搬家了!!

實在不能接受 blogspot 的upload 介面, 終於要搬到一個好一點的地方.

請移玉步到 http://wilsontam.wordpress.com

I have moved my blog to http://wilsontam.wordpress.com

Please continue to read my post over there.

Thanks

Wilson

Okinawa 2008 Day 1

From Hong Kong to Okinawa

There are basically 3 options to fly from Hong Kong to Okinawa:-

1. Direct flight from HK to Okinawa via Hong Kong Express - a scheduled flight which however will only operate when the number of passenger meets the target, i.e. will not confirm your seat until 2 days before your flight. We did not want to risk our trip in this way so it's refused.

2. Transfer at Taipei. You can take whatever flight to Taipei and then change to China Airline (華航) from Taipei to Okinawa. We took CI from HK to Taipei, then CI from Taipei to Okinawa. We arrived at Okinawa at around 630, which is only one hour later than taking the direct flight. We picked this option.

3. Transfer at Tokyo / Osaka via ANA. The good thing is that ANA has mid-night flight from Hong Kong so you can fly from Hong Kong at mid-night, take the earliest flight from Tokyo / Osaka (930 a.m.) and then go to Okinawa at about 10 a.m. Too harsh for us to sleep on the plane. This is also rejected.

See how beautiful the clouds are...

The snacks for the flight from Taipei to Okinawa was good!

We then took the mono-rail (Yu-rail) from the Airport to our hotel. It costs us 230 Yen each. Mono-rail is the only railway transport in Okinawa.

Our hotel, Toyoko-inn at Naha Asahi-bashi Ekimae, is just 3 mins walk from the mono-rail station. It was 8,190 Yen for a double room per night. We strongly recommend this hotel if you are staying in Naha city.

We had our first dinner at a restaurant next to our hotel. It serves bbq meats and some local Okinawa cuisine.

Very delicious and cheap bbq food. Around 300 Yen for 2 sticks.

This is the famous Okinawa Cuisine, fry bitter melon with luncheon meat, bean curd and egg! We have to stress that the bitter melon in Okinawa is not bitter at all. We had this dish for 4 nights out of 6!

The whole menu is in Japanese and we just ordered those they claimed to be the best selling ones. We are so delighted when one of the dishes we ordered was this "pig hand"! It's very delicious. It's spongy and juicy inside but crispy outside!!

It was almost 10:00 pm after dinner but we still had a little walk to "International Avenue" (國際通). We were both in red because each of us had half a liter of beer during dinner. I seldom have beer in Hong Kong but I just could not resist those in Okinawa. They are so fresh and easy to drink...and is the cheapest drinks there. Perhaps it's because the Orion Beer Factory is located in Okinawa...

That marked the end of Day 1 of our trip. My first impression is that Okinawa is created to be a paradise for vacation, and the vacation we are going to have will be fantastic!

More from my album: www.fotop.net/tamwaikay/okinawa08

I miss Okinawa so much!!

Back from Okinawa for about a week. It was such a gorgeous trip that I would never forget.

I have taken too many photos and I have decided to edit them in details so that I may create a detailed travel report for anyone who is planning for a trip to Okinawa.

I just can't wait to share my photos with you and here is one of them taken at the Okinawa Aquarium. Look at the huge "devil fish" as well as the "whale shark" at the top right hand corner.

Enjoy!

職業無分貴賤 (一)

職業無分貴賤

直至娛樂記者的出現

The power of Image Stabilizer!!

Got myself a new lens today, Canon 70-300 F4-5.6 IS USM.

It is my first lens with Canon's anti-hand shaking function, the Image Stabilizer. People have been talking about how helpful "IS"is. I didn't realize it's real power until I eventually got one.

See the images below and pay attention to the specs.

ISO 1600, 1/13 sec, f5.6 at 300mm
Without IS

ISO 1600, 1/13 sec, f5.6 at 300mm
With IS

ISO 1600, 0.4 sec, f5.6 at 300mm
Without IS

ISO 1600, 0.4 sec, f5.6 at 300mm
With IS

Don't listen to me. Just go and get one for yourself and you will no longer worry about your shaky hands!!!

Gosh I just wish that I could have this lens much earlier!

Karis & Gabriel

My first time taking photos for babies!!

Thanks Eddie and Brian for offering me such a nice opportunity to take photos for Karis and Gabriel. While Karis keep posting as a little lovely princess, Gabriel had tried his very best to draw my attention by doing a lot of cute faces.

Gabriel, you had certainly drawn our attention in front of Karis!

It's extremely hard to capture the motions of babies. You can never predict where they will look at and when they will burst into laughters. I guess the only hint in making a good shot is to shoot more and choose the best. Of course, you also need a decent camera with big aperture to blur the background, right Sandy and Eddie?

More from my album: www.fotop.net/tamwaikay/karisandgabriel

Home Balcony

We made ourselves a nice balcony at home during the renovation 2 years ago. We knew that it's an illegal structure but as 94 out of 96 units at our building made such a balcony, we've decided to take the risk. In any event, our buildings are full of senior officers from the government and we thought it's unlikely that the Building Department will investigate our building in the near future.

Unfortunately we've got an Order from the Building Department a few weeks ago, which means that it's time for us to remove the balcony and reinstate what our apartment looks like. It's quite sad for us as the balcony did add a lot of lighting and freshness to our home. Anyway what we can do now is to take some nice photos for the balcony while it still last.

More from my album: www.fotop.net/tamwaikay/balcony

Janice & Fai's wedding

It was such a wonderful day filled with love and happiness. Thanks Janice and Fai for letting me to shoot at the memorable day.

More from my album.

伍晃榮 1940 - 2008

很少名人的逝世會令我感到可惜, 伍晃榮是其中一位.

2008年4月17日, 當無線的六點半新聞正在現場直播奧運聖火於印度傳遞時,鏡頭突然回到錄影廠, "各位, 剛剛收到的消息, 資深體育記者伍晃榮於瑪嘉列醫院病逝,終年68歲." 鏡頭並沒有移走, 主播此時眼有淚光, 垂下頭, 卻發現鏡頭仍對著他, 於是只好說 "新聞報導完, 再會."

那兩三秒間, 錄影廠, 很靜.

伍晃榮,於1940年6月24日出生於澳門，1949年移居香港。 1960年中五畢業後到《英文虎報》當體育記者，後以半工讀形式完成大學進修課程；1962年起到商業電台當港聞記者，1975年轉職到麗的電視（即亞 視前身），五年後當體育記者；1982年1月1日再轉職無綫繼續當體育記者和體育新聞主播至2005年6月30日。

其他 youtube 上有關伍晃榮的資料:

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=%E4%BC%8D%E6%99%83%E6%A6%AE&search_type=

Pak Tam Chung Country Park - 北潭涌郊野公園

It was the 2nd day of the Ching Ming Festival long weekend in Hong Kong. We headed towards the North East of Hong Kong for some slight exploration. Eventually we bumped into Pak Tam Chung Country Park - 北潭涌郊野公園, which to my surprise was not really crowed on such a fine day as compare to Sai Kung etc.

We found ourselves a good parking spot and then headed towards the family trail. The weather was just gorgeous with a lovely blue sky and green trees. We spent over 30 minutes for photography on a stone bridge at the entrance of the trail and on a little rock bay down below the bridge.

The trail was quite a short one and we finished our trip in about an hour. It seems that we can walk towards Plover Cove Country Park - 船灣郊野公園 if we do not enter the family trail. We will certainly give it a try on another day.

See more photos from my album.

Sakura Blossom at Hong Kong?!

I bet not many of us know there are a few locations in Hong Kong which do have sakura blossom! The Kwan Tai Temple (關公忠義亭) at Cheung Chau is one of them. The good thing about the Cheung Chau blossom is that it's timing is quite stable and if you can go during a weekday like me then you won't have to fight with many other visitors to get a nice place for photography.

This is however the first time for me to take Sakura. One of my friend told me that Sakura without a blue sky is hard to take. I fully agree with his comment after this attempt. It's much harder to grasp a nice composition and to get the right exposure without a blue sky.

While going to Japan for sakura blossom may takes you 4-5 days of annual leave, going to Cheung Chau may only takes you half or at most 1 day of...you know...sick leave. Do give it a try next year!

More from my album: http://www.fotop.net/tamwaikay/cheungchausakura

Everything you can do in Hong Kong

I am so glad that I chose to stay in Hong Kong over the 10 days holiday as I find out that there is always something for you to do in Hong Kong if and when you are free:-

16/3 (Sunday): A beautiful sunset at the Bel- Air














17/3 (Monday): My first Flower show
photography day. Much more difficult to get a nice shoot than I thought.











18/3 (Tuesday): A lovely morning visit to Stanley.
Unfortunately we could not try the lovely french toast.

















Then hi-tea at Mandarin Oriental. I was so upset that I needed
to go back to the office before enjoying the afternoon tea...

After that we went to tailor-make some shirt at Wan Chai and then went to the Horse Show at Whampoo. The tickets were a bit expensive but it was enjoyable though.










19/3 and 20/3 (Wednesday and Thursday): We
went to Cheung Chau for a short stay, mainly because of the famous sakura blossom there, plus our beloved breakfast at the balcony of the Warwick hotel...























21/3 (Friday): We actually did nothing today and went to the library for a short study instead. I also took sometime to do some research. I can't believe that Aunt Betty was still working in the Law Library and I also can't believe that I left my Octopus card at the copying machine like I did when I was studying LLB a few years ago!!

22/3 (Saturday): A short visit to the Lamma Island on a rainy day with friends:












23/3 (Sunday): A big gathering with my brothers at my home. What a wonderful night!











24/3 (Sunday): Finally spent sometime with my parents and paid a short visit to the Zenith. The weather was just gorgeous.








It was not an exciting vacation but it was certainly relaxing enough. It has given me a great chance to cool down my mind and think over anything. I was so happy that I have had a great companion over this long vacation and I am sure she enjoyed this holiday as much as I do.

Hi-tea

A lovely afternoon tea at Mandarin Oriental. We did starve ourself before going, of course, but we still couldn't finish the afternoon tea set for 2.


The food was just fabulous, and the tea was very nice as well. We were lucky enough to get a window seat and we had our hi-tea for 2 hours. It was very, very relaxing and we will certainly go back soon.



More from my album: http://www.fotop.net/tamwaikay/tamwaikay41

My Canteen during lunch - Segafredo

Finally got a chance to take some pictures at my canteen - Segafredo at Central.










As a coffee addict, I can say they do one of the best coffee in Central.


Just go and get yourself a cup of Capuccino, feel the smoothness and long lasting milk form on top of the coffee. The form always stand even after I finish the whole grande sized cup... It charges exactly the same as the starbucks at the corner of the street. You just should treat yourself better and explore the coffee world OUT OF starbucks...











It's foods are fantastic too. Particularly the home-baked cakes. Adding $25 and you can get a big piece of cake to go with your set-lunch. I won't say it's cheap (and I do find it pricey actually) but it's certainly worth for what it charges you.

Bel Air

A pleasant sunset at the open area outside the Bel Air, marking a nice beginning of my long vacation.


I can see a lot of new development at the Bel Air. I wonder why people still rush in for a crystal clear over-priced apartment. The Bel Air would obviously be better developed had Mr. Li followed how Chi Fu Garden was built.

我的生日禮物 - My birthday presents 2008

I am so pleased that I finally had my own "tube amp" as my birthday present this year. It is not from a very famous brand and it's made in China. But I am already very very pleased with its warm and sweet taste. You can actually feel that the vocal goes straight into your heart (if the quality of the CD is good enough).







The next step is to get a better pair of speaker. See when I can get a pair of Quad L 12 haha.












By the way, it seems that the police would also like to share with my happiness by giving me a beef ticket as my b-day present as well -_-; I can't believe the police could be so mean and hand out beef ticket on the last day before Chinese New Year (年三十).