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.

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 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.

…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:)

http://www.fbook.me/feldberylimages

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).

I was listening to the radio the other day and the DJ said, “every cloud has a silver lining”. Apparently he hasn’t seen a storm cloud before, I thought. I lost my ATM card just before the Bali trip and I was still angry with how the bank handled the issue. But there’s not much point sulking. Today I was at a CD shop and saw BoA’s latest CD and decide to buy it (since I can’t find Wonder Girls). While I was making payment, I realized I was short of the minimum amount needed to pay by credit card (since my ATM card is not activated yet). So I decided to find another CD to make up the numbers.

This is what I found. Utada Hikaru’s latest offering. I have been a big fan of hers since the day I saw her “Wait and See” MV in the cinemas. Her voice has so much soul in it. I don’t even need to understand what she was singing (in japanese). Favourites include Final Distance, Can you keep a secret, Wait and See, First Love. Now this is my current favourite:D

I was really happy when I was told that the wedding I took was featured in Herworld Brides earlier last year. To cap a fantastic year, I got it again afew more times in 2008. Happy as I was, I didn’t blog about it. Although I’m not a big fan of magazines, I did buy them for keepsake (afterall, it feels good to see your works appearing on magazines). Just hours before I left for Bali, Lilian dropped me an email reminding me that their wedding was featured in the March-May issue. I guess it’s a little too late to buy them. Thankfully, she sent me the scans:D

This is my fourth time to Bali. The first being 2 months after the 2nd bombing. The impression I have of Bali is still the same, friendly people, beautiful sunsets and amazing artists. This is my first time diving in Bali. Although it wasn’t all that fantastic compared to my Manado trip, but the manta experience more than make up for the general disappointment. The rest of the trip was spent lazing around. For once, photography took the backseat.

During the early drive to Sanur where we took our boat ride to Manta point, I witness some of the most breathtaking scenes I’ve seen for a long time. Beautiful pre-dawn padi field setting with a fogged veiled Mount Agung as the backdrop. I watched in awe as my camera lay in the heavily padded bag. I thought, let’s for once, enjoy the scene. And I knew, that day was going to be special.

click image to go to slideshow

The trip started on a rather bad note, with me losing my ATM card at the airport. After checking in, I tried to buy travel insurance on an AXS machine, which subsequently swallowed my ATM card and hung. While asking for help at the information desk, it decided to un-hang itself and spat my card out. When I returned to the machine, I realized I’m in deep shit when I saw people using the machine. I have to call up the bank to cancel the card with only S$40 in my wallet. As I thought the worst was over, I was dealt with another blow when I tried to do a currency exchange with my credit card. Apparently, that’s considered a cash advance and I’ll be charged on daily interest, which the kind lady at the counter told me it’s not worth it. I tried calling the bank to ask if there’s anything they can do, which they said no. This is what I call “shit happens” and no one’s responsible. Anyway, after a few quick phone calls, I managed to get some help from friends whom I’ll be meeting a couple days later.

That’s not the end to all my troubles (not going to bore you guys with it). But I see as a new experience, so now I know. Oh, and upon checking into the hotel in Kuta, I found this very interesting item on my desk. How thoughtful… unfortunately, I’m not into balloon sculptures:P

After a long break, it’s time to get back to work again. I figured I better get the wedding images up before I post my holiday images. Anxious couples won’t be too excited on pictures of mantas if they haven’t seen theirs yet:D

The entire wedding event was held in Chijmes, which was great since we cut down on all the traveling. The couple did a tango entry for their luncheon and it was pretty good, considering they only took up lessons like the week before. And if you think Terry and Laurel are very last minute, here’s the best part, they booked their ticket to Greece 5pm that day (after the wedding) and flew off at 1am. I just love people who travel like that:D

Since it was Mother’s day, they presented bouquets of flowers to their mums. It was funny because Terry joked that his dad never gave flowers to his mum before and he beat his dad to it. It’s always nice to receive flowers. At least I think it is. To all mamas out there, Happy Mother’s Day (oh oh… it came a little late… but you get the idea).

click image to go to slideshow