A Life Less Extraordinary

First Wedding In 2012

2012-01-28T06:36:00.003+08:00

On Jan 14 2012, my friend Andrew finally got married. We have been friends for the last 25 years. He had been single for so long that most people had stopped asking when he is going to get hitched but I guess all good things must come to and end.

He asked me to shoot his wedding for him and I did. I assembled a team of 4 photographers and we covered the wedding. I worked well over 20 hours on that day itself but it was worth it. I am still in the process of editing the pictures as of this post but here is a video slideshow that I put together of what went on during the church ceremony. Hope you guys like it.

Untitled from alphakkc on Vimeo.

Enter The Dragon

2012-01-27T17:42:00.001+08:00

On the 23rd of January 2012, the chinese celebrated the Chinese New Year and ushered in the year of the dragon. It's the start of a new lunar year. The year of the rabbit ended with financial crisis over in the Eurozone while the Japanese tries to resume their lives following the earthquake & tsunami. It's hoped that the dragon will bring the world its much needed prosperity.

Meanwhile for me, I followed the annual routine and the wife, kids and I made our way back to Johor to meet up with the in-laws. We had had the re-union dinner at my parents' place so on the first day of Chinese New Year we started our annual migration south.

This year the in-laws decided to meet up in Desaru, a tourist attraction looking out to the South China Sea on the east coast of Johor. It is a gruelling six-hour drive from KL. We arrived at around 4pm to the resort. The check-in process was slow as there was a sea of other people trying to check in/out of the resort. To describe the scene as chaotic is putting it mildly.

When we finally got to our room, I heard that the in-laws planned to have dinner at Sg. Rengit which is a good 20 minute drive away. The car was running low on petrol so I decided that I had better top it up before the trip. So out into the rain I drove in search of a petrol station. When I reached the station, it was jam packed with motorcyclists that were using the station as a shelter from the pouring rain. They took up a lot of the kiosks and I had to wait in turn with the other cars to fill up.

After the car was topped up, I headed back to the resort and barely had time to shower before we had to start our journey to the restaurant for dinner. During dinner we had the 'yee sang' and that was the end of the dinner for me. Since I have sensitve skin, I could not take seafood except for fish but lo & behold, the in-laws ordered shellfish or 'la-la' in Cantonese, lobsters and crabs. Delicious dishes if only I could eat those. So dinner ended with me still hungry and it's another 20 minute drive back to the resort where 2 cups of Maggi instant noodles waited for me.

As my wife's side of the family has a lot of members, we had to share a 2 bedroom suite with her brother's family, that's 8 persons in a suite with a double bed and 2 twin beds. Needless to say sleeping space was at a premium. So that night I could hardly sleep.

The next morning started with breakfast at the buffet table and after that we took the kids to the beach and had them playing on the sand. After the beach, it was dip in the kid's pool. Then it was time to freshen up for lunch which was thankfully taken in the resort itself.

After lunch we took a short nap back in the room and my daughter decided that it was a good time to catch a fever. Luckily we had prepared medicine for the trip but my daughter decided that she would throw up twice before we retired to bed that night and once was smack in the middle of dinner. So the second day's dinner for me was ruined also. Fortunately, that night I decided to sleep out in the living hall of the suite. I got me some much needed rest.

The next morning, my daughter was feeling all ok again. That was a relief but then it was time to check out and begin another 6 hours' drive back to KL. So off onto the highways again and we reached home at around 5pm but not before one of the lenses on my spectacles decided to plunge to its death and broke into two at the Air Keroh overhead restaurant stop. Fortunately we were driving my wife's car so she could take over the wheel. I had an old pair of specs at home to last me until I can get a new pair done up.

That was how I spent my first 3 days of Chinese New Year. It was tiring and not much fun at all. I did take my camera along but with all the things happening I took a grand total of ZERO pics over those few days! I'm so glad it's all over now and I can rest at home for a couple of days before starting work on Monday the 30th of January. Thank god Chinese New Year only comes once a year!

Inventing Your Own Demise

2012-01-20T14:23:00.000+08:00

Back in 1880 a man formed a company that would change the world. His name was Eastman Kodak. He was the founder of the Kodak company. Kodak introduced the hand-held camera to the world. That revolutionized the photography industry. Kodak put photography into the hands of the lay man and created the 'Kodak moment'. Cameras were no longer the exclusive toy of the select few who had the technocal knowledge to operate one. Everyone could take pictures. The age of the snapshots dawned.

Kodak launched the Brownie camera in 1900 and the company grew from strength to strength and in 1969, a Kodak camera was used by astronauts to film lunar soil. In 1975, Kodak invented the world's first digital camera. It was big. The size of a toaster. Kodak decided to put the digital camera development on a back burner. What Kodak did not know then was that by ignoring its own invention, the company had practically sealed its own fate.

Today, the Kodak company had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Kodak is no more. Experts said that even if Kodak does emerge from the bankruptcy proceedings, it would be a much smaller entity. Kodak failed to jump onto the digital bandwagon even though it invented the digital camera. For years it watched as companies like Canon and Nikon captured their market share riding the digital wave. It was a move that Kodak never recovered from.

With Kodak's fall, could we safely say that the days of 35mm film photography is finally over? We've seen many casualties from the onslaught of the digital era. Not too long ago, Polaroid winded up. Before that Minolta, who was also late to the digital party, sold off all its camera division to Sony. Fortunately for Minolta fans, Sony rejuvenated the Alpha line. Now with Kodak gone, only Fujifilm remains with its Instax instant film camera line. This line is catering for a small niche. We can see that Fujifilm is agressively pursuing the digital enthusiast camera segment with its latest offering the Fujifilm X-Pro1. How long will the Instax last?

Kodak's bankruptcy marks an end of an era it created. Kodak introduced the compact camera to the world and literally put a camera into every household. Ironically it invented the digital camera but failed to repeat the success with it like it did with film.

So long Kodak. Thanks for giving us the Kodak moment.

Cheongsam Themed Shoot With Agnes

2012-01-19T07:40:00.005+08:00

In just a few days, we are going to celebrate Chinese New Year. That's the start of the new lunar year according to the Chinese calendar. It's a coincidence that I am doing this post so close to Chinese New Year. So I would like to take this opportunity to wish everybody a Happy Chinese New Year & Gong XI Fa Chai!

Well, as I mentioned in the last post on my photo shooting session with Agnes, I attended 2 sessions. You already saw the first one. Here's the second one with the cheongsam theme. Agnes' attire is considered a cheongsam albeit a modern one. I would have preferred a traditional one where it's longer and the hem reached almost to the floor but I'm not complaining.
The session started at 12pm. That's high noon. When I reached the shooting location, the realization suddenly hit me. What the heck am I doing shooting at high noon and outdoors? Among the first advice budding photographers will get is never to shoot at midday! To make things worse, I'm in Malaysia. That's pretty near the equator. I think the only place that will have more sunshine blasting down at noon is the Sahara desert!
It proved to be a challenge to try and tame the harsh sunlight. I wasted quite a number of shots trying to balance the lighting. It was either I get a properly exposed face and blow out the sky or I get a nice sky but plunge Agnes into shadows.

Then another thought hit me and I had to kick myself. I've read it a million times. I've debated it in forums and I've even preached about it in a social networking site where I lead a photography group. Here I am in the exact situation I preached about and I almost forgot the solution!

To fight harsh midday sunlight, you need to throw more light at it! That means I need to use my flash. You may be thinking, "Are you nuts??!! There's more than enough light! Why use flash?"

Thing is, there's no way my camera can deal with the dynamic range at midday. So it's either I get the sky right or blow it out completely. Neither option makes for a good shot. The solution is to get the sky right and then throw your flash onto your subject to light it up too! So that's what I did. Using wireless flash, I got shots like the one you see below:
I held my flash a little lower than Agnes' face and off to the left of the camera. Meter for the sky and released the shutter. The flash did a great job in lifting the shadows and we get a nicely balanced shot with both sky and subject exposed correctly.
Since the shoot was cheongsam themed and Chinese New Year is around the corner, we blended in the festive mood too. Lanterns and 'ang pows' or red packets containing money got into the mix.

Here's Agnes showing us her 'ang pow'.
It's raining 'ang pows'! If only money dropped from the sky in real life.

There's one thing that I realised when doing the shoot. I was tired and my brain was in energy saving mode that day. When I shoot under such conditions, I find that my creativity suffers. My shots tend to be less varied. So to those of you thinking that taking pictures is a snap, think again. It is not as easy as it looks.
And so we have come to the end of this post. I will leave you with my favourite shot for the session below. Just love that sweet smile! Happy Chinese New Year everybody!

The Goddess of War

2012-01-17T10:42:00.001+08:00

If you are following my blog, you would have read that I was watching a Korean drama when most others were counting down to 2012. So this is my review of that series. The title of the series is Athena : Goddess of War.

The cast are Jung Woo Sung, Cha Seung Won, Soo Ae, Lee Ji Ah, Kim Min Jong and Choi Si Won. If you asked me, I barely know any of them. All that I recognize are Jung Woo Sung and Choi Si Won because I had seen Jung previously in the movie Reign of Assassins playing Jiang Ah Shen opposite Michelle Yeoh. As for Choi Si Won, well I've seen him the Hoot music video by the Girls' Generation.

Speaking of music videos, I first came to know about this series through a Girls' Generation music video also. I saw TaeYon's performance for the series' theme. Got intrigued by the scenes from the series in the music video so I hunted for the series.

So what's the series about? It's a spy drama and it is quite watchable. I got to know that Athena was a spin off from an earlier series called IRIS. Some people on the net claimed that IRIS was way better. I don't know cause I've never seen IRIS.

What to expect? With spy dramas you get a lot of cat & mouse ploys plus gun fights, car chases and the norm. All these are present and well executed. I heard that Athena is the most expensive Korean drama ever produced but I can see that the money was spent well on special effects.

Also since it is a Korean drama, expect to see a sappy love story at its core. For me the love story adds a touch of humanity to the action and provides conflict to the leads. Interesting.

Apart from it's plus points, it also has its negative points. Being a Korean drama, it does tend to drag somewhat when the action dies down. Also expect to find many MTV moments halfway through episodes. Things that are typically Korean drama-ish, I would say. it's part of the charm I would say. Wouldn't be a Korean drama series otherwise, right?

So, what's the verdict? I would rate it 3.5 stars out of 5. Has enough plot and action to keep you from falling asleep. I would recommend it.

A Day In The Life of A Backpack Traveler

2012-01-16T07:41:00.003+08:00

Last year, I mentioned that I will be going on a photo shoot with a lovely, lovely model. Well, this post is about that shoot. It's the first time that I have shot a semi-pro model. Right from the start you could tell that she was experienced. She knew how to pose and change poses when the shutter goes off. You don't need to explain to her in detail what you want. She knows how to get you the pose you wanted.

Of course being drop dead gorgeous with a megawatt smile helped tremendously. The theme for the morning was backpack traveler. We began at around 8am. The sun was just peeping over the roofs of the buildings around Jalan Bukit Bintang, Kuala Lumpur. It was a nice day and the lighting was great. So we shot using just ambient light.

Without further ado, here's Agnes, the backpack traveler in KL:

When focusing on a person in portraiture, aim for the eyes. You get the eyes sharp and the photo will pop out. Like in the shot below, you can see that I nailed the focus in her eyes. They are tack sharp and they are the first thing you look at when you look at the picture. Noticed that her hand that is closer to the camera is already out of focus and is blurred due to the narrow depth of field (DOF)? Thing is you won't mind as the eyes are tack sharp.

The bright patches of the sky reflected in her eyes brings life to the eyes. That's the reason photographers use big softboxes inside studios. They not only provide light, they also serves to give catchlights into the eyes.
Noticed the lack of harsh shadows on her face? We were shooting in the shade provided by the buildings. The morning sunlight is soft and diffused and gives even lighting. That's why photographers like to shoot in the morning.

Another reason why photographers love the morning sun is because of the directional lighting it produces. Look at the shot below. The warm and soft morning light gives Agnes' face a beautiful outline that helps to give separation of your subject from the background.

Directional lighting also helps to give a more 3D look to your photos. In the shot below the light and shadows on her face give the subject a more 3D look.

In the last picture in this post, The sun is shining from the right, highlighting her hair. Normally this puts her face into shadows if not for the fact that on the left there is a beige wall reflecting light back to her face. The wall acted as a reflector to bounce some light back to her face to lift the shadows and provide more even lighting to make this shot possible.

Like I always say, photography is all about light. When you go out and shoot, you have to train yourself to 'see the light'. That will help you to recognize scenes like the above. FYI we were in a backlane and there is nothing interesting about the place if not for the light. The more you shoot, the easier this becomes which is why experienced photographers will always tell you to shoot more.

That's the end for the backpack traveler theme. In my next post, you will see Agnes is a 'cheongsam' themed shoot.

Rare Earth, Lynas and Pahang

2012-01-04T10:35:00.004+08:00

In this new year, many people from around the world is worried about some ancient Mayan calendar that supposedly predicts the end of the world to be coming in 2012.

Here in Malaysia however, we have more pressing issues. One of is about when the ruling government is calling for a general elections. The second is about the controversy involving the Lynas rare earth processing plant in Kuantan, Pahang.

In this post I am going to write about Lynas and rare earth refining. As a Malaysian I feel that I should do something about this issue. I feel uncomfortable that Lynas wants to build the plant here but fails to address most of the pressing concern - what do they plan to do with the highly toxic and radioactive waste that the plant will produce?

Let's get some facts about rare earth and rare earth processing:

1. What is rare earth?

Rare earth metals/elements are a set of 17 chemical elements in the periodic table. They occur naturally in the form of mineral that is made up of a combination of oxides. Rare earth metals are usually found together. In order to extract the elements from the mineral in which they are found, rare earth need to undergo a refinery process. Rare earth minerals are mostly mildly radioactive.

2. What are the uses of rare earth metals?

Rare earth metals are used in many electronic devices such as computer memory as well as used to make rechargeable batteries and high power magnets.

3. What kind of waste do rare earth refining plants produce?

Every ton of rare earth produced generates approximately 8.5kg of fluorine and 13 kg of dust… Using concentrated sulfuric acid high-temperature calcination to produce approximately one ton of rare earth element generates 9 600 to 12 000 cubic meters of waste gas – containing dust concentrate, hydrofluoric acid, sulfur dioxide and sulfuric acid; approximately 75 cubic meters of acidic wastewater, and about one ton of radioactive waste residue.

4. How dangerous are radioactive materials?

If radioactive materials go into the ground, it contaminates the ground. If it goes into the water, it contaminates the water and if contaminated water is consumed, it will cause cancer in the humans/animals that consumes the water. These animals are also contaminated and if these animals are in turn consumed, they will contaminate the humans that consume them. It's a deadly chain effect.

Thorium has a half-life of 14 billion years! That means you need to wait 14 billion years for the radioactivity to cease. If a site is contaminated, one would need to wait 14 billion years for the site to clear or one needs to get every little bit of the contaminant away from the site to clear it. Anyone up for the job?

If you need a reminder, take a look at Chernobyl. That site is still unsafe over the incident that happened over 20 years ago.

Also radiation contamination is cumulative. Ever heard of the old Malay saying of 'Sikit-sikit, lama-lama jadi bukit'? This is one 'bukit' that we do not need nor want!

Fact:

China is currently the largest producer of rare earth metals. China has rare earth mines and refineries in Batou in inner Mongolia. These plants produce a vast trailing lake of toxic waste that poisons the area around it. Vast areas of farmland has been rendered useless. Crops do not grow. Livestock dies and the residents in villages around the area suffer for various kinds of serious skin and respiratory diseases as well as cancer.

China has realised that devastating effects to the environment cause by these plants and are taking stringent measures to try to clean them up.

Questions:

Do we really want such a plant here in Malaysia?

The Lynas plant is located at the edge of Kuantan town. If the area gets contaminated with toxic pollution, 700,000 people will be affected. Toxic pollution also means other industry such as tourism will be destroyed. Who wants to visit a polluted area? Kuantan's tourism income makes up a large portion of the total income for the town.

Do you know that the government is giving Lynas a 12-year tax break?

Apart from the mind boggling decision to allow Lynas to build this plant that produces highly toxic and radiaoactive waste in a highly populated town, Lynas also gets a 12 year tax break. What do Malaysian stand to gain in this deal? The factory only employs a few hundred workers. It produces toxic and radioactive wastes with a high chance of polluting the environment and we get no tax for 12 years? Seems like the short end of the stick to me.

Lynas keeps saying that the plant is safe and says that it is beneficial for us. If it is so good then why don't they build the plant in Australia where the rare earth mineral is mined? Why build it here in Malaysia?

When we see what this kind of plant does to the environment in China, we start to know why. There have been reports that Lynas could not get approval from the Australian government to build a plant there. It then plans to build a plant in China but China's increasing control over this industry hinders Lynas' efforts. That's why they choose Malaysia.

One of the reason's they want to build the plant outside Australia is because Australia do not want the toxic wastes to be left in Australia. So Lynas is trying to dump the waste in any country that they build the plant in. Why should we want to handle another country's highly toxic and radioactive waste? The minerals are not mined in Malaysia. They are mined in Australia. Why cart it thousands of kilometers to another site for it to be processed? And why should we put up with the waste produced? Why not cart the waste back to Australia and deal with it there?

Here is another fact:

Because of their similar chemical properties, the rare earths tend to clump together in rocks, often along with radioactive thorium or uranium. That makes extracting, separating and refining them difficult. A lot of water, acid and electricity has to be used in the ion-exchange, fractional crystallisation and liquid-liquid extraction processes used to manufacture them.

Handling the radioactive and chemical waste produced in the process adds significantly to the cost. Lax environmental standards, along with low wages, has allowed Chinese producers to undercut competitors abroad and corner the market.

The above extract was taken from an article in The Economist website (http://www.economist.com/blogs/babbage/2010/09/rare-earth_metals).

From all the information here this is my hypothesis on why Lynas is so eager to build its plant here in Malaysia:

1. Rare Earth processing plants produces highly toxic and radioactive wastes. No matter how low the radioactivity it is still radioactive.

2. China's low prices for rare metals undercut competitors. It's a fact that low prices of rare earth metals from China has been the cause for the closing down of rare earth plants in the USA and Japan.

3. It's a fact that to properly handle the highly toxic and radioactive wastes, high costs are involved.

Thus for Lynas, they need to keep costs down to compete with China. We have already seen how low cost handling of the wastes has brought about environmental disasters where these rare earth plants are. If one isn't prepared to spend the money to properly handle the waste, there's no way for it to be compliant to strict environmental standards. Thus Lynas cannot get their substandard waste management plan to be approved in Australia.

Malaysia became a prime target for Lynas because some parties either do not know or do not want to know about the dangers the plant presents. Malaysia do not have strict environmental laws and restrictions and Malaysia's enforcement in this area is lax compared to Australia. That is why Lynas is interested in Malaysia. Their only aim is to keep costs down and disregard the dangers the wastes presents.

Malaysia have a poor track record when it comes to maintenance. I'm not proud to say this but it is a fact that a newly built stadium can have its roof collapsing. We have also seen highways pylons suffering from cracks that endagers the road users. And who can forget the newly renovated parliament building leaking when it rains? Do you think with such a lackadaisical maintenance mindset, we can properly handle highly toxic and radioactive wastes?

So all this can only end up in one scenario : pollution from the highly toxic and radioactive wastes produced by the plant which will become Malaysia's problem and Lynas can just dust their hands off the issue and laugh all the way to the bank.

Do we really want such a plant here in Malaysia?

Do your part, protest against the plant. It's our country after all. Go to Facebook and like their page. Spread the information and educate the people around you. Every little bit helps.

Additional reading:

How Britain is concerned about its Green energy movement that has ties to rare earth plants in China

China's Rare Earth Environmental Nightmare

New York Times article about Lynas and Malaysia

Another article about the environmental disaster linked to rare earth plants in China

2012

2012-01-03T08:24:00.001+08:00

This post is dated 3rd January 2012. It's a new year. Just a couple of days ago, a lot of people from around the world gathered in many places and ushered in the new year. There was much merry making and much new resolutions made, I'm sure.

For me, I very seldom go out and join any new year countdown. Most times, I will be at home either asleep or maybe watching TV as the year ticks away and a new one begins. For 2011, I was at home watching a Korean spy drama on DVD. Halfway watching I heard some muffled booms outside. Fireworks. So the new year has begun. After that brief distraction, I got back to my drama.

1st of January seldom mean anything really special to me. Yes, it's the start of a new calendar year. Most people see this as a new beginning. New resolutions are made and most will have been broken or abandoned before this day (3rd of Jan) is through.

For me, I do not need the beginning of a new year for me to make any resolutions. Besides if you're not totally committed to your resolution, you'll break it sooner or later. Making it on New Year's day does not give it any extra or special powers to make it stick.

If anyone wants to change desperate enough, they will take the necessary actions. It does not have to be on New Year's day. Today is the first working day of 2012. What did I do? Woke up around the same time as always. Found myself having breakfast at the same old outlet ordering the same items on the menu. This day will play more or less the same and any other working day. Nothing majorly different about it. Any of you have a significantly different start to your day?

Many of the major changes in our life happens on days that have no significance to anyone else. Take me for example. I changed my job around July last year. About 4 years ago, somewhere in September, I bought my first DSLR camera and now I'm quite into my new hobby. This new hobby of mine has had a big impact in my life. I met new friends. I learnt a new skill that may be useful in future and generally I'm happier because of this new hobby. Around six years ago, when I was waiting for the LRT to get to work one morning, I got a call from my wife who told me that I was about to be a dad for the first time. It was mind blowing and things changed after that.

So New Year's day to me is like any other day. I don't find any extra reason to go out and about and drink myself into oblivion and make hasty resolutions as the clock strikes twelve. One thing that's I'm thankful for is that I get a day off on New Year's day! Happy New Year everyone! Hope that 2012 will bring you much joy and happiness.

2011 - The Year That Was

2011-12-27T16:58:00.001+08:00

In 4 days, the year 2011 will end. 2012 will be coming and some may say that the end is near! For me, life goes on. If the Mayans were correct and the whole world does end, well, there's nothing you can do about it. If the world DOES NOT end however, and you've lived like there's no tomorrow, that's when the problems will start. So, since I'm an optimist, I'll treat it like any other year.

Let's leave 2012 until it comes. What about 2011? How was your year? Mine was pretty ho-hum. The first half of the year was kinda bad for me. The second half was better. So what did I do? Here's a very brief breakdown:

Early in 2011

- The Sony Alpha Convention returned after a 3 year absence. Hooray! Scaled down but still a convention nonetheless.

- Bought my 85mm f2.8 lens for a steal. Got it secondhand from a fellow Sony Alpha user who had no use for it when it was out of stock almost everywhere else.

- Job started to suck big time.

- The biggest catastrophe ever for the year: Japan's earthquake and tsunami plus a nuclear reactor meltdown!

Middle of 2011

- Went to PC Fair. Yes. I make an effort to go to every PC Fair, every year. Don't know when it started. Don't care either.

- Got introduced to SNSD! Yup! That K-Pop group with 9 uber good looking ladies - Girls' Generation! I'm an instant fan.

- Shot a pre-wedding for my friend of 25 years.

- Job started sucking so much that I finally threw in the towel. Couldn't take it anymore. Some people are never meant to be managers.

- Malaysia's biggest event for the year took place - the Bersih 2.0 rally.

- Found new job.

Towards the end of 2011

- Attended all kinds of fairs and exhibition. Took photos and most important of all, had fun!

- Bought another Sony camera: The WX 7 compact. Great cam for the casual user. The wife uses it most times.

- Went to Cameron Highlands for a little trip. Couldn't schedule an overseas trip.

- Went to Comic Fiesta. Couldn't get in but got a chance to shoot cosplayers.

So the biggest change in 2011 is my change of jobs. It's all for the better so life has been kind to me and I'm grateful. Here's looking forward to 2012 with better things in store. I've got quite a lot of photography plans lined up as early as January 2012. Starting with my first ever model shoot on Jan. 8th with a lovely, lovely model. Stay tuned!

Comic Fiesta 2011 Part 2

2011-12-22T23:38:00.003+08:00

So, what was I doing in Comic Fiesta 2011 when I could not get a ticket to go into the convention hall? Well, I was with my photography buddies doing a shoot for a group of cosplayers.

My friend had been invited by one of the cosplayers to do a shoot and he in turn invited us to join. It was all in the name of fun. Since I was already going, I thought I would join too. When I saw the queue, I was relieved that I had something else to do rather than stand in line.

Ok. Here's the low down on shoot. The cosplayers we shot were playing characters from a Japanese video game turn anime series turned animated movie. The name of the series is Sengoku Basara. Took me awhile to get the names of the characters. When I shot them I had absolutely no idea who they were portraying.

Here are the 4 characters that I had the privilege to do a photoshoot with.

The character in green is called Mori Motonari. He uses a big ring blade as his weapon. How in the world one uses that is beyond me but it's a video game we are talking about. I dropped the ball here as I did not have many shots of the girl who was playing the character. Guess I was too much in 'having fun' mode than 'photographer' mode that day.
Moving on, we have the one in red outfit. This character's name is Sanada Yukimura. A gung-ho warrior general that lives for battle. His signature weapon is a pair of spears.
Below: The shot below was done with the help of one of my photography buddy. I had the cosplayer hold the sword in that way and had my buddy hold up the ends of his headband and start waving them up and down. The framing left my buddy out of the picture and help create an effect that the two tail ends were buoyed by wind. If you have seen enough anime you will know that such a scene is a familiar one.

Above: What you can do with an ultra wide angle lens. You can have an object placed very close to the lens and still get enough width to include the whole person inside the frame. Created an effect as if the spear was in your face.
The above shot had Sanada Yukimura squaring off against one of his arch rivals, Date Masamune. Below is a shot of Date Masamune with one of his six swords. Date Masamune is also known as the 'Tu Yen Loong' or One-Eyed Dragon in Mandarin.
Here you cannot see much of the eye patch as it is covered by the hair.

Above: Date Masamune poses with Saika Magoichi or Sayaka. Her weapons of choice are pistols. Yup! You have pistols along with spears and swords. In Japanese animes, bringing a gun to a sword fight does not guarantee you victory.

Above: Another in your face shot. Incidentally, this cosplayer is the only one playing a female character in the group. I reality however, there is only one male cosplayer in the group - the one playing Sanada Yukimura.

And lastly a group shot with all the cosplayers in that group. Here you can see some of the other photographers in the shoot also.

I found out later that some of the cosplayers have travelled far and wide to get to Comic Fiesta. I truly admire their dedication to their hobby. The one playing Date Masamune hails from Malacca and took a train alone to KL for this event lugging around her costume and six mock full sized samurai swords!

To all cosplayers in Malaysia - I salute you guys/gals!

Comic Fiesta 2011 Part 1

2011-12-21T23:25:00.003+08:00

Cosplay or costume play. A trend that started in Japan that has spread all over the world. The last time I shot a cosplayer was 2 years back at some anime/comic/game event held in a local shopping mall. It was a small scale event. While the event took place, only some curious shoppers stopped and checked out what was happening. There was no crowd at all.

This year. 17th Dec to be exact, I went to Comic Fiesta 2011. It's taunted as the largest anime/comic/game convention in Malaysia but it was the first time for me. I knew it was larger than the event I went to a couple of years back but I was unprepared for what I found when I arrived at the venue which is in the Kuala Lumpur Convention Center (KLCC).

The doors opened to the public opened at 11am. I arrived at the venue at around 11.45am and found the queue to enter was already this long!

The KLCC is a large place. What you see here is half of the whole length of the convention center. On seeing the queue I told myself that I would wait for it to clear before I go to the counter and buy the entrance ticket. I never did get the chance to buy the ticket because the queue did not clear until I left KLCC at around 3pm and the tickets for that day had all been sold out.

I never knew Comic Fiesta was so big. I never knew that the cosplay scene in Malaysia had grown so large in a span of a couple of years.

In contrast, Maxis held a reception there at KLCC on the same day. Maxis took up the other half of the convention center for its iPhone 4S event. While the queue to Comic Fiesta snaked all the way to the end of the building, the iPhone 4S event had few takers as evident by the photo below. It was quite a surprise. More people were interested in Comic Fiesta than the iPhone 4s!

The above picture shows a cosplayer, most likely a member of the event organizer, holding up a sign informing the crowd that the tickets had been sold out. I never got inside so I missed all the programs that were lined up inside the hall but I did manage to shoot some cosplayers that were hanging around outside.

The following are some of the pics.

Below: The quality of the costumes this time around was way better than those that I had seen a couple of years back. These people are serious about cosplaying! Just look at the level of detail in their costumes!
A wider shot to show you just how cool they looked! Noticed that behind them there was no crowd for the iPhone 4S half of the convention center.
When it comes to cosplay, colourful hairs are the norm. Pink, green and blond wigs are popular as most are imitating characters from Japanese anime or games.

Below: I don't know what characters these two are playing but it put a smile on my face when I saw them. Admit it. The picture put a smile on your face too didn't it?

The crowd joined in the fun too and posed with the cosplayers to have their picture taken. It must have been hot inside that wolf suit but this wolf is very accommodating when it comes to picture taking.

Apart from costumes, the cosplayers also have other props to make them look as similar to the characters they are portraying. Most times, the props are in the form of weapons the characters uses.
While walking about I came across the Grim Reaper. Notice that he's given a wide berth as he passes through. I don't think people want to take the chance of offending him, just in case.
Sometimes I wonder how much is spent to acquire the costumes, such as the one shown below.

Below: A cosplayer playing Babydoll from the movie Sucker Punch. It was one of the few characters that I recognize there. Shows just how detached I am from the world of anime and gaming as my age creeps steadily up.
If you can't spend a fortune on elaborate costumes, you can just improvise like the dude in the shot below. One piece of cardboard and some printing and you can come as 'YouTube'. Haha!
As I was leaving, I saw this. At first I thought it was a statue but then it moved. Apparently it was another cosplayer coming as the Alien in the Alien movie series. I must say it was a damn good costume.

Like I said earlier, I spent quite a few hours there but did not manage to get a ticket to enter the convention. So what did I do there apart from taking the shots above? Well, I had the opportunity to do a private shoot with some cosplayers up close and personal. Shots from that session will be up in the next post!

Study Loans - Is It Worth It?

2011-12-19T11:29:00.000+08:00

Just today I saw a news article that states that a former student racked up a study loan of RM 890,000. The student allegedly was studying medicine but then failed to finish the course. So here we have someone with almost RM 1 million in loans for study but then failed to finish.

Even if the student did finish the course, is it worth it to start out your working life with RM 890k in debt? When is one ever going to finish paying up the loan? Even if it does not come with any interest (which I highly doubt) it will take a lifetime at least, in my opinion!

Not so long ago, I read on MSN that one US student racked up USD 60k in study loans. This one graduated but then is now having a hard time paying up the debt.

My question is, is it worth it? Getting yourself deep into debt for a degree that guarantees almost nothing but proof that you attended a course? It does not even guarantee a job after graduating but you can be sure the creditors are going to be on your back, heckling you to pay up.

Sometimes I find myself with this question : Is it worth it? Spending a fortune for studies?

I mean one does need to have academic qualifications but where do we draw the line? Getting knee deep into debt even before one graduates is surely not a wise move. Just how valuable is a degree?

I have no answer to that but I'm surely against racking up debts before one can even manage to earn a living. A better solution is maybe to delay one's pursuit of academic qualifications. Maybe one can start by finding a job in one's area of interest after secondary school or maybe just get a basic diploma in the area before going into the job market.

Start low and work to gain experience and find an area of specialization. You get real world experience and a chance save up for your education. Once you have found your area of specialization, then you can get further education in that specific area. Maybe do a course part-time or via distance or on-line learning which is generally lower in terms of costs.

This way one can get relevant paper qualification and avoid mountains of debt. In this materialistic society, it does not bode well to ensnare oneself in debts even before you start to earn. There's more than enough temptation to get one into debt even if one starts out at zero. Frivolous use of credit cards coupled with the lack of financial education for the young is a potent enough recipe for debt accumulation without the help from study loans.

Take a look around. The world has many examples of successful people that do not have proper academic qualifications. Bill Gates, Steve Jobs and Michael Dell were all college dropouts. Mark Zuckerberg created Facebook before he even graduated. Many a successful movie directors did not have college degrees but they all have one thing in common - they work in their area of interest. Their passion and interest drives them. More so than any college degree can.

How often have we faced lackadaisical general practice doctors in private clinics? How often have we encountered passionless lawyers battling stacks of documents in their office rather than battling it out in a court? Is that a life we want after paying so much for an education? Perhaps it's time for us to pay a little more attention to one's passion and interests rather than a blind pursuit for a degree in medicine or law or engineering or any other mainstream faculty.

Mind you, passionate sports personnels can earn much more than a disinterested doctor in a private clinic and they get to do what the like to do everyday? Isn't that a better deal?

What Kind Of Photographer Are You?

2011-12-08T11:10:00.001+08:00

I've been dabbling in photography for close to 5 years now. Time has flown and I hardly realized that it has been almost 5 years. Feels closer to 3 for me. Anyway, today I am doing a little lighthearted post on photography. It asks the question of 'What Kind of Photographer Are You?" Go on, see if you can find yourself in there somewhere. If not, why not post your comment of what kind you should be?

These days, cameras are ubiquitous. I can safely bet that at anytime of the day, you are less than 20 feet away from a camera. All the smartphones nowadays comes with a camera built in so if you are within 20 feet of a smartphone, you are witin 20 feet of a camera.

With cameras being so prolific, here's a list that I have compiled of all the different kinds of photographers that are available out there. Please note that by photographer here I mean people who can operate a camera and not like professionals or whatever. Have fun!

1. The Food Snapper

This kind of photographer takes pictures of mainly food. You can find them in restaurants and other eating places, merrily snapping away at the dishes that they have ordered and posting them on social networking sites or blogs. Most are armed with a relatively high end compact camera but some do carry DSLRs. Woe to those who are in the company of the Food Snapper as you may not touch your food until a picture has been taken.

2. The Snapshooter

The snapshooter always have a camera with him/her. It will be whipped out at even the slightest variance to the normal routine and pictures will be taken. New colleague? Snap! New clothes? Snap! New haircut? Snap! New place for lunch? Snap! You get the idea. A small digital compact or a cameraphone is the weapon of choice and they have tonnes of pictures of everything and anything. Looking at the pictures of the snapshooter can often make you feel like you're having deja vu.

3. The Camwhore

May be mistaken for the Snapshooter at first glance as they share similar traits but upon closer inspection you realise that the Camwhore has one subtle difference. The Camwhore is in ALL its pictures! You will find the Camwhore in all it's own pictures almost invariably at arms length, with the lens pointing back towards himself/herself. Less often you will find that the Camwhore shooting at mirrors and even rarer is the pic where the Camwhore is not holding the camera.

4. The Documenter

This subset of photographer is found mostly in groups of tourists on a guided tour. The Documenter has a serious demeanour and does not take many pictures. At every tour stop, he will take one shot of each tourist attraction and then keep the camera away for the next tour stop. Main aim of the picture is to proof that he/she has been there. Most Documenters are armed with a slightly outdated digital camera model.

5. The Show-Off

Always count on the Show-Off to be in the possession of the latest and greatest gears and/or cameras. These new gears will be prominently displayed for all to see and great pains will be taken to inform you of his/her latest acquisition. Takes moderate amount of pictures but mysteriously, not many pictures are actually shown to others.

6. The Gearhead

The Gearhead often also have the latest and greatest gears like the Show-Off but the main difference is that they do not really show off their gears. Rather the Gearhead prefers to show off their knowledge about their gears. Takes large amounts of pictures but most of their pics show off mundane stuff like their computer's keyboard or items on their desk or little anime figurines that they own. Nothing spectacular about the items in their pictures but boy can they ever talk about the out-of-focus areas in those shots. Terms like bokeh, chromatic abberations, vignetting and distortions are bound to pepper any such talks.

7. The Child Chaser

The Child Chaser shoots only one thing. His/her child or children. All shots have their child/children in them. Takes large numbers of shots and is not adverse to sharing them. Hope to be in one of their shots? Better get real close to their child/children or you have no hope.

8. The Enthusiast

The Enthusiast is almost always holding a DLSR or at least a high-end digital compact camera. They like to study photography and can sometimes cross over to the Gearhead territory. Often wanders out alone in search of pictures and takes a large amount of pictures. You can often see their best shots on display. Starts out taking pictures of almost everything but will eventually specialize in one or two areas.

9. The Trade-Fair Trawler

The Trade-Fair Trawler lives for only one thing - trade fair show girls! If a trade fair has any show girls, you will find them there. Car shows, IT fairs, Comic/Anime conventions, Cosplay meet-ups, toy fairs or any kind of fairs open to the public usually attracts large number of Trade-Fair Trawlers. They tend to herd when they meet other trawlers in any fair and make their way slowly through the fair, impeding other visitors and distracting the promoter gals. They usually have large DSLRs hung around their necks.

10. The Shot Stealer

Lurking close to the Trade-Fair Trawlers are the creepy Shot Stealers. Usually loners and invariably male, they wait until the Trawlers are busy shooting a show girl before they quickly whip out their camera phones and steal a shot of the show girl in question. As fast as they appear, they will disappear into the crowd after taking their shot. No one will ever see any pictures take by the Shot Stealer except for the Stealer himself.

That's about all the different kinds of photographers I can think of. I you know any others, feel free to add them in the comments! Oh, and by the way, don't take this too seriously, OK?

PC Fair (II) 2011

2011-12-07T07:30:00.002+08:00

PC Fair came and went again. Yours truly was, of course, there again. Since the floods in Thailand, prices this time around have crept up a little due to production interruptions of components like hard disks.

Nothing new was launched and it was all very ho-hum. The crowds were also visibly smaller this time around. With that out of the way, let's get to the meat and potatoes of this post - the showgals that were there promoting all their products. I have to hand it to them. Standing around all day handing out flyers or showing off a prototype is no easy task. Apart from that, they have to deal with all the guys that come around asking for a shot with their cameras and still have a smile on their faces.

Hats off to these dedicated gals! I salute you!

The PC Guru promoters. They have always been the first to greet visitors to the PC Fair ever since it moved to the KLCC.

AMD gals were around the first hall also. Here's Jess. Anyone can recognize her from one of my previous post and no it's not a PC Fair post.

Below: This bunch of gals seem to be in high spirits. Of course I was there early in the morning and they have just started the day.

Above: One Lenovo gal. I really should crop the picture but I'm too lazy! Below: A HTC promoter with their familiar white-green outfit.
Below: Another Lenovo gal. She's a familiar face in the fair but in this picture, I like her shiny shades best as it reflects the ceiling lights.
One of the Epson promoters. Funny. I shoot so many pics but I don't have a colour printer.
Here's a surprise. The God of Prosperity doing his rounds and it's not even Christmas yet! Santa is facing some stiff competition this year!
Seems like Panasonic has the most number of promoter gals.

With all the competition, St. Nick is pulling out all the stops so here's a Santarina on duty with candies to give away. Sweet!

Above & below: Acer promoter gals in high spirits. That's the reason I like to go early in the morning. The gals still have energy to pose for a shot.

Above: An interesting find - A Samsung promoter gal holding a white Samsung Galaxy S II smartphone. Too bad the battery on that phone is not charged.
Above: Gigabyte's got bite with her on duty!

Above & below: Familiar faces in the Avira Anti-Virus booth again.

Here's a new brand at the fair - Trustport Total Protection. More than just anti-virus, it offers encryption and also locks down your PC's USB ports. Their promoter gal offers a stark contrast to the usual anti-virus in a blue outfit rather than the usual red the other brand employs.

And I'll end this post with my favourite shot for the fair. This Acer gal is a fresh face to me and I think she looks cute in this shot.

That's it for this PC Fair and it's the last one for 2011. We'll see you all again in 2012!

Teach All You Can Because Not Everyone Will Learn

2011-12-05T11:45:00.001+08:00

There's an old saying that goes "The teacher will appear when the student is ready". I subscribe to it and I find that it's true. Learning depends a lot on the student. Much much more on the student than on the teacher. You can employ the best teacher to teach but if the student is not ready it will not do much good.

I love photography. It's a hobby for me. I shoot and I learn when I'm shooting and also when I'm not shooting. Also, I share what I've learned readily with anyone who is willing to listen. Unreservedly.

There is an old Cantonese saying that goes, "Once the disciple has learned, there will no longer be a master" or in alphabetized Cantonese "Kau Sek Tou Dai, Mo Si Fu". It carried a somewhat negative view in that if one is to teach everything one knows to a disciple, then there will be no more need for a master. Which in turns leads to the phenomenon that is known as the 'Chinese Kung-Fu Mentality'. It's where a master of 10 moves only teaches 9 moves to the disciple and the cycle goes on and on... after the 10th generation, the kung-fu is a lost art!

Now I don't buy the above reasoning. I teach unreservedly because I know not everything I teach, the disciple will learn. Maybe he wants to learn but he is not ready yet so some lessons will fly past his head. This is not saying I'm a master in any way but I will teach all I know to anyone willing to listen.

One may think that one is ready to learn but if all the neccessary 'elements' are not in place, there will be certain things that one will not understand even when one is taught meticulously.

For example:

When I began my photograpy journey close to 5 years ago, I lusted after the great lenses revered by so many. I envied those who have them. I wanted them so badly. So many wise teachers (and when I term them teachers, they need not necessarily be professionals. Just people who have learned this particular lesson and thus is qualified to teach) had said, "Gears matter not..." I disbelieved them.

I asked "How can gears not matter? If gears mattered not, how do you explain all these pros using those gears?" The wise just smiled, nodded and moved on. I was not ready to learn.

Today, I spout the same saying. It really does not matter all that much. Gears are tools that one uses. If one prefers a bigger spoon than another, it does not make a big spoon better than a small spoon or vice versa. It's just a matter of personal choice. Maybe a big spoon works better for you and a small spoon better for another. In the end what matters is does the tool you use give you the desired result?

The story of the picture:

Back then all I had was a 'puny' entry level Sony A100 DSLR with a kit lens. I took this picture.

Back then, I wanted the latest and the greatest. After a while I got myself the A850 and I have been mainly using the A850 since then. Took lots of other pictures. Bought other lenses that are 'better' than the kit lens. Recently when I displayed some of my works to some friends, the picture above was included with other taken with the A850 but of course I did not tell them which pic came from which cam.

One of them, a non-photography enthusiast, told me later that when he saw the above pic the first thought that entered his mind was "Wow! That must be from a very expensive camera!"

Although that was not the remark I had wanted to have, it drove home the point that 'Gears Matter Not' perfectly. It was a pic taken with the 'lowest' ranked gears - the 'puny' A100 with a 'puny' kit lens! To that audience, it mattered not. To that audience, that pic was worth it's weight in gold. He chose it over all the others taken with the 'greater' A850.

Of course at this point, I was already over my 'gears matter most' phase. I do not know when I came to this and I do not know who or what actually tipped me over the point. All I know is now I have learnt the lesson. So back then when so many wanted to teach, did I learn? No. It all flew way over my head. So to all the 'teachers' out there - teach unreservedly and do not worry. Not all you teach will be learnt.

Cameron Highlands Trip

2011-11-23T22:37:00.003+08:00

On the 18.11.2011 & 19.11.2011 I went on a trip to Cameron Highlands with the family. Cameron is one of the highlands tourist spots in Malaysia. It's traditionally a rural farming community where folks plant fruits and vegetables and flowers for sale. People go there for the cool climate because it is 1500 metres above sea level.

I have not been to Cameron Highlands for quite some time. The last time I was there was about 4 years ago but things have not changed much. Life is still slow paced. People are still farming and selling produce. Restaurants are still trying to rip off the visitors. There are more resorts there now that's about it.

This time I took the Simpang Pulai routeinstead of the old Tapah route to go up to the highlands. The Simpang Pulai route is much easier to navigate as the road is wider and not as winding. Taking the Simpang Pulai route you will reach Kampung Raja first instead of Tanah Rata if you take the Tapah route. You can say the Simpang Pulai route comes in at the back end of the highlands while the Tapah route comes in from the front.

When we reached, it was around 1.30pm and it started to rain. Not wanting to chance the local restaurants of which most will take visitors for a ride by charging exorbitant fees for a steamboat meal that consists mainly of local vegetables, we dashed into the Equatorial Hotel for lunch. At least at the hotel we can get decent food for a decent price although the price is slightly expensive comparatively.

Since the rain was not showing any signs of letting up, we took our time with lunch. It was after 3pm when we left the coffee house in Equatorial and headed to our apartment where we would stay the night. The kids were excited as this was their first time staying overnight on a holiday trip. The whole trip was organized because grandpa promised my daughter that he would take her to a strawberry farm and let her pick strawberries.

Rain ruined that plan on the first day so we decided to just chill in the apartment and go strawberry picking the next day. And by chill, I meant really chill because the rain made the day cooler than normal. We all had to don sweaters or put on an extra layer of clothing.

Alright, enough of words! Let's have the pictures do some talking instead:

Above: Little shoes keychains. Colourful. Below: I saw that the sky is nice so I took the shot when we visited the night market or 'Pasar Malam' after the rain finally stopped around dusk.

A vendor selling roasted chickens that he roasted on a makeshift grill from a cut oil drum at the night market in Brinchang.

Above & below: Some flower shots when we visited a butterfly farm the next day. It was still drizzling slightly in the morning but the butterfly farm was covered.
Meet incy wincy spider! He made his home in the butterfly farm. Wondered how many butterflies he ate.
Below: One of the butterfly on the floor. The butterflies were still sleepy I guess as they were not very active. Maybe it's too early in the morning for them as we were the first visitors to the farm that day.
A cocoon on a leaf. Don't ask me what kind of butterfly will come out from it.

Below: Some cute little plants on sale outside the butterfly farm. I can fit two little pots in my palm. Yes. They are tiny.

Also on sale were cactus plants and pitcher plants.
Below: Some weird looking cactus plants, I guess. Somehow they look like they originated from some alien planet to me.

Of course no trip to Cameron Highlands is complete without a visit to a tea plantation. So here are some shots I took of a tea plantation that is located just off the road. Yup! I'm lazy to venture into a better looking plantation for better shots. Lugging around 2 toddlers, I'm all for convenience. Maybe if I were alone, I might go to another plantation that's more of an authentic farm rather than a tourist attraction.

Enjoy the pics. I'm sorry they are not the best but I was shooting in a hurry.

March 20, 2008

2011-11-21T17:51:00.001+08:00

What's special about that date? Nothing really. It's just the date of my very first blog post here. Time really flies. Heck, even I did not know what the date of my very first blog post was until I checked back. It's kinda hard to believe that this blog is over 4 years old and going to be 5 in a few months time.

I read back what I wrote back then and whaddya know! It still rings true today. This blog is still sporadically updated and no where near fast. Stale movie reviews aplenty and of course those pics I took that I dared to show. Haha!

Back then I was late to the blogging scene. I did not really cared if anyone ever read my blog. Still somewhat true today but then I found out that there are people out there that cared to drop by. For that, I'm thankful. At least some of these words are read by another pair of eyes.

I guess this is the way it will stay. Sporadic updates and blog posts about some of the experience that I've been through. If you happen to read, I thank you. Even though this blog is far from being a priority in my life, I do find myself sometimes thinking of what I should put here. Especially if there has been a long dry period. So I guess I'll still be blogging away as long as I felt compelled to do so.

I wonder if anyone is interested enough in my stale movie reviews to want to publish a book on it. Haha! One can dream, no?

Double Movie Reviews

2011-11-15T08:19:00.003+08:00

Ok. Seems like I've not been doing much lately but watch DVDs. So with 'Sucker Punch' out of the way, I am going to bring you two other stale movie reviews. One is the re-imagined 'A Chinese Ghost Story' or in Cantonese, 'Sin Nui Yau Wan' starring Louis Koo and Liu Yifei and the other of course is 'Fast Five'.

Seems like Hong Kong is doing what Hollywood is doing - rebooting some famous franchises. Director Wilson Yip or Yip Wai Shun has re-imagined 'A Chinese Ghost Story'. The original was done by Tsui Hark and starred the late Leslie Cheung and Joey Wong in the lead roles. That film became a classic and the de facto standard for Hong Kong romantic ghost stories.

How does this new and re-imagined movie stack up? Not very well. They've updated the look and added snazzy special effects but special effects does not a movie make. In this rebooted film, the romance is now between Siu Sin, the ghost and Yin Chek Ha, the Taoist demon hunter instead of Ning Choi San the scholar. Ning is relegated to the role of a supporting actor but there is still some romance going on.

The movie starts with Yin going up against Siu Sin and ending up falling in love with her. Yin cannot bear to destroy Siu Sin and things end badly for him when 3 of his brother in arms dies in a battle with Lou Lou, the 1000-year old tree demon that is controlling a host of other demons and ghosts to do her eveil deeds that includes Siu Sin. The Taoist demon hunters manages to seal Lou Lou away but it's only a matter of time before she regains enough strength to break the seal.

Meanwhile Siu Sin loses her memory when Yin decides that they cannot be and uses one of his magic weapons to block out all her memories of them together. Even though he wants to end the relationship, Yin hangs around the area where Siu Sin and the evil Lou Lou is entombed. Some way to end a relationship, huh? Time passes and Ning Choi San shows up to help the villagers in the vicinity and thus the 3 of them gets embroiled in a love triangle.

In the end the movie fails as the plot is not fully developed and there is zero chemistry between Yin Chek Ha and Siu Sin as well as zero chemistry between Siu Sin and Ning Choi San. You never care enough to root for them as their performance is never compelling enough to draw you into the story. Lou Lou's role is wasted as she is never much of a threat to either Siu Sin nor the Taoist demon hunters.

I should have just watched the original 'Sin Nui Yau Wan' one more time.

Verdict : 2 stars out of 5

Next up, 'Fast Five' the fifth film in 'The Fast & Furious' series. In this movie, Vin Diesel, Paul Walker and Jordana Brewster reprises their roles along with a host of other characters returning from the previous movies.

The emphasis of this movies is less on the cars and street racing and more on the relationship between Torreto, O' Conner and Mia. They are fugitives of the law and on the run. Down and out on their luck and resources, they end up in Rio, Brazil. A botched jobs of stealing some cars puts them at loggerheads with the local crime big boss, Hernan Reyes.

Tired of running and with Mia being pregnant, they decide to pull off one last job and retire. They assemble their team to pull off a heist where they plan to steal Reyes' money. To add more challenge to the job, Dwayne Johnson plays officer Hobbs, a DSS agent that is tasked with bringing Torreto and O' Conner to justice when 3 DEA agents are killed by one of Reyes' men during the botched job and Torreto's gang is framed for the deed.

This latest installment offers more humour and shifts away from the street racing scene. It's more like 'Ocean's Eleven' on fast cars. Although the planned heist is not as slick as that in "Ocean's Eleven", it is still and entertaining watch. Logic is thrown out the window for entertainment especially during the last action sequence but don't let that distract you from the movie. Just sit back, relax and enjoy the ride!

Verdict : 3 stars out of 5

Sucker Punched

2011-11-08T11:47:00.002+08:00

Time again for a stale movie review. Yup. Went out and bought some DVDs again. This time I had a difficult choice of either choosing a Korean series or a couple of english movies. In the end I chose Fast & Furious 5 and Sucker Punch. This review is of course about Sucker Punch.

Sucker Punch is directed by Zack Synder whose previous works included '300' and 'Watchmen'. Like his previous films, Sucker Punch is highly stylised with a comic book feel to it. If you did not like his previous 2 movies, especially 'Watchmen', I suggest you skip this one as you are bound to dislike it.

I do not mind the stylised presentation but I have to say that Sucker Punch is a love it or hate it movie. A lot of people will hate it and say it makes no sense. I on the other hand loved it. Pay attention and you might just find the story in it. It also has great action sequences and enough complexity to give your brain a workout.

There are spoilers in my review so if you have not already watched the film, stop reading now.

***** Spoilers Alert ******

Sucker Punch is like an inversion of '300'. Where in '300' all the good guys are manly men, Sucker Punch throws in a group of hot ladies. While the ladies wear much more than the Spartans in '300', they are still very sexy and I meant sexy more as a mental image rather than a physical portrayal.

The movie deals with Babydoll (Emily Browning) which had been incarcerated in a mental asylum by her wicked stepfather. To prevent her from telling the truth, her wicked stepfather, in cahoots with one of the orderlies, schedules Babydoll for a lobotomy which will happen in 5 days' time. To escape this harsh reality, Babydoll retreats into a fantasy world to cope but she does not give up hope to escape from the asylum.

The movie will alternate between real world and the fantasy world and this may disorient a lot of viewers but if you pay attention you will do just fine. The action sequences will all play out in the fantasy world and it looks great! If you are an avid gamer, you will appreciate the sequences.

I'm more or less going to go into a scene by scene summary after this so if you do not want your movie spoiled, DO NOT READ ANY FURTHER! You have been warned!!

******* Scene by scene spoiler alert ********

In the opening sequence, we see Babydoll's mother dead on her bed. We also see that she has a little sister and what we will know later as her stepfather. It's made clear that the stepfather is angry that his wife has left her fortune to the 2 girls and things really go downhill from there for Babydoll.

She loses her sister very soon after that and gets framed for the murder by her stepfather who promptly sends her to a mental asylum where he bribes an orderly named Blue to get Babydoll lobotomised so that his dirty little secret can be kept safe. The doctor performing the lobotomy is set to arrive for the procedure in 5 days time. Babydoll frantically searches for a way to escape this fate but what can a girl do in such a situation?

Babydoll is taken into the 'theater' of the asylum where we see some of the other inmates and also a Dr. Gorski treating her patients with an uncoventional method. She sets a stage and asks her patients to role play. From this point onwards, the line between reality and fantasy begins to blur as Babydoll retreats into a fantasy world to help her cope with the devastating situation she finds herself in while still trying to find a way out.

The mental asylum is now depicted as a brothel that is run by Blue and the girls are held in captivity and exploited. Babydoll gains the trust of one of the inmates called Rocket when she saves her newfound friend from being attacked by the cook. The duo is then seen at a dance rehearsal where Madame Gorski is the dance instructor.

In her fantasy world, Babydoll is about to have her virginity sold to the 'High Roller' who is in fact the doctor who will perform the lobotomy. Before she can be presented to this 'High Roller' she is instructed to dance by Madame Gorski. It is implied that all the girls are taught an eroctic dance to attract clients and thus Babydoll is no exception. The only thing different is that Babydoll seems to have a knack for dancing and performs very well straight from the onset.

Whenever Babydoll dances, she goes deeper into her fantasy world where she sees herself as a warrior. Starting out alone, Babydoll meets a Wise Man in her fantasy that tells her that she needs 5 items in order to escape. The 5 items include a map, fire, a knife, a key and a mysterious fifth item that only Babydoll will know. The Wise Man then arms Babydoll with a samurai sword and an automatic pistol and tells her to defend herself.

After the first dance/fantasy sequence, Babydoll gains some allies in the form of other inmates. Rocket (Jena Malone) and her reluctant sister, Sweet Pea (Abbie Cornish) teams up with her along with Amber (Jamie Chung) and Blondie (Vanessa Hudgens). They then endevour to find the items necessary for their escape.

It is revealed that Babydoll fantasises every time she performs the erotic dance for specific intended audience so that her allies can either gain access or steal the required items while their target is mesmerized by Babydoll's performance. We never see the actual dance but what I would have given to see it.

Things get more and more difficult as the evil orderly Blue gets wind of the plan and becomes more alert. The girls mess up in the final leg which results in Rocket, Amber and Blondie dying. Babydoll and Sweet Pea makes it as far as the front gate of the asylum where they see a big group of guards. Babydoll then realized that the fifth and final item needed for the escape is her own sacrifice. Thus she gives up her freedom to distract the guards in order to let Sweet Pea escape.

The Sucker Punch for me in this movie is that Babydoll never made it out of the asylum and she is lobotomised in the end. Sweet Pea makes it out and we realise in the end that it was her that was narrating the story the whole time. Although the movie ended in a bit of a down note for me, I find the movie to be very entertaining.

***** End of Spoilers *******

Verdict : 3.5 out of 5 stars.

Waiting For The Perfect Match

2011-11-04T14:06:00.001+08:00

Just this morning, I heard over the radio a debate that the DJ's of the morning show was staging. It revolves around the topic of 'Should You Wait For the Perfect Partner?'. One DJ said that if he had to wait a million years for the perfect partner to come along, he would while the other said that there is no perfect match for anybody in this world.

I find this topic amusing. While the show's DJs are clearly approaching the topic with a pinch of salt with the main aim of entertaining the listeners, there is some wisdom that we can gain from it.

The prompt for the topic was the news that Kim Kardashian got divorced after only 72 days of marriage. This is ridiculous of course but it seems to be the norm among the celebrities. Just before that news, the world was abuzz over their lavish wedding and all.

Talking about divorces, the trend now is that divorce rates are climbing fast all over the world. This begets the question of what actually happened. Why are couples looking to divorce instead of trying to make it work? Isn't marriage supposed to be a commitment? Isn't marriage supposed to be sacred?

In my humble opinion, it has a lot to do with the youths nowadays expecting everything to be paved for them. They have this weird sense of entitlement. That the world owes them a living and whatever else they want. I do not know where or how this notion got into the system but it's there.

This also means that a lot of people out there are looking for a perfect partner. A one size fits all. When they find that their spouse is not the perfect one, then they divorce. It's quite sad. Truth is, there is no perfect partner. It's all a myth. There is no perfect partner because all humans are flawed but it seems like the young ones can't get this through their thick skull.

In the old days, when people get married, they have this sense of commitment to the marriage. They are commited to make it work and thus most marriages will last. This is because people put in the effort to make it work. Unlike today where these young couples seldom put in any effort and just expect the marriage to work.

When you see an elderly couple still holding hands when they go out, you will think that they have found the perfect partner. If not, they will not be so loving even after so long, right? That is the furthest from the truth. What I think is that these loving elderly couple did not find a perfect partner. What they did was to create the perfect partner.

You see, I think that back in the old days when people get married, they will be thinking, "Well, that's that. I'm now married. So let's make the best out of it!" When they think this, they will focus on making the marriage work. They will put in the effort to keep the relationship going. In the process they will discover the other person's strengths and weaknesses and learn to focus on their strengths and forgive their weaknesses and ultimately create a 'perfect' partner for each other.

Alas, young couples nowadays think differently. They have in their mind an idea of a perfect match. They go looking and then find someone that they think will match this ideal. They get married but eventually the inital euphoria will die out and real life settles in. It is then they will discover that their partner is not actually perfect. That they have weaknesses. They become disillusioned and when they hit a major bump on the road, they decide that their spouse is not their perfect match and so they divorce in the hope that they can continue to search for their perfect match.

This is the sad part. The perfect match will remain an idea. It cannot be realized because in real life, nothing is perfect. So if they still think that they can find a perfect match, then the search will never end and they can never become an elderly loving couple.

The Cyber-Shot WX7

2011-10-26T23:14:00.004+08:00

About a couple of weeks ago, my wife called me and asked what I thought about a certain digital compact camera. That turned out to be the Sony Cyber-Shot WX7. I did a little checking and found that the camera to be quite impressive. If you don't already know, Sony's digital compact cameras are divided into 3 series. They are the T series, the W series and the H series.

The H series is the prosumer class. Top of the range digital compacts with a premium price. The T series is for those who are fashion conscious. Sleekly designed, they can be used as a fashion accessory when you hang one around your neck. The W series are the no nonsense digital compacts. In terms of performance, I find the W series come out on top compared to the T series.

The WX7 my wife was interested in packs quite a punch. It sports a Carl Zeiss lens, the new Exmor-R sensor, has AVHD video recording, sweep panorama and handheld twilight feature. Among the list, the Zeiss and Exmor-R is what excited me the most. Ask any photography enthusiast and you will know the Zeiss name will raise eyebrows. Exmor-R is the new back lighted sensor that Sony developed that gives you better low-light performance. Being a compact camera, having better low light performance is a major boost.

I found all the specs from the internet and then told my wife that it's a good buy especially since there was a discount being given in conjunction with a camera fair. Thus my wife bought the cam and when I first got my hands on it, it was way smaller than what I had imagined.

Here's a shot of the WX7.

And here it is with its lens extended. The T series of Sony's digital compact will not have lens that extends.
A view of the back of the cam. Notice that on the top right hand side of the LCD that the 'Macro' mode has been enabled? The cam will automatically switch to this mode when it is placed near a subject if you are in the 'Superior Auto' mode.
A view of the buttons and dial on the back of the cam.
In my big hands, the camera looked tiny and I do find it a little difficult to press the tiny buttons. Since the camera will be primariliy used by my wife, this is not a big issue. I gave it a little hands on test and came out impressed. The camera can deliver. Especially with the handheld twilight thingy. That feature could produce very decent pictures taken under low light without a tripod.
Above: The camera placed beside my mouse. That's how small it is and below: how it looks like in my hand.

The camera also have plenty of options when it comes to scenes such as soft skin for portraits, soft snap, beach, snow, fireworks etc. Choose the appropriate ones for the appropriate occasion to get the best result from the camera.

Putting the camera into the 'Superior Auto' mode will free you from fiddling with the settings as the cam will act quite intelligently. When I move the camera close to a subject, it automatically switches to macro mode to let me take the pic. Smart.

So technical specs apart, how does the camera actually perform? Take a look at the sample pictures I took below:

The camera also has a 'food' mode to let you take pics of food. I don't know what it does exactly but here are some pics taken with that mode. Looks yummy.
Below are a couple of shots taken of the same subject. The first one is taken with flash. The WX7 has quite decent flash compensation. Notice the rice? You can still see the details in there. That means the flash has not overexposed the white rice and the distance between camera and subject is very near.
The same shot below taken without flash.
How the camera fares when dealing with portraits.
And there's plenty of details in shots like the one below. The handheld twilight feature has brought out much details in the shadows and balanced the bright and dark areas nicely.
Except for the food shots, all other shots are taken using the 'Superior Auto' mode. Please note that all pics are straight from the camera itself and have not gone through any post editing except for resizing to fit the blog.

Where Is Our Morality? Where Is Our Conscience?

2011-10-19T08:49:00.002+08:00

Yesterday I saw a video that went viral on the net. It's heartbreaking. I'm sure many of you have seen the same video. That of a toddler being run over by not one but two vehicles and more than a dozen people went by and did nothing! They just left her for dead!

The incident happened in southern China and it shows clearly the state of society that we live in today. It's sad. It's deplorable. CNN news site even reported that the driver of the first vehicle called the father of the girl and offered money in compensation. That means the driver knew very well the toddler was hit and did nothing to save the girl. How can one behave in such a inhumane way?

And of the dozen or so passer-by's who saw the girl lying there on the street and did nothing! Even if you did not want to get personally involved, can't you just take out your mobile phone and call for help to come? How can anyone leave a toddler that's battered, broken and bleeding lying there on the road? It's incomprehensible!

In the end a 57 years old lady who rumbles through garbage bins for a living stopped and offered assistance. This is the state of our youth nowadays. It takes a 57 year old to act. One from the previous generation. What of the new generation? Have they all lost their conscience? Have they all had their hearts frozen?

Ask yourself. Are you so self centered that nothing else matters? Does it all have to be about you, you and only you? Can't find in in your being to spare a thought for anyone else? If that is so, then you are not worthy of being called a human. You are not worthy of being called an animal even! I have seen on Discovery Channel that even a zebra has more compassion than these people.

Let us not just point our fingers at China. Things are not much better here in KL. There are many now that are selfish and self-centered. Just look at the number of double parkers out there on the streets. The people that speed up when you signal to turn. The people that cut queues. That rush for food during open houses. That pretend to sleep on public transports so that they could stay in their seats when there are people more needy of those seats standing right in front of them. That park in bays meant for the disabled. These acts may seem trivial compared to those who ignored the toddler but remember - no one wakes up one morning and decides to become a drug addict or an alcoholic. It all starts with the little things. That one sip. That occasional puff and that seemingly trivial queue cutting.

To all those self centered people, I just like to ask one question - How do you fall asleep at night?

A First Class First Class

2011-10-18T13:34:00.000+08:00

OK people. Time for another stale movie review. Yup, we're back to the stale schedule. The luxury of being able to catch movies soon after their release in the cinemas have gone by again. So, I'm back to buying DVDs. I recently bought the X-Men: First Class DVD when I was out looking for the Super 8 DVD. Since there was no Super 8, I settled for First Class. It's a decision I did not regret. First Class is really first class.

The movie: It's the 5th film in the X-Men franchise but to me it's the best of the lot. It acts as a prequel to all the movies that came before.

The story: First Class deals with the story of a young Charles Xavier and Eric Lensherr who will come to be known much later as Professor X and Magneto respectively. The story of how they became unlikely friends but ended up as enemies.

The verdict: This is a thinking man's movies and is packed to the brim with plot as opposed to the more popular loaded-with-special-effects-but-tied-with-a-plot-as-thin-as-a-spaghetti offerings. When watching this movie, pay attention to the dialogues. The story is solid and the mutants are there because they are the fuel to the story and not as an excuse to showcase special effects. By the 1-hour mark, the story moves very quickly and I was at the edge of my seat wondering excitedly what will happen next. Not a lot of movies can do this.

The result: 4 out of 5 stars. If you haven't watched this movie, I highly recommend it.

Being Frugal

2011-10-13T15:37:00.000+08:00

Not so long ago, I posted an article where I delved on the high cost of living here in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. In this post, I'm going to give some pointers of how to save on a few things and perhaps help some to live within their means. A lot of people are going about their lives while lugging around some credit card debts. Maybe it's time to learn how to be frugal. If you're still interested, read on.

Being frugal means that one has to cut back on a lot of things. While this may initially put a dent on your ego, it may well work towards your advantage in the long run. So let's get to it.

1. Cancel your Astro subscription.

Cancelling your Astro subscription will save you at least RM80 per month. You don't need cable TV. If you're working full time, you don't really have time to watch TV. At best you can get around 3 hours of TV time each evening Mondays to Fridays. The weekends, well, I'll bet most of you are out in some shopping mall during the weekends so do you really need cable TV? Heck, you may even come to hate what they show on free-to-air TV so much that you will seldom switch the TV on and save on electricity!

2. Use public transport if possible.

I know, I know, the public transportation in KL is next to hopeless but if you're one of the lucky ones that can get to work using the LRT without much hassle, do opt to take the LRT. It will help you save on petrol and parking and toll charges. Get the monthly pass at RM100 per month for unlimited rides. One more perk of taking the LRT, no need to sit around in traffic jams.

3. Cancel your gym membership.

That will help you save around a hundred bucks per month. How does one exercise then? Park your car further away from your destination and walk. Take the stairs instead of the elevator or escalator. Jog around your neighbourhood. I'll bet you'll get more exercise that way than having a membership but never having the time to actually go to the gym.

4. Buy only original DVD movies.

This may sound counter-productive but hear me out. Most people will buy bootlegged DVD movies and they will buy any new movies that are released. Their argument? It's cheap. Putting the legal issue aside, can you really say it's cheap? At RM 10 per copy it may seem cheap but then one tend buy at least 2 or 3 titles and one would buy almost every month. If you were to buy originals, you'd be paying RM 59.90 per copy. Because it is expensive, you will only buy the titles that you really want to watch and know is good. Thus you WILL NOT be buying all the so-called new releases and you WILL NOT be buying every month. Net overall effect = you save some money by buying originals.

5. Cut up your credit cards.

If you are carrying a balance on your card, it's time to cut them up. Or at least lock them in a drawer and give the key to your mother-in-law. Once you have done that, continue to pay off the card and learn to live without it. Have you ever stopped to calculate how much interest you are paying by having a balance that never seem to go away?

If you can manage to do the above, you are well on your way to learning how to live within your means. To avoid people accusing me of not practising what I preach, let me tell you that I never had an Astro subscription, have used the LRT to get to/from work for 5 years, never have any gym memberships, buy only original DVD movies and I currently do not have a single credit card to my name. And yes, I assure you that I'm living in the Klang Valley.

It's do-able. You can learn to be frugal and live within your means. I pay cash for all my purchases. Yes, even for my DSLR. Because you use cash you will think all the more before making any purchases and once you've made one, you will bloody well make sure you utilise it. How did you think I managed to learn so much, so fast in photography?

KLPF 2011 Part 2

2011-10-12T07:31:00.005+08:00

In the last post, I left you with a shot of some film and the word lomography. To those who are not familiar with photography, they may not know what lomography means. It is actually a movement that consists of people who take pictures using a specific type of camera and their aim is to 'Don't Think, Just Shoot'.

What kind of camera do they use? Why Lomo cameras of course! Below is a picture of some.

You think they look more like toys? You think they look like they are made of plastic? You think that they don't look very high quality? Then you are right on all counts! Lomo cameras are not meant to be high quality and they are sometimes categorized as toy cameras and is definitely plastic. Even the lens is plastic.

It all started in the 80's when LOMO, a company in Russia, started production of it's LC-A camera. It's aim is to make the camera cheaply and sell it cheaply to the people. So it's made of plastic. The camera is so low cost that it had quality control issues. Things like light leaks, blurry images and atrocious flaring were the norm rather than the exception. The camera also produced photos (on film) that had weird color casts on them.

Instead of lambasting the company for their faults, some people came to like these quirks. You cannot get images like those that you get from a LOMO camera on any other camera. Thus lomography was born. So people shooting with a lomo camera shoot spontaneously. No need to think about techniques and all. Just press the shutter when you feel like it and then develop the pictures. Lomography enthusiasts actually want to get weird colors, light leaks and blurry images from their camera!

Above: A shot of a Fujifilm Instax camera. It's like a polaroid that gives you instant pictures using film! You can see some of the pictures pasted beside the camera. Polaroid popularized this kind of camera but sadly they have gone bust now. If you want something like a Polaroid camera, these Instax are the closest you can get. Getting film for the camera may be quite difficult nowadays.

Below: Voigtlander lenses. These are full manual lenses by Voigtlander, an old name in photography. The name dates back to the 1700's and boy are these lenses expensive! Like I said, these lenses are manual lenses, meaning there is no autofocus. You have to focus them manually. Imagine paying such a high price and you still have to do manual work where most modern lenses can autofocus and is cheaper but some people swear by them.

Ok! Enough about plastic cams and expensive lenses. Back to the gals! To end this post I will leave you all with some shots of the promoter gals at the KLPF 2011. Yes, I go to trade fairs like this so that I can shoot the gals for free. I am cheap like that but can you fault a poor man with an expensive hobby?

KLPF 2011 Part 1

2011-10-11T07:37:00.005+08:00

Last Saturday, I went to the Mid Valley Exhibition Center or MVEC to attend the KLPF or Kuala Lumpur Photography Festival. It's a photography related expo and talks organized by the Photo Creator Publisher group, a local photography magazines publisher.

So, what's there? Well, there were lots of vendors selling digital cameras of course. You can find all brands there. Then there were talks. Topics ranged from how to take pictures to how to sell your pictures to make money to showcases. Of course there were also models promoting various stuff. That's one of the reasons I was there - to take pictures of the models.

Also on display only is the new Nikon 1 Series digital camera. This is the one I talked about a few posts backs where Nikon introduced their new CX format sensors. Don't they look just like any other digital compact camera? Yes, they do and they are really just glorified point and shoot cams. Only that you can change the lenses.
Competing in the same class is the Sony NEX series of camera as shown below. The one directly below shows the NEX-5N decked out with a removable flash and an adapter to mount Sony Alpha DSLR lenses.
This is how the NEX-5N looks like with it's kit lens and a removable viewfinder.
Below is its little brother the NEX-C3, price at RM 2,199. These little pocket rockets houses sensors that are as large as the Sony A77 DSLT camera which is Sony's flagship in the APS-C class.
The NEX-5N is priced at RM 2,999 the same price with which I bought my Sony A100 DSLR some years back. The A100 is my very first camera as well as very first DSLR. Never bothered with digital compacts. You might say that I threw myself into the deep end at the very first step.
Here's an interesting camera from Fujifilm. The X100. It's a digital camera with a retro film camera look and feel. It's made of metal and is heavy thus giving you a feel of the film cameras of old. Takes one heck of picture too.
Ok. Back to the models. Here's a promoter for Nissin, a flash manufacturer. Their flashes are generally cheaper than flashes in the same class offered by Canon or Nikon or Sony. They can work in a pinch but if you have the budget, get the flash from your camera manufacturer.

Below: A model promoting Samsonite camera bags. Yup! Camera bags do not come cheap! A good one can easily set you back RM 200 to RM 300.

Above : Panasonic promoter gal.
Above: A promoter promoting waterfall conservation in Malaysia. I pity the organizers, while they were busy trying to tell you about conservation, the crowd was really busy only with trying to snap pictures of the models!

Below: Fujifilm employed models dressed up like the trendy Harajuku Japanese youths to promote their line of cameras. I must say that they really do look the part.

With that we've come to the end of the first part. In the next part I will show you some unusual cameras that launched the lomography movement. Stay tuned!

Steve Jobs

2011-10-06T09:55:00.000+08:00

October 5th 2011. It's a date that does not stand out and will be easily forgotten. But on this date, the world has lost one of it's most prominent figures. Steve Jobs died on this day. He was 56 years old.

If you do not know who Steve Jobs is and you use an iPhone, iPod or iPad then you should just throw your gadget away. Without Jobs, these gadgets would not exist. Yes. Steve Jobs was the co-founder and chairman of Apple. He revolutionized the personal computing scene. He made the computer personal.

Together with Steve Wozniak, his friend, Jobs created the Apple company in Wozniak's parents' garage in 1976. In 1977, the Apple II computer made them rich. In 1980, Apple went public and launched the Macintosh in 1984. Jobs was forced out of the company he created in 1985 by the then CEO and board of directors. A move that the board must have regretted as Apple went into a nosedive after that.

After being ejected from Apple, Jobs founded another company called the NeXT but it never found the success Apple did but it did introduce Object Oriented software development. During this time Jobs also found and rescued Pixar, the now famous company than produced a string of successive hits in computer animated feature films. Films that started with Toy Story and includes title like Finding Nemo and Wall-E. Steve bought over Pixar from Lucasfilm in 1986 and Pixar went public in 1995. Having made another fortune with Pixar, Jobs sold it to Disney in 2006.

In 1986, Jobs returned to Apple. At the time Apple was in bad shape. Jobs's return turned the company around and introduced the iMac in 1998. This was followed by the iPod, iTunes and of course the iPhone and the iPad. Apple grew to become one of the most valuable publicly-traded companies in the world under his leadership.

For a person with such an incredible achievement, he came from a very humble background. He was given up for adoption soon after his birth and he never met his biological father. He also never finished college but he was a super salesman. Apple would not have been as big today had Jobs not recognized that the world wanted and needed a small personal computer that his buddy, Wozniak is adept at building. While Wozniak dealt with the technical part, Jobs handled the sales and distribution. The rest as they say, is history. His brilliant sales and marketing is evident in the fact that the iPhone is now one of the most sought after smartphone in the market today.

But Jobs is no more. For such a short time that he had with us, he sure made a very, very deep impact in the lives of billions of people in the world. Rest in peace Steve. You will be missed.

Why The 'Average' Lifesytle In Urban Malaysia Is Unaffordable To Most

2011-10-04T13:40:00.002+08:00

With the current global economy situation the way it is, a lot of people are worried about the rising cost of living. Things are no different here in Malaysia. Problem with Malaysians, or more specifically urban Malaysians living in KL, is that they are spendthrifts! And they don't think that it's a problem.

In this post I'm going to outline the average lifestyle of a young couple, 30 years of age, just married and living in the Klang Valley. Let us examine if most of these young people can afford this kind of lifesytle.

According to a study, the median monthly disposable salary in Malaysia is around RM 3.9k. Let's take a fictitious couple called John and Jane and let us assume that they both have a combined disposable income of RM 6k shall we?

John and Jane are the average couple. Now being average in KL means:

- Both John and Jane have their own cars and imported cars no less.

- Both John and Jane have a house/apartment in a decent neighbourhood

- John and Jane are internet savvy and quite trendy

Let's just assume that the price of the cars John and Jane drives totals RM 200k. Not a far fetched figure since a Toyota Vios or a Honda City will easily cost about RM 80k. Assuming John drives a Honda Civic or Toyota Altis and Jane drives a Vios or City, RM 200K is just about right. John and Jane lives in a house that costs Rm 300k, a conservative figure to say the least. John and Jane subscribes to Astro, Malaysia's only satellite TV service and what with a big screen LED TV, has Astro B.yond for HD channels.

Being internet savvy, both John and Jane owns smartphones and has internet subscription. Of course, being the hip and happening couple, John and Jane do go out clubbing at least once a week.

Does the above lifestyle seems average enough for you? Quite typical. Nothing really outrageous. Really quite conservative if you analyse and compare it with the current situation in KL.

Let's break it down shall we?

The monthly installments for the cars will come to about RM 1200 per car if they paid the minimum downpayment and interest rate at 3%.

Installment for the house will come to about RM 1400 per month assuming a 30 year loan period and interest at 4% per annum.

Astro will costs RM 145 per month. Internet subscription to about RM 150 per month. Petrol consumption I will put to about RM 600 for both cars per month.

How much is that already? The total so far is Rm 4595. So John and Jane will fork out that amount every month to pay for the average lifestyle. But I haven't taken into account the cost of buying food yet. Assuming that they spend RM 50 per day on meals - that's higly unlikely, the food bill will come to RM 1500 per month.

Total now = RM 6095

Ooopppss!! That amount has already exceeded their combined monthly income. And that's assuming John and Jane eat like a pauper and stay home everyday when not working. Also John and Jane is not paying their utility bills and do not have any insurance and is unable to maintain their cars at this point. Forget about going clubbing and shopping.

So you see, the average urban lifestyle cannot be maintained even if you have a combined monthly income of RM 6k. I have said it before - in Malaysia, if you're young and have just joined the workforce (less than 5 years working) you cannot afford to drive an imported car. You'll be lucky if you can afford a brand new, lowest priced local car!

To be able to survive, you will need to be frugal and spend very wisely. Unfortunately most young Malaysians nowadays are far from frugal. They like to wear designer clothes, carry designer handbags, dine in fine restaurants and go for holidays abroad every year. So is it any surprise when the statistics come out to state that there are 40 Malaysians declaring bankruptcy every single day?

We have become a very materialistic society that do not have the values that our forefathers had. Back in the day, people place an emphasis on savings. Now it's all spend, spend, spend and spend even though you need to borrow to spend. I heard from my wife last night that a friend of hers told her that he's got around RM 10k in credit card debts. She told me that he said that it's not a big deal. I asked my wife how many month's salary is needed to clear that debt and she said about 3 months. So if a 3 month's salary worth of debt is no big deal, I wonder just how much is considered a big deal.

If my wife's friend loses his job tomorrow, he'll be declaring bankruptcy the day after. I really don't think that carrying such a debt is a good idea. More so in this time of uncertain global economy scenario. It's time for a lot of Malaysians to re-evaluate their lifestyle.

Seeking A Chance In Sekinchan Part 2

2011-10-01T23:38:00.003+08:00

Ok. Part 2 of my Sekinchan trip. As I was saying in the last post, there are 50+ photographers trying to shoot the models. Jostling for position to get a good shot is not really my cup of tea so every so often I would break away from the main group and walk around and shoot some other stuff.

Below is the typical scene when you're in the middle of a paddy field in Sekinchan. A sea of green, sometimes broken by structures like this huge shed that stores a couple of harvesters.

The bicycle is another prop used during the model shoot. See how shiny the rims of the wheels are. A typical bicycle used in such an environment will rarely have shining rims! Haha.

Above: Another scene around the paddy field and below: I call this the 'Flaming Pineapple' because of the red outline the pineapple has around it and at its base. Looks like there's a flame engulfing the fruit. To those of you that haven't seen a pineapple plant before, this is how it looks like. And yes, those spiky leaves can hurt you.
Below: A stalk with some bananas developing. The red thingy hanging at the bottom of the stalk is called the 'heart' of the banana. It can be eaten but it is the normal banana fruit that is more commonly marketed. In the background of this shot, you can see a more developed bunch of bananas.

Above: A more developed bunch of bananas. These are still green signifying that they are not ripe yet. Below: A typical Malay styled 'kampung' house.

What else can you find in the paddy fields? Well, I found a dead snake (pic below). Yes, there are snakes around in the fields so don't go poking sticks into holes you find in the ground and watch where you step. Normally they won't bother you if you don't bother them.
After the morning shoot, we stopped for lunch and after lunch, we went to a fishing village that's nearby the fields. No more models to shoot in the afternoon and we were allowed to roam the beach and village to shoot whatever that catches our fancy. Below is a random shot I took while walking around the beach. I didn't go to the village proper as I was feeling a little lazy and the village is quite a distance from the beach where our bus dropped us. I later found out that the beach is named Redang beach.
Below: Relaxing under a tree on the beach. As you can see, someone built treehouses on the trees around the beach. Most trees had a platform in them that you can climb up to.

Above: Children fishing off a pier on the beach watching a fishing boat coming back from the sea. Below: Another couple of random shots.

We left the beach around 4pm. From my pics, you can see that the sky was overcast for the entire day making a lousy backdrop for most shots. Another thing that overcast skies do to you is subtly giving you a sunburn without you realizing it. When I got home I realized that both my arms were red from exposure to the sunlight as I was wearing a short sleeved shirt. Although the sun rarely made an appearance that day, its effect was still considerable. So when you venture out into an overcast sky don't forget your sunscreen.

Seeking A Chance In Sekinchan Part 1

2011-09-30T07:22:00.004+08:00

Last Sunday, I woke up at 4am in the morning and crawled out of bed. No I did not set the alarm wrongly and I did not mistake it for Monday. I had to get up at 4am because my bus leaves at 5am.

I joined an outing organized by Sony Malaysia. A shoot at a Sekinchan, a rural town in Selangor. Sekinchan is considered the rice bowl of Selangor because it has vast paddy fields. Sony Malaysia offered a bus to take us there and also hired some models for us to shoot while we were there. The price for joining this trip? FREE if you're a Sony Alpha or Sony NEX user! Yes, it's good to be a Sony camera user here.

So I was up at 4am and out of the house at 4.30am heading towards Pudu Plaza, where the bus was waiting. The bus left Pudu Plaza at a little past 5am and I rested my tired eyes all the way to Sekinchan.

We got to our first shooting destination close to 8am. Apart from the 33 people in the bus, we were joined by some others who came in their own cars. All in all there were 50+ people in the group. The skies were overcast that morning. Dull grey. Not good for shooting.

As you can see from the picture below, the sky has very little details. The colour that you see is a result of some post processing on the picture.

It was a challenge trip, meaning we were to shoot and submit a picture at the end of the day for a competition. The winner will get a small prize. The above picture is what submitted. I don't know who won yet as the results were still not out at the time of this blog. The above picture was taken in the afternoon at another location. I named it "Forgotten".

In the morning we shot at the paddy fields. Yup. Those green thingy that looks like grass are paddy. The rules were laid out for the shoot. The models will be acting on directions and we were supposed to just find a good angle and shoot. We were not to give any directions to the models. The first session had the models dressed up as villagers.

In the above pic, they were posing under the tree. We were across the little stream, shooting. I'm telling you, jostling for a position with 50 other photographers at the edge of a stream is no fun at all. The above shot was taken using my 20mm wide angle lens.

One of the props used in the shoot was a classic Vespa scooter as shown in the following shots.

And yes, it still works. It can be riden but it makes a heck of a noise.

The following shots show how the models 'act' like they are part of the little rural town. The fact was that only the guy was a local. The two gals were from Kuala Lumpur like I was.

After the rural theme, the gals had a change of costume and we had a shoot with them in more contemporary clothes on.

As the sky was still overcast, I had to 'hide' the sky as much as possible in my shots. As you would have noticed, many of the shots here does not show much of the sky. One good thing about an overcast sky is that it provides very even lighting as the sunlight is diffused and you won't find much harsh shadows over the faces of the models.

I'll end the post with a shot of a post box that I liked.
In Part 2, I will show some shots I took around the place and some shots on a beach not far from here. Stay tuned!

CX Format? What The Heck?

2011-09-23T11:31:00.001+08:00

Just days ago, Nikon, one of the big 2 camera manufacturers in the world, announced it latest cameras. They are an entry into the new E.V.I.L (Electronic Viewfinder, Interchangeable Lens) category of cameras. To the lay man, EVIL typically means that you get to change lenses while still having a body that's only a little bigger than the normal compact digital cameras.

To the technical gearheads however, Nikon's new 1 Series cameras introduces the new CX format. Nikon already has an FX and DX format prior to this. We will go into details of these formats a bit later on. For now let's look at the exisiting line up for the EVILs:

Nikon has the 1 Series which includes the J1 & V1 models

Sony has the NEX Series which includes the NEX-C3 & NEX-5N with the NEX-7 launching in October 2011

Olympus has the PEN series which includes the EPL-1, EP-2, EPL-2 & EP-3 models

Panasonic has their G series which includes the G2, GF2, GH2, G3 & GF3 models

Samsung has their NX series which includes the NX 100 & NX 200 models

Canon? Canon has said that mirrorless cameras are for manufacturers that have failed DSLR camera range. It remains to be seen how long Canon can hold on to that statement as the mirrorless cameras have proved to be popular.

With that list of models above, it's already confusing enough for the average consumers. If you're technical gearhead, then you're in for an even worse time. The new Nikon EVILS brought with them the CX format for camera sensors.

What's camera sensor format? Well, if you don't want to know, then stop reading right now. Else I will not be responsible for any headaches that the explanation below may bring. You have been warned!

Nikon has of now, 3 formats for their cameras. The FX, the DX and the CX formats.

The FX format describes their Full Frame (FF) sensors. FF sensors means that the digital sensor inside their camera is as big as the traditional 35mm film negative. The size is 36mm x 24mm. The Nikon D700 & D3x has this sensor size along with Sony's A900, A850 and Canon's 5D & 1D series of DSLRs.

The DX format describes the APS-C sensors. These APS-C sensors are a little smaller than the FF sensors. The industry term for it is that APS-C sensors usually has a 1.5x or 1.6x crop factor. The size is typically 23.6mm x 15.6mm. All other DSLR models from Nikon, Sony and Canon apart from the ones listed above has the APS-C size sensor.

The CX format which is used for the new Nikon 1 Series cameras, is an even smaller sensor. It measures 13.2mm x 8.8mm. The crop factor is then 2.7x

What does this all mean then? In the digital camera realm, bigger is always better when it comes to sensor sizes. That's one of the reason why the FX format Nikon D3x sells for more than RM 20k!

Typical point and shoot digital compact cameras have sensor sizes around 4.8mm x 3.6mm in size though some premium models may sport sensor as large as 7.2mm x 5.3mm in size. Some low end models has a sensor as small as 3.2mm x 2.4mm in size. That's the main reason why digital compacts cameras cannot produce the same image quality as a DSLR.

With this new CX format, Nikon's EVIL only has a sensor that is a little bigger than a typical premium model digital compact camera. It also means that it ranks last in terms of sensor size compared to the other EVIL cameras in the market.

Sony's and Samsung's EVIL cameras sports APS-C sized sensors. Panasonic and Olympus models have sensors that is 17.3mm x 13mm in size with a 2x crop factor. So theoretically speaking, Nikon's sensor will yield the poorest image quality if judged by sensor size alone.

Another blow to Nikon's 1 series cameras is the price. They are among the priciest in the EVIL category despite having the smallest sensor. Although initial tests by some shows that the Nikon 1 series have a very good autofocus system and may be one of the fastest autofocus systems in the EVIL category, does that justify the price?

So should you buy the Nikon 1 series camera? I don't know. If it floats your boat, then by all means. Technical specifications means very little in the end to the average user anyhow. If you like it and have the means, then why not?

For me personally, I would not touch the Nikon 1 Series with a ten foot pole! I would rather stick to one with an APS-C sensor at least. Call me spoiled if you will but I am very reluctant to go to a smaller sensor than the FX format. You can say my Sony A850 has poisoned me beyond the point of no return when it comes to sensor size.

Toying Around

2011-09-16T07:19:00.002+08:00

On Sept. 11 2011,while the people of America were busy with their 9/11 memorial, I was toying around. Actually, I took my kids to the Malaysia International Toy Fair 2011 in Mid Valley Megamall.

Though the name sounds impressive, it wasn't anywhere big nor comprehensive enough. I had to pay RM 3 per adult for entry fees. Luckily the kids get to enter for free. The picture below shows the main reason why I was there.

If you didn't already know, that's Ultraman Mebius. My son just loves him. He's the updated version of Ultraman that most of us had seen on TV before. Apart from the Ultramen, there were other displays of toys, mostly from Japanese anime or games. How about a fancy mouse pad? The Japanese have designed it so that it has a resting place for your wrist and guess where the resting place is located? See picture below!

In case you're wondering, it costs RM 40 per piece. A high price to pay for a mouse pad and the novelty wears out real fast!

The above picture shows the display put on by the Macross fans of Malaysia. Those fighter planes that you see there can transform into big robots or mechas as they are known. It was one of my favourite cartoon series back when I was a kid. I used to watch it on TV but they showed the mangled US version of it known as Robotech where the Americans combined 3 separate Japanese animes featuring transformable mechas into one series. The first to be shown was Macross.

The following few pics plus the one above show some dress up dolls I suppose. See the fancy clothes that they have on?

We come to another cartoon series that I enjoyed when I was a kid: Transformers! If you watched the 80's cratoon series and liked it back then,you will know why I hate Micheal Bay for murdering the franchise with his big budget, mucho special effects but brainless movies. Apart from the first movie, I refuse to acknowledge the existence of the others! The toys they inspired however, are way cool! Just take a look!

These cool displays are courtesy of TransMY, the community of Transformers fans in Malaysia.
Optimus Prime's bust above and Bumblebee's bust below. I love how they made it look aged and worn out.
And a shot of Optimus Prime all powered up with some add ons. Look at the details on that figure! It's obvious someone spent a lot of time coming up with this one.
Talking about figures, here's the reason why boys like to collect action figures. Voluptuous female figurines wearing skimpy clothes posing suggestively. These are rather tame. I've seen ones that are more revealing and daring. If you're a Trekkie, you would have missed the figurines completely and drooled over the various USS Enterprise starships featured in the many Star Trek movies and series in the background of the picture below.

Above: Taking center stage in the picture is Lion-O from the Thundercats. Who remembers this cartoon series? Above him to the right are the Predators aliens and can you spot Hellboy?
Here we have a different kind of toy. Called the K-Hex, these are small hexagonal bits that you can put together to form pictures. The photo below shows a Red Indian portrait made up of those K-Hex.
Below: K-Hexs comes in different colours.

Above: The only shot I got of the many promoter girls there promoting various on-line games. personally think that a toy fair should not have on-line game booths. Computer games are not toys per se. I categorize toys as physical play things - stuff that you can hold and manipulate with your hands. Darth Vader seems to agree with me. Ermm... mind pointing that lightsaber somewhere else?
Last but not least, there were lots of cute plush cuddlies around. You can find famous ones like Domo-kun to the ubiquitous Angry birds to these rather weird characters below. They are actually anamorphic 'Man Tou' or Chinese dough buns!
And I don't even know how to categorize this character below. Anyone want to take a shot? You can do so by leaving a comment!

Getting A Handle On Things

2011-09-13T09:12:00.002+08:00

Yesterday afternoon at lunch time, I went to the bank to pay my car installments. The bank branch I visited was undergoing renovations and I first thought that it was closed. A closer inspection revealed that it was indeed operating and I paid the installment with little hassle.

After having lunch I went back to my car. I turned off the alarm and went to open the door. Snap! The door opened but something did not feel right and a look told me all I needed to know. My external car door handle had broken! It snapped off! Fortunately I can still fit it back into the slot and it did not dangle about.

As another car was waiting for the spot, I quickly got into my car and drove off. I was very surprised. The last thing I had expected to break off was the door handle. Proton cars are known for their numerous problems but my previous car was a Proton also and I drove it for more than 11 years before selling it off and none of the car handles broke. My current car is barely 5 years old!

It seemed non-sensical. How can the car handle break? Did the manufacturer know that the handle is one of the most used part in a car? Didn't it makes sense to ensure that part was made tougher?

A search on the internet showed that this was a common problem. Apart from my car model, another older model also suffered the same fate. How could the problem still exist? Didn't the manufacturer learn its lesson on the previous model? Questions like these will go unanswered. It's a known fact that Proton cars meant for export is of a higher quality than those meant for the local market. Why? That question will also be unanswered. We can only speculate.

That's the problem with buying a car here in Malaysia. My car is the cheapest one around when I bought it. Cost me around RM 35K to purchase brand new. That's a lot to pay for a car that will have its door handle break in less than 5 years. That's the reason why I will buy the cheapest car around. It's crazy to spend more on an item that you know will only depreciate over time. Imported cars sells for twice the price I paid for mine at the very least and those are not luxury models. Luxury models are priced above RM 150k at the very least. It really does not pay to drive around in Malaysia but then the public transport has a quality that's well below that of the broken door handle!

Tokyo Street

2011-09-01T22:56:00.001+08:00

I have been roaming around Tokyo Street the past couple of days. And no, I'm not in Japan. Rather I'm in the heart of Kuala Lumpur. Inside one of the premier shopping malls to be exact.

Pavilion KL has recently opened a new section called Tokyo Street. True to it's name, this area has Japan as its theme. The pic below shows the big signboard in front of the entrance to Tokyo Street. Lots of Japanese related shops are located inside.

Located on the 6th floor of mall, you will see this big red lantern if you came up from the escalator that brings you right into Tokyo Street. Word is that this lantern is imported from Japan and costs over RM 80K.
I supposed that's the reason why scores of people come and pose in front of it and have their picture taken. Here I am shooting him shooting her.
Inside the street you will find that the area is decorated in Japanese style. Bamboo and wood shop fronts and Japanese lanterns adorn the area.
There are also tea houses. Hardly surprising as tea is a big part of Japanese culture but this shop is selling refreshments rather than giving you a genuine Japanese tea ceremony.
Of course there are lots of Japanese restaurants here too. A couple of more upmarket outlets is shown here. Mind you people are queuing up to eat ramen that costs around RM 20 plus per bowl!

You can also find the Tokyo Tower there but its made of nanoblocks (more on this later). It's a display item and I do not how long this tower will be there.
The floor is made to look like a street and I guess there are some streets like this in Tokyo. It makes you feel like you're walking past rows of shops in a real Tokyo street.
To make the atmosphere more authentic, some shops have their workers dress up in Japanese garments as in the picture below.
Since shopping is a favorite Malaysian pastime, you can see happy shoppers here too.
Also among the shoppers are young couples enjoying their day out.
Some shots I took of some of the window displays there. The one below belongs to a restaurant that serves western food.
Of course there's a shop that sells tea leaves and Japanese tea utensils.
A touch of zen below.
Hello kitty and gashapon machines in front of a shop that sells toys, trinkets and Japanese junk food.
Below: More Japanese trinkets. Cute animals are ubiquitous in Japanese culture. Don't ask me why.
Ramen that will sap your wallet of cash.
Cute Japanese dolls make up part of the window display at the Cafe Takahashi. Like I mentioned earlier, this restaurant serves western cuisine despite its Japanese name.

Apart from ramen and spaghetti, you can also find mochi here. The mochi does not come cheap. Expect to pay at least RM 3.50 for one piece of this Japanese delicacy. I bought some and to be honest, although they taste nice, I don't think they are worth the price you pay for them.
Finally, here are some nanoblock creations. They are like lego bricks, only much smaller. I should say they are tiny! Meant for adults only as children under 5 will not have the kind or patience nor focus to put these things together.
Above: Replica of a famous temple in Japan and below: Wall-E in nanoblock.
There is also a Mario figure.
And Captain America or should I say Captain Amelica.
And last but not least the famous Angry bird!
That's all the photos I have of Tokyo Street. How's the place? It's a nice addition to Pavilion I would say. At least here you can get to experience a little bit of the Japanese culture but it sure don't come cheap. Why was I there? Well, there is a photography contest called "The Charms of Tokyo Street" being organized so I went there to take some pictures to join. It's open to anyone above 18 years of age and you take pictures in and around Tokyo Street and submit your 3 best pictures. Grand prize is a limited edition lomo camera. Closing date is 5th of Sept. 2011 so if any of you want to join, there's still some time left.

The Day I Overtook A Ferrari

2011-08-25T23:08:00.002+08:00

A few days ago, I was driving on the road when I saw a familiar red car on the road up ahead. A closer look revealed that it was a bright red Ferrari 360 Modena. It was within sight and I felt the need for speed. So I accelerated.

Slowly but surely I began to creep up to the Ferrari. Then for the longest time, it stayed that way. The red sports car stayed in front of me no matter how I tried to pass it. It was then I began to lose hope. How can I ever beat a Ferrari? The notion is totally ridiculous. Here I am driving a lowly local car dreaming of beating an import exotic? Unfathomable!

As fate would have it, the opportunity presented itself. I saw the opening and switched lanes while footing the accelerator. My car slowly inched its way and closed the distance. A little later I was side by side with the famous prancing horse! Then, most unbelievably, my car began to overtake the Ferrari. First it was just my bumper that was ahead, then the whole engine compartment was ahead and then finally I left the Ferrari behind!

It was an unforgettable experience! I had just overtaken a Ferrari! It's true but then we were all caught in a massive traffic jam on the Federal Highway and there was no way for the Ferrari to speed as it was caught behind a lorry and the traffic in my lane was moving faster!

Getting To Know Windows 7

2011-08-21T14:51:00.001+08:00

Recently I have moved on to another job, leaving my old one. In this new environment, I had to re-acquaint myself with Microsoft's Operating Systems, namely the Windows Server and Windows 7.

Nearly everyone in this world uses a Windows machine and Windows 7 happens to be the latest Operating System offered so most of you guys will be using one version of Windows 7 or another. The previous one was Vista but that really did not take off. In my previous job I was stuck using a Windows XP Pro machine. I feel so outdated as I dealt mostly with Linux boxes.

Now I am getting cosy with Windows 7 as I am using a Windows 7 Professional 64-bit machine. It's less fussy than Vista (that I use at home on my own personal machine) and I recently found out it has lots of useful tools. I will a couple of these free tools that most of us can use.

The System Repair Disk.

If any of you have been using Microsoft's Windows OSes for some time, you will surely have come across a time when your machine just refuse to boot. One day all is fine and dandy and the other it just refuses to work. Previously (meaning pre-Vista days) you will call your company's IT Dept. or your tech savvy friend for help. Much time and effort will be spent to get things back to normal if at all possible.

With Windows 7, Microsoft has finally given us the option to create a tool that can help in situations like this - The System Repair Disk. You can easily create one. Just follow these steps:

1. Click on the 'Start' button.

2. Type in 'System Repair Disk' on the search bar and you will see the "Create System Repair Disk" option.

3. Select that option and the 'Create System Repair Disk' dialog will appear asking you to pop in a CD into your CD/DVD writer drive to start the process.

4. Pop in the CD.

5. Click on 'Create' and wait for the process to complete. Should take about 15 to 20 minutes.

That's it. The repair disk will be created and you can use this disk to help in rectifying some problems when your Windows 7 PC cannot boot. Just pop the CD into the drive and boot from it and the recovery option available will appear. Ok. I lied. It's a wee bit more complicated than that but it should be a breeze for someone who's technical savvy.

The Backup Tool on Windows.

The Backup Tool has been available in Windows since Windows 2000 but then no one worth their salt would touch it with a 10 foot pole if there's any choice. So it was soon forgotten but with Windows 7 there may be a reason to have a relook.

Most people fail to backup their data. That goes for me too. I've had the bad experience of losing much data due to a bad hard disk. Now with Windows 7, there's an option for you to create an image of your system. This means that you no longer have to buy software like Symantec Ghost or what not to make a system image. Granted that the options are rudimentary compared to some third party offerings but hey, it's free! Here's how to create a system image for your machine:

1. Go to the Start button.

2. Type in 'Backup' in the search bar and you should see a "Backup & Restore" option.

3. Select that option and the Backup & Restore application will start.

4. Look at the left column and you should see a "Create System Image" option.

5. Choose that and you can start to create your system image after going through some options. The only thing you need is a place with enough space to keep that image. Windows will let you choose to create the image to multiple DVDs or store to a hard disk.

Once you have created the image, you can then use the System Repair Disk to restore your PC using the image you just created. A word of caution here is that you need to keep your image current because when you restore it will revert the system to the time when the image was created. Anything after that point will not be available.

What Option Do We Have Now?

2011-08-13T23:03:00.000+08:00

Today I went to the post office intending to renew my road tax for my car. That's when I found out that I cannot do so because the server is down. I then enquired as to whether I can go to another post office to get it done and was told that all the post offices will not have that service. Reason being - the server at JPJ is down.

So what now? I'm stuck because the JPJ office is not opened because it's a Saturday and I cannot renew my road tax due to their server failure. Come Monday, my road tax will expire so if I get any summons, who's fault will it be? WTF!

Digital Lifestyle Expo

2011-08-04T23:08:00.003+08:00

On the 29th of July, I went to PIKOM's Digital Lifestyle Expo or DLE. This is the second time DLE is being held and it was held at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Center.

Essentially the expo is similar to PC Fair which is also organized by PIKOM but they have things like TV and digital imaging products at the DLE. To me of course, the products on display are not the main attraction. I go to trade fairs like this to give my camera a spin. So here are the shots I took that day!

Below: Razer gaming gear promoter gal. If she seems familiar it's because she was also present at another PC themed expo just a week before this. I liked the contrast created by the neon-glow green motif and her black outfit.

Above & below : Panasonic promoter gals. 3D, LED and LCD TVs as well as Panasonic digital cameras were on display.

Below: Trend Micro anti-virus has the same 2 gals here as well as the PC Expo held just a week earlier.

One thing that I did not expect to find at a digital lifestyle expo were cars but lo and behold, Ford and Mazda were here displaying their vehicles. I just could not understand what cars have to do with digital lifestyle.

Below: The Mazda show area. Note that just behind is a booth by the Malaysian government. They are promoting the income tax e-filing and also the 1Malaysia email among others.

Of course, where there are cars, there will be promoter gals and one of them is pictured below.
If you cannot afford to buy a whole car, you can do the next best thing and buy this setup. Plug in your favourite racing simulation games and you won't even know the difference! Costs less than RM 2000 too!
Being a photography enthusiast, I took some shots of the latest camera offerings. Panasonic's GF-3 that was missing from the PC Expo.

And Samsung's foray into the E.V.I.L market - the NX 100
As well as NX-11
Lenovo's promoter gals.

Avira Anti-virus never fails to deliver. You will be able to find promoter gals at their booth at every fair as is evident here.

Besides anitvirus software, there were also an array of small and cute PC/Notebook speakers.

I then bumped into a kind of reversal where the Angry Birds of the digital realm manifested themselves into our real world! Behold the birds still hell bent on getting the green pigs!

Above : Promoter gals and their colorful accessories. Below: Colorful mice and their equally colorful pads!

Online gaming companies were also out in full force to get people to sign up for their games. Their strategy is to deploy squads of pretty gals to literally catch the gamers' attention.
Here's a banner showing the games. Too bad I can't read Chinese.

Below: I didn't know that the box she was holding was upside down until I uploaded the picture into my computer but then again I wasn't aiming to catch what game she was promoting.

I will end this post with another picture of the Razer gaming gear promoter gal. I've been going to these fairs for so long and taking so many pictures that I recognize most of the gals by face and some even by name.
I hope you've enjoyed this post as much as I have enjoyed creating it. Here's looking forward to the next fair!

Lovely Brides

2011-07-31T01:33:00.003+08:00

On the 30.07.2011 I Went to the Sony Alpha Bridal Shoot Challenge + Workshop. It's a free workshop conducted by Sony Malaysia for Alpha DLSR and NEX digital camera users. Mr. Wesley Wong, facilitated the event held at the Holiday Inn Glenmarie Hotel in Shah Alam.

It was actually a competition where we get to shoot 3 lovely, lovely models dressed up as brides. All the participants would submit one, yes just one picture at the end of the shoot and the facilitator and a couple of other judges will pick the winners for the day.

There were 2 main prizes given out plus 10 other honorable mentions, a.k.a. consolations prizes to be won. The prizes are not really very expensive stuff but hey this is a free workshop so no complaints.

By my estimate, there were about 50 plus people there. We were broken up into 3 groups and led to 3 separate shooting locations within the hotel grounds. The groups took turns rotating around the 3 models and after the set time period was up, we would re-convene in one of the function rooms to submit our entries.

The facilitator would show all the entries and make comments on the pics so that we could all learn. A total of 46 pictures were submitted at the end and the facilitator picked out 12 shots for the final elimination round. My pic was one of them!

My pic was in the running right up till the final 3 pics but got eliminated there so I got only a consolation prize.

Here's the pic I submitted.

A shot of model named Jess taken under natural light. Had her standing beside a window - didn't I tell you windows are a great bonus for lighting when taking pictures? Here's the proof!

The facilitator plus judge, Mr. Wesley Wong commented that he liked the lighting a lot and liked the mood of the shot but because one piece of the hair ornament strayed into her face, made the shot weaker. He said that I should have told the model to move the offending trail aside. He also commented that the coconut tree did not add anything to the shot.

For me I took the shot as soon as she raised her hand above her head. I took 2 shots back to back and the second shot did not have the same mood. The moment was gone. As for the background I could have blurred it out even more but I chose to leave it like that to show some of the environment around her. I thought that the green in the tree added some color to the shot. What's your thoughts about it? Feel free to comment!

And here's some of the other pics taken there by me.

Above & below : The lovely Celeste.

Above & below : Enchanting Eve.
And last but not least, the charming Jess.

The shot of Jess below is a bit overexposed but it looks nice and I should think it's acceptable.

Above: The last shot I took there.

Although I did not win the main prizes, I had lots of fun there! That's the main thing for me. I love shooting and I love it even more when the subjects of my shots love the shots. I was drenched in sweat during the shoot but it was all worth it. Would like to extend my thanks to the lovely ladies who made the shoot possible!

The Measure of A True Hero

2011-07-28T15:41:00.001+08:00

This is a rare thing if you have been following my blog. Today I'm going to write a review on a movie that has just been released! I watched Captain America: The First Avenger.

Chris Evans plays Steve Rogers aka Captain America in the show. Along for the ride is Tommy Lee Jones as Colonel Chester Phillips and Hugo Weaving as Johann Schimdt aka the Red Skull. he movie is set in the 40's where the world is still caught up in WWII.

Steve Rogers is a sickly young man who tries to enlist himself into the US Army. He fails numerous times but it never stops him from trying. His great sense of justice and compassion finally gets him the attention of one Dr. Abrham Erskine who works for the Strategic Scientific Reserve (SSR), a top secret arm of the military, and Steve is made a soldier.

In boot camp Steve's frail body makes him the laughing stock but his genuine compassion and inherently good nature wins him the admiration of Colonel Chester Phillips and one Agent Peggy Carter. Steve is selected for the Super Soldier program and he becomes Captain America.

The rest of the movie deals with how Captain America fights the Nazis and more specfically Hydra, which started out as an arm of the Nazi scientific weapons research but ultimately goes rogue and becomes the biggest threat to the world.

What I like about Captain America is that it showcases that the best qualities of a true hero is not super strength nor super stamina but the ability to be human and show humility, understanding and doing everything in your power for what you believe in. Director Joe Johnston has given us a very human Captain America and that makes him shine.

The rest of the cast supports the lead well and I especially like Tommy Lee Jones' character. He's funny in a deadpan sort of way. Hayley Atwell who plays Peggy Carter, Steve's love interest, gives the movie a little romantic touch. To make the movie tie in with others such as Iron Man and Thor for the upcoming Avengers movie, the producers have put in the character of Howard Stark, father of Tony Stark aka Iron Man, who also aids the SSR in the Super Soldier program.

I hope that in the sequel, Steve will not lose his human side of Captain America and the movie will not degenerate into a mere special effects showcase.

Final rating : 3.5 out of 5 stars.

The Marche Experience

2011-07-27T23:53:00.001+08:00

This afternoon, I went for lunch in Marche for the first time. I know that this restaurant has beeen around for quite a while but it's the first time for me. For those of you that are uninformed, Marche is located at The Curve shopping center in Mutiara Damansara, PJ. I'm not sure if there's another branch elsewhere in Malaysia.

Marche, pronounced as 'Mar Shay', uses a different kind of dining concept. Unlike your usual restaurant, Marche operates more like a market environment. Before you enter the restaurant, you need to get a 'passport' from the front counter attendant. After getting that you proceed to the dining area where the various offerings are set in the middle of the restaurant much like a buffet spread in a hotel.

After finding a seat you will then walk around the area and decide what you want. Everything from drinks to desserts you have to get yourself. When you find something you like, you go to the particular stall/booth and order it by tellling the attendant there what you want and have your 'passport' stamped with your choice. Your meal will then be prepared and you will have to come back in a short while to get it.

Prices of items are displayed for you and you go around and around until you have had your fill. All the while getting your 'passport' stamped with each order. When you have finished eating, you then have to take your 'passport' to the cashier to pay. Mind you, you cannot exit the restaurant via the entrance that you came. The cashier is located at another end. After you have paid, you will be let out.

How was it for me?

Well, the food is okay. They claim it's fresh and prepared right in front of you. I can't argue with the preparing part and as for fresh, I'll just have to take their word for it.

The environment is good. Nice cosy settings with tasteful decor. Only thing is that after your meal, your clothes will smell of the cooking. The smell is not heavy but it's there.

I also do not like to be herded like a cow, which is what they use as a mascot, where there's only one entrance and one exit and one way. Mind you the prices are not cheap. Expect to pay upwards of RM 40 per person when you dine here. They also charge you for service which I am not agreeable upon. How is it that I'm charged for service when I have to walk around and around to select my food and then wait to collect my food, bring it to my table before I can eat it myself and when I have finished I have to walk all the way to the cashier to pay. I can't even call for a check to be delivered to me! I'd rather dine in a fancy restaurant where I'm ushered to my table, given a menu and have my meals dellivered by smiling waiters/waiteresses who will re-fill my water glass and then bring me my check and change after I pay.

The idea of a market-like setting for ordering your food may seem novel for Europeans but it's nothing new for Asians like us. We have plenty of night markets or 'pasar malam' where we walk from one stall to another and buy the food we like. Only thing is there's no air-conditioning and and nicely decorated seating area but hey the food is definitely cheaper!

So will I go there again? Probably not. Oh, and by the way, if you go there, please take care to look after your 'passport'. If you lose it, you'll have to pay a penalty of RM 200 per 'passport' and they usually give one 'passport' per person.

PC Expo 2011

2011-07-22T18:03:00.003+08:00

Today I went to the PC Expo 2011 in PWTC. Those of you who have known me for some time knows that I go to trade fairs like this to take pictures of the product ambassadors. Well, this time around I was disappointed.

PC Expo is kinda small. It takes up only 2 halls in PWTC and one can breeze through the booths in about 30 minutes if you walk slowly. There's also not much in terms of PC to see. I saw only 2 notebook brands selling their products there. Other booths were selling mostly accessories like MP3/MP4 players and things like mouse or keyboards and Wi-Fi access points and/or routers and signal boosters.

Here are the gals' pics.

Above & below : Trend Micro gals.

The Avira Anti-Virus gals

Above & below : MOVE GPS gals in black and white outfits.

Since there are not many gals to shoot, I did the next best thing! I shot pictures of some recent camera models from Olympus and Panasonic. Those of you who are looking to get a camera that can perform like a DSLR but don't want the size can take note. I present to you the Micro Four Thirds E.V.I.L. cameras. E.V.I.L. stands for Electronic Viewfinder, Interchangeable Lens.

Olympus

I took a look at the Olympus PEN series there. Namely the E-PL1, E-PL2 and the just released E-P3.

Here's how the E-P3 looks like without a lens attached.

From left to right : The E-P3, the E-PL2 and the E-PL1
Here it is with the 14-42mm lens attached (picture above) and its size in an average adult's hand (picture below).

The E-P3 with its lens retracted for storage (picture below). Notice that when you want to shoot, the lens has to be extended as in the picture above.

Here's a shot of the E-PL1 below.

And above's a shot of the E-PL2 comparing it with my Sony 85mm f2.6 lens(on the left) which is one of the smallest lens in the Sony's DSLR stable.

Any of you who are interested the prices listed are as follows:

E-PL1 selling for RM 1.799 with the 14-42mm zoom lens.

RM 2,299 for a twin lens kit of 14-42mm and 40-150mm lens.

RM 3,099 for a super zoom lens of 14-150mm which is equivalent to a 28-300mm zoom in terms of a 35mm camera. That's a lot!

E-PL2 selling for RM 2,199 with a choice of the 14-42mm zoom or the 17mm pancake lens.

RM 2,699 for the twin lens kit of 14-42mm and 40-150mm lens.

The E-P3 is selling for around RM 3,000 for a 14-42mm lens. Pricey!

Panasonic is also in the E.V.I.L. camera race with their Lumix G2 and GF2 models

Here's a shot I took comparing it with the Sony NEX 3 (white cam on the left in shot below) which is Sony's entry in the E.V.I.L. range of cameras. Note that the lens on the the Sony NEX is not a native Sony NEX lens. It is a Sony Alpha DSLR lens mounted on the NEX using an adapter. That's the reason it appears so bulky.

In my humble opinion, the Olympus PEN series seemed to outperform the Panasonic Lumix G series. I noticed that the Olympus had better LCDs and the flash compensation control seemed to be better on the Olympus too. Then again I did not really spend a lot of time fiddling with the cams so do your own testing if you intend to buy.

Bon Odori

2011-07-18T23:14:00.003+08:00

Bon Odori is the Bon Dance from the Obon festival that is a Japanese Buddhist custom. The Obon festival is held to honor the departed spirits of one's ancestors. In Malaysia, Bon Odori festival is held annually and is organized jointly by the Japan Club of Kuala Lumpur,the Japan School of Kuala Lumpur, the Embassy of Japan and Tourism Selangor. It's the largest Japanese Cultural Event in Malaysia.

Why am I talking about this Bon Odori thing? Well, I attended the 35th Bon Odori festival held in the Panasonic Sports Complex in Shah Alam on the 16th of July 2011. It's the first time I've been to the festival but to the organizers it's the 35th with a theme of 'Arigatou Malaysia' to thank Malaysia for our support during the earthquake and tsunami disaster earlier in the year.

The Bon Odori or Bon Dance actually originates from the story Maha Maudgalyayana, a disciple of Buddha that used his supernatural powers to look at his deceased mother. He saw that she was suffering in the realm of the Hungry Ghosts and asked Buddha's advise on how to release his mother. Buddha advised him to make offerings to the buddhist monks on the 15th day of the seventh month. He did so and saw his mother's release from the realm of Hungry Ghosts and also saw his mother's unselfishness and sacrifice she made for him in the past. After seeing that Maha Maudgalyayana danced for joy and that's how Bon Odori came about.

When I arrived at the sports complex, there was already a large crowd there. The atmosphere was festive and people were like out for a picnic. Food and drinks were aplenty as makeshift tents were put up to sell everything from Japanese ice-cream to sushi. These were provided by stores like Jusco, Sushi King and Sakae Sushi.

A high platform/stage was at the center of the stadium and that was where the cultural dance will be taking place. Below are some shots from the event.

Below : Some Japanese youngsters in yukatas enjoying a cool drink in the evening heat.

Above : Some locals also joined in the fun and came dressed for the occasion.

Below: The crowd in the food stall area. In Malaysia, you can always find a crowd where the food is.
Below: The stage. It's quite high up and I found out later that it was customary to build the stage for Bon Odori high up.

Above : The crowd at the grandstand area. This was taken quite early in the evening, before the official events started.
Above : Some bona fide Japanese at the festival, I hope. Below: It's like a picnic outing for most of the people there as the scene below is not uncommon.
Below: Pretty in pink. I know for certain that this gal is no Japanese but still looks great in a yukata or light cotton kimono.

Above and below : The performers for the Bon Dance, gets ready.

And the Bon Odori started in earnest.

With the crowd joining in the dance by making circles around the stage and following the steps of those performing on stage.

Above: If you're going to buy a shirt with large words printed on it, at least make sure that the words are spelled correctly or you'll be sending out the wrong message. LOL!
Above : The crowd enjoying themselves and below: A drink I bought at one of the stalls. Unfortunately it was not cold enough and I hate drinking warm fizzy drinks.
Below: Spot the odd fan out!

Above: Ice-cream to cool you down after the dance. Below: A couple checking out their photos.
I realized that most of the local people at the festival are there for the food and to join in the merry making. The Japanese are there because it's a custom for them apart from having fun. I was there because I had not been to any Bon Odori before. Since I was holding a camera and most of my gears, I did not really take time to savor the food there. That meant I'm missing half the fun but it was a nice experience.

9th July 2011 - The Dawn of A New Hope for Malaysia

2011-07-12T14:03:00.003+08:00

9th July 2011. This date will be remembered by many Malaysians as the day the 'silent majority' in the country rose and made a deafening statement. It's the date of the Bersih 2.0 rally to push for clean and fair elections. A day that tens of thousands marched to voice their support for clean and fair elections. On the streets of Kuala Lumpur that day, there were no Chinese, no Indians, no Malays and no 'Lain-lain bangsa'. There were only Malaysians and they were united! They were all for a better Malaysia!

It would have been another yawn inducing event had the authorities and the government of Malaysia acted wisely in response but sadly that was not the case.

When Bersih 2.0 announced their intention to march for clean and fair elections, the government of Malaysia and UMNO, the major component of the ruling Barisan National(BN) party, particularly began demonizing the movement.

The government branded the movement as illegal. Here's the question : If you are in a democratic country and you felt that you need to voice out your opinion and call support for clean and free elections, are you doing anything illegal? The last time I checked Malaysia was and is still a democratic country.

Heck, even the UN human rights expert says that the right to freedom of opinion and expression, including in the form of peaceful protests, is essential for democracy. I did not say that, it was quoted from a article dated 11th July 2011 from the www.un.org website. The link to the article is below:

UN Human Rights press release

Despite the irrational move to label the Bersih 2.0 rally as illegal, the government thought it wise to lockdown Kuala Lumpur to prevent the rally supporters from gathering. One week before the date, road blocks were put in place on roads leading into the capital causing massive traffic jams and inconvenience to the people. Then people were arrested just because they were wearing yellow clothes because the colour yellow is associated with the Bersih 2.0 movement.

However all the attempts by the government to prevent the rally failed when on the day, tens of thousands of Malaysians froam all races, ages and all walks of life turned up on the streets of Kuala Lumpur for a peaceful rally. Things were peaceful until the police thought it necessary to fire water cannons and teargas into the crowd without provocation.

This is a real shame. Across the globe thousands of Malaysians gathered where they were to support the Bersih 2.0 movement. People gathered in Australia, France, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, South Korea and even as far as London and Switzerland and nowhere else in the world was there any incidence of police gassing or handling the crowd roughly save for those in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. What does that show you? Does it not say that even the governments of other countries value democracy more than the government of Malaysia? I certainly think so.

After the fiasco, the government of the day thought it wise to try and cover up the incident by adding a spin to the stories appearing in the mainstream media. Official statements include:

- Saying the crowd of Bersih 2.0 was only about 6,000 strong

- saying that there was no physical contact between the police and the protesters

- saying that no tear gas was released in the area of 2 hospitals in the city

The government issued the statements despite the fact that there were hundreds of photos and videos and first person accounts that indicated otherwise. I leave the judgement to the readers themselves. Try searching for Bersih 2.0 videos in YouTube and see for yourself. I will include one video in this post.

When a 65 year old woman (at 3:18 the woman dressed in yellow in the video link below) took a bus alone into the city to support Bersih 2.0 despite not knowing where or when to gather to show her stand for clean and fair elections, I cannot just sit back and do nothing. Apart from this post, I know for sure where my vote will go in the next general elections.

If you are a Malaysian reading this and you are eligible to vote please register yourself to vote if you haven't done so and vote wisely for a better Malaysia!

A Pre-Wedding Shoot in KL

2011-07-11T10:38:00.005+08:00

Recently a friend of mine decided to get married and asked me if I could do a pre-wedding shoot for them. I, of course, said yes. They decided that it would be very much for just for fun and the theme would be very casual.

They did not want to travel far for the shoot and decided that we would do it around the Pavilion shopping center in KL and in the restaurant that they are going to hold their wedding reception which is located off Jalan Tun Razak.

I left the wardrobe choices to the couple and turned up on the appointed day for the shoot. We had lots of fun doing it despite the scorching sun. It was fortunate that we started off fairly early in the morning just outside of the restaurant and then moved to Pavilion where the building afforded us some shade.

We then took it indoors and shot in a restaurant inside Pavilion where we had lunch and then moved back to the place where we started in the morning for and indoor shoot.

It was a rather relaxing shoot and I allowed the couple to 'do their own thing' most of the time and shot as and when the moments came. My friend and his would-be bride are quite playful and are not adverse to some public displays of affection so that helped. I did do some directing but after the initial instructions on the pose and getting the first couple of shots, I would leave them to interact with each other and continued shooting.

Below are some of the pics from the shoot:

Who says that you can't do a pre-wedding shoot without spending a fortune? Just like my friend, they decided on the costumes and venue on their own and all I had to do was make sure that there are some nice pictures for them to keep for the memories.

SNSD

2011-07-06T10:31:00.003+08:00

If you are like me and is a child of the 70's then you can be forgiven for not knowing what the title of this post means. If you are a child of the 90's and you don't know then you must have either been living on the dark side of the moon or have just woken from a long coma.

SNSD is an acronym for 'So Nyuh Shi Dae' or in Korean 'Sonyeo Sidae'. Officially their english name is 'Girls' Generation'.It is a Korean pop group that consist of 9 all girls member. Korean pop or more commonly known as K-POP has been making waves recently in Malaysia. Bands like 'Super Junior', 'Wonder Girls' and 'SNSD' has been all the rave.

SNSD is best know for their bubblegum pop songs and MV (music videos). Nowadays singers and bands rely more on packaging and marketing to be successful rather than pure talent. Thus the SNSD has very succesfully utilized social networking and viral video sites like You Tube to market their songs.

Formed in 2007, SNSD climbed to the top of the charts with their song 'Gee' in 2009. Incidentally a lot of their hits comprises of songs with just one single english word as the title. There's 'Gee' and 'Genie' and 'Oh' and more recently 'Hoot'. These songs of course are accompanied by slick music videos that showcases the girls and their energetic dancing moves. It helps of course that all the girls are really good looking.

SNSD has recently ventured into the Japanese market and released a few of their hits with Japanesee lyrics. The reception is said to be quite good. The latest songs and music video to be released in Japan is 'Run Devil Run' which is a catchy tune.

The group is made up of Taeyeon, Jessica, Sunny, Tiffany, Hyoyeon, Yuri, Sooyoung, Yoona and Seohyun with an average age of 21.

So what's is it with me and SNSD? Well, I'm a fan for now. I mean the group is targeted mostly for teens and tweens but hey, I'm a hot blooded man and it does not take a rocket scientist to know that men like to look at gorgeous dancing girls that are dressed sexily. Any man who denies that fact is either gay or transsexual. Take a look at this video clip and say that you are not in the least interested. It's the MV for 'Hoot'.

Super Super 8

2011-06-24T18:32:00.000+08:00

Just got back from watching Super 8 in the cinema. It's rare that you get a movie review that's still current from me but this is one of those times.

Do not be fooled by the title. This is no superhero movie. The Super 8 in the title is referencing the 8mm film video camera format used by the kids in the movie. It is actually a monster movie and a fun one to watch.

Super 8 is directed by J.J. Abrams and produced by Steven Speilberg. Those are the only big names you will find in the cast and crew list. The main protagonist is played by Joel Courtney and Elle Fanning plays his romantic interest.

What's it all about?

It's about a bunch of middle school kids (read around 15 years old) trying to make a zombie movie for a film competition. The director Charles Kaznyk (Riley Griffiths) and his best friend Joe Lamb (Joel Courtney) plans to shoot their movie over summer break in their small town of Lillian.

To add some emotional content to the movie, to be shot on 8mm film format and hence the title, Charles decided to make their main lead a married man and cast their school mate Alice Dainard (Elle Fanning) as the wife. Alice agrees to play the role and the kids sneak out in the middle of the night to an old train depot to film some scenes.

A train happens to pass by and the kids scramble to film the scene with the train passing in the background but the train then hits a truck that has been deliberately driven onto the tracks and derail. The kids managed to escape the catastrophe unscathed and find out the their school's science teacher Mr. Woodward (Glynn Turman) is responsible for the derailment. Mr. Woodward, injured in the crash, threatens them with a gun to never reveal what they saw and forces them away from the scene before the Air Force guys arrives.

The kids, retreiving their gears, flee from the scene but are unaware that the camera caught something leaving the train wreck. Something the the Air Force wants to keep secret. It's safe to say that all hell breaks loose in the little town after that.

The Verdict:

Go see this movie. The kids turns in a great performance and adds humour to the movie. The suspense will keep you at the edge of the seat and the action sequences are nothing to scoff at either.

Four out of five stars.

P.S. Stay in the cinema when the credits roll. You will be rewarded by the completed zombie movie that the kids in the film are trying so hard to make. It's a fun watch and a little bonus as you get to see 2 movies for the price of one!

What Kind Of Movie Goer Are You?

2011-06-24T10:53:00.001+08:00

I find that in Malaysia most movie goers are kinda stereotyped. Certain kind of films do not get many viewers while others gets swamped even if the film is not particularly good. Do you fall into such stereotype? Well, read on and find out!

1. The Action Movie/Blockbuster Buff

Most Malaysians fall into this category. If the movie has a lot of explosions and action sequence they are all for it. Better still if there are superstars in the cast. Nevermind the story. Just go for the special effects and action.

You would fall into this category if you have:

a. Watched all 4 Pirates of The Carribean movies

b. Watched all 5 Fast and Furious movies

c. Will watch all comic book superhero movies

d. Adored James Cameron's Avatar

It's ok to be a Action Movie/Blockbuster Buff but don't become a fanboy. Claiming Avatar to be the best movie of the decade is one sure sign of a fanboy.

2. The Pseudo Sophisticate

These are people who like to act as if they are sophisticated and discerning movie goers. They will shun most Hollywood blockbusters and say they are rubbish but shows their ignorance when they shun all animated movies as well, dismissing them as childish. If you claim to be a discerning movie goer and have not seen Pixar's Up, you're a Pseudo Sophisticate.

Good movies have a solid plot and it does not matter if the plot is in an animated film. A good plot is a good plot. Have you seen Pixar's Wall-E? That's one good romantic movie and the leads are robots. Refreshing enough? Of course! Death Note also has a very good plot although it is an adaptation from a manga series.

On the other hand, movies that win the Oscars are not necessarily good. While movies like Gandhi and The Last Emperor are fine, Oscar winners like Dances with Wolves and The English Patient are downright boring and the year 2010 winner, The Hurt Locker is quite unwatchable. I couldn't even finish it. If you didn't already know, Avatar is a rehash of Dances With Wolves.

3. The Star Chaser

These are people who go see a movie just because their favorite star is in it. They come out and don't quite remember the story but they will definietly remember how cute/handsome/sexy their favorite star was in specific scenes.

What about myself? Well, I don't know. I don' think I'm steroetyped but why don't you judge for yourself. Some of my favorite movies are aslisted below:

- Fast and Furious franchise - I liked the first and the fourth movie. Haven't seen the fifth one though.

- Pirates of The Caribbean - the first movie. Gave all the others a miss.

- Watchmen - a film about superheroes but is not a superhero movie.

- District 9 - beats the pants off Avatar in my books.

- Enchanted - Disney's parody of it's own princess cartoon franchise and a musical. Refreshing!

- Ip Man (that's Yip Mun in Cantonese) - Donnie Yen's portrayal of Bruce Lee's master.

- Battle Royale - a Japanese adaptation of a manga of the same name. Disturbing but compelling.

- Reign of Assassins - Michelle Yeoh's romantic movie disguised as a martial arts flick.

- The Host - a Korean monster movie where the monster is not the star of the show.

- 200 Pounds Beauty - Korean romantic comedy that's hilarious and pokes fun at plastic surgery.

- Rule #1 - Hong Kong horror flick with a twist. No happy ending for this one but still a good watch.

- The Matrix Trilogy - I treat the whole trilogy as one story and don't think they can be broken up.

- Indiana Jones and the Raiders of The Lost Ark - best of the Indiana Jones series.

- Inception - mind bending good stuff!

- Sleepy Hollow - Johnny Depp in his pre Jack Sparrow days.

- Pixar's Animated fare - there's not one that I missed from where it all began with Toy Story.

- Star Wars - all six films. I'm a Star Wars fan!

So what do you think? Let's hear it in the comments.

Does The End Justify The Means?

2011-06-22T06:48:00.003+08:00

This will be another stale movie review. In fact this goes back all the way to a movie released in 2009. You can say that this is the superhero movie you did not catch. The movie in question is 'Watchmen'.

Directed by Jack Synder who also did '300', this is not a typical superhero movie. It's not a superhero movie, rather it is a movie about superheroes. If you haven't seen the movie yet then spoilers follows but then again, it's an old movie.

If you think that you are going the get the standard superhero movie fare with plenty of action and nifty special effects then you are going to be very disappointed. Although the Watchmen does have action sequences and special effects, one has to tune in carefully to the dialog to appreciate the movie.

The movie is set in an alternate universe where superheroes exists. Rather than beings with true superpowers, these so called superheroes are mostly masked humans fighting for justice. I said mostly because there is one superhero that does in fact possess superpowers. That one hero is Dr. Manhanttan who acquired his powers after an accident involving an intrinsic field generator.

Like I said earlier, this movie is about these superheroes. Being human, they are not like Superman or Wonder Woman who are inherently good and uncorruptible. The so called heroes in Watchmen are human through and through. They make bad decisions and have both good and evil in them and act accordingly. They are not adverse to killing the criminals that they confront.

Among the superheroes there is the Comedian that is chaotic at best. He is violent and will turn a gun on innocent people. There is also one who is a lesbian while another became insane and had to be committed to an asylum.

Set in the year 1985, the movie starts out with the Comedian being murdered. The Comedian is a member of the superhero group called the Watchmen that comprises of The Nite Owl, Rorschach, the Silk Spectre, Ozymandias and Dr. Manhattan. The world is on the edge as the US and Russia are at the brink of a nuclear war and superheroes has been outlawed.

The death of the Comedian causes Rorschach, a masked vigilante that refuses to retire even after being outlawed, to investigate. Rorschach's investigations leads him to believe that someone is out to kill all the superheroes. He warns his former teammates.

As Rorschach investigates, the world is thrown closer to a nuclear holocaust as the Russians begins to stockpile nuclear warheads in response to the US having a walking nuclear weapon in the form of Dr. Manhattan who has become a being of energy and is close to being Godlike in powers.

**** MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD ****

If you have not seen and plan to see the movie and do not want to know the ending, stop reading now! You have been warned!

As the events unfold, Rorschach finds that the mastermind behind the killing is a former team mate - a superhero formerly known as Ozymandias, tauted as the world's smartest human. The Comedian was murdered beacuse he knew of Ozymandias' intention to put into motion a plan that has exiled Dr. Manhattan to Mars while he detonates devices that kills millions of people around the world and frame the deed on Dr. Manhattan.

One of the devices detonates in New York and the US government and the rest of the world is fooled into believing that Dr. Manhattan is behind it. This turn of events causes the US to ally itself with the Russians to face this common threat together.

As millions of people die, Rorschach, the Nite Owl, the Silk Spectre and Dr. Manhattan confronts Ozymandias in his hideout in the Antartica. Just as they are about to overpower Ozymandias he turns on the TV and shows news broadcasts that announces the world is now at peace. That the US and Russians are no longer threatening to destroy each other but are now allies. Ozymandias justifies his actions of sacrificing millions of people in order to save billions and that he has achieved their ultimate goal of protecting mankind, with the world now finally at peace and people finally vowing to help each other and not kill one another.

The others are horrified at his actions but cannot argue with his reasoning. Indeed, Ozymandias has brought peace upon the world by killing millions of people. Ozymandias warns that to maintain the peace the world must never know of his plans and urges the others to keep the secret. Rorschach is unable to accept Ozymandias' plans and threatens to tell the world but he is later stopped by Dr. Manhattan who has no choice but to kill Rorschach to let peace reign over the world. Dr. Manhattan laters leaves the earth for good to find another place to live in as the world now thinks that he is the enemy.

And so the movie ends with Ozymandias still free despite killing millions of people and the world finally knowing peace. The question 'Does the end justify the means' is thrust onto the audience. Is Ozymandias a monster or a saviour? You decide.

**** END OF SPOILER ****

So what do I think about the movie? It is a good movie. One that is worth the price of the ticket. It is a movie that I would see more than once. Much, much, much better than Avatar if I were to rank it. Avatar is nothing but eye candy. The Watchmen has a real story and interesting characters.

Think Taking Pictures Is Easy? Think Again.

2011-06-13T11:11:00.001+08:00

Generally people have this misconception about photographers. They think that taking pictures is easy and a photographer's life is a breeze. If you hire a freelance photographer to shoot a half day session it would easily cost you around RM600 to RM800 just for the photographer's fees. Many think that the price is too high and is unwilling to pay. They think doing the job is easy and is not worth that much but they are wrong.

I just did a pre-wedding shoot for an old friend of mine. That was 2 weeks ago. Just last night I finished developing all the RAW format files into JPEG files. To the uninformed that means I did a process that's similar to developing pictures from film negatives but in digital terms. I have yet to run those pictures through a touch up process where I will remove things like pimples and blemishes from them so that the bride and groom will look their best. That will take me another week or so.

Of course I am doing this as a hobby so I do the developing during the evenings and weekends when I can find the time. Assuming I sit down at the PC for an average of 2 hours per day, that's a 48 hours job. There's another 36 or 48 hours job for post processing. Convert that to a full time job status it will take up a full week. How long was the shoot? I was there taking pictures for 5 hours. Just a little over half a day.

What people see is when we are out there snapping pics with a camera. That's the easiest part. It does not take long but heck, there is a lot of work after the initial shoot. While shooting I also had an assistant to help me with the light stands and keep an eye on my lenses and stuff.

So how much do you think the costs add up to? Let's do a rough estimate shall we?

1. Equipment rental

I had with me 2 camera bodies and 3 lenses plus 3 external flash units and that roughly adds up to RM14k. I also have 2 light stands and 2 photographic umbrella that costs about RM500 but let's just ignore that RM500 for now. How much would you think you would need to pay to rent RM14k worth of equipment? RM 500? RM 1000? Let's just take RM 500. Please know that the gears I have is minimal. Most other freelancers have more gears than I have.

2. Assistant fee

How much would you pay to get an assistant to help you out for half a day? Granted this assistant will not be taking pictures so you do not need an experience person in terms of photography but how much would that cost? RM 200? RM 300? Let's take RM 200.

3. Travelling costs

We were shooting outdoors around KL so there's petrol and parking costs. Let's put that down to RM 50.

How much up till this point? RM 500 plus RM 200 plus RM 50 gets you RM 750. That's already close to RM 800 and you still haven't got a photographer yet.

How much would you pay for a photographer? You can get your cousin or your best friend to shoot for you but if they don't know much about photography you are not going to get nice pictures. If you want nice pictures, how much are you willing to pay for an experience photographer?

Assuming that you would pay RM 500 for an experienced photographer, there's still a whole week's worth of post processing job to be done. How much would you pay to have someone post process those pictures for you for a whole week?

The costs are adding up now aren't they? You've shot past the RM 600 to RM 800 mark quoted by a freelance photographer long ago and there's still so much to be done. Still think that the fees charged is too much? Think again. Most freelance photographers are doing photography more for the passion than for the pay. If they were to charge the actual quantified amount for their work, it would not be too arrogant to say that most people won't be able to afford it.

Taking nice pictures is not as easy as it seems. We freelance photographers know what we are doing. We know how to see the lighting conditions, how to use artificial lighting to enhance a photo and we also have to act as director to pose the people in front of the camera so that pictures will come out looking more natural. They have also honed their timing to be more able to catch the 'moment' in a picture. To catch that fleeting smile or a naughty glance and wink or whatever expression that comes and will be gone within seconds.

Sometimes the differences can be subtle. Just by looking at the pictures you may not be able to tell much. At most you can say that the picture taken by the freelancer looks better because it is brighter and the colors are better. Do you realise how much work has been put behind that picture so that it comes out 'brighter and with better colours'? Don't begrudge the fees the next time you go looking for a photographer. If you like his/her work, rest assured that years of experimenting and perfecting has been done to deliver the results to you. It's completely different that handing your cousin or your best friend a camera and asking him to shoot.

Of course there are a few bad apples in there. Those that deliver sub standard work and is in it just for the money. A bit of research will get you to some honest photographers.

Oh yes. The pictures of the pre-wedding I mention will be coming soon. I will post them up as soon as I get the go ahead from the couple. Stay tuned!

Taking a Stroll

2011-05-25T16:40:00.002+08:00

Last evening, my wife and I took a stroll after dinner. In Midvalley Megamall. Yup. It has been a long time (at least a couple of years) since I last walked through this mall, window shopping. It's been even longer since I last roamed the bowels of a shopping mall with my wife minus the kids.

We started at the top most level, the 3rd floor where the GSC cineplexes are. GSC is still there. So is the McD outlet opposite the ticket counters, although renovated. I noticed that just beside McD a Carl's Jr fast food outlet has sprung up. wasn't there before. Just meters away from these 2 fast food outlets was a stall that sold snacks. Things like candy, chocolates, biscuits and cookies. That reminded me of the time when cinemas were housed in buildings all of thier own and not in shopping malls. Outside the cinema buildings one would see lines of such stalls selling snacks. Movie goers will most likely purchase their snacks from these stalls as the same snacks will cost more if bought from the cinema's concession stands.

As we walked from one end of the level to the other end, I could see that a lot have changed. A shop that used to serve Vietnam cuisine was no longer there. Some shops that were occupying a much larger space had shrunk and new shops now occupied the space vacated.

Angry birds merchandise are everywhere. From soft toys to key chains and what not. Also available are accessories for pets, especially dogs like clothes and fancy chains and what not.

At a glance, things look the same. Shops are open and people roam the mall but when you look closer, you will notice the changes. Shop name changes. They have maybe more or maybe less floorspace now. The stalls sells different things now.

All things change with time. We should all keep that statement in mind.

Gold Standard

2011-05-15T23:01:00.000+08:00

A few days ago, I went for a movie that is still quite new in the cinemas. That seldom happens but what is rare is that the ticket costs RM 70. Yup. We are talking about the GSC GOld Class halls. It's fortunate that I did not have to pay for the tickets or I would not have taken a single step into those Gold Class hall. They were Christmas gifts and they would have expired in a few more days had I not used them.

So what movie did I watch? Being a Thursday it's natural that I chose Thor as the movie. So how was the movie? It's as good as any if you are not expecting too much.

Thor is a comic book super hero adaptation. These days, those movies are a dime a dozen so one tend to be a little wary. You can't blame me because in the line up for summer we are scheduled for Captain America and Green Lantern.

Thor is great to look at. The special effects are all nifty and doesn't come off looking too cheap or fake. The story is ok. The action is good. The actors are good. Chris Hemsworth makes a convincing Thor. Natalie Portman is great as Jane Foster, Thor's love interest. So all in all, nothing to complain about but nothing to shout about also.

Now that we are done with the movie, what about the Gold Class experience? Is it worth the RM 70 you will be shelling out if you decide to go gold? To me, it's better to go see 3 different movies in the normal hall with the money. It's not like Gold Class is bad. It just does not justify the amount. So the seat is bigger and more comfortable and you can recline it. They also give you a pillow and a blanket. Complimentary drinks too. But it just does not feel like it's justified forking out the extra amount.

Of course the Gold Class halls seats fewer than the ordinary hall but the screen is also a bit smaller compared to some the normal halls. The sound system sounds the same. The only perk is that you will have less chance of bumping into one of those cinema goers that like to narrate the story on screen to his/her friend on the phone.

The staff brings you your drinks after you order them before you step inside the hall but the tinned Coke I had was barely chilled. Don't they know that if I order Coke it's best to serve it ice-cold? I paid RM 70 for the ticket and they can't even get me an ice cold Coke? Such little details make or break the level of service. Having hot drinks inside a cold, darkened hall is kinda pointless. You fumble in the dark for the drink and then you have to be careful not to scald yourself. The drink then quickly gets cold after the first few sips when you put it down but that's just me.

The large seats and the table in between the seats also puts more distance between me and my partner than I would have preferred. Yes, one is supposed to enjoy the movie but I would also like to enjoy the company of my partner. The distance makes it harder to talk to each other and share interesting tid bits happening on screen. It's a hassle to even just hold hands. It almost feels like I went to the movie alone and I do know how it feels like going to movies alone. I do it quite often.

The service also seems to be lacking as I entered the hall after they have dimmed the lights for the movie previews. I can hardly find my way around to get to my seat. Couldn't they have escorted me to the seat? They surely must know that the lights have been dimmed. Heck, they should escort customers regardless whether the lights have been dimmed or not. When I pay close to a hundred bucks for a ticket I should not have to request for services like these. They should know what good service is.

Bottom line is : I enjoyed the movie but I would recommend people to see Thor in 2D rather than 3D. Also I think Gold Class is not worth the admission price.

Bullies And Misbehaving Youths

2011-05-11T11:02:00.000+08:00

Hot in the news recently was the case of 4 teenaged girls bullying their schoolmate. The gals had the audacity to record the bullying process on video but did not have enough intelligence to keep it to themselves. One of the bullies uploaded the clip on YouTube and within hours it went viral and started a strong backlash from viewers who deemed the act cruel. It ended up on the newspapers and now the gals has been suspended from school for 14 days. They are only 14 years old.

Not so long ago there was another clip that went viral on YouTube and Facebook. It was about another gal, barely in her twenties abusing kittens. She clobbered the helpless kittens with her umbrella while mama cat tried her best to get her kittens to safety. At one point she even stomped on one kitten.

Viewers went berserk at her cruelty and prompty sought her out. Suffice to say she was scared by the backlash and issued a public apology on the matter. The reason she gave for tormenting the kittens - she didn't know why she was doing such things at the time.

My question is; why are our youths today behaving the way they are? The above examples are only the tip of the iceberg and shows only the more extreme cases that has been brought to light. I am sure there are many other similar cases that are unreported. I myself have seen enough young people with no manners and no respect for other people.

Why? My conclusion is bad parenting. People nowadays seem to be hell bent on only one thing - earning more money. To achieve that they seem to be willing to sacrifice everything else. They throw ethics and moral out the window. They lie and cheat. They scheme and conspire. I am not saying that all are like that but more and more are becoming like that everyday.

It's a sad fact that nowadays both parents have to work in order to survive in this world. With both parents working, kids are left with a babysitter during the weekdays. Parents are too busy trying to make more money that they ignore the need to educate their child on how to become a decent, well mannered person with proper values like honesty, integrity and respect for others.

It's bad enough that parents don't teach their young proper values. When the young sees that their parents lie and cheat and disregard ethics and morality, they will turn out to be little monsters. Even when you don't explicitly teach them to lie and cheat and disregard morality, they will pick up the habit if the parents consistently behave in such a way. Children learn more by observing you than listening to what you say.

Being a parent is a big responsibility. It needs a lot of sacrifice. It may mean that you have to forego the extra monetary opportunities that you may have when you are not a parent. A lot of parents say that they have no time for their children because they are too busy working and finding money through whatever way they can to give the best to the child. They, unfortunately do not seem to realize that the 'best' for a child does not mean giving him the best material things. Designer brand clothings and going to the most prestigious schools means nothing if your child grows up with corrupted values. Do we really want to have a generation of well groomed, articulate and educated young people who are all greedy and self centered with no concern for the well being of others?

In my books, the 'best' for a child means equipping the child with the best values and education so that they may have the courage and intelligence to pursue their dreams while not forsaking things like honesty, integrity and respect for their fellow human beings. To have the ability to share and not to hoard. To be kind and not be cruel and to be able to uphold justice. That's the best one can give a child in my books.

If every one of us advertently or inadvertently raises corrupted young ones in pursuit of material wealth; sowing seeds of greed instead of compassion; worshipping money instead of God what will the future of humanity be like?

Something To Take Note Of

2011-05-09T10:29:00.003+08:00

I've received an email from a source that has worked in a travel agency before. I trust this source but I do not know how true the contents are.

We all love to travel and when we are travelling, our guards are down most of the time. Thus it's important that we at least know of things like travel advisories. Recently received a travel advisory from a trusted source on multiple mysterious deaths occurring in a hotel in Chiang Mai, Thailand.

Although the advisory is a little dated as it was issued in March, I think it's good for us to know too.

DISCLAIMER : I cannot vouch for the validity of the contents of the report that I have received but it has a letter head carrying the Travel Guard insurance from Chartis and is labelled as a Health Advisory. I have tried searching the net for more information on the issue and there seems to be 2 discussions on yahoo groups about the same issue and one article posted by a news site in New Zealand that touches on the exact issue. I also do know know if the health advisory has been retracted or not. You all draw your own conclusion.

Here is the text on the advisory I received:

*** Start of Text ***

Mysterious Deaths in Chiang Mai, Thailand

A series of mysterious deaths have occurred in Chiang Mai, Thailand, starting in January

2011. Seven reported deaths have occurred under similar circumstances. Some of the

similarities between the cases are;

1. Hotel Accommodation: The Downtown Inn Hotel

2. Type of Food Consumed: Japanese food

3. Cause of death: Inflammation/enlargement of the heart with

unknown cause

The cases are as listed below:

1. 11th January 2011 – 1st victim:

An American woman Soraya Vorster Pandola, 33; died when she became

violently ill after eating at a Japanese restaurant. She was not staying at the

Downtown Inn Hotel.

2. 4th February 2011 – 2nd victim:

Thai tour guide Waraporn Yingmahasawanont died in the Room 518. He was

staying at the Downtown Inn Hotel and was reported to have contracted food

poisoning.

3. 5th February 2011 – 3rd victim:

New Zealander: A 23-year-old New Zealand woman Sarah Carter reported to

have died from swelling of the heart, stayed in Room 516 Downtown Inn. She

had eaten Japanese food (toxic seaweed) from a nearby Night Bazaar.

4. ~19th February 2011 – 4th and 5th victims:

British pensioners George and Eileen Everitt, an elderly British couple, who died

together in Room 423 of the Downtown Inn in Chiang Mai, Further investigation

also found them to have enlargement of the heart muscles and blocked arteries.

5. 9th January 2011 to 4th February 2011 – the 6th victim:

An unnamed Frenchwoman died after she and her travelling companion fell ill

while visiting the northern hill city. A post-mortem examination at the Chiang Mai

University Hospital revealed that she had the similar swelling of the heart that

killed Ms Carter and Ms Soraya Vorster.

6. 22nd March 2011 - 7th victim:

A Canadian Bill Mah, 59, died after using the facilities in Downtown Inn including

the swimming pool. Bill was staying in the People’s Palace Hotel.

Myocarditis

Myocarditis is inflammation of the heart muscle. When this condition becomes severe it

can weaken the pumping action of the heart and it can lead to heart failure, strokes and

heart attack. Myocarditis is more usually caused by viral infections but it can also be

caused by bacterial, parasitic, and fungal infections; and it can also be associated with

other autoimmune or inflammatory conditions.

Symptoms of myocarditis vary depending on the cause and severity of the condition.

More common symptoms of myocarditis are;

• Chest pain

• Abnormal or rapid heartbeat

• Shortness of breath

• Swelling of the feet, ankles and legs

• Can be associated with signs and symptoms of viral infection such as body aches,

joint pains, fever, diarrhea and vomiting

Medical Recommendations

Currently there has been no definitive guidelines released from any authorities, however

all travelers visiting Chiang Mai, Thailand are advised to take general preventative health

measures such as;

• Eating freshly cooked food

• Drinking bottled water from reliable sources

• Extra vigilant in regards to personal hygiene

• For those who experiences abdominal pain and/or vomiting with or without diarrhea,

chest pain, shortness of breath should seek immediate medical attention

• Precautions should also be taken to avoid others who are showing viral illnesses.

Currently the Thai authorities are suggesting that these deaths may be coincidental,

while the New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs has stated that the cause of death for

Ms. Sarah Carter has not been established. They are waiting on further test results in

the United States and Japan on this matter. The initial swab result from Ms. Carter

confirmed echovirus.

*** End of Text ***

And the link to the NZ news site:

http://www.whatsonningbo.com/news-2253-nz-issues-chiang-mai-travel-health-warning-following-6th-mystery-death-in-the-city.html

April 29, 2011

2011-04-29T11:27:00.000+08:00

On this day, 3 major events are taking place that will stir at least some interest in the general public. The first event, I guess that most people will know, is the Royal Wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton. An estimated 2 billion people around the world will be witnessing the event live. I wish the newlyweds every happiness but as big as it is, this event hold little interest for me. Why? It's their wedding and I personally don't know either Prince William nor Kate Middleton. Sure, the papers and digital media has printed loads about these two but I have not bothered to read them.

All I know is that one is a crown price and King in waiting and the other is a normal gal now turned princess. Great setting for a fairy tale but real life very, very seldom have the happily ever after ending of a fairy tale. However, I do hope that things work out for them better than they did for Prince Charles and the late Princess Diana.

The second event is the launching of the Apple iPad 2 in Asia. Countries like Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore and South Korea will launch the iPad 2 along with us here in Malaysia. People here have been anticipating this event more than the Royal wedding, I'm sure. There's even news that people have started queueing up at the retail stores as early as last night. I thought things like this only happens overseas but I have been proven wrong.

Seriously, I don't get it. What's the appeal of the iPad? I mean it's a nifty gadget and great for showing off but it has limited practicality as far as I'm concerned. I wouldn't turn it down if offered one for free but I would not be too excited about it. You spend serious money to buy this thing and after that you get the chance to spend even more money by downloading apps from the iTunes store? And dare I say most apps downloaded are games? So can anyone out there care to enlighten me on why I need to get an iPad in the first place?

I can spend money pretty well without getting a RM 1.5k gadget to help me do it. I also do not need to spend RM 1.5k to get what will turn out to be a gaming device that's not designed for gaming in the first place. I can buy a Sony PS3 or XBOX 360 or Nintendo Wii for that kinda money and get better gaming experience. Lastly, please don't tell me that you can be online wherever you are and whenever with that thing. I know you can do that but do you seriously need to be online 24/7? If you do, you don't need the iPad. You need therapy!

The third event, will be the most obscure of all. It's the final flight of the Space Shuttle Endeavour. I know, I know. This piece of news will only interest people that's crazy about the space shuttle program and other space related thingy. Thing is the mission that the Endeavour will be taking off for was slated to be the final space shuttle mission. Now there's one other mission scheduled and the honour of being the last space shuttle to take off now falls on the Shuttle Atlantis rather than the Endeavour.

The Endeavour first flight was in May 1992 and now with this flight we are seeing the second to last space shuttle mission. For what it's worth I can't help but ask - What's next? So we built the space shuttle and it flew in orbit on missions most of the time. Now we are seeing the end of the space shuttle missions. When the space shuttle is retired then what's coming next? Do we even have a plan for another space vehicle? Does this mean space travel beyond just orbiting the earth is now a dream beyond our reach? Is the human race still too primitive to expore space in vehicles that can travel beyond the earth's immediate area?

The space race has been losing steam ever since the Soviet Union dissolved. China once tried to get in on it by announcing a plan to put man on Mars but news about that ambition has been sorely lacking. One can't help but wonder if the plan's even still alive. Now we have the space shuttles being decommissioned with no replacements. Is mankind's space ambition being shoved to the back burner? I don't know but it does seem that we are more interested in exploring cyber-space rather than outer space at the moment.

Random Thoughts

2011-04-28T15:51:00.002+08:00

Yesterday I noticed a somewhat peculiar occurrence. I was awoken from sleep at around 6 something in the morning by the heavy rain and thunderstorm outside my house. As I was feeling under the weather I promptly went back to sleep. How did I know what time it was? I have a habit of checking the clock on my mobile phone everytime I awoke and I keep my phone next to my bed.

That evening, I was watching a movie on my DVD player when the skies opened up again and rained. Thunder followed. I glanced at the clock and it was 6 something in the evening. I wonder if it was a coincidence or does mother nature have a timetable of her own. It rained in the morning and 12 hours later it rained again.

***

Often times when we go out and eat, we just eat and don't really think much about what we eat. Whether it's tasty or not. We just want to fill our stomach, especially during workday lunch hours. We always complain that the food is not nice. It is just ok and we just eat. when asked why we eat the same kind of food everyday we just say that we don't have time to search for other food but when we are out on weekends or day offs we find ourselves eating the same kind of food also. Since we have time to pick and choose why do we choose the same kind of food to eat? Funny isn't it?

I find that we make up all kinds of excuses to justify our choice of picking the same kind of food. Basically I take Chinese 'economic' mixed rice most of the time during working days. On off days I reject fast food by saying that they are unhealthy. Reject Japanese food due to its high cost and low food quality generally. Reject western food because 'just don't feel like having western' and end up with Chinese food that basically has the same dishes as the 'economy' rice pack!

***

I rarely ever go to the 'Pasar Malam' or night market. Some people I know are crazy about these pasar malams and they can basically tell you which part of town has a pasar malam on which night of the week. I can't even remember which day the pasar malam in my neighbourhood is held! It's not like I hate the night market or anything. If you ask me to go with you to one and I have no other plans, I would basically go but I would not really buy anything. I just feel that there's nothing special about it and so I don't bother to go just for the sake of it. Some people swear that the food is good or cheap or both in certain night markets but I have never found that to be true or maybe that's just me?

***

Most Malaysian movie goers are a stereotyped bunch, in my opinion. Most people will go watch the most hyped up film with the most special effects regardless of whether the story is good or not. They also tend prefer certain categories of film. American blockbusters are bound to sell well. Action movies do better than most other categories followed by comedies and no one worth their salt will be caught dead walking into an animated flick!

I just don't know why but animated flicks will never ever have a long run in Malaysian cinemas. If they are from an established franchise like Shrek, it would do better but then these tired sequels are hardly worth their ticket price. I'm a big fan of Pixar offerings but except for "Finding Nemo" which is a worldwide success, most people will not have seen such gems like "Wall-E" or "Up". I find that "Up" beats the pants off "Avatar" in terms of story but hey, the general Malaysian movier goer will disagree with me. Funny because of late, I find that animated films have more original stories than their live-action counterparts.

PC Fair (I) 2011

2011-04-21T13:23:00.003+08:00

PC Fair - the most famous fair for IT related products in Malaysia is back again for 2011. I'm sure there will be another fair later on in the year let's leave that for later.

As usual I went to the fair. Not to buy anything although I am working in the IT line but to take some pictures. Pictures of lovely brand ambassadors to be exact.

Call me a pervert if you want to but I go to the fair so that I can get some practice in photography. Most times I am either busy at work or busy at home with the kids and since I don't like to shell out money to hire models for shoots, I make do with fairs like this. Haha.

Besides, the ladies are already there and they know that they are not hired for their product knowledge so what's wrong with giving them some attention, right?

On with the pics!

This is one of my favourite shots taken at the fair. I like how sweet she looks in this portrait. Oh and by the way, she's representing Kaspersky anti-virus software.

One of the Intel-PC Guru promoters. That beautiful side lighting effect is there because she is standing beside these huge ceiling to floor glass panel windows outside of the right side of the frame. Yes, that's using the sunlight to help with your lighting. See the catch lights in her eyes? That's from the bounce card attached to my flash.

Above: A promoter gal for an online game. I'm not much of a fan for online games but FYI, her blouse reads 'Garena'. Don't make this mistake. The picture would be better if I have included the word. I was not paying much attention at the time.

Above and below : Agnes Lim promoting the Sensonic GPS unit. I was testing how close I could get using an 85mm lens.
Apparently you can get very close without getting too close with an 85mm lens as the picture below shows.

And here I got too close until I cannot see any brand names and I forgot which brands these girls were promoting!

Above and below: Sweet Elise promoting for Epson.
Another online game promoter. I don't know what game she was promoting because I can't read Chinese! I thought she looked cute and would look even cuter if she was dressed in a kimono.
Below : An Avira anti-virus promoter gal. This is not the first time I have seen her in the fair and not the first time she was promoting Avira.
Here she is with her partner in crime, who is also not new in promoting Avira anti-virus at the fair. They were in a playful mood when I got there. They were being surrounded by a horde of photographers even before I got there so I'm not the only one taking pics at the fair.

Another promoter who was very accommodating with poses for us guys with cameras. She's promoting Garmin GPS units.
Well, that's it for this time. If there's any other fairs that has free entrance and lovely promoter ladies present, I'll try to attend and get some pictures to post here!

Anyone Remember This One?

2011-04-18T17:16:00.000+08:00

Sometime early in the year, someone posted a statement that said that Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of Facebook, intends to shutdown the social networking site in the middle of March. The news spread like wildfire and there are some that believed that it was true.

Well, anyone remember that piece of news? Most probably not. It's April now and Facebook is still up and running so that proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that the news was false but like anything on the net these days, some people are bound to believe anything that they read on the net.

When I first heard the news, I laughed. It's so obviously fake. Why would anyone sitting on a billion dollar gold mine want to shut it down? It just defies all logic.

For better or for worse, Facebook is gonna be with us for quite some time. Frankly it's a great way to share funny/outrageous video clips, photos and what you're doing at the moment but other than that it has limited practical usage. I guess it has taken over the role that email once hosted. Remember the time when you open up your Inbox and see a plethora of junk mails forwarded by your so-called 'friends'? They are called Facebook's 'Most Recent' news feed now.

Technology changes but people don't seem to change all that much.

The Third Lens

2011-04-11T17:39:00.003+08:00

Finally my lens count is back up to 3 once again. Some time ago, I had 3 lenses for my DSLR. Back then it was the 18-70mm kit lens that came with my first DSLR and then I bought a second hand Minolta 50mm f1.7 prime lens and not long after that I bought the Sony 18-250mm travel lens. A few months after I bought the 18-250mm I sold off the 18-70mm lens because I was no longer using it. The 18-70mm focal length was covered by my 18-250mm lens. So my lens count dropped to 2 from 3.

It remained 2 for a long time although there was changes to the line up. After I bought my A850, I found that I was using my Minolta 50mm exclusively on it. The 18-250mm, while usable on my A850 will cause the camera to automatically go into crop mode and produce an 11MP picture. Losing half the megapixels count is not the main problem. It was the difficulty in framing with the lens in the viewfinder of my A850 as it still showed the full frame area.

That's when I learned that a 50mm lens is as good a walkabout lens as any when you have a full frame camera. The 18-250mm lens got delegated to second fiddle and only got use when I needed a wide angle shot and it must be mounted on my A100. I seldom felt the need to go onto the long end of that lens.

Feeling a need to go wide on full frame, I resorted to borrowing a 24-85mm Minolta lens from my friend who had stopped shooting even back in the film days. That was when I found out that 24mm on a full frame camera give a wider view than an 18mm on a crop frame camera. Bitten by the wide angle bug, I started to search for a wide angle prime.

The wide angle lens came in the form of a Minolta 20mm f2.8 prime lens for the full frame, also acquired second hand. I then sold off the 50mm f1.7 and the 18-250mm lens for a Sony 50mm f1.4 lens. At this point all my lenses are full frame lenses and my lens count was 2, discounting the 24-85mm lens that was on long term loan.

I began to notice that I began to use the prime lenses more than the 24-85mm zoom. Thus came the realization that even when you have a zoom lens, you practically use only certain focal ranges. On the 24-85mm I primarily used either the 24mm or 85mm ends. On the rare occasion that I used the mid ranges of the zoom, I found that it came close to the 50mm focal range. Since I already have a 20mm prime and 50mm prime, I used the zoom mostly for the 85mm range when taking portraits.

Thus my search began for a prime lens with a 85mm focal length. At the time the only option avaliable from Sony was the Carl Zeiss 85mm f1.4 lens and it was way, way out of my budget.

This situation soon changed when Sony announced a new 'budget' 85mm full frame lens. This lens costs one fifth of the Carl Zeiss' price but of course the aperture was only f2.8 at the brightest setting. That's a full 2 stops disadvantage. Most times you would need to stop down a lens from its brightest aperture to get sufficient sharpness.

That means that if the 85mm f2.8 lens needed to be stopped down it would mean it was essentially an 85mm f4 lens where at f4 it would give sufficient sharpness. Just like the 50mm f1.4 I had. It was essentially a 50mm f2 lens for me in practical usage as I disliked the softness at f1.4 setting.

Happily when I tested out the lens I found that the 85mm f2.8 was very usable at f2.8! It gave enough sharpness to be practical at the f2.8 aperture setting. Just like the 20mm prime which is also a very sharp lens wide open. It was a budget f2.8 lens that's usable at f2.8! That's a great bonus!

When I wanted to buy it stocks ran low and I could not find a new copy. Fortunately the stars seemed to smile at me and I was able to procure a second hand copy that was just like new! The previous owner won it in some contest but he already have a Tamron 90mm f2.8 macro lens. The 85mm became redundant to him and he seldom used it. I offered to buy it from him and he agreed to let it go. So I got an almost brand new 85mm f2.8 lens for about RM 200 less than the normal price it sold for.

The only thing I do not quite like about it is the all plastic build it has. It's so light it almost feels like a toy but it performs excellently. That's when I knew I've found my third lens which is also a prime lens.

Here's a couple of shots I took from it.

Above : My son Ethan enjoying his dinner at a local shopping mall.

Below : My daughter Dana, playing with a bubble gun in a park.
One of the kids at the park that joined in the bubbly fun!