If you have read my Key Updates December 2025, you would read about my past few months had been really stressful and pressurising for me. December 2025 is mainly consolidation, reorganisation on family matters first, before other areas. I haven’t really been out taking Christmas light up or festive photos, or even my own personal photography. Thus I am reposting my Hokkaido Christmas Tree photo (taken in 2016) again.

I would take some time off to let my personal visual storytelling play the role of photography therapy as I seek to let my writing, photography and publishing zines to guide me through this tough period.     

I know today 25th December 2025 is Christmas Day, here’s my festive gift shopping wish list if any of my kind-hearted friends are thinking/planning to get some gifts for me, it can be a 2-in-1 gift combo: Christmas (December 2025) and Birthday (January 2026) gift combo!

• DJI Neo 2 
• Smart Watch 
• Toy camera (Kodak Charmera) 
• Canon RF lenses
• Compact sized APS-C camera

Thank you very much for the support and encouragement that some of you folks had showered upon me in my recent update. Wishing all a Merry Christmas 2025 and Happy Holidays with your family, loved ones and friends!

The post Merry Christmas 2025 and Happy Holidays! appeared first on TGH Photography and Travel Portal/Blog.

Photography Business

Business side of things

Q1 2022 started off alright, with signs of a more stable recovery for economy that could flow down to the other levels of the economy. It didn’t seem to sustain with Q2 2022 seems to be a bit of a slow down after coming out full steam in Q1, things didn’t go as expected and planned, making me worried. Q3 2022 was a bounce back into life again. 

There were disappointments, there were lost opportunities, there were new ones too. While there is not a big boom type of growth, there is a good momentum, hopefully this will carry on forward into Q4 2022.

Just like running any business, the levels of stress and pressure are never ending, never low on the scale, sometimes it also come in wave after wave.

Photography consultancy and coaching/training

My years of photography experiences in both professional and personal capacity has finally opened up an avenue that I wasn’t really expecting, the past 2 quarters have been an interesting expansion, slow and steady. The photography consultancy segment also give me ideas on how I might be able to expand this further and wider.

Through my consultancy, it brought me back to coaching/training my friends my photography skills, knowledge and sharing my experiences. A sector that I am planning to expand further, I am back again, having “students” or “disciples”, with me the photography “Shifu”, coined by my former friends who went out with me on various photography outings and walks. 

Although I don’t have an official number, I should have 2-3 “disciples” under my personalised photography care and coaching/training. 

Photo walks 

I used to conduct this regularly, part of my photography coaching/training programme. This went quiet for a period of time, now I am bringing it back again, for my photography coaching/training. I have some expansion plans in mind for this segment, working out the nitty gritty details in Q4 2022.

Photography Zine/Books and Publishing

Since I printed my first photography book in 2015 after my Hokkaido trip in November 2014, I entered into the world of printing and publishing my photography, creative and visual stories into photography zines. 

2nd photography zine update

My 2nd photography zine is now in the 2nd mock up stage, the final phase of editing and amendments. I am setting aside and scheduling my time to get this final hurdle completed and ready for publishing and sale. Thereafter, I would make the official announcement of my 2nd photography zine, pricing and availability. 

What book or zine projects should I embark on?

I have started a number of different photography projects over the years, in different areas and interests over the decade. I am seeking and looking at new photography/documentation/visual story telling projects. 

Some projects on my mind are 

• MF analogue B&W landscape photography
• Produce and publish new photography zines, photography books and photography guide books. 
• From my earlier photography projects in history, heritage and culture, I might choose, work on it and expand them further, and tap on funding if possible.
• Writing and producing my own short films/videos along with my photography projects and visual story telling.

Personal photography

Beyond my photography business, my personal/leisure photography is just as important and crucial for me. This segment is not so much about money, it’s a lot more about personal fulfillments and commitments to personal photography works from documentary to interests. 

Analogue medium format 

Medium format (MF) photography has been an area that I really wanted to explore some years back. Some MF photographers said to me that I won’t understand MF photography even though I have been shooting 35mm or APS-C format for quite a number of years. Personally, I don’t begrudge them since I never tried MF photography before. 

Over the years that I was keen to explore MF, I started off with a Lubitel 166+ TLR although my interest didn’t sustain long enough and it went into my dry box. Yes, it’s a bit embarrassing to confess to this. I was still enquiring on MF cameras, 645, 6×6 or 6×7, which camera brands to look at, does it make sense to get an analogue MF camera body and lens, pair it with a MF digital back instead of a film back. The answer to this, was not recommended, as shared by some of my photography mentors.

Most recently, I was very blessed to inherit some analogue MF cameras from a fellow photographer friend’s uncle, who used to be a commercial photographer in the analogue film days. Now, I finally have a chance to embark on my MF photography journey. 

As this is still a work in progress, checking and sending for repairs if necessary, it’s going to take a bit of time. Once this is settled down, I would share more updates in another article.

Travel 

When should I travel again?

The travel restrictions are gradually lifted around the world, more countries are reopening up their borders for business and leisure travel over the past 2 quarters . Many people could be seen traveling out of Singapore, on one hand I am envious, on the other hand, the airfares are not exactly cheap, the travel, tourism, aviation and hospitality industries are playing catch up to meet the demands and pent up frustrations. 

Travel Photography Bucket List

On my travel photography bucket list, countries in APAC region would be my priority since they are much nearer to Singapore:

Japan

A lengthy list of prefectures to visit in Japan, with a return to Hokkaido on my plans, continuing on with my 4 seasons of Hokkaido travel photography project. Another key region in Japan that I would like to visit is the Kansai region. 

Malaysia

More than just a neighbour to Singapore, I have relatives in Malaysia, I hope to plan some time and visit them again after 2+ years of global pandemic lockdown. I am also keen to revisit Sabah again for wildlife photography and trekking.

Vietnam/Taiwan/Indonesia/Thailand 

They are a short flight away from Singapore, making them pretty accessible for short getaways. 

Europe and beyond

I have been chatting and discussing on TTOT community chat that I am planning to visit Europe. They are in my travel plans, probably in the next phase after visiting ASEAN and APAC regions first.

Guiding/Leading travel photography trips

In conjunction with my photography consultancy, photography training/coaching and photo walks, would all these lead me to guiding/leading travel photography trips overseas? I shall leave it here as it is for now, if and when the time is ripe, there might be some news.

Goals Setting for Q4 2022 

First and foremost, I have set myself a number of goals setting for Q4 2022. I recalled that there were a few years whereby I didn’t want to reveal them. For this Q4 2022, I am aligning myself to change my approaches and way of doing things, not the old school way though of writing specific and detailed goals, objectives and plans for Q4 2022.

Goals for Q4 2022

• Officially launch and publish my 2nd photography zine
• Make a breakthrough in my travel photography/writing/related segments
• Kickstart my analogue MF photography journey 
• Rebrand and realign my commercial photography services 

Last but not least

This Q3 2022 reflection and plans for Q4 2022 somehow feels pretty lengthy with quite a lot of personal thoughts, feelings, and emotions in the areas of my photography and travel.  

Last but not least, thank you for taking the time to read it till the end of my personal ranting (in some ways).

The post Reflecting Q3 2022 and Plans for Q4 2022 (Photography and Travel) appeared first on TGH Photography and Travel Portal/Blog.

“You can’t wait until life isn’t hard anymore before you decide to be happy”, Jane Marczewski (Nightbirde). 

Everyone of us had own issues, problems and situations to manage, handle and resolve, we all have our ups and downs. Life is never easy, some had it tougher than others. Personally, I had my fair share of ups and downs, however last year 2021 was one of my most difficult periods, mentally and emotionally, there were huge struggles on both personal and professional aspects. I am still struggling (lesser as compared to 2021), I wasn’t happy even though I don’t show it on my facial expressions.

Recalling Nightbirde’s quote, we can choose and decide to be happy. A gentle reminder, a wake up call, I can choose and decide to be happy. This is not going to be an instant change, first and foremost, I am making the decision to be happy, while facing all the incoming headwinds and challenges head on.

Jane Marczewski (Nightbirde) passed away on 19th February 2022, her voice, words, positivity and courage will always be remembered. 

Rest in peace, Nightbirde.

The post Decide to be Happy appeared first on TGH Photography and Travel Portal/Blog.

This is time for family gatherings especially for those whose home country is elsewhere, those that are able to make the trip back home and be reunited with family, relatives and friends after close to a 2 years hiatus whereby international travel was curtailed. This ongoing COVID19 pandemic has been very disruptive, not just in economic impacts, the social, emotional and mental impacts are just as huge and disruptive. 

Since I haven’t travel overseas for the past 2 years like most of us, I would have to use back my old travel photograph of this iconic Christmas Tree from Biei, Hokkaido. I hope to visit Japan again, back to Hokkaido again for spring, summer and late winter seasons, photographing and documenting my personal travel photography project on four seasons of Hokkaido. 

I would also like to take this time to thank various camera, travel companies, travel community partners, technology brands, organisations, pr agencies, fellow photographer friends and supporters for this great working relationships, friendships and support for my photography and travel portal/blog during this very difficult and turbulent year for all of us.

Thanks to Chef Keith for hosting a small of friends with his delicious BBQ roast at his house earlier in December, it was an awesome time gathering, feasting and chatting.

Last but not least, a very big thank you from the bottom of my heart to those few friends that helped me and pulled me out during a very dark period that I went through during May and June 2021. 

Wishing all a Merry Christmas 2021 and Happy Holidays! Enjoy and have fun, feasting and spending time with your family and loved ones! 

The post Merry Christmas 2021 and Happy Holidays! appeared first on TGH Photography and Travel Portal/Blog.

I love the great outdoors, nature and wildlife, not just back home in Singapore, traveling around the world, trekking, climbing mountains, national parks, enjoying the beauty and tranquility of Mother Nature. Getting inside into nature, rainforest, surrounded by tall lush trees and its canopy, I enjoyed forest bathing therapy with my photography setup, capturing the lush greenery and wildlife. 

From the mountains, to the rainforests and oceans, Earth has many beautiful and amazing natural environments that we need to protect and preserve. While I am unable to visit all of them, I am blessed and mesmerised by some of the destinations that I left my footprints behind.   

As I started to get more conscious of my travel and carbon footprints over time, I have also witnessed more natural disasters taking place in other parts of the world and they are not getting smaller in magnitude and size. All these gradually push me as an individual to think again on my types and levels of consumption in this current world that we are living in. I am also looking at businesses, from famers, manufacturers to service providers (e.g. travel agencies, accommodation) on their green eco-friendly models and practices. 

We need to prevent, stop and reverse the damages that we have already inflicted on our planet Earth, now this is the time for ecosystem restoration. We need to stop exploiting nature to restoring and healing it. Only with a healthy ecosystem, can we improve peoples’ livelihood, counteract climate change and prevent the collapse of Earth’s biodiversity.

Every individual on planet Earth has a role to play, no matter how big or small, you can be a part of #GenerationRestoration and make a difference, for your family and loved ones, and to Mother Earth, for the sake of our future generations. 

When we are able to safely travel again once the global pandemic is under control, I would continue to seek my travel photography adventures to the great outdoors, nature and wildlife destinations around the world with green eco-friendly models and practices. 

The post World Environment Day 2021 appeared first on TGH Photography and Travel Portal/Blog.

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.

From 8th October, Escape to Hokkaido  

You can savour the taste of Hokkaido in every bite with the Hokkaido Salmon Burger, available from 8th October. This burger features delicious salmon from Hokkaido, coated in crispy panko, filled with shredded white cabbage, sliced onion and roasted sesame mayo, sandwiched between a soft bun with black and white sesame seeds.The Hokkaido Salmon Burger is available in both a Single (from $5.95 a la carte) and a Double (from $7.95 a la carte). 

The brand new kawaii star-shaped golden brown and crispy potato treats! The STARZ Potato (9pc) is available from $2.20 a la carte. 

Add the Yuzu Cream Cheese Pie to round up your tasty Hokkaido getaway where yuzu meets cream cheese.

The all-in-one Hokkaido Salmon Feast is the meal that you are looking for, which includes the savoury Hokkaido Salmon Burger, iconic golden-brown fries (M), crispy Yuzu Cream Chess Pie, and refreshing Green Tea (S).The Hokkaido Salmon Feast is available from $11.40 for the Double and from $9.40 for the Single at all restaurants, and via McDelivery® and GrabFood. 

The Hokkaido Salmon Burger, STARZ Potato (9pc) and Yuzu Cream Cheese Pie are available after breakfast hours and while stocks last. 

Chocolate lovers alert! Indulge and getaway into a Chocolicious World!

Chocolate lovers! You cannot miss this opportunity to indulge and getaway into a chocolicious world! Time to paint the town with Hershey’s chocolate and feast away in the richness of Hershey’s chocolate, available at all McDonald’s restaurants and Dessert Kiosks islandwide.

(From left to right) Hershey’s McFlurry®, Mudpie McFlurry® and Strawberry Shortcake McFlurry®. From $3.00, $3.30 and $3.30, respectively.

(From left to right) Hershey’s Cone, Twist Cone and ChocoCone®. From $1.40, $1.40 and $1.60, respectively.

Soft-serve cones are a favourite too! Enjoy a quick escape with Hershey’s soft-serve cones, available in a regular Cone, Twist Cone1 and ChocoCone®. 

(From left to right) Hershey’s Hot Fudge Sundae and Hershey’s Strawberry Sundae. From $2.40. 

For Sundae lovers, the world of Hershey’s chocolate is going to bring your chocolicious adventure to the next level, with even more chocolate. Time to indulge in Hershey’s creamy soft-serve, glazed with hot fudge or strawberry sauce. 

Get your chocolate fix at all McDonald’s restaurants and Dessert Kiosks after breakfast hours and while stocks last. 

Have a tea and cake break at McCafé 

(From left to right) Green Tea Latte and New York Cheesecake. From $4.90 and $5.20, respectively 

From 8th October, you can enjoy aromatic Green Tea Latte – a delightful blend of a creamy aromatic tea latte with smooth steamed milk, topped off with a touch of green tea powder and accompanied by a crisp caramel Lotus Biscuit, and take a bite of our rich, creamy and cheesy goodness atop caramelized cookie crust, New York Cheesecake.

Available all-day at all McCafé stores (Excludes McCafé stores at Gardens by the Bay, Forum Galleria and Lido)  

Do share this tasty getaway with McDonald’s® and a chocolicious escape with Hershey’s with your loved ones, family, relatives and friends! Pay-It-Forward and Pass-It-On, Sharing is Caring!

* Information and pictures courtesy of McDonald’s® Singapore and GOLIN *

The post Enjoy a Tasty Getaway with McDonald’s® and a Chocolicious Escape with Hershey’s appeared first on TGH Photography and Travel Portal/Blog.

What is Shinrin-Yoku? Shinrin-Yoku (森林浴) literally means Forest Bath (thanks to Google Translation). The YouTube videos produced by Forest Digital from Hokkaido were very soothing, calming and therapeutic. I visited Hokkaido twice in 2014 and 2016, it’s a very beautiful destination for landscape and wildlife photographers, not to forget their delicious cuisine too!

Inspired by their videos, I revisited my Hokkaido travel photography 2014 and 2016 collections on Flickr. Being an outdoors and travel person, this is probably why Shinrin-Yoku resonates so much deeply inside me, whenever I am inside forested areas, surrounded by the fresh air, beautiful sounds of Mother Nature, tranquil surroundings and in peace with myself inner soul. Nature therapy is one of the best natural therapy around us.

During this tough period, I hope that the Shinrin-Yoku videos and my Hokkaido travel photographs would be able to give you some peace and tranquility from all the stress, anxiety, frustrations and pressure that you are facing right now during this Covid-19 situation.

One day, I would return back to Hokkaido again, to continue my travel photography coverage of her spring and summer seasons. Along with climbing mountain peaks in Hokkaido, I am going to add Shinrin-Yoku pilgrimage in Hokkaido too.

Forest Digital

Website: https://forestdigital.org/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/ForestdigitalO

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4xYvCZf-Magqh6Nj6PVXmA/

The post The Art of Shinrin-Yoku appeared first on TGH Photography and Travel Portal/Blog.

Sending my best wishes to all with my iconic Christmas tree that I shot in Biei, Hokkaido, Japan, during my Hokkaido autumn travel photography adventure in October 2016. Hope everyone of you would have a good time with your family, loved ones and friends during this festive season.

Thank you for all your support and encouragement for my photography and travel portal/blog during this year 2019 as well as my commercial photography business too!

Moving forward into the new year 2020, I would be using the last week of 2019 to review, plan, discuss and strategise changes for my photography and travel portal/blog in the year 2020 – http://blog.photojournalist-tgh.tv/

Current topics for consideration and planning
– Regular content creation and sharing
– Changes to backend/hosting
– Getting SSL to make it https
– Change to a new template

On the area of my commercial photography business, I had recently renewed my photography business registration for 3 years, FY2020 to 2022. For the first three years, it had been very difficult, very steep learning curves, received some harsh life and business lessons, judged, criticised and trolled. To my 4th year and beyond, let’s go!

Follow me, as I continue to grow on my TGH Photography x Canon EOS RP Explorer Series Production in the year 2020.

The post Merry Christmas 2019! appeared first on TGH Photography and Travel Portal/Blog.

Whisky with a view project was partially inspired by this account on Instagram, traveling the world drinking whisky and taking photographs of whisky in the mountains, in the valley, the forest, in such gorgeous natural landscapes that whisky is usually associated with. Prior to that, I was learning whisky appreciation, thanks to The Whisky Festival 2017 at Changi Airport where I was introduced to Balvenie and The Whisky Festival 2018 at Changi Airport whereby I was introduced to Jura. As I grew and learned more about whisky appreciation, it led into whisky and food pairing adventures with my friends Chef Keith Crackling Roast and Chef Jude, this food and whisky photography project is always a work in progress, we would eat, drink and appreciate with our whisky collection, along with some photography shoot of course!

Behind the scenes, I always wanted to produce similar Whisky with a view sceneries here in Singapore. This proved to be more challenging than I expect since the landscape and terrain here is limited not just in land size, there aren’t many any high mountains and valleys. Nevertheless, I decided to produce my own Whisky with a view project, that fits into Singapore’s landscape and terrain.

Whisky with a View Project – SG Edition, got its maiden debut recently during a planned photo walk to explore and discover this old place/lost world, Keppel Hill Reservoir. This was my maiden start to Whisky with a View Project – SG Edition, somehow, it had re-ignited the explorer fire inside me again.

Whisky with a View Project – SG Edition is about appreciating our gorgeous natural landscapes with whisky. As I return back to exploring with my Canon cameras and lenses, through my Canon EOS RP Explorer adventures and stories, I hope to share and showcase more of the unseen natural landscapes in Singapore.

More photography stories and works on the way from my Whisky with a View – SG Edition project, along with whisky and food pairing project. For all whisky fans, I hope you appreciate and enjoy my whisky adventures like I do!

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