Legoland Trip 2014

Back in November 2014, we decided to go on an impromptu trip to Legoland Malaysia.  Lindsay was still in Purwokerto and it was just the three of us (me, my wife & Lincoln) in Singapore.  Since we had some time together, we thought it would be good to give Legoland a try since Lincoln had never been to a theme park before.  We bought a tour package from a travel agent and took a bus ride from Singapore to Johor.

The bus ride lasted almost 3 hours including immigration waiting time per trip.  Before reaching Legoland we also had to wait for some people who wanted to go to Hello Kitty Land before we finally reached Legoland.  We started at about 8:15 a.m. and finally got to theme park 11:15 a.m.

Lincoln was very excited from the moment we stepped foot inside the theme park.  The park was very spacious and surprisingly not very crowded.  I can't imagine what it would be like to be in a crowded park under hot and humid conditions.  

Top: Legoland Hotel at the background; Bottom: Aerial view of Legoland

And Here Comes Lindsay

On the night of 19th Feb 2013, my wife's water suddenly broke just before 10 pm.  The doctor had cautioned in the previous week that our little girl will be due at about next week and his word is really on the money.

By 10:30 p.m. my wife was already inside the delivery suite awaiting her epidural injection.  Lindsay is really good girl I guess, she didn't make my wife go through a lot of pain.  The labour process this time around was much less painful for my wife.  Even the delivery was fast without using any assisted vacuum etc and my wife went through minimum trauma.

By 6:30 a.m. on 20th Februay, my wife and I finally got to see the little girl we've been expecting in the last 38 weeks.

Lindsay right after delivery

Prior to Lindsay's Arrival - Captured in 5D Mark III

Prior to Lindsay's arrival in Feb 2013, Lincoln went to Purwokerto and stayed with my in-laws.  It was quite hard to suddenly have him left us for quite some time, but we couldn't cope with handling a newborn and a 3 year old at the same time.  So we decided to send him to my in-laws who were more than happy to look after him for which I'm very grateful for while my mom was to help my wife look after the soon-to-arrive Lindsay.

As it was near Chinese New Year, the mood was festive.  

Resorts World Sentosa in Chinese New Year Decorations - 5DM3 + EF 16-35mm F2.8L II

5D Mark III

At About July 2012, I upgraded my 5D Mark 2 to 5D Mark 3.  Mark 3 is a great improvement over Mark 2 in terms of auto focus and perhaps dynamic range (although only marginal).  But the video quality and new auto focus are definitely the biggest draw of this great camera.

With lightning fast auto focus that is so dead accurate, there's no way I could have missed a good shot, unless if I had set the auto focus to "auto" and let the camera decide.  But with zone and single focus points, this camera is like an extremely deadly sniper rifle - fast and accurate.

The ISO performance has been greatly improved as well making it easier to take hand held night shots with natural lighting, but you still need a prime to get best result.

Interior of Marina Bay Sands Shoppes - 5DMIII + EF16-35mm F2.8 L II

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

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