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.