Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Self Portrait

Doing some private functions lately thanks to NAB and The Caprice School of Ballet. Well, I can't publish them here, I am afraid. However, I was asked to supply a photo of myself. Yep, that I can publish! But first, I must take a picture of myself and that's an interesting challenge for someone who prefers to hide behind the camera.. :P

Yes, my profile picture is not really me... I don't have big bug eyes, like those Jap manga characters do, but small little Chinese eyes. Doh! :o Anyway...

The set up is extremely simple and cheap. Just a desk lamp with a standard 60W incandescent light bulb from KMart as the key light. Check out the reflection in the sunnies, I wish it was a brolly or softbox. No reflector, no hair light, no backdrop, no fill light. The camera is mounted on a tripod. I don't have a remote shutter cable so timer was used instead. Look very closely, and you would see the sweat running down my face, as a result of the sprints.. -_-; Just kidding.

You can be excused thinking I am a Nikon fanboy because it is a Nikon FA with a Nikkor 50mm f/1.4. XXX

Monday, November 17, 2008

More flowers

I am fustrated! Couldn't quite get the colour of the rose pedals correctly with white balance. This is about the best I can do (so far). It is exactly the same flower as the ones here so you can tell my previous attempt was pretty mediocre. :(

So fustrated, I decided to shoot other flowers, even weeds! >_<

Hainanese Chicken Rice (海南雞飯)

My wife and I have a problem. She made really nice Hainanese Chicken Rice, 海南雞飯, on Sunday and I took a few pics of it. They looked so nice I want to post them here for my photo blog. But she wants to post it on her blog too. It is a good problem to have. LOL! You are the winner!

Nicely flavored chicken rice, from natural chicken stock that came out of the steamed chicken. I can be sure it is not as oily as what one would find in restaurants. The chicken wasn't as thinly sliced as I had in Singapore. But it was rich in taste and moist like anything, even the breast meat. Yummy!

We love coriander. The chopped ginger, garlic, spring onion mix, the chili sauce and the soy sauce was fantastic. Chili sauce wasn't home made, we don't eat enough of it to go that distance. Everything were delicious.

It is not real obvious in this reduced size pics. But the ginger in the bottom pic is so nice it pops right out of the photo. I want to grab it with my fingers and put it in my mouth! :)

Friday, November 14, 2008

Flowers around the house


For someone who knows so little about gardening and spent so little time taking care of the garden, I am incredibly fortunate to have some very nice flowers around the house. These little flowers look like cherry blossoms to me but they are not. They are flowers from peach tree so may be I will call them apricot blossoms. I love the bokeh in these pics. :)

Someone once said to me that rose is a weed. I don't believe that is true but the classic rose bushes in my house are so hardy they are tougher than weeds. Awesome and beautiful! The flowers are large (as big as my fists put together) with very strong thorny stems. Their thorns are big and sharp too. Thank God for my Ansell Super Gloves (suede pigskin leather palmed gloves). I can confidentally grab hold of the stems without fear. They have served me for many years and have barely shown signs of wear. So good, I bought a new pair a couple of years back and they are still sitting in the cupboard waiting to be used... :)

Stretching the truth a little bit because the flowers below are not in my garden. They are not even in my house. They are flowers my mum received for her birthday thus they are in my parents' house.


Friday, November 7, 2008

Pocket Billiards

We also played pool that evening after we visited Jaslyn. Do you know the official name of pool is pocket billiards? I couldn't resist the photo opportunities this presented. Unfortunately, I only took a few pics because I also couldn't resist the opporunity to play and pick up a few skills from my friend Eric.

Watch out for this girl, she might be the next supermodel. Her eyes are so arresting! She works for a tier-1 bank in Melbourne, Australia. With eyes so sharp, you can trust in Australian financial institutions to look after your money!** Sorry, I can't reveal the bank she works in because it is a rival of the bank I work for. LOL!

Hope you went well with your exam, Hemitha.


OK, roll the drums, please......

This is Eric, a good friend and a wonderful brother in Christ. He is amongst the most caring people I know. And he makes great soups as well (amongst other nice dishes). Take note ladies!

There are many more positive attributes to tell. Leave a comment if you want to find out more.

This is a series of photos taken of the same shot, at different angles.

Mmmm... sorry, no, that's not true, I wish they were though. :P They are not even of the same table corner and the different ball formations is an obvious give away... :)

No flash was used for any of these photos. The light on the table acted like a soft box. While limited, it wrapped around the subject pretty well.

**PS This is not a financial advice. Please seek advice from your licensed financial adviser before acting.

Jaslyn at 3 weeks old

A few friends and us visited the now 3 weeks and 4 days old Jaslyn. Visit here for her 1 day old pic. Her features have become much more defined in just 3 weeks. Isn't she amazing?! Check out this 3weeks old mother, Lynette, who does not panic at her daughter's cry. She is confident and even manages a smile!

Thank God for my SB-800 off camera bounce flash, there was no direct flash into the delicate eyes of Jaslyn and still manages to put a little spark in her eyes. Look at Jaslyn, safe and secure on her father's shoulder. There is not a care in the world for this little one.

Monday, November 3, 2008

Melbourne Cup Parade

Congratulations to jockey Blake Shinn, horse Viewed, trainer Bart Cummings, horse owner, Malaysian, Dato Tan Nim Chan for taking out the 148th Melbourne Cup in a photo finish and Brat Cummings' 12th Melbourne Cup win which is a remarkable achievement, and again, confirms that he is the best trainer ever.

This is the Melbourne Cup Parade, held a day before the Melbourne Cup, on 3rd November along Swanston Street ending up at the Federation Square.
What is a democratic country without protest? These protesters are against cruelty in horse racing.

Personally, I don't think it is right to put a horse down if it is injured in a race, not unless it is beyond treatment and death is imminent. Horses are wonderful animals and deserve to be loved not only for their racing ability.

Robert Dipierdomenico, an ex-AFL footballer for Hawthorn. He is affectionately known as Dipper or Big Dipper. He is also the face of Dimmeys and Forges in recent years. Go Dipper!

This is Emilia DePoret, the Countess of Pop, a Swedish singer. While we didn't hear her perform at the parade, she was very nice - talking to kids (thus public) outside the exclusive marquee, giving away her CDs and signing them. Finding out kids' names and all that. Not just a pretty face. Check out her work here. Emilia, welcome to Melbourne. Hope you have a wonderful time downunder! :)

Here is a MV of her newest single "Pick Me Up"

Sunday, November 2, 2008

Home-made Dumplings (shuijiao/水餃) for Lunch

Thanks to my dear wife who loves cooking (and does a great job at it), at times, I get great opportunities photographing food.

Today happens to be a nice and relaxing Sunday. All I have to do is attend church service and do my BSF lesson 30 amongst other chores. We felt the urge to make Chinese Jiaozi, boiled dumpling (shuijiao/水餃) type, for the first time for lunch. The bottles of sauce behind are for the noodle base, not for the dumplings but I couldn't resist putting them there to add some interest and colours.

Sorry, we didn't make the Jiaozi/餃子 skin, may be we will try making it next time... For the filling, we got beef (left), pork (center) and chicken (right) mince, just so we can make 3 different types.Here is a close-up on the chicken mince filling. Come on, come closer to the screen. You might smell the sweet aroma of the sesame oil and coriander! :)
We mixed the mince with coriander, chopped Chinese mushroom, a bit of soy sauce, white pepper, sesame oil. That's about it... doesn't get any easier than this. They are so tasty, we just boiled them in water.

If you think the one to the left of the chopsticks looks strange, you are absolutely right. It is star shaped... tried to make funny shapes with a few of them... Just look at how beautiful they look. I can't wait to eat them!!