My 50mm Experiments

The project I am working on has sort of stabilized but I'm still facing some sh*tty stuff from the client. The work is done but they expect to sign-off on a ZERO-defect application. The problem is, some of the defects were caused by the client's poor understanding/confusion... In short "USER PROBLEM". (^^)

Not letting the sh*tty stuff get the better of me is an uphill battle and I'm so glad that the weekend is here for me to recuperate. Less, I go crazy and berserk in the office...

Some weeks back, I was playing around with my 50mm lens and got a few shots... AND I got some willing models too...

I just love the bokeh this lens provide and under low-light conditions like the indoors of my house, the low aperture still provides sharp images. Shot taken at F/2.5, 1/25 sec, ISO-200 (Shutter priority)

I like this photo of Snoopy as she looks as though she is peeking through the shadows. She looks like she is glad to be in the shade. - Shot taken at F/1.8, 1/25 sec ISO-100.

Rusty looks very intense here as he concentrates on destroying on what seems to be an indestructible burger toy. LOL!!

Anyway, I'm learning to use Manual mode for this lens as there is so much I can do with this lens.

Friday Night Lunch

After a long week at work, I head home with my "ta pao" (packed) dinner...

It's a simple meal of sushi!!!

Isetan's supermarket section usually has discounted sushi at around 7pm onwards, where the sushi is sold at a discount from 20-50%!!

I picked up my salmon sushi and soft-shell crab rolls.

**SLURP**

Had It Bad In Life? These Four Yorkshiremen Had It Worse...

I'm pretty bummed right now.

I'm stuck in Bangkok now performing a client deployment exercise and hit a big snag - the client wants to perform some major changes. I'll be up mostly all night long trying to fix this so that we can complete stuff by tomorrow. *sigh*

Anyway, thank goodness for the "Monty" (Monty Python) gang for providing some laughs. :-)

LoL!! When you think you had it tough, you can't beat these fellas...

Hehehe.... This is "kiasu-ness" at it's best!

Yr of The Ox Celebrations - Part 3

Happy Valentine's Day everyone!

Valentine's Day is not just for lovers but all who love. Hope you have a great day with your loved ones.

My parents decided to host a dinner on the 6th day of CNY, i.e. pre-"Human B'day" (人天) celebration of sorts. The dinner was simple but my Mom spent much of the day cooking up a storm while I slaved away at the computer trying to complete the project. **grrrr**

My relatvies dropped by the house and since the family has grown quite large, we had to setup two large tables in our very small dining area. Aunty Mag is busy plating the vegetables while Aunty Julie watches on. I think she couldn't wait to attack the food liao.

The "foo chok" or beancurd skin had to be soaked first as this ingredient will be part of the vegetarian dish. Beancurd skin tastes yummy when it's deep fried too. ;-)

The preserved or "waxed" duck or 腊鸭 had to be "rejuvenated" by being cooked in boiling water. Besides softening the meat, the excess salt can be discarded in this manner. Once the meat is soft enough, the duck is steamed alongside fresh chicken and chinese sausages. Some chinese cooking wine is added to enhance the flavours too.

The result of the steamed chicken with 腊鸭 and chinese sausages. Quite tasty. No extra salt is required as the salt from the duck has flavoured the dish.

Fried roasted pork in dark soya sauce and onions. This is a sweet dish where sugar and onions are caramelized with roasted pork. Dark soya sauce adds a hint of saltiness and balance to the dish. A hit with the family. We had to fight for our share as this was a limited resource.

My mom's first (and hopefully not last) attempt at making salted egg yolk prawns. The prawns turned out to be too wet. Wonder if we should have put some flour to make the dish a bit more dry? This dish is quite popular at seafood restaurants like King Crab. My bro-in-law's favourite dish for the night.

A Malaysian feast is never quite complete without some curry. My mom hails from a proud Nyonya heritage and decided that we must have a curry dish. This is curry fish where we add brinjals (or aubergines depending on which part of the globe you're at) and lady's fingers (or okra...). My aunt cooked this dish and forgot to add salt! She has hypertension and can't take much salt. For me, I found it to be just right as I'm used to having reduced salt food.

Well, with all that meat, we must have some vegetables to balance the "accounts". LOL!! So, a simple dish of braised osyter mushrooms and "bak choy".

Snoopy the greedy dog trying to get some human food! Rusty was stuck in his cage!

We spent the rest of the evening just lazing around watching the TV. It happened to be the Australian Open time and my uncles were busy watching the semi-final match where Nadal played against Verdasco. Thank goodness they didn't want to karaoke this time!

My CNY wasn't as fantastic as this year's was as a few colleagues and I had to really slave over our work for our overseas client. Nevertheless, we made sure that we had spent some time with family and friends during the festive season. For some, this is the only time they would spend with their relatives as most folks move to KL to work.

So, that's it for CNY 2009! Hopefully, the year will start off well and end with a bang! :-)

Yr of The Ox Celebrations - Part 2

I managed to go 拜年 on the first day of Chinese New Year.

This time though, I didn't bring Snoopy or Rusty as both of them are quite a handful when we are out. So, both doggies had to stay home.

Since most of the Chinese shops were closed, we all had a good breakfast at the mamak - roti canai and fried chicken. My bro-in-law looks funny here as he's trying out the curry sauce. He doesn't take much spicy food and to see him reach for the dhal and curry is an achievement. ;-)

We arrived at our grand-uncle's place in Kepong and I had to document the first time my sis gave ang pows to my cousins. This year, they have to give double since it's their first time! (MUAHAAHAHA)

Although the lion is hung from the ceiling, I don't hear a lot of lion dances being performed around the neighbourhood. The sounds of firecrackers going off were nearly non-existent.

"Wong Choi" the dog looks so old. He's a bit older than Snoopy and is very friendly. Anyway, as the years go by, we all are aging.

In the afternoon, I went over to my friend's place for some lunch and our usual annual mahjong game. We don't play with $$$ which people say defeats the purpose of playing mahjong as we don't really like to gamble.

The shot was taken with my 50mm lens. I love the bokeh it gives. ;-)

At the end of the day, I went to Sunway Pyramid for dinner. The lights outside the place was really nice. Lots of people went out to take photos. EV persuaded me to go take the photos after we got out of the carpark. I'm glad that I did.

In my next post, there will be more food pics. ;-)

Yr of The Ox Celebrations - Part 1

I know I've not blogged in ages as I've been very busy with work in the last few weeks.

However, I managed to squeeze in some time to have some sense of Chinese New Year celebrations despite being so busy. (^.^)

This year, my youngest aunt decided to host the CNY Reunion dinner. She suggested that it should be pot-luck in nature, where everyone brings a little something. My mom cooked the steamed chicken and acar (pickled vegetables).

The spread this year was just fantastic!! There was so much food around the table that we couldn't finish it. Plenty of leftovers for tomorrow's brunch. Kekekeke...

One of my favourite dishes which I look forward to every year is the Sweet and Sour Pigs Trotters, i.e. 猪脚酸

My mom's steamed chicken was absolutely divine. The garlic soya sauce dip which accompanied the dish suited the soft, delicate meat... Yuummm...

Anyway, for dessert, one of my aunts brought Konyaku jelly, which had fruits as a filling.

After dinner, there was the usual Karaoke session which my relatives are so very fond of. I would have to say that my uncle has improved his technique, while my Dad really needs more practice. LOL!!

It was a great night of feasting and merry-making. Although I rushed home to continue my work (late into the night.. :-( ), spending time with relatives certainly lifted my spirits then.

This has to be a short post as my next post will be about the CNY day visit and fun I had with my friends.

It's already Chap Goh Mei... So, Happy Chap Goh Mei to all!!