Underwater photography

Inspired by some of the great underwater photographs you see on the Internet, I was motivated to try and incorporate it into my photography repertoire. I already owned a Canon A-80 digicam so an underwater housing is all that is required to take my new hobby to the next level. After some time hunting, I parted my cash for the DC-WP900 - made specifically for my camera! Sweet.



I took the plunge! Adjusting for the additional buoyancy, I dived into the depths of Perhentian Island's many sites & snapped away, thrilled with the anticipation of snapping every fish that swims by & every critter that made its home on the corals. And how "thrilled" I was with the results:



I was devastated! Looks like it is not as easy as swim, spot, snap! I will have to part with more moolah to get myself a strobe & more dives to find the perfect shot. Sigh, why is it that I always gravitate towards expensive hobbies? I should have stuck with stamp collecting.

Nevertheless, I did get some "decent" shots. Check them out on my photo album or slideshow.

But I comfort myself because if all else fails, you can always FIND NEMO - it is probably the easiest fish to photograph.

Where are the animals, pray tell?

Spotted inside a cozy park in NYC
A zoo nearby, or animalistic artistic expression?

The burger obsession

What is it with Americans and their obsession with burgers! Still, you cannot fight the lure of the perfect burger: warm, toasty bun... juice squirting pattie, fresh crunchy veggies with lip-smacking sauce. Yum.

In Houston, they like their Fuddruckers which is home to the world's greatest hamburgers. The portions are huge but delicious nonetheless.



In Singapore, I'm sticking my neck out & saying the Whopper is probably high on the nation's favorite burger list. Minus the onions for me.






If you ever get bored of shelving $5 for your Whoppers or Carl's Junior, you could have parted with with SGD101 for an uberburger; made with wagyu beef, foie gras and truffles! "Could have" because the last I heard, it was closed for business. I wonder how many of gourmet burgers they sold.

Still, nothing beats the humble Ramly burger! Back to basics, a succulent beef (or chicken) pattie, fried egg & tomato/chilli sauce overdose, biting into the Ramly burger will jiggle my toes every time! Yummy, wOOt!

Of course, Ramly patties are banned in Singapore.
So a trip to Malaysia is incomplete without a homage to this humble snack...

St Helena with the Cross

On one of our walking expeditions around Rome, we found ourselves crossing The River Tiber using the Bridge of Castel Sant' Angelo. At the other end is the castle itself, of Sant' Angelo which is actually called the Mausoleum of Hadrian - and is now a museum. The building, formerly a fort, looks imposing as you walk nearer. Fan of Dan Brown's book Angel & Demons would know it as the hiding place of the Hassassin.

What struck me were the Bernini angels on either side of the bridges. They were magnificent & the one that struck me was one of St Helena carrying the cross. I didn't expect it to turn out that well when I snapped it. But it all came together: Helena looks like she is floating with the clouded sky in the background. One of my favorite photographs from Italy.

Underwater Perhentian