Mundane Subjects

Kuala Gandah

2009-11-02T16:10:00.015+08:00

Brought the kids for an educational trip to the Elephant Sanctuary and Deerland (two separate places) in Kuala Gandah, Lanchang back in July 2009. Had a great time watching the kids learning.
About two hours drive from KL, great place for daytrip.

Kuala Gandah Elephant Sanctuary.

This is the home base for PERHILITAN's Elephant Relocation Team. A team of brave men and elephants who capture and relocate wild elephants that enroach into human populated area. Most of the elephants are relocated to safer area in deep forest near Tasik Kenyir, but sometimes there are orphans or injured elephants that won't survive if relocated. These individuals are brought back to Kuala Gandah to be looked after.
The sanctuary is opened to visitors from 12:00pm daily. Visitors register at the management office to get passes. There's no entry fees, but they accept donations.

Activities:
You can mingle around freely with baby elephants, you can ride the elephants (special pass required) and you can bathe with the elephants in a small stream nearby (special pass required). All passes are given out on first come first serve basis, so if you want those special passes, make sure you're there early.

'Visiting Only' pass

Siput. They had to amputate her front left leg. She stepped on a poacher's snare meant for other animals.

Getting up, close and personal.

Bright little fella showing off some tricks.

Cooling down.

The big fellas.

We didn't ride or bathe with the elephants. I just don't like the idea of doing such things to such a majestic animal.

Deerland.

This is a petting zoo with lots of deers and some other animals. I can recall snake, hedgehog, rabbit, ostrich, sunbear among others. If you have the guts, you can pet them all.
They charge a small entrance fee here. Sorry, i forgot how much.

You get to hand feed those deers.

Taller than me.

Sunbear. They really love honey.

Smile!

Highly recomended for family outing.

Teratai

2009-10-13T21:47:00.004+08:00

White lotus flowers basking in the morning sun.

Love the reflection. Can you spot a damsel?

Pair.

Solo.

Lebuh Culia

2009-10-07T14:05:00.002+08:00

On the 4th day of aidilfitri, we were celebrating at my mum's hometown. Nobody could take anymore ketupat, lemang and rendang, and was yearning for rice. Decided to look for nasi kandar (what else? we were in Penang) in exchange for those raya delicacies.

Headed to the island by noon. With the kids in tow, taking the bridge was not an option. Fun ride on the good old ferry is something that the kids alway look forward to whenever they're in granny's hometown.

The ferry with Penang Island in the background. Far right is Komtar Tower.

Mainland viewed from the ferry.

Cars onboard the ferry lower deck.

Kayu Nasi Kandar is my favourite mamak joint anywhere. It was disappointing to find out later that they were having long holiday for hariraya. We went up and down the lively Lebuh Chulia three times in search for alternatives.

The beca remains as one of the major transportation modes in Penang for people and goods.

Kapitan's kopitiam. They claim they serve the best Tandoori and Kebab in Penang.

Open air hardware and electrical spare parts market.

Grape tree at the fire station.

A colourful batik shop.

Yeoh Kongsi.

We ended up having our nasi kandar and telur sotong at Kassim Mustafa. Sorry guys.. No picture. Concentrating on the food, I totally forgot about the camera.

pics shot by Sab

Ducks

2009-10-02T18:03:00.005+08:00

Enjoying themselves at a paddy field before the planting season starts.
Click on the photo to see bigger size.

Walking together.

Bad composition. Shouldn't chop off the guy's head.

The gang.

2011 Ford Super Duty

2009-09-30T12:45:00.016+08:00

Above are pictures of 2011 Ford Super Duty pickup. It has a few engine variances, one of it is an all new 6.7L Power Stroke V8 turbo diesel (codename: scorpion). It was revealed to the public a few days ago at the Texas State Fair. Sales will start in second quarter 2010.

I'm really excited about the big diesel engine that is rumoured to curn out 400hp and 725lb-ft torque. Ford is saying nothing about the numbers, but had announced it to be the most powerful diesel engine in the market. You can read about the engine here.

Wonder why I'm writing about a truck that probably will never reach Malaysian shore? You see.. I work in a factory producing automotive parts, mainly flexible joints for exhaust system such as items in below picture.

Now, let's look at the 6.7L turbodiesel again.. see those parts in red circles?

Well, our products go into a lot of automobiles around the world. But, to be associated with the most powerful diesel engine in the market.. wow! that's really something.

To my friends in the US: hope you remember me when you see this awesome pickup next year.

photos of vehicle and engine were sourced from the internet.

Panasonic Lumix FS6

2009-09-29T23:37:00.021+08:00

In my line of work, camera is an essential tool. Not that i'm a reporter. I work in a factory, and sometimes we need visual records. Still photos and videos are used in products and processes analysis. We mostly shoot close ups with almost no attention given on image quality. We just need a very simple camera that enables everybody to take close up shots.

We're using what the japanese call 'bakachon' camera. Literally, that means 'camera for dummies'. Yup, anybody can shoot the Panasonic Lumix FS6. Purely a 'point and shoot' camera. There's very limited not-so-crucial parameters that you can tweak here: white balance, iso, and some preset scene modes. No control whatsoever over shutter speed and aperture.
At rm599 it is perfect for our requirement.

picture from www.panasonic.com.my

I would sometimes bring it home. Not to use it, but usually because I would find it lying around the office right before I go home. Having lost a Nikon S200 before, I don't like to go through the hassle of submitting 'purchase requisition form' for a non production related item.

Tested it outdoor for the first time last week. Well, can't expect much from a bakachon camera..

I counted 4 of them on a bushy kedondong tree. The small camera size really helped here.

This guy was about 1cm in length.

Couldn't figure out how to get that yellow portion in focus.. focus point was a big square at the center.

Tried landscape and people too.. couldn't get any good photo. Couldn't find good setting within those preset scene modes.
... And I thought p&s is supposed to be easy to use... cheh!

Notes:
1. this is not a review.
2. contrast was adjusted, not direct from camera.

Selamat Hari Raya H1430

2009-09-20T03:32:00.004+08:00

Dulu-dulu: rumah arwah nenek aku takde letrik. Tiap-tiap malam memang pakai pelita. Kalau cucu dia cityboy yang sorang ni balik kampung, sebiji pelita memang khas untuk aku je.. sentiasa dalam jarak yang boleh dicapai.
Sekarang: pelita dah naik taraf jadi home deco untuk raya. Pelita dalam gambar ni Sab beli kat Parkson..
Dah jarang tengok, terlupa macamana masa zaman kanak-kanak tu aku terfana sungguh tengok api pelita yang terkedip-kedip ditiup angin.

Selamat Hari Raya, Maaf Zahir dan Batin dari kami sekeluarga. Jemput la datang rumah..

Plain

2009-09-18T16:45:00.005+08:00

Plain and boring sunset picture without any point of interest. Beautiful? Up to you.

2009 Merdeka Millenium Race II

2009-09-18T16:40:00.003+08:00

So, what do you think of my panning shots?

2009 Merdeka Millenium Endurance Race

2009-09-17T14:50:00.003+08:00

8th Aug 2009. Time to put my panning shot practice to a real test.

Sepang Circuit main entrance.

Race cars were fast! My panning movement can barely follow them. This porsche looks like running out space in the picture.

One of the two Team Petronas Syntium's BMW Z4 at home straight.

There were loads of Honda. mainly DC5 and Civic.

The Overall Champion. Car #28 BMW Z4 of Team Petronas Syntium.

Aston Martin.

More are coming..

Panning shots

2009-09-12T05:59:00.014+08:00

I love fast cars. Unfortunately, none of mine is fast though. I can spend hours studying specifications in printed brochures or websites. Another few extra hours can fly while looking at the pictures.

A 'must have' type of photo on any of these sources is a panning shot. For the benefit of non-photographers, quoted from wikipedia: In photography, panning refers to the horizontal movement or rotation of a still or video camera, or the scanning of a subject horizontally on video or a display device. Panning a camera results in a motion similar to that of someone shaking their head "no" or of an aircraft performing a yaw rotation. Confusing enough? Whatever.. anyway, the objective of panning shot is to show motion, feeling of speed of a moving subject.

I had always wanted to take panning shots, but never had any interesting subject. Anyhow, I had to start somewhere.

First practice: My son biking

Something faster: a neighbour on bike. Quite sharp, starting to get the hang of it. Thanks to Canon's IS (image stabilizer) lens.

An attempt on car: My neighbour's Honda Civic

A few days later, I went to 2009 Merdeka Millenium Race and shot loads of real sportcars. Man! that was sooo satisfying. But that'll be another post

Wana

2009-09-11T19:10:00.006+08:00

Grade 1.5 Red Asian Arowana. About 15 inches.

Hi World

2009-09-11T18:43:00.001+08:00

First posting. Let’s do the customary stuffs. Bits about me and this blog.

I love photography. Not really good at it, but love it anyway. Its ability to freeze moment in time amuses me. Its ability to capture colours, lights and details way beyond what human eyes see fascinates me.

I’m not sure if photography is an art. My inclination is that it’s not. To me, it’s merely a recording medium. But frankly, I’m not interested in debating this. I’ll respect your opinion if you think it’s an art.

This blog is a place for me to share my photos. I'm just an ordinary guy with an ordinary life. I guess my photos will reflect this. The main reason for this blog's title.

Well, let’s stop the introduction here and start rolling out the pictures.

See you soon!

Good morning, World!

Sunrise on Beserah Beach, Malaysia.