This blog is almost collecting dust. Initially wanted to post some pictures from my last holidays trip, but I still couldn’t find the time to do so.

Anyway, it’s been a busy month. When will work ever end! Well, there’re still several school matters to settle, and I hope to be able to tie up the loose ends soon.

Oh yah, if any students from 2G or 2D happen to hop past this blog, I just want to relay a message to you: Don’t be too upset or disappointed over the Math test if you’ve not done well. At this point of time, it is not the results that matter, but how much you can learn from the failure. It’s really still the beginning, and things will definitely turn out better as long as you continue to work hard! 加油!  

On a lighter note, tomorrow’s mid-week, which means the weekend is approaching.. hope all lessons and plans will turn out smoothly for the rest of the week! 

แอ๊บ!จะได้เจอกันแล้วนะ!! ^^

Pai is a small town situated in Mae Hong Son, a province in the North of Thailand next to Chiang Mai. I went there last year, I returned again this year, bringing along my gf and 2 buddies.

This was taken when we were on the way to visit a WWII bridge. As soon as you get out of the main streets, all you can see around you is nature. And it feels great and peaceful to be surrounded by nothing but greenery.

A wooden post box nailed onto one of the trees. Simple but aesthetic, something that you’ll never get to see in our city.

Snapped this while taking a break from a ride to visit a natural hot spring (which we unfortunately didn’t get to see eventually due to time constraint). The sign there says 12 tonnes, but I’ve not idea what was it meant for.

I simply love Pai, especially in December when the weather is cold. 

Next post will be showing the night life in Pai.

P.S. Oh, i almost forgot.. Happy New Year to all! Have a great year aheaaad!

I’m back yet again! It was a thrilling experience riding motorbikes up the mountains and hot springs, but more on that later. The weather in Northern Thailand was really cool and refreshing, the natural landscape magnificent beyond words. I’ll be sharing my experiences with photos in the next few upcoming entries, but let me post up a couple of star trails shots in the mountains for the time being.

This is a composite HDR image made up of 8 pictures of about 5-minute exposure each. The streaks of white lines show the more visible stars, as the rest of the stars were unfortunately overwhelmed by the strong moonlight.

This is a single image taken at about 5.30am. Exposure time was 1127 seconds. More star streaks were seen here as the moon went hiding over at the other side. The brightness from the left shows the shine from the rising sun.

After a week in Chiang Rai, it was one more week in Genting. St Nics Band went there for a competition and achieved a Gold award (Top 3)! Anyway, I’m really relieved to be back home and rest. Long road journeys aren’t fun.

For the girls who want to view pics from the Chiang Rai trip, I’ve uploaded some small-sized pics here.

It was hard work loosening the soil, but the girls did a great job overall!

Farmer wannabes. Haha, sorry, Jolene. Pity I didn’t manage to capture the whole frame. 

All the pics were taken using my digital rangefinder. Those taken by Miss Dawn Lim using the 450D are not uploaded yet. I may burn a CD or 2 of the pics in larger resolutions to circulate among those who want them, when school reopens.

This is one of my last captures during the CIP trip with St Nics. Well, I’m missing you guys. It’s a shame the political crisis in Bangkok could hinder my trip to Thailand soon. But, I’ll definitely be back to see you lovely children in Wiang Kaen soon again. Cheers.

อยากมาหาแอ๊บอย่างเร็วที่สุดที่จะเร็วได้อ่ะ ><

The last day at Wiang Kaen

After 6 days of overseas CIP with the students, I’m finally back! It was such a fun and enriching experience over there, working in the farms as well as spending time with the children at the Catholic Mission Home of Wiang Kaen. Here are some previous entries (1, 2) from my previous trips there.

As much as I would like to post-process my pictures quickly, I won’t have time to do them so soon. So I’d just put up 3 group photos for you girls to download (all 3 are unedited, full-sized pics). It is a pity we didn’t have a pic with all the children at the home.

Hope the wonderful experience and memories from this trip will always be in our hearts!

Hey, look at this sequence of ladybird that I’ve photographed! These were taken by my recently acquired Canon 450D (with Sigma 105mm macro lens).

Seems like this bug that I’ve shot wasn’t the usually-seen kind as its head has the same colour as its body. The other ladybirds that I’ve googled do not have the same head-body colour.

^^

..as far as marking assignments and doing other school-related work is concerned.

And so I was there again today to plan my work for next year.

Ok, that’s just half the truth. I would never fail to indulge myself with a cup of Cocoa Mocha Addiction and Potato Chunks, and grab a couple of magazines (just in case I get bored with all the marking) before settling down at one of those tables at the library cafe.

I find the ambiance there relaxing enough to enjoy doing my work, yet not too comfortable to fall asleep (which is the reason why I prefer to work here instead of at home). Occasionally, I’ll get to see different groups of famous blue "pinaforists" wandering in the library. Of those who’d recognised me before, some were indifferent and others felt a shock first and then ended up with an unstoppable dose of giggles. Very interesting reactions. A few ever said hi or waved to me. I guess that’s just an integral part of a teacher’s life.

I guess I won’t be able to frequent this place as much as I wanted to in the coming year. I hope the price of my potato chunks don’t increase yet again when I visit there in future.

During the trip to Little India with Boon Thong, I saw a scatter of birds scavenging whatever food was found in the alley while walking towards Mustafa Centre.

At that moment, I was brainstorming on how to capture some interesting shots of the birds, and this idea came into my mind. I’ve seen many cliche shots of girls chasing or scaring pigeons, and wanted to emulate something like that.

But alas.. my potential model was my tall buddy in green, instead of a pretty girl in white dress. This stopped me from having any further thoughts of executing the shot.

So, still wanting to catch the birds in action, I resigned to getting Boon Thong to stomping his foot to send the birds flying away. Looked like the birds cared more about their food than his foot, as most of them continued to eat nonchalantly while only some flew up for a couple of seconds before landing again to compete against the rest for the rice grains.

So, well, not exactly a beautiful and clean shot, but a shot that records fond memories of goofing around with my buddy. 

huhu^^

This merlion stands beside One Fullerton. And a lady that tried to avoid my camera but failed anyhow.