The above is an image presentation of the Royal Palace and Ancient City in Bangkok. Make sure your sound is turned up, click play and enjoy!

PS: if you’ve watched the show, yes that is a shot of a sushi train at the end. It’s just what we had for dinner… yeah I know, not your typical way to finish a very intensive day studying Thai history, but it was like A$8 for all you can eat sushi, steamboat, drinks and dessert!

My brother Kevin turned 37 on Monday, what a scary thought. When did we all get so old? But of course if you knew my brother you’d have to say that he hasn’t really grown old… some would debate that he’s even grown up. His GameBoy collection is testament to that!

On Sunday the extended family gathered at Kev’s in-laws’ place for a birthday dinner. The meal, or should I say banquet, was amazing as usual… crabs (like 12 of them), prawns, fish, more fish, crème brulee… and birthday cake. No ordinary cake of course, but a Bart Simpson cake. A Bart Simpson cake… there, I said it again. You may think it worrying for a grown man to have a cake like this for his birthday, but perhaps what was more worrying is that none of us thought that was particularly strange!

By the way, the amazing cake was baked by Kev’s mother-in-law. She was the one responsible for my wonderful wedding cake. So, if you’re getting married soon and are after a visibly stunning and absolutely scrumptious wedding cake, let me know and I’ll pass on her details.

Anyway back to Kev. He’s always been a kid at heart, which means we have always been able to relate well over the years despite his 11 year seniority, and for that i have to be eternally thankful. I wish him all the best for his 38th year, as I get the feeling it’s going to be a good one!

Check out some photos from his birthday here.

Saturday afternoon I dropped by my parents’ house to take some photos of their home. After 25+ years they’ve decided to sell the family home now that they’re empty-nesters. The real estate guy they hired is great, however he tried to take some photos of the house when it wasn’t quite ready (i.e. 25+ years of crap lying around – oops, I probably shouldn’t be labelling my parents’ treasured belongings as crap… sorry). So now they really don’t trust him anymore with the pictures and asked me to try my hand at architectural photography (I think they turned out pretty well… for a people photographer!). See the results below.

Anyway, if you’re in the market for a beautiful 4 bedroom home in leafy Balwyn North, there’s one on the market soon!

Oh, and my sister-in-law informed me that I’m not allowed to Photoshop any of the images, so if you saw the version of my parents’ house with the ranch out back… umm… ignore that one.

Aimee and Dirk have left Australia. I can’t believe their time here is up!

Aimee has been such a good friend to Elaine over the years, and she was also our bridesmaid at the wedding. Dirk on the other hand… I haven’t known him for that long, but I took an instant liking to him when he declared his love of VB (yeah, I couldn’t believe it either – that’s a pretty big statement for a German!).

Now they’re off to Singapore, London then back home to Germany. I feel bad for not being able to make their farewell last Wednesday, but I’ll be sure to drop by Germany some time to catch up, stay at their apartment and eat all their food!

Check out Dirk’s website and blog (click here for the translated version… it’s pretty funny sometimes).

Almost four months after my wedding, I’ve finally got around to working on the album! I figured it only fair to Elaine and all my relatives that I at least finish my own before I get stuck into the THIA Photography albums (besides the fact that all THIA Photography albums are produced for the couple within only 2 weeks of the wedding!). I absolutely love putting the albums together. It’s so much fun to take a handful of photos and turn them into an original piece of artwork! Here’s a couple of samples to give you a taste.

There’s so many great shots from my wedding that the album’s going to be the full 80-side version. I’ve done roughly 27 sides and am only just past the ceremony. I don’t know how people manage to squeeze their wedding photos into a 20-side album, I really don’t! I reckon it’s one of the most important days of your life, so make the album fit the wedding, not the other way around!