I’m looking for travel/photography partner to Japan in Feb next year. The travel date is flexible but it has to be between late jan to early march as this is the late winter period when the wildlife is abundant.
If you are interested in photography and want to learn more about shooting in winter landscape and experience the wonderful wildlife, this is it!
I’m not in any way profiting from this, i’m more into looking for travel partners. Looking for 1 or 3 more people for this trip. If you are interested, please email to ling@cslingphotography.com.

The trip itinerary is written from a Singaporean point of view If you happen to live outside of Singapore and wish to join me for the trip, just minus off the SIN -TOKYO - SIN flight fare. All the prices listed are in Singapore dollars. Go to http://xe.com for conversion.

Destinations: Nagano region and Hokkaido region.
Dates: 30th Jan - 13 Feb 2008
Plane tickets: All Nippon Airway SIN - TOKYO - SIN (2-way ard $750 ) plus 2 domestic flight TOKYO - KUSHIRO - TOKYO ( SGD$160 each flight )= $920SGD - $1080SGD.
the more people going, the cheaper the ticket.
Train & Bus : Using Japan Rail Pass for 2 weeks is ard $600SG for unlimited rides.
Accommodation including breakfast and dinner : Ard $70SGD - $90SGD per day per person. So if 13 days, ard $1k SGD.

Adding the above together is ard $2720SGD.
We set aside another 1k for admission fees, other foods and boat out in sea ice to shoot stella sea eagle ( $120SGD per person per boat trip, depends on how many we want to go on. ) and other misc stuffs like souvenirs if you want…

Total Budget : ard $3.5k - 3.7k

30th Jan 2008 (Wed)
ANA overnight flight from Singapore - Tokyo
Fare ( from Chanbrothers) : $800 SGD (2 passengers) , $640 (4 passengers)

Have to book before 28-Sep-2007

For train and bus travel, We will get the Japan Rail Pass (JR Pass) which will allow us to travel unlimited JR train and Bus ride throughout Japan.
For 14 consecutive days (2 weeks), it cost 45,100 Yen ( $600SGD). You might think this is expensive at first, but it really does save in the long run and we don’t have to go blur at the ticketing machine each time we want to take a train. And of course, taking the bullet train, Shinkansen, saves us time also.

31st Jan 2008 (Thur)
Arrive at Narita, Tokyo airport and take the Shinkansen (the fastest train) to Nagano. We will travel to a famous family-run lodge at Yamanouchi. We can have the rest of the day exploring the surrounding areas.
Duration ( Tokyo - Nagano) : 90 mins
(Nagano Station - Yamanouchi ) : 60mins
Lodge Rate: ard SGD 50. If plus dinner and breakfast at the loge, total will be ard SGD80.

Birds you may find here include Whooper swans, goldeneye and goosander, to white-backed, Great spotted and Japanese pygmy woodpecker, Hawfinch.
Mammals like the elusive Japanese Serow and troops of Snow Monkeys!
Japan’s Winter Wildlife In National Geographic
http://magma.nationalgeographic.com/…geographic.com

1st Feb 2008 (Fri)
Jigokundani, aka Hell Valley, in Shiga Heights (shigakogen). To shoot the wild snow monkeys troops in snow and hot-tubbing together in the onsen. These monkeys are famous for their cultural transmission behavior (young monkeys learn from their elders novel kinds of behaviors, from grooming techniques to hot-tubbing to food preparation). They are the only animal other than humans and raccoons that is known to wash its food before eating it.
15min JR bus from lodge to Jigokundani. We will spend the whole day there. From 9am to 4.30PM. Admission Fee is $7 SGD.
Some Great Snow Monkeys in onsen Photos here.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ommphot…7594434322919/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mangani…7600011544427/

2nd Feb 2008 (Sat)
Another day at Jigokundani, aka Hell Valley, in Shiga Heights (shigakogen). To shoot the wild snow monkeys troops in snow and hot-tubbing together in the onsen.
15min JR bus from lodge to Jigokundani. We will spend the whole day there. From 9am to 4.30PM. Admission Fee is $7 SGD.

3rd Feb 2008 (Sun)
We will head of next to the famous birding site, Yacho no Mori (also know as Karuizawa Bird Forest). At the lodge, you may see the Asian Azure-winged Magpies in the trees outside our window. We are 10 min walking distance from the best part of the forest.
60min JR bus to Nagano Station. Nagano-bound Shinkansen from Tokyo Station and get off at Karuizawa. From there catch the local train to Naka-Karuizawa.

Birds you may find here include Willow, Varied and Japanese Tits, Grey-capped Greenfinches and Long-tailed Rosefinches Great Spotted and Japanese Pygmy Woodpeckers, Dusky Thrush, Coal Tit and Nuthatch Copper Pheasant, Crested Kingfisher, Japanese Accentor and, if we are lucky, Japanese Waxwing, Red-flanked Bluetail, Bull-headed Shrike and Rustic Bunting. At nearby Yokokawa we should find Brown Dipper and Japanese Wagtail in the river. On the reservoir, colourful Mandarin Ducks are normally present. Long-tailed Tit, Eurasian Jay, Winter Wren, Ural Owl, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Japanese Grosbeak (fabulous song), Yellow Bunting, Brown Dipper, lots of Narcissus and Blue-and-white Flycatchers and Siberian Blue Robin.

4th Feb 2008 (Mon)
Another day at Yacho no Mori (also know as Karuizawa Bird Forest).

5th Feb 2008 (Tue)
We are off to Hokkaido.
Local train to Naka-Karuizawa and then JR Shinkansen to Tokyo Station and then Internal flight from Tokyo to Kushiro, Hokkaido. Total journey altogether from Nagano to Hokkaido should be ard 3 hrs.
ANA domestic flight is only ard $140 SGD coz of Travel Japan Fare.

Arrive at Kushiro. Take a JR Bus to Shimo-Kuchoro in Tsurui-mura Village to stay at a Farm Lodge ( $70SGD per night per person. )

6th Feb 2008 (Wed)
Nearby Lake Kussharo , Akan National Park, for cranes and Whooper swans as well. Hokkaido’s most scenic crater lake, and flocks of vociferous whooper swans gliding among the steam and morning mist.
Some Great Whooper Swan Photos here.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kclama/8079831/
http://www.mattonestonia.com/images/search/whooper+swan
Birds you may find here include Smews and Harlequins. With luck, have a “steller time” with the likes of the Steller’s Sea-Eagle, Steller’s Eider, and Steller’s Sea Lion. Pelagic Cormorant,

7th Feb 2008 (Thur)
Red-crowned, or Japanese, cranes, the largest and most northerly of the cranes in Japan. Expect to see and photograph flocks of 100 or more of these magnificent birds at ranges down to just 50 feet or less. At this time of year the cranes will be dancing a truly spectacular ritual. May also photograph white-tailed eagles, black-eared kites, and possibly red foxes. Whooper Swans at the Kawayu area.
Great Red-Crowned Cranes Photos
http://www.flickr.com/photos/wildpho…7594243601929/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kuckiba…dcrownedcrane/

8th Feb 2008 (Fri)
Another day for Red-Crowned Cranes.

9th Jan 2008 (Sat)
Stay at nearby Furen Ko. The famous lodge whereby the owner speaks good english and good birding knowledge. Brown-eared Bulbuls, Eurasian Nuthatches, Asian Marsh and Japanese Tits, and Eurasian Tree Sparrows at the feeders outside the room window.
Birds you may find here include Blakiston’s Fish Owls, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Nuthatch, Treecreeper and Marsh Tit, Harlequin, Black and Asian Scoters, Long-tailed, and Red-breasted Meganser
Mammals : Sika Deer, Red Fox.

10th Feb 2008 (Sun)
Another day at Furen-ko

11th Feb 2008 (Mon) -13th Jan (Wed)
Travel to Rausu. Basically this place is famous for Stella and White-tailed sea eagle on the sea ice. We will go on the sea-eagle boat trips (ard $120 SGD which only applies to Photograpers ) which we have to make reservation as soon as we arrive in Rausu. There’s a morning and evening boat. So i guess we could go for both times to get thee best. However, note that on some days, the boats may not go out due to weather or ice conditions. So i’ve decided we stay her for at least 3 days just in case.
Birds you may find here include Blakiston’s Fish Owls, Brown Dippers, Teals, Spectacled Guillemots, Asian Rosy Finches etc etc….

Great Stella Sea Eagle Photos
http://www.martinbaileyphotography.com/thumbnails.php?album=search&cat=0&page=4
http://www.johnchapmanphotographer.co.uk/gallery/2512601#133532526

13th Feb (Wed)
Kushiro - Tokyo - Singapore!
Back to Singapore!

Been back in Singapore for awhile but I’ve been too busy to sit down and go through the 18GB of photos in my portable drive, let alone write the trip report!

Pretty eventful trip i must say…. a mixture of the good and the bad.
Here’s and inkling of what to expect from this trip’s photography…

The star of the whole trip was a herd of about 50-60 Bornean Pygmy Elephants, crossing the river during a heavy downpour. My boat was the only one there, i suspect it’s because of the rain that no other boats were around ( unlike my previous encounters whereby dozens of tourist boats would have crowded around the river bank, thus blocking the elephants of their path to cross the river ). We kept a distance and tried to stay as inconspicuous as possible. The elephants were clearing pretty much all the vegetations in their path before making their way down the river ( stumbling, sliding and some even slipping down the mudslide and into the river with a huge splash! ). The best part has to be the new born calf ( just over a week old ), tucked in between the two females, learning to swim across the river. As seen in the last photo, the river was very deep. Even the adults were just an eye above the water. It was such a heart-warming sight to see the adults encouraging the young elephant to swim across and finally reaching the other side of the river safely.

On the 3rd day, was out shooting on the boat for the whole morning. It was so scorching hot, i felt like a baked toast, i could eat myself. When we finally docked, i took out the camera and went on land. Feeling too tired to carry my heavy tripod along, i stupidly left it on the boat, unattended.
Not too long after, another boat past by ours and the big waves caused our boat to rock. Alas, my tripod lost it’s balance and fell into the river below. The tripod, including the Karingphochi ballhead and Wimberley sidekick cost me 1k. Everyone’s jaw dropped when they realized the cost of my carelessness.

Nobody saw the tripod fell in though, but i guess that’s what happened. No one is to blame really, except myself. Accepted the fact that i can never get my tripod back and moved on ( the river was too deep and current was strong that day ). I was more worried about the crocs, that they may accidentally choke on my tripod or something… sigh.

Hand held my D200 + 80-400mm + SB800 throughout the rest of the trip.

On a brighter side, my skin has turned bright red… now i feel like a tomato, i can eat myself.

On our last day there, met up with Dr. Marc Ancrenaz, one of the world’s top veterinarian and conservationist. He left France 10 years ago and with his wife, came to Borneo to help the orangutans. Since then, he had set up a research camp by the Kinabatangan River. He had offered us a ride back to town to visit Sepilok in the morning. It’s really interesting and fun talking to someone with so much knowledge about the orangutans, as well as the many other wildlife that lives by the river. I deeply respect him for the work that he has done.

to be continued…

Off to Borneo! It almost feels like a 2nd home to me now

*blows off dust*
It has certainly been a while since I’ve last wrote anything productive at this blog.
Essentially, not being productive here translates to being productive somewhere else, or so I lead you to believe

Bid goodbye to freelance and hello to Techsailor!
Gave a Borneo talk/photo presentation at SGH (Singapore General Hospital).
Had many belated 23rd bday celebrations coz my friends were THAT busy ;P
Morning low-tide adventure trail and afternoon sun-tanning at the shoreline of Sentosa.

Amongst many other things which i regretted not recording it down coz i just can’t seems to recall at the moment. All i know is that the past month seems to have passed me by at the speed of light ( figuratively speaking… ). Sometimes, being busy can be a good thing. But i do miss having some alone time by myself and just taking it slow and being ONE with the world, my world. I seems to have accomplished that today

It was such a glorious Sunday morning. The weather was cool and breezy, sky was overcast but with the sun still shining through the clouds and the birds were chirping happily, as was I ( but i don’t chirp ). We seldom get this kinda nice cool weather here on the sunny island of Singapore. Usually, one would have snuggled in bed for that extra few minutes or even went back to sleep altogether. But i just have to jump out of bed early for a lovely morning stroll to get my favourite Turkey Ham Croissant breakfast from Burger King. As i enjoy the wonderful breeze that blew across my face and slow down my footsteps to admire the residential mynahs, sparrows, doves and cats along the way and silently greeting them a good morning. All these little things are very precious to me. It may be common things, like a beautiful scenery, a wonderful breeze, or the twinkling stars on a cloudless night but it makes me really happy. Makes me think that life is indeed beautiful no matter what happens…

I was invited by Jd & Rex to join the Techsailor executive team in May along with Wayne and Leon. Techsailor is a web solutions company founded and incorporated back in 2005 (about a year and a half ago). We will gradually be moving towards Venture Technologist in the near future. Currently, we have several high valuation project underway, which explains my online absence. But that DOESN’T mean that it’s all work and no fun! As you can see from the rest of this entry, we are a young and dynamic group of people.

A picture speaks a thousand words… So i’m gonna leave you with a pictoral account of the fun times at Techsailor.

(L-R): Wayne, Junhan, Me, Jd, Leon, Brian, An. Some techsailors missing from this picture.

( The photos hereafter are credited to Leon )
Aside from company runs every Tuesday and Thursday if possible, we plays other sports such as badminton, even in the office as demonstrated here by Jd and Rex!

Everytime we close a big deal, we will have a dinner and ktv like this

The full Techsailor Family - Sitting (L-R): Dong Feng, Junde, Rex, Me (Leon). Standing (L-R): Ling, Ying Shuai, Zhen Yu, Kai Hong, Wayne, Khanh An, Jun Han.