Look at the map above that I took from Google Map and see those tiny white dots. I was there with my Canon.

I have been wanting to write about my experience in Batanes but have not got a chance to do so. So to  friends who have been asking, this is coming. I have tons of photos from this place and I will dedicate an article or three about this place. So please come back to check it out. For now, please enjoy this photo of sunset at the Rolling Hills in Batanes. It was taken shortly after the sun has gone down below the horizon and the twilight colors glow in the sky. Moral of the story here:

don’t pack and go after the sun has gone down below the horizon. Wait for those twilight colors that will usually glow in the sky, 15-20 minutes after the sun has gone down below the horizon

Enjoy. Can you see Him in the photo? 

And by the way, if you like to vote for me for the Singapore Best Photography Blog 2010 and if you have a minute to spare, kindly go here to vote: http://sgblogawards.omy.sg/category/ and click under the Best Photography Blog category. I will be very thankful. As a token of appreciation, they have also prepared some prizes for the voters. Check out prizes for you here: http://sgblogawards.omy.sg/about/prize.html .

This is one the famous temples in Bali, Pura Luhur Uluwatu, taken shortly after sunset. I took this in December 2007 during a vacation in Bali. The temple is located at the top of Uluwatu cliff about 70 meters above the Indian Ocean on the southern tip of Bali. The spot where I was offered a drop dead view of the waves crashing against the base of the cliff.

The sun had gone down below the horizon and the sky was getting darker fast. The wind was strong and it’s getting cold. I had butterflies in my stomach and I had to squat down to minimize the impact of the strong wind on me. I felt that I was going to be blown away by the wind. I was only few meters away from the edges of the cliff (both in front and behind me) and at that height, I didn’t dare to stand especially because of the strong wind that evening. I had to collapse my tripod legs all the way when I shot this using my 70-200mm lens zoomed all the way to 200mm so I could fill the frame. At ISO 200 and f/11, the shutter speed was more than a minute so I could get more lights coming in to the full frame sensor of my trusty Canon 1Ds Mark II.

I took few shots and the sky was already dark when I finished packing up my gears. I felt that I got more butterflies dancing in my stomach knowing that I still had to walk back on the path along the top of the cliff, very near to the edge, to the parking lot where I would be picked up by the driver whom I hired to drive me around. Next time I go there, I will make sure I have my flash light with me.

Odalan at Legian Kaja Bali

Odalan is a Hindu ceremony in Bali to celebrate the anniversary of a temple. Based on their traditional calendar, it is celebrated every 6 months, or to be exact, every 210 days. The one I saw above was at the Legian Kaja temple at Legian, near Kuta. Unfortunately I was not allowed to go inside the temple. This could be different from one temple to another though. I read before that some temples allow visitors to come in during the ceremony. So I was only shooting from the road side just outside of the temple. Good thing that the temple was full and some worshipers had to sit outside, so I could shoot some activities.

The atmosphere was festive. Women came in their nice ‘kebaya’ and children were chatting and giggling. Some men who have finished their prayers earlier chose to sit outside of the temple so to allow others to be inside.

Toward the end of the ceremony, the atmosphere suddenly turned, for the lack of better word, a bit mystical when I heard a scream and saw a woman went into a trance. Another worshiper helped to bring her to go inside the temple. I was told there were few others inside the temple who also went into a trance. They were “treated” inside the temple to bring them back to normal.

I curiously asked one of the worshipers if I could suddenly went into a trance as well by watching and standing close to them. He confidently said “no way”. That wouldn’t even happen to him, he said. He went on to say that only certain people have the ability to go into a trance.

A Surfer on a Bike on Seminyak Beach

Kuta, Legian and Seminyak share a long stretch of beach in the west coast of Bali. And hence the usual beautiful sunset in Kuta can be viewed from either one of them. The wet portion of the dark fine sand beach will serve as a mirror and give you nice reflection to add into the composition.

I was hired to shoot family portraits in Bali last week and decided to leave one day earlier in order to find good photo spots for them. As they would be staying at Seminyak, I walked along the Seminyak beach in the late afternoon to check it out. The sunset was beautiful and I couldn’t ask for more. See additional two images below.

I am normally not a fan of shooting sunset without foreground interest. But I like the above image for its reflection on the ground. The dark portion on the lower right corner helps  to give additional depth to the photo.

So far, Boracay beach in the Philippines and Kuta, Legian and Seminyak in Bali are my favorite beaches for sunset. Hope to see more like these in the future.

Kbal Spean is located in Cambodia, about 90 minutes ride from Siem Reap and then another 45 minute uphill trekking. It is also known as the valley of 1000 lingas. When the water is low or none at all during dry season,  you can see clearly the beautiful carvings on the stones on the river bed. There are also few small waterfall and couple bigger ones. I decided not to bring my tripod with me due to the uphill trekking required to reach this place. I left the tripod with the tuk tuk driver.

As I wanted to shoot at slow shutter speed to create that silky smooth effect on the water, I had to rest the camera on a rock to avoid handshake. I had to almost lie down on my tummy in order to get the angle I wanted above.

Sunrise at Angkor Wat - 1

Sunrise at Angkor Wat - 2

I went to Siem Reap, Cambodia in October 2009 and came back with an intention to fly there again one day as I was not able to spend enough time exploring the place under the right light. I did get a number of images I like, but I was hoping for more. So … till we meet again Cambodia and I will make sure I am ready for the sunrise shoot every morning at the Angkor Wat.

Even though it maintains its authenticity to a large extent, you know that Siem Reap is quite touristy. You will find lots of tourists almost everywhere, starting from the airport to the Old Market’s restaurants and to the remote areas where many of the ruins are. Siem Reap wants you. They make everything easy for tourists who want to visit. If you need visa to enter, you can apply online (for certain countries) or get it on arrival (for certain but many countries) at the Siem Reap International Airport by paying USD 25. If you don’t have US dollars with you, there is an ATM machine near the Immigration counters where you get the visa on arrival.

Everything is charged in US dollars, from coconut being sold on the road side to dinner at a posh restaurant. From Tuk Tuk to a Lexus car rental. And many items have standard price, which is USD 1. So, bring with you a lot of USD 1 notes. You don’t have to worry about bringing money in Cambodian currency. Just bring US dollars.

The place is safe and people are very friendly. I left my camera backpack with some lenses in the Tuk Tuk (a motorised rickshaw) and just asked the driver to keep an eye on it.

As in many other tourist destinations, you will find lots of people including children selling stuffs and they can be quite persistent in chasing you to ask you to buy. But, they won’t harm you if you don’t buy, you may just feel uncomfortable if they keep chasing you. Just politely decline if you don’t want and you will have to politely decline many times as they will keep trying. They are just trying to earn a living, so try not to be rude when they keep chasing you. They won’t be there if they are like you, they will be the tourists spending money in your countries maybe. 

Thaipusam Festival is a big Hindu festival celebrated by the Tamil community in Singapore. It’s also a big festival in Malaysia. I would encourage you all to read the information about this festival here. 
The festival in 2010 was on Saturday, 30 January, and the prayers and body piercing activities at the temple started as early as 2am in the morning. I arrived at the temple at about 3am and it was very packed but very well organized. Devotees and their families would pick a spot (which I believe was pre-arranged to avoid chaos)  to prepare their kavadis and offer their prayers. You would then start to witness the body piercing activities and no blood at all. Amazing!. Loud music was everywhere and I have to admit that I felt the ambience of the place was, for the lack of better word, a bit mystical. I saw some people went into a trance, but was not for long usually. 
After they’re done with the prayers, body piercing and other preparations, they started their journey of faith, walking barefoot to another temple which was about 4 kms away. Some of them carried big kavadis, some of them carried milk pots which were hanged with hooks pierced on their bodies. Most women carried milk pots on their heads.

What a celebration of faith !

He pierced himself. He looked like he had already done it many times (above).

Look at how the two main steel rods pierced through the skin near the waist to support the kavadis (above).

This man below was in a trance. He suddenly asked for a cigarette and they put on nail wooden sandals for him (above).

See the nail wooden sandals he was wearing after he went into a trance (above).

This woman was in a trance (above).

Once the kavadis was fully assembled, the devotee would dance to the music (above)

Devotee and his family members sang and dance to the music after the kavadis was fully installed (above)

The family members and friends would chant into the ears of the devotee during the piercing (above).

Young devotees offered prayers (above).

Words of encouragement from the family member for the young devotee before the start of the 4 kms procession (above).

Carrying the milk pots and getting ready for the 4kms procession (above).

Mini milk pots tied to hooks pierced on the back of the devotee (above).

As I walked further inside, I saw rubbles. They looked like they belonged to a house before. I also saw people selling stuffs like snacks, candies, cigarettes and also food. I heard music from somebody’s room or house. I caught a glimpse of TV program being watched by someone in their living room. I saw women washing clothes. I saw children studying and playing. I heard children’s laughter. I saw people having their meals together. All the streets there have name even though the houses have no number.
That place was like any usual small densely populated village except that it has both the living and the dead sharing the space together. It’s a cemetery. It’s the Manila North Cemetery, at Laloma, Quezon City, Philippines. I first went there in 2006.

It was a total shock for me when I first stepped inside the Manila North Cemetery. When I was a young boy, during the annual Chinese tradition of Qing-Ming festival when we visited our ancestors’ graves, my parents always told me to watch my step, so I would not step on somebody’s tomb. It’s a big taboo. But what I saw was beyond just stepping on somebody’s tomb. They jumped on it, they played on it, they bathed on it, they ate on it, they slept on it and .. I will just stop here. They built houses on top of the tombs or enclosing them, or just lived in the huge mausoleums.

I am not going to talk about whether or not it’s right or wrong of them doing that. I will leave that discussion for the relevant parties. But, I just would like to share the art of survival those people have. A lot of them came from somewhere in the provinces outside of Metro Manila. They came to Manila where they thought they could earn more money. And as they do not have place to stay or cannot afford to rent or buy a house, they live in a cemetery which in their mind means free accommodation. Many of them have lived there for 10, 15, 20 years or more. Many of them were born there. A lot of them were also employed to look after the tombs and clean them regularly. Some of them live in the family mausoleums or the mausoleums that belong to their employers’ families.

They may be living in the cemetery, but their spirits remain high. They remain friendly. They smile despite the hardship they have gone through. What an art of survival they have in their heart.

As I walked further inside, I saw more rubbles and I wasn’t sure what I stepped on anymore.

I made an appointment with the taxi driver to pick me up at about 3am the next morning at my hotel in Yogyakarta, Central Java, Indonesia. My destination would be the Rawa Pening lake, about two and a half hour drive from the city of Yogyakarta. And I knew that I had to be quick and I was taking a risk as my return flight to Jakarta would be at noon on the same day.

Still feeling very sleepy, I left the hotel the next morning at 3am and I was sleeping almost for the entire journey. I would open my eyes once a while just to check where we were and how long more to get to the lake. I have framed an image in my mind that I wanted to take based on what I have seen before about this place. A sunrise in the background, one or two fishermen on their boat and maybe some interesting subjects in the foreground. But the sunrise would have to be good in the first place, otherwise I would be wasting the extra few hour sleep I could have enjoyed at the hotel. I was hoping all things will align themselves for me for the photo shoot at the lake.

We finally got to the place after asking some locals for directions. And it was drizzling a little bit! What a bad start. I got out of the car anyway with my camera fitted with the 17-40mm L lens, my tripod and the shutter release cable and started scouting for a good spot to shoot. The lake was very quiet, very tranquil with panoramic view of some mountains in the background. There was no activity yet on the lake. Maybe because it was drizzling even though just a little bit.

So, I waited for the moment that I wanted while trying to shoot some other subjects to justify my two and a half hour drive that morning. If I didn’t get what I wanted, at least I have the evidence that I was there. Just to cheer myself.

My wait seemed to be over soon when I saw someone started to move his boat from where it was docked to the lake. But it was from the far left from where I was standing and it was out of the frame at that moment, I saw two locals rowing their boats. Woo Hoo! The drizzling has stopped, the sunrise was wonderful, the clouds were dramatic as it looked like it was going to rain before and I got the subjects I wanted. Not one … but two fishermen on their boats coming into the frame soon. I have pre-framed my composition and waited for them to come in to complete it. I kept checking my camera settings to make sure all were correct and just hoped the two fishermen would not make a U-turn.

The first fisherman came in first (the one sitting on the boat) and I took couple images and then the second one came in standing on his boat while rowing. And I took the shot.
Can you see the reflection of the sunlight on his pole? What a great little addition to the image.

Persistence and patient are the key. So, two and a half hour drive, braving myself under the little drizzles waiting for the moment and one shot.

I packed up my stuffs after taking several more shots from different spots and we were driving back to my hotel for me to shower, checkout and catch my flight back to Jakarta. I was a happy camper.