Perception...

1. The process, act, or faculty of perceiving.
2. The effect or product of perceiving.
3. Psychology.
1. Recognition and interpretation of sensory stimuli based chiefly on memory.
2. The neurological processes by which such recognition and interpretation are effected.
4.
1. Insight, intuition, or knowledge gained by perceiving.
2. The capacity for such insight.

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Person A: Hey Choco!! I noticed something different about your RSP!!!

Person B: Who gave you that pair of bears?

Person C: You'll give others the perception that you are attached, you know?

Person D: You'll never able to get attached cos' you are giving people the wrong impression!

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Just 2 cute bears...

And such perceptions can run wild...

Societal norm?

Societal conditioning?

Societal stereotying?

Societal intolerance towards things other than the norm?

We are all brought up and conditioned to classify and categorise things around us quickly so as to make meaning out of everything... That's human nature... A natural need to understand... Or to be seen to understand... To make meaning out of nothing even...

7 Weddings Later...

7 weddings later... and I think I've had enough...

Been very priviledged to be asked to shoot for my close friends' weddings since 2001. And it's been 7 weddings that I've covered since...

I've just finished processing my last wedding coverage which took place in late October, and yes, I've owed the happy couple their wedding photos for nearly 2 months... I'm so ashamed of myself. The longest I've delayed the photos was 4 months. Maybe that's a reason why I should stop commiting myself to shoot weddings...

But seriously, I'm quite tired of shooting weddings. Although it's a joy to share the happiness and bring some smiles to friends with their wedding photos, I'm just beginning to feel tired of processing the sheer amount of photos, sitting in front of the computer for long hours, staring and adjusting the contrast, colours and brightness of the photos.

What's driving me on for 7 weddings has been the commitment to capture the happy and memorable moments for my good friends. I've contemplated doing this as a sideline, providing such services as a side line to earn some gear-acquisition income. But I finally figured out that I'll have absolutely no motivation to do such assignments if I don't know the wedding couple at all...

Moreover, I also began to feel pretty callous and numb towards weddings... I think I've covered enough weddings and attended enough weddings to figure out that what goes on on that blissful day is all but another day on their long journey of a lifetime together...

Whatever vows that were made, whatever meaningful proceedings that took place, whatever games that were played, regardless of how many guys that were present to fool a blindfolded bride and choose her groom by touching his hands, whatever songs that were sung by the groom to impress the bride, whatever promises that were made on stage, whatever foolish acts that were done to show their love towards each other..... All these aren't important at all...

All these would just be a beautiful shell, witnessed by hundreds of friends and relatives (just in case things don't go too well, the couple would hesitate to do foolish things cos' there's too many people to explain to), if right down in the core of it all, the foundation on which a marriage should be built on is absent...

I've seen a handful of weddings which I could really feel very right about... I could feel and see that these couples were really made for each other... It's hard to explain, I'll know when I see one... And I'm very happy for them for they are so blessed and I really envy them...

Having said so much, I'm just but a wanna-be photographer, observing marriages through my camera viewfinder... I'm not married, and neither do I have anyone whom I can marry in mind as yet... So what do I know about marriages?

Well, at least I know I won't marry for the sake of marrying, marry because of convenience, marry because others think it's time to get married, marry to please others, marry and end up realising that the person is not right, marry because it's part of my long term plan, marry in case I can't find another better one, marry in case I get too old, marry in case I'll be lonely when I'm old...

But really, what do we all know about marriage??? There'll always be a risk... How much risk and and ultimately how much commitment am I prepared to give?

I saw this beautiful quote in a gift shop at Christchurch Cathedral (New Zealand)... "Leap, and the net will appear..."

And to take the leap, there must be faith...

Conserve What We Love

Master Choco decided to do some soul-searching alone today...

He hopped onto his Red Swift Pod and drove aimlessly and lo and behold, he found Sungei Buloh Nature Wetland Reserve, a place he had always wanted to go to but didn't manage to cos' it's too out of the way to take public transport but now that he has his RSP he finally found the place...

Minutes after stepping into the wetland, Choco regretted not lugging his weapons of choice, his EOS 20D fixed with his well-weathered 70-200mm lens... Nevertheless, he trodded on, thinking that might as well, could be a good time to really enjoy the surroundings and not get too fixated in capturing shots...

The first thing that amazed Choco was when he was crossing a bridge across a stream, he realised that the stream was full of fish!!! There were even fish that 'flew' out of the water surface even!!! Not once or twice, but all the time!!! Choco stood rooted on the bridge watching these flying fish for a good 8 mins or so...

Then came the biggest surprise... As he was walking pass a look-out point beside the stream, he saw three nature observers armed with binoculars and a mega long camera lens. One of the observer kept looking at Choco, and Choco wondered if he was making too much noise (just light foot steps) and was disturbing them.

Curiosity got to Choco and he went forward to find out what they were engrossed in...

The moment he got near them, the lady who was looking at Choco moments ago, pushed her binoculars into Choco's hands and asked him to look at the opposite bank. For some cubs...

Choco was wondering initially what cubs he was supposed to look at... It was only when he peered into the binoculars that he saw a few SEA OTTER cubs!!!!!

Choco has seen sea otters in the zoo and on TV before... but not in the wild!! And never had he thought that such creatures could be found in Singapore!!!

Then moments later, the parents of the cubs appeared as well... The few nature observers got very excited and the lady (she's a staff of the wetland reserve) told him that they usually only see a pair of otters if they appear (which isn't too often), and this is the first time they see a family of them!! A quick count and there were two adults and 4 cubs in all!!!

They saw them swim, caught fish to eat, and swam past us in the opposite bank, till they disappeared into the far end of the stream...

The staff of the reserve told Choco that he's very very lucky indeed to see a family of sea otters here, and even more so since it's the first time that he's been to the weland reserve!!!

Lucky indeed... Choco felt very excited to know that in a concrete society like S'pore, a small part of the country is being conserved in it's most natural form and wildlife are actually thriving. And what Choco felt most happy about was that everyone in the country could come and learn and appreciate nature, or whatever that's left in the country...

We conserve what we love...
We love what we are taught to love...

We have much to do to eduacate our young what to love... so that they in turn will conserve what we all love...

Master Choco will return to this beautiful wetland again... and the next time, he'll go back with his 70-200mm light-saber...

Challenge By Choice

Master Choco dropped 12,000 feet down from the sky on 30 Nov 2005 onto Middle Earth...

To be more exact, it was at Paihia, Bay of Islands, Northland, New Zealand...

How did it happen?

- 3 seconds... was all it took for Master Choco to notice an airfield beside the road he was driving on as he was driving into the next town... There, he saw a huge sign saying "SkyDive"... the seed was planted...

- 5 mins.... was all it took for Master Choco to make the decision at the information centre at Paihia to sign up for the jump... NZ$265!!! Oh what the heck...

- 5 mins... was all it took for the van ride from the information centre in town to the airfield again...

- 30 mins... was all it took to get briefed on the procedures, wear the jumpsuit, wear the harness, wear the sexy headgear, get on board the propeller plane...

- 15 mins... was all it took for the plane to climb steadily to 12,000 feet

- 45 seconds... was all it took for free-fall... terminal velocity was really an out of this world experience... the view of Middle Earth from this height was absolutely stunning... Fear? What fear? The feeling of awe and excitement replaced everything else...

- 3 seconds... was all it took for the yellow parachute to open at 5,000 feet...

- 8 minutes... was all it took to glide gracefully back to Middle Earth... watching Middle Earth grow nearer and larger was simply breathtaking...

- A lifetime... will be what it'll take to forget this experience...