A walkabout in KL

Had been wanting to do this for a long time and finally got round to it. This time, I increased the saturation, maxed out the contrast and sharpened the pictures. They (the pictures) turn out warmer than it is when it was actually a cloudy day. It's amazing how we in Malaysia take racial harmony for granted. We are ok with each other's religions more than we think we are. Evidenced here by various temples and holy men within a swivel of a camera. The British, and now politics, keep us in harmonious disunity for far too long. To me, the average Malaysian will eventually see that we can't live in isolation.

Hmm, maybe I should go out and buy me a unity band.

Experimenting with light...

It's all about how much light is captured. These series of photos is my attempt at getting my pictures to appear bleak and moody.



At the end of the day, it is our own interpretation that matters when we look at anything that we perceive to be nice. I kinda like these pictures but they don't do it for my wife.


The hard part is being consistent throughout your selection. What I do here is just play around with saturation, hue, sharpness and exposure. No touch-ups done.


No touch-ups? What I mean is that I don't lose someone's navel by airbrushing. Tweaks were done on the way light is captured.

Fireworks at Putrajaya

The inaugural Malaysia International Fireworks Competition attracted thousands and I mean thousands of people to Putrajaya. The show started at 10pm but we were there before 8.30pm to make sure we get there before the gridlock started. We wanted to give Josh a treat so to be comfortable, we bought tickets to watch it from the Putrajaya International Conference Centre (PICC).


The show was spectacular with the music aptly playing to visual cue. Great job Team Italy!

We would love to see other teams' effort but the jam going home was just horrendous that we opt not to. I would advice those going to check-in the Shangri-La and just retreat to your room after the show and not get stuck in a 2hr jam just to get home.

I didn't have a wide-angle lens so the pictures look too close-up for a perfect shot. Nevertheless, I was happy with the outcome as it was my first time taking pictures of fireworks with this camera. Next time, I'd choose a vantage point across the lake to get a nicer angle.

Got me new lenses...

I always wondered how the adverts on billboards have really nice close-up pictures of people or objects with very blurry background. Technically this is done by using the biggest aperture in your settings.




However, the lenses I had before never managed to go beyond 1:4.5 (cheap amateur lenses). So the desired effect didn't quite turn out to my liking unless the background is really far away. I always knew this will set me back quite a bit if I were to invest in better lenses. I stumbled upon a Canon 50mm f1.8 canon lenses by chance. It was housed together with the ones that cost well over RM3000. Surprisingly, this one only cost a fraction of that.




Here are some of the pictures I took. Of course you could also edit the pictures in Photoshop and add the blur effect, but where is the fun in that?

Phuket Getaway

"Tell me when we get there, Papa!" Phuket was a long awaited holiday for the family. Mind you, the destination changed a great deal of time as we contemplated on the best place to bring Josh and making sure he enjoys it. Kerala, India was top of our list but sanitation and the nature of the adventure we planned was not quite suitable for a 3 year old. An executive decision was made by yours truly to check out a resort I first stumbled upon several years back in Phuket. The Chedi.

It's a boutique hotel suitable for young couples with some level of fitness, as the whole hotel hugs a hill and that translates to hundreds of steps to get to and fro the beach. Nevertheless, during the first evening there, we were greeted by the most beautiful sunset during our stay there. Nice welcome, Phuket!

We managed to get a few hours of fun on the beach after checking in, which for Josh was the only thing he was looking forward to. There are other things to do in Phuket and we didn't want Josh to associate this holiday with just the beach.

What's a visit to a paradise island without island hopping on the agenda? There was a choice of Phi Phi Island and Phang Nga Bay speedboat tours. We opted for the latter and turned out a better choice as the sea was calmer on this side of Phuket. The sea was choppy to Phi Phi.

Nice hat, Zizzster! The tour included a stopover at the famous James Bond Island featured in The Man with the Golden Gun edition. It was an ordinary enough island with not much beach to shout about. To see the island, a short hike is necessary. Sad to say, the result of carrying a toddler over steep rocks was not rewarded by an awe inspiring sight. It was just a big rock in the water. Hence I'm not posting it here.
Of course, safety is of concern when you are bouncing on open waters at considerable speed with 400 breaking horespower strapped at the back of the boat. The tour operator even had a life jacket for Josh. They are very organized up there in Thailand. Wherever we went in Thailand, Josh was given preferential treatment. Our tour guide took extra care of him as he reminded him of his own son. At the hotel, all the girls, be it waitresses or the front desk staff would play with him and give him sweets. Josh being the stud he is would act nonchalantly.

The final stop of the boat ride was on an island with beaches on either side. It was basically a long sand bank with a cafe. Here Josh was feeding the fish a banana. He really looked the beach boy that I wanted to be.

And again, another day at the beach was spent with me burying my son up to his waist. "Papa, this is for a little while only, right?" Afraid we might leave him on the beach like that.

Our visit to Phantasea was not documented as there was no photography allowed in the main theatre. The main attraction was a good stage show with all the elephants and domesticated animals of Thailand doing a stunt or another. The story was of Thailand's famous lore involving a magical elephant. You also have a chance to take pictures with tiger cubs at the entrance for a fee, which I thought was a bit inhumane as the cubs were passed from one tourist to another at lightning speed.


To cap the visit, we had to take an elephant ride. It was called a mini eco tour which started with a hike to see a waterfall (boring!), stopped at a gibbon sacntuary (double bore!! especially when we weren't allowed to see them up close) and an elephant safari through a river and rubber plantation. In this last picture, Josh was actually riding on top of the elephant's head. The trainer hopped off his elephant and took this picture. I was quite shocked as I don't remember my license to include elephants as vehicles I am allowed to drive. Luckily Josh was able to steer the elephant without any incident. There was also a buffalo cart ride which was as exciting as riding in a err.... buffalo cart.

All in all the family had a great time with Josh always talking about Phuket and when he could go again. It's hard to explain that a holiday is not an every weekend thing to do, that we need money, that we need to take leave... "But papa, I have money!" Pointing to the piggy bank we have at home.