Fall colors in Portland

Hate the cold.. But I'm loving the colors. My first fall in US. Having been to US many times but terrified of the low temperatures, I always chose late spring or summer to visit America and miss the appendage freezing moments. Any impending regrets? I seriously hope not... But bball in such cold weather is really painful... And winter has not even started.

Beijing 2012 with Olympus OM-D E-M5

Loving my first mirrorless micro 4/3s camera - the Olympus OM-D E-M5. It's light and the lens available are of amazing quality. Though the prices of the lens are similar or more expensive compared to my Canon lens. So no savings there...but the weight and handling of the camera is worth every penny. Perhaps with the next release, I can let go of my DSLR and have both bodies as my travel photography companions.

Here are some of my black and white filter pictures I took in my recent trip in Beijing.

Return to the Great Wall

Mutianyu Great Wall

The last time I was in Beijing climbing the Great Wall was about 14-15 years ago. It was repeatedly told to us from the local guides at the wall as well as fellow visitors, that there is a Chinese saying "不到长城非好汉" - meaning "He who has never been to the Great Wall is not a true man". So for this trip...we became men 3 times over as we went to Badaling Wall, Mutianyu pass as well as Jinshanling. The view was spectacular despite having climbed once many years ago. So am I 4 times a man? Haha


After about 80,000 steps,and about 2000 shots later. I realised that the OM-D is a great travel camera and my Air Jordan 1 Low is a great travel pair of shoe; having climb Angkor Wat and its temples 4 years ago and this time it even managed a run down the Great Wall.

New toy - OM-D

Loving my new Olympus EM-5 - National Day at 730am

The Simple Things

Where have you gone? Can't the simple things stay forever?
Taken using my new GS3. Just met up with a friend whom I haven't seen in at least 10 years, and the events surrounding her baffled me, scared me and worries me.

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New toys for Photography

Was using a Manfrotto 486RC1 which was lightweight enough for travel but it was slipping especially during moon shots. It was getting very frustrating trying to adjust the moon which was a constantly moving object.

As you know the moon orbits around the Earth and though it is about 400k km away, it moves at 1km/s thus a moving subject at a few angles per hour. So here we go, a search for a suitable replacement. There were many choices but I decided to go with Arca-Swiss style, because of another new toy purchase of the Capture Clip system by Peak Design.

I decided to go with something affordable and suited to my current camera gear. When I was in Hong Kong, Man Shing Camera shop folks let me try out many different ballheads from Gizmo to more expensive Manfrotto, but this Swiss made FOBA brand caught my eyes with the suitable price range and weight of the ball head.

Testing at home finally after a month, the FOBA Superball M-1 is an absolute delight. At 405g, it is lighter than my 486RC1 (460g) and the ball has awesome friction.

Here's it absolutely holding up my configuration of full Canon 7D with battery grip and 70-200mm F2.8L lens. This was easily at least 3kg worth of load. To test it, I did not bother to move the plate to the lens which I did previously with my Manfrotto set up. With Live View enabled and 10x zoom, I tried many different angles, and the model in frame is still with no vibrations or slipping detected.

My tripod is an Induro AT013 tripod which only handles about 6kg worth of load making this cheap magnesium alloy a delight for travel at only 1.1kg. So now my setup is about 1.5kg and suitable for my moon shots.

My earlier in the year shot -  "tough" Lunar Eclipse capture with a slipping Manfrotto ball head.

Edinburgh 2011

While my wife is busy studying in the apartment, I was out taking a stroll to Holyrood Park.

Wish she was here with me. Taking pictures of couples enjoying the nice sunset in Edinburgh.

Buildings II

A follow up to my last building post which has been quite a while. The answer to the last post is Hong Kong..too easy. This time you don't even need to guess, the first picture has a BIG clue to where these are shots were taken.

The facade of this building attracted me.

Ministry of Culture and Communication.

This building just overwhelms me. Last time I saw it from the boat, this time I managed to walk in and explore.

The skies were looming, I just had to give it a bit of PS treatment to bring out the Notre Dame feeling.

It's impressive doors and arc front

Fantastic glass roof for a nice quaint shopping place.

What lies ahead

Back to Europe

After 2 years...it's back to Europe! More castles, trains, and amazing scenery - so more photos and hopefully no more missed train rides! Been planning for weeks now, not really looking forward to the long train rides. Revisiting my UK photos to see how I can improve for the upcoming trip with my new photography gears. Realised I have yet to finish viewing my photos taken back in 2009. So here are some pictures of UK in black and white.

The view from 81 stories up at Bangkok

Greetings from Baiyoke Sky Hotel in Bangkok!

Annual Photography trip with my ex-colleagues. So far it has been a day of great shots. More coming soon.

I repeat nothing is more important than the heart and intention

In the end, what's most important is the heart and intention, nothing else matters. Some claim execution, some claim leadership are equally important. That argument is going back to the fact we need elitist, people who are deemed talented; only the esteemed in their field should perform the job. This is civil service, we don't really need doctors, lawyers or 27-year old CONsultants to serve the people. We must understand there is an intricate system in the ministries which are already filled with scholars and lots of experienced civil servants who are doing actual work.

Let's do a case study on the Titanic, classic example of failed leadership and arrogant yet ignorant execution. Titanic's Captain Smith was on a maiden voyage on the Titanic and going to New York was his final retirement trip.  He was headed for the easy life, steering the most advanced ship in its time - indestructible; unsinkable so they say. No one is sure why he ignored seven iceberg warnings from his crew and other ships.  Responsibility can’t be ignored or delegated.  Leadership is to be responsible for everything an organization does or fails to do. If the heart and intention is in the wrong place, no matter what track record one holds or how brilliant you are in execution, the complacency will somehow fail you in ways you would never have expected. Just as in the battle between David and Goliath, they say that sometimes God chooses our battles and our ends.

If your heart is true and intended for the people, how far can one go wrong? Do not judge other countries, unless you've studied their history and culture well. The only difference I see would be Sillyporeans are obedient repressed farks who love status quo unless provoked.

Sick of all these election talk and apathetic ground, I can't wait for voting day to come and get over and done with. We all know the eventual results. I leave you with one important message and some pictures I took last year but never had the time to share.

First they came for the communists,and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a communist.

Then they came for the trade unionists,and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a trade unionist.

Then they came for the Jews,and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a Jew.

Then they came for me and there was no one left to speak out for me.

 By German Pastor Martin Niemoller, who first supported Hitler's rise to power and regretted his decision, and we all know how that ended. Blind faith in a excellent leader and executor as well as executioner - responsible for all 46 million lives lost.

Let's work together, team A or B - we're Vietnamese

The road to change is long

Here's me longing for more photography - fark politics!

I just want a simple life and finally understood why ignorance is bliss.

Call me old skool

The rustic feel of Everton Road.
Hope there will always be nice old corners of Singapore left untouched or with minimal upgrading; and still bring out a smile when you stroll pass and get fascinated by nostalgic moments.

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Finally the Bund

Four times I've been to Shanghai, often just in and out for work with no chance for sightseeing. Never been to the Shanghai Bund physically but have heard of it quite often. With frozen hands and without tripod, I took my camera for some shots as I managed to extend a couple of days after business. But totally regretted it, especially with the bad cough and cold weather.

But I still like Shanghai, but it's seriously getting very expensive to live there. Or did I just forgot to not trust the price tags and uniformed sales ladies in legit looking shops...somehow I feel I should just have to start bargaining...

Shining Through

Siem Reap 2009

As I take whatever limited time I have from this hectic month to review and edit my travel pictures. I hope you like this picture of sun rays shining through the fields at Angkor Wat, Cambodia.

Angkor Wat 2009

Be patient with everything, else you might lose that anticipated feeling of a wonderful surprise sunrise.

Would you?

Scotland - Skye 2009

If I just lay here

Would you lie with me

And just forget the world?

Don't rush

Grand Canyon 2010

Nature has it's way of creating beauty, when it's left all alone to do it's own thing.

Starting to travel again for work, with no time for photography, hope I retain some sanity.

Vietnam Photography

Love Vietnam, wish I was there longer. People are nice and not pushy like the other Asean countries I have been to recently. Some pictures to share including a camwhore shot of myself with Halong Bay in the background of the junk cruise we took, above.

 Night shot of Hoàn Kiếm Lake at Hanoi

Turtle Tower on the Lake

Street Shot of Hanoi

And no, I was not there to look for Vietnamese brides!

Parents' Love

Love this site about Phillip Toledano's time spent with his 99-year old father, great photos especially the accompanying words. It was made into a book.
Wished one day, I would have my own kids and they would be able to say this when I go -  "I've always been amazed at my father's love for my mother." 

I love history...because you can look back at any point in time and try to see what could have been done otherwise, but yet the final page of that particular story has already been written. That journey has been walked, now walk your own undiscovered path and make your own history.

New fav Nature/Wildlife photography blog

Hope to be able to do this sort of photography in the later part of my life. Love Phillip Colla's wildlife and nature pictures, sharing his blog. His natural history photography has appeared in the pages of BBC Wildlife, National Wildlife, Ocean Realm, Ranger Rick, Reader's Digest, Skin Diver, and National Geographic Magazine; photos also widely used in aquariums and museums.

California photographer Phillip Colla / Oceanlight.com

This is his gear list - Canon EOS-1Ds Mark III & II, with lenses like the 500 f/4, 400 f/5.6, 300 f/2.8, 70-200 f/2.8, 24-70 f/2.8, 16-35 f/2.8 II and 15mm fisheye (all killer lenses)
And woohoo, he is also an engineering graduate.