To me, one of life’s greatest joys is to watch other people spend money. You share their excitement in getting a new toy, and at the same time, spend zero ringgit of your own.
Closely following that is the joy you get by being able to convince someone else to buy the exact same toy you’ve just spent too much money obtaining. So after I shelled out some 1.5k getting myself the brand spanking new Canon S90, I managed to con three unsuspecting victims into doing the same thing. The new proud owners of S90 are jaclyn, cindy, and cheesie, hohohoho.
The S90 is Canon’s high end super compact camera, sharing the same big sensor (1/1.6″) and Digic 4 processor as the Powershot G11. It’s small, sleek, has a fast lens, and very good in low light. The camera’s got a two different control rings that makes it very easy to adjust its various settings too. For more information, look at the hands-on preview at dpreview.
I took the S90 back to Penang last weekends, and while Elfie and friends were too tired to eat and decided to chill at their motel, I took the opportunity to snap some pictures in town.
These pictures are straight out of the camera with zero post processing, not because I want to show off what the camera can do, but because I am lazy.
boom boom pow
I wonder if the stereo on this motorbike actually works? It’s got that dial thing that looks like a car’s speedo and tachometer, but where are the speakers?
hello sexy in red
An old classic, love the color. I like how the background actually still matches the production year of the car.
door-less barber shop
A proper old school Chinese barber shop that seems to have gotten left behind in time. You want a massage with that haircut?
saloon basking in evening sun
A slightly updated hair saloon with air conditioning unit, chairs outside should you need to have a smoke while waiting for your turn too.
joss stick
I have no idea why giant joss sticks are always pink in color.
Khoo Kongsi in rear view mirror
Khoo Kongsi is one of the grandest buildings in Penang, and sadly I haven’t actually been in it. Must find an unsuspecting victim to go with me one of these days. Did you know part of Anna and the King was shot at Khoo Kongsi in 1999?
There are a few more photos taken at the same time at my flickr set. Cheers!
The long overdue pictures from Bangkok is here, the Black and White series anyway. I still have some architectural photos (mainly temples) yet to be processed, and of course that juicy story from red light district and the other food hunts around the city. But anyway, here is my very small contribution to the world of photography.
The photostream at flickr is here.
showmanship
I was walking around taking photographs, and suddenly this ice cream seller started performing for me. He scoop up the ice cream, threw it up about 20 feet and drop it on the cup. This was his victory pose after performing his trick. It was a shame I did not manage to capture that in action, but at least we have this pose.
taxi stand
Tuk-tuk, the three wheeler “taxis” are omnipresence everywhere in the city. You can catch a short ride for as low as 20 baht. However, do be careful as some of them do conspire with shops in an attempt to con unsuspecting customers. The normal taxis, on the other hand, are very reliable and honest in Bangkok.
the line up
This photo is taken at the famous 4 faced Buddha statue (Thao Maha Brahma). It is said that many Hong Kong celebrities pay their respect at this place yearly.
the crowd, chatuchak weekend market
Chatuchak weekend market is a congregation of over 6000 stalls selling anything from bacon stick to foot massages to pet rabbits. The place is packed with bargain hunters and clueless tourists alike.
divers at chow praya river
These kids at chow praya river make a living by fetching and reselling animals released to the river. Here they are just warming up to start the day. It is a common practice for pilgrims to release animals to the wild. (for good karma?)
ringtone
A baby girl guided by her father to ring the bell at the temple, probably for the first time in her life.
guards – emerald Buddha temple
The guards at Emerald Buddha temple reminds me of those Buckingham Palace guards. They were completely stationary with only movements on their eyeballs. Respect.
fat boy supper
Day or night, you can find hawker stalls by every roadside. Bangkok is the city very favorable to food hunters like me, I just wish I had a bigger stomach.
I was at KLCC during the PC Fair weekend. Instead of fighting with the crowd shooting those Tech Girls indoor, we went to the main entrance of KLCC to do some streets photography. It was just after rain and the sky was still gloomy. I thought since there lighting condition wasn’t suited for the more conventional streets photography, I’d do something different instead.
So here you go, a series of shoes @ KLCC. It is interesting how much two legs and a pair of shoes can tell now isn’t it?
 Rough Rider |
 Establishment |
 The Angle |
 Relaxation |
 Casual |
 A Conversation |
 Tired |
 Slanted |
 Decisions, Decisions |
 Zebra |
 Chilling |
 Domination |
 Flirty |
 Authority |
By the way, there will be more postings on Bangkok trip shortly. Stay tuned!
After having a blast at ST’s big 3 Oh birthday party (thanks Kim, and Happy Birthday old boy!) last Friday. I dragged myself out of the bed the next morning to get some photography done. The dudes had some nasi lemak Tangling and we were off snapping happy after that.
Here are some of the photos I feel comfortable sharing, more at my flickr set.
fresh
busy as bees
the hard worker
I’m also heading to Bangkok next week for a short photography and eating trip. Can’t wait!
Instead of being indulged in buying plenty of new cloths, shoes, and *ahem, handbags to greet Chinese New Year, I have decided to get myself something that lasts a bit longer: my very first automatic watch, the Seiko SKX781, affectionately dubbed the Orange Monster.
For the uninitiated, automatic watches do not run on battery. Instead, they harness the kinetic energy from the wearer’s movements to wind a spring that powers the watch. There is no battery and no electronic parts, this thing will practically survive a nuclear war. To some, only an automatic is considered a real watch, others are electronic gadgets that keeps time.
wine tasting session
I’ve always dread changing watch batteries (I have 3 watches that needs new battery as of now), the previous watch I bought was the beautiful and more civilized Citizen Nighthawk with Eco-Drive, a solar-powered contraption that still needs a battery that never needs to be changed. From full power, the Orange Monster will lasts about 42 hours without wearing before it stops, the Citizen, on the other hand, have a 6 month power reserve.
Orange Monster spotted in the wild
The Orange Monster is a dive watch and thus rated at 200M water resistance. It has beautiful bezel that clicks in a very sure and purposeful way to the counter clockwise direction. The screw-on crown is positioned at 4 o’clock to minimize hindrance to wrist movement especially while diving. I got the watch with bracelet instead of rubber strap as it matches the watch very well with the half matte and half polished finishing. The bracelet even has a quick extension for wearing over wet suit.
Industrialized Monster
One of the most important thing about a dive watch is it’s visibility underwater. Doxa was the company that did a research and found that an orange dial serves best in this condition, and this watch uses the bright orange dial for the same purpose. The Orange Monster also spots one of the brightest lume of anything that I came across. It simply screams at you in darkness.
Orange Monster’s beautiful and very bright lume
For those who are interested, there is a very lengthy and excellent review on the movement of this watch at thePurists where this watch is dissembled and every minute detail explained. The 7s26 movement used in this watch includes day and date function that comes handy for people like me who sometimes tend to forget what day it is. The second hand moves at about 4 beats per second, I like the smoothness of an automatic over the 1 jump per second for digital watches when it comes to the motion.
The Orange Monster is a lot of watch for the price, a great value and certainly something I will keep for many years to come. It’s my first “Real” watch after all. 
My flickr Orange Monster set has a few more pictures on this baby.
