Photo rescue mission

I don't know what went to my head today - I looked at my old photos - those during my college and uni days.

Stored all these years in cheap photo albums, I don't think they will survive for much longer if I don't do something about it. So, I'm going to scan my photos so that I can store them digitally, just like all my more current photos.

It's hard to imagine that just around 8 years ago, I was still clicking away on film cameras. In those days, an Olympus mju was probably the most sought after camera for the young crowd like me (yes, I was young once upon a time).

As I turn the pages, the memory of my younger days flashed before me. I recall friends long forgotten, and newly rediscovered (Facebook is the best thing since sliced bread, I think). I remember those days when I was wondering if I should pay 2.50 for a Snickers bar ... because I had only 5 in my pockets ! I recall those times when a holiday means I could walk a little longer in the mall.

I know realise these photos are really important to me. One day, when memory fails me, I'll need to look at them to remind me of myself.

So, busy work days or not, I'll work towards digitizing as many of my photos as I possibly can !

Maybe then, I can show some of you the days when I had green hair !

Shamelessly plugging again ...

Just added a new post on my photoblog. It's a series on a very intersting cloud formation I chanced upon while flying over Java island. The last photo is what I consider a once in a lifetime sort of photo.

Do visit it and give your comments.

Trip Report: Forbidden City

My "teacher" asked my to write a report about my recent trips wor ... so I start by writing this one on Beijing's Forbidden City lor, hor ?

Firstly, this isn't my first trip to Beijing. I've been there previously, but it was so rushed, I hadn't had much time to explore the sights of the city. Read about that previous trip here.


This time around, I had a bit more time, arriving on Saturday morning. The MAS flight to Beijing is at such a bad time that when I arrived, it was just 6 am ... and the hotel had no room for me at all. So, I just grabbed my camera, took a map, and finished off what I didn't get to finish the last time around - the Forbidden City, also known as the Imperial Palace.

My last trip there was rushed, and I didn't even had the time to finish all the sights, so this time, I am not going to let the chance pass me by !

I'll let the pictures describe the Forbidden City, rather than bore you all to sleep with words.


Autumn in Forbidden City means you get loads of Mandarin oranges fruits. In fact, they're all over Beijing!


First thing you do is buy an entrance ticket. Don't be stingy ... the ticket is around RM30, and you have the option of also renting an audio guide, which wirelessly detects where you are and plays out audio commentary. It serves as a really cool map - not just showing you the layout of the place, but where you've been to, so you don't end up walking the same place twice !


First stop is the Jing Sui River ... just outside the Meridian Gate. When I was last here in summer 2006, it was dirty, murky and smelled a little unpleasant. None of that now ! It's much nicer. Must be the Olympics ...


It's from this audio guide that I learnt about these little figurines on the roofs. The more figurines on a building's roof, the more important the building is ! Only 1 building in whole of ancient China can have 11figurines. And all buildings have odd number of figurines ! Ah ... see teacher, I learnt something new !


Of course, then I started venturing inside, seeing all the sights that most tour guides will want to show to their tourists. But the problem is ... these sights are overcrowded !


If you look carefully at the picture above, you will realise that there are TOO many people ! Just like all other places in China ..


It was then that I decided to go to places I've not seen in my previous trip, either because there wasn't enough time, or because they were paying sections. You see, it's quite morose ... but you sometimes have to pay again in the Forbidden City to visit some of the areas. In this case, I visited the Nine Dragon Screen Wall, which was very peaceful and quiet ... until some Malaysian tourist group came in and spoilt it all .. ! =(


Anyways ... this time, I visited some of the exhibits in there. The Forbidden Palace is now a museum, so many of the buildings actually hosts exhibitions.


And besides that, there are some unusual parts of the Forbidden Palace I haven't yet visited, such as the "Crystal Palace", an unfinished western style palace the last Emperor of China was building when money ran out due to wars, etc.


Of course, I had to visit the old favorite, even though it was totally crowded. I had to brave a crowd of old ladies from Foochow who nearly tore my shirt off and were shouting at the top of their voice asking me to move away so that they can see the throne. It's madness out there ... their tour guide actually apologized to me after that.


What was really satisfying for me was being able to visit the Forbidden City at my own pace and leisure, taking as much time as I wanted, or skipping places that didn't interest me. The audio guide made it easy enough, and tour guides, while nice, would not have been necessary, not when there's an audio guide anyways. Next time in Beijing, I probably won't stop by here, unless all the renovations have been completed, that is. I still have not been able to see the Hall of Supreme Harmony due to renovations - it was under renovation in May 06, it's still being renovated now ! =(


Anyways ... last but not least ... if you do visit the Forbidden City, please remember the important announcement above ;)

Little bit of update ...

These are busy times for me. Both at work and in my own personal time, there are just so many things happening, it's both fulfilling and dizzying at the same time. It's a bit like juggling with really sharp things ... it demands concentration, if you do it well, the audience will applaud and appreciate your skills. If you do it badly, you could end up with some very ugly scars.

Some of you may know I have another blog (other than the photo blog, that is). Well, most of you won't. Anyways, that blog is shutting down soon - it's turning into a pay-only site, and I don't like pay only sites - as if there's not enough ad revenue to go around !

So, I'm now in the process of moving posts that mean a lot to me from that blog into this one. I've done the backup, but there's more to it than just copy and paste. It's not a Ctrl+c and Ctrl+v thing, moving sites.

One thing about reading that other blog all over again is that somewhere in those blog entries, is the history of my digital photography journey ! There are so many great memories ! You will soon see some of those blog entries moved over here, as soon as I make them ready, I'll point it out to all of you, so that you can see what I was like before I was here, before I became the Mozilla Monster you all know (or don't know).

It was also about a time when I was grappling my way through work life, so it's been doubly satisfactory for me to read up on my own journey through those formative career years !

It'll take time to get those posts over here, so keep coming back to check on what's up. In the meantime, I've posted some photos from that other blog over at my photo blog. The first series is called Bali Sunset. Do hop over to have a look !

Eh ... what's that ... ?

Now that Dad has retired, he's spending a lot of time doing some of the things he loves best.

Gardening is one such thing - it's funny ... he's never been a great gardener when he was young ... all he ever does it help mum carry pots from point A to point B. But over the years, he's proven to be a great green finger ! Anyone familiar with the Kuan Yin temple in Taman Bukit Kuchai can drop by and see some of his handy work ! He and a few friends garden there on the weekends !!!!

Can you see it ? Click to see a better pic.

Anyways ... we have this bit of land opposite our house, which isn't developed. Dad puts many of the flowering plants there because mum doesn't like too many flowers within the house compound - messy, she says.

Today, while doing his early morning gardening ... he came across ...

It's about the same thickness of the pagar's wire mesh ... very thin and small ...

Gosh ... we call it a 'Green Bamboo Snake' in chinese, not sure what it's called in English.

It's so small you can't see it at first against the green background. And I really had to move very, very, close to get a picture. I was using my full 135mm zoom ... and was only 2, 3 feet away when taking most of the pictures.

Dad was getting freaked out. He doesn't take risks, and is quite averse to all sorts of things. He kept telling at me from across the road to be careful, and to keep my distance, reminding me that even the crocodile hunter didn't have a good ending. :P


Nice snake, no ?

Charging the Batteries: Perhentian Besar

Picking from the previous post, I was on a week-long holiday, driving the east coast with The Girlfriend. It'll be my 2nd year doing this, while Girlfriend's doing a driving vacation like this for the first time.

I guess by driving, I'm combining my passion for travel, driving, the East Coast of Peninsular Malaysia and photography all rolled into a single holiday. Not to forget, Girlfriend is coming along too. =)


We bid farewell to the charming Cherating / Chendor area early in the morning, immediately after breakfast to avoid the expected traffic, and to hopefully maximize our short time on the island. The roads have definately improved from last year, when many road works made the drive a little difficult at some stretches. This year, it's a lot better, but there are still roadworks along the way.


The long drive to Kuala Besut, which is just before the Kelantan border, took me nearly 5 hours from Cherating. We reached just before lunch, and caught our tour operator by surprise - he was still out of town at the bank - thank goodness he didn't keep us waiting for long !


After a quick tea with our tour operator at the new, make-shift jetty at Kuala Besut (the real jetty is under renovation), we took the speed boat to Perhentian Besar. The boat ride was great, and took just under 30 minutes.

Perhentian Besar is the larger of the two Perhentian islands. The resorts here are more family oriented, and it's quieter and generally, more expensive. On Perhentian Kecil, the resorts cater more to a backpacker crowd and is cheaper, but has a more vibrant nightlife.

I knew some chalet owners on Perhentian Besar, and got a good deal - basic non a/c chalet with attached bathroom at RM 80 per night. My only complaint is that the bed can be a little better, and there are signs of termite infestation at the chalet already. Anyways, it was good enough for our short stay.


I won't bore you guys with too much details, I'll let the photos speak for themselves.


Weather wise, our trip was somewhat wrecked by unusual morning of rain, and the threat of a storm (which isn't expected at this season). It cancelled our snorkelling plans. I really wanted to take Girlfriend out for a snorkel, but well, we can plan, but we don't control the weather, you know. =(

Instead, Girlfriend and I went around the island taking photos and snorkelling around the near-shore coral reefs. Photos taken after the rain were somewhat flat. =(


Sad news is - the coral deterioration from my last year's visit is amazingly rapid. By my own reckoning, in some areas, mostly the ones where snorkellers are being dumped by the dozen by tour operators, the coral is 50% less than what it was last year.


However, there is some good news - in some reefs just a little further away from where the operators dump tourists by the boat load, I see signs of new coral life. So, it's not all lost. Hopefully, the operators will keep away from these reefs. At the same time, there are now marked areas which are off limits to boats. This should keep some operators from getting too close to some corals. =)

In any case, snorkelling is immense fun. Girlfriend, who has snorkelled in many a great places, found the fish life to be varied and colorful. At the same time, the incredible amount of soft corals and the general variety of corals we encountered made this trip worthwhile. In some places, there are so many reef fishes swimming around us, it actually freaked us out for a bit !


The soft, powdery sand in Perhentian Besar was mesmerizing. We spent some time just lying on the soft sand ... it was that good. Girlfriend even exfoliated with the sand ... the things girls do for beauty ...

We've decided next year, we won't be travelling to Perhentian again, but I'm sure we'll be back sometime, and I hope the coral life would have survived, even thrived when we return in the future. I hope tourists and tour operators will be more educated and will do their part to protect the corals and marine life in the area.


One of the highlights of this trip was food - Girlfriend enjoyed the food very much. Check out the restaurant at Watercolours Resort - they serve the best food around.

And of course, I enjoyed every bit of my vacation on Perhentian Besar, even if the weather spoiled some of the fun.

Next Stop: Kuala Terengganu to see some terrapins. And Kuantan to wrap it all up !

Thru a macro lens ...

One reason why I've bought a DSLR was that I've always wanted to do real macro shots. Some of my imaginary readers think I take good pictures of flowers, but honestly, they're more flukes.

Now, I'm not putting down the point and shoots, the normal digital cameras. I still hang on to my Nikon 7900, and for the price you pay, it does a lot. For most people, all the extra $$$ to get some of these pictures is just too much $$$, and I'd agree too.

A few years ago, a DSLR was more like a luxury item, not a camera Moz should be having.


However, after seeing the world through a macro lens on my D80, I'm not going back. It's a very different world you see through a macro lens. Even a little ant looks so much more different ...


Here's the first test shots using the Tamron SP AF90mm F/2.8 1:1 Macro lens on my D80. In the little confine I call my garden, I've had such a lot to photograph, it's amazing !

See that green circle? There are 3 tiny flowers there ... which looks like this under 1:1 magnification.

You just can't help but be amazed by what beauty even tiny flowers are.

And that seemingly insignificant weed?

Looks really good under 1:1 magnification, no?

I still am not very good at taking insects, etc. There's so much more to learn, and I'm sure the macro shots will get better with time.

I still get my exposures wrong all the time. The girlfriend, who's seen the rest of the pictures will agree. I go from totally overexposed to totally underexposed and a few more shots before getting it right. Good thing flowers don't complaint about posing for me !

More Pics to Feast On

Place: Eye On Malaysia, Lake Titiwangsa, Malaysia
Time: Evening, last Sunday
Partner in Crime: The Girlfriend.

Equipment: Nikon D80 with 18-135 kit lens and tripod.

Click on the images to see a bigger picture.

It was really unplanned, and last minute, but I liked it anyways because it gave me the chance to work the long exposures and also to learn about the telephoto capabilities of the Nikon kit lens. Not too bad, I must say.

There's so much to learn ! I'm so new to the world of DSLR, and I'm still trying to understand the camera and be "one" with it.

Let me know what you guys think, ya ?

There was a crowd there, but I didn't feel like climbing into the Eye for some reason.

From here, it's more like a table fan instead.

The big wheels are hitting KLCC soon !!!! Run !!!

When they switched off the lights, the eye no longer looked like a table fan.

Nice view from here. Too bad there's like a few billion mosquitos that forced us away !

D80: A few more photos

With very little to do this morning, feeling lazy, and not having much to do, I decided to learn a bit more about my D80.

A few more shots to share with my 3 imaginary readers ...

My favorite subject: water lilies and lotus. Too bad my lotus and water lily plants don't always bloom at the same time. Anyone know how to make the lotus flower all year long?

I like how the background turns out fuzzy and soft.

The bees keep coming ... question is, where's the beehive ?

And my clothes line ... it's a small front yard ... there isn't a lot to photograph, you know ...

Green Monster

Angeliuliu gave me an assignment. Said she wanted to see more photos. *Next time, just ask me to bring laptop lah*

Her assignment is not easy ... it had to be color coordinated photo. And from the looks of it, there needed to be some color theme to it too. Anyways, since Moz has good vibes about Angeliuliu, he filtered thru piles and piles and sorted MB upo MB of photos in his quest to please Angeliuliu.

So, ok. Moz being a monster, is obviously a fan of the color GREEN. Yeah, green. How hard is it to make the color green stand out? Very.

So, I picked 5 green photos and 1 not so green, but extremely color coordinated photo for the viewing pleasure of angeliuliu and my 5, maybe 6 dedicated readers.

Enjoy.

My green joss stick holder.

Rice. The essense of life for most Asians.

Drops of water on a lotus leave.

See the ants? Scene from the Putrajaya Botanical Gardens.

Guardian watching over Bali rice terraces.

The not so green picture ... sandstone Buddha head rested on the roots of a bodhi tree in the compounds of Wat Mahathat in Ayuthaya, Thailand. The color just blends, no?