In Loving Memory of My Grandpa (1919 - 2007)

Updated 15/11/2007
Updated 14/11/2007

My beloved grandpa, a great iron man of his time, passed away peacefully at 12.48am on 13th November 2007 after slipping into coma the day before. In the past month, he has been in and out of hospital (including ICU). We were told he opened his eyes to have a glance at some of his children at his beside before drawing his last breath back at his home (just minutes past midnight).

I guess for some of us to see him suffered so much in the last few years after the demise of his dearest wife (my grandma) in March 1997 and particularly the moments he had tubes inserted all over, it did bring some reliefs that he has finally gone to a better place. On the other hand, it's sad that he has passed on. The emptiness and loneliness he felt in the last 10 years after the demise of his beloved life companion and some of close friends finally came to an end.

He was a person who very much enjoyed his food but in the last few years he's been eating simple food alone most of the time. In the last few weeks (perhaps days), he's been fed through the tube. It's a saddening image (sent by my mom).
There have been more sad images of him over the years but I rather have his happy cheery pictures etched in my memory.

The following 2 pics were taken in July 2004 during his 85th birthday dinner.
While this was taken in Oct 2003 during his grandson's wedding.

Pai Thnee Kong in 2003
More pics available on byBHO and whoALSE.

I remember him being one of the "lappers" in Penang Swimming Club before I joined the training back in the early 1980s. He swam til the late 1990s. Another thing about him is his strong thunderous voice that did frighten some of us (the playful grandchildren).

Hailing from China, he had certainly made a name for himself in the business world. In my book, he's always been more than willing to chip in for any donations during my schooling days (as Chinese schools do not have equal fundings as other national schools). A well-known philanthropist during his time and no less than his pal the late Tan Sri Dato' Loh Boon Siew, he had given to many organisations and societies.

Tears started flowing the moment I was informed by my mom about him going into coma and again this morning just before lunch time on his passing, first by my cousin in Perth and by mom seconds later thru text message.

Goodbye, Ah Kong..........We will all miss you, your laughters/smiles and especially your table-banging on dining tables.

An Unforgetable Experience - A Late Nite Out in Lorne

Going back to Sat night after dinner, some of us played Truth or Dare (or Kiss) in Jo's cottage while others enjoyed the antics displayed by them. Further into the night, a few of us decided for a walk by beach for some photo shoot. Little did I know that I would get the opportunity for some cool and wonderful shots that involved poses & emotions akin to modeling shoot. Having said that, I was quite disappointed that I did not bring spare batteries for my flash and flash stand thinking that I wouldn't need them! Lessons learnt..........!! Luckily, someone came to the rescue (no name mentioned here, for now)!

Claudia did the posing (modeling) while Alateia gave the art direction!

Superwoman calling her laundromat to check up on her costume.....Wrong no.....Operator, get me out of here as the AGENTS are coming!!

Wicked Wig.....

Serenity with the sound of wave crashing nearby

CSI dropped by Lorne for the unknown circumstances

Resting in the Garden of Eden (in Lorne)
Lay me down, Hold me tight

Cowering

Barring the disappointment, I'm certainly very delighted that I have some good shots from the night shoot. It's an awesome experience.

Many thanks to Claudia for the shoot (it became chillier) and Alateia for her direction!

Bubblers in Lorne & Apollo Bay

This is the second part to the earlier post on Red Bubble's trip. I'll let the pictures do the talking....

Chris doing the Aussie Bloke thingy

David does the feeding to the King

Wen does what he does best

Jo's giving the look

Chris' looking at his beer Jess salivating her dinner

Julie's enjoying the chat topic

Claudia's looking some where

David's enjoying the moment

Mel from QLD join the Bubble for the weekend

John with his schlong, urm....I mean long huge lens!

Michael's taking a few shut eyes

Claudia's chilling out (baking) on the warm sands

James' meditating..........with his gear

One group of Bubblers painting Apollo Bay Red (that is after Lorne)

What great moments we had over the weekend!!

Many thanks to Jo for organising the awesome trip!! Now bring on the next one....Hang on...The Club first.....!!

Memories in Lorne, Great Ocean Road & Apollo Bay

It's been really some hectic 2 weeks for me. Hence, the silence. I have been taking and editing loads of photos in that fortnight and still am -from jugglers, birthday, random shoots and travel. That is because I have picked up bits and pieces from my master who has been willing to illuminate me.

As part of the Red Bubble Melbourne, we paid a visit to and overnight in Lorne over the weekend. It was certainly a blast and getting closer to some of them whom I have met during my first RB meet in August. RB Melbourne is certainly made up of diverse groups of people - cultures, personalities, job backgrounds. Fun, warm, friendly are some of the descriptions I can put in words.

I definitely love the drive along the Great Ocean Road to and fro from Lorne (Apollo Bay). It reminds me of the stretch in Penang leading to Batu Ferringhi albeit a much shorter. Both shares the similar winding and steepness with trees all around. I'm glad I joined the trip, especially the teasing of playing catch up by a Bubbler with his red hot Golf GTi.

About 20 of us spent most of the time by the beach and weather was just awesome for a beach out! Shooting by the beach and even having someone handpainting a portrait, talk about art!

I have to admit that there wasn't much sceneries to take other than the horizon which is pretty much similar. Where we are do have some pretty sunrise (and not sunset) but there were just too overcast for the sunlight to come through. In fact, all of us slept in as it drizzle in the morning and of course the late night we had!

Feeding the wild cockatoos and King Parrots on the balcony of the cottage are some of the memories I would reminisced. It was so up close and personal with the birds and they are not very shy of us, so long we have the seeds!

Here are some of the shots taken:

Welcome to Great Ocean Road

The Horizon

Pathway to the Ocean

Cockatoo with its Crest Displayed (just for a few seconds after landind)

The King & I

One thing led to another and I did have the opportunity for a model shoot too with art direction! Certainly, there were some keepers from the shoot. I'm still very excited by the experience though I did have some disappointments. I'll leave it for my next post.

Cheerios.....

Awesome Weekend

I had a blast on Sat. Being a spectator in the Princess Theatre for the longest play, I was not only mesmerised by the stage setups but mystified by Anthony Warlow's deep and strong voice. Anthony Warlow has been playing the role of the Phantom of the Opera for the past 18 odd years. This would be his last return to Melbourne.

I am not really a musical fan but this Andrew Llyod Webber's The Phantom of the Opera really sucked me into the musical world. We booked for the seats about 3 months ago but could not really got the session we wanted and ended up with the Saturday Matinee show. Well, it's better than missing the show all together. I can understand a friend of mine who went for 4 times in the past few years.

After the matinee show, I had the opportunity to go out shooting again. This time, it's with my maestro whom I'm learning from. At least I didn't do it all alone where there could be at time drunkards and rascals. Here are some of the shots taken.

Fireworks along the Yarra RiverColour or Black & White? Guess I'm confused!! Why not both?!Looks like my camera?! I actually painted this!Tunnel or Tunnelled Vision?! Depending on how you look at it......

In the past 2 weeks, I have learnt a fair bit from my maestro in almost all parts of photography. More on www.whoalse.com. These are some of the results but there are plenty of room for improvements!

Wonderful News

In the past week, I have 2 friends who got engaged! Time really flies when I could recall the good ol' days. One is a childhood friend from my swimming days and the other is a very good friend from my uni days.

For now, let me just focus on this uni friend of mine from......urm.....it's complicated. A Sabahan who is a Perthy but now staying in Melbourne! I may possibly share a few stories about her. Stories from the uni days, perhaps! And more.....I was given the opportunity to bunk over her (and her fiance's) place when I first got to Melbourne.

Allow me to rewind the time a little. Pictures show a thousand words...........

21st Giggling Bday in Perth
Cake in her face....or maybe she's just hungry!Chris & I in PerthHungry Chris On her bday in MelbourneDon't mess with her when she has this look! For me, I'll mess with her even more!Recent Bday Pic of Chris chopping the Cake!

It's just too bad I have some not so good photos taken when in Perth.........