ROBIN WONG

I was away from Kuala Lumpur, and was back in my hometown Kuching, Borneo for more than 2 weeks recently. I went home for the Chinese New Year celebrations with my family. Every time I went home to Kuching, I would embark on my Kolo Mee journey. Those who follow me on my personal Facebook account would know that I post photographs of Kolo Mee every single day I was home without fail. Of course I took some images of them with my camera and I shared them here. 

It is my birthday today, and I officially have turned 40. That sounds so surreal, I really cannot believe I am hitting 40 already. In the midst of all the tornado of busy activities happening around me, I'd like to take a small moment to just commemorate this mini milestone in my life. I feel blessed and extremely fortunate to be alive, being surrounded by amazing and kind people all the time, for that I cannot ask for more in life. The year has been interesting - career wise there was nothing much to report, but I am still surviving and fighting, and I still enjoy every little bit of work that I have done throughout the whole year, for that I am truly grateful. If I were to make a wish for my birthday, I'd ask for more time - it seems like I can never get enough time to spend with my awesome friends, though I don't have that many honestly! Time seems to increase in value as we age. 

I saw the moon floating around in the sky just outside my bedroom window and my hands got a bit itchy. So I grabbed the Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark II with M.Zuiko 75-300mm II lens and mounted them on a tripod, and took a shot of the moon using the tripod high res shot, yielding an effective 50MP output. This was JPEG, I could not be bothered with processing a RAW file since this was not going to be delivered to a client and I wanted a quick result. Sometimes, I enjoy instant noodles too. I thought the resolution resolved from a cheapish 75-300mm II lens combined with the pixel-shift composite method worked really well, not the best moon shot out there, but my finger itch was satisfied. This reminds me of the song from Radical Face, Bad Blood having these lyrics "but there's no magic inside the moon, it's just a rock you can't reach". 

My dear friend Bihzhu celebrated her 41st birthday recently, and she had quite an unusual celebration - she held a mini party happening right at a waterfall. The location was Lata Beringin, and I went with my friend Spencer. There were plenty of amazing people, all of whom were Bihzhu's close friends, and we were surrounded with so much laughter and love. We had delicious food filling our tummies and went for a dip in the cool waters, just chilling. This was a much needed getaway and a break I needed from my busy routine of being a photographer and content creator! It was a genius idea to have the celebration in the open outdoors, close to nature, and that sound of waterfall roaring constantly in the background, being in the cool river water was really refreshing. It was the recharge and reset that I needed. Again, to my beautiful amazing friend Bihzhu, happy birthday and I wish you bountiful of blessings, love, happiness and peace. Many happy returns! I have also made a vlog documenting this special occasion, you can find the vlog here (click). 

Last Saturday, I attended the wedding luncheon of Ivan and Chin Lay at Chow Kit hotel in downtown KL. Ivan is an old friend whom I have known since forever! We were classmates in secondary school, and we still kept in close contact until this very day. I am so happy for you Ivan, congratulations to you and I wish you abundant happiness, love and blessings for your marriage life. Of course, my itchy hands brought along my camera, but I was very being very careful not to do anything crazy to overstep the official photographer on duty. I had my Nikon Z5 and the TTArtisan 75mm F2 AF (I am still in the process of reviewing) and I took some shots from my seat during the cake cutting and champagne toasting ceremony. I am so, so happy so see Ivan being so happy on this special day! 

I have had tremendously busy weekends for the past month. I had 3 separate visitors from my hometown Kuching for every last weekend which I gladly hosted and brought around Kuala Lumpur for meals and catch up sessions. Between that and a few photography jobs, making new content for my YouTube channel and also making myself available to support a few friends having exhibitions, attending camera trade fairs, going to photography festivals and events happening around town all at the same time, I was left with not much time to breathe. This coming weekend will be the first weekend with no fixed agenda, no event to attend, and no visitor friends to entertain. Don't get me wrong, I love my friends, and I treasure every minute I spend with them, I enjoy participating in local photography events, supporting my friends, but a break is certainly much needed. Sometimes, when I see a stray cat coming along, I forget everything else and just play with the cat. Life is so much simpler and happier that way. 

Happy Malaysia Day to all my fellow Malaysians! To commemorate this special occasion, I am breaking my own strict monochromatic dress code just for one day. Instead of mostly black and white from top to bottom, today, I wear splashes of red and blue to match the mini Malaysian flag I am bearing on my chest. I am proud to be a Malaysian, saya anak Malaysia! This portrait shot of mine was shot by my good friend Van Ligutom (IG @vanligutom) at the historical Stadium Merdeka, where the first prime minister of Malaysia, Tunku Abdul Rahman declared the independence for Malaya. I honestly could not think of a better place to have the picture taken. 

Initially, I intended to film a new video for my main photography channel yesterday. I was being a little ambitious, I also wanted to do a second video for my vlog channel, showing behind the scenes of how I set up my shoot and capture the whole process from start to finish, making a video. I thought some would find that fascinating and beneficial. However, the weather did not agree with my plans, as my shoot depended on the sky conditions outdoor, it rained heavily, and I had to postpone the original video shoot. Instead of just calling it quits, I decided to continue vlogging, documenting what I did for the entire day - my morning gym session, adventures playing with a cat, and sitting down in a cafe getting some work done. You can find the vlog here (click). 

When I saw this camera on sale online I just cannot resist pressing the "buy" button. I have always been a huge fan of Lego. However, growing up in a poor family I did not have the luxury of owning or playing much with Lego, and I was always jealous of my other friends who have them. Now that I am a working adult and I can afford my own toys, it is just tempting not to get the Lego camera, and well, as a photographer myself, how can I resist a camera, though a Lego one? I also took this opportunity to vlog the whole process of me assembling the Lego camera (though sped up in time lapse) and also, I featured my friend Irene which I had brunch with in the vlog, and I also talked a little about why I go to the gym and lift weights. Yes, my second YouTube channel is updated with a latest vlog, you can check it out here (click). 

I probably had too much fun making the crossover videos on Matti's and my YouTube channels. If you have not seen the videos, I think it is definitely worth spending a bit of your time checking them out, here and here. You know the movies and TV shows that have crossovers? Much like Superman appearing on Batman's film, we thought we would do something really cheeky for April Fool's day. Matti arrived in KL just one week before 1st April, and we had too much exceitement drafting ideas and filming our prank videos, and this was the time when we could let loose and just say about anything that we wanted to say!

Last weekend has been extremely eventful for me. I was invited by my friend Bihzhu to join her friends to a fishing trip at Kuala Rompin in Pahang. The location was about 4 hours or more drive away from Kuala Lumpur. I encountered my first ever Sailfish, and it was quite a magnificent experience! Also, we had a chance to meet the King (Agong) of the country in that same weekend too! What a crazy adventure it was, and a much needed time away from the city to just chill and spend quality time with truly amazing people. Special thanks to Shamin (from TheMilkfishLady) and Naweshad for hosting us, it was truly an unforgettable experience! I vlogged the fishhing trip of course, you can find the video here (click).