Thank you for all the great things you’ve done for me and raising me to become the person I am today.

One of the most loving, caring and closest family member has left my world today.

You will always be remembered.

Going through so much atm that my head is about to explode. I can’t wait to get through this tough period. After rain comes sunshine, and I think it is long overdue.

Gambatte masu…

My parents love bushwalking and scenic walks so this year we organised a family trip to do the Coogee to bondi coastal walk for mothers day. It was a really nice day and a warm one for mid autumn. I also got to try out my new DSLR backpack which allows me to carry more and distribute the weight to both shoulders.

So we began our walk at Coogee.

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It was a very special birthday this year, not because I’m 26 but because of everyone who made it special. This year, chibi made me the best cake I’ve ever received in my life! It was an amazingly elegant Tiramisu. She even took Friday off work and spent the entire day working on it. I can’t describe how much I appreciate this but this is something I’ll never forget for the rest of my life. Thanks so much Bhib!! <3

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It’s photo shoot time again! This time I got to experiment with some really exciting new gear and techniques. Originally we planned to goto Milk beach, a beach hidden by cliffs and bushes but due to the distance and heat, we ended up going to Shark Bay which was packed! It’s Aussie day after all so it wasn’t really the best time for a photo shoot. We had to move locations once more and ended up on Vaucluse beach which was nothing short of…well..plain. Despite that we had a great time with the whole beach to ourselves.

A new gear was introduced to this session! It is the Canon 70-300 f/4-5.6 IS USM tele zoom. This lens was really fun and produces some really sharp images. (Also very useful at the beaches as well…if you know what I mean). Today was forecast to rain but thankfully most of the day was a steady bright overcast sky which was perfect for portraits =). The IS is absolutely fantastic, I can’t imagine a tele lens without this feature. You can clearly see the shake reduction through the view finder, it’s like magic. Like other reviews I’ve read, extending it all way to 300mm does result in a softer image, but still pretty sharp and good enough for my needs. I won’t hesitate to zoom all the way if I need to.

So here are some of the pics of the day, all taken with the 70-300.

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Well it has been a year already. It feels like every year is getting shorter as more and more is happening. 2012 has been a great year and I wish it lasted just a little longer =).

Some things worth remembering in 2012:

• Japan trip – Best trip ever in my life
• Bro got married/Bali trip
• Chibi’s cooking adventures. Yummy =)
• Bought my 60D DSLR w/ accessories
• The 2 of us photo shoot adventures
• Adelaide trip
• Finished Ex-S gundam
• Drove down to Melbourne

Now comes 2013, but before that, lets see how I scored on my 2012 resolutions!

• Model Ex-S gundam and deepstriker  – Ex-S Gundam was completed but did not even attempt the DeepStriker. 4/10
• Plan Japan/HK trip again (I’ve decided I want to give HK a visit too! should be an amazing trip) – The best well planned, most enjoyable, exciting and fantastic trip ever. 11/10
• Learn more Japanese – Learnt Hiragana and Katakana and that Fushigi means mysterious, buta means pig, Doko des ka? sumimasen, Itotsu, futotsu, futari etc. Pretty good. 6/10
• Become much much stronger. Do cross-fit training. Gym at least 3 times a week – I kept at it for much of the year but slacked off towards christmas. Good but not good enough. 5/10
• Become an excellent squash player – Don’t think I improved that much but it has been incredibly fun! 7/10
• Draw more (since I didnt do much last year) – Did 1 painting of Erika Toda, that’s nowhere near enough. 1/10
• Eat well. And that means less junk food, more fruit+veg, water, whole grain, protein – Ate pretty well for much of the year but Japan, Bali and xmas brought my wellbeing all the way back down. 2/10
• Learn more about photography. Thanks to my cousins for giving me an awesome Nikon camera. I will make the most out of it and become more pro with photography. – Wasn’t even part of my plan to purchase a DSLR but I did and I’m glad. Photo shoot adventures brought lots of fun! 9/10
• And finally – Play Dai-2-Ji Super Robot Taisen OG!!!!!!!! release already Damnpresto!! – At least it was finally released!! but won’t be in my hands till some time in early 2013. Partly not my fault but remains a fact that I didn’t play it. 5/10

So tallying it all up I got a score of 50/90! That’s 55.5%. Woohoo I passed my new years resolutions test! It’s a terrible score still. Gota do better next year. It’s important to stay focused! Just wear a hat all year round and you’ll be right.

So here’s my 2013 New years resolutions:

• Model at least 2 gundams with painted backgrounds and improved texturing
• Improve photography skills and continue to go on photo shoot adventures
• Set up a Karaoke home entertainment in my room down at the back
• Continue playing squash
• Become a better cook (Jaychan’s cooking adventures? haha)
• Total revamp of my portfolio, done with proper planning and commitment
• Be able to do 20 sets of cross fit! (it’s a tough one!)
• Plan an awesome road trip
• Draw more – I say this every year but there doesn’t seem to be more!
• Improve guitar skills with at least 5 songs mastered.
• Setup my table tennis table and re-master the unstoppable Final Revolution
• Blog more!
• And if I have time, do a dive from out of space or something.

Happy 2013 and hope everyone will have a fun and prosperous year!