Finally managed to compile the video of Julius. Everyone at home misses him. I just love to hear him talk/blabber. Such a funny dude.
Archive for June, 2009
Just about a month and the half ago, Julius made his 3rd trip back to Singapore. Before that, he spent about a week in Bali. I remembered when he first saw us in the airport, I was greeted with a real grumpy baby. I was like, what happened to my nephew? Until they told me he was sick in Bali and had just woken up after the flight. Very soon, he settled in with the family and every single day, he is testing new limits. Unlike the last trips, he can now “baby talk”, walk and doesn’t cry that much anymore. I could spend an entire afternoon watching him do his stuff.
Last week, I ordered a Mac Mini for my parents and hooked up a webcam so that they can see/talk to my nephew. We finally did our first live chat with my sister and Julius last night. It was amazing. When the video came on, the joy on everyone’s faces is just priceless. Julius on the other hand, looked a little shocked at what’s happening. But very soon, he started recongizing faces… first to go was “kaku” (me), then “gong gong” (grandpa), “por por” (grandma). My dad was especially happy to see him.
Haven’t seen my parents so happy for a long time. It was, imo, the perfect Father’s Day present:)
Here are some images taken during his last trip.
I always wonder if people really take up dance classes before weddings (those who have to do their first dance). I remembered once, a couple was being asked on stage to do a dance, unrehearsed. The groom asked, “how?”. The cheeky MC said, “just like how you’d move a fridge” (translate that to hokkien). I tried to contain my laughter so hard I think I suffered internal injuries from that.
Good thing Tony and Peiyun did their homework. Still, I think it’s not easy when all their friends crowded around them to watch, with some joker shouting “put in more emotions!!”. Love this wedding!:D
It’s interesting how we give advice like it’s “so easy”. Many years back, a friend told me, “you made it sound like it’s so easy, wait till it happens to you.” I told him, “when it happens to me, I hope you will be the one who will remind me of what I said.” Sometimes, the mind is clearer when you are looking from the third party point of view.
Anyway, this relates to my dive experience in Bali. I remembered very clearly during my first dive in Perhentian (Malaysia), the dive guide said before the dive, “no gloves, no knives”. Being a newbie, I didn’t know what the fuss was about. Then I learned that is to prevent divers from picking up things, touching delicate corals and disturbing wildlife. During my dive trip in Manado last year, I was a little shocked when the dive guide pulled the shark’s tail so that it’d turn towards us for a picture. I took the picture, it was nice. But everytime I look at the picture, the only think I can remember was his actions. Not exactly memorable. This is just one of the many examples.
I don’t think I’ll be very happy if my tail got pulled
During my trip to Bali, I was assigned this young dive guide. He was ok in general, but I was a little unhappy with his lack of knowledge about the dive sites and marine life (if someone tells me a Titan triggerfish is a Frogfish, something is very wrong). I was there to take some underwater pictures, so I told him to let me know if he finds something interesting. During one of the dives, he found a Moray eel between the rocks and signaled to me. As I approach, the eel turned away and went into the rocks. So I waited for it to reappear. But he used a metal rod to dig into the rocks so that the eel came out of hiding. I wasn’t happy and signaled him to move on. How would you feel if someone ransack your house just to get a picture of you?
After the dive, I told him off. I told him that the reef is his livelihood, if he can’t protect it, once it’s dead, people will not come back anymore. I start to appreciate what the dive guide in Perhentian did. To a customer, they “might” want him to get the fish out for a better angle, but I feel he’ll earn more respect by saying “no”. And probably a more sustainable business model in the long run.
It was only during this trip that I felt stronger against this practice. And when I look at someone else doing it, I reflect. And that reflection, isn’t pretty. When I view a photograph, I’m not just looking at the picture, I’m looking at what is beyond the photograph, the experience and what the photographer is trying to express. If capturing the moment is going to cause discomfort, why do it?
I’ve always felt that the memories behind an image means alot more than the aesthetics.
…I can predict lottery too:)
A few days back, a friend came to me and ask for four numbers to buy 4D (lottery). So I said “zero, zero, zero, zero”. And guess what? It came out on Saturday’s draw as consolation.
I’m like… “wow”… and no, I’m not into buying lottery, although I did win once when I was still schooling. Bought a number on my birthday for fun and it came out second prize.
I’ve been sitting on this for the longest of time. I first created a page on facebook a year back but didn’t publish it (for unknown reasons:P). So why is it up today? And at this ungodly hour. I had a little too much durians after dinner and dozed off after that. Woke up at 3am and realized I’ve happily screwed up my sleep cycle. Instead of trying to coax myself to sleep, I decided to do something constructive. So here, goes… the “fat-barrel” goes on facebook!:D In future, I’ll cross post the images and slideshows both on the blog and facebook. And here’s the link:)
When I was (MUCH) younger, I will wear my shirt and make sure it’s properly tucked in and straightened in front. Behind it’ll be a mess. This reminds me of those days. I still make those mistakes once in a while, usually with the collars (that’s why I love T-shirts).
