30 day photo

Yesterday I received an e-mail from John Koontz who has a nice photo blog, inviting me to join a photography challenge - 30 Days of Photos Challenge. The idea sounds quite simple: to post a picture every day for 30 days.

Since, I got my new digital camera, I have been taking pictures like crazy and I thought it should be easy. However, there are some conditions.

"Now, the hard part isn’t taking a photo each day. It’s trying to get a photo worth showing every day. I, for one, am interested in how long each person can keep up with worthy photos. This exercise is really going to stretch our imaginations and creative ability"

Going through some of the pictures that I have taken these past few days, I am not sure whether they fall into the “creative” or “worthy” category but here goes - my first post.


Ripe fruits on a palm tree near my office building.

Taken with my Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ9 in natural sunlight without flash/ auto mode. Picture cropped and resized using Irfanview.

Anybody else interested in joining in.

Tags: 30dayphoto Photography

Hi-tech way into a man's heart

They say that the best way to a man's heart is through his stomach. However my wife knows better. Look at what she got me for my birthday. My latest toy - the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX9.

I really love my wife.



A have been looking for an affordable but good quality digital camera for quite sometime now. Our conditions were that: 1) it must be below RM1500, 2)take good quality pictures, 3) at least 5 Mega Pixels and 4) preferably weather proof. Yeah, we are really demanding customers.

I have been reading a lot of reviews and I must tell you that making a choice is realy tough - there are so many out there.

We went around camera shops asking their opinion. After seeing an billboard in PJ we nearly settled for the Olympus Stylus 600 Digital (mju 600 Digital). At RM999, it is the cheapest 6 Mega Pixel digital camera in the market right now. Besides this, what attracted us to this camera was the fact that it has a weatherproof body. However on doing further research, I read that it's LCD screen is broken easily and that the picture quality is not that good. Furthermore, it only takes movies without audio. I mean what fun is a movie without sound apart from Charlie Chaplin's.

Last weekend we were in Mega Mall, KL looking around some of the camera shops. In one of them, a guy recommended the Panasonic Lumix FX 9 and we were quite attracted to it. He was offering it at RM1399 with a 256 MB Secure Digital memory card thrown in for free (the camera comes with a tiny 16 MB card ). We decided to look around.

At one of the shops on the ground floor, we noticed a promotion for Pentax digital cameras. I was attracted to one which can take pictures underwater. However, on trying it out, the results were not that satisfactory.

The guy was quite nice (we hate attendents with an attitude problem) and decided we could see what they had on offer. They also had the Panasonic Lumix FX 9. What we really liked about this camera was that it comes with an anti-shake technology (Penasonic calls it "the Mega O.I.S. (Optical Image Stabilizer) technology". The guy attending to us was offering the camera at RM1499/ with a 512 MB SD card, a camera carrying case and a LCD lens protector thrown in for free.

I have to admire my wife's bargaining skills - she asked for the camera with the 512 SD card minus the LCD protective cover, for RM1400. After a bit of bargaining he finally agreed. However as we were paying by credit card, we had to pay RM20 more. We also bought the LCD screen protector for RM30/. The total cost: RM1450/

They had two colour choices - black and grey (looks like lavender to me). My wife choose the grey one. She told me later it was because the black one was their display model. I must say that the cover really looks nice too.



Here are some of the features of my new toy in brief:

- 6.0 Mega Effective Pixels CCD
- 2.5 inch High-Resolution (207,000 pixels) LCD Display
- 3x Optical Zoom and 4x Digital Zoom
- Mega O.I.S. (Optical Image Stabilizer) technology.
- Leica DC Vario-Elmarit Lens
- VGA movie with audio (30 fps)
- Consecutive Shooting at 2 fps
- Slim Alloy body
- Easy to use function mode dial, 15 scene modes
- Dimensions: 94.1 (W) x 50.5 (H) x 24.2 (D) mm
- Weight: 127g (not including Memory Card and Battery)
- Made in Japan

Read reviews of the camera here:

- Digital Photography Review

- CNET Asia

- Digital Camera Resource Page

Tags: Digital Camera Gadgets Lumix Panasonic

Roots

I recently finished reading Roots, the Pulitzer Prize-winning book by Alex Haley.



It is the story of an African who was captured and sold as a slave in America and of his descendents. In case you didn't know, the story was made into the first week-long television mini-series and even ran on Malaysian TV.

In Melbourne I borrrowed the DVD collection from my sister. There were 5 DVD's in total. I didn't cry but I have to admit, it was quite emotional. We thought of watching only one DVD and the others later because it was quite late. Ended up watching all of them until I couldn't keep my eyes open anymore.

I decided to buy the book when I got back to Malaysia but my wife told me that her mother had a copy. And there it was in their bookcase, pages yellowed but still in a good condition. The book was much better.

The book has been published in 37 languages and also generated widespread interest in genealogy - researching family origins.

It really made me think about my own roots. Frankly, I don't know much beyond my own grandparents, where they came from or even their names.

Of course most people don't care. There are people who even reject their own roots. A good example are Malays who try to be more Arabanized than the Arabs. Banning Mak Yong is another.

Do you know your own roots?

Related Links:

- The Kunta Kinte-Alex Haley Foundation

Tags: Alex Haley Books Roots

Bumper Fixed

Finally fixed my car bumper and had it painted too. Cost me a total of RM400/ for the knocking, a new bumper, the paint and the service charges. It would have cost me much more in KL I guess.

Here are the 'before' and 'after' pics:

Before

After

Related posts:
- My Car
- Not My Day

TAGS: Car Personal

Mushy Gushy Song

One of my all time favourite Malay numbers is the M. Nasir & Yunizar Hussein hit song – ‘Dua Insan’ (Two souls). However when translated into English, it is kind of mushy. Read on and you will guess what I mean.

Girl:
Bila kau senyum, ku gembira
When you smile, I am happy

Bila kau sedih, ku menangis
When you are sad, I cry

Bagai taman rindukan kembang
Like a garden missing the beetles (Sounds ridiculous.)

Ku rindu wajahmu oh! sayang
I miss you too Oh my love/ darling

Boy:
Di mana saja kau berada
Wherever you are

Ku kan tetap bersamamu
I will always be with you

Walaupun jasadmu jauh
Even though your body is far

Namun hatimu dekat selalu
Your heart will always be near

Walau duri halangan menimpa
Although now obstacles are there

Bila cinta ada ku tetap setia
When Love is there I will always be loyal/faithful

Hanya dikau dan asmara
Only you and romance

Membuat hidupku bagai
Makes me feel like I am

Dalam Syurga
In Heaven/ Paradise

Girl:
Biar masa berganti masa
Let the time pass by (literal traslation: time replaced by time)

Biar pun musim berubah
Let the seasons change too

Telah ku katakan padamu oh! sayang
Have I told you oh! my love/ darling

Duet:
Hanya kuasa Tuhan dapat memisahkan
Only power of God, can sperate us

Girl:
Jika kau tanya pada rembulan
If you ask the moon

Mengapa cahaya berseri-seri
Why it is spreading its light around

Tentu jawabnya kepadamu
Then it will answer to you

Kerna dikau cinta padaku
because of your love for me

Boy:
Ku persembahkan kepadamu
I present you

Sekuntum bunga mawar merah
One red rose

Kau terima sambil tersenyum
You take it smiling

Kembang yang harum kau cium
The sweet smelling bloom that you kiss

Bila saja halangan menimpa
Whenever there are obstacles

Kerna cinta ada ku tetap setia
If love is there, I will always be faithful/ loyal

Hanya dikau dan asmara
Only you and romance

Membuat hidupku bagai
Makes me feel like I am

Dalam Syurga
In Heaven/ Paradise

Girl:
Dua insan sedang bercinta
Two people/ souls in love

Dua insan berjanji setia
Two people/ souls making promises of faithfulness/ loyalty

Telah ku katakan padamu oh! sayang
Have I told you oh! my love/ darling

Duet:
Hanya kuasa Tuhan dapat memisahkan
Only power of God can seperate us.

TAGS: Love songs Lyrics Personal

Another Disaster

Nature strikes again - this time in the Philipines. Some 1,800 people are still missing after the landslide in the village of Guinsaugon on Leyte island. It was reported that the mud covering the village is up to 10 metres (30 feet) deep.

Only a few survivors were pulled out from the mud and aid workers haven't found any more till today.

Extensive logging activity has been mentioned as the cause of the landslide. read the BBC report here.

Lets us all say a prayer for the victims of this disaster.

TAGS: Disaster Forestry Philippines

Congratulations

Jules and Fred.

As you start on a new life together ....

Hope your dreams come true.

TAGS: Weddings Personal Pictures