ALL    •    WEDDINGS    •    PORTRAITS    •    DIVING    •    TRAVEL/LANDSCAPES    •    PERSONAL    •    MORE CATEGORIES


personal

Bali – Day Two: recce

I still can’t figure out why I couldn’t sleep last night. After completing my “cloning” activities, I went on to have supper at the hotel restaurant at about 2am. I knew I was in trouble when I went to bed at 4am. 830Am was the time I told the Polos, the driver to wait for me at the lobby. I woke at at 910am. Eh, not too bad.

We planned our itinerary over breakfast and very soon, we were out of the hotel and heading for potential spots for the Pre-Wedding shoot next week. The hour long rides seem to be over quickly as we were engrossed in our conversations, exchanging information about our countries.

 This is the season for creamation in Bali. From what I understand, it is a ceremony to cremate the departed. Some temples were filled with people as they took part in the ceremony. Bodies or remains (dug from graves) are placed in decorated “coffins” and cremated in temples. The ashes are then scattered to both the sea and the mountains.

 Here are some images from my trip tday.

 

 

The notorious primates of Uluwatu. Always hunting for loose accesories from tourists.

 

 

Famous temple on the cliff at Uluwatu.

 

 

Water painting: Swirls formed by crashing waves at Tanah Lot.

 

 

People leaving the temple after the cremation ceremony.

 

 

The icons that are supposed to carry the bodies or remains for the cremation ceremony.

 

 

One of the most viewed sunsets in Bali at Tanah Lot.

 

 

The Oasis Boutique Beach Resort where I am putting up. I was looking at this view while writing this post:D Did you see the devil wielding his axe in the clouds?

 

So much for a long day, at least the recce was done and plans are drafted. Looking forward for the dives tomorrow. I know it will be good:)

8 Comments »
posted by wansheng on September 5th 2009 in bali, images, personal, travel / landscapes, voices





Bali – day one: making of the clones

 It’s been a day of many last minutes. Last minute hotel booking, packing, buying stuff to bring for the trip, drive to the airport, last minute check-in (forgot which terminal… and made a wrong guess), etc. Somehow, I managed to squeeze in some calmness despite all that seemingly rushed errands. I’ve been feeling a little calmer than usual lately. Everything around me seems slow. I think, it’s a sign of ageing (I prefer to think of it as some kind of enlightenment).

 As I boarded the plane, I was greeted by some very eye pleasing stewardesses:D This has got to be the best set of cabin crew I’ve seen for a long time. A very distracting flight indeed. If not for my small eyes, they’d have caught me staring. Haha! For once, I forgot to order a special meal… the food taste crappy.

After clearing the immigration, two porters saw me looking for my luggages at the carousel and carried them for me without me asking. Out of the airport, they asked for tips. I gave them 2 sg dollars for that really short distance, but he asked for more. Honestly, I didn’t like that. I don’t remember having these porters around the last time round.

On my ride to the hotel, I saw the prettiest night clouds. The moon was so bright and it lit up the edges of the clouds. Like a subtle silver lining, against a bluish grey backdrop. So capitvated by it, I stuck my head out of the window to get a better view. I hope, I’ll be in for a treat for my senses in the next few days.

I checked into The Oasis Boutique Beach Resort at Benoa. It’s on the eastern tip of Nusa Dua. It looks really pretty, especially the pool. The room is basic and clean. The beach looks pretty, with an uncluttered view of the horizon. Here’s what I did at the beach… cloning little fat-barrels:P

6 Comments »
posted by wansheng on September 4th 2009 in bali, images, personal, portraits, travel / landscapes, voices





What happened to fat-barrel?

Yes, I know I have been a little quiet for someone who’s known to make alot of noise. I was down with fever and cough for almost 2 weeks. Recovering just in time for my trip to Penang. Looking back, I haven’t been in really good health for the past 2 months. Injuries and fever, etc. The bad thing is, I lose time. The good thing is, I get to finish watching all my DVDs (just kidding):P Actually, the illness took time off work and play. So I did practically nothing but laze around (like those of you in the office who are reading this… *bleah*) and slow down a little to think about my work.

Like it or not, I feel inspired after all that in-bed trauma I’ve been put through. Somehow, it also reminds me to remind my body that I’m no longer 21. And the stomach of steel is beginning to rust at the edges (evident from that mild food poisoning I got 2 days ago). In some ways, I feel happy over this entire unfortunate episode. All is well now and I’m looking forward to this trip to Penang and next week, Bali. Can’t wait to see those pretty fishes again.

This afternoon, I sat down with mum and brought out the box of old photo albums. From infancy to… teenhood. I sure look like I was a troublemaker when I was younger… not that I don’t now:P As I was flipping through those images, I realized that my dad, who took most of the pictures is actually good with his composition. Rule of thirds baby! *lol*. Maybe that’s where I inherited a little. As for my mum, I knew where my major influence came from when I saw pictures of us with our heads cut off. Well, she admitted she’s not used to the viewfinder… and yes, it became a style.  I enjoyed that short 15mins looking at those images. The best part; my mum could remember when and where every single picture was taken. The true photo was taken in her head.

Someday, I’m going to compile those photos and put them in my digital library. If I ever said I didn’t have a childhood, I was very wrong. Thanks dad and mum:)

Oh yeah… ole to good health!:D

No Comments »
posted by wansheng on August 28th 2009 in personal, voices





the fat barrel is going to hongkong

Ocean World, dolphins, cable car ride, Jumbo restaurant, 女人街, remote control cars… and actually, some men’s magazine (ok only the cover! I was too young to know what it was, we were at a newstand). That’s my memory of Hongkong when I was like, hmmm… 8? And I remembered the waitress who said “多谢” in cantonese when we were leaving the restaurant, which I mistook it for “讨债” in teochew. My family had a good laugh over that. These are the memories I had of Hongkong. The current impressions are from the scenes of Young and Dangerous, which I completed watching 4 episodes in the past 2 days:P

Anyway, this is going to my second trip to Hongkong. The first after the 1997 handover. Feeling a little excited:) I do hope we’ll be able to do some diving next weekend before I return. I’m bringing my laptop there, so I’ll post some updates on this blog and my facebook.

I’ll be away from 17th to 27th July 2009. Please bear with me if my replies are a little late. Emails will be the best form of contact for now.

No Comments »
posted by wansheng on July 17th 2009 in @news, personal, voices





j in motion

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.

5 Comments »
posted by wansheng on June 25th 2009 in images, Kids, personal, portraits, videos, voices





Singapore #3

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.


3 Comments »
posted by wansheng on June 23rd 2009 in images, Kids, personal, portraits, voices





reflections

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.

4 Comments »
posted by wansheng on June 21st 2009 in bali, images, personal, scuba diving, underwater photography, voices





singapore wake park championship 2009

I took some time off Sunday and headed down to Ski 360 for the Singapore Wake Park Championship 2009. It’s nice to see some of the best in the region pit their skills against one another. Nice to see some familiar faces too. I was a little beaten down by the heat though. I wish I could just jump into the water if not for the camera. I have been shooting from the boat for quite some time now, but this is the first time shooting off the shore. I think I’ll need more practice to get it 100% right. Here are some shots I got on that day.

click play/pause icon to start slideshow

No Comments »
posted by wansheng on June 16th 2009 in images, personal, slideshows, sports, voices, wakeboarding





Newer entries
Older entries