ALL TERRAIN. ALL THINGS CONSIDERED.

Ever since I was convinced to invest in a good pair of casual footwear (good referring to aesthetics as much as comfort), I’ve developed a taste funky sandals to go with my line of GAP/ESPRIT clothing for work and casual wear which if you noticed there’s absolutely no distinction unless the situation calls for penguin wear! It all began with a pair of BEETLEBUG sandals, artistic and oversized, and I went on to a second pair that’s not quite as colourful. I thought they were cool until I came across these NIKE ACG SIDEWINDER! ACG stands for All Conditions Gear and when you have a pair you’ll understand why!

NIKE SIDEWINDER © Jan Shim Photography

Inside the box, the footwear is wrapped with what appears to be recycled paper and on which is printed …

Thanks for trusting us with your feet. We believe the best times are often unplanned activity in the in-between spaces with friends from coffee shops to base camp. This shoe is not only packed full of innovation, but it’s very easy to understand and fun to wear. We hope you’re inspired to practice random outdoor explorations and spontaneous adventures. JUST DO IT!

Sounds like typical day for me and Nike understands my needs! Best of several worlds in one package. Too bad sandals still aren’t considered “business casual” items!

© Jan Shim Photography

So does NIKE understand the footwear business? You bet! The NIKE SIDEWINDER CI is a sandal fused with sticky rubber sole where I suspect the traction may come in handy someday. What intrigued me when I caught sight of the Sidewinder is the use of leather upper, cork and Poli U midsole. I was convinced by the store that the the midsole is made of high tech material that promotes fast drying when wet so I was assured that it’s not going to stink. I do wear my sandals in practically all terrains as long the element of risks isn’t there. I put my footwear through the elements—fresh water, sea water, sand and mud–whatever and wherever is needed to get the shot.

© Jan Shim Photography

What is NIKE CONSIDERED? I pulled an explanation out of Wikipedia …

The Nike Considered line utilizes materials found primarily within 200 miles of the Nike factory which reduces the energy used for transportation, diminishing the resulting climate change impact. The manufacturing process reduces solvent use by more than 80% compared with Nike’s typical products. The leather comes from a tannery that recycles wastewater to ensure toxins are kept out of the environment, and it is colored using vegetable-based dyes. Hemp and polyester are used to make the shoe’s woven upper and shoelaces. The midsole is cut to lock into the outer sole, reducing the need for toxic adhesives. The shoe’s outer sole includes rubber made from recycled factory rubber waste.

MOTHER’S DAY. AN EDUCATION OF LOVE.

A NOTE OF THANKS to LILY CHIAM, a highly accomplished musician, business owner, a friend and most of all a Mom for her invitation to the DREAM ASCENDS concert tonight where she’ll debut and perform tracks from her album TOGETHER! It’s much appreciated. I’m certain I will enjoy the fascinating aerialist and New York dancer, the lighting effects, the different instruments and cultural dances that you so eloquently put but most of all, your performance! Regrets, however, I have prior commitments on this celebratory weekend. I believe DREAM ASCENDS is going to be a great finale to Mother’s Day.

May 12, 2008 UPDATE: THE DREAM ASCENDS GALLERY BY DAVID CHEOK
May 14, 2008 UPDATE: CINEMATOGRAPHY BY DAVID CHEOK

Meanwhile, according to THE HOMEROOM, an LA Times blog, …

a group of mothers are staging a protest on Friday to send the message that the only thing mothers really want for Mother’s Day is a decent education for their kids … Their target: the millions of dollars the governor has proposed cutting from the education budget.  

While nothing of the sort is happening in our education sector, we all want better education for our kids, our legacy for the future! And what better subjects to educate our kids than love. A love for education, a love (and respect) for the family, a discipline that’s taught at Chung Ching Primary School in Seria as early as kindergarten. Education including family values begins at home as much as it is at school and he school instills the culture at an early age. Today, on the eve of Mother’s Day, students, teachers and parents celebrated the occasion with roses, cake and a whole lot of attention!

© Jan Shim Photography

Primary 2 students playing a Mother’s Day piece to the delight of their parents who looked on from the side walk.

© Jan Shim Photography

 
© Jan Shim Photography

A teacher with an empty red box that contained Mother’s Day cards, a surprise from the students to their moms along with the red roses, chocolates and abundance of smiles.

 
© Jan Shim Photography

A student and her mother poses for a deserving photo moment.

© Jan Shim Photography

Besides greeting cards, students also surprised their moms with a written declaration of their love in more than one languages while hearts remain universally symbolic!

© Jan Shim Photography

I don’t remember anyone teaching me the notion of giving flowers to my parents at school but if I did, I might have done so quite innocently. But I grew up and eventually understood the meaning of roses fairly well

© Jan Shim Photography

On April 28 2008 The School Leadership National Conference and Workshop 2008 was officiated by the Minister of Education. The ceremony, a first joint collaboration between MOE, UBD and Microsoft, was held at the Chancellor’s Hall and the event carried the theme ‘School Leaders for Tomorrow’s Education‘. The Minister received a token of appreciation from Microsoft Brunei, a photograph I took at the Rimba Primary School captioned “In Every Child There Is A Potential To Be Great.“

Gift to the Minister of Education by Microsoft |  Photography © Jan Shim

Chosen from a series of photographs from the LEARNING STYLES AND POWERPOINT project with Microsoft, Country Manager Wan Kong and I deliberated over the selections and mutually arrived at the same piece differing only in our interpretation of the photo caption.

“Learning Styles (LS) can be defined as the way each person begins to Concentrate on new and difficult information, Process this information, Internalize and retain this information and; Use this information … The Dunn & Dunn Learning Styles Model operates with 20 elements that are fundamental to our learning … is aligned with the learning sysems of the brain … thoroughly researched and has already proven its strength.” You can learn more at www.learningstyles.net.

As a token of appreciation for the efforts of the teachers and students at CCMS in making the shoot possible, Microsoft had goodie bags for the team. On Microsoft’s behalf, I handed them to the teacher in charge on this day to coincide with the school’s Mother’s Day celebration!

 
© Jan Shim Photography

The following two photos were candid moments at CCMS. Photographing them candidly can be difficult given the available space to move around in relation to direction of light in order to maintain a natural looking ambient including the right body language and behaviour.

© Jan Shim Photography

© Jan Shim Photography

 
© Jan Shim Photography

© Jan Shim Photography

Other Microsoft links

• MICROSOFT BRUNEI. READY FOR A NEW DAY.
• ON COMMON GROUNDS
• FLAT OUT WEEK

Other Chung Ching School links

• 69 YEARS ON. AGING IN STRIDE.
• AND ON THE 15TH DAY
• AWAKENING THE LION

LILY CHIAM. SHOOTING FOR THE STARS.

Music expresses that which cannot be said and on which it is impossible to be silent ~ Victor Hugo

Musical talent is often said to be God’s gift. After all, talent isn’t learnt but discovered and very often it takes a journey of opportunity and self-discovery before talent is realised and developed. Lily and I go way back in school and in her online bio, “having been caught on camera as early as 8 months old playing on a toy piano, Lily’s love for music has grown into a great passion for life and the expression of the arts for all.” My god-given talent, however, was failing exams and I developed a seriously allergy to schools and became a constant worry for my parents.

 
© Jan Shim Photography

Decades later, I survived and our paths crossed at the TOYOTA CLASSICS 2007 event. The top left photo was taken at the end of the event and I had her pose against her grand piano. One thing led to another and this photo remained in my archive until this post–it’s going to be the first time she sees it too.  

© Jan Shim Photography

I sensed a pun when Lily autographed her CD and poster “SHOOT FOR THE STARS” but I was too busy and couldn’t help soaking up the vintage look and feel of her music school, EXPRESSION MUSIC which is located right across from Vintage Rose Cafe whose interior decor coincidentally shares similar tastes.

© Jan Shim Photography

Lily recently represented Brunei at the FRANCOPHONE MUMBAI MUSIC FESTIVAL to help promote the country’s culture and home-grown music industry in the international arena. The Francophone Music Festival aims to promote linguistic and cultureal diversity and also share Francophone cultures with the world, a community of more than 170 million people in 54 countries … as resported by the Brunei Times newspaper.

Her much awaited first album TOGETHER will be released on May 11 at THE DREAM ASCENDS MEGA CONCERT to be held at the International Convention Centre where she will be performing songs from her album with New York Broadway Director Rich Fowler who had this to say …

It is with great pleasure that I introduce the amazing talents of Lily Chiam. She is fast becoming one of the brightest artist composers in her region. Her music rings with clarity that places the album in the crossover genre of World Music and Pop … We had the pleasure of recording in Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, Los Angeles and New York. TOGETHER is a labour of love intended for your pleasure. Enjoy it many times over.

The album is AVAILABLE NOW from:
EXPRESSION MUSIC | Spg 88 B15-16, Bgn Lim Eng Ming, Kiulap
GOLDEN MUSIC CENTRE | Bandar Seri Begawan, Tutong, Seria & Kuala Belait

May 12, 2008 UPDATE: THE DREAM ASCENDS GALLERY BY DAVID CHEOK
May 14, 2008 UPDATE: CINEMATOGRAPHY BY DAVID CHEOK

 

DST BROADBAND. GO FOR IT!

I’m incredibly blessed to live in the sleepy town of SERIA, slightly over an hour’s drive from the Brunei capital. A high 90% of my clients are in fact located in the capital yet and while I moan the long, dry commutes from each trip, the peace and tranquility of the oil town makes it all worthwhile. The amount of time I spend on the road has also made mobile connectivity a necessity.

Artwork © DST GROUP

So it was only a week ago when premier mobile operator DST launched GO! broadband in a big way that shook and stirred the internet service provision business. So much so that there’s presently an electrifying mix of ecstasy and utter disappointment, the latter belonging to subscribers of the competitor’s price plan. 

There’s nothing like having a great deal that’s TWO good to pass up and packs twice as much speed as the other party. It never ceases to amaze me the lengths corporates GO! to sweeten the deal. The competition stiffens and retaliates with new plans but I know who has my support.

Related DST links
MISSIONS ACCOMPLISHED | EASI COME EASI GO | 1 VOTE OF SEPARATION | 1 VOTE OF SEPARATION PART 2 | THE TRANSFORMER AMONG US

BEACH CRABS. THEY’RE NO HERMITS.

Know what it’s like to be bitten all over by sandflies (apparently they’re also called blackfly in Australia/New Zealand)? It seems odd that they are over a dozen products for mossies but nothing to wad off these pesky flies that leave unsightly and very itchy marks. Worse part is they take weeks (up to a month from memory) to disappear completely. But, if that’s what it takes to photograph these beach crabs, so be it!  

 
© Jan Shim Photography

So these appear to be one of the many variety of FIDDLER CRABS that are popular our sandy and muddy shores.

If you visit the beach enough like me you’d have know it’s almost impossible to get close to these crabs. They’d scurry off very quickly and chances are there’s not enough holes for them to hide in so the rest just keep on running until it’s safe again to relax and enjoy what they do best—a little fun in the sun! They’re always on the move and seem to hang around that S curve border between moist sand and water and if you’re able to see what I’ve seen through my 100mm macro lens, they playfully spit water through their tiny little mouth.

© Jan Shim Photography

If you look at these pictures and stare into the face long enough you’ll probably see (as I did) where some of these nasty looking faces make their way to the big screen. The fugly alien in PREDATOR springs to mind!

 
© Jan Shim Photography

Another EASI card image in the making? Maybe. Who knows. The burn from sandfly bites and the scorching sun didn’t make this catch any easy!

What I do know is that my EOS 20D camera that recently took a swim in the Temburong river continues to work and I photographed these crabs with the EF 100mm f/2.8 lens. In addition, there are no sandflies or mosquitoes at the Ulu Ulu Resort to ruin the experience.

NOTES: Coming back to the subject of repellants for sandflies, a swimming instructor (thanks Hans!) once suggested baby oil and I’ve since been applying it before I head to the beach. Even at the local club swimming pool, I get sandfly bites too so I’ve been able to determine the effectiveness of baby oil and it works (unless it had been a coincidence)! However, in light of a recent discovery that Listerine (the mouth wash) makes a great safer alternative to repellants against mosquitoes, I can vouch it’s useless against sandflies!

Related Beach links
NATURE’S IRONY AND ART | MESSAGE IN A BOTTLE | POLLUTION: UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL | DUMPLING FESTIVAL. A BIG DAY OUT. | SCHOOL’S OUT. SANITY RESTORED.

MISSIONS ACCOMPLISHED

MAY 1, 2008 elsewhere known as Labour Da,  in Brunei a very busy day! Indeed a labour intensive day for the folks at DST, the people who brought Brunei the GSM mobile communication system in 1996. With a number of milestones and achievements since then, DST once again pushes the envelope and brings 3.5G technology to cellular and broadband users across the country—the ever demanding pool of web-savvy users who are now on the move more than ever before, present company included.

At the risk being drowned by the overwhelming images from the official DST GO! launch, I would like to convey a personal thanks to John Tan of TCY MOTORS SDN BHD for the complimentary movie tickets to the premier of IRON MAN! They called the movie an action thriller, I called it a perfect end to an exhausting but a mind blowing day! From the RSQ in the “I, ROBOT” movie to the R8 in “IRON MAN”, Audi’s concept of vehicle design is nothing short of extraordinary and exhilarating that makes me tingle at the thought of driving one! Since the days of my Subaru WRX, I’ve long forgotten the excitement of commuting!

Artwork © TCY MOTORS SDN. BHD.

Two companies, One mission. For a small country with some 380 odd thousand people, it may seem preposterous a thought that we need more than one service internet provider. Whatever the reasons may be, the “privatisation of the communication services in Brunei Darussalam has turned out to be one of the nation’s success stories” as declared on the DST Group corporate profile. The foresight of His Majesty’s Government 13 years ago last month has opened doors to opportunities to better equip the business community with state-of-the-art communications infrastructure. Information at your finger tips, evident in the picture below as a guest retrieved news headlines on his Nokia E61i.

© Jan Shim Photography

The early hours at Empire Hotel where the launch was held was buzzing with curious tourists with video cameras. A scene of invited guests in formal business attire versus hotel guests in their relaxed clothing created an exciting contrast.

 
© Jan Shim Photography

Corporate events are a great way to network. When a corporate giant like DST throws a party, you can be sure of an explosive turn out. With an event that promises emotion-stirring products and services, you are excused for the anticipation and not being able to stay focused on work! So many questions, so little time and so many choices—you decide what’s best!

 
© Jan Shim Photography

Guest of Honour, The Crown Prince, officiated the launch that carried a green coloured theme “GO! broadband“.

© Jan Shim Photography

There was no shortage of cameras from press photographers, guests with cameras including me and David who just couldn’t not get ourselves sitted. As waves of guests from diplomatic various missions, government ministries and corporate CEOs make their way into the ballroom, so did we, eventually.

© Jan Shim Photography

© Jan Shim Photography

“7.2 Mbps” is plenty to smile about. The Crown Prince gave an approving smile as he walked away from a demo and Kamarul gestured confidently on being No.1 :) 

 
© Jan Shim Photography

GO! broadband raises the bar on broadband standards in Brunei and like a pat on the shoulder, DST’s service is friendly in nature, easy going and most of all, there for you!

© Jan Shim Photography

PUSHing THE BOUNDARIES and more than a handful. Goodie bags, a symbol of appreciation and a token of gratitude, were packed with enough cool items to give you another reason to smile about! Judging from the condition of the box holding the goodie bags, its boundaries had been pushed more than once!

 
© Jan Shim Photography

The wait is over! DST has published the various GO! broadband packages and rates to meet your needs including special offers and lucky draws at the DST Roadshow! On a personal front, I’m happy to see evidence of another mission accomplished—more people are now aware of our national asset, the Temburong National Park and the Ulu Ulu Resort from a recent assignment. There’s the warm and fuzzy feeling inside when one’s action and efforts make a difference!

For more pictures from the day’s event check out ANAKBRUNEI.

Related links

• 1 VOTE OF SEPARATION | 1 VOTE OF SEPARATION PART 2
• EASI COME EASI GO
• THE TRANSFORMER AMONG US

THE HAUNTING TRUTH OF SUCCESS

Not exactly the Joshua Tree, the plant likened to a man with a spear but a silhouette of a tree I came across yesterday in Seria is equally haunting! Yesterday was a productive day all crammed into one morning and last week’s shoot in the Brunei rainforest was especially productive and meaningful. Anyone who’s been following my posts of late will have noticed a trend—that I’ve gone nature: birds, landscapes, insects, bla bla bla … I’m reaching the end of the 4th year in this profession now and I have to say I’m still in the journey of discovery (yes, it’s all about the journey not the destination). From weddings to fashion to corporate events to commercial to nature to who knows where!

© Jan Shim Photography

One such discovery I recently learnt is that SHIMWORLD is one of the top blogs of the country. I remain adamant about being labelled a blogger and resist attention that would steer me closer to blogging homage. I’ve turned down radio interviews, turned down invitations to blog meets, etc. After all, I left IT career of 13 years behind to pursue independence, freedom of self-expression and that state-of-mind we all so crave called HAPPINESS!

So it goes without saying that with increase in popularity comes a flood of attention that’s both good and not-so-good. When I first started SHIMWORLD, I had a tagline that reflected my status quo at the time:  MISUNDERSTOOD SINCE 1969! Over time, that morphed into a journey of meaningful Moments I shared with my clients that for some time thereafter carried the tagline A MOMENT LIVED. A JOURNEY SHARED. So after 1.5 years of posting and writing (214 posts at last count since Nov 3, 2006), it seems not much has changed in way of what people think SHIMWORLD is and represents (in my instances, the perception being far from the truth). I’m taking this opportunity to clear the air in wake of organizations seeking free publicity here—I don’t blame them, afterall as a businessman, high traffic equals good exposure so that’s just logical business-sense to want to be associated with the bee-to-honey analogy! 

To date, the countless corporate event pictures that I’ve posted are actual events I was hired for. Recently, someone actually thought I had left my IT job with enough wealth to start blogging for fun! I was stunned and nearly lost for words! I personally do not know any “top” blogger who blogs in the pretext of fun and my peers RanoAdidas.com and Anakbrunei.org are no exception! If anything, we are dead serious about our respective mission to succeed differing only in strategies and implementation.

All that’s said and done, photography comes first and blogs an afterthought! I’m in the business of delivering creative and artistic commercial photography services for clients in the various industries. If you have an immediate job requirement, send me an email.

A RESORT IN THE MIST. BEYOND THE POSTCARD.

Continuing the upward momentum from the previous post, here are images from my recent working trip into the rainforest of Brunei Darussalam, a journey that had me drive from my home in Seria to taking a long boat to Ulu Temburong. So where do I even begin to describe what it’s like in the remote Ulu Ulu Resort accessible only by long boats called Temuai or by helicopter for the fortunate few?

CLICK HERE TO VIEW COMPLETE PHOTO GALLERY

The journey: from Seria to Kianggeh jetty in the capital - 1 hour 15 mins | Board speedboat to Bangar town, Temburong - 45 mins | Bangar to Batang Duri jetty - 30 mins | Long boat to Ulu Ulu Resort - 30 mins. Passport NOT required.

© Jan Shim Photography

The weather continued to be challenging as we arrived Batang Duri jetty and we made sure the bags that housed our camera and video equipment were protected. The inclement weather had given me an opportunity to see how ill-prepared I might have been for the trip given the risks my camera and lenses faced surrounded by so much water! The storm and gray sky had in fact created a mood that’s better illustrated below—misty rainforest heightened by the sense of adventure from the raging waters. The resort, the history of which escapes me, is presently managed by the folks at Sunshine Borneo Tours. This was my first trip to the resort and its surroundings and it certainly won’t be the last judging from the on-going improvements Sunshine is doing to the place.

© Jan Shim Photography

Life is a journey then your camera takes a swim! Indeed, if we’re focused on our destination, we often miss the beautiful journey. David and I made plans to leave the resort as early as 5.30 AM on the longboat in otherwise zero visibility lit only by a couple of torch lights. By the way we reached what was the beginning of a 30 mins walk towards “Waterfall 1″ there was sufficient light and the walk in the cold upstream waters was refreshing. And slippery. The idea here is to avoid stepping on the larger stones that are often slippery but there are occasions where this is completely unavoidable. On our way in, we made several stops to photograph the streams where the available light was just right!

 
© Jan Shim Photography

These water shots were captured on the way to the waterfall. On the way out, I made an unavoidable but preventable mistake of hanging the 20D on my shoulder. Unavoidable because my Lowepro Mini Trekker was packed to the brim with the EOS-5D/24-70/70-200/100-400/. Preventable because extra precautions could have been taken ie carry the 20D/10-22 in a waterproof bag such as an ALOKSAK. A regrettable action that is neither difficult nor expensive to have undertaken. (see Travel Notes).

© Jan Shim Photography

By the time we got back at the resort at approx 9 AM, the sun’s gotten too strong for any more nature shots so I diverted attention to the more subtle items around the place. Shame there was no one kayaking that morning although there were frequent day-trip visitors to the national park.

 
© Jan Shim Photography

One of many long boats with visitors to the rainforest. You’d be pleasantly surprised just how popular the national park really is with tourists even on a week day. I can only imagine what it’s going to be like during peak periods.

© Jan Shim Photography

At the Two-River Terrace right upstairs of where the kayaks are stored, there’s a a traditional BLOWPIPE that’s used by natives to hunt. While not exactly a Swiss Knife, the idea of two-in-one has long been in existence with an integrated spear for hunting or self-defense.

© Jan Shim Photography

Blowpipe darts used in the blowpipe are/were attached with feathers. The ones you see here are made from palm fronds with a lightweight stopper to make an air-tight seal.

© Jan Shim Photography

The resort today is pretty much barebones and the creature comforts are limited to generator-powered electricity from 6 in the evenings to 6 in the mornings. There’s also no phone communication and no internet access but for everything else that requires power, you can charge your batteries or power up your laptop for offline work. I brought 6 sets of full charged batteries for the camera to limit our baggage to essentials items only.

In the evenings when the lights come on, the resort’s transformation best described and captured through low-light photography—beauty beyond what our eyes register and appreciate.

© Jan Shim Photography

With the exception of power and communications facilities during the day, the Club Lounge comes alive after hours with decor that easily rivals and exceeds the standards of other similar lounges in town.

Here’s a shot from the jetty at 6 AM when we left for the waterfall. Simply illuminating!

© Jan Shim Photography

Expect the unexpected. As with most resorts and hotels, there are different rooms catering to different needs and requirements of guests. It’s hard to imagine just how lavishly furnished certain rooms are if you’ve never seen it before. A compelling reason to publish these pictures is to help promote the resort, eco tourism by providing useful information to would-be visitors to remove general doubts. I apologise if this post has taken away the element of surprise through discovery.

Important note: When enquiring with Sunshine, be sure to ask about the different rooms available to avoid disappointment.

© Jan Shim Photography

 
© Jan Shim Photography

Beyond the Ulu Ulu Resort lies everything else that have attracted tourists from all over the world. Explore the rainforest streams, Canopy walkway, Kayaking to name a few. The left photo below shows the first steps of a total of 1226 steps. The suspension bridge that attracts countless visitors during the day also attracts countless species of insects to the lights at night. In the interest of maximising our time there, we decided we defer the Canopy Walkway to our next trip (we have recently seen and photographed the top of the Canopy Walkway from a helicopter so we were not that motivated to carry over 10 kgs of equipment up there).

 
© Jan Shim Photography

The lesser known activities often explored by professional photographers and videographers in this remote part of Brunei are research, documentary, birds, flowers, macro images of the insect kingdom essentially all that make up the fauna and flora of the rainforest. 

The National Flower of Brunei Darussalam is the Simpur or Simpor as it’s often spelt. Pictured here is a budding Simpur seen along the corridors of the resort and they blossom into large yellow petals in full bloom. Incidentally, this photo was taken by a Sunshine staff (Chuan) exploring my EOS 5D/70-200mm.

© Jan Shim Photography

Here are two opportunity photos of a resident at the resort, the Pygmy Squirrel, the world’s smallest squirrel that literally fits in your palm. They are hyper active and can be seen darting across floor boards or on the trunk of a tree just long enough to catch a glimpse before they disappear!

© Jan Shim Photography

Aren’t these moths extraordinary? These were captured on a sunny morning of Day 3 at the suspension bridge. On one of the steps leading to where the moths were was a huge black cicada measuring around 5 inches. One supposedly scary looking insect was no match against all the glorious colours of the moth colony. I shot these with my EF24-70mm fortunately with macro capability I was able to get pretty close to capture the features with sufficient details. The left moth has what appears to be a fur coat. Quite the irony! On the right is one for the air force, a camourflage moth resembling a Stealth jet!

 
© Jan Shim Photography

Our host SUNSHINE made sure we were well looked after and assigned guides who not only helped us with directions and equipment but were clearly knowledgeable of the rainforest habitat that made them invaluable. Great work guys and thank you! For more information, check out Sunshine’s tour packages.

CLICK HERE TO VIEW COMPLETE PHOTO GALLERY

People I Met
When you venture into unknown territory, approach with an open mind expect to be surprised. One of the things I enjoy is meeting new faces and there’s nothing I enjoy more than meeting a fellow professional photographer from abroad who coincidentally was staying next door to our villa. It was an honour to have met JORGE Camilo Valenzuela, a French pro photog and author of Au Coeur de BORNEO whom I exchanged life and work experiences during tea and dinner (not forgetting to mention his Malboro smokes).

The following links are cinematographic videos from the trip presented in two versions.

Ulu Ulu Resort Video #1 by David Cheok
Ulu Ulu Resort Video #2 by David Cheok

A member (Shiv Kumar) at ExposureRoom.com suggested “behind the scenes” footages of the video work. No doubt, a good idea.

Those are some awesome photographs and Jan is a prolific writer too!. —Shiv Kumar

Travel Notes
If you’re not spending the night at the resort, chances are you’ll have all your important items in the wallet and travel bag. Be sure they are all protected from the elements. Temburong is one big wetland, better to be safe than be sorry.

ALOKSAK Element Proof Storage bags with patented leakproof/airtight seal that are tested and approved by the Navy Experimental Unit and certified waterproof to 200FT/60 meters are inexpensive and can be found at NAAFI in Seria or GL EXTRA in Kiulap, BSB. Different sizes are available to fit anything from the contents of your wallet to a 15″ or 17″ laptop!

Related Tourism Links

• NO SQUARE PEGS. A BRUNEI TOURISM SHOWCASE.
• A DAY AT THE EMPIRE HOTEL
• OUR OWN BACKYARD
• DOMESTIC TOURISM. AN INSIDE JOB.

Related Nature/Wildlife Links

• HORNBILL IN FLIGHT. AN OUTING EXTRAORDINAIRE.
• HORNBILLS OF BRUNEI
• THE EARLY BIRDS