Oriental Bay

"Right beside the capital city, Oriental Bay is the premium residential location in Wellington. With stunning city and harbour views, morning to late evening sun and golden sandy beach, this area is the most sought after location in Wellington." - www.orientalbaystays.co.nz/

Our oversea friends were so impressed with the Bay that they requested me to post some of my Oriental Bay shots to rekindle their sweet memories :)

Affinity

Sometime in the early 80s I was asked to go with our senior reporter Anna Cheah to do a story on Venerable Chuk Mor in Penang. I will be the photographer and translator because Anna cannot speak Mandarin.

After the interview Anna asked me to ask Venerable if he can write her a scroll, (Chuk Mor's calligraphic skills were well known and highly sought after); the wise old man looked at Anna and asked me to inform her that he only write for people that he feel an affinity (yuan) to and he cannot feel that with Anna!

Photog's Swan Song

Caught up with a old photog friend last week and we reminisced the good time when we were younger and having fun in our job.

"So what DID you do that is worth remembering?" my friend asked me... past memories was like an overflow floodgate suddenly open and these stories of assignments are still vivid in my mind. Tell me what you think.

Cold Sweat...

Tuesday, November 14, 1978.

I was working the early morning shift in New Straits Times (Malaysia), I was told to go on a sampan with a reporter and secure a picture of Hai Hong which was anchored off Port Klang with 2,500 Vietnamese on board.

The media has been warned by the police NOT to be anywhere near the controversial ship or face the consequences! The thought of an exclusive photo sets my heart pounding! We hired a fishing vessel and head for trouble water...

I was prepared for the job, apart from a Nikon F2 with drive; I had with me a compact Nikkor 500 mm "reflex" mirror lens.

I started shooting when Hai Hong came into sight, the 500 mm lens magnified the image TEN fold; only trouble was, it also magnified the up and down motion of the boat... it was like trying to frame and focus on a gyrating see-saw!

I shot and changed film as many time as possible before the marine police saw us!

They did!

Going GREEN!

With over 25% of the population in New Zealand claiming Irish blood - and those with no trace of a drop still claiming the right to be Irish when the green is worn, I got a bit of a shock when I arrived at work yesterday to discover some of my colleagues "turning green"!

It Is A Small World After All!

It all started with an email two days ago!