As I explored and trekked through the mountains, forests and valleys, searching for the answers, am I able to find them? Life for me, as well as my photography, they have never been smooth sailing, it’s full of ups and downs, twists and turns, we have to weather the storm and welcome the sun to shine upon us again when it’s all over. The beautiful sounds of the wildlife calling out to us, the sound of the waves reaching the shore. The freshness aroma of the after rain, sweet fragrant aroma from the trees, leaves and flowers. 

Chasing the sunrise, the light rays shining through the rainforest canopy, patiently waiting for the sunset to end the day on a high. Is it fate, is it all about the time or they both combine together at that moment in time? 

Fate and Time, these two things intertwined into my life. Are things/we fated? Maybe it’s just not the right time. Maybe, I just have to let fate takes its course. Where will fate and time bring me? 

我们到了站，这一站叫 ____ ? 下一站是 ____ ？

Maybe I need to trust the timing of my life. Trust my own journey, my own fate and my own time. 

The post Fate and Time appeared first on TGH Photography and Travel Portal/Blog.

First quarter of 2020 was cautious, start of a new era, a new decade, cautious on how the economy would pan out with potential slower growth and concerns for market downturn. As for my photography business, it was a slow start and I was realigning business plans and strategies. On my personal/leisure photography front, there were a few major community events (Chinese New Year 2020 at Chinatown, Light to Night Festival 2020, River Hongbao 2020, Wan Qing Festival of Spring 2020, Battle for Singapore 2020 tours, Arts in Your Neighbourhood 2020) that I attended before Covid-19 spread changed the whole landscape.

As we all knew, second quarter was circuit breaker plus extended circuit breaker in Singapore. In a nutshell, working from home (WFH) and home based learning (HBL) were a new normal, some businesses took a huge hit, closure of businesses, job losses, retrenchments, pay cuts were commonly heard during this period. For photography businesses, we experienced the impacts and we were not able to conduct our business. This period was really stressful and difficult, on both professional and personal level.

Moving out from extended circuit breaker, phase 1 of post circuit breaker in June followed by phase 2 shortly after, this marked the start of a slow and much needed recovery to kickstart the economy again. Things are not and will not be the same as before pre Covid-19. Safety measures and strict regulations are in place for businesses to follow and implement. On the other hand, the severity of this current downturn has affected the whole economy, any business deals and transactions will not be back up fast and furious as businesses are looking at budget cuts and cost saving measures during this very difficult and challenging period. Personal and leisure photography during that period was pretty much confined to home and they could be viewed inside my Canon EOS M6 Mark II review article.

On the topic of travel, international travel is not in any of my immediate plans, I can only dream and plan for H2 2021, keeping my fingers crossed that a vaccine for Covid-19 would be available and the world can slowly start to return back to normal, although it will be a new normal for the world. I would leave the discussion on impacts and changes to world tourism and travel for another day, in another article dedicated to this discussion. 

Domestic travel, in the context of Singapore and its land size, doesn’t really ring a bell at all probably for many people, versus countries that have different states, prefectures and their citizens can travel interstate or across the country to visit.

However, while Singapore is really small in land size, we can do something about our own domestic travel/tourism, it’s just not domestic tourism per se, reference to other parts of the world. I am looking at doing my own “Explore your own backyard” theme instead, basically, it’s a continuation of my years of exploring my local neighbourhoods, just to compile, update and present in a manner that I would need to plan first.

Back to the my photography business in the post circuit breaker period, some changes are taking place, plans and strategies have gone back to the drawing board to navigate and manoeuvre during this very difficult and challenging waters ahead. The Covid-19 pandemic has definitely open up the case for business diversification that some people may not agree even in this modern and constantly changing world, they still believe in only specialising in one industry/skill/business.

Some keywords for you to ponder, digital agency and content creation, travel marketing, digital marketing, filmmaker.

The post Reflecting H1 2020 (Photography) appeared first on TGH Photography and Travel Portal/Blog.

Who is Knots & Gifts? What do they do?

Knots and Gifts is a newly launched gifting platform, they emerged out of the necessity of the times we live in to reinvent gifting. Unlike traditional hampers of ready-made items, they offer freshly baked goods such as pastries, cakes and breads from Singapore’s top patisseries, exquisite beverages and even cocktails prepared by an award-winning mixologist, and pampering home spa services, flowers and scents. 

This bespoke service is the brainchild of Singaporean Rubina Tiyu, who had to pivot her business from wedding planning to a one-stop e-commerce gifting platform – where she can put her talents to good use to spread joy during these tough times. The idea of receiving and sending freshly-made pastries, gourmet teas and coffees, flowers and scents also gives her an opportunity to work with some of her favourite retail shops.

“Inside the Knot was a successful wedding planning and events company, but when Covid19 struck, I was stuck with a warehouse full of props and no weddings to plan. I had to quickly come up with an idea that would not only be meaningful, after all we’re in the business of creating moments and experiences, but also appeal to people during this crisis.” said Tiyu, a 37-year-old self-made entrepreneur.

There are currently over 20 sets to choose from, from highly curated hampers of baked food and drinks.

For Breakfast or tea time, check out the Butter Cake Bundle ($58) consisting of butter cake (choice of plain, almond, orange or cranberry) and 4 muffins along with sparkling tea by The Gryphon Tea Company is a great way to put a smile on anyone’s face. The Tea Party Set ($188) is another pamper-worthy gift – scones, mushroom quiches and croissants by Patisserie G, Basque burnt cheesecake by Aitor, cranberry pecan cookies, jams, fresh berries, Gryphon Tea and flowers make for an unforgettable gift for any special occasion.

Alternatively, you can bring the party to your living room with the Cheese and Cocktails hamper set ($148) that comes with two choices of cheese, fig jam, crackers and breadsticks, mixed nuts and fruits paired with Laiba cocktails made by award-winning mixologist Michael Chen.

If you are planning to get a Knots & Gifts gift set, you can choose pre-selected food and drink hampers (Munchies), omakase flowers, no two designs are the same (Petals and Foliage). There are also bundled pampering gifts (Lifestyle) or order ala carte items under Marketplace at www.knotsandgifts.com. Do check out their Instagram page @knotsandgifts, as well this hashtag #knotsandgifts for inspiraiton. Do also take note that a 48 hours notice is required for all orders to ensure you get the freshest treats delivered to your doorstep.

Check out Father’s Day Gift Ideas from Knots & Gifts!

For this year 2020 Father’s Day, you can choose the Whisky Bundle for you Dad! Choose from 6 different brands of whisky/whiskey with snacks for an affordable price of $118 only! Or choose the Donuts and Coffee hamper set ($48) comprising 6 Dunkin’ Donuts and GK Ground Coffee or the Beer Bundle ($88) with 6 bottles of beer with snacks.

There are over 20 bespoke bundles to choose from for Father’s Day 2020! For this special occasion, when you purchase Father’s Day gift ideas from Knots & Gifts, you can a 10% discount using the promo code “FathersDay” when ordering from their website www.knotsandgifts.com! 

Do share this Father’s Day Gift Ideas from Knots & Gifts with your loved ones, family, relatives and friends. Pass It On and Pay It Forward! Sharing is caring!

* Information and pictures courtesy of Knots & Gifts and Empower Marketing Asia *

The post Father’s Day Gift Ideas from Knots & Gifts appeared first on TGH Photography and Travel Portal/Blog.

While reflecting and looking back across all aspects and segments of my photography, I realised I got quite a bit of photography thinking, reflection and updates, turning into articles for the year 2018. In a way, I must had quite a number of thoughts and feelings for this year 2018!

Sole Proprietorship Photography Business

My sole proprietorship photography business, has its fair share of ups and downs in  year 2018, just like my other aspects of my life too. Comparing it to my first year that I started my photography business in 2017, the year 2018 had seen improvements and growth, although the absolute total revenue is still not consistent and stable to a decent level yet, even though it did improve. That’s still a lot of room to grow and expand.

Personal Photography Projects

Ever since I established and registered it as a business in 2017, my personal photography projects were kind of non-existent because they took a back seat while I was putting a lot of time and effort to make my business stable and running properly.

I sincerely hope that I can revive them again in the year 2019, with a test of my strategic management, planning and time management. There are some personal photography projects in mind, keep a lookout!

Partnerships and collaborations

Chiang Mai, Thailand with The Epiphany Duplet

I had worked with Tiffany and Peps of The Epiphany Duplet for a few collaborations together. When the opportunity arose in January 2018 to visit Chiang Mai, Thailand, I decided to join them for this trip, collaborating on travel photography and content together, we exchanged our talents, my travel photography for their travel videos!

There were also partnership and collaboration that haven’t taken off the ground and delayed, I am not sure if it would take off in the near future. I still hope to establish more partnerships and collaborations in the year 2019 and beyond.

Mini Milestones in 2018

Creative Commons Musical with ikibook

I was part of a legacy, the world’s first creative commons musical with ikibook, a unique and interesting experience to be part of this group of diverse creative talents from all walks of life.

EOS World Community Ambassador

In other news, I was appointed EOS World Community Ambassador for the year 2018. This is a big honour and recognition for me, I hope that I can contribute and give back to this photography community in some small way or another, as well as the EOS World community platform helping me to grow my photography.

Internal and External Battles

There were a number of internal and external battles with people and their words, actions, emotions, hurt, disappointments etc etc … There were times of anger, hurt, agony and burnt out, there were times when I had to fight my own monsters inside me too.

There are many people in the world that are not in the person’s actual shoes, they are not “on the ground fighting the battles” and yet they think they know everything and they will tell you what you should do.

There will be internal scars, no doubt about that. That’s how we can learn and grow from all these various experiences, handling people, handling emotions, fighting the internal bad wolf inside us.

Summarising my year 2018 Photography

There had been improvements and growth in my sole proprietorship photography business, along with its fair share of ups and downs, hits and misses, happiness and disappointments. There is still a lot a lot of room for growth and improvement.

What to expect in the Year 2019 ?

My strategic plans, goals and objectives are still a work in progress behind the scenes, I hope to share a bit more details in January 2019.

Last but not least, Thank You!

Last but not least, I want to say a big Thank You from the bottom of my heart to all those who have helped me, believe in me and supported me throughout my photography journey, through my ups and downs, reading my boring and lengthy rants on social media networks and websites.

The post Reflection – Photography 2018 appeared first on TGH Photography and Travel Portal/Blog.

Updates

Adding more content to Format

I have a variety of photography content in certain genres, adding more to my Format photography business portfolio collection. I also know which photography genre that I need to build up and I am working hard towards it!

Growing a photography business

Started in January 2017, this is still a  tough and difficult stage, I am running out of adjectives to describe my inner most thoughts, feelings and emotions. Growing very slowly and in small steps, it can be very draining and stressful running a small sole proprietorship business.

There is also a need to build more partnerships and collaborations with different partners from agencies, photographers to businesses from other industries.

Thoughts

Speaking the language of Light

I met one of my mentors recently, a senior that I knew from my Dragon Scout Group days, he was one of my leaders when I was a Boy Scout. He is also a very experienced and skilful photographer that gave me advice along the way when I started off freelancing photography.

In a most recent meet up with this mentor of mine, he shared about his visionary movement – Speaking the Language of Light. I wrote down the points that he shared into my Travelers Notebook! All his sharing, views and vision resonates with me inside my photography heart and soul.

Stay tuned for more updates on this movement!

Taking the first step

During Singapore Night Festival 2018, I was visiting this Night Lights artwork installation – The Leap of Faith. While immersing myself in this interesting and interactive artwork, I happened to meet the artist Kai Wei, had good chat with him and the theme behind his artwork.

Taking the first step resonates with me a lot! This is about faith in taking the first step in whatever you do in your journey towards your goal, your destination.

Taking the first step is always the most difficult, whether you are a young kid or an adult. Faith in taking the first step, the leap of faith, makes you grow stronger in your journey.

Loyalty? Is it still relevant in today’s market?

There were a few case studies as I would like to classify them that makes me wonder, think and analyse about this word loyalty, is it still relevant in today’s market?

Brands say customers are no longer loyal, I think that’s quite true, given the number of choices customers have today. On the other hand, there are also brands that are not really loyal too, that’s why customers leave them too.

Are we chasing the wrong things?

I have been asking myself this question many times than before. To some extent, I have been chasing the wrong things and I will be the first to put up my hands to admit it.

Plans

Collaboration with a mixed media artist on the cards?

Collaborating with another artist from a different sector of the creative and art industry has been a dream, a goal that I would like to acehive. I had sounded this idea to a mixed media artist friend of mine, who is now based in Bangkok, Thailand, she is one of my supporters of my photography. I would still like to collaborate with her when the opportunity arises! Check out her FB page – The Wandering Treehouse!

After meeting Kai Wei at Singapore Night Festival 2018, we chatted about collaborating to produce a mixed media artwork with my photographs! This is on the cards, I am unable to give any more information, taking one step at a time , many things to brain storm and discuss. Keeping my fingers crossed and let’s see how it goes!

A new setup on the cards?

The name is in place by my Chef friend, the idea then came through a moment of inspiration. This would be on food, photography, media and writing. I need to do a white paper – Agenda, About, Constitution, Goals, Directions, Whisky, Food.

Rediscovering my personal photography projects

I had started personal photography projects a few years back, it’s still ongoing and I think it is time to relook at them on how I would like to close or continue expanding on them.

There are also other personal photography projectst that I might embark upon or starting those that I have planned in the past 2 years that didn’t get kickstarted due to setting up my photography business.

Journaling and travelers notebook

I never knew the therapeutic enjoyment and fulfillment when I entered into the travelers notebook world along with my traveling. This was a slow start, I can finally say that I am doing something with them! While I am not so much of an artist that can draw or paint, I can concentrate on my strengths through my writing, journaling, decorating it with ink stamps and stickers inside my travelers notebook.

下一站，起飞？

Next stop, take off?

Like this deliberate motion blur photo above, there are many times whereby everything looks very blur, out of focus, lost. Many people, if not most people nowadays only see the end result and not on the journey, the blood, sweat, tears, pain and disappointment.

To all those relatives and friends judging and criticising me, through your eyes that you see, everything is a blur to you, just like the photograph above.

To all those who have been supporting and helping me, you can admire the beauty and fruits of my labour at various goals that I have accomplished in my photography journey. For that, I sincerely thank you from the bottom of my heart!

The post 25th August 2018 – Updates, Thoughts, Plans appeared first on TGH Photography and Travel Portal/Blog.

What is so special and unique about it? First and foremost, this is the world’s first ever Creative Commons musical, “What If” presented by ikibook. The “What If” musical is a crowd sourced, organic collaboration with heartlanders (our everyday folks), talented and creative musicians, dancers, artists, singers, perfomers. A complete collaboration that unites creative and talented folks from different walks of life, coming together to create a legacy in the creative, music, peformance and artistic world, based on something unheard of in most, if not all industries, a Creative Commons musical.

Who is ikibook? What do they do?

Ikibook is a newly founded social enterprise whose mission is to save meaningful content in the world. It does this by building an ecosystem of creators and to enable collaboration and support via blockchain.

Website: http://www.ikibook.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ikibook.global/ 

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ikibook/

The founder of ikibook, Iris Koh, a music director, songwriter and entrepreneur shares the reasons behind this musical. “It is one of my bucket lists to write a musical one day, but the thought of writing it is very daunting. So instead of writing it myself, I thought, what if I could put songwriters, playwrights, actors, musicians and dancers together and with everyone’s input and creativity we could begin writing this musical and let it take on a life of its own?”

Source: ikibook press release

I found ikibook at Tech In Asia Singapore 2018, I discovered and knew more about them and what they do. Thereafter, I wrote briefly about ikibook in my earlier articles that I published on my photography/travel website/blog and personal/technology website/blog. After Tech in Asia Singapore 2018, I attended ikibook events at their office and slowly got to know more about what they do.

Then came an email out of the blue, on an open call to participate and be a part of the world’s first ever Creative Commons musical. I went and listend to their pitch and decided to join in as a photographer (behind the scenes, rehearsals, musical performance). Personally, working on Creative Commons is something I know about yet I do not implement, since I work on All Rights Reserved due to the commerical and professional aspects of my photography business.

During the past week, I managed to attend two of their rehearsals, capturing photographs behinds the scenes of their rehearsals and preparation. The amount of talent and creativity is beyond my imagination, a gathering of creative and talented individuals,  who may not even know each other in the first place, creating a musical within a month! The singing, the dancing, the musical performance, the play, you have to watch it, to believe that it is entirely possible for the creative industry to produce a Creative Commons musical.

For now, I would only share some behind the scenes, rehearsal photographs. Keep a lookout as I cover Campus Party Singapore and ikibook on my Twitter, Facebook Page and Instagram, leading up to the “What If” musical performance on Sunday 8^thJuly 2018.

If you like to know more about Campus Party Singapore, more information is available below:

Website: http://www.campus-party.org

Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/campuspartysingapore/

Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/campuspartysingapore/

Twitter Campus Party Singapore: https://twitter.com/campuspartySG

The world’s first ever Creative Commons musical, “What If” by ikibook is taking at Campus Party Singapore 2018 on Sunday 8^thJuly 2018. Spread the word, Pass It On, come on down to Campus Party Singapore 2018 and catch the world’s first ever Creative Commons musical “What If”.

For those who are attending Campus Party Singapore, remember to keep a lookout for “What If” musical presented by ikibook. Let’s hope this would be an inspiration to you to create your own story that you want to tell the world, whether you are a creator, entrepreneur, techie, creative, visionary, to be unique and bold, taking a big step forward to be the change and make a change. What if … you can do it?

What If … you can create something to make a difference in the world today?

The post The World’s first ever Creative Commons musical “What If” by ikibook appeared first on TGH Photography and Travel Portal/Blog.

Attending Tech in Asia Singapore 2018 was a great experience for me, listening to great panel sessions across different stages over two days, visiting different companies from various industries, listening to them sharing more about their products, services etc.

I wrote and shared about my experiences, thoughts and views (from a technology writer/enthusiast perspective) on attending Tech in Asia Singapore 2018 in another article post on my personal / technology blog/website. For this article,I am sharing startups/technology companies related to photography, travel and hospitality industries that were at Tech in Asia Singapore 2018.

Photography related industries

Markedshot

An interesting marketing and business growth platform. I visited their booth to have a chat with them and learn more about their services. After a good chat, I am able to visualise their marketing platform via their social gallery and business growth via their business intelligence and data gathering.

This might be a good partnership for photographers/photography companies that handle big events for clients and also for organisations/buinesses that would like to have a more social and marketing outreach for their events/services.

Check them out on their website – https://www.markedshot.com

Travel related industries

Ownrides

If you love to travel overseas for holidays and you love Taiwan, this would definitely get your attention! DIY and customise your own Taiwan travel itinerary with private driver without the need for a travel agent or travel agency.

Being an independent traveler, DIY travel is what I like, I do like the Ownrides platform. With my strong interest in travel photography, I had a chat with them on this topic and they do have drivers inside their network that would suit travel photographers, just remember to drop them a message.

Meanwhile, I am also looking at their expansion plans and see where they would be expanding/moving into!

Check them out on their website – https://ownrides.com

TravelSkope

Travel in the modern social media and technology era is getting more digitised, online and social media friendly. This would be more of an interest to those who are thinking of setting up their travel agency. TravelSkope can help you to build, setup and customise your travel agency website.

Now, I know who to look for if I want to setup my online travel agency one day in the future.

Check them out on their website – https://www.travelskope.com

WAmazing

For Japan travel lovers (like me!), this WAmazing app is going to get your attention too. Plan your Japan travel itinerary through this app and I hope to explore more using this app for my future travels to Japan.

Check them out on their website – https://www.wamazing.jp

Travelog

An online social travel marketplace for buying, selling and sharing, with their base in Malaysia. If you are planning a travel holiday to Malaysia, this might be useful.

Check them out on their website – https://travelog.com

TravellerMates

This would interest independent and/or small group travelers, connecting them via social media and allowing them to bulk buy popular activities to achieve a group discount

Check them out on their website – http://www.travellermates.com/en

Hospitality Industry

Coffee Break

Being a coffee fan/addict, something related to coffee caught my attention. There are many cafes in Singapore (we coffee lovers know it) and they can be a little bit pricey due to the high overhead costs in rental and wages for the cafes.

This Coffee Break app partners specially curated cafes and helps you to discover the city’s best brews and eats. You can purchase their coffee beverages package plans via the app.

Check them out on their website – http://www.hellocoffeebreak.com

LoyalGuest.com

A travel membership program network that builds a travel community, directly connecting travelers with hotels and other travel service providers. It’s not your usual accommodation booking platform, current presence in Southeast Asia and looking to expand worldwide.

Check them out on their website – http://loyalguest.com

Creative industry

A special mention to Ikibook–  A blockchain ecosystem for the creative industries, musicians, artists, photographers, creatives, this would interest them. Keep a lookout!

For my photographers, travelers and those interested in hospitality industries, hope this would be useful to you in some way or another, as a consumer or from a B2B angle.

** I would like to thank Lewis PR for the invitation to Tech in Asia Singapore 2018 conference! **

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