Charity = Generosity - GFC

Thank you Aynur for the opportunity to photograph the Charity Trivia lunch in support of Cystic Fibrosis Victoria.

There was a generous turn out and everyone gave generously toward this great cause. This is the tin with the donations inside. The photo doesn't do it justice but I shouldn't touch the money.

CFV Mission statement: "To promote research, increase awareness of Cystic Fibrosis and provide education, support and advocacy to Victoria's Cystic Fibrosis community."

Really exciting to see the spirit of charity not snuffed out by the global financial crisis (GFC)! Charity is a positive number because Generosity is always greater than GFC (or crisis).

Thank you to NAB and management for empowering its staff to contribute to the community in this way. If you would like to make a donation to CFV, please visit here.

Isaiah 58:6-7,14a, "Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen:
to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke? Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter — when you see the naked, to clothe him, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood? ...The mouth of the LORD has spoken."

UBank Celebration

UBank or NextGen Release 1 has take off!

UBank is the fruit of many months of hard work, of many wonderful people from different teams, departments, and vendors, working together.

I've learned a great deal and achieved much myself. Thank you all who collaborated and cooperated with me on SCM.

Praise be to God! Philippians 4:13

This is the day to celebrate, and we did that in style at a Swiss bar restaurant, Terra Rossa.

There were lots of great foods and drinks of course. Good to see so many letting their hair down for a second to have a great laugh and getting (and giving) a slap on the back for job well done. Many awards were handed out in recognition.




I really liked the decor in the bar, very retro.

Saw $13.25 on the table not far from the entrance and wondered who would leave them there? Soon I realised that it is a piece of art! The coins and notes are sealed inside a very thick layer of lacquer and is part of the table. Sorry, this is not a good pic, but it is one of those times, where the story is more important than the image. :)

Don't think my camera liked the showers half as much as I do.. The showers, combined with lights created wonderful effect of reflections on the street.. so much life and richness!

*Please take a good look at UBank and work out for yourself whether it is the right vehicle to manage and grow your hard earned money. :)


* This is not a financial advice nor an advertisement for UBank or the National Australia Bank (nab). Please consult your financial adviser for advice.

Melbourne Open House

MOH was a fantastic event!

One day in the year, 32 buildings in the CBD open to the public for free, most accompanied with guided tours. More than 50,000 people turned up for the event and God was kind and gave us amazing sunny weather on the day.

I love architecture so I wasn't going to miss this!


Yes, the queues were very long... But, my wife and her girlfriend later joined me which certainly made the day even more pleasurable. They saved a good two hours as well. To top it off, we had a fab lunch after that. Although it was kind of small. Loved the risotto and the company. I am hungry just thinking about it... :O...

This is the roof top view from MU.


I was lazy or perhaps just being realistic on the day... left my tripod at home... was going to bring it... it went as far as the door. Sorry tripod...

Tripod could have been useful at the St. Paul Cathedral. Anyway, had to do with handheld on the day. A wider angle lens would be nice too. I do love this cathedral, a wonderful house of God.



This is CH2. CH2 is the first purpose-built office building in Australia to achieve the six Green Star certified rating. A truly fasinating and innovative building albeit it took a long wait to get in also.

Love those infamous wooden louvers, yellow roof top turbines (also called wind crowls) and cooling through heat absorption into the concrete, etc... Magnificant!

After a long day of walking, met up with friends at Shanghai Village for dinner. The chicken dish was so nice! We are definitely going back again. Good choice Rumi/Yoshi. :)

A Sydney-sider told me buildings are even prettier in Sydney. Oh, I certainly love the Sydney Habour Bridge, the Opera House and I like The Circular Quay also. But this Melbourian is more than happy with what Melbourne has to offer.

Melbourne Melbourne Melbourne! =3=

Forever Barbie - 50th Anniversary

Who would not love to look their best forever? Barbie is the most popular plastic doll for girls in history and she still looks her best and trendy after 50 years.

Forever Barbie, celebrating 50th year of a pop culture icon - Barbie - is being showcased at Federation Square (top floor car park). It is the biggest Australia has ever seen. In fact, it is the biggest Barbie exhibition ever in the southern hemisphere!

With over three hundred Barbies, from the yesteryears to the new. From retail models to custom made ones, accessories - bags, glasses, shoes, more bags, houses, furnitures, automobiles (and space shuttle and horses) and pets and of course Ken (which may be classified as her pet also?)! From Barbie doll size to life-size fashion designs...

Not only Barbie fans will find it interesting. There are heaps of merchandise to purchase as well and I don't mean just dolls! Barbie is more than just a doll!

If you haven't checked it out yet. I highly recommend it, especially for this school holiday. It will be open (since Friday, 26th June) until Sunday, 12th July. Checkout the Barbie site for more details.

KEN: "To debunk all the rumour claiming that my relationship with Barbie is rocky, here is proof! We love each other and we are very happy together.

All you eligible bachelors out there, go look somewhere else!

Fans, thank you for your unwavering support to both Barbie and me! XOXO"

The Light in Winter

Wanted to photograph the light shows at Federation Square for sometime. Tonight is the night! It was indeed very nice. Federation Square has officially became one of my favorite place! :)

The whole exhibit is called The Light in Winter which is all part an enlightenment theme. This first picture is The Gift of Light. Visit here for more details.
This exhibit is called Volume, LED light columns that reacts to human movements. I love all the colours of the exhibit and also the rich colours of the buildings near by. Beautiful!
Lets see it from ground level.

The next one, called Context, is a really interesting one. It is a real fire. You probably guessed it, it relates to the indigenous people of Australia.

Indeed, it was deigned by Vicki Couzens with the elders of the indigenous communities.

Dapper Day Out

Well done Manningham City Council for another excellent event - Dapper Day Out. So good to see so many come out, dressed up and take to the dance floor. I really liked many of the songs sung. Well done Jig Walk. I can't wait to retire and join into the fun!

Thank you very much Kelly. Hope you like the pics. Have a wonderful holiday.

The next best thing to planes

Of course lots of things are better than planes in an air-show, right? There must be!

Australian car show, at least those that are held in Melbourne are not well known for having lots of pretty models like one would find in such as Tokyo or Detroit motor shows.

On the day where there were more rain than planes on the ground, where the ground was muddy and cold, there is nothing better than pictures of people on the ground. I didn't get that many in the fear that someone may get offended. Yep, I am a wuss. 8^P

WOW, fashion on the field! Look at those sunnies and the amazing hat.

I love these two pictures. They put a smile on my face. Amazing and contagious, emotions.

Lots of happiness, lots of love or perhaps just keeping each other warm in the second case, hoodies, Gore-tex, sunnies, camera, ear-plugs. Magic!

Thank you, thank you, thank you!



Alright, alright, I hear you die hard airshow fans complaining, demanding for more pictures of killing machines, oops, sorry, I meant jet military aircrafts..

Here is the B-1B Lancer, a long-range, multi-role, heavy bomber. Can't believe how long it is (44.5m) and the wing span is amazing too (41.8m)!

Never thought this would actually happen. Wings are really good not just for keeping planes in the air. They are good for keep rain from falling on my head and my camera also. I actually stood under this wing for no less than 10 minutes when it was pouring down dogs and cats. Somehow I thought this was a very cinematic moment.

This was the last airshow for F111, the "Pig", which is due to be decommission by the end of the year. Very sad that the demostration was cancelled because of poor weather. I just have to go with my memory and pictures taken two years ago with my good old D70.

This of course is not a picture of a F111, silly. :)

Melbourne Weekly Eastern A Celebration of the Nation

I am going to be a copy-cat this time. Just noticed one of my pics in the local Magazine - Melbourne Weekly Eastern (Feb 3-9 aka week 5 2009 Volume 3). Below is the pic and the article. :)

"There were flags and barbecues, music and citizenship ceremonies across the nation last Monday in celebration of Australia Day. In Manningham, 63 people became Australian citizens and many more enjoyed the festivities on offer at the council offices in Doncaster. Mayor Charles Pick (second from the left) and councillor Fred Chuah (right) were on hand to announce Manningham's Citizen of the Year and Young Citizen of the Year. Heather Ambrose (left) was named Citizen of the Year for her work with Manningham U3A, and Eve Ember (second from right) was handed the Young Citizen of the Year for her outstanding achievements in tae kwon do, at school and as a teacher of martial art."

Manningham Council, thank you very much for giving me the opportunity to serve you. Looking forward to serving you again.

Congratulations Heather and Eve for your excellent achievement!

Visit here for more information about Manningham U3A or if you want to help or sign-up to a course. Heather is the Volunteer Coordinator and she teaches Psychology there.

Australia Day 2009

Happy Australia Day! Happy Chinese New Year! Happy Birthday Yuski (my Maltese)!

This is a special year - CNY, Australia national day and my dog's birthday all rolled up together on the same day - 26th January, 2009. Finally (for once anyway), I get a public holiday for CNY. 恭喜發財 (Kung Hei Fat Choy)! Got to work hard this year. It is the year of the Ox!

This is Alexndra Valmorbida, a teen-idol, talented singer and song writer. Her voice is powerful and demonstrates skills and finesse beyond her years. Well done Alex!

Read her profile here or at MySpace. She performed the Australian National Anthem - Advance Australia Fair. Below is the lyrics.

The rubber-band covered part reads, "We've golden soil and wealth for toil."

Speaking was the youngest mayor, Cr Charles Pick, presenting citzen and young citizen of the year awards, introducing Australia Day Ambassador, Mark Mitchell (Con the Fruiterer in The Comedy Company, a little ad here), etc. What an achievement.

A few excited kids ran around during the celebration, proudly waving our Australian flag. A wonderful and beautiful scene. :)

My wife just uploaded some pics of our Yuski on her blog, check them out here. He is really cute!

Happy New Year

I had intended that this blog only contains photos that I took. Here are two that I did not take and are photoshopped... Well, I couldn't take them because they are pictures of me I found, in The Age newspaper web site, of the Melbourne Spring Fashion Week. I hope this has not set a precedence for the future. :)


2008 was an amazing year. I had so many photo opportunities. I still can not believe it. God was indeed very kind to me. I worship you, my Lord. He has blessed me through many people. People who gave me opportunities to photograph events - thank you Emma, thank you Paul and Caz and friends at AEMA. Thank you Clint.

At NAB, I was able to mix business with pleasure, literally. Thank you very much Jill, Amanda, Jessica, Suzanne, Belinda, Nathalie, Craig and so many others. Many encouraged me and inspired me like Brett, Christine, Magdalena, Patrik, Wayne, Gary, Matt and David, I've learnt heaps from you.

Thank you very much John, your eagerness and dedication humbles me. Thank you Catherine, Marilyn and Boby for giving me opportunities to serve you. Hopefully, I can serve you again very soon.

All, thank you so much for your friendship, I wish you every success, happiness and good health in 2009. Looking forward to rubbing shoulders with you again in 2009.

To all who were in front of my camera, I thank you too. The pics were good because of you. There have been some amazing people I've come across - Wendy, Simon and Kerrie just to mention a few. You guys inspire me.

Lou, I am going to miss you in 2009, love to do a shoot together, of Taekwondo or whatever. I am going to miss Olivia. ;_;

A big thank you to my dear wife for your love, support and encouragement throughout my photography journey in 2008. Thank you for the many opportunities to photograph food (and get to eat them too). They look great and taste even better. Now that we are both armed with dSLR camera, I hope my role has not become redundant. Guys, you should check out her work here.. makes mine look like child's play...

Last but not least, thank you all for reading my blog. I hope you have enjoyed it. All the best for the year 2009. God bless.

Children Christmas Party

This is absolutely the cutest kid. Lou, you've got some amazing genes hidden inside. Took a picture of her last year and boy that was my favorite children photo and it made its way into several publications inside the NAB without surprise. xoxo

Thank you very much Lou for letting me take pics of her again. The pleasure is all mine! Sorry, didn't ask you if it is ok to give her a box of chocolate. Hope you are cool with that.



Couldn't get this tiger to roar, flashing all his claws and teeths... He and his brother were too absorbed playing on the computers. What do I do? Here is an idea. Lets go for the other extreme... a sleeping tiger! Thought it looked really nice and I hope you enjoy it. The face painter did a really good job. Love how the colours on the face matching his hair, and his top. It crossed my mind to have my face painted also seeing such good work... but this photographer is too shy.



Just look at how cute this kid vampire is!! For a vampire this cute, may be you would be willing to donate some blood voluntarily. :O

I was required to print photos of children with santa using the office laser printer and laminate them. Shame that the printer quality is terrible. Everything came out green even after we spent good deal of time trying to calibrate it... We should print them properly at a lab next time. Thanks very much David for helping. Couldn't have run them off as quickly as we did without your help.