Some of our guests have come a long way and unfortunately get to know about our kayaking trips only when they get here and so we try our best and even go out of our way to oblige them whenever we can so as not to disappoint them.

Changing subtleties of life and beauty that is all too easy to miss. So don’t. 18 August 2008.

So this morning we have 2 separate trips; one to spot dolphins and the other to Borneo Highlands for the rainforest kayaking adventure trip. I got up early in order to get the gear and stuffs ready for these two trips. In the course of doing this, I kept an eye on and watched the changing colours of the morning sky as the day unfolds. I’m still enthralled by the amazing beauty of the changing hues and intensity of the morning lights as it plays against the rising clouds warmed by the sun. What a show and one which finds a ready and appreciative audience in me. Join me. Have a productive and inspiring week ahead.

Grab shot at traffic lights stop of Yellow wheel of John Deere Excavator. Kuching. Canon G9 1/1000 @ F4.0 ISO 80. 31 July 2008

It’s kind of expected from this despicable person but still upsetting to find out how low this snaky person would stoop to back-stab you at a meeting when you’re not in attendance.

I suppose it’s the only thing he could do since he does not have the balls much less the brains to directly confront me with any issues pertaining to the matters at hand lest it revealed even more about his lack of competence, qualifications/knowledge and experience. With this sort of person leading the team, it’s an inevitable disaster in the making. It’s just a matter of “when”. *sigh*

Deliberately under-exposed dark cloudy afternoon sky for moody effect. Canon G9 1/1250 F4.5 ISO 80. 31 July 2008.

Another sun halo over Kuching sky. 28th July 2008.

At first it was a phenomenon that was hardly ever seen in Kuching in living memory and then it happened again a couple of months later. That was last year and this year again it was spotted again a couple of times which I didn’t bother to take a photo of as it was kinda unpleasantly glaring to be staring into the bright sky. Shooting directly into the sun cannot be good for one’s eyes or the CCD of one’s digital camera.

Sun halo captured from the jetty at my house. The trees make for an interesting foreground.

Anyway on the way home for lunch (and a nap!) I received a couple of sms to “look at the sky/sun” and another one after I had my lunch. So instead of heading for my sofa for a snooze; I headed outside to take a couple of snaps of the sun halo - if it’s still there; and it was. It lingered on unlike the other two previous occasions. So this is what I sacrified my lunch nap for. I hope you think it’s worth it and I hope there’s no more sun halo at lunch time tomorrow, please! I love my naps but I just can’t resist beautiful women skies.

At times like this, I really wished I have a DSLR as this would make for a nice large photograph. *Sigh*

Canon EOS Experience Seminar @ Merdeka Palace, Kuching. 20 July 2008

I spent my Sunday at Meredeka Palace (a local hotel located across the road from Central Padang - I guess that’s why they named it “Merdeka”?) attending the Canon EOS Experience Seminar. It was a full day event with a free lunch thrown in which could probably explained why the 150 available seats were taken up rather quickly! Anyway there were two speakers - Kaz Chua and Teoh Peng Kee who wowed the audience with their amazingly sharp and mouth watering high resolutions photos (care to count the fine hairs on a caterpillar?). Equally if not more mouth watering was the lovely model who was there for the live studio shoot demo. There were displays of all the EOS DSLR cameras and EF lens and I was never more tempted in my life.

Ian Chung holding a larger than life poster-size printout of  pinup girl and then later  snuggling up to her posing with her in the flesh. Yeah Ian has a GREAT Sunday. Beats mountain biking right Ian?

It was a good seminar (marred slightly by the inconsiderate noisy and rude people on the upper gallery) presented by 2 pros who knows their stuff and by the end of the day the sight of the model, the lovely body of the latest EOS-1 Ds Mark III (with a whopping 21.1 Megapixel full-frame CMOS sensor) and talks about RGB, CMYK, AWB, RAW, MTF Curves, Gamut Mapping, etc as more than I could take and so armed with my friend’s compact IXUS 960IS (I do not own a Canon camera - yet) I had to step outside to catch some air. One can easily get carried away with the technical aspects of photography especially all the newest gear cramped with the latest technology; and forget that photography is an art and a feeling for the creative which can ultimately be captured with one’s instinct rather than fancy equipment. It’s more so the photographer not his camera that makes a good picture. But then again the affordable (Pro entry level DSLR) new 12.2 Megapixel Canon EOS 450D DSLR would not hurt either! *wink*

I was thinking that the above shots would make for a glorious poster had they be taken with a DSLR and shot in RAW rather than JPEG on the humble IXUS 960IS. *sigh*

Bev had an appendectomy (appendix removed) about 2 weeks ago and as we had been running flat out since last week, her help this morning with the kayaking trip is greatly appreciated by Azmi and Max. The World Rainforest Music Festival annually brings in an influx of visitors at this time of the year and as more people get to know of our kayaking trips through the rainforests; they jumped at the opportunity to do so when they are in Kuching.

Anyway Bev was at my place before sunrise to await Bakrie, former seaman and now our van driver, to pick some guests from Damai Puri Resort and as we chatted, a beautiful sunrise unfolds and I ran inside the house to get my camera.

I think I do have a knack for capturing beautiful skies and those who disagree are obviously jaded or just plain jealous! Bakrie our driver was late not jealous and to spoil my mood further who when introduced to Bev remarked to me,

“Your son kah?”

Bev had a bellyache which probably does her post-appendectomy recovery no good. *sigh*

Beautiful morning skies as a brilliant new day unfolds in Kuching. 12 July 2008

Amazing Kuching skies and amazing that people actually read this blog! 10th July 2008

I must admit that I’d been kinda slack in updating my blog of late and this was pointed out to me by Aylwin who startled me on Thursday evening after I came down from the gym when the beautiful evening skies caught my attention and I was busy enjoying the changing colours and formation of the clouds.

I’ve seen Aylwin in the gym before and had grinned at him like I normally do with people I’d make eye contact with but never get round to exchanging pleasantries with. Anyway I was surprised when he knew my name and asked me what I was doing in Fiji. He reads my blog after a friend recommended it to him. Gee.

Anyway while chatting and occasionally taking my eyes off the skies, I took these snaps of the amazing evening sky. And I’m quite pleased with the results. Enjoy ‘em Aylwin and all those who reads or chance on this blog. Thanks.

Stunning Kuching evening skies. I hope you saw it too. 10 July 2008

I’d been feeling really lethargic for the past few weeks and the light workout at the gym after work didn’t really help that much. But the sight of this really nice evening rainbow as I walked to my car really helped lift my spirits.

So did the really nice Robin Wong who mentioned ‘unker’ in his post on Kuching back in May (but which I’d only just noticed! Oops!) accompanied by some really great photos which amongst lots of other nice things is a hallmark of his blog.

2 Saturdays back, after lunch I decided to drive to Simunjan with my other half after someone mentioned to me that he saw dolphins while on the ferry ride crossing the mighty Batang Sadong river. This person doesn’t drink and is quite serious and this is something that I’ve got to check out for sure. I love ferry rides anyway.

However we did not get to see any dolphins but I managed to capture these moody shots while waiting for and on the ferry “Primrose II” itself. After getting across Batang Sadong; Simunjan on the right is 22kms away while Sebangan and Sebuyau on the left is respectively 17kms and 43kms away. Due to a lack of time we did not check out Sebangan nor Sebuyau but I would one day.

Oh, and the drive (we only saw a few vehicles) to sleepy Simunjan and back is rather uninteresting except for the fact that you can ‘help yourselves’ to the abundant bananas and papayas lining the gravel road sides. It’s really sad a pity that there were no durians. *sigh*

Evening sky from “Primrose II” crossing Batang Sadong, 21st June 2008

Kuching Sky, 24th June 2008.

I didn’t go to the gym after work yesterday evening but chose instead to go for a ride instead which I’m glad I did as I manage to capture this fire in the evening sky. Not the most spectacular of fiery skies I’d captured but a darn fine sight to see nonetheless compared to the “beh song” (sourpuss) face that I’m unfortunately forced to endure with at work. Amongst other unpleasantness, this is a prime example of a negative person trying to cover up his incompetence and indecision by finding faults with and talking down other people. And I wonder how long this nonsense will be allowed to carry on while those in the lower pecking order suffers. *sigh*

The nature of things and life: beautiful skies and ugly people.

I’m never too sleepy or lazy to notice interesting cloud formations - and an uncanny knack in doing so!

It’s not for a lack of ideas or things to blog about; quite to the contrary. It’s just that whenever I find the time or inclination to sit down in front of my notebook, I feel incredibly lazy drowsy! *sigh*

On account of my lethargic state, I’m not inclined to think of a clever caption for the above strange clouds that I snapped. Any suggestions anyone? *yawn* Thanks!