Melbourne Zoo

Johanna's friend Leanne invited us to her birthday celebration in Melbourne Zoo - picnic style. It was partly because of this that I rushed to purchase the EF18-200mm as a zoom lens is good for taking photos of animals which are usually to far away for normal cameras and lens.

Johanna with birthday girl Leanne


Leanne and boyfriend Cody


Leanne's friend Loan and her cute baby girl


Beautiful day, but very hot!


Lion - unfortunately had to take through the fence


Johanna with her new Canon SX110IS - her Christmas gift from me


Bear searching for something in the water


A smaller bear


My favourite subject - the peacock


The head of a giant tortoise - he's huge


Meerkat is very good in posing for photos


A cute little boy on a merry go round


Nice flower - I realise that my lens is no sharp enough for good macros. Johanna's SX110IS (has 0cm macro) can take better macros even though it's a consumer camera.


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A group of hungry little penguins waiting to be fed


Little penguins running towards their food


The brown bird does not belong to the zoo. It's a smart bird that will pick up any fish that is dropped on the ground. Little penguins do not pick up their food once they drop it.


Ah... finally managed to get one fish


Happy little penguin after being fed - shaking his bum while walking


They may look small, but they are also worried about the state of Australia's economy. Just in case no more fish.


This very charming bird broke one of its wings 6 years ago, causing it to lose the ability to fly. Poor thing.


Once again, I'm not happy enough with the quality of macro shots produced by EFS18-200mm


Photographer photographed


New addition to the zoo


Very colourful mandrill. It has an equally colourful butt. Check this out.


Elvis or John Travolta?


Pelican spreading its wings


Giraffes munching


Never know flowers can grown in multi level fashion


Nice butt


Zebra grazing

More photos at my Flickr.

I've learnt something important from shooting the animals. First, don't be stingy with ISO. Animals can move really fast. Coupled with zoom, it is going to be difficult to freeze their action. I thought hundredth of a second is good enough. Many photos turned out not sharp enough in the end.

Many animals are either behind fence, cage or glass in Melbourne Zoo. We also missed out on the snow leopard and tiger, the former sleeping, the latter nowhere to be seen. I hope to visit Werribee Zoo next. It's more of safari style. But wonder if my zoom lens is good enough. Itching to get EFS100-400mm.

Yet Another New Toy

I'm very happy to purchase my 2nd new toy within a month. This time around it's the Canon EFS20-180mm f/3.5-5.6 IS lens. After going from shop to shop, I've finally managed to track down one which is still sold at the old price (before Aussie Dollar crashed against the US Dollar).

So excited that I immediately went out to test it out at Port Melbourne. Johanna also came along to test out her Christmas pressie - Canon Powershot SX110 IS.


Port Melbourne Tram Stop

The benefit of this lens is I'll most likely need to carry only this lens along for travels. The downside is of course the lower quality output to compromise such large range in focal length. Also the maximum aperture is only f3.5 and f5.6 respectively at f3.5 and f5.6, doubt that I could take good photos indoors and under low light condition. However, having a 11x zoom is something that I've been missing since the demise of my Canon Powershot S2 which has a 12x zoom.

Here are some of the shots I've taken at Port Melbourne with particular focus on the 11x zoom.


Taken at 18mm


200mm version of the photo above. Still very sharp.


Taken at 18mm


200mm version of the photo above. Try spotting for the Campari logo in the 18mm version.


Taken at 18mm


35mm version of the photo above. Wish the partially cut out bird is not there (right most).


Taken at 18mm


200mm version of the photo above. Try spotting the birds in the 18mm version.


200mm f/5.6. I like the bokeh effect produced.


Nice apartments at Port Melbourne. Reminds us of Glenelg in Adelaide




I was shocked to see the lines on the ground at first. Thought the barrel distortion is so bad. Luckily the lines are really like that.


Tram to Port Melbourne - 109



I've already had my next toy in mind - EFS 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 USM. Maybe in a few months time.

Dining @ Nobu

Moses, Charis, Johanna and I dined at Nobu, located in Crown Plaza, on 27th December. Nobu is a Japanese restaurant serving Japanese food with a modern touch. It has branches in a number of major cities in the World.

Overall, the food there is not bad. The food is more of fusion than traditional Japanese. However, the serving is a bit small for the hefty price.

Crispy Oyster with Wasabi and Caviar


Beef Fillet Tataki


Black Cod with Miso


Soft Shell Crab Kara


Abalone in Light Garlic Sauce


Beef Toban Yaki

Ocean Trout - Fusion Recipe

The long weekend has rekindled my interest in trying out new recipes. Since the urge came suddenly, I had to make do with whatever ingredients I have in the fridge and kitchen to cook the piece of ocean trout I bought yesterday. I've decided on an East meet West style. Since I'm also on a learning curve on my new EF18mm lens, I thought it would be a good idea to mix both of my hobbies together.

I'm quite happy with the final result - both the taste of the food and the result from the lens. Thought I could share the recipe with everyone.

Ocean Trout with Chinese Sauce

Ingredients

• 250g of ocean trout fillet, preferably with skin on one side (should work well with salmon, barramundi or snapper)
• 1/2 teaspoon of crushed sea salt
• 1 tablespoon of corn flour
• 4 tablespoon of olive oil (2 for frying the trout, 2 for
• 2 teaspoon of water
  

The sauce

• 1 inch (2.5 cm) piece of fresh root ginger
• 2 spring onions
• half a clove of garlic
• 2 small chilli (cili padi)
  
• 1/8 cup of fresh coriander leaves
  
• white pepper to taste
• 2 tablespoon Shaosing wine (Chinese brown rice wine)
• 2 teaspoon of Maggi seasoning sauce
• 1 tablespoon of fish sauce
• 2 tablespoon of sesame oil
• 1/2 cup of water
  

The side

• 1/2 cup of mashed potato powder, otherwise make mashed potato from scratch
  
• 2 teaspoon of salted butter
  

Directions

Preparing the serving plate and side

1. Spread olive oil onto the plate in a circle, one inch away from the edge of the plate
2. Place mashed potato in the middle of the plate, in the shape of the fish fillet. This will serve as the base to put on the fish fillet
   

Preparing the sauce

1. Chop garlic, chilli and coriander leaves finely
2. Chop the green parts of the spring onions finely
3. Chop ginger into thin strips
   
4. Place chopped chilli, spring onions and coriander leaves into a small bowl
5. Add white pepper, Shaosing wine, fish sauce, Maggi seasoning sauce and sesame oil to the bowl
6. Add water to the bowl and stir

Frying the trout fillet

1. Rub sea salt on trout fillet evenly
2. Mix water to corn flour and rub onto the trout fillet
3. Heat up grill pan with olive oil
4. Fry trout fillet on both sides for a few minutes until golden brown
5. Place the trout fillet on top of the mashed potato, skinless side facing up
   

Heating the sauce

1. Heat up a small saucepan with sesame oil
   
2. Fry ginger and garlic until slightly golden
3. Pour the sauce mix into the pan and stir gently for one minute
   
4. Pour the sauce onto the fish fillet, letting it flow gently, creating a smaller brown colour circle within the yellow colour circle created by the olive oil (see photo below)
5. Garnish with a few coriander leaves
   

Hope you enjoy the recipe. Feedback welcomed.

Happy New Year 2009

Shot with EF50mm f/1.8 II at the 9.15pm fireworks at Melbourne CBD

2008 has finally come to a close. Feels like Johanna and I have just been in Melbourne for a while but it has already been more than one year.

It has been a great year especially at work. Our lifestyle here is also a lot more relaxing. Actuarial exam wise, I wish I had done better, but I'm content with the only pass nevertheless. Hobby wise, web developing may be coming to an end soon as I've stop upgrading myself for some time, while in photography, I have not managed to allocate more time to unleash the power of my EOS 30D. Nothing really bad, other than missing my parents occasionally.

Looking back at our old photos with Johanna, we've suddenly realised how much we've aged and 'grown'. Hence my first resolution in 2009 is to reduce my increasing waistline by making use of the parks around our apartment. Ironically I've only walked/jogged around the Albert Park lake thrice thus far. Hopefully I'll make better progress in actuarial exams in 2009.

Blast From the Past

--- 2003 ---


Singapore with Johnson & Yve and Brian & Cherlyn

--- 2004 ---


Pool outing at Hartamas with Via & Community


Singapore

--- 2005 ---


Shazrul & Teratai's engagement


BMW 3 Series Launch


BMW 3 Series Launch


Jeff's birthday at Ceylon Hill Cafe with Sayf, Shazrul, Ozzy and Wan


Yew Khuen & Jo-Ann's wedding


Johnson & Yve's wedding

--- 2006 ---


Photography trip with Ozzy at FRIM - Photo by Ozzy


With Moses and Charis in Sydney


Visiting Whitstable with Xian, Niki and Hazreen

--- 2007 ---


Having Matthias and Lisi at our London apartment


Visiting Old Trafford with Ozzy


Chinese New Year lunch with Hong Lim & Whuan Ting, Yi Duan and Yee Yung


Keukenhof Tulip Garden in Netherlands


Edinburgh

--- 2008 ---


A very late Christmas dinner with AIG Life colleagues and spouses from actuarial department


Cascade Brewery, Tasmania with Moses and Charis


At home with Johanna on 2009 New Year's eve