After the Tsunami

Ethan and I went to Krabi in September, approximately 9 months after the Tsunami that struck southern Thailand on 26 Dec 2004. We learnt that much of the beach resorts along Railay Beach were destroyed, as well as those on Phi Phi Island, but otherwise Krabi was relatively "mildly" affected compared to the area of Khao Lak, approximatley 90 km north of Phuket.

Well-known in Krabi is the "Tha Pom Khlong Song Nam", a natural stream with the water source coming from an underground spring. The local authority has contructed a walk-board above the mangrove swamp for visitors to walk around and view the crystal clear water.




We stayed in a 3-star hotel in Krabi town centre, after feasting on fabulous seafood at the beachside. Hotel tariffs were surprisingly cheap: our room which came with air-conditioning, hot water and a mini-fridge cost only 380 baht per room-night (about S$15-16 !!)

The beach was just about 5 minutes from the town centre and there were several eateries offering seafood and local thai food. We ordered prawns, tom-yam kung, chicken, fish, seafood fried rice, and the house speciality: shellfish. Most of the dishes cost around 75-80 baht (S$3 per plate).

Most memorable was the seafood fried rice. It came with a wedge of lemon and the taste was simply yummy. It was wonderful to see Ethan helping himself to his 3rd bowl of fried rice, something never seen before! The dish cost us only 25 baht (about S$1) and was enough for 4 adults.

We next went to Phuket which is about 126 km from Krabi town centre, a 2-1/2 hr ride by mini-van costing Baht 500 for 2 persons.



Phuket town centre is much larger and more developed than Krabi. Real estate prices are also considerably more expensive, even besting Bangkok's in some cases.
We stayed in the Phuket Resortel, a surprisingly well-maintained and clean hotel that cost us Baht 600 (S$24) per room-night.

Touting was fairly widespread. Everywhere we went, we were offered short tours or rides. It seemed the 2004 Tsunami had affected tourist arrivals in 2005, hence the competitive touting. For example, a guy offered us a short tour of Phuket city in his private car for 200 baht, then reduced it to Baht 100 when we declined due to safety considerations as it was nearing dusk. Now, where in the world can you get such a guided tour for only S$4 in an air-con car?

We decided to try steam-boat thai-style at the MK Restaurant. We ordered the seafood special set for Baht 300 (if I recall correctly), a veggie plate, and the house speciality: roast duck and crispy pork for Baht 95 (S$3.80). Wow -- the roast duck was simply divine. And the crispy pork, altho' not the house speciality, was equally excellent.
Ethan showed his preference by finishing the roast duck portion in double-quick time! Overall, an extremely delicious steam-boat meal and value for money.

The streets were lined with yellow flags and buntings, in preparation for the week-long Vegetarian Festival that will kick off next week.
This festival is celebrated throughout the kingdom.

We were delighted to learn that Tiger Airways will commence flights to Krabi from 7 Oct 05. That will certainly spur the devleopment of Krabi as a tourist destination. Perhaps it is time to invest in Krabi real-estate?

Personalize your Home with Beautiful Portraits

My dear wife is an avid photographer. And a huge fan of Kym Ng. She was at Marina Bay when she snapped this photo of Kym Ng on-the-spur-of-the-moment. She had no time to compose or move around for the best angle. Nor could she wait for better lighting, expression or mood. She simply snapped, snapped, snapped. And hoped for the best.

Well, this particular shot showed Kym at her effervescent best! Her personality shines through in this photo. Kym's beautiful eyes seem to connect and communicate with you, don't they?

Now, many photographers would process the image employing the usual digital imaging techniques and photo-processing skills. And the result is shown below:

"Ooooh, sweet!!" was how our friends reacted when they laid eyes on the above photo. They found the processed photo refreshing, endearing and more than good enough for the Album. Some suggested blowing up the photo 24-inch by 30-inch and wall-mount it as a beautiful framed art print on the wall.

And why not? A piece of photo art for the family home. An art piece that captures Kym's persona as we all know and love. Forever, frozen in time. It's better than some purchased art pieces that we admire but couldn't connect emotionally. No visceral impact.

But hey - we're not your run-of-the-mill photographers! So we wondered and mused, "What can we do to bring out Kym's sparkling personality more? Her irrepressible personality that defines her? Can we do better than most photographers?"

After tweaking various elements here and there, making fine adjustments visually and carefully, often stepping back after hours of work to view the work-in-progress, then changing the parameters all over again, we finally achieved the smouldering, alluring look of a classic beauty that all photographers strived to capture:

Well, what do you think? Do you think we have done justice to Kym's persona, making this print truly one-in-a-million?

The original snapshot


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Your Wedding Photo as Art

All of us have our favorite wedding photo. Use that as wall art to personalize your home. Simply blow up the photo, choose a nice frame to complement the photo - and there you have it, a wonderful piece of art for the family home!

But what if your favorite wedding photo turned out to be less-than-suitable and cannot be used? Like the one below:

The Groom looked worn-out, exhausted. Not-looking-at-the-top-of-the-world! "The Couple looked better in real life!" - you probably heard that a lot too. Yes - weddings are high-pressure, exciting, surrealistic events. Only when it was all over did the Couple wake up and really felt it wasn't a dream. No wonder the Groom looked frazzled! And the photo did not lie. Captured in all its unedited unfettered glory - the mousta`che, the perspiration, the tiredness and anxieties. Sigh.. another favorite photo consigned to the "Banned Bin".

Pity, everyone agreed the photo was easily amongst the best in the Collection. The Couple's pose and expression said it all. The Groom remarked he liked the way his lovely Bride pressed her body close to him. No one had urged her to do that. It was all so natural, so spontaneous. Asked if we could use our digital imaging skills to redeem the photo, we said we would give it our best shot.

When we got the photo, we saw the Warmth, the Love, the Spontaneity. Yes, that would be our focus! Bring out the ethereal quality hidden in the image. Took us all of two weeks, tweaking dozens of elements. Re-doing and re-working numerous parameters. Until we got the freshness and sparkle we wanted. Then, when we thought we had nailed it, we noticed the groom's sun-burnt nose! Obviously he had just completed his army stint and the nose showed! More tweaking followed. Another week went by. Then, ahh.. more tweaks to the skin tone. There must be the right touch of color to the faces, not too light, not too dark. Finally, we showed the finished artwork to the Bride:

"Wow.. what a difference! This will be our showpiece, framed and wall-mounted for the Living Room," she uttered, all teary and ecstatic. Yes, the groom now looks fresh, clean, vibrant! Nicely complemented by the radiant Bride! He smiled sheepishly and shook our hand.

Their reaction spoke more eloquently than anything we could say !

Return to Design Challenges blog or go to Photo Gallery

Face Art

Opening day of Siam Paragon at the old Siam Square site.

21 Chandee Town

After 2 weeks in Krabi, we went to visit Ethan's granny in Chandee. The journey in our trusty 22-yr old Honda Civic took about 3 hours.
Chandee is one of the southern train stations along the North-South railway. As is a common occurance, commerce took root in the vicinity around the train station, and a small town and market place developed. Rubber is the main commodity of the area and most of the townsfolk are shop owners or earn a living as food vendors or rubber tappers.

The town has its charm with quaint little streets of cement, and no road dividers. Parking is free, there is no building control, so you will see 6-storey buildings next to single-storey shophouses. Anybody could simply set up shop in his own abode. Or push a cart to sell cooked food on the street without worrying about getting a licence. Tax? ...eh, what's that? Reminds me of Singapore 40 years ago!

Spy the lady sitting in the corner of the picture above? The forlorn look said it all: who will buy my veg? The veggie seller was indifferent when I snapped her picture. Seemed like selling vegetables for a living is not easy, especially when a competing stall is next to hers.

Or is it because thai people generally don't eat veggies in their daily diet? Yes, it is true! Maybe she is better off selling fish, like the lady below. The fish seller had a much happier time -- counting her takings for the day! Ahhh.. nothing feels so good as grimy, wrinkled baht notes!


The pretty gal in the picture willingly obliged when I asked if she would like her picture taken. She was in a flower shop with her mom, cleaning and bundling flowers for sale. Chandee people are indeed warm and friendly.

Aonang Beach

While Phuket has its Patong Beach, Krabi has beautiful beaches at Aonang and Railay. Aonang is located about 1 hrs' drive north of Krabi Town, while Railay is to the south.

Playful Kids of Krabi

13 November Gal

Anna's birthday falls on September 17. Pictured below is her mom who flew to Singapore for a vacation and to see her favorite daughter. Both mom and daughter are very close, and enjoy travelling to places around the globe. They will visit beautiful Malacca and KL for 10 days, I think.
D70, 85mm f/1.4D, 1/30@f/5.6, ISO250, AWB -2, Hue -3

D70, 85mm f/1.4D, 1/250@f/1.4, ISO 250, AWB -2, Hue -3

D70, kit lens@25mm, 1/60@f/5.6, ISO 250, Built-in TTL, AWB -2, Hue -3

D70, kit lens@34mm, 1/60@f/5.6, ISO 250, Built-in TTL, AWB -2, Hue -3

D70, kit lens@52mm, 1/60@f/5.6, ISO 250, Built-in TTL, AWB -2, Hue -3

D70, kit lens@48mm, 1/60@f/5.6, ISO 250, Built-in TTL, AWB -2, Hue -3

Friends from Sweden

I had dim sum with Anna and her boyfriend Matthias at the Crystal Jade at TSC Shopping Mall today. Both are from Sweden.

Anna is doing her MBA at James Cook campus at Spring Singapore while Matthias is visiting. Both met at Ericsson, the giant Swedish electronics firm, better known as a producer of mobile phone sets.

D70, kit lens@18mm, 1/60s@f/4, ISO1250, +0.7EV, AWB -3

Don't they make a lovely couple? Seems that +0.3EV is about the max I should use as +0.7EV doesn't do much in reducing unwanted noise. For evenly lit scenes like this I should probably have gone for 0EV instead.

After lunch I went to the NLB on the Fifth Floor of TSC and borrowed 2 books about photographers and their studios. The info may be useful if I should decide to set up a studio in Melbourne in future.

D70, kit lens@18mm, 1/50s@f/5.6, ISO1600, +0.3EV, AWB -3

Wonder whether image would be sharper with the Nikkor f/2.8D 17-35mm (or 17-55mm)?

When I left the Library, I found that it was raining. The weather was cool due to the late afternoon shower. Light was rapidly getting dimmer, and so I snapped some pictures during the walk home.
D70, kit lens@35mm, 1/60s@f/8, ISO1000, +0.3EV, AWB -3

A circular polarizer would be useful to control the reflections on the glass panel.
D70, kit lens@44mm, 1/60s@f/8, ISO720, +0.3EV, AWB -3

This one was shot at FL= 44mm, although most were below 35mm. For my next purchase, perhaps I should give more weight to the Nikkor 17-55mm over the 17-35mm?
Or maybe I should consider the Sigma 18-50mm f/2.8?
Best if Nikon comes out with an 18-70mm f/2 lens !!

Singapore Croissant

Hey -- what were we doing at Casuarina Road on Tuesday July 7, 2005?
D70, 24mm f/2.8D lens, 1/800s@f/5.6, ISO200, +0.3EV, AWB -2

What else -- what all Singaporeans like to do when they have some free time -- snack on the best food.
Casuarina Curry Restaurant arguably makes the best roti-prata in Singapore :
D70, 24mm f/2.8D lens, 1/60s@f/5.6, ISO220, +0.3EV, AWB -2

Chris was the gracious host for lunch. "More than 30 flavors" was what I overheard the waiter tell him of the roti-prata as I fiddled with my D70 trying to figure out why it couldn't focus!
And if you wonder how I could take the first 2 photos shown above when the camera couldn't focus -- simple: those were taken after lunch! By then I had found that the lens' aperture switch was unlocked, leaving the camera's auto-focus mechanism deactivated.
D70, 24mm f/2.8D lens, 1/80s@f/2.8, ISO800, +0.3EV, AWB -2

Golly -- they had finished all the roti-prata before I completed taking the photos!!
Luckily there's something left on the wall. Hey, Greg, pass me some bananas..
All satiated, we had a wonderful lunch. Funny -- the best flavor for me was actually the plain old roti-prata, altho' the mushroom flavored one was yummy too.
It was still a hot, sunny day. All the people seemed to have headed for the beaches..
D70, 24mm f/2.8D lens, 1/800s@f/5.6, ISO200, +0.3EV, AWB -2

We decided to head for Greg's house. Vince and Chris were waiting for me to get into the gleaming Toyoto Camry:
D70, 24mm f/2.8D lens, 1/250s@f/5.6, ISO200, +0.3EV, AWB -2

And a Garden of Eden greeted us when we arrived at Greg's house in Lentor Avenue:
D70, 24mm f/2.8D lens, 1/60s@f/8, ISO560, +0.3EV, AWB -2

The beautiful multi-colored koi is worth a tidy fortune. Come back in 10 years for a wonderful koi meal, anyone? Always had deep-fried garoupa and carp with sambal blachan whenever I went to Jakarta -- simply delicious!
Not to worry, Greg -- probably not yours anymore, as you would have sold your house and moved to Perth, right?
D70, 24mm f/2.8D lens, 1/400s@f/8, ISO200, +0.3EV, AWB -2

Nice neighbourhood view from the koi pavilion in Greg's garden.
The lush growth of the plants and shrubs lend an air of tranquility to the garden:
D70, 24mm f/2.8D lens, 1/125s@f/8, ISO200, +0.3EV, AWB -2

Vince has always been a dream husband for any gal -- that is because he places top priority on pleasing his wife and kids. He is a family guy, hard-working, thrifty and an excellent dad and husband. Always dependable, I have never seen him lose his cool!
D70, 24mm f/2.8D lens, 1/60s@f/8, ISO200, +0.3EV, AWB -2

Problem is, I think he tends to worry a bit too excessively -- even when he has no reason to. Maybe that's why he frowns so much.. lol
Hey Greg -- isn't that a tongkat ali growing in the background? Chris told me you got it from him to grow in your Eden some time ago.
Chris, on the other hand, is the live-wire amongst us. Never a dull moment with him around, he is always making others smile. Wanna know what he said about the melon... ??
D70, 24mm f/2.8D lens, 1/720s@f/5.6, ISO200, +0.3EV, AWB -2, no flash

Ever the generous guy that he is, Chris holds the melon 'ha-mid kuah' that he kindly bought for us to try. It is a very sweet melon imported from China.
D70, 24mm f/2.8D lens, 1/60s@f/5.6, ISO200, +0.3EV, AWB -2, fill-in flash

Amongst us, Greg arguably has the sharpest intellect. He is known as an innovator, most at home with the latest geek things. Here he demos the Kodak digital camera.
D70, 24mm f/2.8D lens, 1/60s@f/8, ISO200, +0.3EV, AWB -2, fill-in flash

Jack is the scholar amongst us: he likes to excel in everything he does! He is a generous, warm-hearted kind of guy, always ready to take on challenges of any kind. He revs up slowly, but like a mercedes-benz, once he is on a roll, there's no stopping him! Neither could anyone overtake him.
No wonder Jack was a 1969 Colombo Plan scholar. And today a successful engineer-businessman turned fund manager. And his engineering business? He left it to Angie, his more-than-capable wife. Lucky guy!
D70, 24mm f/2.8D lens, 1/60s@f/8, ISO200, +0.3EV, AWB -2, fill-in flash

Actually all my friends are bright guys with lots of talent. All of them produced kids who also have their genes, the children either inducted into gifted-kid programs run by the government and/or subsequently winning scholarships to study uni locally or overseas.
D70, 24mm f/2.8D lens, 1/60s@f/8, ISO200, +0.3EV, AWB -2, fill-in flash

I wonder if the next generation will enjoy friendship that is as long-lasting and enduring as ours is ?