Sony Nex-5

Sometime in May 2011 I decided to get a Sony NEX-5.  I was extremely tempted by the size of Sony's offering: APS-C sensor in a small and light body with flat lens.  So after looking around and comparing between NEX-3 and NEX-5 I settled for NEX-5 with SEL 16mm F2.8.

Clarke Quay in Mid-Autumn Hand Held

Plain Sailing in 2011

2011 was fairly uneventful.  The photography I did were mainly for the property my father works in.  at late 2010, a new site was due to be opened, 10 km further down from the original site of Bintan Agro Beach Resort - Bintan Cabana Beach Resort, so I had new things to capture for the website.  Then in late 2011, we added 6 suite rooms that soon became the main attraction in the Resort, again I had to take photos of the new rooms for the website. 

In my earlier post I did mention that I prefer this place better as the water was very much clearer.  And the rooms are better decorated and cozier.  We needed to add a new page for Cabana in the main website so I did some photography for the website again.

These photos are my personal collection that don't appear on the website, but I think just as good.

Walkway outside Suite Rooms

Canon EF 24mm F1.4L II

The EF 24mm F.14L II, is a versatile lens that quickly became my favourite from the moment I got it.  Wide enough for landscape, (almost) distortion free for portraits - as long as your subject is in the centre, extremely fast at F1.4, and very sharp wide open.  This lens from Canon really gives Nikon a good run for the money as its considerably cheaper than Nikon's own 24mm F1.4.

Wide enough for landscape yes

Mapur Island

When I worked in Bintan, I had the chance to visit an island which I think has the most beautiful beach in Western Indonesia - Mapur island.

The island is about 15-25 minutes away from Bintan Agro Beach Resort, depending on weather conditions.  Be ready to bring sun screen, shades and hats if you happen to go on the dry season.  I can assure you that the trip is definitely worth it!

The boat trip to Mapur

Bintan Memories

As I mentioned in my previous post, I started helping my father in Bintan at around mid-2010.  I really got deep into it at around 2011 and started to appreciate how beautiful the place really is.  The place has wonderful beaches although the capital Tanjung Pinang is somewhat quite underdeveloped - ever since I first started going there in year 2000 until 2010, the main street of Jalan Bakar Batu still looked the same.

But let's talk about the south-eastern coast where my father works.  The name of the resorts are Bintan Agro Beach Resort and Bintan Cabana Beach Resort (http://www.agrobeach.com - I was the one who oversaw the website building, so of course, I'm proud to promote it every now and then! ;p ).

I used the knowledge I acquired from my days holding the D90 and got to know my 5D Mark 2 better.  Daytime shots never disappoint, it's the blue hour shots that I really want to nail with the help of my 5D Mark 2.  I swear that my photos during this period were some of my best.  My favourite lens for these landscape shots was the one and the only EF 16-35mm F2.8L II.     

Here is a photo of a small island about 5 minutes away by ferry ride from Bintan Agro Beach Resort; the island is called White Sands Island.  It's in the itinerary of the Island Hopping activities.

Blue Sky,  Fine Yellow Sand - Cool Drinks and Shades Will Make This Perfect

Lincoln Diaries

My son really gave me and my wife a lot of firsts in our lives.  First time my wife experienced pregnancy, first time she experienced labor, first time experiencing cutting the umbilical cord (for me), and first time feeling that excitement of finally seeing a baby after 9 months.   

My favourite shot of Lincoln when he was 3 months old

My Very First Scooter - Honda Scoopy

As I mentioned in my earlier post about moving to Batam, there was a time when I had to wait for 4 full months for a car that did not come.  While waiting for the car to come I decided to get a scooter - Honda Scoopy.  It was the first time my wife experienced riding a motorcycle so it was quite exciting.  For myself, the scooter was a joy to ride as it has an automatic transmission, no clutch, no gears just twist and go.  And most importantly the scooter marks the point in time where we finally achieved mobility!

The Cool Dashboard & Basic Speedometer

Moving to Batam - November 2010

I resigned from my position in NYK back in April 2010.  After that I started helping my father in Bintan.  As I thought that it would be a permanent career change, I assumed that it would be logical to move to Indonesia, closer to where I'll be working.  Another reason is because I'll be earning Rupiah, living in Singapore would be too costly.

As Bintan (Tanjung Pinang) is 2 hours away from Singapore, my wife and I thought that Batam would be a better place to stay in.  It has better accessibility to Singapore with better facilities in general and definitely more developed than Bintan.  And so we made the decision to venture to the unknown - off we went to Batam.

We got ourselves a house in Batam and had it renovated.  My father originally bought the house a long time back and had the old building demolished and replaced with a new one.  And as I told him about my intention to stay in Batam, he let me stay in the house.  

By the time we thought the renovation had been done, we left Singapore for Batam.  But to our surprise, there were still minor completions needed on arrival - things that we didn't notice in the beginning such as water proofing the walls, adding shelfings in the cabinets, getting cutleries, cleaning equipments and basic things for daily activities.  So we ended up staying in the hotel for 1 whole week instead of the originally planned 3 days.  Not only that, we didn't have a car yet, and ordering one from the dealer needed 3 months.  So we resorted to walking and eventually purchased a scooter by December.  

We stayed in Swiss Bel-Hotel (now called Swiss Bel-inn).  I can't say it was unpleasant, but it was quite a trying experience.  My son was just 5 months old then.  So you can imagine he was eating canned fruit puree and milk all the time, I washed the bottles at the bathroom basin, sterilized the bottles using hot water and the three of us just slept on one bed.

Top: View from hotel balcony, Below: My wife feeding Lincoln on the bed

Fujifilm Finepix F40fd Diaries

So I'm mad about Fujifilm.  Yep I do...  I don't have the photos from my first Finepix anymore.  But I still have those from the Finepix F40fd and now I have plenty from my previous X-E2 and current X-T1.    

I went on a short trip to Japan with my wife to Fujinomiya sometime in April 2009 for about 4 days.  It was a religious pilgrimage trip for my wife and since it was an important trip for her, I accompanied her.  I was already DSLR-less at that time so we only brought the Finepix F40fd with us.

Under good lighting conditions, the outdoor shots never disappoint, but perhaps where ergonomics and build quality are concerned, they still have a lot of catching up to do with Canon's Powershot series.  This is where the dilemma comes: I want good photos, but I also want a camera that is hardy with good ergonomics and these qualities are evenly split between Fuji and Canon.   

Top: Garden outside a temple in Fujinomiya, Bottom: Close up of a flower

Biz Trip to Bangkok 27 - 30 April

What a packed 3 days of business trip...

I started my day on Monday 27th April at 4:45 in the morning, getting ready for the 7:40 flight.  I eventually arrived in the airport at 5:55.  Yep, just 5 minutes to 6:00 a.m.  And luckily I already did the electronic check-in the night before so I only had to drop my bag and get the actual boarding pass.   The normal check-in row was snaking with too many people....  It was on reaching Bangkok that I realized they were connecting to Chiang Mai or Phuket. 

Soon I was on board the plane, ready for take-off and shortly the plane was on the sky.

Waiting for take off, and look at that great view once we're up in the air