2nd day in Sydney, and waking up the usual time (about 930am + 2 hours time difference = 1130am), I knew the merger has to happen, lunch bought over breakfast. Headed for City right after that, knowing that I probably won’t have plenty of time left before it gets dark.

Sydney hasn’t changed much from 3 years back. The harbour bridge is still there, so is the opera house and the millions of tourists armed with cameras, just like me (I thought I’d look strange with my huge camera… but realized everyone else is holding a HUGE camera!!). After walking for almost 2 hours, I still couldn’t find a good spot to get both the harbour bridge and opera house in the same frame while looking reasonably proportionate in size. I know Mrs Macquarie’s chair, but the view didn’t excite me 3 years ago, and I’m sure it won’t this time round.

After looking around The Rock for a while, I decided to go back to the bridge area, hoping to get inspired, in fact, was desperate for pictures already, even dropped by Ken Duncan’s gallery to get some tips. Finally settled on a spot near a restaurant called Water Edge. It has everything I want but also everything strategically placed to block a photographer’s view. After the sun went down, things took a turn as the lighting condition changed and the original boring looking scene now looks photo worthy:) 130secs (just enough time to send an sms) later, I got this shot:)

On the way back, determined not to have Macdonald’s 2 days in a row, I tried Sushi at Town Hall train station. That must be the WORST sushi I’ve ever had. Imagine Lontong with prawns and salmon… After that, I found Krispy Kremes… the most expensive donuts I’ve ever had, AUD$5 for 2. But it’s worth every cent:) At least I didn’t end the day with some crappy meal.

[tags]Photography, Sydney, 2007, Opera House, Harbour Bridge[/tags]

First day was great! Because I slept from 10am to 3pm… waking up to find that… the light here makes everything beautiful. Weather was great at about 20degC. I took extremely late lunch, ok I promise, I won’t do that again. Instead of my original plan to go to the city, I decided to take a walk at the park with my sis. It was nice and relaxing, no rush, no hurry while we waited for my bro-in-law’s call to bring us out for dinner.

We ended up at Bondi beach area to try out the “world renowned” (I’m took this from the menu) pork ribs from Hurricane. As the name suggested, it really blew us away. So tasty that I finished a full slab on my own… it’s about the size of 1.5 times A4 paper (and I don’t mean the thickness). Only if they served non-aussie beer… (the first steps to fatten myself up!)

Here are some random images… 

Just landed in Sydney not too long ago. Damn tired… I think the flights to Australia are shorter nowadays, I barely slept and I’m there already. The sunrise from the plane is beautiful, although I didn’t manage to grab any photos… I was erm… half asleep, half wondering… how nice if they can let me sleep a little (like, another 5 hours?) more before landing.

Smooth sailing through the immigration, even with two boxes of mooncakes from Regent Hotel (eh… da best thing, trust me… ok, at least trust my mum). From plane to taxi stand, 20mins flat. Woohoo!:) A little conversation with the quarantine officer went like this,

QO: What are these? (points at mooncakes)

W: Mooncakes… erm, ok, cakes.

QO: Any eggs?

W: no, no eggs.

QO: made from beans?

W: erm… no, *points at small label* it says… white lotus paste…

QO: What’s white lotus paste?

W: …hmmm… it’s some kind of paste made of white… lotus…?

QO: What makes you think you can bring this in?

W: My mum brings them in ALL the time, and she says you guys used to cut them up to check if there are eggs in there… you want to cut them now? I’m ok with it, you can cut them up.

QO: No, that’s ok.

W: (woohoo!!) Thanks!

*reading some nice sms-es before heading for bed*

Ok folks, it’s confirmed, just booked my flights to Sydney this coming Wednesday (29th Aug 2007). If you hear a funny tone while calling me, yes, I’m overseas, email will be a better option because I don’t usually pick up unknown calls when I’m overseas (partly also because my dad doesn’t own Singtel). In case you really miss me, don’t worry, I’ll be back on 12th Sept 2007. And if you really really miss me… check back often, I’ll (try to) keep this blog updated while I’m there:)

2 days ago, I was talking to mum and dad about my upcoming trip to Sydney to visit my sister, who’s expecting a baby boy in Sept. Then she mentioned that my sister said when her baby is born, she’ll be so busy and not have time to do alot of things. Then came my mum’s assurance, she said, “if your baby boy is like your brother (which is me), then you’ll have plenty of time. You only need to wake up a little earlier to bathe him, give him some food and he’ll sleep for the next couple of hours… nothing wakes him up.”

Till now, things hasn’t changed much, of course, with the exception of “bathing me”. Mum said I didn’t cry when I was delivered, doctor have to smack me till I cry (I think that’s the usual procedure). Come to think of it, I think I might have fallen asleep then.

I was telling my housemate about getting a file to file my toenails, ok, not for vanity sake, it’s more like salvage work.

W: I can’t find a file rough enough to file my toenails at Watson’s…

N: Rough? I have a bastard file, definitely will work

W: Yah right! It’ll take out my toe as well.

N: Hmmm… come to think of it, I have a smaller one, maybe can use that.

W: So what do you call that? Little bastard?:P

N: …

Congratulations to our good friend Ron the “shutterbug” who just proposed to his long time gf. Nicely executed move in a private pool somewhere in Phuket. And “YES” is the answer.

Hey, how about 08 08 08 (I hear someone screamin’… CHEESEY!!)?:P Enjoy the rest of your trip there! Can’t wait to grill you for the details (you know… the size of your… ahem! diamond:P) when you are back:)

Just thought I’d write something about my experience on the NDP fireworks. We found ourselves a place at Swissotel Singapore, somewhere in the 30+ level. The view was nothing short of fantastic. We could see the bay area, as well as the Padang, where hundreds of people formed up a Singapore flag with red and white umbrellas. When night fell, they waved torches which gave the normally empty field a starry look. The flypast was great too as the planes broke formation and flew right into our direction. Nothing I can complain about the view really.

But when the fireworks started, I realized that I had overestimated the height of where the fireworks will (land?). Anyway, that wasn’t a big problem as slight cropping will take care of that. After the 3rd burst, the combination of smoke and wind started to cloud our vision. We can’t really see anything anymore. By the end of the display (or lack of it), the entire scene looked like an aftermath from a terrorist attack. Anyway, here are some lessons learned from this trip,

1) look for a location on the side of the main audience or directly opposite to get the best view.

2) get a sturdy tripod. The higher you go, the more wind you get. Trust me, the camera can get blown away.

3) when smoke gets into your eyes… screw the fireworks, just enjoy the company:)

[tags]Fireworks, NDP, 2007, Swissotel[/tags]