for all terrorists ends in hell"

more busy days ahead

have not been updating the blog for quite some time. will be doing so soon, after settling down in my new environment.. stay tune

"how starbucks saved my life"

it's not common for me to talk about non-photography subject in my blog, but i think i would make an exception in recommending some books, which are truly inspiring and hopefully will initiate self-discovery process among those who read the books. drop by your nearest bookstore and do pick-up a copy of "how starbucks saved my life" by michael gates gill.


looking at life from a different perspective:

achievement in life cannot be measured by how high you are on the hierarchy, how much money you are making, but merely, are you happy with what you are doing and happiness evolves from the core; the family and friends around you.

never take things for granted and always cherish the people around you, traversing gaps formed through differences in social levels, cultures and backgrounds

ho chi minh city, vietnam (the moments)

ho chi minh city, vietnam (the journey)

travelmates:

• raymond, lj

date of travel:

• 29th oct 2008 - 1st nov 2008

duration:

• 4 days 3 nights

route:

• district 1 (you can't imagine how much things we get to see in just district 1)

accommodation (min 1*, max 5* based on my personal opinion):

• saigon mini hotel, 4* friendly owner, room is spotlessly clean, mini bar is cheap! due to the building design, similar class of room might have different view. i bet we got the worst one since we only have a 1 panel window, which is fixed and cannot be opened. we managed to peep into the other superior room, it has 4-6 panels at two sides of the room, and the layout is much better than ours. deluxe room is definitely a must-go-for, priced at USD40 nett (breakfast inc) but was told you need to book months ahead for the only 2 deluxe rooms. it is a little bit out of the way in district 1, close to district 5 and it is a either you love it or hate it matter. we loved it for the experience, walking through rows of local shops and markets, which gave us an insight of the culture at the same time, managed to grab some really nice local food. we hate it for, having to cross so many crazy traffic in order to get to our destination. we will definitely stay here again for our next ho chi minh trip

~ district 1 ~

• all the major attractions, hotels and commercial malls are located in district 1, ben thanh market, independence palace, opera theatre, sheraton, sofitel, diamond plaza etc are among those that you can expect in district 1.

• district 1 can be briefly segregated into 3 zones (ben thanh market as the imaginative center), west where you will find all the backpackers hostel/hotel, cheap food and souvenior, east where you will get to the upmarket hotels, malls and fine dining restaurants, and north where where you have some mid-range hotels with nothing really interesting in my opinion.

• if you can only make it to one place giving a one day visit, drop-by the area west of ben thanh market and wonder in the alley where you can find lots of backpackers hostels/hotels mushrooming and there will definitely be something that will interest you.

• notre dame cathedral and post office is worth paying 2 bucks of cab fare to get there and admire the architecture. war remnants museum tells a one sided story, but interesting in it's very own way. i wouldn't advise anyone to waste their time touring independence palace. ben thanh market's seller is too pushy or rather "pully" and it is very difficult to move around. try going for the night market outside ben thanh market, which offer goods at a cheaper price, easier to bargain, more roomy and not as pushy.
  

• our great finds are:

1. noodle soup stall (operate at night only) at the junction of cong quynh and pham ngu lao for its' fantastic noodle soup
2. milwaukee grill & bar for its' great ambience, affordable price tag, friendly waiters/waitresses, good location for people watching and the owner whom is a malaysian
   
3. nhat uyen for its' great price for bags/wallets
4. man dat for the fantastic cheongsam and vietnamese top that they made for my wife at great price

2 more days

2 more days to my ho chi minh trip!

bali, indonesia again (the journey)

it is always great to be back to bali again with its' friendly people, delicious food, beautiful villa and mesmerizing sunset.

it wasn't a smooth sailing journey for me due to extremely hot weather. i was down with fever since the first day and it got worse on the 3rd day .

spent one morning and one evening at echo beach and the yield was terrific. the black sand provided the perfect reflection in the presence of water, just like one big piece of mirror. black sandy beach often provides much more photography opportunities since it is not just plain "white", like in the case of white sandy beach but comes in with more texture and reflection.

my tianya filter is still serving me well but i find the red/magenta tint too overwhelming, especially when two filters were being stacked for a 4 stops gnd. perhaps it is time to look at other more pricey alternative.

bali, indonesia again (the moments)

shawn & brenda's wedding (the journey)

it was another valuable experience for me to help shawn and brenda on their wedding as photographer, together with the usual gang, garry and jason. i was pretty amazed with jason's ability to organize a group for photo-taking, that's the pre-requisite for any event photographer, which i am seriously lacking.. the communication part. giving some time for him to polish up the skill, he can be a fun guy to have in ur wedding/event. garry managed quite a few good shots with the sole 50mm f/1.8.

you will face a different obstacle for each event and each time when you managed to solve it, you gained a precious piece of experience. as time goes by, valuable experienced gain and the photo taking process just gets smoother.

the initial part of photo taking in brenda's hotel room is very much limited to small movement space available, and most of the time, i am shooting at wide angle. this has in fact bring in a lot of unwanted elements, which generates a messy background. a f/2.8 lens is absolutely necessary for isolation of the subject.

for the banquet part, ultra wide angle came in handy since i was shooting at 14mm almost all the time when the toasting was on-going. a f/1.4 of f/1.8 would also be interesting for taking the champagne glass shot, which i didn't manage to do it.

after going through the photo sets again and again, i realized most of the time i tend to frame the subject too tight to simplify the background and this has in fact caused lack of variety in my shots. tamron 17-50mm f/2.8 would definitely be the next lens that i am looking at for further improvement.

last but not least, i need a d90 with fv lock and customizable wb... struggling to save up for that!

shawn & brenda's wedding (the moments)