Archive for June, 2005

Day and Night…

Monday, June 27th, 2005

To those who are still unaware, yes I am back in Malaysia. I’ve been back since September last year. Minus a few overseas trip I had to make, I spend most days in Putrajaya and my nights back in KL.

However, last week I was staying at the Shangri-La Hotel, KL as I had to be a rapporteur for the 1st Malaysia-South Africa Joint Commission Meeting. Staying at the heart of KL, I thought I would go out to the nearby clubs at night. It seems my age is catching up with me, after the meetings, dinners etc. I was more contented to go up to my room, watch a little tv and sleep.

I did, however, managed to take a few shots from my hotel room.

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Took the shots during the day and at night, on a tripod using no flash. Seems so different at night.

Seems prettier, well, you could say that of some people also I guess.

Playing With My Camera

Tuesday, June 14th, 2005

As mentioned before, I went to my friend’s wedding last Saturday. Was a good time to test out my new camera. Below are some of the pictures taken.

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A shot of the couple.

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One of the trick functions in the camera.

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White balance for tungsten, flash off.

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Colour set to sephia. My personal favourite.

Not much gripe on the camera except for the LCD contrast. The other functions and performance are as expected. I am quite happy with the camera.

Other pics from the wedding can be seen here.

However, next big test is when I will play paintball at night. The lighting or lack of it and the shadows at the paintball park would be quite a challenge for the camera.

Anybody wants to join?

What’s New Pussycat?

Friday, June 10th, 2005

It’s funny that whenever I sit down and try to write an entry to my weblog, I just 20050610stare at the screen for minutes on end and type nothing. Other times (usually when not in front of the PC),  ideas creep up on me and it seems I could write a whole bloody novel of a weblog.

I put it down to performance anxiety. Would my grammer be correct? Would my entry be long enough or too long? Would it be interesting? Etc. etc.

So let me just dive in and tell you about what has been happening over the past 7 days.

Trip to Kota Baharu

My friend got married to a Kelantan girl. So I went to KB for the wedding last Friday evening on an Air Asia flight (Tip for all: If you know your travel date well in advance, book your Air Asia flight early). After arriving we headed out to Yati Ayam Percik and I had Nasi Kerabu and ayam percik. Nice!

The next day for late breakfast we had soft boiled eggs and toast at the White House. Also nice!

We headed out to a rented house nearby the bride’s house in Taman Mesra to get ready. A friend of ours who is an orthopaedist in the USM Hospital in KB was kind enough to check my leg. He told me that I was developing Osteoarthritis in my injured leg and recommended me to take Glucosamine to delay the onset of it. Sigh!


Kb After getting ready off we went to the bride’s house. As the akad nikah was held on Friday, there was only the bersanding. And of course the food. It was simple, rice, gulai kawah, ayam percik, acar, ikan masin and sambal. You guessed it… it was nice. I of course had a second helping.

After the wedding, we rested a little bit before travelling back to KL. We had  Meknab Su’s Nasi Air before departing. It was also nice. I’m glad I was going back another day in KB and I might have gained a few pounds more.

Sith Lord

On Tuesday, my friend, his new bride and I decided to catch Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith. I had previously watched it on VCD a couple of weeks ago, because I had no idea when I would be able to watch it at the theatre.

I arrived early at KLCC to get the tickets and to browse around for a digital camera. I already have a Minolta Dynax 5, but I needed a small digital camera I can carry around easily. As luck would have it there was a promotion on electronics in the middle of the KLCC concourse. I had done some research on the internet before and after looking around at the stalls and shops in KLCC, I bought the Konica Minolta Dimage Xg. The package came with a tripod, a mini tripod, a camera pouch, a camera bag, additional 256MB memory card and a printing voucher for 400 photos. Quite a good deal I thought. Will try it out this Saturday at my friends wedding.

When watching Ep. 3 on the big screen I was able to concentrate more on its visuals and sound effects. It was quite astounding. I really enjoyed that part of the movie. Storyline wise, I was a bit dissapointed. I keep replaying in my head parts that could be better. Although my biggest question was answered, sort of. The question is not why Anakin turned to the dark side but why doesn’t Dart vader whine.  As all of you know Luke Skywalker whines and Anakin Skywalker whines. Anakin whined even more when he had no legs and left arm. It seemed to me that with the "Noooooooooooooooooooooo" cry by Darth Vader after finding out Amidala was dead, all the whineniness (if you could call it that) went out of him. Just my 2 sen worth.

Anyways… just to get things started. Until next time…