Draw me closer

2 more to go…

2011-04-02T01:13:00.001-07:00

I’m done with anesthesiology, 2 more rotations to go before I finish my 5th year in medical school.

Food cooked with ♥

2011-02-18T19:55:00.001-08:00

Last Sunday, all the aunties in church worked together to cook 120 bowls of delicious bakmi(Indonesian egg noddles) for everyone in church.

This is the best bakmi I’ve tasted not because it was cooked with a lot of lard and ingredients but lots of LOVE. haha

Happy Chinese New Year

2011-02-02T07:35:00.001-08:00

Updates…

2011-01-29T01:02:00.001-08:00

1) Completed 3 weeks of Neurology Rotation

This was one of the toughest rotation because we had to be on-call for 5 times in 3 weeks. Each on-call starts at 4pm, after our daily hospital work and will last until 6am next morning which is followed by daily hospital work from 7am to 3pm. (36 hours in total). It was not easy but again and again He’s mercies are new every morning. His strength is made strong in our weaknesses.

I was on duty last Saturday in the emergency department and there were so many patients coming in until the ER was totally packed and crowded like a shopping mall.

2) Graduated from University of Melbourne.

Bachelor of Medical science degree from Melbourne uni. Mid of next year, I’ll be graduating from University of Indonesia as a doctor. Finally, after 5years, the finish line is within sight.

3) Upgraded to a new DSLR.

My dad recently received the Canon EOS 550D for free so I traded my 450D with him during my Chirstmas holiday in KL. I’ve yet to really test all the new functions but I find the video capturing capabilities and the extended ISO 12800 to be quite useful. Thank God for blessing me with a new camera.

4) Light painting with Brown bear bear (BBB).

When there’s no one to take pictures with you, BBB is always there. hehe.

5) Recovered from varicella (chicken pox).

I've recovered completed from varicella. Hehe. The classic vesicles seen in varicella, often described as “dew on rose petals” by several medical textbooks.

He made everything beautiful in its time

2011-01-01T03:55:00.001-08:00

I’ll be going back to Jakarta tomorrow. I was back in KL a week ago for Christmas.

No one thought that we will be having any holidays during Christmas, not even the department secretary who was suppose arrange the timetable.

According to the official letter from our uni, we will only have holidays on the 24th and 25th. We contacted the department secretary and were informed that we won’t have any holidays except for those 2 days.

It wasn’t practical to return to KL for 2 days because fight tickets were sold at festive season prices. Also, we need to be on-call in the emergency or ward during the holidays and going back Malaysia would also mean that we would waste precious time studying for the exams. At that point in time, we knew it was impossible for us to return home and even if we want to, it wouldn’t be convenient.

In my heart, I just prayed and surrendered everything to Him. I knew if He wants me to be back home, God will open a way.

2 weeks before Christmas, against all odds, on the first day of our new rotation in the Pulmonary department. The coordinator asked us to select our holidays and we ended up with 9 days worth of holidays. Furthermore, we are exempted from on-call duty. Hallelujah!!!

However, as it is written: "No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him"

1 Corinthians 2:9

Only my group was able to return home to Malaysia as the other groups in the other departments were not given any holidays. Our re-entry visa was also completed within days, I managed to get all the tickets at a reasonable price and everything worked out perfectly.

Honestly, this holiday was only possible by His grace. I haven’t been celebrating Christmas in Malaysia for the past 4 years. It had been such a blessing to be able to spend time with love ones during this holiday. This year’s Christmas had been a very memorable one for me. Thank God for the fellowship, the dinners and all the love.

Oh ya, before I forget, I’m currently recovering from varicella, thank God for getting it in the right time, when I’m in KL (and not during the busy clinicals in Jakarta) and directly after all the Christmas gatherings.

Indeed, God makes all things perfect in His time.

“He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end.”

Ecclesiastes 3:11

What I received during this Christmas was that how we shouldn’t get caught up with all the programs, the festive mood, the dazzling decoration, the carols and everything which we can see with our own eyes or hear with our ears.

How many of us actually stop, and take time to ponder about His great love?, to realize that it is all about Christ? How percent of our attention was given towards praising the beautiful decorations in the mall rather than His love for us? Truly, it is not just a birthday celebration but a daily reminder that it is all about Christ. For all things were made, for Him, through Him and by Him.

For whether we live, we live unto the Lord; and whether we die, we die unto the Lord: whether we live therefore, or die, we are the Lord's.

Romans 14:8

Therefore, are we living for Him or for ourselves? Ultimately, all glory goes to Him.

Blessed Belated Christmas & Blessed New Year 2011.

Life as a medical student in clinical year

2010-10-31T08:23:00.001-07:00

At the moment, I’ve already completed 2 department rotations, ENT (3 weeks ago) and Dermatology (yesterday). The next rotation would be Psychiatry. Each rotation will last for 3weeks and we are suppose to learn everything within that limited time. Also, there are NO HOLIDAYS in between the 11 non-stop rotations until mid of next year.

Clinical years is one of the busiest and interesting time of a medical student. We’re no longer college students, dressed casually for lectures every week but as working adults, dressed formally as working professionals to meet patients everyday. In our hospitals, we address ourselves as young doctors when we meet patients. Responsibility and upholding the professional code of conduct are always being emphasized in each department.

There were many challenges, no time for lunch, sometimes we had to eat lunch in the lift while going from place to place so that we won’t suffer from gastritis, leaving home before sunrise and coming back home after sunset, hours spent in ER doing on-call duty, see patients die in front of you and seeing people suffer, touching and talking with patients with leprosy or infectious tuberculosis, and polyclinics with a huge hole in the ceiling. In reality, it is not a bed a roses like we what see in Dr House or Grey’s Anatomy.

BUT…,

I am grateful to God for providing me with His strength, joy, peace and support to face these challenges. His strength is made perfect in our weaknesses. There’s were countless of times where God has helped me through and blessed me with really good doctors as tutors and cooperative patients.

As for me, my goal is not to go through this process and graduate as a smart doctor but to become His child. In the end of the day, I believe what pleases Him is not how many patients I’ve cured, the number of research papers I’ve published, the number of titles that I get but to do fear Him and obey his commandments. For that is the whole duty of men.(Ecclesiastes 12:13)

For in Hebrew 10:5-7 it says:

⁵Therefore, when Christ came into the world, he said:
   "Sacrifice and offering you did not desire,
      but a body you prepared for me;
⁶with burnt offerings and sin offerings
      you were not pleased.
⁷Then I said, 'Here I am—it is written about me in the scroll—
      I have come to do your will, O God.' "

God is not after our offerings and our achievements that we think we can use it to glorify His name. For what can I give that He does not have? or what He needs that only I can give? He doesn't NEED anything from us BUT He WANTS us to surrender our lives to Him, that He can use us to do His will. Just like Jesus Christ, He came not to do His own will but the will of the Father.

That's all I have to share at the moment. Do keep me in prayer. I’ve got to prepare for my next rotation tomorrow.

God bless

Paul Ong

Seascape sceneries from West Java.

2010-09-16T20:14:00.001-07:00

Its been a while since I last did some landscape photography. Recently, during the Raya break, Uncle Samuel invited Sam and I to join their family for a holiday in Ciputeh, Ujong Kulon, West Java (7-8 hours drive from Jakarta). It was one of the most remote places I’ve ever been in Indonesia, even most of my Indonesian classmates have never been there before. The journey was as long as taking a flight from KL to Melbourne. Haha. I really thank God for this trip. It was a time to relax from all the clinical work and an opportunity for me to take pictures. I haven’t been touching my camera since I started clinicals.

Hengky borrowed me his 18-55mm kit lens because my faithful 17-85mm lens is still is Malaysia. I didn’t have time to collect it after it was being serviced. If he didn’t borrowed me his lens, I wouldn’t have taken these pictures.

This is my first attempt at shooting seascapes. Kathryn and I have always been wanting to try doing seascapes as most of our scenery pictures from Australia and New Zealand were mostly of cityscapes, lakes, mountains and star trails. Hope you will be able to see beauty of God through these pictures, the works of His hands rather than my amateur attempt to capture it with the camera that He has blessed me with.

All shot were taken using the 18-55mm. No ND filters were used as my 67mm ND8 could not fit into the kit lens. Post processing: RAW single or double exposure blending using (Lightroom/CS4) to simulate the effects of a ND grad filter.

The Grass & the Weeds [Kuching 2010, Part 2]

2010-08-29T08:55:00.001-07:00

During my time in Kuching, we stayed overnight in church on both Saturdays, after the night prayer meeting. The 2nd Sunday morning, I woke up quite early and helped to pluck weeds that was growing around the beautifully trimmed patch of pearl grass.

The small weeds were easy to remove as their roots were not deep but the larger ones required a little more effort. It is definitely easier and quicker to just remove those weeds by plucking and breaking them right above the roots. However, I know the weeds will grow again if their roots were not removed. I wondered why the weeds never fail appear again although we had removed everything including the roots. When can those grass be totally free from being infested with weeds? This is because it does take a lot of effort to regularly remove the weeds by hand.

God reminded me how our hearts are like the patch of grass. We must daily seek the Lord, asking Him to search our hearts, to reveal to us, those “weeds” in our hearts. The weeds could be bitterness, unforgiveness, sin, pride, disobedience or anything that is not pleasing before His eyes.

Heb 12:15 Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled;

Most of the time, the weeds are usually of the same colour as the grass. If we do not look carefully, we might even mistaken the harmful weeds as part of the grass and think that we are free from weeds. Likewise, if we are not looking through His eyes, we will fail to spot the “weeds” and it is impossible to rid our hearts of all the impurities.

What is deem right or wrong, pure or impure in eyes of God is not defined by the worldly standards, moral laws, majority vote, or by common sense or logic. For the wisdom of this is world is foolishness to God (1Cor 3:19).

He knows us more than we really know ourselves. He searches out heart, knows our real intentions.

Psalms 139:2-4 Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising, thou understandest my thought afar off. Thou compassest my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways. For there is not a word in my tongue, but, lo, O LORD, thou knowest it altogether.

In the His eyes, nothing is hidden.

Hebrews 4:13 Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.

Thus, that is why we really need Him to search our hearts, to reveal the truth to us. Only God can help us discern what is right or wrong, to help us “differentiate the weeds from the grass.”

Having a clean and pure heart before Him is very important, for without it we won’t be able to see Him. Matthew 5:8 Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God. How could we say that we are having a constant fellowship with God if our hearts are not right before him? Can good fruits come from a bad tree?

James 3:11-12 Doth a fountain send forth at the same place sweet water and bitter? Can the fig tree, my brethren, bear olive berries? either a vine, figs? so can no fountain both yield salt water and fresh.

If our hearts are not right before Him, and if we harbor even a single tiny “weed” in our hearts, then we are considered impure in His eyes. There is no such thing as having a mixture of 50% pure heart and 50% defiled. We can’t serve 2 masters at the same time (Matt 6:24) nor can we be neither hot or cold (Rev 3:15). When Christ comes, He’ll be coming for a church that found to be without spot and blameless. (2 Peter 3:14)

Lastly, in Hebrews 3:7-11

⁷So, as the Holy Spirit says:
   "Today, if you hear his voice,
⁸do not harden your hearts
   as you did in the rebellion,
      during the time of testing in the desert,
⁹where your fathers tested and tried me
      and for forty years saw what I did.
¹⁰That is why I was angry with that generation,
      and I said, 'Their hearts are always going astray,
      and they have not known my ways.'
¹¹So I declared on oath in my anger,
      'They shall never enter my rest.' "

What wrong did the Israelites do that made them unable to enter into His rest? It was the condition of their hearts. They hardened their hearts and are always going astray. In the same way, if our hearts are not right before Him, we would not be able to enter into His rest.

Therefore, lets continue to seek Him daily, asking God to search our hearts, to reveal the “weeds” that besets our hearts. May our hearts be found to be pure and pleasing before Him today, tomorrow and until we see Him again.

Psalm 139:23-24 Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.

Psalm 51:10-12 Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me. Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit.

God Bless.

Kuching 2010 (part 1)

2010-08-17T03:49:00.001-07:00

CWC and the Convention Centre at dusk.

This is my second time flying to Kuching. This time, I come not as a tourist but as a part of family in Christ. The 10 days in Sarawak was filled with lots of activities from sharing in church, give health talk in Aunty Tsan’s workplace, share at the CF there, early morning 6.30 morning exercise with Kathryn’s mum, help out with the spring cleaning in church, 1st time trying to shoot with blow pipe, learn some chords for so new songs, go marketing, help Sam clean the cat’s litter box, going out to eat and meet up with every one and going for bible studies on Wednesday, Friday and overnight in church on Saturdays after prayer meeting.

I ate non-stop during my time there. On certain days, we had breakfast twice in a day. Haha. Thank God also for all the blessings by the brethren there for all the delicious Kuching food. I didn’t go to all the tourist spots except for cultural village because I more interested in spending time fellowshipping with everyone there.

Kolo mee, I once ate 2 bowls for dinner and 2 bowls for breakfast. Haha.

My first meal in Kuching, 2 bowls of laksa. The price? 1 million AUD. HAHA

Sarawak laksa. So far the best I’ve tasted is the one in Mei Mei food centre, in Chung Ling park.

Haha… I just found out that I didn’t take much photos of food because I was busy eating and talking.

Throughout my time there, I also managed to meet some cute little friends.

Mikey, my favourite dog because of the his funny tail chasing and biting move. Mikey loves to lick my hands each time I open the gate.

One of Grace’s cute little puppies.

The extremely “manja” nameless cat that lives in Sam’s house.

Pauline’s dog. Sorry, forgotten the name. Haha.

What makes Kuching so unique is the people there. Hope I didn’t miss anyone out. Haha.

Went to the Sunday market on Saturday with aunty Tsan.

Seng Hian jie, Seng Ling jie and Tio tio belanja us to a sumptuous 9-course dinner at Kenyalang Market. After dinner, they bought me apom for supper. I ate really a lot that night. Haha.

with the Yong family. Aunty Annie, thanks for the Thursday night dinner.

with uncle and aunty Tsan and Grace

with Crystal and Esther

with Tio tio, he’s always young at heart.

hello kitty pose.

Ah lui jie belanja us to a delicious Japanese dinner at a restaurant near her office.

The hakka dinner in Batu Kawa with Kathryn’s family.

I really thank God for this trip to Kuching. Apart from all the places that I went to, the stuff that I did, the things that I ate, I was also encouraged spiritually too. In PART II, I’ll share more about it.

TO BE CONTINUED…

Melbourne

2010-07-13T04:25:00.001-07:00

It had been almost 2 months since I left Melbourne after completing a degree in the University of Melbourne.

Melbourne a really nice place for taking pictures and it is one of the most “photographer-friendly” city I’ve ever been to. Everywhere you turn, there’s always an interesting sight to the captured.

God had already prepared everything right before I was there. He prepared an apartment for us, strategically inside the CBD, affordable, and best of all, we didn’t even had to look for it but it was offered.

I love the clean air and the weather. Although it weather can be unpredictable, it gives me sense of adventure each time I leave the apartment. On the other hand, the Australian weather forecast is also very accurate.

The public transport in Melbourne is the best I’ve ever seen. Easy to use, good coverage and always on time. Also, the variety of food available is unbelievable. (sorry ya, no pictures of food…hehe)

Honestly, these are not the main reasons why I really enjoyed studying there.

There are so many things to thank God for but one thing that I really thank Him for is the people that He had placed in my life throughout my study there. They are not just a bunch close friends that hang out and do things together but a family that I regard as my brothers and sisters Christ.

The Pinnacle, Grampians National Park. (the journey by foot, took us almost 6 hours)

At the summit. Can you spot us? (picture courtesy of Kathryn Chin)

At another summit in Grampians National Park.

Group photo in Es Teller, when the Kuching brethrens came to visit us. Yay, I’ll be seeing them in 4 days time !!!

With TK and Vera.

Mornington peninsula, during Sam’s family visit to Melbourne.

Sovereign Hill, Ballarat (when Guo Rong came to visit)

Korean farewell dinner for our bible study group.

Farewell dinner with Ohana (house church)

Melbourne may seem like a pleasant place to live but without these precious brothers and sisters that God had blessed me with, it would just be an ordinary modern developed city.

To conclude, thank God for everything that He had provided and all the things that He will do the future.

[SOLVED] Line-in microphone not working after upgrading to Windows 7 (DELL INSPIRON 1420)

2010-07-05T01:56:00.001-07:00

I’m currently using DELL Inspiron 1420 laptop and the line-in microphone port was working perfectly until I upgraded to Windows 7 recently. This is because the the given audio driver (for Windows Vista 32 bit) “SIGMATEL STAC 92XX C-Major HD Audio, version 6.10.0.5614, A03” will properly in Windows 7. Furthermore, DELL did not provide any new drivers for DELL Inspiron users who upgraded their system to Windows 7.

Thank God, last Saturday, I’ve found the solution to this problem while searching through the internet. All you have to do is to install the older version of the driver.

Here’s the link for the driver.

http://support.dell.com/support/downloads/download.aspx?c=us&cs=19&l=en&s=dhs&releaseid=R147073&SystemID=INS_PNT_E1405&servicetag=&os=WLH&osl=en&deviceid=8907&devlib=0&typecnt=0&vercnt=1&catid%20=38;impid=-1&formatcnt=1&libid=3&fileid=195627

Hope this helps.

Update

2010-06-30T19:28:00.000-07:00

Some readers might be wondering where I've disappeared and why I didn't update for a month.

I'm currently in Jakarta. I was back in Malaysia for 5 days before flying to Indonesia 4 weeks ago.

Anyway, I'll be flying back to Malaysia in 2 weeks time for semester break. However, I'll be spending some time in Kuching first before coming back to KL.

Grampians National Park

2010-05-19T00:41:00.001-07:00

About a month ago, we went to Grampians National Park for 3 days.

Psalm 8 summarises what I saw in Grampians. God is indeed amazing!

Psalm 8

¹ O LORD, our Lord,
       how majestic is your name in all the earth!
       You have set your glory
       above the heavens.

² From the lips of children and infants
       you have ordained praise
       because of your enemies,
       to silence the foe and the avenger.

³ When I consider your heavens,
       the work of your fingers,
       the moon and the stars,
       which you have set in place,

⁴ what is man that you are mindful of him,
the son of man that you care for him?

⁵ You made him a little lower than the heavenly beings
and crowned him with glory and honor.

⁶ You made him ruler over the works of your hands;
you put everything under his feet:

⁷ all flocks and herds,
and the beasts of the field,

⁸ the birds of the air,
and the fish of the sea,
all that swim the paths of the seas.

⁹ O LORD, our Lord,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!

Here are some of the pictures from the mini landscape photo outings during our free time, when were are not hiking/cooking/eating. Haha. For the rest of the hiking pictures, do check out my facebook album.

DAY 1 (8pm till 10.30pm)

DAY 2 (Around 7pm)

DAY3 (6.30am-8.30am)

Your presence here, give me peace within

2010-05-04T20:31:00.001-07:00

I WORSHIP YOU ALMIGHTY GOD

I worship You Almighty God

There is none like You

I worship You O Prince of Peace

That is what I long to do

I give You praise

For You are my righteousness

I worship You Almighty God

There is none like You

I come into Your courts with praise

I bow before Your throne

Your presence here

Give me peace within

And joy I’ve never known Lord I give to You

My heart and soul

May it bring you pleasure Lord

There’s no higher call

Than to worship You

For You alone are God

The race

2010-04-29T22:16:00.001-07:00

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God” Hebrew 12:1-2

I pray that at the end of our race, we would be able to say the same thing as what the apostle Paul wrote in 2 Tim 4:7-8:

“I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.”

So, what’s your ultimate goal in live? how would you end your race?

Melbourne Night Photography Outing II

2010-04-22T20:15:00.001-07:00

Last Easter holiday, Kathryn and I went around Melbourne city for a night photography outing.

The weather was good that night. It wasn’t too cold and skies were beautiful. A perfect day for landscape photography!

Our first destination was Princess Bridge.

Sunset…

Here, we saw a cyclist who rammed into a car door which was opened suddenly onto the bicycle lane.

I notice that when you set your camera and tripod against a crowd of people, some of they would actually come towards you and pose in front of your camera or ask you to take pictures of them. That what we experienced that night or maybe it was because it was a Friday night. Hehe

Some abstract structure…looks like some twisted metal…hehe

Then we went down into this ordinary looking place which holds many photography treasures…

“Geometric Lines”

Along the Yarra River.

Flinders St Station.

Crown Casino.

Super long shutter speed gave the moving clouds some cool effects…(100 sec bulb mode using shutter release cable)

One of my favourite shot, unedited.

A random shot that came out quite nice…unedited too..

The hourly fire ball display at Crown Casino.

I could literally feel the heat from where I was standing. Hehe…

We did a couple of funny jump shots using the shutter release cable (it works!) and saw many really amazing street performers that night. Overall, it was a great outing and we managed to capture some really nice pictures that night. Hallelujah!

I’ll be going to Grampians National Park this weekend and I’ll be back on Monday. I hope this post will keep you guys entertained and updated for the weekend.

Till then, God bless.

A decision to make…

2010-04-13T16:58:00.001-07:00

Teach me to discern the voices that I hear so that I may know Your still small voice. Reveal to me the right path, according to Your desire and purpose. Let me not make my decisions based on my own feelings, understanding, wisdom or emotions but by Your Spirit. As I wait on You, Lord, show me Your way.

Amen.

♥♥ Happy 1st Anniversary ♥♥

2010-04-12T17:04:00.001-07:00

Exactly 1 year ago, I bought my first DSLR. I don’t have a name for my camera but I do have friends who actually name their cameras…haha

1 year later…

My camera obviously got fatter and heavier (bigger lens + external flash + battery grip) and I have a family of camera accessories. Also, I just found out that I have a complete set of filters for my 17-85mm lens- UV, CPL, ND and Macro filters.

I am grateful to God for blessing me with a wonderful camera that allows me enjoy my passion for pictures.

Easter Camp 2010

2010-04-10T08:10:00.001-07:00

I went for my church’s Easter Camp during the Easter holiday last week. It was held in Philip Island. Thank God for all the fun, fellowship, worship but most importantly, for speaking to me.

More pictures can be found in my facebook album.

The sunrise pic was taken at Pyramid Rock. Our house church woke up super early (5.30 am) in the morning although we were really tired and drove all the way to Pyramid Rock just to watch sunrise and then return back to camp again for breakfast.

Melbourne at Night…

2010-03-30T17:48:00.001-07:00

Here are some new and old night pictures of Melbourne.

5 exposure HDR from my balcony. We also have some chili plants on the bottom right corner. Hehe.

This was taken last year using the 50mm f/1.8, on the way back from Geelong. The 50mm is an amazing lens.

This was at the junction between Elizabeth st and La Trobe st. I was trying to do some panning shots while waiting for the tram.

Public toilets…

Place to change your babies…haha

Disco balls at the 2010 Melbourne International Comedy Festival.

Tram bringing people to the ~~International Belly Tickling~~ Comedy festival

Flinders St station, a very busy place.

Profile picture…

Princess bridge.

This was taken with the wireless flash. I’m still trying to learn how to apply what I’ve learned in the studio.

Light trails…

Out of focus lights (bokeh)…

This is one of my favourite places to take night scenery in the city. Long exposure also creates really cool “cloud moving” effects.

Last but not least…

This is a possum. You can easily find these nocturnal animals at night.

Sarawak Laksa Night II

2010-03-26T18:13:00.001-07:00

This is the second time we’ve organised a Sarawak Laksa night and invited our house church members over to our apartment for dinner.

Sam and I boiled the soup with prawn heads & shells to further enhance the laksa paste. Sadly, the soup was not sufficient for 12 servings.

We played Nintendo Wii bowling after dinner.

Before I end, I would like to reveal a “secret”.

Here’s the recipe used to make the Sambal belachan that was served that night:

Ingredients:

Belachan (prawn paste)
Garlic (smashed)
Dried Chilies
Lemon grass (finely chopped)
Sugar
Lemon

STEPS:

Break the belachan into smaller chunks.
Put the belachan, smashed garlic, dried chilies and chopped lemon grass on a pan and gently roast for 7 minutes (on small fire) without using any oil.
After roasting, put them in a blender and blend.
Add sugar and lemon juice (use lime instead of lemon if you have lime)
Remove all the blended ingredients from the blender and slowly heat them for 5 minutes to further remove excess moisture.
Your sambal is ready to be served.

NOTE:

Roasting brings out the aroma and flavour. (I guess the same concept as coffee beans?)
Keep stirring the ingredients when roasting without oil as they can get burned easily.
You can further enhance the flavour by adding MSG or powdered chicken stock. =)
Do not add salt if the belachan that you’re using is very salty.
Adding onions will make the overall paste too watery, therefore it was not used. (also I ran out of onions & shallots)
The approximate mixing ratio used was: 5% dried chillies, 55% belachan, 25% garlic, 15% lemon grass.

My prayer today…

2010-03-25T18:56:00.001-07:00

⁴ Show me your ways, O LORD,
teach me your paths;

⁵ guide me in your truth and teach me,
for you are God my Savior,
and my hope is in you all day long.

Psalm 25:4-5

Tune in…

2010-03-22T03:31:00.001-07:00

Who are we listening to everyday?

(pic was taken on the way home from Howqua river last Saturday)

Purpose…

2010-03-21T03:03:00.001-07:00

“As for man, his days are as grass: as a flower of the field, so he flourisheth. For the wind passeth over it, and it is gone; and the place thereof shall know it no more.” Psalm 103:15-16

We all know life is fragile and precious but do we really appreciate every second our Creator has given us? Do we use our limited lifespan to achieve our own heart’s desires or God’s plan for us?

Climbing the ladder of success in hopes of achieving status, power and a fame.

Sacrificing time and health for money which could not buy peace and true joy.

Amassing wealth to build our own earthly “palaces”.

These are things that we do to achieve what the world defines as “a perfect and successful live”.

BUT…

Have we all forgotten that all these worldly successes are meaningless?

“Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done
and what I had toiled to achieve,
everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind;
nothing was gained under the sun.” Ecclesiastes 2:11

and it is useless to have everything in world but end up losing our souls in the end.

“What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?” Matthew 16:26

Therefore, my brothers and sisters in Christ, lets make our calling and election sure.

Aileen’s 20th Birthday.

2010-03-16T02:47:00.001-07:00

Last Sunday, we went to Sofia’s Restaurant in Camberwell to celebrate Aileen’s 20th birthday. This Italian restaurant is well known among both international students and locals because of their affordable price and generous portions. I took my parents there in December and they love the food there too.

Kathryn and I brought our DSLR+flash gun and we went around the table taking pictures like some news reporter. I guess we made Aileen feel like a superstar. Haha.

Here are some of the pictures from my camera.

After dinner, we gathered at the side of the main road, made a small circle, laid hand, and prayed for her. Haha.

OhAnA~ ^^

Funny TV Commercial

2010-03-12T23:00:00.001-08:00

This is one of the funniest ad I’ve ever seen on Australian tv.

Surprisingly, some people were so “inspired” by the advertisement that they actually made a cover.

Hahaha

Bushrangers Bay, the 13.7km hike.

2010-03-09T20:28:00.001-08:00

Hiking is one of the stuff that our house church enjoy doing. Last Saturday, we drove 99km down south of Melbourne to Mornington Peninsula. The trail ends at Cape Schank. I was in Cape Schank last year and the scenery there was spectacular. (click here for images)

There wasn’t any toilet at the starting point or throughout the 13.7km so we had to use the natural “under-the-tree-beside-the-bushes” toilet. Hehe.

Guess what was happening at that time. Clue: Sam and Jason was inside the car.

The air was permeated with the scent of eucalyptus (gum tree). It smells like herbal insect repellant.

The hike was relatively easy and the tracks were well maintained.

Eucalyptus leaves, koala’s favourite food.

Photographer at the back of the team.

Our bags were all stuffed with lunch.

The vegetation and terrain changes throughout the journey.

The grassland area.

Bushland area?

Up close.

Overpopulated.

We had a great time enjoying God’s creation while the city was being hit by hail storm.

It looks like miniature dried prunes.

I was trying to take pictures of butterflies and was chasing after them. One of the them got caught inside a spider’s web by accident and hence that’s how I got this shot.

Some hillside area.

Dry and barren.

Clearly, I wasn’t ready…haha

The effects of a hot summer.

Kat brought her new flashgun.

We snacked along the way.

We reached the costal area.

Elephant rock.

We had a picnic lunch beside the sea.

It was starting to rain and the waves were getting stronger.

Trying to bridge the gap.

The final 3km was done under the rain. We managed to complete the trail in approximately 4 hours and was drenched with rain water at the end of the hike.

Dinner at Box Hill.

SEPARATE?

2010-03-08T04:11:00.001-08:00

Things that protect us can sometimes be the things that separates us.

Hail storm hits Melbourne.

2010-03-06T03:37:00.001-08:00

I just got back from a tiring but fun 13.7km hiking adventure at Mornington Peninsula (99km from Melbourne City) and I just found out that a hail storm had occurred in Melbourne City earlier in the afternoon. The glass roof at South Cross Station was badly damaged and several car wind screens were smashed by ice as large as a golf ball. Some of my friends also posted videos of their apartment balconies being incessantly bombarded by large chunks of ice. I can’t believe this is happening although we are still at the end of summer.

Anyway, thank God we were all not in Melbourne city when the hail storm was happening. Instead, He gave a beautiful hike through all the costal cliffs and bush lands. I’ll upload the pictures soon.

A fiery experience…

2010-03-01T03:49:00.001-08:00

6 months ago, on a cold winter night, we were at this secluded back alley in Chinatown.

We were there to try some authentic Szechuan food from China. It was the last day before their chef move to another branch in Toorak.

These rubbish bins were located right in front of the restaurant entrance and yet it did not stop customers from waiting outside in middle of winter.

We waited an hour outside the restaurant and waited another 15 minutes for our turn to order dishes.

A tasty Szechuan tofu dish. Szechuan cuisines are very aromatic and the smell of the oils and herbs is more than enough to make you drool. However, they are very spicy too.

Pork ribs. By the time we finished this, our mouths were on fire and almost numb. Even eating white rice was difficult because the warm rice intensifies the spiciness inside your mouth and lips.

The last dish was one of the most ordered dish in the restaurant. Chicken served in a mountain of dried chilies. It very delicious and extremely spicy. We had to dig through the pile of chilies to find all the small pieces of chicken. Almost 75% of this dish is made of dried chilies. Luckily in Melbourne, all the restaurant provide plain (tap) water for free.

The next morning, we were all greeted with another fiery experience in the toilet. Hahaha.

How far would you go for a perfect shot?

2010-02-25T06:01:00.001-08:00

My housemate gave me a link recently which showed the extra mile some photographers are willing to take for a perfect shot.

Here are some of the pictures from that forum site:

Risking his money for a perfect shot. This is also what happens if you don’t have a wide angle lens.

Risking his life for a picture.

Risking his camera’s life.

It is amazing to see all the effort that goes into making a beautiful picture.

I did a quick scan through my photo collection after viewing these inspiring photos and to my surprise, I do have some interesting pictures to share too. Ever since I’ve upgraded to a DSLR, I’ve been blessed with the chance to learn and enjoy photography with people who share the same passion. Here are 4 examples of things they did which inspired me.

1) This is Tee Juan during my 1st outing in Putrajaya. The winds were so strong that even Tee Juan’s expensive Manfrotto tripod couldn’t keep the camera steady. He quickly improvised and used the road divider as a tripod instead. He was barely a meter from vehicles speeding through the bridge.

2) This is Tan during our photo outing around Melbourne Uni during spring. Camouflage and 200mm is the perfect combination for capturing candid pictures without the subject knowing… Muahaha. I photoshop-ed another similar picture and made it into this:

I’ve added some text and air brushed the camouflage face paint onto the original picture.

3) This is Gloria during her trip to Melbourne last year. Most photographers would think twice before they decide to lie on ground especially on somewhere that could potentially stain their nice shirt or pants but not this photographer.

Also, if you think this is the lowest angle you get from a DSLR without keeping one eye at the viewfinder, wait till you see the next picture.

Gloria’s ultra-low-angle™ technique.

4) Kathryn, during our previous trip to Sovereign Hill, Ballarat. It was raining that day but she managed to shoot using her DSLR while holding onto an umbrella at the same time. The golf umbrella was not only heavy but also difficult to balance. Rain or shine, a photographer is always ready.

Melbourne Uni @ night.

2010-02-20T23:24:00.001-08:00

I was went to campus last night because one of my housemate wanted to learn some night photography.

We didn’t take pictures of all the popular landmarks like the old quad because most of the coloured lights were switched off during the weekends.

However, there’s plenty of nice places for night portraits. We’ll be going back there again to do some portrait work with wireless flash.

Chinese New Year 2010 Celebration in Melbourne

2010-02-15T05:41:00.001-08:00

After the CNY lunch at church, I went back home to rest and walked to Chinatown in the evening. The advantage of living in the CBD is that I can walk to Chinatown in less than 10 minutes.

Welcome to ~~Hong Kong’s~~ Melbourne’s Chinatown.

The event started since 10am in the morning.

Performance and karaoke (Chinese opera) contest.

East meets west.

Some food stalls.

Ruo Gan or the Aussies call it Pork Jerky.

A huge crowd would gather wherever a lion dance is performed.

There were several of Lion dances that day because practically every single shop/restaurant/cafe/business in Chinatown invited the Lion to dance and do some stuns at their premises. There’s another group of Dragon dance at the end of this street and behind me there’s another group of Lion dance.

C.Y.S.M = Chinese Youth Society of Melbourne.

My favourite shot for that day.

Before the lion dance troupe moved to the next place, the shop owner would light these fire crackers…

…and the whole street would be covered with smoke and the smell of gun powder.

Rawr!!!

Luring the lion with ang pao laden with Aussie dollar…hehehe…

Another lion dance performance in one of the shabby back alleys of Chinatown.

Stalls selling fireworks. Not cheap.

3 DVDs for 10AUD (Rm 30).

People buying DVD. They only sell all the Chinese movies and dramas.

The guy is promoting the eye-mask stall.

The stall.

We could wear this during a very boring lecture. Hehe.

Russel Street.

Decor shop.

Man eating lion…haha

Everything was red on CNY…this includes the ground…haha

A waiter cleaning up the fire crackers in front of her restaurant. I thought we are not allowed to sweep on CNY…hehe…

Reunion Dinner

2010-02-14T02:05:00.001-08:00

We had a CNY reunion dinner last night in Clayton, about 45min train ride from Melbourne CBD.

Everyone was watching the 2010 Winter Olympics on a 42’ HD TV before dinner was served.

Huy Ming cooked all these traditional CNY reunion dinner dishes.

Cutting the dessert.

大家吃饭！

Hello Kitty pose.

“Yum… seng”

Karaoke time

Choosing songs

They had too many drinks…haha.

HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR!

Sarawak Laksa…

2010-02-12T06:28:00.001-08:00

In my apartment, we take turns cooking dinner everyday. Tonight Sam and I decided to cook Sarawak laksa because some of the laksa paste were going to expire soon.

It was not easy to find authentic Sarawak Laksa in KL until recently. Previously, I had never tasted this noodle until I went to Kuching 4 years ago. So how did I managed to cook a dish that is so unique to the people of Sarawak?

If you still remember, I had some hands-on cooking lessons with Aunty Tsan (Sam’s mum) a few months ago . She taught me how to cook Sarawak Laksa and just in case you’ve forgotten, here’s the post.

I’ve also made some sambal belachan (from scratch) to go with the laksa because I think my taste buds had developed some liking for spicy Sarawak Laksa + sambal belachan + limau ever since I’ve tasted the laksa made by Terence’s mum last month.

This was the laksa (+sambal belachan + limau) Terence’s mum made when his parents came to Melbourne.

Terence & his mum’s laksa.

Now lets go back to the Laksa we made today….

This was my portion for dinner, inside a giant 20cm diameter bowl from Ikea. All stuffed with generous portions of eggs, bean sprouts, chicken meat and shrimp. Double servings of laksa all packed in a bowl. We decided to substitute coriander leaves with spring onions and celery leaves because it was not economical to buy a bunch of coriander to garnish the laksa. I think celery leaves are good substitutes for coriander because they smell quite similar.

Talking about laksa, I just remembered that CNY is just 1 day away. I won’t be able to go back to Sg. Petani this year to celebrating CNY and savour my favourite Penang Assam Laksa which I have not eaten since last CNY :(

This year is my second time celebrating CNY overseas.

Also, to everyone who plans to study medicine, be prepared to sacrifice your future CNY celebrations. MUAHAHAHA.

Rain…rain…

2010-02-11T06:02:00.001-08:00

Melbourne city experienced some heavy rain and thunderstorms a few a hours ago. Some parts of the city were temporarily “flooded” but the rain brought much relieve for those who had to survive summer heat without an air cond. The weather service here is very accurate as weather warning regarding the thunderstorm had been issued hours before the storm.

Flinders Street was partially flooded at the side of the road. The water wasn’t that deep yet it did not stop these people from attempting to swim in it. Haha.

After the thunderstorm. People returning home from work.

Everyone would be able to sleep comfortably tonight because of the cold temperature. Yay!

DOTA Night

2010-02-10T23:22:00.001-08:00

Last Saturday, my housemates decided that it was our turn to host a gaming night at our apartment. This “overnight-till-morning” gaming tradition started since year 1 of med school. Seven people turned up that night and our apartment was packed.

The dining table was occupied. There’s another table near the TV and some played from their room desk.

I’m not a fan of DOTA so I took the opportunity to practice using my 430ex flash while the rest were busy “DOing The Assignment”. Haha.

Anyway, I find that the Canon 50mm f/1.8 lens goes pretty well with the 430ex flashgun especially for indoor portraits and food photography. Bouncing the flash straight 90 degrees up towards ceiling does create a beautiful and realistic lighting. However, I’m still not used to pointing the flash 100 degrees backwards to bounce using the ceiling behind me as we were taught in the Fotoholics flash photography workshop.

The players. 5 vs 5 match.

Sam and I went to bed early that night because we have to go to church the next morning. The rest stayed and played until 7am.

Brighton Beach.

2010-02-06T23:50:00.001-08:00

We went to Brighton Beach yesterday after dinner at Es Teller in Swanston Street.

The weather was good and it would be a waste not to go out and play.

The hyperactive dog…

We did some crazy jump shots along the beach as we walked towards the bathing boxes.

Eileen’s powerful… hehe

Walking towards the boxes.

Aileen.

At last, the colourful bathing boxes. That’s Melbourne city in the background.

Group picture!

Sam

The Sim sisters.

Welcome to our houses.

The bathing boxes look like houses made of Lego bricks…hehe

Sunset at 9.00pm. I’m getting used to late summer sunsets.

Some GC stories from my camera.

2010-02-04T05:22:00.001-08:00

In Gold Coast you’ll never see any sunset at the beach because they are all facing east. This sunset was taken at Appel Park, at the nearest bus stop to Surfer’s Paradise.

This is my favourite shot. It was taken from a gondola (cable car) at Seaworld, Gold Coast. This is the second time I’ve placed my camera outside of a cable car window since my trip to New Zealand. The metal safety bar prevented me from using the viewfinder effectively so it was almost a blind shot but it turn out perfectly.

This was at Surfer’s Paradise beach around 6pm. Andy was doing some abstract poses at the beach.

I used the built-in flash (and reduced the power to -2 ev) to prevent the sky from being overexposed.

Mermaid Beach. A really quite day at this part of the beach because of the rain.

This was at Movie World. That’s the GingerBread man from the Shriek movie. It was hung onto the glass door and I locked focus on the reflection to get this effect. The dotted lights were reflected from nearby theater.

For full album of my trip to Gold Coast and Brisbane, I've uploaded it all in my Facebook. There's 4 albums in total and don't forget to watch Elmo dance in the Sesame Street video. =)

2009 Qantas Ad – “I still call Australia home”

2010-02-02T02:00:00.001-08:00

This is the 2009 version of the Qantas TV ad which was sung in Kala Lagaw Ya language of the Torres Strait Islands. They’ve added some new scenes and used some clips from the previous ads. The children were from the Gondwana National Indigenous Children’s Choir, Australian Girls Choir and the National Boys Choir of Australia.

The following videos is the older version of the TV ad that was filmed several years ago.

Ver.1

Ver. 2

ENJOY!

Australia Day in Brisbane.

2010-02-01T16:45:00.001-08:00

Last week, we took a flight to Gold Coast. On the first day, we took a train from Gold Coast to Brisbane for a day trip around this sunny sub- tropical city.

A bank.

Queen street mall.

I was trying to push the giant metal ball.

A very “informative” map. Haha.

People in Brisbane travel a lot by boats or catamarans because a river runs trough the city. City Cat is the fastest way to travel around and I remember taking it 4-5 times throughout the day.

City Cat stopping at South Bank Parkland.

Australia day celebrations.

Haha.

Brisbane has a large man made beach inside the city.

Q: What do people in Brisbane do when the weather is very hot? A:Soak in the man-made beach and watch TV.

Goodwill bridge.

Parliament of Queensland.

Story Bridge.

All streets in Chinatown has Chinese names.

We had a 11 AUD promotion dinner.

Day time.

Night time.

Brisbane (urban snapshots)

2010-01-31T01:40:00.001-08:00

Bins.

The people that I travelled with:

Andy

Peter

John

Big to small

Queensland University of technology

This Uni has several nice places to take picture. (I’m lazy to correct the lens distortion)

Gaze up.

Cycle.

“A wall separates the homeless from those who have a roof over their head. They look down upon the less fortunate ones.” (saw this on the way to Chinatown.)

Construction site.

This sign can be seen everywhere from Gold Coast to Brisbane.

A flight of stairs.

Stripes.

New additions…

2010-01-24T06:20:00.001-08:00

Gloomy (bear) kitty has 2 new companions… which means I have to take care of another 2 more cats. haahaha.

Aileen is back from summer break in Kuching and she bought me these key chains. Meet Lion Kitty and Zebra Kitty! Thats their actual name according to the Sanrio label.

1 bear, 1 lion, 1 zebra… and 3 cats = CUTENESS..LOL

oh NO!!!… Kodomo Lion ate my Hello Kitty…

Fishing & Pasar Malam

2010-01-22T23:37:00.001-08:00

1. FISHING

Last week, I was at St Kilda to visit my friends. They were there for an overnight fishing adventure.

During summer, sunset is at 9.00 pm.

Setting up the equipment and bait.

The expert “fisherman” taught me some basic stuff about fishing.

Look at what Kai Sing caught… seaweeds…hahaha.

Fishing with the Melbourne City skyline in background.

I left at 10pm because the winds were too strong and cold.

2. PASAR MALAM

The weekly summer night market at Queen Victoria Market. This is what an Aussie “pasar malam” is like.

Crocodile burger, ostrich burger and roo (kangaroo) burger. I wonder if they have koala burger…hhehe.

The night market looks like an international food conference. There’s African food, Nepalese food and lots more.

Vegie curry man… LOL. Organic summore…hahaha…

Hengky and I decided to try Spanish, which was one of the most popular stall. The queue was so long that we had to line up from 3 stalls ways.

At last…

Seafood Cazuela with potato totilla. 15.70 AUD each.

Chicken Cazuela with potato totilla. The potato totilla is very delicious because it does not taste like the rubberized Mexican totilla. The Spanish potato totilla is made of potato and eggs. The texture like a big fat, carbo-filled omelet.

Turkish food.

The chili stall.

Hengky sampled some of their products.

Tea.

Some clothing stalls.

more eating places…

One of the popular stall, which sells cute deco lights.

As for dessert, we went to Koko Black.

Summer menu selections.

Milford Sound, New Zealand (Part 2)

2010-01-19T06:13:00.001-08:00

This post will be the last post for my NZ trip. I won’t be posting any Auckland pictures because there’s nothing much to see in the biggest city in NZ once you’ve been to the south islands.

The Milford Sound trip was the highlight of the entire NZ trip. The trip cost as much as the my flight tickets (2 ways) to NZ from Melbourne but it is worth it.

The pictures that I’ve captured cannot compare with the experience of actually being there. A camera can only capture the sight but not the sounds, the smell, the winds and true magnitude of a breathtaking place.

After the scenic journey on the Milford road, we finally arrived in Milford Sound minutes before the ship departed.

This is trademark sight of Milford Sound, with Mitre Peak (1692m) in the centre. Like the mitral valves of the human heart, it called Mitre Peak because the summit resembles a mitre, a ceremonial hat worn by bishops.

I love how the clouds gracefully flow across the mountains.

Entering into a lost paradise.

A thick layer of mist surrounds the summit as the waterfalls makes its way down the foliage covered cliffs. (click for a larger view)

Waterfalls here, there and everywhere!

The waterfall might look very small from this position…

Still very small as we got closer.

This is the actual size when the ship stopped directly in front of it.

Here’s another waterfall. This is what it looks like from below… and…

…and this is what it looks like from far. Can you spot the ship?

The thick mist on the top of the mountains.

Entering into the mist covered area.

My favourite shot.

GIANT LEECHES ON THE ROCK !!!

Hahaha… I was joking. They are not giant leeches but some lazy seals sleeping on a rock. The rock surface was almost 90 degrees but this seal is still able to climb it.

Up close at a very tiny waterfall.

While everyone was risking their cameras under the waterfall…

…I was risking my DSLR under the relentless spray of droplets from the waterfall to take this picture. Hahaha…Notice that there’re 2 rainbows.

If you pay extra and stay overnight onboard the ship, the ship will anchor here during the night. You’ll also get to kayak through that small river opening in the centre of the picture.

The cruise lasted for 2.5 hours and we got back to Queenstown on the same coach.

Some pictures on the way back from Milford Sound. These are the same places (shot through the bus window) that was posted in the previous post but they look different because the scenery changes according to the weather.

This is the same picture as the previous PART 1 post except this time there are less clouds and the sun is not coming from the side.

CONCLUSION

Overall, the NZ trip was a blast. It was a fantastic time spent with my parents and with uncle Meng Hong and aunty Joanne. But most of all I must thank God for His protection throughout the whole journey, for making everything flow smoothly (the weather, getting an accommodation in Auckland the midnight before flying there, my supervisor allowing me to take 10 days break from my clinical exposure at Royal Melbourne Hospital, and so many more!)

I love landscape/nature photography the most (as some of you might have already notice that I rarely shoot pictures with people inside). New Zealand is the place for anyone who loves this style of photography. However, I hope everyone will be able to see beyond the pictures or photography skills and see the Creator who have made these places millions of years ago. It is about capturing a tiny glimpse of His greatness and nature expressed through the wonderful works of His hands. That, in essence is what I personally think landscape/nature photography is all about. Without Him, there will not be any pictures worth capturing. =)

The END

Summer break…

2010-01-15T06:56:00.001-08:00

Lets take a break from all the NZ photos. Here’s some snippets of things that have been happening during summer.

The weather during summer is never constant. On certain days, it could be cold (like the past 2 days). However, a few days ago the temperature rose to 43 degree and it makes you want to shout for help.

The wind was hot, dry and it was not pleasant at all. If you’ve done some baking before, I would describe the hot summer winds as what you’ll experience when you open the door of a fan forced convection oven.

I made this survive the heat.

The only place to escape the heat was to go to places with air condition. That would be very easy if we live in KL because we could simply drive to the nearest mall and spend the whole day there. But in Melbourne, there’s hardly any huge shopping centres in the city centre.

Typical places where people shop in the city.

This is Burke Street, the main shopping street in the city centre during Myer’s annual Christmas parade.

This is Chadston Shopping Complex, the biggest shopping complex in Melbourne. It is actually quite far from the city centre. The journey by public transport will take about 45 minutes. Chadston is about the size of the Curve in Damansara or Alamanda in Putrajaya but no where near size of Mid Valley.

Hengky’s sister made “tang yuan” for the whole house during the Chinese winter solstice celebration.

I applied for a job at the Sanrio shop but then… nvm.

This is the famous Lindt’s chocolate cafe in Collins St. I didn’t know where it was until Rachael Chong showed me that day.

They are famous for chocolate desserts but I love their French Macarons. These super delicious desserts come in various flavours but they are NOT cheap. Each macaron cost 2 AUD (ala carte) and 6 AUD (dine in). These macarons are not biscuits or cookies. The super thin 1mm shell is crispy and fragile but the body is soft and it melts in your mouth. A perfect macaron has glossy top and a “foot” around the sides.

I tried making my own macarons but only manage to make 2 perfect ones after more than 10 failed attempt. Super difficult and I’ve yet to master it.

If you are reading this in the middle of the night, please do not scroll any further or you will drool…

…

These are some of the food that Tim and Vera cooked during Tim’s birthday and Christmas dinner with family at their home. The Christmas dinner was a 3 course meal (including entree and dessert) - classic Christmas turkey with cranberries and a glass of wine. YUMMMMMMMMMY!

My parents were in Melbourne for a week after the NZ trip.

I brought them to try all the chocolate cafes in Melbourne.

The “cook-and-drink-your-own-chocolate” aka Suckao at Max Brenner Chocolate Cafe.

Koko Black’s summer menu, Ice Nougat Semifredo. Half culinary art, half dessert. This is basically a cherry+ fruits+ ice cream + nougat encased in a fragile glass like glossy chocolate tube.

Koko Black is the best chocolate cafe I’ve tasted so far. It is available only in Melbourne and Canberra.

The 25cm Chocolate Santa Bear says “eat me”…haha

You can’t find this is Malaysia…

You can’t find this in Australia…

I bought it in New Zealand… Sam and my housemates love it . Super crispy like potato chips especially after you remove it directly from the fridge.

My wireless radio flash trigger arrived from Hong Kong by air mail not too long ago. It was the same one used during the recent studio photoshoot workshop in Melbourne Uni.

I tested the wireless system on something that I wanted to do for really long time. Here are some test shots, sorry if the focusing is slightly out on some pictures because when we shoot macro the depth of field is razor thin although I pushed the aperture to f/11. All shots were taken with my 50mm. Since it was a trial run, I was lazy to use my 17-85mm lens for the job.

tomato or ping pong ball?

A crown of water

Dance with me

*plup*

I used a small scale set up as the one I found in flickr. If you are using a Nissin di622 flash gun which does not support wireless radio trigger, you can trigger it with your built in flash as what AbsolutSusu did with her nissin flash gun.

Check out this video if you are planning to do some high speed photography. Point number 2 is very important because as photographers we always think that a fast shutter is need to stop the action but actually, in high speed photography with dark backgrounds, it is the flash that stops the action, NOT the shutter speed. All the splashing tomato shots were taken at 1/200 seconds.

That all… enjoy!

Milford Sound, New Zealand (Part 1)

2010-01-11T00:41:00.001-08:00

I think Milford Sound has one of the most beautiful scenery in the south island. In this post I’ll post some of the pictures taken during the 4 hours journey to Milford Sound.

Milford Sound is not very far from Queenstown, but there’s no direct road connecting both places. The only way to travel by land is to drive 287km in a big circle from Queenstown. You can also hire a private plane or take the 30min helicopter ride there from Queenstown but it is very costly.

Our bus stopped at Lake Te Anau for toilet (see the sign near the bus) and breakfast. From this place onwards, we will be travelling in to Fiordland National Park using the famous Milford road. The Fiordland National Park, a world heritage site covers a big part of the south island. This National Park is so remote that there had been reported sightings of extinct/rare animals and there had been cases of people getting lost there and their bodies were not discovered until after 20 years!

There’s only one road into this place and according to our bus driver, several years ago a landslide happened and many tour buses got stranded on the road for a few days and all the tourist had to brought out of the place by helicopter.

Along Milford Road, there are many beautiful places. Since we were on a tour bus and had to reach Milford Sound by 1.30pm to catch the ship, we didn’t stopped at all the places to take picture.

This lake is called Mirror Lake because on certain days you can get 100% total reflection. The slight drizzle and misty morning affected the reflection that day. I’ve seen many photos of this lake in flickr and it is spectacular especially during sunset.

Some weird looking flora.

The one way only, dark and narrow 1km tunnel. (85mm, ISO1600, f/5.6, 1/8s)

We then entered the 7km stretch of road that is prone to avalanche. No vehicles are allowed to stop along this part of the road.

Small waterfalls can be seen on every mist covered mountain. AMAZING.

My DSLR couldn’t take videos of the waterfalls, so here’s a small video of Milford Road I’ve found in youtube. The video gives a better representation of the size of the mountains and waterfalls.

Can you spot the bus?

A wet and slippery trek into the Chasm.

The Chasm.

The driver said that these glass roofs were for us to see the avalanche falling onto the bus. HAhaaha.

To be continued…

Queenstown, New Zealand.

2010-01-04T23:35:00.001-08:00

After 3 wonderful days in Dunedin, we took a bus to Queenstown, a most go destination for anyone who plans visit the south island.

Along the way, there were some nice sceneries. The mountain is quite tall actually as you can see in the next picture.

Queestown is a place for sceneries and outdoor adventure. It is located beside Lake Wakatipu. There are lots of trails and camping grounds around and also there are many mountain biking or river tours. The shoot over jet boat at the rapids and luge at the summit is a must try but I didn’t have the time to go for it. Practically any adrenaline filled adventure can be found around Queenstown.

I took the gondola (cable car ride). The green roof platform on the right is where people go for bungee.

The top..

40km toward the northern end of this Lake (right side of pic) is Glenorchy, one of the places where Lord of the Rings was filmed.

Queenstown. Btw, does this picture remind you of cameralab.com review videos??

The Remarkables is a mountain range very near Queenstown and it is a popular place for skiing during winter. It is spectacular because the shape of the mountain range is almost 90 degrees vertical. The airport is near the small hill on the left. You’ll experience the breathtaking views before landing. Too bad no direct flights from Melbourne but there’s direct flight from Sydney.

Lake Wakatipu. All hotels are built along the lake, so you’ll get this view every morning when you wake up.

Lake Wakatipu is 84km long and it is 310m above sea level. It is so big that it looks like a sea.

At the pier.

Sunset over Queenstown, viewed from Frankston (a small town 10 mins drive from Queenstown)

Happy New Year, 2010

2009-12-31T16:59:00.001-08:00

This year the Melbourne fireworks were fired from buildings instead of the Yarra River. It was the most challenging photo outing with Tan and Kai sing so far, rain+strong winds, wet shoes, had rain drops on my lens, crowds of people, and had to shoot while holding an umbrella to shield the camera. Anyway, Happy New Year. Let the past be the past but let us continue to live in Him each new day.

Dunedin, New Zealand Trip (day 3,4,5)

2009-12-28T05:53:00.001-08:00

We left Christchurch by bus and travelled to Dunedin. Along the way we stopped at Timaru and Oamaru.

It was a rare opportunity to visit Dunedin because most Asian tour agency do not include Dunedin city. That is the reason why you rarely find any asian tourist here and most asian tourist are international students. Dunedin is more popular among European tourist because of their Scottish heritage. Dunedin is a very small city although it is the 4th largest city in New Zealand. About 10,000 students live in this city because Univeristy of Otago is located here.

I personally feel that this city is very secluded from the rest of the world because it is located almost at the corner of the world map. It is like a small and protected paradise, far away from the all the international news hotspots and rat race. There’s not much competition and stress working here. It is a pleasant place to live.

We stayed over at uncle Meng Hong and aunty Joanne’s house, our family in Christ. Sadly, Jonathan and Rebekah were away from home during our stay. I haven’t seen them since form 5 and since their family migrated to NZ.

The clock tower at the University of Otago.

University of Otago

A HDR picture of the glass building in the University of Otago.

Baldwin Street… a good place to train for mountain climbing…

There’s a city council office beside this neighborhood street where you can purchase your very own official certificate of reaching the top of the street. The mode of transport will be stated in the certificate- car, foot, bicycle or etc.

Walking down the steepest street in the world.

A Kiwi dinner at home. Aunty Joanne spent 3 days preparing this delicious cornbeef silverside, a traditional New Zealand dish.

I really love their house. It is located up on a hill, about 5 minutes from the city. The living room, dinner table and side entrance balcony faces the beautiful view of Dunedin city and the pacific ocean.

My parents taking picture at the side entrance balcony.

At night, I took my tripod out and took pictures of Dunedin city from the backyard. (3 exposures HDR shot)

Here’s a panorama view from the backyard. Scroll to experience the view.

DAY 4

On the forth day, we went to the Otago farmer’s market and the Otago peninsula which is like 30 minutes drive from town.

It was starting to drizzle when we arrived. The meteorological department issued a weather warning that day because of the strong gale. I love this picture because it describes what we saw that day as we travelled along the hilly roads. A thick blanket of mist covered the distant sea giving it a surreal illusion that the earth was flat and the sea disappears into the end of the earth.

You can find plenty sheep on every grass covered hills no matter how steep and inaccessible the terrain can be. They are as many and widely spread as the amount of wallaby droppings encountered during my 20km hike in Sugarloaf Reservoir. It is said that there are more sheep in New Zealand than the total population of human. Every time you see a sheep, 99% of the time they will be grazing. Their lives revolves around nothing but eating grass. Haha.

We reached the tip of the Otago Penisula, Taiaroa Head, home of the Royal Albatross, a big migratory sea bird that has an amazing wing span of nearly twice width of my arms. These birds will travel thousands of kilometer in a loop from New Zealand to South America and back, going around the earth. Also, they are faithful and will remain with the same breeding partner for life,

There’s a tour where a guide will take you around the cliffs of Taiaroa head surrounding this center to view the protected breeding grounds of the Royal Albatross.

After the rain and strong gale, we went back to town for lunch, and visited several places around town.

One of the hundred types of roses in the Rose Garden, Dunedin Botanical Gardens. The rain drops were still on the petals.

Miniature roses.

Landing…

Landed.

DAY 4

We started our journey very early because we wanted to take the Southern Scenic route, a very long stretch of highway that line the southern costal regions of the South Island. There’re over 100 places to stop along the Southern Scenic Route and we only managed to covered 4-5.

This is Waihola Lake.

The only lake where you can find a play ground in middle of the lake.

Cow in the sky… moo?

Near Kaka Point, we spotted a sleepy seal along the beach. The lazy seal was yawning. Hehe..

The sign reads “Exposed Sections, keep children safe”

The 600m trail to the light house at Kaka Point is quite fun because there’s no railings to protect you from falling down. This was what they meant by “exposed sections”. Almost 90% of the trail is “exposed”, not a place to bring a group of naughty children.

Nugget Point. This platform is 78m above the sea level...quite high.

Cows enjoying the sea breeze.

At last, we reached Bluff, the most bottom tip of the South Island, New Zealand. This the most southern place on earth I’ve ever been. You can take a cruise from here to Antarctica and visit all the islands near the south pole.

Overall, the 3 days at Dunedin had been a very memorable one. Throughout all the wonderful fellowship and sharing we had there with aunty and uncle, I believe the 3 days at Dunedin was God arranged because it was originally part of our plans until the few weeks before coming to NZ and everything just fell into place perfectly when I booked the flights and bus tickets.

To be continued…

I’ve posted a tiny fraction of the Dunedin pictures here. For a more complete compilation, check out my Facebook album.

Akaroa, Banks Peninsula (New Zealand trip day 2)

2009-12-18T18:06:00.001-08:00

On the 2nd day, we joined a day trip to Akaroa for dolphin watching. The journey took around 2 hours from Christchurch and there were lots of nice sceneries on the way there. It was cloudy morning.

We then stopped at the Little River old train station for souvenirs, breakfast and photo.

The bus journey continued until we reached a place called hill top, where people can have a cup of tea/coffee and enjoy this view.

Where’s all the sheep???

Akaroa harbour on the left is where we are heading. My 1st successful shot using a CPL filter which helps create those rich blue skies and cuts away those hazy glaring lights. (I’ll explain more about my CPL filter set up at the end of the post)

The sun was super bright but the temperature was really cold. I actually wore the jacket that I normally use for winter because the winds were blowing in from the south pole.

Finally, we arrived in ~~France~~ Akaroa.

Akaroa is a tiny village-like French town. This is a real French village, not like the fake one in Bukit Tinggi. The French arrived here by wooden ships centuries ago and some of their descendents still live here in Akaroa.

If there is a will, there is a way…haha. I think this bird was trying to show off some balancing skills when it saw me holding a huge camera…haha

This is one of the smaller piers.

There’re many summer homes and villas in this place.

Fish & chips for lunch.

Took some pictures while waiting for our catamaran to set sail.

Here we go!

Another shot with a CPL filter. The clouds cast lovely shadows on the mountains as it moves rapidly.

Hector dolphins, the native inhabitants of Akaroa. If I were to come here again, I’ll take the swimming with dolphins package. You be given a scuba wet suit and they’ll bring you by boat directly to the dolphin and you’ll be swimming with the dolphins in icy cold waters. Btw, if you’re wondering why the water surface has no reflection or those annoying glare although it was a sunny day, well that’s the wonder of using a CPL filter. But it took me some time to rotate the filter to accurately cut off all the glare.

The boat went into this cave…

Sheep, grazing near the water…

We are now back on land. I saw this super “kuai” (tame and quiet) dog in one of the shop’s window. It was sitting next to all the items for sale and was observing the beach.

Then, I noticed this on the window. I found out that the dog could actually write English. AMAZING…

I think the dog was so tame and rarely moves until many people hade mistaken it for a fake dog…haha

This shop and the cheese factory was the 2 places that we went before heading back to Christchurch.

to be Continued… Coming up next, Dunedin day 3 and 4.

A photographic side post

************** My CPL filter set up during the Akaroa trip*************

I used the Circular Polarizer (CPL) throughout most of the day because a bright and sunny day works very well with CPL filters. However, CPL filter doesn’t work magic instantly on your pictures.

The results may be influenced by many confounding factors:

(1) We have set it to a constant white balance, like day light which I think is a little too “warm”.

(2)Then comes the tricky part of fine tuning it, something I started played around with during my NZ trip. This is hard as each picture requires a different set of adjustment.

(3) I know THIS is something NOT recommended but I did it anyway. I stacked my CPL over UV filter. I didn’t noticed any severe drop in image sharpness but there’s some vignetting at 17mm only and there’s a higher probability (p<0.05) of dust sticking in between filter which may be visible when you are trying to take pictures with lens flare (see the cave picture I took a couple of pictures above).

(4) Adjusting the strength of the effect by rotating the ring. This is tricky especially if you have a lens hood on.

It is a gamble sometimes, because 50% of the time, pictures can still turn out to be worse than without a CPL. Magenta chromatic aberrations and slightly soft corners were noticed occasionally.

I’m still learning how to use this unpredictable yet full of hidden surprises photographic device. Anyway, I can’t complain because I got this CPL filter for 10AUD only during a sale in Melbourne (1/5 original price). Hopefully, they’ll have new 77mm stock because I’m planning to get one for Tee Juan’s 17-40mm L.

What the Duck… Children Portrait Photography

2009-12-16T15:57:00.001-08:00

Christchurch (New Zealand Trip)

2009-12-13T16:59:00.001-08:00

A few weeks ago, I went to NZ for a trip/holiday with my parents. We flew directly from Melbourne airport. Our first destination was Christchurch, which is the gateway to the south island. Almost all international flights fly to this city and therefore people will explore the south island from this city.

This map depicts the distance between Melbourne and Christchurch. A direct flight would take around 3 hours/2400 +Km. Map courtesy of google maps.

Christchurch is a small and lovely city. Cathedral square (in the picture) main landmark of the city because it is located in the center of town and many day trips depart from this place.

The famous Christchurch “artwork” that is located in cathedral square. Travelling around town is super easy because they have free shuttle buses which covers all parts of the city completely. The free shuttle is very frequent and makes travelling super easy. The only problem is that most shops in this small city closes around 6pm and on Fridays or weekends it closes at 9pm, so there’s nothing much to do at night but rest.

The art center. (free entrance) Most of the places in Christchurch are FREE. Including the museum and the modern art gallery. That means we can save a lot…haha

Live in action…

This is super cool.

The trams in Christchurch are not for public transport but to bring tourist around the city in a 30 minutes loop and tell them the brief history of all the buildings. The commentary are all given live by the driver unlike Melbourne free city circle tram that uses voice recordings.

Botanical gardens. We went there after visiting the museum.(free entrance)

Sharing is caring…haha

baby duck, ducklings?

Botanical gardens is big!

My parents become my models at the botanical garden...haha

I you come to Christchurch you have to buy the COMBO 50 NZD ticket which covers the tram ride, punting on Avon, and the gondola (cable car) ride.

Punting on Avon river… one of my favorites.

The ride was so peaceful and relaxing.

You’ll get to see all the different duck species living along Avon river. The Paradise shelducks are one of the native species of New Zealand. The female looks completely different from the males. The females has a white head with brown hazel body but the male is black and grey. They only have one partner and will always move around as a couple. So cute.

Watch ducks swim pass you as you travel along the river. There’s one duck species that can dive underwater and swim like a submarine. I didn’t manage to catch it on my camera because they were so quick and would pop their heads out of nowhere to catch a breath.

Take a no.28 bus from town and it would take you to the gondola ride about 15 minutes from the town.

This the view from the top. You’ll get to see Lyttelton harbour from here.

The panorama was so long, that I had to cut it into 2 separate pictures.

The harbour is surrounded my volcanic mountains..

If our house church was here, I’m definitely 100% sure that we’ll take this trail, the Crater Rim trail. The trail is quite long but the view is it really worth the effort.

Roads at the edge of the mountain.

The turn left and you’ll end up in the Pacific ocean…haha

This New Zealand drink is really nice…

Picture with the hotel owner from Singapore. This hotel is the best hotel we’ve stayed in New Zealand. Super affordable, clean, strategic location and the only hotel in NZ I stayed in that had a microwave! (useful if you want to cook yourselves and save money). Here’s their website: http://www.sovereignhotel.co.nz/

TO BE CONTINUED...

Summer is here !

2009-11-30T04:43:00.001-08:00

Hi everyone, I’m back in Melbourne after a super long, tiring but fun trip in New Zealand. I’ll upload the photos later as I still have some assignments (review paper) to finish and I also need to sort through 4500 pictures.

Tomorrow is the 1st of December, which marks the first day of summer. At the moment, the weather is still cool and pleasant. It would take a week or two for the temperature to rise.

In Australia, summer is the season for cherries. It is the time of the year where you can purchase freshly plucked cherries at an affordable price. I bought some recently at Victoria market.

I bought so many until I couldn’t finish it. Some people also say that cherries have some laxative properties so that prevented me from finishing the whole bag. In order to overcome that, I decided to use those fresh cherries to bake a black forest cake.

Anyway, here’s my version of a black forest cake with a glazy layer of cherries. It wasn’t as successful as my previous chocolate moist because I miscalculated the oven setting and over baked the caked slight. Haha…

Flying tomorrow…

2009-11-16T04:34:00.001-08:00

I’m so full. I just came back from a sumptuous dinner at hai phong (our favourite Vietnamese-Chinese restaurant in Footscray) with the rest of the house church. This was our farewell dinner before most of our house church members return home to Malaysia or Singapore for summer break. Also, thanks a lot to Tim and Vera for treating us.

Anyway, my parents are here in Melbourne and I’ll be going to New Zealand tomorrow for a 10 days trip. I’ll be spending most of the time in the south island. Do pray for a safe journey because we’ll be travelling a lot by plane, car, bus, boat? and on foot around several cities.

So see you all when I get back to Melbourne. Bye…

pic: panorama of the rainbow outside my balcony, reminds me of the “the bow in the clouds” bible study we completed last Friday.