Wednesday, December 19, 2007
12/19/2007 07:41:00 AM

Rainy Drive Home on a Camera Phone

posted by FH2o

I finally got round to getting a USB 2.0 “All In One” memory card reader and retrieved the photos from the 1G Memory Stick Pro Duo in my Sony Ericsson K750i handphone which have a 2.0 Megapixel autofocus camera. Nothing to shout about as the latest camera phones are 5.0 Megapixels, but it's convenient to have when you don’t have your regular camera with you. Like when I took these photos back in October on a rainy drive back from work. And for certain 'mood shots' like these, it's not that necessary to have a super high megapixel camera to capture the atmosphere or feeling.

No. I do not recommend that you talk and drive at the same time much less take photos especially on a rainy evening. Shhhh!

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Monday, December 17, 2007
12/17/2007 06:53:00 AM

Friday Evening Skies for a Monday Morning

posted by FH2o

A peaceful and beautiful end to the work week for the beginning of another week ...
Beautiful Kuching evening skies, 14 December 2007.

I was on the cross trainer by the window at the gym taking the occasional glances at the evening skies and as the sun sets over the next half an hour, I paused to take periodic quick snaps and I was rewarded with these fleetingly delicate magical images that would otherwise have vanished had I not being mindful of the present – then.

The changing colours as one moment moves to the other.

As another year draws to an end, I trust that you are present here on this Monday and every moment of wherever and whenever you are. Be here and be well. Live this moment - it's all we have and it's beautiful.

To see the magic around us, we need to be fully present in the here and now - at the gym or anywhere else.

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Saturday, December 15, 2007
12/15/2007 02:23:00 PM

2 Trees @ Riveria, Kuching

posted by FH2o

trees in kuching on a lazy afternoon2 Trees @ Riveria, Kuching December 2007

I slept in this morning which is something I haven't done in a long time and I awoke at 8.15am to a rainy morning and decided to lie in bed for a while longer and enjoy the quiet moments.

As is usually the case, I'm not really sure what I want to post on today but I was thinking that the photos of the trees I took at Riveria yesterday on an overcast afternoon looked better than I had hoped for and it sort of fit the kind of lazy, easy mood I'm in right now ...

2 trees in Riveria, Kuching on a lazy afternoonA stark image against a moody blue sky evokes a melancholic feeling. Whatever.

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Wednesday, December 12, 2007
12/12/2007 09:07:00 PM

On Trees @ Tabuan Jaya Park & Letting Go

posted by FH2o

trees @ tabuan jaya park Kuching
During lunch time yesterday I drove my old Honda CRV to the carpark at Tabuan Jaya wet market to meet the person who was interested in getting it for his wife. He brought his mechanic along to check on the condition of the car (it was tip-top) and while they took it for a test drive, I was left waiting at the carpark and with time on hand I took a short stroll at the adjacent park and took a few snaps of the trees there while reflecting on the quick passage of time ...

trees at tabuan jaya park Kuching
The snaps turned out sweet and so was the deal as the guy came to my office this morning to settle the payment - in cash(!) after I'd told him that I can only let him have the car after his cheque has cleared. While he was in a hurry, there was reluctance somewhat on my part as I felt a tinge of sadness to part with the car that has taken me to so many kayaking destinations over the past over 7 years. So much memories but time to let go.


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Tuesday, November 20, 2007
11/20/2007 09:47:00 PM

Jong's Kuching Sunset

posted by FH2o

A November Sunset, Kuching by Miss Jong

An office colleague of mine has 'suddenly' discovered the joys of photography and upon hearing that I'm quite a good photographer (*ahem*) sought me out for some tips to improve her techniques and skill. Smart gal. So she showed me some of the photos she has taken (with her fancy Nikon D80!) and these here's a montage that I've put together of a sunset she recently captured on one of her weekend outings and which I liked the best. I think you would too. Not bad for a 'beginner'! And a good opportunity for me for a quick post.

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Monday, November 19, 2007
11/19/2007 12:47:00 PM

View From The River

posted by FH2o

Another turn and another discovery awaits round the corner. 18 November 2007.

I find that it's always cooler on the waters than on land. Not to mention that the views are simply amazing. Once I get on the water, I let God and I let go - and my subconsciousness takes over as I go with the flow without mind or thoughts as I become one with nature and become whole again; and at the take-out I'm rejuvenated and revitalized as I step back into this 'conscious' world. It's magical, here, now and real.

So what are you waiting for?

Pointing towards the wonders, magic and beauty of nature and the universe. God is out here and all around.

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Sunday, November 18, 2007
11/18/2007 07:11:00 PM

Sharing Sunday

posted by FH2o

Sharing a wonderful Sunday together on the waters of Borneo Highlands, 18 November 2007

Rob Taggart & Shaun are clearly having a great Sunday.

I was really happy today to be on the waters again after more than 2 weeks of 'near dehydration'! Anyway I was eager to join the group of people I was taking out who were just as eager to get going. The light was simply beautiful as I took this snap of Shaun, the GM from Crown Plaza Riverside and Holiday Inn Kuching and who was showing his friend Rob from Sydney the wonderful time he and his family had on the waters with us a couple of months ago.

Gang leader, Bong Hon and friends havin' a splashin' good time!

Bong Hon and his gang of 6 friends who were taking their 4th or 5th trips with us again (I'm not kidding!) were having a splashing good time as well. Kayaking (with FH2o *ahem*) is fun and you do want to share it with your family and friends!

Father, Bong Foh Hoe and son, Alan Bong (16) sharing special moments on the waters of Sg Sarawak Kiri

Needless to say, we had a brilliant Sunday. Trusting that your weekend was just as wonderful as mine - and shared with family or friends. Cheers!

Bong Hon tries to drink drips from rock outcrop much to the amusement of fellow passenger Ho Siew Hong and Chong.

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Sunday, November 11, 2007
11/11/2007 08:23:00 AM

Busy @ Beliong?

posted by FH2o

bicycle, cycling, kuching, beliong, sampanSim senior and junior boarding a sampan for Beliong with their bicycles. June 2007

I'm still caught up with work and preparation of presentations for the board meetings the last one of which mercifully is on Wednesday, 14th November next week. So I'm as busy as a bee and I certainly would rather be busy cycling at Beliong or kayaking at Borneo Highlands; the former post (The Journey is the Reward: BELIONG - Sampan Ride & Stepping Back In Time) dated 6 June 2007 from which the image above had busily been downloaded by some people in Germany for the past few weeks. Trusting that your weekend has been a busy one - playing and not working (like I still am) I hope.

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Saturday, November 03, 2007
11/03/2007 07:53:00 AM

From A Distance

posted by FH2o

Zoomed view of Gunung Serapi, Kuching from 10th floor of an office building. 30th October 2007.

While we can all agree that distant scenery especially morning views of clouds shrouded mountains in the distance is a particularly soothing and pleasant; it's a rude shock on how some people refuse or are unable to look ahead when it comes to issues on hand, putting their own immediate (hidden) agenda ahead of the interests anyone else.

Irregardless, have a great weekend ahead and do enjoy the views from a distance and do remember to keep your distance from nearby shortsighted people!

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Tuesday, October 30, 2007
10/30/2007 06:58:00 AM

Sweet Sixteen

posted by FH2o


I was a little apprehensive at first when my daughter Skim, who'd just turned 16 in August, sought our permission to be a studio model for a friend of a friend for her college's photography project; a couple of days after which she showed us these photographs - which surprised as well as delighted us (besides being a relief!).

Talented Amber, who took these amazing photos is still as studying photography but I think she and Skim are both professionals already! What do you think?


This is my favorite shot! (It's currently my laptop's wallpaper)

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Monday, October 29, 2007
10/29/2007 08:27:00 PM

My Toy Camera

posted by FH2o


People who looked at the amazing photographs in my blog assumed that I'd must have used an expensive DSLR to take them with; and I think they must either be quite disappointed or think that I'm a big bald fat liar when I tell or show them the little 'toy' camera I use - which is a 4.0 Megapixels Pentax Optio43WR that I bought about 2 years ago. Actually Robin helped me to get it quite cheaply from Singapore (it was not available in Kuching) as it was on sale at the time as it was an old model. I got it primarily for my kayaking trip as it is light, compact (no protruding lens), reliable and most importantly it was water resistant.

Anyway I'm very happy with the camera and results I got from it and you can read a review of it here; but if you're thinking of getting one now, I don't think it is in production anymore. I recommend getting one if you can still get hold of it as it has served me very well. Using cheap SD card for storage and easily available AA batteries, it's therefore very convenient. I must have taken thousands of photos with it on my kayaking trip and it has not let me down despite being dropped and submerged underwater on various occasions.

I love this cute little camera despite its poor zoom, weak flash, tiny LCD screen and poor performance in dim lighting conditions. But once you know the limitations, you can work around it and still come up with great photos. Actually I'd been meaning to write about it for quite a while now but somehow some other ideas would come up when I sit down to blog about it. So here it's my long over-due tribute to my cute little toy camera - the Pentax Optio43WR.

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Saturday, October 27, 2007
10/27/2007 06:56:00 AM

Spontaneous On The Waters

posted by FH2o

Beautiful Sungai Abang @ Borneo Highlands, 26th October 2007





Photography is all about capturing the moment and the best photos are spontaneous grab shots. And here are some grab shots that Azmi took and which I cropped of a group of 6 tourists he took out to enjoy the beautiful waters on Sg Sarawak Kiri in Borneo Highlands yesterday. And I love the dynamic composition and the contrast between these two shots of tranquil and moving waters. Nice.

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Thursday, October 25, 2007
10/25/2007 09:16:00 PM

Saved By The View

posted by FH2o


I was having a darn boring meeting with some darn boring and lifeless officials in a building in town yesterday afternoon. But luckily the room where we have the meeting has a panaromic view overlooking the old kampong part of town with the meandering Sarawak River and Gunung Santubong in the distance. Most charming.

So when there was a break in the meeting, I discretely (you don't want to wake up dead people infected with the T-Virus) and promptly strolled over to the window to take a few shots. Here's one that I like.

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10/25/2007 06:44:00 AM

Sweet Innocence

posted by FH2o


Children and puppies are like bread and butter - made for each other; sharing an affinity borne out of innocence, curiosity and pure sweetness!

A sweet moment captured on Sunday afternoon at Kpg Bengoh while waiting for the rain to abate and our guests to show up. Do be sweet today wouldn't you?

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Friday, October 12, 2007
10/12/2007 07:48:00 AM

On Cropping and Coping

posted by FH2o

I think one of the coping mechanism we use to get through our lives is to 'crop-out' the unpleasant or painful things we do not want to know about. While this can be helpful to a certain extent, it can perhaps be unhealthy over the long term if we deny rather than face the truth or problems we need to work through in order to grow. We have all know of or encountered neurotic people who choose to see things only in a certain way.

Thankfully cropping works out in the long term with regards to composition as it allows us to salvage an otherwise nice photo but is too busy/fussy looking with too many elements in it by editing/cropping out the unnecessary details. Usually less is more (except when it comes to hair!) and here is an example from a snap I took out of my car window on the way home from work yesterday evening. The original photo is on the left and the cropped photos are resized, borders added, given 'drop shadow' and arranged in Photoshop. If anyone find this photography tip helpful, let me know so as though I'm no expert, I'll be glad to share how I take my photos and present them here on this blog. Just let me know. And if you also want to know about coping - let me know as well too!

Trusting that your weekend requires no cropping nor coping! Cheers.

Oh! And David (from New Orleans and now living in Vienna), if you are reading this - my apologies for somehow missing out on replying to your emails which I do not 'crop' out! I'll get back to you very soon.

Kuching Sunset, 11th October 2007

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Monday, October 01, 2007
10/01/2007 12:48:00 PM

Simply Sunday

posted by FH2o

I woke up early to get things ready for the kayaking trip for Azmi and his sister (who is helping him out) although I wouldn’t be able to join them. I managed to get on the waters on Saturday evening (will post on this later) so I didn’t feel so bad about missing out on the trip.

Later I went with my other half to the Charity Food Fair at the Civic Center in aid of the Autistic Children Association as she has baked some scones and chocolate muffins for the event after which we adjoined to have ‘kway chap’ breakfast at the corner coffee shop at Teochew Association in town.

Duly raising the cholesterol levels in our blood nourished and since we are already in town we went to the Petanak wet market to buy some vegetables and fruits. And we saw a bastard fruitcake on the drive home at the traffic lights who opened his car door and nonchalantly left his empty coke can on the road as if it was the most natural thing to do! What a pig! Despite 50 years on and having some first world infrastructure we are still very much a third world mentality country.

In the afternoon I decided to install WordPress after weeks of reading and thinking about trying it out. Forget the 5 minutes installation as I took over an hour and only managed to get it done with the kind assistance of Jee. Thanks Jee for your time, patience and generosity! And the result is here –which is work in progress and I’ll still be working on and when I have the confidence that I know what I’m doing; I’ll probably switch this blog over to WordPress too as the number of options and control one has makes Blogger looks like blogging for dummies! Yeah, I’m a dummy.

In the evening I went cycling alone as I wanted to take some photos and would be stopping frequently which can be amusing at first and annoying later if you’re cycling with others. Later I went out for dinner and drinks with some old friends and came home nicely but agreeably tired.

All in all it was a simply satisfying Sunday. Trust that yours was too!

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Sunday, September 30, 2007
9/30/2007 11:22:00 PM

More Seksan's Shangri La Photos

posted by FH2o

Since I have already found my Shangri La on the waters of Kuching; Seksan feels that I am deserving of more lovely photographs from his Tibet trip and accordingly sent me more!
But this time I have taken the liberty to add 'drop shadow' to them and arranged the two photos below into a montage. Enjoy. And 'enjoy' your work week ahead. Nay!

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Friday, September 28, 2007
9/28/2007 07:22:00 AM

Seksan's Shangri-La

posted by FH2o

I received an email from Seksan this week:-


was wandering around tibet for the last 2 weeks

trying to track down the elusive shangrila

think i found something in a small tibetan village in yubeng

have to trek for hours by foot and mules at elevation close to 4000m to get there

exhausting but rather worthwhile

thinking of giving up landscape architecture to become a monk!


cheers

seksan



And Seksan has graciously agreed to share these amazing photos that he has taken there. Enjoy them and trusting that you'll find your Shangri-La this weekend; and if not then some day soon!



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Friday, September 21, 2007
9/21/2007 07:31:00 AM

Speedy Week

posted by FH2o

A fiery morning has broken in Kuching, 19 September 2007


On account of nearly entire day meetings everyday this week; the week has just sped past me. But not so fast that I didn't have time to look up at the sky once in a while, take in the fresh air and a few snap shots. I took these yesterday morning and it was only much later that I noticed the bird that has sped past by at the instant I pressed the shutter button. Trust that your work week did not leave you in the dust and if it did; shake it off and have a great weekend ahead. Now I really need a slow float down a rainforest river. Kayaking anyone?

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Friday, September 14, 2007
9/14/2007 10:07:00 PM

Intruding & Intriguing Moments

posted by FH2o

Beautiful morning flight to Miri from Kuching, 13 September 2007

I couldn't help myself but to subtly stick my camera over to the cockpit window of the passenger in front of me in order to frame these 2 grab shots just after we took off from Kuching International Airport. Thanks to this anonymous person who did not mind my intrusion, I am able to share these 2 beautiful moments here. Trusting that you'll have more beautiful moments over the weekend! Cheers!
There's gold out there on them waters. See it? Get it?

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Monday, September 10, 2007
9/10/2007 12:38:00 PM

You’ll See It When You Believe It.

posted by FH2o

Flying Over MalaysiaThe beauty and truth of the here and now - up there!
Beautiful SkiesEndless permutations of beauty. 9 September 2007

I think it’s a coping mechanism that we choose to see only what we want to see or believe. But I think we’re missing out a lot if we do not learn to open our eyes (mind and heart too) to the beauty and magic of this life. Yes, life can be beautiful - or well, at least the beautiful skies.

Beautiful SkiesIt's beautiful and timeless up here.Beautiful Skies

And I think that once we start to look for beauty; we’ll find it – even if we are cooped up inside a sardine packed budget airline flying several kilometers above the earth’s surface; with screaming babies, jaded flight attendants and sweaty passengers with bad BO ...

Beautiful Skies

So here are some of the pictures which I took on the flight back yesterday evening and which would be ho-hum to some people but are absolutely captivating and beautiful to me. Whatever; and have a productive and beautiful week ahead. And if you’ll excuse me; I’m going to grab some (beautiful) lunch now.

Malaysian Clouds

Peace and tranquility - when we stay in the moment.

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Monday, August 06, 2007
8/06/2007 11:34:00 PM

Shadow Clouds

posted by FH2o

Kuching Sunday evening clouds, 5 August 2007

I think shadow clouds are amazing and beautiful. I just love 'em!

I snapped these Sunday evening clouds, which stopped me in my tracks, as we rushed out the office yesterday in a hurry to get of the place. I could only gaped but regained my composure to take these snaps before the 'special effects' disappeared. My colleague (like most peo