2 years ago, I decided to keep aside those ang pows and only open them when the year ends. One of the reasons was because I didn’t want to get stressed over the pictures if I knew someone gave me a fat ang pow. The very same reason why I generally do not ask where my couples work or their family background. These information are unnecessary for my work and I do not see how they can help me in my approach on the wedding day. That year, I decided that I would donate everything I collected in the year to charity. Since ang pows symbolize good luck, the good karma goes back to the people who gave them to me.

I remember my mentor once said that we should always give back to the society, through whatever avenues, that’s really up to us.

Here’s wishing everyone a Happy Lunar New Year!!

家和万事兴!!

Oh yes, I have to say this too. Have a shark’s fins free New Year!!:D

A post lasik dive trip. Why not? I went through my calendar and found a 2 week break that fit nicely into my schedule, so I had them blocked and sent a couple of emails to my contact at Twofish Divers. This will be my fourth time there and my second this year. I’m a little like a whale on migration, always going back to the same area year after year.

Just over less than a year, so much has changed here. I was greeted by many new faces, who would after this trip, become familiar faces that I hope to see again soon. Their way of life intrigued me. It seems like the digital revolution hasn’t really hit them yet. Life revolves around family, the sea and music. Almost every night, they will be singing and playing their homemade instruments. Merry making till the last guests turn in at about 9pm. After which some of them will stay back to have a game of chess or watch english dubbed chinese kungfu movies. I didn’t seem to notice all these ongoings in my previous trips. I knew enjoying the experience is going to be of higher priority over photography this time.

I am happy I learned something new this trip. A change in approach and mentality.

Overall, it was a great trip. A trip that offered me more questions than answers. I am already looking forward to the next trip.

Click the image above to view slideshow

For more info, you can read more on their website. I will just write on my personal experience with this little machine. This little robot is probably one of the smallest robotic cleaner on the market. This is because of it’s lack of vacuum unit. Instead, it uses a microfiber cloth (or disposable paper towels) to pick up dust and hair and does a fantastic job doing it. This makes the unit extremely quiet compared to the vacuum based cleaners. The downside is you will have to change the microfiber cloth or disposable towels (eg. magic clean or similar) once it gets dirty. The lack of vacuum unit also means it cannot clean carpets. As for wet cleaning, it does an okay job. Due to the weight (or lack of it), it can’t do any deep cleaning. It will remove light stains and get rid of the sticky feeling on the floor, but not major spills or hard to remove stains.

The robot navigates by reading signals from a small external navigation unit. This unit bounces signals off the ceiling and “tells” the robot where to go. It navigates in a rather systematic way, going up and down the room like a minesweeper. Towards the end, it will do a perimeter sweep on the entire area which it just cleaned. For those with many rooms might want to experiment on the placement of the navigation unit to get the best position. It also get around corners and furnitures pretty well (it’s also easy on the feet ).

I use them almost daily after I bought it in Feb and had not vacuum my floor since. Now the floor feels clean every single day. Before you think about getting it, think if it’s suitable for your lifestyle. If you can afford 2 mins everyday to set this thing up to run and not have alot of carpeted areas in your house, this is probably something that will make your feet happy. And for those who work from home or have pets, that’s even better because it’s really quiet since it doesn’t vacuum. In summary, whatever your Magiclean can do, this cleaner can do it for your automatically.

To buy from Amazon, you can use vpost, borderlinx, comgateway, etc to ship them over since Amazon only ship them in USA. No power conversions required. I think there’s a pretty good black friday deal now on their website.

Left: Approaching Sydney’s international airport. The land below is the Royal National Park, which we drove through a few days later. We didn’t have time to stop by, but the drive itself was mesmerizing.
Right: On the beach at Port Stephens. On the right hand side of the beach is the sand dune, which stretches a few kilometers.

Left: Wentworth Falls. Taken on the way down to the falls. Definitely not for someone with weak knees. The steps are tight and steep.
Right: Dog’s pawprints on the beach.

I see Anteater.

The Opera House.

From Mrs Macquarie’s Chair.

Strategically chosen seats to catch the sunset on the way home. Oh… and I got all 3 seats for myself. Although I think the A380s are not the best for plane photography because of the huge distance between the double glazed windows.

Anyway, here are some of the images I took during the trip.

The Sydney Opera House and the Harbour Bridge… and the moon at 10am in the morning! It was the last day of my trip and I had an afternoon flight to catch, so I decided I should just hang aound the city before taking a train to the airport. And that was the first day that I stepped into the city in the whole 10 days. Been mostly traveling out of the city this trip. I was told that the sun and moon usually meet in the morning for a chat here in Sydney.

Left: wind swept footprints on the sand dunes at Port Stephens. Pretty amazing stretch of sand dunes right beside the beach. Reminds me of Frasers Island in Queensland.
Right: The Three Sisters of the Blue Mountains from Echo point lookout. If this was in Singapore, it’ll probably be called 福禄寿.

Partner or no partner.

No partner? Nehmind… the four legged one makes a good substitute:)

Pelicans at The Entrance. The lamposts used to be straighter.

Learned a great deal during this trip, in terms of handling of the camera among other things, things that I can apply to my job. It was a fruitful trip and I will be back again. Many thanks to the friendly staff from Twofish divers, good to see you guys again:D Here are some pictures from the trip.

Click to view slideshow

How many of us ask this question when we see someone refusing to have their share at a wedding dinner? And how many of us know the answer? Or perhaps, the “right” thing to do?

There is no lack of literature and documentaries about shark conservation out there. Do a google and you should be able to find the information you need. I am neither a scientist nor a marine biologist, but I do believe the information that is presented because it makes sense. Not only is shark finning unsustainable, it can also be very cruel. After cutting up the fins, the sharks are thrown back into the ocean. Most sharks need to swim in order to breathe. Without those fins, they literally drown in their own habitat where they either wait and die or get eaten up by something else. If you are interested, “Sharkwater” is a good documentary on shark conservation. “Oceans”, which was recently shown at the movies has some chilling footages of the killings, as well as some amazing footages on life underwater.

They might not be the cutest animals in the planet. Fearsome as they might look, most of them they are pretty much harmless towards humans. These creatures play an important role in balancing the ecosystem. I can only speak based on what I have read, seen and experienced.

I am a diver. I had my fair share of this “delicacy” up till now. A friend of mine (who’s also a diver) used to call me an irresponsible diver because of that. So I asked him, so what you done for shark conservation? By boycotting a bowl of shark’s fins soup? How many weddings do you attend a year? And while you excused yourself quietly during that course because you probably can’t bear to see them being eaten by your friends, what good does it do to educate the masses?

I don’t blame the people who take the soup during a wedding dinner. Afterall, it’s a happy occasion and as a guest, “boycotting” a dish definitely doesn’t make the hosts look good, especially in large numbers. I don’t think anyone would like to be caught in a situation where an entire table of guest boycotts a dish (short of holding up placards and shouting anti shark finning slogans…).

How about this? Spend a little time talking a close friend who’s getting married and let them know what you know about shark finning. If you can convince someone to change the menu to something else, you’d have easily saved a few hundred bowls of sharks fins. That’s more than a lifetime worth of boycotting shark’s fins soup (provided you get invited to a wedding every month for the next 20 years).

From the people I have spoken to, most said that it’s not really their choice to have shark’s fins on their menu, it’s the senior folks who insist on having them. I can totally understand their position. If they had it their way, I am sure shark’s fins will be off the menu. By the time our kids have their weddings; I believe we won’t be insisting on shark’s fins on the menu anymore, because there might not be sharks anymore. Our generation can wait, but they can’t.

Most hotels have replacements for shark fins soup that are equal in value, if not more. One that particularly caught my attention was the bird’s nest soup at The Capella. Freaking awesome soup… pity I wasn’t fast enough to get a second helping:x Not forgetting the “Buddha Jump over the wall” and “Eight Treasures soup”.

6 years in the wedding industry and I don’t think I have given much back to the society. I can’t say sharks are part of our society, but they definitely play an important role in the ecosystem. feldberyl images will be going on an awareness drive for shark conservation. A S$200 credit for any full course Chinese wedding dinner that goes without shark’s fins will be given to the couple upon sign up (Terms and Conditions apply). This will valid till 31st March 2011.

Suggested Articles:

WWF Hong Kong Shark Fin Initiative
Oceanic Defence – Stop Shark Finning

*Terms and Conditions:

1) S$200 credit only valid for full Chinese wedding dinner that do not serve Sharks-fin dishes.

2) Credit can only be used for the redemption of items such as prints, extra pages, albums, that have not been part of the original package couples have signed up.

3) Credit is not exchangeable for cash or rebates or to be used in combination with other promotions.

4) Valid for bookings made from December 2010 for new sign ups up to 31st March 2011.