Onboard Tour of The Training Sail Ship Nippon Maru

On Tuesday, I had the opportunity to go on board a Japanese training sail ship called Nippon Maru.  Officially, she should be called Nippon Maru II as she's the second generation sail ship to bear that name.  The first Nippon Maru was originally commissioned all the way back in 1930.  And this sail ship should not be confused with the MOL luxury cruise ship either.  

Nippon Maru From 2nd Level of Singapore Cruise Centre - X-T2 + XF10-24mm F4R OIS

Jalan Membina

About 2 weeks back I had planned to visit Gardens by The Bay to just "walk walk and see see" the lantern installations during mid-Autumn festival, unfortunately the place was jam packed and I had to abandon the plan.  It was a bad idea to visit 3 days before the exhibits were to be taken down.  The fact that it was a Saturday only made things worse.   

Since I was already carrying my X-T2 around, when I almost got home I thought why not go all the way up to 30th floor of my apartment block and see what the view is like from up there.  It was the blue hour anyway.  I had stayed in this block for more than 5 years and never went up at all to see what's it like.  My curiosity was very well rewarded.  

Overlooking Bukit Ho Swee, all the way to Orchard - X-T2 + XF16mmF1.4RWR

Another Trip to Batam

Sometime in March I traveled to Batam again for more photography.  This time, its more towards food photography.  Besides it was March term break for Lincoln so I thought bringing him and Lindsay will be a good break from the monotony.

Already Queuing to Board The Ferry, 20 Minutes Before Departure - RX100 Mk 3

Super Blue Blood Moon January 2018

Did you catch the Super Blue Blood Moon tonight?  My viewing attempt was almost thwarted by the rain this evening which resulted in somewhat cloudy skies.  Fortunately the sky was relatively clear by about 21:30.  So I went to the rooftop of a multi-storey car park to get this shot:

In case you're wondering: (https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/super-blue-blood-moon-singapore-lunar-eclipse-9914074)

~Photo taken with Fujifilm X-T2 + XF55-200mm F3.5-4.8R LM OIS~

A Small Batam Project

Earlier in October I went to Batam for a private project.  I hadn't been to Batam in a very long time so this short visit was quite refreshing.  Things in Batam change at quite a fast pace nowadays, no doubt tourism is still going strong despite the factories and shipyards having gone out of business.  Harbourbay itself is changing as Marriott is shaping up quite nicely.  This complex is looking more and more..... complex....   I had my X-T2 and the XF10-24mm F4 R OIS for this short project.

Sunset in Harbourbay

Tokyo Biz Trip October 2017

In October I had a chance to visit Tokyo to attend training with my company's vendor.  It was a great 7 days trip to Tokyo after 8 years.  Yes, that's how long it had been since I last visited Japan.  This time I flew by ANA and took a day time flight to Haneda which is much nearer than Narita.

For this trip I went with my Fujifilm X-T2 + XF10-24mm F4R OIS.  I bought that XF10-24 from a friend who wants to upgrade to the XF16-55, not sure if he got it already or not...  Anyway, that 10-24 was a great buy which I really loved from the moment I got it.  I really missed shooting at such a wide angle!

ANA for a change from the usual SIA

Hong Kong Trip 2017 - Day 5

Day 5 was the day we returned to sunny and humid Singapore to resume our normal lives again.  After we had some light breakfast which consisted of cookies and tea, we just walked around the hotel to explore.

The lovable Mickey & Minnie mouse - LG G5

Hong Kong Trip 2017 - Day 4

On day 4 of our trip, we started with a buffet breakfast at the Disneyland Hotel's Enchanted Garden.  It was a character breakfast where various Disney characters will walk around and take photos with us.

The buffet spread was amazing; lots of variety and cutely decorated Disney character food.  Need I say more?

Just look at all that food!  Too many choices! - X-T2 + XF16mm F1.4R

Hong Kong Trip 2017 - Day 3

Day 3 was when the excitement started as it was the day we moved to Disneyland, the happiest place on earth!  We took the train to Disneyland because we wanted to experience riding the special Mickey Mouse trains from Sunny Bay to Disneyland.

The Disneyland train from Sunny Bay - LG G5

Hong Kong Trip 2017 - Day 2

Day 2 started at 9 in the morning.  We planned to visit Citygate Outlets (https://www.citygateoutlets.com.hk/)  at Tung Chung which is approximately 45 minutes away from Tsim Sha Tsui.  However prior to that we made a quick visit to Jenny's Bakery to buy all the cookies my wife wanted so that we could settle the packing later on that night.

Jenny's Bakery Tsim Sha Tsui - LG G5

Hong Kong Trip 2017 - Day 1

During the March school term break we took a 5 day trip to Hong Kong.  It was the first time the kids went to some place other than Indonesia.  The weather was very nice too, at a cooling 17-21 degrees Celsius.

It was very exciting from the very beginning, we couldn't wait for the plane to take off once we were on board.

Waiting for other passengers to board - LG G5

Chinese New Year 2017

This year we celebrated Chinese New Year in Jakarta.  It was a quick 4 days and 3 nights trip and again, I decided to stay in Pullman Central Park for its convenient location.

The flight was delayed by slightly over an hour in Singapore but the kids were in good spirit as always, if not, too loud at times.  

We were already waiting, but the plane still wasn't there yet - X-T2 + XF16mm F1.4R WR

Intercontinental Staycation

Last weekend I & my wife had a staycation in Intercontinental Hotel Bugis.  It was some sort of a replacement for a holiday for me.  Had it not been for the rain I would have explored further to Kampong Glam area.  But seeing how much time we spent in Bugis alone I guess it makes sense to explore Kampong Glam another time.

Check-in was speedy and convenient, everything was as expected.  The room was marvelous, to say the least.

Deluxe Room in Intercontinental Singapore - Bugis

Gardens by The Bay Christmas Wonderland

My wife and the kids are away for holiday at my wife's hometown since last week.  I'm stuck for some work related issues, although not a lot and mostly are already settled by now.  That also means that I have lots and lots of free time on weekends...  And for me that means going to Gardens by The Bay to see the Christmas Wonderland exhibits and take some great photos.  For this trip, I brought along both my X-T2 + XF 16mm F1.4R WR and D750 + AT-X 16-28 F2.8 PRO FX.  But for this entry, I'm using the shots from my X-T2 only.

I arrived quite early at before 4:15 pm.  My first destination was the Flower Dome where the Christmas Wonderland exhibit is on.  I wanted to scout around for good spots, taking sample shots, adjusting the lighting and shadow/highlight setting in my camera.  These are two of my daylight sample shots which turned out well.      

A foliage tunnel going to the South American Garden

Pompompurin Cafe

[UPDATE: Pompompurin cafe has since been closed]

Last Sunday we dropped by Pompompurin Cafe in Orchard Central after Lindsay's ballet class.  Just for the heck of it.  I mean, when it was first launched in April this year people were queuing for about two hours or so to dine there.  Now that the hype has cooled down, it's a good time to drop by for a visit.

For this visit I brought along my X-T2 + XF 16mm F1.4R WR combo.  Unfortunately the indoor shots weren't so good.  I had been taking photos outdoor earlier and reduced the highlight setting to get better dynamic range under the harsh sunlight and forgot to reset that setting after I moved indoors.  As a result the photos mostly lack contrast and sharpness.  Gotta remember to change the setting next time when I move indoors!!

We arrived 10 minutes early and before us there were already two ladies in the queue.  Not so bad.

The entrance to the Cafe

Fujifilm X-T2: MINE!!!

I believe I should be one of the first in Singapore to get X-T2.  I pre-ordered the camera and got it on the first day it became available in Singapore - 8 September.

X-T2 feels very much like X-T1, but the price difference is very steep.  I purchased my X-T1 and approximately $2.2K for a kit set that comes with the XF 18-55mm F2.8-4.0R, while the X-T2 body only costs $2599.  But the difference in price could somewhat be justified; the new auto-focus system is plain amazing, resolution also increased by 50% (from 16MP to 24MP), 4K video, 1/8000 mechanical shutter speed, double SD card slots and an addition of a joystick to select focus points have been added (similiar to Nikon DSLRs) which is an extremely welcome improvement to ergonomics.  The screen has an additional angle for tilting this time around although I haven't found much use to it just yet.  

AF Joystick under the "Q" button - taken by Sony RX100Mk3

Hello End September

Been so long since I last made an entry in my blog - I got flu again, 2nd time in less than a month. Just plain amazing isn't it.... And by the way yes, I made another template change.  I'm still figuring out how to make the post date appear, the time stamp code is there but I don't understand why it won't appear.. /(>_<)\

Anyway, we celebrated mid-autumn festival this month on 15th Sept.  Chinatown is properly decorated as well with lots and lots of dazzling lanterns.  It was the right opportunity to test my recently acquired X-T2.  Oh yes I got my X-T2 already.  This camera is plain amazing.  I'll be writing about that separately.

Here are some snapshots of Chinatown in its full mid-autumn celebratory mood.

The main show piece in Chinatown - X-T2 + XF14mmF2.8R