Another Week Has Zoomed By

Rusty zoooming at the speed of light... 1/400 of a second that is..

Wow... Time certainly has zoomed right by us!

I can't believe that it's now the middle of April.

Wonder if there would be good news at the end of April.... Hmmm..

Have a great weekend folks!

Excitement In The Air

There's a tinge of excitement in the air. Can you feel it?

Rusty certainly can...

Germany vs Spain. Ooooo...

What a Lovely F/22 Day

It's a bright, sunny Sunday morning.

Makes you feel like sitting in some shade, having a great brunch.

However, I'm out of bacon and eggs & so, had to contend myself with a slice of waffle smothered with peanut butter and kaya.

Snoopy, on the other hand enjoyed her morning sunbath along with her brother Rusty.

Meeting @ Noon...

I seem to have stumbled upon an afternoon meeting. I didn't mean to interrupt it...

Haha! It is a rare sight to see both Snoopy (on the right) & Rusty (on the left) sun-bathing so close to each other. Usually Snoopy will lean against the wall to catch the rays, while Rusty will be rolling around on the grass.

Yes.... The brown spots you see were contributed by both dogs'..... urine! Their urine kills our grass. So, there are brown spots all over the garden.

Anyway, ever since the weather has gotten too hot or has been raining too often, both dogs don't sunbathe on the grass. They sit on the porch to catch the rays.

Makes you wish that you can do something fun for the rest of Friday, huh?

Have a good one folks!

P/S: Docs' appointment went pretty well. One doctor was happy with my progress, while the other was not happy that my bp shot up a little bit. Got to visit one of them again next month... *sigh*

Trip to Bukit Tinggi Part Deux (Two)

A continuation of my trip...

After a hearty lunch, we could not get into our room as housekeeping didn't have it ready yet. So, we decided to visit some of the attractions around Bukit Tinggi.

There are a few ways to get around the attractions, you either drive or take the shuttle or.... if you're really really up to it.. walk. We both decided to wait for the shuttle.

Being the school/public holidays, the resort was just filled to capacity with day trippers. There were not enough shuttles to go around and we had to wait 20-30 minutes before we can get on board one. AND... as usual, with typical Malaysian KIASU gusto, you will see throngs of people rushing to the shuttles to get on board with total disregard for safety... (imagine, seeing people jump up into the shuttle when the shuttle has not stopped properly...)

We took the shuttle to the Japanese garden and really looked forward enjoying the scenery there.

When we reached the signboard, I noticed something very interesting...

Me: *sniff sniff*... Uggghhh.. What is that smell?
EV: Toilet-la...
Me: o_0

Yes, there were so many people that you can smell the toilet as you walk towards the Botanical Garden as you pass the souvenir shop. Ugghh..

Within the Botanical Garden, lies a small Japanese restaurant. I looked at the prices and it is pricey to eat Japanese food in the "mountains". However, due to the big crowds, the restaurant was pretty packed with some patrons enjoying a late lunch or some dessert.

It was a relief to walk around the garden as it had been quite hot and humid after the showers which came down during lunch.

I did not go down the hill due to my knee problems and so, stopped halfway to enjoy the cool breeze and scenery around.

Besides the Botanical garden, there was a small Japanese garden at the other side of this "village".

The Japanese garden is designed in the manner of the Japanese style, using a lot of natural elements of water, wood, stone and earth in order to beautify the surroundings. The feeling you get as you walk around the garden with the tea house is one of being "united with nature".

I wanted to take a photo where I could "freeze" the movement of water and was glad that I experimented with the shutter speed settings of my camera. It is still not quite perfect but I understand the concept of using the shutter speeds to capture movement.

It is a joy to photograph in these gardens and I did wish that I had some macro lens or a superzoom to capture some of the more detailed elements. Oh well...

We left the Japanese village at around 5:30pm as we wanted to catch the last few shuttles back to the resort to rest in our room. Again, we had to face the mayhem of getting a seat on the shuttle when it came...

Now... what was there to do at night in Bukit Tinggi...

More Manual Fun

It was a full moon night. I realized it was a full moon as the garden was especially bright that night (we didn't turn on the porch lights)

My only wish was that I had a zoom lens... I've not tried night photography before and I know the implications of shooting at a light source...

1/8sec, F/5.6, 55mm, ISO400, Manual Mode, Tungsten WB

I've not got a chance to play around with my "M" mode for a while and so, decided to give it a try.

For post-production, I thought of trying out the Radial Blur and got some favourable results. I didn't want to bump up the exposure as it would introduce a lot of noise.

0.3sec, F/5.6, ISO800, 55mm, Manual Mode, Shade WB

I took this photo using different settings with the silhouette of our curry leaves tree in the garden.

I took the photos by leaning against the wall for support and keeping my arms close to my body for stability. It would be good to setup a tripod but I'm lazy to do so. Kekekeke...

There is some work done in the post-production process in order to make the photos stand out and I'm quite satisfied with my first attempt at night photography.

My goal is to take photos of the night sky as I've always wanted to do so when I was heading the Astronomy club in school. However, that would need a lot of specialized equipment, some big gun lens, remote release and a whole lot of stuff. Back in those days, there was special lens and photographic film made for night photography. These days, it is a lot more easier with digital equivalents.

Do You Want To Know A Secret?

It was a very tiring Sunday last week as I spent the entire day out of the house. =.=

However, it was a great day for me to exercise my hobby. After doing all the grocery shopping required, while having a short break, I turned to my friend and said, "We should try looking for that secret garden".

She asked, "What secret garden? I thought the Rainforest was the only garden here?"

One of my friends told me about this new garden and I was curious about it. It was by luck that we saw the signboard by the lifts while moving the grocery around that I finally knew how to get there.

We took the lift up to the highest level of the shopping mall. Once the lift opened, we were greeted by the lush greenery...

We dropped by the garden just 30 minutes before closing time. We were concerned that the place would be warm but with all the de-misters spraying mist, it made the air cool. Besides, we chose the right time to visit when the sun was about to set.

I was excited and quickly setup my camera to take some shots of the plants around. The air was cool and surroundings quiet. You were just transported to a different location... in a shopping mall.

We expected the garden to be small but it turns out that there are many small sections around the garden. Each section showcases specific type of plants which made the walk a gem for photographers.

No garden is complete without tropical plants and there were plenty of orchids planted. I can't name the orchids as I could not see the names of the plants.

I was surprised to find roses blooming in the garden especially during our recent hot weather. There were roses of many different colours and I had wished I have a nice macro lens to showcase those soft petals.

The layout of the garden is neat and planned very well. There was a small waterfall and some small ponds where some water plants were placed too. I couldn't find any fish but since the garden is placed on the rooftop of the mall, it would not be conducive to place fish here as the garden can get quite hot during the mid day.

I couldn't photograph all the flowers there and would like to return to the garden in the morning to take more photos.

The Secret Garden at the UR (Upper Roof) of the 1Utama Shopping Mall is opened during the weekends from 10am to 6pm. The garden is limited to 100 persons per hour and so, you will need to get tickets from the Information Counter before you head up to the garden. ;-)

After all that walking, we got thirsty and hungry and decided to adjourn to another "secret" Garden at the lower ground level of the shopping mall.

We both ordered drinks with some lemon in it and it was refreshing after a walk around the roof top garden.

One of the more basic salads - Caesar Salad with sprinkles of bacon and toasted croutons. The sauce was light and not too cheesy.

As for the mains...

We ordered one of the specials of the day which was fried dory fish in ginger butter sauce. The portion was just nice as we were not too hungry.

I ordered the Seafood Marinara Spaghetti. Don't let the picture fool you. The portion is much larger than expected as the pasta settled at the bottom of the bowl.

What a way to spend Sunday afternoon... (^^)

Morning Views

I took these photos some time back but never found the time to do my post-processing and of course, putting up in the blog. ;-)

Anyway, it's scenes from the early morning when the sun was just rising from it's rest.

Snoopy can barely keep her eyes open.

She spent half the night up barking at some noise that some creatures made on the roof... Possibly rats, squirrels or cats??

I love the way the leaves of the tree in the garden cast a shadow on the wall.

Rusty taking the time to smell the grass. "Did something pass by here?"

Finally, miss Snoopy was able to drag her butt off the couch to go sit in the porch, waiting for the sun to rise fully so that she can do her "sun-worshiping", i.e. morning sun bathe

Morning dew...

Found that there was a small ladybird perched in the lily.

Fly meets ladybird

I got as close as possible to the stamen of the lily to take a shot of the ladybird...

The pictures aren't so great but I was learning to take some shots in a slightly low-light condition. Just have to take a deep breath, keep very still and then, take the picture - hope for the best!

Note that these pictures were taken with a digital camera and I've not gotten to the DSLR level yet! :-)

So much to learn....

PhotoShop... Photography Again!

I've been spending a lot of time at home, especially during the weekends since my knees need rest. So, I've been working on my other favourite past time - photography.

I've only got a small digital camera now - Nikon 5900 which is a 5MP camera. I'm learning how to use it but dream of one day owning a DSLR.

Before I forget, let me wish everyone a Happy Mid-Autumn Festival!! It's not Pesta Tanglung or Hari Tanglung... ( >.< ) The bouganvillas in the garden are blooming. Yeah, expected it to do so since the weather has been rather dry. We used to have the orange ones, I think those died. These are just grown on the ground.

I managed to capture a bit of sunlight reflecting off the water droplet on this bamboo plant leaf. The light was just shinning at the right direction. I do wish I got a bit closer but that might have ruined the shot.

This was my attempt of trying to capture "nature at work". There was a small black ant scurring across the birds-of-paradise plant. So, it's not clear. Hehehee....

This is probably one of my favourite shots because it has a lot of different colours and I managed to capture the light and shadows just cascading down the leaves. Kind of reminds me of a Windows Vista wallpaper. LOL!!!

This is my late grandpa's orchid. The one which he forbade us to touch. If you touch it, you will lose your life.

Everyone was not allowed to touch or play ball near this plant except for my little sis. My little sis could come and take the paper scissors (for kids) and cut some of the leaves and he won't say a thing. Hehehe... That's favouritism for you.

This plant now belongs to my dad.













The following photo is also my favourite. Probably because of the colours and shadow photography. Thank goodness it was a pretty hot day.

Heheehe... Another candidate for Windows Vista wallpaper? Kekekeek... Perasan-nya.. Kakakaak!!!

Of course, plants and flowers were not my only subject. Snoopy is also my "reluctant" camwhore. Muahahaahaa...

So sorry to do that to her. But she was wearing her "lampshade" after her operation. You got to admit, that's a very good way to transport your toys around. Kekekekekee...














Snoopy and her paws. My first attempt of putting up some perspective shot. Yes, fur does grow in between a dog's toes.











There's a reason why I put up both pictures side by side. I'd figure that this photo looked better in black-and-white, rather than coloured. I didn't modify the photo except to increase the brightness/contrast so that the pillar stands out more in the black-and-white photo. Needless to say, Snoopy looked "sexy" in this shot. Hahaahha!!!!!!

Kekeke... This is a lot more fun than my last post.