Wednesday, December 31, 2008

My New Toy

Johanna got me the first lens for my Canon EOS 30D (other than the kit lens) for Christmas.

It is good for shooting portraits and under low light conditions. But so far I have not managed to get any volunteers for portraits.

So far I'm amazed with the sharpness and the ability to take shots under low light conditions without needing a tripod.


The new EF50mm f/1.8 II shot with EFS18-55mm


Ornaments on our Christmas trees


A swan at Albert Park late during sunset


More swans at Albert Park late during sunset. The focus is unfortunately not on the swans.


Rare scene at the usually busy Queens Road. Amazing that this photo can be taken without needing a tripod.


Christmas bauble


DOF may be too shallow

Thursday, December 25, 2008

Merry Christmas

Christmas Day Dinner with Alex and Hui Min





























Christmas Eve Family Dinner













Monday, November 10, 2008

Youtube is down?

Surprised to find Youtube down... This is the error message.

500 Internal Server Error

Sorry, something went wrong.

A team of highly trained monkeys has been dispatched to deal with this situation. Please report this incident to customer service.

Also, please include the following information in your error report:
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Sunday, November 09, 2008

Think

Comedian George Carlin’s viewpoint and the message that comes with it seem so appropriate.

The paradox of our time in history is that we have taller buildings but shorter tempers, wider Highways, but narrower viewpoints.

We spend more, but have less, we buy more, but enjoy less.

We have bigger houses and smaller families, more conveniences, but less time.

We have more degrees but less sense, more knowledge, but less judgment, more experts, yet more problems, more medicine, but less wellness.

We drink too much, smoke too much, spend too recklessly, laugh too little, drive too fast, get too angry, stay up too late, get up too tired, read too little, watch TV too much, and pray too seldom.

We have multiplied our possessions, but reduced our values.

We talk too much, love too seldom, and hate too often.

We've learned how to make a living, but not a life.

We've added years to life not life to years.

We've been all the way to the moon and back, but have trouble crossing the street to meet a new neighbour.

We conquered outer space but not inner space.

We've done larger things, but not better things.We've cleaned up the air, but polluted the soul.

We've conquered the atom, but not our prejudice.

We write more, but learn less.

We plan more, but accomplish less.

We've learned to rush, but not to wait.

We build more computers to hold more information, to produce more copies than ever, but we communicate less and less.

These are the times of fast foods and slow digestion, big men and small character, steep profits and shallow relationships.

These are the days of two incomes but more divorce, fancier houses, but broken homes.

These are days of quick trips, disposable diapers, throwaway morality, one night stands, overweight bodies, and pills that do everything from cheer, to quiet, to kill.

It is a time when there is much in the showroom window and nothing in the stockroom.

A time when technology can bring this message to you, and you have a choice of either sharing this insight or just ignore it.

Just take a moment and THINK about it.

Wednesday, November 05, 2008

Congratulations President Obama

I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.


Senator Obama's victory may be even beyond Martin Luther King's dream.

I wonder whether I could see Malaysia's version in my lifetime?

Credit to John McCain. He is such an honourable man - he refrained from making cheap shots at his opponent, even to the extent of defending him from harsh and over-the-board attacks by some Republican supporters. Other than his old age and the unfortunate timing of the economy crisis, and to certain extent George Bush's unpopularity, his biggest mistake is to choose Sarah Palin as his running mate.

Tuesday, November 04, 2008

Altantuya Case

After the acquittal of Abdul Razak Baginda, many questions remain with regards to the Altantuya murder case. I don't think the public will be satisfied until these questions are answered. To focus on the two policemen alone will leave many questions unanswered, i.e. justice will not be served.

  • Why did Altantuya make the fateful visit to Malaysia in the first place?
  • Who ordered the murder? There must be a motive behind the murder and it is likely that the policemen are under the orders of one or more than one influential figures.
  • How did the murderers acquire the military explosives that were used in the murder?
  • Why are important witnesses such as the private investigator not examined in detail?
  • Where is this key witness right now? How and why did he go missing?
  • Was any investigations conducted on other statutory declarations?
I personally hope that the judiciary system in Malaysia is not so weak that we can allow one to escape with murder.

Sunday, November 02, 2008

Ballarat - Sovereign Hill

On the day we got back from our Tassie trip, we drove straight to Ballarat from the airport to visit Sovereign Hill - an outdoor museum on the gold rush in Victoria in mid 1800s.

Gold was discovered in Australia since early 1800s. However, the gold rush only began in 1851 when gold was discovered in Ballarat, Victoria. It is through this gold rush that Melbourne had prospered.


The story begins...


Other than the Europeans (especially English), Chinese were also one of the early participants in the Gold Rush. I never knew Chinese were also one of the early settlers in Australia (since 1854).


Trying our luck... but in vain. This method is popular in mining alluvial gold.


Tents occupied by Chinese miners. There were also Chinese shops and temples.


This gold bar is worth around A$150,000. Wow!


The same bar of gold being smelted


When alluvial gold ran out, underground mining began


Gold nuggets embedded


Underground tunnel in a gold mine


Mining town - with abundance of wealth


Gold nugget


On the way back to Melbourne, we chanced upon Kryal Castle in Ballarat. Don't know what is the history though.



More photos of Sovereign Hill here.

Thursday, October 30, 2008

Tasmanian Trip Videos

Video of the wildlife conservation park at Tasman Peninsular. Johanna did some editing using iMovie on her Macbook.



Devonport - Lucky enough to capture the smallest rainbow I've ever seen.







Echidna



River cruise along Tamar River and Cataract Gorge

Sunday, October 26, 2008

Happy Deepavali

Inniya Deepavali Valzhtukkal :)

Tasmanian Trip

I've been too busy to blog about my Tassie trip from 5 - 11 October with Johanna, Moses and Charis.

It was great apart from a few days of bad weather.

Just a quick summary...

We landed at Hobart and travelled to a wildlife park in Tasman Peninsular to visit the Tasmanian Devil, a strange kind of marsupial only found in that region.





There were also some kangaroos there, and the surprising thing is there were not separated from the visitors, meaning we could get really close to them.



The wildlife park also housed other Australian animals and birds, such as possums, a huge eagle, parrots and kookaburra.

The second day we went around Hobart, first to the Cadbury chocolate factory then to the top of Mount Wellington to get a good view of the whole city. Unfortunately, it started snowing on our way up. By the time we got to the summit, the whole place was so foggy that we couldn't see anything.



Our next stop was Cascade Brewery, one of the oldest breweries in Tasmania. Of course, the session wouldn't be complete without tasting the products.



We spent the rest of the evening touring Salamanca Place in Hobart - a historic area with art markets, cafes, restaurants.

The next day we started driving to the West part of Tasmania. The roads were quite windy. On the way we could see some snow-capped mountains. However, it started pouring when we arrived at Strahan. There was nothing much to see there - quite a disappointment after a long drive.

On the 4th day we drove to Cradle Mountain. It is supposed to be one of the most scenic places in Tasmania, with lakes and snow-capped mountains in the background. However, the weather was really bad. Once again the fog prevented us from getting a good view. Disappointed, we left for Devonport after that. Deprived of Asian food for the first 3 days, all of us were happy to ate at a Chinese restaurant that evening. After dinner, we went to a small beach to look at penguins coming ashore.



The next day, we visited another chocolate factory - this time a small one called House of Anvers. Then we drove to Beauty Point to visit the Seahorse World and Platypus House. Seahorse World is a place dedicated to seahorse preservation and conservation. They also housed some other sea creatures. The memorable part for me is getting clamped by a big hermit crab, ouch! On top of platypus, the Platypus House also has Echidnas, a porcupine look-a-like animal.

We drove to Bridport after lunch. Bridport is a very small town with a nice beach.



The next day, we drove to Launceston, the second largest city in Tasmania after Hobart. Launceston is a beautiful town with a lot of heritage buildings. We visited the popular Cataract Gorge and took a cruise along the Tamar River. That sort of rounded up the trip as we flew back to Melbourne the next morning.





More photos at my Flickr