Experimental Shooting

I like this shot but somehow, had to tweak the green to be more
"exciting". Funny, even when switched to Auto or Sunlight mode

I don't know what I was thinking when I took my camera out....

This is the more steadier shot at night at the Sg. Perak
Rest area.

Same area but I wanted to see how the bright lights flares affect
the D50

Trip to Prai

Just as we are about to leave, my Boss said there is another call in Prai and we can decide to go if we're up to it. Seeing that we still have enough time, I decided to call the shots and we made it just in time. Sad to sad, this call was not so exciting as all we can do was to cut another supplier's (autodialer) cables since they're interfering with our phone system. By the time I came home, it was near to midnight. And again, I had to raid the fridge but too tired to take a photo of the yee-sang Zinger bread burger.

On the way there, we witness a few accidents. But mostly,
buses breaking down. I did not have the heart to take the
photos as most of the passengers had to wait under nearby
trees. By the time we came back later, one of the bus was
still waiting for assistance in the dark evening

So, we cut some cables and the phone is working again. Pity
the supplier who have to come up and redo the cabling. Then
again, it is their fault for doing things their way and not calling
us to help. This is a DP box which they took it upon themselves
to use it for their own devices. I just hope they did not cut any
wires previously in there or I will smash their autodialers the
next time I am in Prai.

Since Loctor is going to work OT, and he did warn me
about camera accesory prices, its not fun to go for any
shopping there. So, this time, we really head for home

Trip to Taiping

Wokay. Already its Monday and we have to work! This time, it was a trip up to Taiping for a PABX with quite a few extension phones not working. To us, its more like an interface card has gone bye-bye. Still with Monday being as it is, where most schools are not openened yet, I fear there is going to be a big jam when it was time for us to go home as most parents would start to drive back in the evening.

Luckily, this was not the case as we saw on the road, many of them have started their journey after lunch. By the time we completed our job, it was already 1330, time to go home. And since eggtart was not available for lunch, we decided to just go straight home, back to KL.

At first, if you see this, you would have already shit in
your pants. But take a closer look, its just a big photo
of a cop using his radar camera. But its very effective
as many drivers did slow down. Then, you will wonder,
in which spots are the real cops hiding....

On the other side of the road, wave after wave of cars
driving in long stretches. Made me worry there for
a while in case we needed to go home at that time.

Yep. Even in Prai, election fever is there. Thismeans elections could
be coming very soon. I wonder if I can throw a spanner in the works

All the way here, just to diagnose the faulty card and
clear the error logs. Luckily my Boss guessed the
correct card. He must have higher ESP rating than me

More Local Comics

Heh. I was lucky enough to find Puyuh's Astro Cityzen at Mid-Valley yesterday. And also, another surprise find, "Evolusi Identiti" by Puppeteer. Keng!

The Astro CityZen is RM36.90 while Evolusi Identiti is RM7.50

Astro CityZen - Puyuh (or Leong Wan Kok) [English]
Although this book is in large format, the amount of details within the pages are amazing. But if you're looking for more twisted comics like I did after reading his "Dari Alam Anker-Twisted mind of Puyuh", you'd be very disappointed. The book is more of an artists showcase at first glance but after reading the last few pages, where the Puyuh describes each drawing, it all made sense. Then you'd find yourself going through back and forth the wonderful pages. And before you know it, hours has passed. If you want to know more about Puyuh, you can now go to his Website, which is very interesting as he also dabbles with 3D and character scuplting.

Other works are:
Dari Alam Anker
Twisted Minds of Puyuh

Sample pages of Astro-Cityzen

Evolusi Identiti - Puppeteer [Bahasa]
Ever since I picked up a copy of those weekly Gempak magazines some time ago, I was fascinated with this story arc. But this would mean I have to keep on buying the magazines to reach the conclusion. And not only that, i would have to find the beginning of the story as well and this would mean more searching, which in Malaysia, is not an easy thing to do. And not only that, every local comic nowadays are printed in Bahasa which I have to overcome. When there is an exciting scene in the comic, my mind just had to stop for a bit and try to translate it back to English, which just puts a stinker in the adrenalin department.

Anyway, the story is very simple. The Hero (Azrael), a Soul hunter, saves a girl's (Amanue) life in the desert from the Cyclops, who are some form of Soldier/Police. Amanue needs him to accompany her as bodyguard to the North and as a reward, will tell him where the location of water is, once they reach there. On the way, they unwittingly paired up with a weird botanist in a Hockey mask (Enki). The story is more like a journey where all Hell breaks loose in the end. I won't spoil it for you but do buy the book.

The artwork reminds me a lot about The Soul-Reaver game (OK, I just saw the poster, OK?), Dune and especially, the artwork from Street Fighter/Magna Carta. Throughout the book, the artis quite nice, but I felt it could be better with more details added in. (Maybe I am too demanding after reading Matsamune Shirow's Appleseed.) And the sound effects, its not dramatic enough. But the most missing aspect I noticed was the missing action lines to show "movements" of each panel, otherwise it would be a very good book. Still, it is a very good book and I feel so inspired to make my own sketches as well. Kudos.

From the Gempak website, there are other titles from the same author:

Verge - The Art of Puppeteer
Velositi
Forgotten
The Plague

Sample pages of Evolusi Identiti

Do's and Don't's of Dinner with Daddy

OK, when it comes to dinner, I find it very common now, that, what I am going to have is very different from what I get in the end. Take for example, my Dinner. Since Kristine and Kaelynn are going to have the main meals of rice and other dishes, there was not enough for us. So, my Wife would cook some spaghetti for me, where, in my own style, I would then add some salad dressing and put in bits and pieces of meat, vege, etc.

And as soon as Kristine saw that, my dinner (spaghetti) became hers. And hers (porridge + chicken) became mine.

Kristine grabbed Daddy's spaghetti

And ate as much as she can

And she really ate them!

Kristine really pushing her luck. This was taken before she
vomited most of the spaghetti out and into the bowl, where
I had to clean it and finish the remaining spaghetti.
(Cannot not waste, ma)

Zooming on The Dog

After reading the manual and still not making any sense in the toilet, I decided to play with my D50 instead. I always wondered how the did those blur effects (it was simple on a computer) in the olden days of negative films. So, I decided to try it out. I just set the shutter speed and nothing else. Maybe I should have gotten a tripod too.

This is The Dog where I shot using preset White Balance

Then I set the shutter to 2 second delay and zoomed in
(Maybe I should have timed my zooming so that the last
few miliseconds would "stay" long enough for the camera
to get a good image)

OK, that was fun. Now, I zoomed out

This was set to 1 second and the effect was not so prominent

The cane

In most cases where there is a cane, you would take a look at it once
and you will know how often it has been used. But how do you know?
Very easy. You only need to experience it and it will stick with you.

So, do you know how this cane was used?

Shitty Patty

Hamburgers are actually minced meat mixed with other stuff.
You can make your own burger by buying your own mince
and add your own ingredient. Then, you just fry it like any
other burger. In making hamburger patties, you just mix
mince meat with spices, onions, etc. and then use your
hands to form a patty.....................








But Kaelynn did it through her butt...........

First day of CNY (Lin CHor Yatt)

On the first day of The Chinese New Year, we will go through the praying ceremonies and especially the "Tea Ceremony". I wanted the girls to be involved so that they will know what to do when the time comes and not sway into other Religions for nothing. It is important to start the Traditions when they're young. They have been given English names and that is as close as they will ever get.

[Clockwise from TopLeft]
1. Kaelynn helping Grandpa breaking the Lotus seeds
2. Kristine still asleep (as always)
3. Kristine all dressed up but I have to make sure she does the Tea Ceremony
4. Krsitine and Kaelynn shouting Gong Xi Fa Cai to Grandma and Grandpa

Trip to the National Zoo
To tell you the truth, as fas as I can remember, I have never actually been to the National Zoo. And having been to the Singapore Zoo in 2004, I was trying my best to keep my hopes high. Unfortunately, this is not the case. In Malaysia, with the "tidak apa" attitudes, nothing surprises me anymore. When we were quite near to the entrance from the opposite side of the road, the place was already jammed up with a lot of cars. This was because the road leading to the Zoo's entrance was very narrow and all it took was some cars parking on the road shoulder to create the jam. After much thinking, if I am not mistaken, this could be the same entrance since the last few decades, except for the fact that at that time, there were not much cars. The entrance to the Zoo proved it as the design harks back to that era.

Being there was not much to shout about except that it exists in Malaysia. I can feel that it has been neglected for quite some time, looking at the facilities and the number of surviving animals there. How the Zoo maintains itself, I have no idea. Maybe it was mostly from sponsorships. Maybe it was from the ticket sales. But looking at one of the dustbins, the logo of the sponsor was still there but not the "words". Business rivalry? But in its place, there is another fast-food restaurant called Marrybrown (says so on the map).

Speaking about maps, the one in the flyer is slightly different from the signboard versions planted at strategic places. Although the flyer shows you the location of each eating place (i.e. huts selling drinks and popcorns and waffles, etc.) but only the one on the Map would show you an actual restaurant. We found this out AFTER we stopped by for some burgers. And I tell you, everyone queues for food except for a particular race which thinks they own the Goddamn place. While everyone else is queuing, they just walked in and started to order, getting impatient when they were not served immediately.

The National Zoo is huge. It is so huge, that it would take you days to just visit every caged animal in there (if you're a 6-inch tall human, that is). And it is very well maintained, with all the wild grass strategically grown to make the habitat looked unkempt. Even the facilities such as toilets were purposely rendered unusable so that it gives you that quaint feeling you're still in Malaysia.

[Clockwise from TopLeft]
1. The very first place we stopped was the play area
2. All aboard for the Tram/Tractor/Whatever ride
3. Kristine and Kaelynn taking a short snack as we could not locate a proper restaurant
4. A visit to the Aquarium

[Clockwise from TopLeft]
1. A parrot eating its meal
2. Giraffes
3. After the shot was taken, the boy was reprimanded by the Warden not to feed the elephants. Oh, the rocks on the left are elephant shit
4. I don't know what this area is for, but I think its for giraffes and other beasts. Its very untidy

The whole journey took us the better part of the day and on the way out, there was a huge traffic jam, blocking other vehicles from coming in because of one parked car. I also witnessed a Mat Rempit gang in action but I was too slow with the camera. Morever, the traffic was moving. Anyway, we stopped by Mid-Valley on the way home and judging by the parking spaces, either most of the shops are closed of we're very lucky. Ha ha.

Still, it was fun to go back there after a year's of absense. But we're still unable to walk across to The Gardens again, no thanks to the 2-hour dinner we had there. And by 2100, most of the shops have closed. Haih

[Clockwise from TopLeft]
1. Kristine and Kaelynn saying Goodbye at the Zoo
2. Kristine at Mid-Valley and in a 2-hour dinner
3. Both girls at one of the rides
4. Mooning outside Metrojaya

The Scar

This happened a few days ago when Kaelynn was browing
through Krsitine's books when Kristine suddenly got angry
and snatched the book away from her. In the process, the
book's sharp edges cut her face leaving a scar from the
cheek to the eyebrown. She could have been blinded

Chinese New Year Eve Dinner

On the Eve of The Chinese New Year, it is very important for families to get together for this particular dinner. Feuds and politics aside, everyone sits down, shuts their mouth and try to have a peaceful dinner with their elders or parents. So, I am not surprised that many stranded Chinese were quite upset for not being able to go home.

Its been quite some time since we all forgo cooking our own dinner an dpreferred to eat outside instead (imagine the amount of dishes and cutlery I had to wash, even during the cooking!) since there were a lot of dishes which was beyond our skills.

So, we had ours at Janbo (Sri Petaling) and this time, I really fully appreciated the "Buddha Over The Wall" dish instead of the usual Shark's Fin soup with or without the real shark's fin.

[Clockwise from TopLeft]
1. Its close to eight in the evening and they're both asleep
2. After waking Kaelynn up, she decided to wake Kristine up in her own way
3. Too bad she's sleeping like a log
4. The usual Yee Sang, ho-hum. Too bad I can't add some rum...

[Clockwise from TopLeft]
1. After that, it was down to the usual treat of watching some fishes.
2. Abalone? It looked gross as it slides up wards in the tank
3. Kristine's way of saying what happens when you make a crab angry
4. I do not know what this is, some say its an elephant clam, sexual thinking aside

[Clockwise from TopLeft]
1. Once the food is inside the tummy, Kristine got excited
2. Kaelynn trying to feed a pastry flower to Kristine
3. Kristine trying to feed a pastry flower to Mommy
4. I just hope the Police did not come barging in.....

[Clockwise from TopLeft]
1. Minutes after coming home, Kaelynn went out like a light
2. While Kristine decided to use the remaining energy to colour some pictures
3. I have to improve her hand/eye and colour coordination

Happny Chinese New Year!

Its minutes before we close for the Day as today is the Eve of the New Year. Boss asked us to clear our tables, clean, etc. and that sort of stuff. After that, any stuff like old metal bits and electronics, we sold it to the junkyard people and got RM50.20 for the lot. Not bad as we've been throwing them in bins for years.

After that, once I looged on and saw my salary came through (Yahoo!), I paid all my bills and quickly went out to buy some New Year stuff for the family. I wanted to buy a Nikon remote but after having second thoughts, I don't really need it. Moreover, the horrendous traffic jam outside in Kepong convinced me not to go too.

This is the first Mandarin Orange I peeled when I came
to the Office this morning. As the Year of the Rat is
here, all I saw were squashed rats on the road, from
day old dried to minutes gore. Yucks. Maybe its
going to be a bad year. Ha ha ha ha

The electronics stuff on my table that I cleared
and sold to the junkyard. Notice the blue Apple
Mac in the background? Oh, theres a lot of flies
flying about the aluminum cans and they smell
of beer.........

OK, I was "caught" taking these photos which I quickly
removed the DS card, claiming I was testing my broken
camera. I think they're not conviced but anyway, for
I got all these goodies. Erm, from left is soy-sauce
crackers (8), my onion crackers (10), prawn crackers (13)
some biscuit sweets (4+4), jellied fruits (8, I think), seaweed
crackers (13) marshmallows( 12). I did not count the cost but
I paid RM92 and went out fast in case they want to catch me
for the camera act.

After I have cleaned my tables, etc. this is how it looked
There will be more junk piling up my table soon!!! Oh! I
just got a surprise And pow from Boss already!
Kong Hee Fatt Choy!!!

The wound (Healed)

If you do not know about the wound and witnessed the
incident, you would have missed it. Unless you happen
to be in a busy-body mood and asked about the uneven
and smoothed edges

Speeding?

Assuming I see these streaks, I think someone was speeding the night before.

MIC Dangun Racer

I did make a post sometime ago, about the Dangun Racers. These are more or less, spin-offs from the (then) famous 4x4 racers. Maybe its marketing or pricing or maybe its just the shape but I have never seen it being ever so popular here in Malaysia. Maybe its just that no one was interested in a high-speed land torpedo. Still, it does not stop the ever industrious Chinese from copying it. But sometimes, you can see some companies evolved and produced their own versions.

Still, the good (or bad) thing that comes out from all this is that you can have them for a very reasonable price. Ten years ago, they would have been sold for about RM35 or so and the last time I checked (in 2006) it was about RM55 in an original Tamiya shop buried under 1-Utama. But the MIC (Made in China) ones costs very much less than that as for the same amount, you can get about, say, a lot. More bang for you buck, you say.

But there is an actual downside. MIC goods are well known for their low prices and also its quality. You get what you pay for. As long as you're not concerend about its blunt features on the toy (compared to the crisp details of the original), the doubful motor and the funny smelling (and sometimes warped) rubber/vinyl tyres and corny paper stickers, then it is a good buy.

The one I got some time ago, shows how two different manufacturers interpreted the original design and came up with their own ideas.

[From Left to right]
The copycat Tamiya version I got last year, recent one which
is copied from the First Generation of Tamiya's Dangun Racers
and the same model but in model kit form. Same model, different
companies

See how the chrome glisten in the sun?

The kit is just white plastic, so no chroming

You like the chrome version? Here you go!

Taking the Day Off (Day Two)

Surprisingly, once I get into the routine, the second day was much nicer. I just dumped both Wife and Kristine off to school, while giving a good three seconds horning to a Volvo S80 who made a U-turn without signalling in the dark. So for today, I did the laundry (OK, so I hung the laundry which my wife pre-washed the night before), bathed Kaelynn, picked up the Wife (we had to wait until after 1530 as she had an emergency meeting)

Then, we had to rush back to get the clothes inside as it was about to rain before we could go to MacDonalds for Kristine and Kaelynn to have their lunch.

This is the only lunch I had as I was cooking lunch halfway,
the gas died. And we were not able to have anything until 4
in the afternnon. No wonder both Kristine and Kaelynn were
cranky. And I just remmeebered, this is a 10-day old bread...

Irritating CNY Toy

My wife was shopping at TMC (the origin of Giant Hypermarket) in Bangsar today and at the checkout line, Kristine was given a gift by some man at the counter. And all the time, I was double/triple/quadruple parking outside, fending off jaga kereta boys and incessant honking from expensive cars which were too big to squeeze through. (Ha ha) Also, Kaelynn grew impatient in the car as well and cause a lot of ruckus.

Anyway, the gift was a gold plated plastic representation of gold ingots on top of gold ingots. I thought nothing much about it until my Wife showed me that underneath, there is a trapdoor for 3xAA batteries. So, I presumed since it has lights and chances are, it might have speakers too. Maybe the sound coming out would be the "Choy San Tou" chorus followed with fireworks sound effects. Boy, was I wrong.

The sound that came out sounded more like a young girl high on nitrous oxide or a female chipmunk singing the other part of the Choy San Tou song. Take your pick. Playing one was fine but the recording kept looping. Its OK too but once you switch it on and off and on again, the recording would start from the beginning again, giving you a remixed version of whatever the song was. So, this was what happened when Kristine played with it and within minutes we both had to switch it off. It was worse than scratching your nails on the blackboard.

Still, I am not surprised that it is made in China. And I am not surprised that it has a cheap sound chip inside. But what I am surprised was, the fact that they can make the whole thing as hollow as possible while still produces a deafening sound. Still, MIC toys are now expected to be cheaper than cheap, has lights and sound (maybe even the laser) and are copies of the hard to get expensive originals. Well, that is my expectation after seing so much of them on the streets.

Just press the upside down "Fook" symbol and your
mood turns otherwise

Looks nice, right? Everything is quite hollow inside.
Maybe when everyone else ignores it, I can hide
some of my stuff inside it......... hee hee hee hee

All that crap

We've moved back since almost 10 days and yet there were no rubbish collection (or any that I recalled). Still, I hope they do not do the dirty trick of waiting for CNY, and then come to collect at every house and expect us to give them Ang Pow money. For years, they do come, in an all Indian team. And after that, when normal service people come, they are not the same.

I have to learn how to make a delay fuse incendiary device and put it in their truck when it comes. Ha ha ha

See the rubbish piling up already?

Hours later, lukily they came. I do not want to know
what the guy on the right was sitting down for

The feeling of Photography

What does it feel like, taking photos? The only way I can tell you this is by using Golf* as an analogy.

The start is always like this. You heard people mentioning it, and they're talking in jargons. Then you read about it and its still full of jargons. One day, you saw it on TV and you start to take interest. So, you decide to learn more about it.

Taking the first step is the hardest part. Which equipment to buy? Which club is better? What about accessories? Do you need those specialist load-bearing straps? Would fluorescent ball help you locate your ball faster or is it too amateurish? Or is it safer just to buy a "ready to go" package since you're new at this? Going to the Sports shop is a bit intimidating if you're going there by yourself. And even if your friend did come along, it still boils down to personal taste. Granted you have used his equipment before but when it comes to choosing your own, you call the shots. So, you'd be reading up a lot of stuff, going from shop to shop, asking questions until you are satisfied. (Which only later, when you go out with a group, you have the crappiest equipment or embarassed at choosing the wrong brand)

The second step is when you start out with your own equipment. So, when you have the time, you'd start practising at the driving range. You'd observe other players and try to follow their styles. Then, you'd do home and read more about how to use your equipment. At this stage, you'd feel that it is not necessary to take lessons since it looked so easy. Then, you're back on the driving range again, but this time, testing your own theories and also seeing which moves are better without suffering any physical pain.

After weeks of practising, you are more confident about your abilities and by now, would have found some friends for a game.

So, off you go, the few of you, to the game. There, you share your theories, help each other out and so on. But sometimes, this is never the case. You might realise one or two in the group are not so open, or maybe others have progressed further than you that you feel so stupid and slow.

So, you try and try and try. The first few shots were wonderful. But the more you try, you realised that you have gone from bad to worse (when you compared yourself with others). So, you try more and practised more. Every single second you have, you'd think about Golf. Even when you're in the toilet. And you still suck at it. So, you decided to get a better equipment in the hopes that it will improve your game. You think you are the best out there because of your ultra expensive equipment and you only talk to others whom you think are at the same par as you. Every shot to you now, must be perfect and with that kind of stress to excel, you feel so hopeless. Then, when you saw others play, each with their own style, you try to copy them, only to end up being indecisive and no style of your own.

But all is not lost if you give up your Ego and start all over again. You have to eat humble pie, maybe even take lessons, and look at things from another angle. After all, just look at the big picture: Its just a game/hobby/exercise, etc.

And one day, your frame of mind just stepped up to another level and you start to be more discipline, you recognise your abilities and then the results shows. And then, you start to notice why people take up this game. Some made it as their livelyhood, some as a form of exercise, some as their hobby, some for socialising, some for friendship, some for status or bragging rights and so on.

Anyway, I have progressed from being a Professional Point and Shoot to A Moron with a DSLR.

*[Well, I am not sure if its true or not since I do not know much about Golf either. Ha ha ha]

The Supernut!

My Wife got these for me because it was garlic flavoured
But when I took a look at it, I could not stop laughing