Tag Archives: beach

The Case of the Mysterious Standing Eggs on Duanwu Festival

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Finally we did it! After years of missing this attempt at noon on Duanwu Festival aka Dragon Boat aka Dumpling Festival this is the first time we actually remembered and got not one but all three raw eggs to stand. As usual I had the G11 handy to capture this unscientific phenomenon whose legend has survived generations. If you’re skeptical and try to see if props had been used to make the eggs stand, don’t bother — these photos are as raw as the eggs themselves. We left the eggs to stand at the open patio to fetch the kids from school, the entire time uncertain if the breeze would push them over. When we returned, Jamie and Jewel were surprised to see all three still standing.

Dumpling Festival a much celebrated festival by the Chinese community in Belait

The very first attempt filled with uncertainty and silliness had it failed to work.

Beginner’s luck? After my wife got the first egg to stand, she went on with a second egg …

… and finally stopping at auspicious number 3 before it was time to pick the kids up from school.

Captivated By Life On Belait Seashores

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By about 9.30am the morning had sprung to life with gorgeous weather that inspired me to go for a swim. It didn’t take me much deliberation to decide that the swimming pool was my immediate destination to check-in on Gowalla. Although I wasn’t pleased that the pool is closed for maintenance without notification, I was determined to enjoy a productive morning instead of a disappointing trip home.

After a pit stop at Soi Heng coffee shop for my favourite fried Kway Teow I still refused to head home and spur of the moment decided I’m going to get some sun regardless. Other than the pesky sand-flies, the beach has never disappointed me and with my G11 in hand and a little bit of luck, I brought home some incredible moments.

One of the many variety of FIDDLER CRABS that are popular on our beaches.

 [ Images above from May 2008 post: Beach Crabs They're No Hermits ]

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I spotted not one but two washed up jellyfish carcass (the kind without tentacles) within a stone's throw and all this discovery occurred right at the Billionth Barrel Monument beach front. Bright spot is a reflection of the noon direct sunlight.

Around comes one crab, checks out the perimeter of the jellyfish to make sure it's safe to mount.

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Typically, it's near impossible to photograph these hyper active creatures. The second you move a limb they disappear in a blink. The idea here is to stay perfectly still and let sand flies enjoy a blood feast while you have your equipment set to capture them once in view. I captured this with the PowerShot G11 with Neutral Density enabled to cut off the intense direct midday sun along with a -1 Exposure Compensation

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Let's dig in—bon appétit! Though the entire crab isn't in focus in this photo, it's good enough to see that it's got small amount of jellyfish flesh on its smaller claw. I saw it feed several mouthfuls of "sushi" the entire time I kept still photographing this amazing piece.

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Trying hard not to frighten the crab off with any abrupt movement, I slowly and carefully inched my thumb to activate slow sync flash and the camera metering turned the scene into what appears to be a night shot and resulted in some degree of vignetting.

[ Image below from December 2008 post: Horn-eyed crab foams at the mouth ]

Foaming process keep their gills moist and to balance the salt concentration within its body by excreting mucus to clear its airway. Another source thinks foaming at the mouth is a sign of stress.

PATIENCE, STATE OF MIND OR ART?

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These images were taken in the evening of June 16 when the Chinese community in Seria and Kuala Belait celebrated Dumpling Festival. Unlike other cultures in Asia such as Hong Kong where dragon boat races are held to mark this day, we just enjoy hanging out at the beach and what we lack in terms of meaningful event to celebrate, we make up in large numbers of people just indulging in spectator sports. So this year, no pictures of the crowded beach but instead a  small selection of off-the-cuff moment including this one below where Azri went chest deep into the sea in order to get a good vantage point of the sunset and rainbow. Looking at the scene through the viewfinder, I couldn’t help but feel a sense of opportunity, risk, uncertainty, bravery and determination. This spells PATIENCE for a photographer determined to get the shot—what is a  state of mind is now also a piece of art :-)

Inking a creative moment of art imitating life injected with a dose of humor is this cardboard mounted 8R print for a client who is also a friend and former colleague.

I’m against consumption of SHARK FINS and if you are too, PLEDGE your support to STOP SHARK FINNING.

That same evening, there was as much drama above as there were below. Rain, rain clouds and “ray of light” phenomenon aren’t exactly the sort of things you catch everyday (not even if you live right next to the beach and keeping your fingers crossed all year long. The beach is one heck of a vantage point when it comes to natural drama such as this lighting Bokeh I recently caught while photographing kayaks.


Heavy rain in the horizon, dark clouds and a thick diffused ray of light pierces through rain clouds.


Dramatic clouds accent the gorgeous sunset at the Billionth Barrel Monument beach on the onset of rain sending beach goers scurrying off the sand except for the two silhouetted figures.