I was pretty near the pot of gold. But someone got there before me!
travel / landscapes
Dr Heng said, “you can go scuba diving now”.
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
I used to love taking panoramic pictures with my Canon S10 when I was traveling. The nice thing about compact cameras is that they do not suffer from parallex errors like DSLRs. I attempted a quick panorama today at the Marina Barrage and it didn’t turn out too badly. I wish I could’ve salvage the fountain at the bottom, but I guess not this time. Now I just need a spirit level for the tripod and hopefully it will stitch better.
The Singapore skyline from Marina Barrage. All 85 megapixels of it.
This patch of land has came a long way. Barely 2 years ago, there were cranes all over it. I remember the first time I shot here, Marina Bay Sands was not even ready and I had to DI cranes after cranes away after taking the photos. And back in our younger years, Superbowl, Canto, korean BBQ are the residents of Marina south. Four years ago, I remember having my last bowl of curry chicken before everything got torn down. The roads are still the same, so I still can remember where the landmarks were.
Yesterday, I managed to sell one of my extra lenses. The person who bought it from me reminded me about how I used to love taking landscape pictures. That short 10 minutes talk with him made me realized how much photography I’ve missed ever since I made it my full time job. I used to travel to the most ulu places in Singapore in search for the most un-Singapore like places and wait for sunset. That hadn’t happen for a very long time. Besides weddings, travel and dive trips, my camera sits comfortably inside my dry box. I spend more time behind the computer than I spend behind the lens. This unhealthy habit has to change. And I hope this will be the first step of change.
I don’t have to look far to find what I want.
The Singapore skyline from The Marina Barrage.
Another set of images on the Sydney trip.
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.
We do what all tourists do. Visit the Opera House, get a picture of the Harbour Bridge, drink some wine, walk to bushes and get burnt at the beach:) This time, it’s no different, since I’m bringing my dad around. Not quite a photography trip, but I enjoyed it nonetheless. The quality of light in Australia is just amazing. There are times I would just watch and wonder, in my country where everything is imported, including people, why can’t we just import some light from the land of plenty. Oh well, if we could, I’ll like to import the weather too (just the good parts) and make them permanent residents:)
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.
This is my 2nd trip down to the falls. Still one of my favourite waterfalls around. Although it doesn’t have the most volume of water, but there’s something magical about the water trickling down the rocks, like a golden drizzle. The lush greenery and amazing undercliff walk around it makes the trip a really memorable one. Definitely coming back again.
