Singapore Trip D1: Here we come

I have been waiting for this date, September 20th, the day for our trip to Singapore. Agnes and Irene have planned this trip for weeks. Irene has settled our accommodation as her sister Rose Aik had allowed us to stay with her family in Singapore.

In the beginning, we planned to go by air but Agnes has another plan.
She preferred to go by road. She called a bus company, Five Stars to be exact and they informed her that they have a promotion of MYR 55.00 to Singapore and S$55.00 return. If the rate is at 2.51 for S$1.00, that will come up to MYR193.00 for transport. (This is the original price) Then we still need to purchase the Universal Studio Singapore (USS) ticket which cost us another S$70.00.

Agnes is really good in asking fantastic question like 'Do you have any bus fare promotion?'
The lady at the Five Star ticketing counter said....."Yes, we have. We have a special promotion for bus fare with return ticket at MYR 71.00."
Agnes tell Irene about this good news but Irene could not believe it. Thus Irene make a call to Five Stars bus company as she thought it must be a lumberjack lorry to be so cheap. The bus company confirmed the information on the transport cost.
Then Irene inquired about the USS ticket promotion. The bus ticketing lady revealed to Irene that USS has a special promotion with the return bus fare at MYR 178.00

On Monday, Agnes purchased the USS ticket plus bus fare with return at MYR 178.00 per pax.

Agnes and Irene really know how to shoot a great questions to get a fantastic result.

Thank you, Five Star.. Thank you, Irene and Agnes for the hard work.

All images were taken with Nikon D7000 and lens Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8 VC

We gather at the DKSH Malaysia HQ

Tanjung Sepat: Bagan Lalang

Our final destination for the day were Bagan Lalang where we were having our dinner and took some sunset shots. By the way I prepared all our food and drinks from home. We are a budget traveller.

Based on my quick observation, this is a great place for outdoor activities such as picnic, kite flying, sunbathing, bury in the sand, swimming, enjoy the sea breeze or just walking on the beach.

Great place for photography either landscape, portraits, street candids or macro of the beach crabs and insects.

All images taken with Nikon D7000 and lens Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8 VC

Agnes walked on the beach.

Tanjung Sepat: Coffee and Pao

Now we are more familair with Tanjung Sepat area and our next destination will be at Lorong 6, Tanjung Sepat based on our GPS.

If Lover Bridge gives us fresh air, aromatic coffee poluted our air with it's aromatic freshness.

Our travel GPS based on our travel guide indicated the coffee and the pao were at Lorong 6, Tanjung Sepat and the truth is at Lorong 3, Tanjung Sepat. We made a few rounds at Lorong 6 then we gambled at Lorong 3 where we found the place.

The full information on the Coffee and the Pao:

Kwo Zha B Coffee
No. 15, Medan Selera Lorong 3,
Tanjung Sepat.
Tel: 012-686 2221 / 012-322 7784

The shop

Tanjung Sepat: Lover Bridge

It's a bright sunny day and our next destination after Passion Fruit Farm is Lover Bridge. Lover Bridge is just few meters from the Passion Fruit Farm where you may see a few seafood restaurants along the way to the bridge. At the end of the bridge is a jetty for the fishermen's fishing boat.

Why it is called a Lover Bridge?
Normally couples came here to spent their time with the sea breeze blowing and freshness of sea air filled their young lungs. Nice view and have a sense of serenity.

All images were taken with Nikon D7000 and Tamron 17-50mm F/2.8 VC.

 Seafood Restaurant

Tanjung Sepat: Passion Fruit Farm

At the last minute, we changed our destination from Lover Bridge to Passion Fruit Farm. It is located just before you reach the Lover Bridge.

All images taken with AF-S nikkor 50mm f/1.8G and tamron 17-50mm f/2.8 VC

 The Entrance to the Passion fruit Farm

Tanjung Sepat: Ganofarm Homestay

When we moved on from Morib Beach, we were a bit lost as we do not know where we should go next. We just drive and drive until we see a sign says, Mushroom farm.
We made a U turn and turned into an unknown route which I believe lead to Mushroom farm. Sure enough at the end of the road, we see the name 'GANOFARM'.

You may ask, what happen to our GPS?
We could not key in our destination as we do not know our next destination. We just follow our instinct for direction and of course the signboard. We only know two things in this area namely Special Pao and Special Coffee but we do not know where.

All images taken with either of my lens AF-S Nikkor 50mm f/1.8G or Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8 VC.

This signboard looks familiar. We have been here four or five years ago .

Tanjung Sepat: Pantai Morib

After we have enough of Kelalang Beach, we move again to our next destination which is Morib Beach. We do not know that Morib has two beaches namely old and new.
The old beach is the one that is closer to the army camp which I have visited back in 1976 with my Sarawak Foundation Student group.

These are some of the images taken with Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8 VC and AF-S Nikkor 50mm f/1.8G

 As we drive out of the Kelalang Beach area, we were stopped by a group of friendly Kelalang Beach Coast Guard (Monkeys).

Evening walk in KL Street

I need a change of time for my shutter therapy and on Wednesday I have a chance to walk in Kuala Lumpur(KL) Street from 6.00pm to 8.30pm as my wife is having her own Ladies Night Out.
I packed my new Tenba Discovery Shoulder Bag with my Nikon D7000, AF-S Nikkor 50mm f/1.8G, Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8 VC and a Nikon Speedlight SB910 plus a bottle of mineral water.

As this is my first walk during this hour of the day, this can a good practice for my photography growth.
Tonight I want to practice my panning, hand held slow shutter(1/8s-1/15s), buildings and some night street subject with their activites.

Most of the images were taken using Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8 VC as I want to capture wider scene.

The sky is bright and good sign for me.

I need a PUSH

Last Saturday was one of those days where I am really need a push to keep on shooting.

Why?
I am tired and my legs were not helping at all but my innerself still want to do shutter therapy. This desire to shoot drives me to walk in my pain and keep on shooting any subject that attract me.

Some may called this desire as PASSION. Now I know being passionate in what are you doing is really important to keep going even when you are lazy or lost in your tireness of your life.

These are some of the images which I have taken during my weekend walk.

All images taken with AF-S Nikkor 50mm f/1.8G and Tamron 17-50mm 2.8 VC.

Nah! for you...(not so good start.)

I hope will get better.

MATTA Fair 2012 in Images

As I was doing my shutter therapy on Saturday, Agnes and I went to MATTA fair on Sunday.
This time we are long for good travel deal for Phuket, Koh Samui, Chengmai-Chengrai, Philippines and Singapore USS.
Beside this we are also looking for a new camera set.

The images which I captured during the event on Sunday.

All photos were taken using Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8 VC and AF-S Nikkor 50mm f/1.8G

The Entrance....Welcome

A Traveller from Oracle

Saturday is always a special day for me but this particular Saturday I just lost my guts to shoot the subject on the street as I used to be. I feel so dry, no push and no motivation. I am really not in a street shooting condition or mood.
Why?
Maybe I am tired and my mind is not creative and my vision of what to shoot just vapourise in thin air.
Maybe the night before I slept late and my body is a bit tired.

But deep within me still want to do the shutter therapy session. That I would say is passion for what I like to do. The push from within oneself.

Early in the morning, I did my morning prayer as normal but added a special petition which goes like this.

"O God, I am too weak today and yet I want to walk the street. Grant me the grace to meet Robin Wong or anyone that will walk with me. In Jesus name, I ask. Amen."

As we drive from Puncak Alam, I make a new plan with a change in shutter therapy route. Today I will cover Petaling Street, Pudu, Jalan Masjid India, Dataran Merdeka and Tugu Negara.
This means I am deverting from my normal route of Jalan TAR and Chow Kit Road.

As I roamed through Jalan Masjid India, I decided to move on to Dataran Merdeka and there by the road I saw a man looking at the signboard for direction.

I greet him with a simple, "Hi. Where do you want to go?"
He reply with "Masjid India!, I want to go to Masjid India."
I explain to him how to go to Masjid India but deep within me said, "Show him!"

Tanjung Sepat: Kelalang Beach

One of the thing that my wife and I like to do is travelling. If we have time we always want to visit new places and meet new people and learn more about that particular place.

During Hari Raya Puasa, we went to Kuala Selangor area namely Pasir Penambang, Kampung Bagan Pasir, Remis Beach and Pantai Jeram.

This time we headed South to Tanjung Sepat, Selangor.

We plan to visit the place of interest namely:
1. Pantai Kelalang/Kelalang Beach
2. Pantai Morib/Morib Beach - old and new
3. Ganofarm - A mushroom farm.
4. Lover Bridge and Passion fruit farm
5. Kwo Zha B Coffee at Lorong 3
6. Pernigaan Pao Hai Yew Hing at Lorong 3
7. Pantai Bagan Lalang/ Bagan Lalang Beach
8. Some nice Seafood Restaurant for dinner

For this trip, I bring along my two lens namely Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8 VC and AF-S Nikkor 50mm f/1.8G. My Travel Photography gear will be more complete with Super Wide Lens such as Nikon 12-24mm f/4G or Nikon 10-24mm f/3.5-4.5 (cost range at MYR 3K - 3.6K) or a cheaper Tamron SP 10-24mm f/3.5-4.5 Di-II LD Aspherical (IF). We need this lens to capture the bigger picture to sum up the story of one particular place that we visit.

Our journey was 100% depend on the GPS device to guide us to our desired destination.

Practice makes Perfect

Practice is very important in our daily life when we want to excel in doing something.
Even in our daily work or martial art training, practice in the technique to get the best result is crucial.

Let's say you want to learn a jumping spinning kick which was one of my favorite in my Tae Kwon Do days. Your stance, focus and execution must be perfect or else your kick will not be effective in knocking down your opponent. First you have to master the basic stance and kick....PRACTICE.
Practice until you can execute the kick with perfection and only then you can jump and kick.

The same goes with photography.

First you have to master the crucial camera function and know which button to push in what situation such as when you have to use Aperture Priority and which f/numbers gives you your desired deep of field(DOF).
But not to forget the shutter speed and when to use the Shutter Priority also.
How to do that?
PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE. Keep on shooting, if can do it daily.

Then you may ask, how about photography?
Others may have a different ideas on this but this is what I do.
In Tae Kwon Do, I visualise an opponent while executing my kicks.
In photography, visualise in your mind that you are painting the image that you see on a canvas.
Compose it, frame it and release the shutter.
(This does not mean you do not need the Basic of Photography knowledge, you have to learn that for sure.)

Not good enough? Shoot again until you get it right.
SHOOT and SHOOT and SHOOT.
Practice, Practice, Practice.

You may need to shoot thousand of times to get your desired result. The process of shooting will lead you to be a better shooter and a better communicator.

Where to shoot?
I would say hit the STREET as that is the best classroom with free models, ever changing interesting characters and different scenery.

What to shoot?
Any subject that attract you or a storytelling image or image touch you inside. Street has a lot of those images.

Most important defence: YOUR BIG SMILE. It's difficult to punch a smiling opponent.
That's one of the reason I lost some of my fights in my younger days as I normally bring down my guard when I see a smiling opponent.

Here are some of my shots using AF-S Nikkor 50mm F/1.8G and Tamron SP AF 17-50mm f/2.8 XR Di II VC LD Aspherical (IF) .

The first two images were taken using Tamron 17-500mm f/2.8 VC in order to captured a wider area.


Movement effect using Slow shutter speed.

Shutter Therapy: How many time per month?

Morning News Headlines

Some may ask, "How times per month should I go for shutter therapy, a phrase normally used by  Robin Wong  or street photography?"

As I am working  during week days, I am only having free time during the weekend if my partner do not have her own plan like shopping or some other event like IT fare, PC fare or MATTA, then I would say that I can go for shutter therapy shooting when I am free.

But that is not the case as my partner and I had made a deal that I can ONLY go to Kuala Lumpur for shutter therapy session twice a month.

How about the time?
Normally I go down to Kuala Lumpur at around 10.00AM via Kelana Jaya LRT Station and arrive at Pasar Seni LRT station around 10.30AM.

Kuala Selangor: Kampung Bagan Pasir

The Jetty

Our next destination after Kuala Selangor-Pasir Penambang was Tanjong Karang and Kampung Bagan Pasir to be exact. We log into our GPS, 'Bagan Pasir' as our next destination.

Kampung Bagan Pasir is a fishermen village where you can see fishermen's boats and also you can buy some fresh fish from the fisherman.

Kuala Selangor: Pasir Penambang

We have been planing for this trip to Kuala Selangor for quite awhile as we are also staying in the Kuala Selangor area.

As it is a holiday, we are well prepared for this trip in term of food. I specially cook some rice, vegetables and fried eggs. I also bring along some soft drink namely 100Plus and Ice Cream Soda to quench our thirst as we drive on.

For photography purpose, I packed my Nikon D7000 with two lens namely AF-S Nikkor 50mm f/1.8D and Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8 VC. I also bring along my tripod in case I need it. Beside this I also take my old friend Olympus UTough 8010 in case raining and I still can shoot. I thinking of upgrading this UTough 8010 to UTough TG1 when my budget permit.