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Another skyscraper!

2011-11-09T23:40:00.001+08:00

This time it's the Taipei 101! Reaching the top in the fastest lift in the world, your ears will pop. This building stands out in Taipei and it's so high the top is covered in clouds. Entrance is from the 5th floor of the shopping complex and even on a non busy day the queue is about 30 minutes. Entrance fee to the observatory is TWD80. You get fantastic vistas at the top, including a screening of how it was built. It also houses a 600 ton golden pendulum to damp the building from swaying strong winds. There's a little cafe at the top that also serves Taiwan beer! There's also an outdoor viewing platform.

Covered in clouds

Certified!

Fantastic Views of course!

Great Wall of China

2011-10-19T09:34:00.005+08:00

After visiting China almost once a month for a year, we finally made it to the Great Wall. There are many sections to visit and the one we chose were recommended to be the most gorgeous section at Badaling. Left the hotel at 0800 and reached there around 9:30am by private car, delayed due to heavy traffic leaving the city. After and hour of so on the highway you can see beautiful mountains up ahead and as you get nearer you can see certain sections of the Great Wall and it was a wonderful scene.

Once we reached the place there were busloads of tourists and a long que at the cable car station. However it was very quick and we only spent about 15mins waiting in line. It was RMB 45 for entrance ton the Great Wall and RMB 80 for the cable car ride up and down.

Wonderful view going up and we cannot ask for a lovelier day of blue sky and crisp cool weather. It always difficult to find clear skies in Beijing. The only thing were that we taken aback by the overwhelming amount of people visiting the place. Imagine if we came on the week end, it is literally the Great Wall of People!

Nevertheless once you entered, the scenery was breathtaking. With the rolling mountains and the Great Wall snaking up down through ridges and the history behind it, it's really one of the wonders of the world. It's one of the must visit place other than the Forbidden City in Beijing. We are so happy to have finally made it.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Beijing

What a month!!!

2011-09-22T14:14:00.000+08:00

What a fantastic month of flying! Just to name a few places we overnighted, Chongqing, Hong Kong, Manila, Jakarta and Bangkok again! Even went to Mukah!!!!

Chongqing

Rainy Hong Kong

Mall of Asia,Manila

Hello Mukah

Halim Airport, Jakarta

When in BKK

2011-08-22T22:07:00.003+08:00

Had the opportunity to fly to Don Muang and did two nite stops. We stayed at the Grand Millennium which was close to most things. So first thing to do was to go for authentic Thai food! Found a cozy restaurant behind our hotel and the food was outstanding. Nevertheless you should also try food at the market or by the roadside, they are fabulous. Taste the local Singha beer and all the fresh and spicy stuff. Be adventurous and Go for a ride with those motorcycles taxi and tuk-tuk. If you are are into shopping you must visit the Jatujak/ Chatuchak market!!! You will leave there happy with lots of goodies.

Hotel view!

Motorbike taxi

Tuk-tuk

Fabulous food & beer!

Plus a Tattoo!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:BKK

Tioman Revisited

2011-08-19T13:46:00.000+08:00

Did a short trip to Tioman with a photographer friend. It was almost a "get up and go trip", decided to drive to Mersing which took about 4 hours followed by another 2 hours ferry ride to Panuba Inn. It was a really basic place, no TV, no Internet and even no towels! No worries.....soaked in the sun and sea, it was great!!

24 hrs in DOHA, Qatar

2011-05-26T11:57:00.000+08:00

One thing that strikes me during my short stay in Doha was that there were hardly any interaction with any Qatari locals. From flying in, our controllers were expats, our ground handling crews were either Pakistani or Filipinos. Taxi driver were African and receptionists and hotel workers were all foreign workers too. We stayed at the Wyndham Grand Regency, halfway between downtown and airport. We were upgraded to a suite but with a window view of some back alley. Afterall it's like middle of nowhere and the nearest mall is a 15 minutes walk. at 40+ deg celcius is a long hot and dusty walk. Our hotel is a dry hotel and although it's the middle east there are some hotels that have pubs and clubs. The problem is that most of these places either only let in house guests or you need to show your passport. We gave up after a few tries.
At the mall, all the service staff are also foreign workers! The only local I interacted was the money changer, the rates were good but don't forget your passport.
In the evening we went for a stroll near the bay, you can have a boat tour but with choppy waters and warm breeze blowing it would not be a good idea. The CBD has a spectacular skyline with modern buildings and the places just felt it's flushed with money. Workers were toiling through the night building even grander buildings. I wish we have more time to explore Doha and it's not fair to judge a city in mere 24 hours. Hope to be back and see more of Doha.

Still building at night.

Hotel Lobby

City in the background

Doha Airport

When in Shanghai!

2011-05-25T12:46:00.001+08:00

Pearl Tower

When visiting Shanghai, usually the 1st pace to visit is the Bund. The vista on the other side of the river is spectacular with the iconic Pearl Tower some of the tallest buildings in the world here. Therefore 2nd off the list would be a visit to the Pearl Tower. It looks like a rocket and have fantastic 360 deg viewing galleries. Ticket is RMB 120 per person. Try not to visit on a public holidays for even on non, the glaring loudhailers used by the tour group leader is really annoying. The best view would be the outdoor platform with see through glass floor. Warning: Acrophobic are not welcome!!

Standing on Air!

Hold on tight!

Fantastic Views

Within walking distance is the 101 floor Shanghai World Financial Center, the 2nd tallest building in the world and also the Jin Mao Tower, the 5th tallest in the world. The SWFC has an observatory and both housed the Hyatt hotel starting from the 56th Floor up. The bar at the 87th Floor Park Hyatt offers a spectacular view. The Grand Hyatt lobby restaurant has a fantastic atrium, you'll get dizzy just staring up.

SWFC and Jin Mao Tower.

Bar with a view!

Grand Hyatt Atrium

Beer hunting in Perth

2011-04-30T20:09:00.001+08:00

Have not gone Down Under for a very long time...and this time it's to Perth. I always remembered the crispy clear blue sky and the friendly people from my last trip to Sydney years ago. Unfortunately this time around I 'll remember how expensive things are! We stayed at the Pan Pacific and it's walking distance to the pier and Northbridge. First stop was the Lucky Shag Pub by the waterfront. Very nice view of the Swan River and a great way to spent the afternoon session here.

Other notable watering holes are The Mustang Pub which caters for an older crowd who likes to dance to country and western including rock and roll. Then there's Rosie O'Grady, Universal and The Brass Monkey. Universal has a live band too. Average price of beers is AUD 9, equivalent to almost USD10. You'll have to que and pay at the bar and that is about as much service you can get! Welcome to OZ mate...cheers! Mineral water at the convenient store is AUD2.50!! So bring lots of cash when visiting Australia!

The Lucky Shag!

Local beers,,,cheers mate!

ANZAC DAY.....Look!

Langkawi revisited

2011-03-15T01:20:00.001+08:00

Suppose to have a couple of days in VTSM but unfortunately things don't always goes as plan and ended up in WMKL instead. Made the best of it, cheers!

Ahhh...cheers!

Beer hunting in Shanghai.

2011-03-06T21:59:00.000+08:00

Landed on a cold evening in Hongqiao, Shanghai and after a long days' work what better way to unwind with cold beers in a cozy pub. After a couple of nice places in downtown decided to go back Hong Mei Pedestrian Street. Here the street is dotted with nice pubs and bistros notably, Papas Bierstube which serves wheat beer and dark pilsener brewed in house. Opposite is the Bamboo bar, full of expats with live band and good food and further down is The Shanghai brewery which serves their own house brand!

Papas in house brewery.

Wheat Beers.

My fav!

Nice too!

Delicious Shanghai noodles.

Nice lunch near Naning East

Playing tourist!

HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR! Gong Xi Fa Chai!

2011-02-09T13:54:00.001+08:00

Almost every year we get invited to Uncle Jit's place during CNY to see the lion dance. So far this year, it's the best yet. The Lion is really animated and playful,it was such a thrill and a joy to witness it. Wishing all my friends a happy and prosperous year of the Rabbit. May good health and wealth be showered upon the year of the Bunny. Gong Xi Fa Chai!

Eulogy to my dearly departed Father on 21 Dec 2010 . We love you Papak..

2010-12-26T23:29:00.001+08:00

Good afternoon
Father Simon Poh,Dato ,my mum relative and friends

I Wenceslas Tan am here today representing my mum, 4 brothers and sister in laws (Christopher and Doreen, ) my wife Rosalind ,Ivan,Victor and Phylis, my one n only sister, Jannie, ,John and Sui yeen, and my 3 nephews and 6 nieces.
My father , A truly kind and loving and a very compassionate man
He gave us love courage and strength.
He showed us love by loving his mother dearly, our gradma and my mum and all of us very much. My mom is always and will be forever the love of his life.He loves us too, there'd was incident,he use to come back to Kuching when he was working in Bau in the 60's during a big flood he swim across streches of water through rubber garden and spend a night in a malay house and walked until he was in Kuching just to be with us.Their commitment to one another is a true example of a loving family Through hardship and joy hn bringing up all the children to be good people.
His love for us is gentle and sweet.
At times he is stern and strict,all these is because he knows what is best .
He brought adventures to our life by bringing us to various town where he had worked in public works department (JKR), Serian in the early sixties ,building the serian Sri Aman ,and also Bau.then in the 70's , to Gedong . whenever I think of my childhood ,which I think my brother and I Sister would agree , was fun,adventurous and instilled in us the love for nature and had the opportunity to meet other people while building these roads and bridges
Our strong family bond , respecting each other, a family , that stays together is not an easy task as building road n bridges. He showed love, kindness and compassion.
He showed us how to live a good Christian life,he would wake up early in the morning 3am ,light up the candle and read the bible and prayed daily. ,there was an instance when he suffered a second stroke and completely confined to wheel chair,during a divine mercy Sunday three years ago ,the lord spoke to him you can wak now, he woke up and from that day onward he can walk.
He is a very hardworking man and my mum will always tell us
"dad is working overtime today"
He instilled in us that altitude and culture to work hard and live honestly.Born 11 may 1929, dad had a difficult childhood. Our grandad passed away when my papak was five years old. But the good Lord blessed him . He worked hard and we all grew up , having the best what dad and mom can provide for us.
he passed away peacefully on the 19 December 2010 at the age of 81.
His last few days was very difficult but he showed courage.
His last words to my mum
" that he is truly blessed
He was happy and is very grateful for caring for him all these years, That he knows she love him very much."
Let me end my this short speech
It is by saying, we love our papak very much , growing up is about his heart,
and getting very close to him , that kept the family together and our thought of him will always make us think about all the meaningful things in life and also in knowing and loving God more. What you see now, all of his children respecting, loving and supporting one another, is the result of our dad.
I read this , from lance, a favorite boy whom my dad and mum love very much.
Lance is 12 years old today. My mom looked after him when he was one month old. We grew very fond to him,lance we love you too.
Thank you all for your presence, support and prayers during this time of loss.

Beautiful Shanghai

2010-12-16T21:58:00.002+08:00

It's getting colder by the day in China and after the freezing cold in Beijing it was welcoming to be in sunny Shanghai with a more beareable temperature of about 12 deg Celcius. Went straight to The Bund and it was indeed a lovely sight, more pictures coming but these by the iPhone.

It's cool to be green!

2010-11-19T18:06:00.002+08:00

I have been accused of being materialistic and I can see why. All the cars that I love are high powered German or Italian supermodels. All the watches that I love are also likewise. However I beg to differ from such accusations because I love these things from an engineering point of view. Because these cars are beautifully designed and engineered, there are superb cars and naturally,very sought after and expensive. There's a saying in the aviation world, "if it looks good, it flies good too". My last beloved car was a VW GTi Mk V, it won numerous Car of the Year Award internationally, the TFSi Engine also won awards and the DSG gearbox in still unbeatable and copied from all other makes. The other reason I love this car is how VW is able to give big power to a small package. CO2 emission is incredible for a car with sports inclination. It's less of a guilt trip like saying I have the dessert but will run extra 5 km after that.

However, you will soon realized when crawling in any of the inescapable daily jam in KL that all these power goes to waste! Imagine if all the standstill vehicles shut off their engine for 5 minutes daily! How much fuel we saved and how much carbon foot print we reduced! A few months ago my beloved GTI was hijacked at knife point and as much as I love to replace it with a MK VI, I get a phobia of being hijack again. The quest for a feel good factor while driving not necessary comes from 0-100 dash times or how little body roll exists when I dive into a chicane but from knowing that you are in a seat of future motoring technology and you are saving a ton of Co2 emission a year. Yes ladies and gentlemen you are looking at the proud owner of the latest and last Honda Civic Hybrid in Malaysia! FYI, the Honda CRZ Hybrid just won Japan Car of the Year! I can assure you it's a matter of time before you drive one. So why wait when you can do it now, go on join the green brigade.......don't you know it's cool to be green!
Good article on here.

Time is Money....literally!

2010-11-10T22:26:00.002+08:00

My latest acquisition is the Rolex GMT ll Ceramic. This is a practical watch for pilots who frequently traverse numerous time zones in a single flight. More than just a mere watch, I consider it part of my flying equipment. The original GMT were designed for Pan Am pilots. This watch is beautifully crafted, tough and yet refine. My intimate and perfect companion, I love it!

In action at 40K ft!

Top Down Pleasure!

2010-10-27T09:40:00.000+08:00

Was back in Kuching for a few days and had the pleasure of being picked up Tim my best friend in by a Porsche Boxster S. Nothing beats driving with the wind in your hair, sunnies on and hearing the wonderful exhaust note from sports car! Thanks Tim.

Some cuties in Chengdu.

2010-10-21T23:01:00.000+08:00

On another trip to china, this time was in Chengdu. Found out that there is Panda research base and took 45 min by cab. You would instantly fall in love with these seemingly docile and not a care in the world attitude of these lovely cute creatures. Just eat, sleep, eat some more and sleep some more but much loved by everyone.

Guanzhou, China

2010-09-15T18:12:00.001+08:00

Was in Guangzhou for a few days. Unfortunately it was raining for a few days and I forgot my back up battery so did a limited shoot at Yiuxiu Park and Chinese muslims celebratinn Aidil Adha.

Nothing like......

2010-07-21T21:33:00.000+08:00

having the top down in a sports car in sunny Houston!

Sarawak Borneo

2010-06-11T08:03:00.000+08:00

Travel Log KUL-SIN-HOU

2010-06-07T18:37:00.000+08:00

The journey has begun! KLIA-CHANGI-MOSCOW-HOUSTON....26 hours of flying. Boy or boy. More photos in linked album.

How do you like my new office?

2010-06-03T01:29:00.001+08:00

Well folks I have finally hang up my guns so to speak. So I am moving to a new equipment, a Bombardier Challenger CL 601-3R! A mid size corporate jet! Am heading to Houston for some training before I flew this beauty!

Cool app on iPhone.

2010-05-10T22:00:00.001+08:00

iPhone3Gs 3 megapixel built in camera is relatively a very basic offering compared to some of the

other more popular makes like Nokia or Samsung. It doesn't even have a flash! Nevertheless there's a ton of apps that you can pick and choose to make it interesting. You can geotagged yout images, upload it on the fly to your online album, bog or the ever popular FB.

iPhone Pixs

2010-05-09T19:39:00.000+08:00

I have been trying out some iPhone photography apps. The few free apps I have tried so far are fantastic.

Camera Plus. Add extra controls into your basic camera function which Apple should have included in the 1st place. Thumbs Up.
Vintage Shift. Gives a tilt & shift effect to the pix. Thumbs Up.
PS Mobile. This the best free app from Adobe so far. Let's you edit images and upload it to your online album at photoshop.com. You can then further edit the pictures here. Double thumbs up.

Don't you wish?

2010-04-11T13:23:00.000+08:00

That on a sunny sunday you are at a beautiful white sandy beach with warm blue surf and crystal clear blue skies! Ahh that's Bali.

Isle of Gods, Bali Indonesia.

2010-03-25T21:47:00.003+08:00

Had a wonderful weekend in Bali, truly an island for the Gods, with the numerous temples amidst exotic settings. The places that all visitors should at least go in Bali are, Ubud, Tanah Lot and Uluwatu.

This was take at the Ubud market Temple where beautiful maidens made their rounds of offerings and prayers.

Little offerings.

Aerial Photography

2010-03-10T16:49:00.003+08:00

Went flying over KL city today with a buddy with intention of getting some nice city shots. Unfortunately sky was a bit hazy and reflective panel from the windshield also gave some minor problems, nevertheless flying was fun!

From Tokina 12-24mm F4

Evening Shoot

2010-03-07T19:27:00.006+08:00

Was out with Andi shopping for some camera stuffs. Had dinner & happy hour trying out his new 100mm F 2.8 IS L. What a super sharp lens with awesome image stabilisers. (sans flash of course)

Andi (sharp even at 1/13 sec!)

Enoying Happy Hour

Dinner@Roadside

A friendly company @ 1/8 sec,amazing!

Gave myself a month to shape up.

2010-02-25T13:22:00.002+08:00

I have been going regularly to the gym and my routine would be to do some 30-40mins workout followed by a 10-15mins run. Objective was just to stay in shape but through out the time that I started at the gym, some of those serious guys really bulked up and I am amazed at the rate they can do it. One common thing I found was that they were taking some supplements, mainly protein to sustain and build their muscles. So all these while I could have had better results with the same amount of effort that I was doing. So I ordered my protein from one of the regulars and gave myself a month to get into even better shape.
See if I'll get ripped in a month! Note: can u spot Barney sleeping in the gym?

Note To God

2010-02-20T19:09:00.001+08:00

Lyrics

Singapore AirShow 2010

2010-02-06T22:02:00.002+08:00

We were fortunate enough to be invited to the Singapore Airshow 2010 on the 3rd Feb 2010. Flew into Payar Lebar Airbase and a tour bus shuttled us to the Airshow. First 3 days were opened for trade visitors but there were not many aerial shows. Most of the major players were present and Gulfstream came in full force with G550, G450,G200 & G200 there. Ofcourse the RSAF showed off their recently acquired AEW G550.It was scorching hot and didn't manage to get many photos.

Queuing to shoot Airbus latest A330 Freighter!

All the gleaming bizjets with the RSAF displaying their skills in the background.

Globemaster lll

1st photoshoot 2010

2010-01-05T09:20:00.007+08:00

Happy new Year to All! For the start of 2010, went out with fellow shutterbug buddy Andreas for an urban photshoot. Plan is to indulge more in interesting subjects and locations.

Tartan Hats Brigade!

At the office today!

2009-12-24T22:50:00.006+08:00

Cruising at FL370! Another day at the office, cockpit of the Bombardier Global Express! Wishing a Merry Christmas & a Happy New Year to everyone!

2009-12-03T10:01:00.002+08:00

Sunset@Langkawi. Album here.

LIMA 09

2009-12-03T09:56:00.004+08:00

Enjoying the aerial display during the Langkawi International Maritime & Aerospace Exhibition. Album here:

Becky's Jungle Shoot

2009-08-31T21:18:00.004+08:00

Had the longest and strenous photoshoot when Becky from the UK wanted a jungle scene shoot. So we headed to FRIM (Forest Research Institute of Malaysia), It was years since I last went and took me a while to navigate there especially with the hopeless signage that we are accustomed to. The canopy walk was a great experience and on the way back we detoured to Batu Caves for somemore shooting. More of her pix here.

My New Ride

2009-07-05T18:36:00.005+08:00

VW Golf GTI MkV SE

After lusting for this car I finally managed to acquire a Tornado Red version. Having accumulated many accolades of being Car/Automobile of the Year internationally since it's launch in 2004 the MkV is a favorite amongst people seeking performance and practicality. I have the top of the range 2.0 TFSI engine mated to a super quick DSG gearbox with paddle shift. It has 200 bhp under its bonnet with a whopping 206lb ft of torque from just 1800RPM and easily upgradeable to 250 bhp! This is the car that gives me a smile a mile feeling! Check this review:

New Phone Again, Nokia E71

2009-03-05T20:25:00.007+08:00

Replaced my HTC Touch with this svelte & professional looking Nokia E71. I am very pleased with it and is the best Nokia so far. Initially I thought I will have problem adapting to this rather small qwerty keypad but it's so much easier to use than the touch screen ones. Have all the connections that I ever need and battery life is fantastic. Easy to configure email and I love the calender in portrait mode. Lots of theme that we can download. I can isync with my contacts & calender( you'll be glad you have this if you loose your hp) and works great with Nokia's multimedia transfer for Mac. Has built in GPS and Nokia map is fine but I have installed Garmin XT and the A-GPS picks up positions very fast. Feels really good in the hand and the metal casing is wonderful, no wonder this is top editor's choice in Cnet.

Sigma 30mm F/1.4

2008-12-17T17:25:00.003+08:00

Read a many good reviews about this lens. This is my first Sigma and so impressed with the built quality. The combination of this lens and my 50D makes it possible to shoot without a flash . IQ is sharp wide open and BOKEH is smooth. The image is taken at f1.4 at ISO1250. View more here, http://picasaweb.google.com/borneoeye/Sigma30mmF14#

Mini Review 50D.

2008-11-18T18:29:00.003+08:00

After more than a month with my new 50D I am happy to announced that I am pleased with the upgrade. For a better and longer review please click on the link above.

I have been very happy with my previous 30D but nevertheless it was time to upgrade and when the 50D was announced,I jump at it. There's a huge debate now going on about noise and IQ of the 50D compared to the 40D. I feel expectations are too high for every replacement model, that newer technology in it have improved by leaps and bounds. They will be disappointed with their new equipment and complain a lot about it if they don't perform to their unrealistic expectations. Personally, I don't care too much about shooting high ISO,I hardly go over 800ISO and at that level of course it beats the 30D and at 15mp I can blow it big or cropped generously. The 3in LCD with increase resolution is great for a quick review. Included is Micro Focus Adjustments for individual lens and I don't have to worry about getting sending lens for calibration. Those few improvements alone is enough reasons for me to upgrade.

Here are some samples, please visit album here

Push E-mail.

2008-07-02T14:30:00.002+08:00

My primary means of communication is through sms,e-mail and calls. This is applicable to a majority of us, we'd rather sms,e-mail and lastly resort to calls if we need instantaneous response. I can easily do sms and calls on my mobile phone but usually have to be near my Macbook or any PC terminal at the office or at home to check email. Even though we can check our emails nowadays on our mobile phone it's not as user friendly as sms. You can configure your phone to check your inbox at set intervals from every 5 mins or every hour and pulls e-mails from your inbox into your phone and notify you just like a new sms. Don't we wish we can get our emails straight to our mobile phone as soon as it arrives in our inbox without us checking, like a BlackBerry. Well now we can if you are using a Windows smart phone and subscribe to any of the paid or free push email providers. I have tried mobipush.com whereby I have configured it push email from my Google inbox. Caveat emptor, you have to pay for data every time you get an email push to you, hey nothing is free nowadays. What you have to do is find a data plan that works out to be rates that would be similar to an outgoing sms. So if you have lots of emails and wishes to respond to them on your mobile as well,I'd suggest you go for the data unlimited plan. After trying mobipush I find it to be unreliable, sometimes emails don't get push to my mobile so I switch to mail2web LIVE. the difference is that you have to to subscribe to a new webmail and configure your other emails to forward to this mail2web address. As soon as it goes into your inbox it will push it to your mobile,so far it has been reliable,I get emails faster than my inbox and best of all it's free. It's great because all my mode of communication can be on 1 single mobile device. There a few things lacking because I don't use active sync, MS outlook and I am using a Macbook so I cannot sync my calendar and contacts. Well The iPhone 3G do have similar offerings and that could be ny next Gadjet!

New Lens!

2008-05-29T21:20:00.004+08:00

In order to complete my range of lenses, I needed a wide angle lens. So after reading all the reviews I decided to go for this Tokina and I am very happy with it. Great solidly built lens and IQ is better than I expected,will post pictures once I have the time to go out on a full outing with it. Now I have 12-200mm in 3 great lenses. other accessories I have added to my inventory includes a Cleon remote trigger, a remote flash trigger and finally a Dry-Cabinet to store all my precious equipment.

New Gadjet

2008-05-29T19:58:00.006+08:00

I am not a big fan of Windows Mobile Devices but what the heck! I needed a PDA but at the same time don't want something big and bulky, and the HTC touch is almost perfect. Yes I got the white one too. There are lots of review on this sleek looking PDA phone and it's one of the smallest in the market. The coolest thing about this is the touch-flo user interface. Almost as good as iphone with lots of software for it. I have Mapking installed and with my BT GPS it's a nifty little gadjet. It has wi-fi but no 3G but so what,I am on the DiGi network and it's not 3G. I have been exploring and hacking it as I go. I am not too fond of softkeys but there are options that makes typing sms just as easy as with hardkeys. So far it'slot sof fun and it's fast with 128 mb of RAM.

Layang Layang Island

2008-03-28T16:21:00.008+08:00

Layang Layang Island also known as the Swallow Reef is an isolated atoll in the South China Sea about 300 km or an hour flight NW of Kota Kinabalu, Sabah. It is the Malaysian part of the Spratly Islands chain. The 50 acre island is build through reclamation from the surrounding atoll by the Malaysian government and now has a runway and resort that is open to public besides the initial permanent Royal Malaysian Navy base which began operating prior to that. There is also a Malaysian Fishery Department research center on the island. Due to it's isolation and difficulty in getting there, not many Malaysians are aware of this island let alone been there. The resort is only open 8 months in a year and attracts serious divers. The island has a shallow and protected lagoon and outside depth of 2000m makes it ideal for wall diving. The area is also great for fishing and a nearby purpose built bird island sanctuary attracts thousands of migratory seabirds. View album.

Happy Chinese New Year!

2008-02-07T10:51:00.000+08:00

Wishing everyone GONG XI FA CHAI! May the year of the RAT brings you prosperity,health and wealth.

Jurong Bird Park, Singapore.

2008-01-30T08:25:00.000+08:00

Had a free afternoon while working in Singapore and headed for the Jurong Bird Park. Since my 24-70mm F2.8 is undergoing repair I only had the 70-200mm F4 IS L so it's a good oppurtunity to get some images and it turn out to be a very productive afternoon. Getting there using public transport (MRT to Boon Lay followed by Bus 194) from the CBD was pretty easy. Entrance was SGD18 for adult. The park is a must visit place if you are in Singapore andthe highlight of the visit for me was Bird of Prey show. It was really exciting to see hawks,eagles and vultures swoop overhead the audience! View album here.

Bako National Park

2008-01-24T13:50:00.000+08:00

Last weekend I made a day trip to the Bako National Park. Thought I' d be lucky enough to shoot (photograph) the 'orang belanda' (Dutch people) as they are locally known or the Proboscis monkey which can be found only on the island of Borneo. The trip started with a 40 minutes drive from Kuching to the jetty point at Kampung Bako. From there you will take a 30 min boat ride to the park. Round trip boat fare was RM97 for 5 person. There were 2 ladies incidentally from Holland sharing the boat and they couldn't make out the joke asking if they were visiting relatives. Anyway it was about 8am when we set off the jetty and life jacket were provided and the boat slowed down due to the low tide and navigating through muddy waters. Once that was clear we headed to open choppy waters and can be quite harrowing and make sure you cover your equipment. Due to the low tide we were let off near the beach and you have take off your shoes and wade through shallow waters to get to Park HQ. Entrance is RM10 per adult and there are lodges if you wish to stay overnight. There are various trails to set off ranging from 30 mins to 7 hours trail. I set off on the Paku Trail to catch a glimpse of the monkeys. There were the Silver leaf langurs and common macaques. The 'orang belanda' were elusive and I manage to spot them along the trial but were too high up in the trees for good shots. The other types can be aggressive if they think you have food. The trails can be quite hard with lots of steeps inclines. Make sure you have good treking shoes and bring lots of water for you will be drenched in sweat. A broad brimmed jungle hat and trekking stick are recommended items to bring. I only brought my 70-200mm F4 L IS though sufficient longer lengths are recommended for birding or even a macro for other plant and insects shoot. I wished I planned for a longer stay and will bring more equiptment on my next trip to Bako National Park. Visit my album for more images.

My Latest 'L' Lens!

2008-01-02T22:23:00.000+08:00

But not just any lens, it's a Canon EF 24-70 mm F2.8 L USM aka the 'brick'. This is my 2nd 'L' series lens acquisition. I have always wanted this lens from the very beginning and took me a year before justifying this costly purchase, having to sacrifice my beloved EF 28-135mm F3.5-5.6,my almost new EF 85mm F1.8 prime and some more. This lens is big,black and mean looking. It's the lens of choice for photo journalist and bread and butter lens for professional wedding photographers. This is also a very good lens for portraits with a constant aperture of F2.8, produces a beautiful bokeh and built like a tank. This fills the gap nicely for me from 24 mm right up to 200 mm. This is currently enough for my needs and with just this 2 lens I have my angles covered so to speak. The best thing for me other than the IQ of this lens is the built quality. This gives me the consistency and reliability my previous lens cannot match and going to go the long term. I figured if I try different consumer grade lens and also other 3rd party offering I will spend just as much and at the back of my head still longing for this lens so waht the heck. This lens is worth every penny. There are lots of reviews online but at the end of the day you have to justify your own. View my album.

Macro Lights (DIY)

2007-12-22T10:55:00.000+08:00

Close up and Macro photography is a very exciting way to extend your interest in photography. Bugs look like monsters and your garden can be turn into a mini zoo with little creatures that you never bother to examined before. Your watch face shows up intricate lines you never knew existed. In order for you to go into Macro or close up photography, the easiest route would be to get a dedicated Macro lens. True macro lens have 1:1 magnification, meaning that the image captured on the sensor is life size to the object. Some even goes 5:1 but alternatively there are other ways to do close up even with your regular lenses and I have tried them both. First is the addition of extension tubes. These are basically hollow tubes that joins between your camera and your lens thus extending it. Now your MFD (min focusing distance) can drop down to 3 inches depending how much you extend your tubes. However you cannot focus on infinity and you can't use you AF. What I usually do is to to move my MFD till I get my object in focus. You'll have to crank up our ISO and have steady hands. The other way is to use close up filters which are basically a magnifying glass. Inherent to all macro lenses is slow AF and you usually have to revert to MF. The other problem is shallow DOF, so you will have to close up your aperture. Doing so will reduce the light going into the lens and you may need high ISO to stop camera shake. So you will need need to use flash but because MFD is so close on camera flash or mounted flash don't do a good job an you need a dedicated macro flash. Now that flash cost even more than your regular flash. So what can you do? You improvise,like me. All I need is to light up the area I wish to shoot and don't want it too harsh. So my contraption is using those clip on led lights and mount it on the hood. You can use as many as you want. Be forewarned that you will be walking around with a camera that looks like a weapon from Star Trek!!!!

Village House

2007-12-21T23:47:00.000+08:00

Was recently invited to a house warming and blessing of a place simply called the Village House. This is a lodge at the foot of Mount Santubong fronting the South China Sea. Opened by my dear friends, a husband and wife team who are avid travelers and photographers as well. This is their second place after Singgahsana Lodge in Kuching town. Set is a peaceful and quaint little malay kampong, you can sip pina coladas whole day in the inviting pool with a bar just steps away. I highly recommend both these places to 'singgah' if you are ever in this part of Borneo.

Finally got my first L lens

2007-11-24T23:20:00.000+08:00

Yes folks, Santa Claus came early and I got myself my 1st Canon 'L' lens. L for Luxury, top of the line professional grade Canon lens. Not just any lens but a 70-200mm F4 IS USM lens, the white colored lens. I have been longing for this lens and poured through every review there is about this lens. It gets a 9.9/10.0, any better would be the holy grail for a zoom lens. Hot from the oven I got a photoshoot and what exciting opportunity to try this baby. Went straight to location and open the boxed in the car and snapped it on, boy does it feel good. I am not going to do a review because there is nothing I can say thats not been said already. I just want to say I am simply delighted and excited with this wonderful acquisition. Anyway the photoshoot is a PR shoot for an up and coming MP. If he wins the election, this lens is worth it!

Art on Horse

2007-11-19T09:48:00.001+08:00

Was out to town Saturday with a friend to look at some computer stuff. Went to a spanking new mall called the Pavillion near Bukit Bintang. It's massive, clean and airy. It's an upmarket mall and at the 5th floor there a Apple reseller called epiCentre, you can try out all the new iPods and iMac. On the way to Low Yat Plaza, stopped for lunch at the sidewalk cafe and there was this row of life-size horses all painted in beautiful colors. What a opportunity as I got my camera with my 85mm on it. These horses were painted by an art academy sponsored by Samsung. With those colorful shots I did a slideshow using Photopresenter and my favorite singer Andrea and try to upload it here in video format (took ages). Enjoy.

Canon Customer Care Experience

2007-11-15T16:33:00.000+08:00

Canon slogan is 'Delighting you always' and let me tell you how true it was after my experience at their Customer care center in Peremba Square,Subang. I had just got a new lens, the EF85mm 1.8 and by experience prime lens are inherently sharp.However after the 1st evening trial shots were reviewed I detected that this lens was back focusing, I conducted further test and confirmed my suspicion. So after posting on shutter asia forum unavoidablyI need to sent it for recalibration. Called the CCC on Tuesday morning and was given directions, went straight there together with my camera as well to checked. Since I got international warranty I may still have to pay handling fees after the repair which they estimated to be a week. It was a pleasant affair and was out of there in 30 mins. Thought I would wait 3 days to find out the status but surprise surpise, early Thursday morning I received sms that my camera ready for collection and its FOC!!!!!! Is that great or is that great? Well I went to collect it and tested it and the autofocus is now spot on. Now I am totally delighted at Canon's commitment to customer care and other established companies should emulate this. You leave with a feeling that with Canon product you don't have to worry and this feeling breeds brand loyalty.Syabas, Canon boleh.

New lens & Flash!

2007-11-12T20:30:00.000+08:00

I love taking portraits an is looking for a lens that fulfills my need in that category. Of course if money is no object than I will definitely get the Canon EF 85mm F 1.2 L lens. That will cost a bomb and I just cannot justify acquiring it just yet as a keen amateur.The next best thing is the one I just received.I love it already.There are plenty of reviews and I can definitely agree with all the positive rating. It's solidly built and pictures are just crisp with the kind of contrast and saturation I love. The bokeh is really smooth andmakes your subject stands out like 3D.
Another required gear is the Canon 580EX ll Flash. Nowadays most people including myself will check out all the reviews of the products before buying it. You cannot go wrong when the reviewer is a professional and also ratings by people who are using the product already.It may seem cruel but these reviews can actually make or break the product.So in this case I am going for top of the line professional flash.I rather have saved and have this flash now rather than going the route of upgrading.In photography your gear plays an important part.Knowing it an getting the maximum out of it brings out the best in you and your gear.Check out my album using this lens.

Added new gear!

2007-11-11T22:13:00.000+08:00

I have acquired a couple of new photographic equipment. It's a Canon battery grip BG-E2 with 2 generic BP511A batteries. This grip will extend shots to at least 1000 plus shooting in portrait mode is easier. There are times that I swore I wish I had more juice and the grip also give it mass to better balance my future acquisition of the long zooms. Of course I also need a bigger bag to put all these new gear in so I got the Bagman Snapman Trekka. Lots of rearrangeable padded compartment and space for my Macbook too.I got a Mocha colored bag knowing how dirt will definitely show up on brightly colored ones. This bag is also less assuming than a shoulder one that I have been using. Heard camera bags have been snatched around KLCC area.So it's better to be safe than sorry.

Mac OS 10 Leopard

2007-11-10T22:12:00.000+08:00

Finally upgraded to Leopard!!! Well there's 300 reason why you should but a couple of new cool stuff really is the reason why I did. The cover flow view in finder with quick look is so useful. I am sure there lot's more really cool stuff as I am still exploring. Oh, here's one, in iChat video mode you can have an animated background or any background you want. There one with fishes swimming behind you too. Yes it can now support bluetooth stereo headset. Although I find that there's interference oif you are having a few devices connected on bluetooth. Maybe apple will sort this out with a service pack.So if you have not upgraded, don;t hesitate!

P990i Crashed & Burn!!!!

2007-11-10T21:35:00.000+08:00

Suddenly as I was sending out a sms simultaneously call came in and it set off the phone to continously vibrating mode. Oh oh.......pulled out the battery to stopped it. Unfortunately the phone could not be started again,it just gone bonkers and continously vibrates every time we switch it on. Brought it back to the shop and after a few days they said it's a major problem and need to be sent off to be repaired. It would be a long while and so I cannot afford to wait that long. I decided to trade it in and get a trusty Nokia instead, the Nokia 6120 classic. Like the name implies, a very straight forward smartphone minus the bells and whistles. A phone trying to be a PDA or the other way round just cannot hack it. I am better off with this phone and get a PDA! Sigh.....well I was hopeful.

Anyway, you cannot go wrong with a Nokia. This little baby packs a punch. It's a 3.5G with the latest symbian S60 3rd edition. This one is a keep! So RIP SE P990i.

New Instrument!

2007-09-19T11:03:00.000+08:00

When do you call a watch an instrument? When the watch is a Bell & Ross BR01-92 Instrument. There a few watches specifically designed for the purpose of work namely diving and pilot watches! Some of the very well known makes have been producing these watches and they play an integral & specialized role to the wearer. From the image above( sorry for the poor quality,taken from my SE phone) it looks similar to the many instruments inside my cockpit, it is as if I just took it out from my cockpit panel and strap it to my wrist. This is 46mm in diameter,Panerais,IWC are 44mm, so it seems big is in! It's fashionable and professional watches are never cheap. If your work depends on it you'll understand, nevertheless BR01 instruments are selling like hot-cakes and only a fraction of the owners are professional pilots. You are buying into a lifestlye and only discerning

collectors knows what you are wearing. I love mine!

RIP Sony Vaio PCG Z505

2007-08-31T22:11:00.000+08:00

I think I finally have to abandon any hope of reviving my Vaio even after paying to have it fixed. It seems that the 1st shop that was unsuccessful in repairing it forgot either unintentionally or otherwise to put back the hard disk bracket and harness. Without that I cannot put in a new hard disk. If only I have known earlier I would have either not repair it or go back immediately to the 1st shop and demand the missing item. How are we to know since that have put back the laptop! I love this Vaio and it served me well. It's really a cool and portable laptop. I am happy with my Macbook now but I am sure this laptop can still be useful. Well RIP and who knows if I can find that spare part I may just revived it.On the other hand, i had just listed them on eBay so that some other people might find it useful.

Join the bandwagon!

2007-08-25T18:58:00.000+08:00

My preferred mode of communicating is sms, call and email. I do all 3 through a mobile phone. Nevertheless nothing beats surfing and getting emails using my laptop.Thats easy when I am at home or at the office. If you are mobile then it's more of a hassle, easiest would be to find a free wifi zone. Most of these are at cafes and so it's not exactly free and after a coffee and cheesecake it will add up.So next alternative is to subscribe to the various mobile broadband available. However why pay so much when we already have broadband at home or at the office? So 'pay as you use' seems logical but this can be very expensive affair. So far Celcom offers the best package, the RM8 for 24hr, it's still cheaper than a cafe latte and cheese cake. You can even use a prepaid 3G card and connection is quite easy. I am actually uploading this blog on this setup using my trusty Macbook and SE P990i as a wireless bluetooth modem. Alternatively you can sign up for rm68/mth unlimited package for speed up to 384kbps or rm2+/day. now that is the cheapest offer in town. Why bother with the offer of a USB modem when a bluetooth 3G handphone is the cheaper and better alternative. I may just go for this setup.

New Gadjet

2007-08-17T19:23:00.000+08:00

I was in Singapore for a few days of work.Sim Lim square was just 10 mins from where I stayed. Not much difference from Low Yat Plaza KL, infact LYP is newer and better in my opinion. When you convert SGD to RM there's not much difference. The only thing I found worthwhile getting is the iTech Radio Clip. This is a bluetooth stereo headset for mobile phone with a built in radio. Works great with my SE P990i, sound quality is good, radio reception is not bad. Unfortunately still does not work with OS X which lacks A2DP, understands that Leopard may solve this issue. Then it will be cool, listening to iTunes on the Mac and answering calls coming in too,wirelessly......almost.

New Phone

2007-08-07T10:42:00.000+08:00

I was looking for a new phone because my Nokia 6600 is a little long in the tooth and I needed a new phone with more up to date features. I needed a 3G phone, 3.5G would be better,it must have BT and most importantly be able to be used as a modem with my Macbook. Friends familiar with Mac tell me to go SE because it's connects with a Mac without much trouble. Hmmm I am a Nokia guy and know that their PC suite works seamlessly and I have Parallels. All the other features like megapixels camera, GPS and Wifi initially was secondary features that is good to have but I'd rather prefer a nice big screen. I narrowed down to the Nokia 6233,6110 and SE810i. The 6233 was cheap and got everything I wanted, the 6110 had 3.5G plus GPS while the SE got 3.2mp cybershot camera! Finally I decided to get the 6110 but it has to be black. Unfortunately when you want one it's out of stock, so what the heck, I don't really the GPS. Then I saw the SE990i, initially was dismissed from my list due to the form factor but when it's in my hand it's not actually much bigger than my 6600. It's a smart phone, got almost everything except the kitchen sink. Hmm interesting,what attracted me was that it's got WiFi , it's a music player with limited PDA functionality and super sharp 240x320 screen. Between Wi-Fi and GPS, I reckoned I will use the Wi-Fi more often and still could get a better standalone GPS transceiver. However the best feature was it's price! It's 60% off the original price and I feel getting acquainted with it would be fun,boy was I wrong! The SE990i is not for someone not willing to learn how to use properly and that's why the price has dropped much! it's almost like a mini computer and you have to scour the forums to make it working properly and it took me almost a week to do so. After reinstalling the firmware,upgraded to 2GB memory I can connect it to the Mac either wirelessly or through USB, have tried wifi on it, played music and radio and even downloaded movies to it. Picture turn out great too and I am beginning to warm up to it. For the price I paid I cannot complain and actually it's the cheapest wiFi 3G smartphone around at the moment!

Friday 17, Finally managed to update to the latest firmware R6E28. It was like doing brain surgery, you foul up you end up with a brick of a phone. Thanks to fellow blogger and other forums,making the 990i much more stable and useable.

Upgraded MacBook & a hand me down iMac!

2007-08-06T17:03:00.000+08:00

Finally upgraded my MacBook to 2GB ram after about 60 plus wonderful days with it. I have maxed out and I am happy. I remembered the time where my 1st PC had 1mb RAM, sooner than later upgraded that to 4mb and never looked back since. Now my handphone have 60mb ram which I will blog about later. Anyway had Moorey installed and checked it just incase for I am still in the 90days warranty period. At the same time had him figured how to published this blog to my sub domain.

Another great news, my daughter inherited a iMac from a friend of hers. Still a great machine and so happy she is introduced to Mac at such an early stage.I have converted another friend of mine who was looking for a laptop to go to college with.He went a bit overboard and got himself a Mac Book Pro!I am jealous!

My Len's US.

2007-07-26T20:37:00.000+08:00

US means unserviceable,then there's FMC or PMC,meaning full mission capable or partial mission capable. For the time being my Canon EF 28-135mm F3.5-5.6 is PMC, the zoom is stuck at 50-70mm. Hmm, hope it can be rectified when I send it to the shop back in KL. So far I am very pleased with the lens. This lens stays on my camera 90% of the time because of it's useful range. There are shortcomings which I can live with for the time being. I like to go for lens review here My wish list is the EF 70-200mm F2.8! It's Saturday, 1st Aug and got my lens back.Feels silky smooth and good as new. Jason of J-One in Amcorp mall repaired it for me.Please visit my online album

Love my MaC

2007-07-26T16:54:00.000+08:00

Sometimes, there are somethings that you have reviewed, tried and tested but the moment after buying it you wished you have bought something else. Then again there are things that you have just bought and it's so wonderful that you wished you bought more. The Apple MacBook is such a product for me. I am not entirely new to MaC product,my brother had one which I used because my VAIO broke. So I was in the market for a new machine. Initially it was natural to look for another PC but however it now comes with Vista. So I am looking at a new hardware and new os to boot,the MaC look mighty close. One turning point for me was that MaC went with Intel, now I can have a up to date processor and that can even run Windows on Mac. For the same budget I could get a Fujitsu,HP or VAiO. But why follow when you can lead,designwise,nothing compares to the MacBook. Form and function comes into play just like a Porsche. Infact I was not even eyeing the Macbook Pro, the black Macbook have great reviews and size and weight is just perfect for me.Well, I am so happy I went with a MacBook. I have been so productive with it, like they say,with a mac you just do it! So if you are looking for a entry level Laptop,look no further, you cannot go far wrong when a major online computer review site editor makes it his choice!

Not as easy as it seems

2007-07-26T13:30:00.001+08:00

I tried whole day yesterday with my very IT savvy friend,Moorey to set up a website,finally got it up loaded. It's call www.phases.com.my. Well designing the site itself took 3 days,built in iWeb. Then you have to register the domain. Unlike setting up www.yourname.com, registering www.yourname.com.my needs a bit more time. Afterwards you have to host your website somewhere out there and to upload it you need ftp. Now I tried ftp it and it didn't work so I export the folder onto Dreamweaver CS and tried uploading it from there. That's when it got messy. Without Moorey or without any html know how it's the dreaded 404 page! thats when nothing gets uploaded.That's because iWeb has a first line command that directs you to your 1st page or index page which you actually don't need in DW. The site could now be uploaded cept for one page.Found out that I had a typho error in iWeb,I unintentionally left a space in the name of the page which DW cannot understand.Now does all this make sense to you?