I was having dinner at my parent’s place last night and here’s an excerpt of a conversation I had with dad.

D: how do you say “tio beh pio” in english?

Me: “I struck lottery”

D: So “struck” means “tio”?

Me: Yup.

D: what about “tio summon”?

Me: ………… *tio snook*

LOL. I love talking to my parents.

Ah… so that’s how it felt to be on the other side of the camera. After finishing up the family portraits for my (ex)housemate and his family, I got to carry baby Isaac. And they were busy making Isaac smile and the picture of 3 adults doing a “peek-a-boo” action in unison is just way too funny. Alright, it was fun. And credits to Eugene for the photo. See, anybody can shoot:)

Oh yes, let not my mum see this. Else, I’m gonna get a earful of nagging again.

Barely a week into the new year and I was tasked to take some family portraits for my (ex)housemate’s family. We had a little session out at the grasslands in the north of Singapore. When his mum saw me, she said, “so I heard you don’t eat and you survive on just tic tacs…”. So… that’s the impression I left on someone I’ve stayed under the same roof for about 2.5 years:D lol! Then she said again, “but you don’t look like it (someone who just survive on tic tacs)…”.

Actually, it’s true:x I used to think, “if you don’t work, don’t eat”. When I held a full time job, I used to skip meals on weekends. So when I decided to quit back in 2007, it was really hard to adjust… it’s much better now.

Just another late night post. More to come tomorrow!:D

To my valued readers and clients, thank you for your patience and I’m sorry if I could not reply to your emails as soon as I wanted. Things are back to normal now and we’re in full swing:)

Just an hour ago, the last piece of furniture -the refrigerator – rolled into position. The move is finally complete. Started on the 3rd day of this new year, I moved my office equipments into the new shophouse along Joo Chiat Road. From then on, I have been spending most of my time setting things up, unpacking, repacking, mopping (constantly checking my sole to see if it’s dirty), tossing coins (heads keep, tails throw), etc. Last night, I was incredibly relieved that everything was done up the way I wanted. And I can call it home. At least for the next few years.

Next up, I’ll be delivering passion (well, some call it work) to the couples whose wedding I have photographed for the past few weeks. Then, I’ll look through my archives for images to be hung up. All these are getting me excited!:D

I look forward to seeing you guys at my new place!:)

It’s so quiet here isn’t it? Yes it is. I didn’t even open up my blog for the past 2 weeks. When I clicked on it last night while trying out the new browser from my phone, I was both shocked and ashamed that it hasn’t been updated as much as I’d like to. Being busy is just part of the reason (the more legit one).

Been working on alot of images lately. From Bali, dogs, weddings to portraitures. Beyond that, I was looking for an office space, which I’ve just more or less settled. Now, the things are going to get REAL busy from here. I will keep you folks updated once things are formally finalized. For now, just bear with the silence for awhile. There will be a series of announcements out later this year and early next year. Watch this… empty space. LOL.

I got this rather interesting link from a friend. And if you see someone familiar in it. Yes… he is the hero.

Take a chill pill. Go do something else. Stop replying emails. Have a milkshake. Talk to strangers. Check the weather report and compare it with the real thing. Have dinner with parents. Watch some silly taiwanese variety and laughing with my folks. Racist jokes. Computer maintenance (another reason why I have to take a break).

There you go.

After that, no more work. Just an urge to complete something I’m looking forward to.

But, before that. Sleep. I’ve been sleeping really early after I returned from Bali. And it’s an amazing feeling to beat the sunrise without the alarm clock’s assistance. I posted this on facebook few days back (no offense, just give it some thought).

“those who stay up late, only look good in the dark.”

Final day of diving was spent at Padang Bai. And it’s on one of those fishing boats that I have seen so often but never got the chance to ride on. It’s a really narrow boat with enough space to fit a single file of “not too oversized” people.

Visiblity was pretty bad with strong underwater surges due to the full moon as was told. It seems like there’s alot happening when it comes to full moon here. Saw some interesting critters and also a small school of squids. They look really “spacey” in those cloudy waters, moving in perfect unison. Calamari will never look the same again on my dinner table.

Not wanting to spend too much on hotel stay this time round, I put up at Kelapa Mas at Candidasa at a discounted rate given to me by the dive operator. It was a clean, no frills cottage along the main street of Candidasa, right in front of the beach and breakwater. I was recommended to this Restaurant Rendevous by the money changer. It’s a really cosy restaurant right by the beach with a spectacular view of the waves breaking lit by the full moon. From there, I could see the waves crashing onto the breakwater right outside my hotel. It’s like a symphony of waves, looks something like a digital equalizer on the radio. I stood there for a good 5-10mins, mesmerized by the combined work of man and nature. If only it’s bright enough for images… too bad, it’s not and it’s kinda dangerous (not worried about dying, more worried about getting wet and having to take a shower again) too.

The following day, I took a fishing trip out to sea before checking out of the hotel. Minutes after we left the shore, a huge 5kg red snapper got hooked and I was thrilled!! But watching the fish die after that wasn’t that great a feeling. I had to decline lunch with that fish on the menu offered by the fisherman. I was kinda glad it was the only catch of the trip. Now I have to figure out how I’m going to handle the spear fishing trip.

Some images for the two days.

Agung and beyond

The classic photographer’s self portrait. Tried to kill my shadow by putting it in the middle of the road. Didn’t quite work.

The cute little bugger. Still trying to ID it. We had fun playing hide and seek… for awhile.

Trumpet fish (me thinks)

“We come in peace… please don’t put us in the deep fryer!” Don’t they look like alien spacecrafts? How different when deep fried… better alive than dead really.

And they decided to come into my “photo booth”.

School of yellowtails (I think… based on visuals) fighting the current. I was swept all over the place. It was nature’s rollercoaster ride. One word, FUN!

The breakwater in front of the hotel. A few hours after this was taken, the crashing waves went up like 5 meters when they hit the breakwater. Amazing amazing sight! (ok, maybe I come from land of swaku, but you get the idea…)

Hope: the name of the fishing boat. Not the one I went out with though:P

Made (pronounced as Mar-day, means 2nd child of the family) with his 5kg red snapper!

The Kuta dog. This time, a rottweiler. These so called “dangerous dogs” (in Singapore) roam freely on their crowded beaches. Maybe maybe if you walk them enough everyday, they aren’t that dangerous. Geddit?

My favourite ship. Where are you sailing today? Gets more dramatic everytime I see it.

Sharks: a type of fish usually seen on the dinner tables at chinese weddings.

I couldn’t hide my excitement when I saw them about 30m at Coral garden on my 2nd dive. The first one was playing with the remoras when we spotted them. I was told they were the resident Black Tip sharks at the Drop Off (even though I’ve never seen them there). I was in a happy daze after that… floating around till my tank went empty. And I meant 0 bar.

Earlier in the day, Ziggy and Powell, both whom I met at the dive at Nusa Penida arrived at Tulamben after taking a day off diving at Kuta. Ziggy have been sharing alot about diving in Bali since he has 10 years experience diving on this island. Two days ago, he told me the deepest he went to was 102m. I asked, “so what did you see at 102m?”. “My dive comp.” was his reply. Very honest and very funny.

The tide was very high as we approached full moon. Ziggy and Powell had left for a village to watch the full moon celebrations. I know I’m having a date with Z monster after all that diving. Nitrogen makes one sleep I think. As I sat at the restaurant, I can’t help but wonder, when will I be back again. Strange feeling since this is the 3rd time this year that I’ve been here. Soon I hope.

Here are some images from the day.

When I stepped out of my room, half asleep, clad in my sleeping clothes and lugging the camera along… I thought I was in jail. Beautiful lighting nonetheless:)

Sunrise at the Drop Off. Fishing boats out for their early catch.

I felt it, so I took it.

The resident barracuda staking outside the wreck. Visibility was pretty bad, good thing I didn’t run into it. It won’t be pretty.

I was taking the picture of the cleaner shrimp (below) and when I turned around, I saw this fella watching me. I pointed the camera at it and it flared it’s fins before swimming away while eyeballing me.

The cleaner shrimp doing it’s work at the cleaning station. It’s quite interesting to watch them work.

Red or Blue? The two Harlequin shrimps fighting over a piece of starfish. Red one won the fight.

The resident black tip shark at the Drop Off. They swam past the Coral Garden… lucky bump there!:D

I am now sitting in front of the beachside restaurant of Paradise Resort with my laptop and a cup of hot honey ginger lemon tea. The horizon is still visible at this hour as we are approaching full moon on a cloudless night. If I haven’t had a good 2 hour nap earlier, I’d have fallen asleep right here with the cool sea breeze. Just about more than a month ago, I was in this same spot. Not a bad spot to be in really:)

The trip had been rather nice so far. Sure, there were some screw ups here and there, but nothing mood dampening. There’s no internet, so I am forced to enjoy the cool sea breeze out there instead of facebooking in the hotel room. I’m not here with anyone else, so I am forced to talk to other people and found out interesting experiences that they went through. I was bored to tears on my long journeys to the dive sites so I managed to put in some thoughts on my photography. So far, the flip sides have been rather good, at least the way I see them.

On the 3 hour ride to Seraya, I spoke to Steve, an aussie who’s heading for Tulamben for a day dive.He used to be a dive instructor for quite a number of years around the world before moving on to something else. He shared the same enthusiasm as me about diving when we started. At that point, it wasn’t the fishes nor the colorful reefs that got us hooked. It was just the sensation of being weightless, freedom in another dimension. It’s an indescribable feeling to a non-diver. Alot of my diver friends would agree to that feeling. He gave up on expanding the career in the industry when his wife got pregnant. Same old story. The world revolves around the family, the Mafia knows best. I don’t need to remind myself how many times I heard “it’s a life changing experience”.

The dive at Seraya was good. Saw two Harlequin shrimps towards the end of the dive. It seems there are some people that kept moving them around and building “houses” for them. The dive guide would usually consult the locals who will tell them their “last location” (eg. Today it’s at 9m near the rope). According to my diveguide, some dive operators move them so they will have the exclusitivity of their locations. Can’t imagine moving houses every other day. Even moving between hotels is a pain, let alone a house.

2nd dive was at Coral garden at Tulamben. Nice little gem situated between the more famous sites (USS Liberty wreck and Drop Off). Saw a couple of ribbon eels, coral crabs, shrimps, the usual suspects.

Here are some images for the day.

Double #1: The ornamental Harlequin shrimps.

Double #2: Anemone shrimp with baby

Double #3: Nudibranchs

Moray eel living within a huge colony of shrimps.

Blue ribbon eel.

“stargazing”

“one voice”

Had a rather good night’s sleep at Mutiara Villas at Nusa Lembongan. The entire restaurant had only one set of cutleries prepared on the table, which convinced me that I am indeed the only guest in the house! I very much prefer Tanis Villas which I stayed in the last time round.

The day’s dives were alright, nothing quite worth the photography effort as both were drift dives. First at Pat, second at SD. Nothing quite as fast as Lembongan point which we did yesterday, but still an effortless drift through the reefs.

Checked back at Kuta because of some logistics mix up on the dive center’s part. It’s ok, as long I get my internet access. Tomorrow, I’ll be heading Seraya and Coral garden at Tulamben after some recommendation by a fellow diver. Let’s hope we get something good tomorrow.

Here are some images I got today.

A lone surfer catching the morning waves at Nusa Lembongan against the backdrop of Mount Agung.

That’s approxmately 40m worth of bubbles.

The night’s sleep wasn’t too good. Dozed off in front of my computer before waking at at 3am in the morning to have my stuff packed and got my gears ready. Managed to nap another 2 more hours before the day began. I took a little time off to take some pictures of the resort villa again under the much softer morning light. That way, I was able to get a proper reflection off the pool.

The guys from Pro Dive Bali picked me up and together with a group of spanish divers, we headed towards Nusa Penida. Water conditions were good, nothing like that rogue waves we encountered the last time round.

The trip there was pretty quiet for me as I literally concussed at the back of the boat from the lack of sleep. Once on site, we wasted no time to get into the water, only to find ourselves immersed in murky green water. Visibility was at best 5 meters.

The thing about low visibility was thaat everything seem to happen very quickly. The huge manta rays literally appear out of nowhere right in front of me, often catching me by surprise. Nonetheless, it was still a good dive.

After lunch, we headed towards Lembongan point for some kickass drift diving. The current was nice, fast and predictable. There was hardly any way I could stop to take any pictures, so I did some videos instead. Looks like fast and furious underwater. I will have to wait till I get back to Singapore before I can post them up. It’s quite an amazing dive I thought.. .

By the time I reached the resort, I was totally spent. Took a shower, had a quick snack and napped for a good 3 hours before waking up for dinner again. And I seem to be the only occupant in the entire resort. No kidding. I wonder why.

Here are some images from the day.

Reflection of the villa.

The small cottage that I actually booked, but 2 of them were being renovated and were not updated on the website.

I really love the cottage by the pool. But I’m not complaining about the upgrade:)

The only pair of mantas on this trip. They seem to be larger than the ones I’ve seen the last time round.

They appeared right before me from nowhere, crossing my path as I struggled to get both in frame and in focus.

At times, they’ll come straight at the divers.

Snorklers hovering on top of the cleaning station. I wonder how’s the view up there.

The white stripe of bubbles were formed by the waves which crashed against the cliff.

If you are folllowing me on twitter or on my facebook, you probably know the mad rush I was in before leaving for this trip. Only packed 30mins before I left home. Dive gears, cameras, clothing, chargers, laptop… etc. The only thing I forgot was an extra bag to carry my camera around. But that’s not a big deal since I don’t think I’ll be doing much walking around except probably the last day or so.

The flight was a breeze. Slept most of the time and woke up only to find the plane appoaching the runway at unusually fast speed. I really thought there was something wrong. My heart dropped a little, the rest of the body was intact. lol. Everything seem to go well this time round, immigration, taxis, etc.

Took a short taxi ride to Villa Seminyak Estate and Spa which I booked 2 hours before leaving home (talk about being last minute). The guy at the reception asked me if I was with friends, I said no, I’m alone. He looked shocked. I thought… “what the hell… can’t come alone is it?”. Then he explained that the small hut by the pool I booked was under renovation and wasn’t updated on the website, so they “upgraded” me to a villa. Actually, I wasn’t too happy because I really wanted to stay by the pool. When he opened the door to the villa, it was my turn to get a shock. I counted 50 steps to reach my room. The best part about the villa… free wireless internet access (ok, it’s not starhub nor singtel, but at least it gets me online). I know it’s very lame, but I know I’m going to be deprived of internet for the next 5 days, let me just have a little bit more. Here are some images of the villa (you can check out their website at www.villaseminyak.net).

Ordered some late night nasi goreng while filling the bathtub in the humongous bathroom (it’s about the same size as my bedroom in Singapore, although it’s quite empty). A good start for the trip I hope.

Woke up really late the next day. Only in time for a morning dip at the pool before heading for breakfast right before closing. I have to say the villa is not for people who have to sleep in complete darkness. Because of the light from the top windows, the place will be brightly lit riht after sunrise, which in Bali, is abot 6am. Fortunately, I have no such problems. I can sleep under spotlights.

Met Edward from Launch 2002 wakeboard school for lunch. I always thought I was alone in Bali island. Kinda crazy to meet people I know here. Then I had coffee with Hannah from Heaven’s Gift and her designer. They were here on a business trip. Booked my dive trip and back to hotel again. Checked my dive equipments and mucked around in the pool. It was fun, very fun. As tradition goes… a self portrait at the beginning of every trip:D my nose was like a leaking tap after the shoot.

Jerome and Jana departing Jana’s house.

On a separate note, Hutch has moved back to his home. There was a tinge of sadness as I saw him jump onto the front seat of his owner’s car. As I looked through the window, he looked at me and I bade farewell silently. But I’m happy that he’s back to where he belongs. Bye Hutch.

The skies looked really blue today and the evening light never looked more beautiful today. Instead of staying in front of my computer, I decided to take a spin round the island. Watching the shadow of the car against the seemingly golden road. Haven’t seen such good light for a real long time. Stopped in the middle of nowhere and took a few shots before heading home. The light was beautiful, but was shortlived. Back home, I thought, hey Hutch, let’s work some artificial light.