Lifescapes

Postcards from Mykonos, Greece

2011-01-13T21:44:00.010+11:00

Mykonos Island was also one of our honeymoon stops. Mykonos is part of the Cyclades and is also known as Chora (which means town in Greek). To get to this island, we boarded the Hellenic Seaway high-speed ferry from Santorini. It took us about 2 1/2 hours, not too bad considering if we flew, we will probably take the same amount of time, if not more, because there were no direct flights to Mykonos from Santorini.

Santorini may be the top destination for lovey-dovey honeymooners, Mykonos is THE place for the BOLD and BEAUTIFUL! These party goers will come out to play after the sun comes down. I really love this island - so pretty, vibrant and laid-back at the same time.

The Venetian windmills are the trademark of Mykonos - about 16 of them throughout the islands. There were plenty near the city centre. It was also a popular spot to watch the sunset.

I thought the cobbled walkways and narrow pathways were also quaint. Well, after getting lost for a good 10 minutes, they weren't so quaint after all. Every street looked the same! We stayed at Hotel Carbonaki, a family owned boutique hotel slightly off the busy town centre. It was perfect as it was close to the action and quiet at the same time. The receptionist, Panos was the most helpful gentleman I have met. I would definitely recommend staying here.

Fresh grilled sardines

What activities can one do in Mykonos? During our stay, we hire a beach bike (aka lawn mower) to visit a few beaches down south. Watching the sunset in the evening is also a must. At night, have seafood dinner, sip a glass a wine and watch the party goers pass by. Ah ... this is life!

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What are you waiting for? Grab a copy of the travel guide and make your way to one of the Greek islands.

Goodbye 2010, Welcome 2011

2011-01-03T12:58:00.008+11:00

Sydneysiders braved the heat and camped at the various vantage points in order to secure the best seats around Sydney Harbour. Watching the fireworks go off was a national affair, whether we do it at the comfort of our homes or with merry-makers at the Harbour. This year, we strolled down to Lavendar Bay and I must say, this was one of the best spots we have been to.

We didn't have to wait too long until the skies erupted in a kaleidoscope of colours at the stroke of midnight, signalling the beginning of a new decade. It has been a memorable year for me as I got engaged, got married, got a new job and became an aunt. Phew, can 2011 top all these?!

I look forward to an exciting year ahead and wish the same for you too! Hope you will enjoy these video clips taken from Lavendar Bay (just tune out the screams of the drunk teenagers).

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Purchase poster prints of the New Year's eve fireworks here:

Postcards from Santorini, Greece

2010-11-01T21:19:00.019+11:00

Santorini was one of our honeymoon destinations. We simply loved it!

If you are planning to go, I would highly recommend for you to stay at Oia village. It's slightly more expensive but it's soooo totally worth it. Don't forget to catch the sunset, a favourite past time in Oia.

Search Amazon.com Books for Greek Islands

Sculpture by the Sea 2010

2010-11-01T20:39:00.017+11:00

Sculpture by the Sea is an annual event held in Bondi. This year, Sculpture by the Sea is held between 28 October to 14 November 2010. The scenic coastal walk between Bondi Beach to Tamarama is transformed into a giant sculpture park with over 100 sculptures by artists from Australia and other parts of the world.

Here are some of the sculptures from the 2010 exhibition. My favourite is the red paint tube.

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Purchase Sculpture by the Sea DVD from Amazon!

Vivid Sydney 2010

2010-06-14T11:55:00.017+10:00

Vivid Sydney is a winter event to entice tourists and Sydneysiders out from the comforts of their warm homes to enjoy the city. Between 27 May to 20 June 2010, the sails at the Sydney Opera House will illuminate and change patterns every few minutes.

It is quite remarkable and despite the cold weather, heaps of photographers are out there to capture this beauty at night. Here are a couple of patterns that I took that night.

For more information, visit the Vivid Sydney website.

Journey

2010-04-12T23:17:00.003+10:00

Fields of Gold, Blackville

2010-04-12T21:37:00.014+10:00

What does one do on the hottest day of the year (41 degrees Celcius)? Visit a SUNFLOWER field! Our hunt for sunflowers began when we were awestruck with one of Ken Duncan's sunflower photos taken in Gunnedah, New South Wales. We knew we had to catch the bloom either in January or February otherwise we'll have to wait another year to see them.

We went on the internet to do more research on sunflower fields. However, not much information could be found. We only know that Quirindi is known for its sunflowers but the exact location of the fields are not available. Armed with little information from the Quirindi Economic Development, we braved the 4 hour drive in search of sunflowers!

We left Sydney on Friday night so we decided to stay overnight at Singleton, home of the largest sundial in the Southern Hemisphere. The next day, we woke up at 5am to continue our 2 hour journey to Quirindi. We wanted to catch the flowers before the day got too hot.

Sadly, we saw no sunflower fields as we travelled along the New England Highway 15 and Kamilaroi Highway 37. The Quirindi Visitor Centre was closed on Saturday. None of the shop owners nor petrol station knew where we could find sunflowers. They gave us some funny looks too. Haha!

However, we didn't give up. Someone told us that we may be able to find some at Blackville (http://maps.google.com.au/maps?hl=en&tab=wl&q=blackville%20nsw) but they could be out of season. Excitedly, we rushed back south on Kamilaroi Highway and turned off at Willow Tree. We drove and drove and drove. It felt like chasing after the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

Our hearts skipped a beat whenever we saw anything yellow. Alas, they were only sorghum, which were also yellow in colour. After about 30 mins of driving, we came to gravel road and pot holes. We nearly nearly gave up .... UNTIL ... I saw something bright yellow. I could not believe my eyes ... was it really sunflowers??

Yes yes yes!!! My fiance and I leaped for joy. We finally found them. The fields were as far as the eyes could see. The sunflowers were humongous - larger than the palm of my hand.

The scorching weather and possibly drought in the inner parts of NSW did not help the harvest this year. Some looked burnt and most were drooping from the lack of water. Sunflowers normally make me smile but when I saw these, I felt sad ... sad that they are dying. I felt like pouring my 150ml mineral water to give life to one or two stalks. I also felt the agony of the crop owner whose earnings have diminished due to the drought.

Some of my photos cannot justify the magnificence of these flowers. You HAVE to be there to experience it. I would be more than happy to guide you if you are interested to visit this place.

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Check out Ken Duncan's inspirational photo books:

Just Let Me Say - Geoff Bullock

2009-10-09T23:05:00.031+11:00

This is one of my all-time favourite worship songs. It was written by Geoff Bullock. He has since improvised the lyrics to this song. You can find out more about Geoff on http://www.geoffbullock.com/.

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Just let me say how much I love You
Let me speak of Your mercy and grace
Just let me live in the shadow of Your beauty
Let me see You face to face
And the earth will shake as Your Word goes forth
And the heavens can tremble and fall
But let me say how much I love You
O my Savior, my Lord and friend

* * *

Just let me hear Your finest whispers
As You gently call my name
And let me see Your power and Your glory
Let me feel Your Spirit's flame
Let me find You in the desert
'Til this sand is holy ground
And I am found completely surrendered
To You, my Lord and friend

* * *

So let me say how much I love You
With all my heart I long for You
For I am caught in this passion of knowing
This endless love I've found in You
And the depth of grace, the forgiveness found
To be called a child of God
Just makes me say how much I love You
O my Savior, my Lord and friend
Just makes me say how much I love You
O my Savior, my Lord and friend

Click on the links for his CD, Power of Your Love and book, Hands Of Grace: Jesus: God's Symphony Of Hope.

Courage

2009-08-09T02:43:00.002+10:00

Traveler

2009-08-09T02:43:00.001+10:00

Top of the World

2009-08-09T02:42:00.000+10:00

Tambunan, Sabah

2009-08-09T02:39:00.001+10:00

Optimism

2009-08-09T02:38:00.001+10:00

Remembering Our Roots

2009-08-09T02:34:00.002+10:00

Pelican Feeding at The Entrance, Central Coast

2009-06-04T22:33:00.004+10:00

One weekend, we decided to drive further up north to discover one of the top 100 Australian cities, Terrigal. It is popular for its long beach. Well, in comparison, I think Bondi is still prettier. Nevertheless, Terrigal serves the Central Coast community and those looking for a quick getaway from the busy city life. Surprisingly, the area around Terrigal is very much self sufficient. We saw very large shopping centres (similar to Westfield style) and many retirement as well as holiday homes.

After having seafood lunch in Terrigal, we headed further up towards this place called, The Entrance. The name of the town itself sounded so mystical! The place was abuzz with activities, mainly catering to kids. We reckoned that during the weekends, grandparents will bring their grandchildren here to play. During the weekdays, The Entrance is probably quite dead.

We suddenly saw a huge commotion near Lake Tuggerah. As we inched closer, we met with a flock of gigantic pelican birds. There were at least 50 of them and I have never met so many at one time. I was actually quite scared because the pelicans were fighting for food amongst each other.

There was a lady who had pails of fishes ready to be thrown to the pelicans. It was pelican feeding time, a tourist attraction by itself at The Entrance. Pelican feeding starts from 3.30pm onwards everyday.

Pelican Feeding is the Central Coast's most popular tourist attraction and operates 3.30pm daily, 365 days a year come rain, hail or shine. This practice started over twenty years ago, when staff from a local fish & chip shop started feeding scraps to the pelicans. It became such a ritual that whenever the staff were late in throwing their scraps out, the pelicans would cross the road and come up to the shop to be fed. As a result of this, The Entrance has now been internationally recognised as 'The Pelican Capital of Australia'.

Happy Belated Mother's Day

2009-05-17T16:27:00.005+10:00

Sorry for this delayed post. I was pretty busy post-processing the photos from my church's Mother's Day Celebration. We decided to do away with the usual, all-mothers-please-stand-up-and-we-will-give-you-a-rose. We went OTT (over-the-top) by pampering mothers on that special day!

Yep, it started off with tributes to mothers by our church members, from young to old. Frances and Kieran kicked off the event by reading a poem to their mothers.

There was even one student from China who played the erhu for all the mothers. Another memorable testimony was by Lai Lin who drew up the famous Lat cartoon. She fondly remembered her mum protecting her whilst taking the dreaded pink public bus.

After service, we had a few booths for people to visit. There was jewellery making headed by Laura. For those who want some TLC, we also had a hand massage booth. Joshua, our chess champion, compete with 6 players at one go and he WON! Very impressive indeed. Whilst the mothers were being pampered, the kids got themselves tangled in the game of Twisters.

I was the official photographer on that day. I had a photo booth set up for family portrait shots. To make things more interesting, I bought some colourful accessories from the two-dolllar shops. It was a riot to see everyone having so much fun posing with the accessories.

Overall, the event was a success. It was truly a privilege to serve and to capture the precious memories for many many years to come.

Oh What A Feeling ...

2009-04-22T22:19:00.004+10:00

... Nissan Tiida!

This photo looks like a Toyota ad and we should be in front of it doing star jumps! However, it was our rented car from Avis that served us well for our 5 days in Tassie. The only complaint was that it smelt of smelly socks during the 1st half of the day. Luckily the smell went away OR were our nose buds so used to the smell that we didn't realise it? Oh no!

Devils @ Cradle

2009-04-22T21:23:00.004+10:00

During our stay in Cradle Mountain, West Coast of Tasmania, my bf kept imitating the demeanor and screech of the Tasmanian Devils (affectionately known as "Devils"). So, I decided to bring him to Devils @ Cradle, a sanctuary for Tasmanian Devils so that he can come face-to-face with one of these creatures.

We went for the 5.30pm tour which included a feeding session as well. It was $10 more expensive than the normal information session. As there was really nothing much to do in Cradle Mountain at night, we didn't mind paying a little extra to see them eat. Ya, I know, a bit sad!

Anyway, we got to walk around the area before the session started. When we opened the door to the sanctuary, I nearly died from this strange whiff of air. I didn't know what it was (until later). We saw the Devils chasing each other and screeching. They really had a very BAD temper and they weren't shy about showing it too.

They started us off with a video on some facts about the Devils, where they are commonly found etc. It was interesting to find out a few facts:

They are marsupial animals - group of mammals characterised by a distinctive pouch which the female carry its young through infancy.
They are canivores - yes, they don't chew on grass. They gnaw dead wallabies, koalas etc.
The female Devil only has 4 nipples, which means only 4 of its strongest babies can survive.
They have a BAD temper - oh, you should hear the screeches during dinner time!
They are solitary by nature and they hunt alone, as opposed to wolves that hunt in a pack.
They are misunderstood creatures - contrary to popular belief, you won't be eaten alive by a Devil if you get lost in the bushes.
Just like cats, they keep their fur clean.

After the video, the speaker brought in a Devil named "Fury" (how appropriate!) so that we can give it a pat on the back. Fury was so shy that he hid underneath the armpit of the speaker. Fury's fur was soft and clean.

Then, it was THE moment that we were all waiting for. We got out to the sanctuary and it was freezing! She bought in a pail of dead frozen wallaby and threw it to the Devils. My goodness, you should see how they fought with each other to grab hold of the wallaby. I thought it was very gruesome. In fact, the smell of the animal carcass made me want to vormit. It took a while for the Devils to finish eating the wallaby as it was frozen.

After about 20 minutes, the show finally ended. We went to one of the pubs nearby for dinner. I made the wrong choice of ordering lamb shanks. When I tasted it, all I could think of was the dead wallaby and the dreadful stench. I quickly gobbled up my food lest I vormit it all out.

Anyway, if you do visit Cradle Mountain, please do drop by Devils @ Cradle for some real Tassie adventure. Just don't order lamb shanks after that! You can also find out more information from this website - http://www.devilsatcradle.com/

Runaway Train

2009-04-19T23:03:00.006+10:00

For some odd reason, I have always wanted to have a photo of myself taken on a railway track. You can call me crazy for risking my life. Of course, I would not be crazy enough to do that in busy Sydney. I might be imprisoned for jumping on the tracks!

So when I catch a glimpse of an empty railway track in Tasmania, I knew this would be the GOLDEN opportunity for me. I positioned myself on the tracks and got my equally sporting bf to snap a couple of shots for me. He too had a fair share of photos on the tracks.

At The Crossroad

My last memory of a long train journey was my high school trip from Kuala Lumpur to Singapore. We took the night train called the "Senandung Malam". It was a dreadful 8 hour journey and we were given cramped bunk beds to sleep in. You would have to take sleeping pills to knock yourself out as the noise and earth-shaking movements of the train would prevent even sleeping beauties like myself from dozing off.

What was your memory of your last train ride?

Happy Belated Easter!

2009-04-16T23:32:00.007+10:00

During Easter, we decided to take a trip to good ol' Tassie (aka Tasmania), the land of the Tasmanian Devils. As we were driving away from Hobart to Strahan, we saw this large cross perched up on the hill. We looked at each other and immediately said, "Let's stop here!".

We thought this was a really appropriate photo to depict Easter, the day of the risen King. It reminded us of John 3:16, "For God so loved the world that He gave His one and begotten Son, Jesus, that whoever shall believe in Him shall not perish but have eternal life."

How about you? What does Easter mean to you?

Murals Murals Everywhere

2009-04-16T23:04:00.008+10:00

If there's one place I could suggest for fun photography, I would say it is in Sheffield, North Westcoast of Tasmania. It is located approximately an hour away from its more boring cousin, Launceston. Sheffield is famous for wall murals. The Information Centre even has printed walkabout maps for mural hunters like myself.

Instead of just taking the murals by itself, I decided to inject a bit of fun into the photos. I hope you will enjoy them!

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Grab a copy of a guide and make your way to good ol' Tassieland!

Brunch @ Monal Cafe, Enmore

2009-03-22T18:01:00.005+11:00

We headed off to Monal Cafe in Enmore for brunch after church. Enmore is the less expensive version of Paddington/Oxford. It is also a hip place for the young people to hang out. It does look a bit dodgy as some of the shops looked run down. Nevertheless, Enmore offers a variety of cafes and bakeries for those who are looking for a change.

What I liked about Monal Cafe was its courtyard behind the restaurant. The raised wooden patio and light afternoon breeze gave the place a homely feel to it. We ordered the Italian breakfast and I had my usual cafe latte.

Here are some photos to make your mouth water.

Cute teddy bear coffee art

Monal Cafe is located on 163 Enmore Road. Do give them a visit.

North Head Scenic Drive, Manly

2009-03-22T17:02:00.003+11:00

Hello all! I'm finally back. This website has been collecting cobwebs whilst I was away. I was extremely busy with my shift from noisy CBD to the quieter suburb of Cammeray. In the midst of all the packing and unpacking, I sprained my lower back! I was in extreme pain and had to visit the Emergency ward of the Royal North Shore Hospital. That by itself is story for another day. I was house bound for a couple of weeks. The only form of entertainment was Desperate Housewives.

Anyway, as this weekend was my birthday, I was rewarded with a short outing trip to North Head Scenic Drive. I have seen this place from Manly and Balmoral beaches but never been up here. The drive took approximately 10-15 minutes from Manly jetty. The scenery was awesome. One can see the Sydney skyline, Balmoral and Manly beaches from up there.

Apart from photography, one can also do some bushwalking or visit the fort. As I was still aching, I did none of those. Nevertheless, it was still a nice short trip to break the monotony of the usual weekend grocery shopping.

Here are some photos taken on my Canon IXUS 55. I did not bring my baby (EOS 5D) as it too heavy. I can't wait to play with it again in Tasmania in 2 weeks time!

Sydney skyline from North Head, Manly

Balmoral Beach

My First Pair of Cufflinks

2009-02-22T23:24:00.007+11:00

Cufflinks, traditionally worn with French cuff shirts by men, have now become a much sought-after accessory in the women's wardrobe. I have two cufflinks, both from Raoul. This design that I chose looks a bit like the Mont Blanc logo. So far, I have received rave reviews from my female and male friends.

I have not worn them as much in Sydney as it is quite hard to find French cuff shirts for women in Sydney. You see, I've "outgrown" my shirts due to the "good" life that I'm having now. I can't wait for my next shopping trip in Malaysia to stock up on more shirts. If all goes well, I should be back in July 2009. Happiness!

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Search Amazon.com for cufflinks

My Favourite Colour

2009-02-22T23:16:00.005+11:00

I love turquoise blue/greenish-blue! I have tops, bottoms, handbags, shoes, earrings, bracelets, scrafs, okay, you get the idea.

So when I found out that one of my favourite pair of turquoise earrings broke, I nearly went into a depression. Ok, just kidding. I'm not so emo.