My contribution

My contribution to the Garden Slug... a cinnamon star for their pasta decorated tree.

Flyer drama

Just as i was day dreaming about using the powerful massage chair at my in-laws, i received a phone call telling me that the Singapore Flyer had stopped and people were being rescued by ropes and harnesses.. We had driven past the flyer and it looked really normal about 20minutes earlier. Now all the way from Pasir Ris, i had to speed back into town.. Thank god i had my camera gear with me.. I had actually off loaded all my equipment earlier in the day but thought i'd better put them all back in the car because the Volvo Ocean Race was on going and perhaps something might happen later on in the day. ... AND IT CERTAINLY did.... what drama.. After everything was over, some of us were kidding that actually, this was just like an elevator being stuck for hours, except with a great view... They sure got their money's worth. And the repelling; some people pay good money to that sort of thing!

Passengers trapped on world's largest Ferris wheel By ALEX KENNEDY – 13 hours ago SINGAPORE (AP) — Fire broke out in the control room of the world's largest Ferris wheel Tuesday, trapping 173 people hundreds of feet above the ground for hours and forcing rescuers to lower 10 passengers to safety by rope. Two passengers were hospitalized with minor ailments. During the six hour-ordeal, passengers were able to talk with officials via intercom and rescuers tethered to harnesses brought them sandwiches and soft drinks, said general manager Steven Yeo. "It took a while," Yeo said. "Some of them were a bit disturbed." The 165-meter (541-foot) Flyer, which has carried 2 million passengers so far, is about 100 feet (30 meters) taller than the London Eye, formerly the world's tallest Ferris wheel. It was built by Japan's Mitsubishi Heavy Industries. Technicians were able to get the wheel moving again a little more than six hours after it ground to a halt and most of the passengers exited normally, Yeo said. The wheel, known as the Singapore Flyer, has stalled twice before for about an hour each time since it began operating in February. "This is the first time that something of this nature has happened, where people were hospitalized," Yeo said. A 70-year-old woman complaining of dizziness and a 10-year-old boy who vomited were taken by ambulance to a hospital, Civil Defense Colonel N Subhas said. The 10 passengers closest to the ground were evacuated by harnesses attached to ropes, and civil defense rescuers were planning to bring the rest of the passengers to safety the same way when the wheel's power was restored, Subhas said. The Flyer was to shut down for at least one day to allow for repairs and an investigation, Yeo said.

Volvo Ocean Race and my 5D markII

telefonica blue... winners of leg 3

shot at 6400 ISO on my 5D markII... no noise..

Yesterday couldn't have gone any smoother. I am stoked and still recovering from the high of last night's Volvo Ocean Race coverage. The sounds of outboard motors and the slicing of the waves, the familiar scene of tanned, weather-beaten bearded men walking around and arriving at the marina to hugs and kisses of family members leaves me smiling. I love sailing. I've spent my whole childhood sailing. So this is like a dream for me, seeing all the Olympic medalists out there together on a yacht that probably costs more than my home, racing together. These people are a dedicated, talented bunch of sailors. To be able to sail around the world. you have to be more than a sailor, better than an average sail maker, boat repair man and sail trimmer. It's one thing to be doing all these on shore. But when you're out there in the middle of no where, braving swells of up to 5meters high, on a heavily listing yacht... it's a feat trying to even stand up straight. In fact, you never ever stand up straight (for obvious balancing reasons). So being out there, as a journalists, having to work at 10pm to 4.30am, was shockingly pleasurable. Not to mention the timely arrival of my new office camera, which i never knew about. The guys over at the AP sent in two boxes of Canon 5D MarkII cameras. Apparently one was for me. THANK YOU Santa oops i mean Chikako. I'm not a techy person but i've heard that this is an AWESOME camera. I didn't even know it was full frame. Hey i just like taking pictures.. Give me a camera, any camera.. i'll just use it and try to make the best pictures i can with it. I'm so not worthy of this piece of equipment which saved my life out in the pitch black sea last night.

We were all struggling to make a picture of the yachts crossing the finish line last night. There was minimal light, on a listing boat who's driver was trying not to tear out his hair at every instruction given to him to follow the volvo racing yacht which was also going much faster then us... ahh. It was complete madness for like 30seconds. That one shot of them across the finish line was what mattered and after that, they take down the sails and it's over. Our flashes, didn't fire, the shutter refused to click cause there was no focussing point. It nearly became a horror show. I decided then to abandon ship -no punn intended-. Focus on what you can do and at least get a nice picture - even if its a mood shot. At least it's pretty. I couldn't expect to get a cracker of an action picture at this point. It's just too dark. Defy the whole meaning of photography right... which means light.... sigh.

So with a lot of faith and a quick whisper of a prayer, i fiddled with the camera ( in the dark... with an equipment which i haven't even taken a good look at... its so new i didn't have time to charge my batteries, i even used AA batts with it.. that is how new it is!) I bumped the ISO up to 6400. I was shocked at the results.

There was NO NOISE! I have never gone above ISO1250 in my life. My cameras never allowed me to get anything close to decent. But this was 6400ISO... i felt like someone gave me a farrari when my first car is a Suzuki Jimny. Ahhhhhhhhh........ Thank God. Thank AP... and i got my shot, smiled and enjoyed the ride home.

Friend

This is one strong, reliable and honourable woman ... woman of God i tell you.

Congrats Jacq on such a wonderful showing at the Stanchart Marathon this year.

There's nothing better than finding a good pal to train with, where our training availability and flexi understanding are in sync with each other. One thing we have in common : GOD, whom i believe is our common driving force and guidance. Let's hope that His love and encouragement will continue to shine between us and so that we can continue to be the spiritual support for each other, for His purpose.

such a lovely tree

this is the garden slug's version of a tree... decorated with pasta. How clever!

For sale

Hi all, i am putting up this baby for sale..

Leica M6 body , used, 8/10 condition curtain and shutter perfect condition, mainly cosmetics that have aged slightly.

28mm f2.8, used, 8/10 condition

50mm f2, used, 9/10 condition

90mm f2.8 with hood, barely used, 9/10 condition

I am trying to sell off the WHOLE set cause it's pointless for me to hold on to single lenses.

From research and market prices on ebay etc, the set put together would cost $6900 SGD

but I am willing to bring down the price to interested buyers if you take the whole set off me...

Please contact me if you are interested, even if not in the whole set.. mayeewong@hotmail.com

Also, everything was accessed by Don at camera workshop and the lenses and body is perfectly fine.

Also, a leica range finder is a leica range finder... you can't compare it to SLRs or digital bodies.. They are all in different leagues...

It was a tough decision and i have thought about selling it before but pulled back cause the Leica is something that one NEVER ever parts with. I am reminded daily that "I will regret it." I am also reminded that the M6 is timeless and true, it is the most wonderful range finders on this planet. True to its form, and its a helloffa tank for a camera. All the legends have used it and the leica was the camera used in capturing all those historic moment. Charlie, a colleague reminded me what i said to him a couple of months back: that i would never sell my leica but the last time i said i would and didn't, it hasn't moved from its dry box. It's about timing and i figured that i'm more in need of the cash, to pay up some debts and kick start my savings at the moment, of course add in a small treat for myself along the way. God willing, when i'm richer, older and have the spending power, i WILL get myself another Leica later on in life. At the moment, some things have got to take a back seat. So now, i'm ready and willing to let this beauty go to trusted willing buyers.

X'mas Tree

There is something very magical about christmas trees. They can make a living room warm with the twinkling lights glowing through the thorny leaves, you start hearing christmas carols in your head the minute you see a tree and there is something which also preserves a tree from the whole commercial aspect of Christmas itself.... I've always loved it when my family used to put up our tree, even though it was a fake one. The decorations collected over the years made it even more special. Maybe it's the excitement of putting it up Once a year. We stopped putting it up for 10 years already mainly because our old home was getting too cluttered and i guess everyone grew older and the magic of seeing children getting excited over the tree kind of faded away with time. This year, we have the perfect reason. Hang on, make that 2 reasons. Nate and the new home. So without even having to persuade my parents much, terence, joyce and me made that trip out to town and got ourselves a tree.. We really wanted a real one but the thought of the tree getting brittle and falling all over the house put us off. Nate's young as well and he loves hugging the tree so a real one would be kind of sharp and dangerous. We couldn't wait til the next day so it went up that very night. Even my parents who are "oh so over christmas joys" joined in the fun and until today, they're still adding on their own decorations everytime they return from a shopping trip. Heh.. it's really infectious this xmas tree joy. I love it.

Not that sure but happy for a change.

It's been 2 over years since I had a hair cut. I've been keeping it long _well, for a very long time and I've permed it as well, just to give it some lift.

After a while, it starts to weigh you down, and it gets too heavy and troublesome to keep the curls fresh. I have an active lifestyle (at work and play) and I found myself clipping my hairs between the camera strap and my shoulders all the time. Long perms + photojournalism = mess.

It's great for sports but very apprehensively, I ran over to Mark today to get some help. I like this much better at the MOMENT and i know i will feel regret after some time, my hair went down all the way mid-back, let's just hope its not anytime soon and i hope it's not some disaster in the making but i really trust mark.. but oh well, i'm not gonna loose too much sleep over it cause the energy's more important to me. Now i apparently look like some japanese tourist...

hardee har har.

Magic Hour

Taking a look out my room balcony, i realised we have such a pretty shadow cast on the wall during the evening magic hour... Ahhh such simple pleasures in life.

Simple Wishes

Tonight, i had dinner with the farm at Seletar Golf club (yes more golf again) and there was this Christmas tree with paper slips hanging from them. On each of these slips, there was a name, and a wish. The people making these wishes were all in their 60s-80s and they live in subsidised flats in Singapore. I was very heartened and somewhat moved when i realised that all their wishes were for very very simple things with "SLOW COOKER" being the most popular then Rice Cooker, Radio, Water Heater and then Toiletries for one.

The older generation really are such sweet and simple people. To them, as long as they have food to eat, they're happy. It really shows from the objects of their desires... Humbles me a lot and it gave me a reality check for the end of the year. What are your wishes?

Comfort food, comfort zone.

yay

Little Red Hen

Nate at his school concert today... so cute. More on that later but here is a picture to fill my blog space. Am tired out from a 17hr work day no break in between.

All clear

So far I haven't seen any ants crawling around. fingers crossed.

My photo of the day

while at work today..

i found a picture to illustrate tourism in Singapore.

(but what i like is the juxtaposition in this image of the muslim women and the bikini clad girls)

Breather

Ok...to neutralise the gross ant picture below, here's a shot of Nate and Oliver hamming it up for the cameras.

Ant problem

one of the trails of the tiny ants at homeThe nest from Sentosa. Gross.

We have been having serious ant troubles this past months. Living surrounded with greenery seems to propell the problem... yikes. They come from somewhere.... leading to the cool areas in my closet, among my clothing where they will lay eggs and then crawl out to some other place. Terence and I have spent sleepless nights (actually he's more into this seek and destroy game) clearing out every piece of clothing, washing them and wiping out the whole place... 2 days later, we go through the same thing, only thing is they find a different route. Now that seems to be settled.. but with luck as tiny as ants (no punn intended) i had to park my car next to a bush while covering the Barclays Singapore Open Golf at Sentosa last week. Some big black ants ( that bite ) decided to make the mud guard of my car their new home... So i battled and drove around with ants crawling around the outer shell of my car for 2 days till i couldn't take it anymore and decided to drive down to the car wash.. I even parked my car in the blazing sun on Sunday, hoping the heat will chase them away. Forgetting that these ants are prolly the commando of ants (they did come from the jungles) i had no choice but to go with the Baygon insect repellent. Finally, i found the NEST.. oh god. It made all the hairs on my body stand... spray, knock knock knock, spray... and one by one.. they fell like fallen soldiers off a wall. Eventually the big chunck fell and i didn't even feel sorry for them. We're out of ants for the moment and i hope it stays that way.

SAVE THE ICE-CREAM!

rain delayed the Barclays Singapore Open Golf tournament... we're sitting in the media room and there's a blackout... the first thing all the photographers yell out is.. SAVE THE ICE-CREAM! (we have free haagen Dazs you see) priorities people.. priorities.. we sure got em right!

Election day

America chose. nothin like a good ol american breakfast whilst on the job Yes we can!

4am conversations

Heading down to the airport to see my dear friend off at 4am....

Text messaging which is normally lengthy and cute is cut down to mono-syllabic questions and answers.

Life just gets too real its so funny.

Maye: U on way?

Joyce: Yup

Joyce: We're here

Maye: near

Maye: Wher u

Joyce: Row 8

"Surprise? Hello? Happy Birthday?"

ok to confess, this is probably the FIRST ever surprise party that stayed a surprise all the way. and i think the trick is to be maticulous about EVERYTHING. Of course it helped that Al is a playwrite and stage director!!!!! and i'm a visualiser. Oh the perfect axis of evils. We planned a party for Nate's godma, Tse Chueen who's leaving for Hong Kong_for greener pastures of course. Planning a suprise party took a lot more effort than I thought... and boy, did we (al and i) THINK ALOT. I was mentally drained by the end of the week being paranoid about all the "what-ifs". Emails were sent, caterers were booked, friends were called and scenarios were painted. We had so many different drafts and plans if A didn't work out, B would do. Cs and Ds were sought after as well. I think Al and I fed off each other when it came to ideas and sussing TC out - up to the very last minute. Thanks everyone for coming and being part of this party. TC enjoyed herself very much which matters the most at the end of the day. (: I leave you with some pictures and a few planning quotes: on Ryd asking TC to hang on the phone while she enters the house:

"so.. is it within Ryd's character to ask her to hang on the phone?"

on getting TC into Ryd's room:

"what if she needs to pee urgently?"

on what we should shout at her when she enters :

"Happy Birthday? Happy Deepavali? I think Suprise will do!"

TC enters and huifen actually shouts:

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!"

TC upon recovery from the shock:

"uhh Welcome Welcome (to her home).."

Space filler

ikea funiture going zen?

Happy Birthday Shea

God Bless you on your 9th Birthday dearie!

Comfort foods of the moment

I'm addicted to furikake nori katsuo and ham and grapes pizzas at the moment... needless to say, the weight is coming on as well.

Riding

I love riding.

(one of them does not belong to me.. haha i wish)

Cell group mates

old photo was taken 2 years ago

There's nothing better than a strong bond of friendship, bond being GOD. When anyone of us is hurting or in need of company, everyone comes together and rally round that person, together, worshipping God through times of brokeness as well as times of rejoicing.

Even if its after 2 years of not getting together.

Amen.

Singapore F1 night race

view of the first practice session from Swissotel The Stamford i got to meet with Sir Jackie Stewart, a real inspiration I must admit that I wasn't very excited when i heard that we were hosting the F1 night race in singapore early this year. Mainly cause it's no fun for me who will have to be on assignment. The co-ordination is a hassle, F1 races are hard to shoot even though the picture looks simple and easy (cause its a still!) and it's a language i didn't even speak til March this year when i was sent to Sepang so i'd learn the ropes of the F1. It's pretty daunting for anyone to cover the race if you don't normally follow the race. Plus it was to be a race held at night and exposing for pictures was gonna be a real pain. Luckily for me, i had a great team which flew in from around the world for this race. I approached the week quite reluctantly. However as the days passed and work settled in, the day spent shooting got easier and actually fun. The buzz of F1 in the city was a very surreal and different experience. It was weird to see the actual cars and drivers zooming past familiar sites and routes that i take to work daily. It started to get exciting and i really enjoyed it in the end. The race drama with Ferrari driving off with the petrol tubes still stuck on, did help add to excitement. I felt really proud watching the race over the screens and actually thought that Singapore did look very pretty and good on TV. The fun thing about this race which is different from most of the other races was that we could spend time making some pretty picturesForce India took a crash at turn 10

Jet lag did set in though.

We were operating on European timing, having to eat dinner at 2am and sleeping by 4am. I took 2 - 3 days to recover from the bio-clock change and lugging all that gear, walking round the track. I think that cross training actually added to my fitness level which is pretty neat. I went running the other morning and found that my heart rate was lower and i was running faster. heh. So i guess this F1 thing is gonna stick around for the next 4 years and i hope i still feel the same way about it. For the highlights click here http://www.formula1.com/services/play_video.html