Searching for Truth 2

f/8.0 :: 1/400s :: ISO100 :: 33mm

This photo was taken at Tanah Lot, Bali. It was late afternoon, and there were many tourists in this popular place of interest. I got down low and snapped this picture which shows the people walking as if with a noble aim, but in fact they are just walking towards the Tanah Lot temple.

I performed a lot of manipulation in Photoshop to get these pretty colours. This shows that we don't need to be faithful to the natural conditions in order to create artistic shots.

Malaysian Drivers Most Annoying Habits

I'm putting this down because people I talk to generally don't find this to be such a big deal. So I will illustrate with examples from my personal experience.

1) Malaysian drivers don't know how to use roundabout
OK. Roundabouts may be quite obsolete in heavy traffic areas. But it does not discount the reality that roundabouts still exist, and we should all learn how to use it. Vehicles moving in the roundabout have the right of way over vehicles trying to enter the roundabout. When exiting roundabouts, please indicate with the signal lights. When the roundabout is at a standstill, please don't force your way in and cause a gridlock! Simple rules that somehow are not followed, leading to being stuck for 1 hour in a roundabout (example: Rothmans roundabout).

2) Malaysian drivers don't know how to indicate
This is especially true when I am trying to go into the main road, and I see an oncoming car, so I wait for the car to pass. At the very last minute, the car turns into the road that I'm in, which means that if he had signaled earlier, I wouldn't have needed to wait for him to pass! Or they are trying to cut into my lane but I'm not sure if they are really going to do it or are just blur by moving between the lanes, since he is not signaling his intention. So what I normally do is I just close the gap, until he decides to indicate.

3) Malaysian drivers love to cut queues
This habit is a very annoying one, simply because the act of cutting queues contribute to the formation of the queues in the first place. When the highway traffic is slow moving, for example, these stupid drivers will start to go on the emergency lane, and when they encounter whatever is blocking the movement of traffic, they will forcibly cut back into the normal lanes. This actually slows down traffic in the normal lanes, which in turn encourages these stupid drivers to cut queues. Another example is at toll plazas where there is a petrol station at the side. These stupid drivers will actually cut into the petrol station, and cut back out just to skip the queue of some 2 or 3 cars. Stupid, isn't it?

4) Malaysian drivers love to litter all over the place
Ahah, don't be confused. They love to litter all over the place except their own car. How many times have I witnessed already drivers of supposedly posh cars (expensive SUV's, BMW's, imported Japanese makes) throwing things out of their cars: plastic bags, food containers, cigarette packs, drink bottles, rubbish, cigarette butts. So much so that if you were to drive on the Federal Highway and just look at the road, you will be able to see all this rubbish already forming to become part of the road surface! Also related to this habit, Malaysian drivers just love to open their car door when they are stationary, stick out their head and spit out a thick gooey piece of phlegm, without consideration to the vehicles behind them which will be treading on their biological waste. Disgusting!

5) Malaysian drivers love to flash and tailgate
This is very true on the expressways. Normally, I am legitimately overtaking slower vehicles by using the right lane. I don't speed above the legal limit, but I am not breaking any regulations, since the rule clearly states that I can use the right lane for overtaking. More often than not, there will be some fancy car (typically Mercedes or BMW, occasionally Toyotas or even Proton Wajas) which will start flashing the highlights from very far behind, as if to brag about their large and fast cars, shouting "move aside!!". Of course, I'm in the middle of my overtaking maneuver, so I can't possibly move back into the left lane. Soon, the big car is right behind me, flashing his highlights non-stop and sticking too close for comfort to the back of my car. What I fantasise to do sometimes is to just step on the brakes and watch him lose control of his car, crashing it to the road divider and sustaining some form of injury. Of course I'm rational, so I don't do that. The worst thing happens when I do give way, and he just speeds ahead only to be slowed down by another slower car. I'm thinking... congratulations, you just managed to go ahead by one car. You saved..... 2 seconds off your traveling time! Hooray! Sheesh...

These are just some of the stupid things that Malaysian drivers do on the road. I wonder if they behave similarly when they are out of their big and expensive cars.

Transformers

Yes!! I finally watched it!! It's simply breathtaking!! I ran out of words to say, after the movie we talked and talked and talked and talked... simply put, this is the best movie of the year PERIOD!

Update:
OK. Here's a more proper review of the movie.

First, let's start with the awe factor. Simply listening to the original voice of Optimus Prime in the beginning of the movie brought back nostalgic feelings. The opening sequence in outer space, and in the Qatar desert really pumped up the adrenaline and set the pace for things to come.

When the first transformation occurred on screen, I was simply stunned. The transformation sequences really dropped jaws, slick and seamless moves that turned the military helicopter into a menacing alien robot.

Bumblebee's transformation sequence and his play with radio also adds flavour to the movie's feel. I have to say that Bumblebee looks cool in the movie, unlike the bloated appearance in the cartoons. He's also a pivotal character in the movie, having more airtime than any other robot in the show.

When Optimus Prime appeared for the first time, the transformation simply blew my mind. Here was a super truck which stopped right in front of Sam Witwicky, proceeded to transform into a giant robot that towered over everything. And of course that superb voice is probably the only voice that is capable of bringing Optimus Prime to life.

The Decepticons are pretty nondescript. Megatron doesn't show up until the final third of the movie. Starscream was barely seen that he became quite irrelevant. Other Decepticons also were not that great.

In fact, Michael Bay betrayed true Transformers fans by showing more humans than robots. I mean, what is the story with the military soldier in the middle east? What's the point of the analyst-with-the-horrid-Australian-accent sub story and his ghetto sidekick? What's the point of introducing a quasi X-files like Sector 7 government agency? Seriously, Michael Bay should have just dropped all human characters except Sam Witwicky and his girlfriend, the Secretary of Defense to show how useless human defenses are, and of course the occasional "kelefe" to gawk, run and scream. All other airtime should be dedicated to the robots!

That said, this movie realizes the dreams of those of us who grew up in the 80's when the Transformers were popularized. If only for the nostalgia factor, this movie rates already at 4 out of 5 stars. Unfortunately, the substandard plot development and the inclusion of useless human characters deny it that final star rating. Nonetheless, this IS the best movie of the year for a biased reviewer. Highly recommended for anyone who has played with Transformers toys, watched Transformers cartoons, or simply like CGI robots that can transform to and fro cars, trucks, planes, helicopters, tanks, etc. Go watch it and then spend the rest of the day raving and ranting about it!

P/S - I really didn't like the fact that Optimus Prime's faceplat retracts when he's speaking. He looks so sissy when his mouth is exposed!

My cheeky nephew

f/5.0 :: 1/15s :: ISO800 :: 43m

My nephew, cheekily laughing while I was taking his photo. He knows how to pose for the camera and make all sorts of funny faces. This was taken with the flash bounced to the ceiling and bounce card. Levels and color balance adjusted with Photoshop, and noise reduced with Noise Ninja.

Note: I've decided to stop posting my photographs in my other blog. I realized that it's difficult to maintain so many blogs. The old photos will still be there for archive, but no more new updates there.

Check out my DIY flash diffuser!

Lookie lookie... EOS350D + 430EX + DIY Flash Diffuser


Check out the largish light source!

Problems: it's too flimsy, difficult to attach/detach. How, how?

Stupid driver

This morning, on the way out from Subang Jaya into Federal Highway, the traffic was quite heavy. Long queues formed on all lanes. There I was on the right lane, and there was a red Saga in front of me. There was a considerably adequate gap between the Saga and the car in front. There was then this Myvi that signaled and started to cut in front of the Saga from the left lane.

The stupid Saga driver immediately sped up and blocked the Myvi from cutting in! The Myvi was surprised and tried to pull back into the left lane to continue on. The stupid red Saga driver then cut to the left in front of the Myvi thus preventing the Myvi from proceeding forward. The Myvi then started to sound the horn loudly and repeatedly. The Saga responded with the horn as well. The Myvi, frustrated by the Saga driver's stupidity, cut out to the furthest left lane and sped off, cut back in later in front. The red Saga driver started waving his fist like a mad dog, scolding and gesturing violently. Later on, the Saga passed by the Myvi again, and the Saga driver slowed down, looked at the Myvi driver, and started scolding and gesturing before driving off.

Ironically, the Saga then signaled to cut left in order to go towards Glenmarie. It's too bad that he did not do so in front of the Myvi, otherwise I'm sure we would have seen full blown road rage escalation!

Friends, please drive with patience and please be careful on the road. You'll never know when there will be this type of stupid drivers on the road.

Recent Events

Yesterday, Lina Joy was denied freedom to change her religion.

Yesterday, I sent 450 pictures to be printed in Fotokem Sunway Pyramid.

Today, my newly joined colleague expressed his wish to resign from the company.

Today, the 27th INCOVAR Dhamma Camp officially begins in SJBA.

Today, is the 31st of the month, i.e. 31% discount for Baskin Robbins ice cream.

Drooling for a compact?

This is arguably a very stylish compact camera. The IXUS 850IS from Canon may be half a year old already; but is true wide angle lens (28mm equivalent), coupled with high ISO and Image Stabilizer capabilities make it a great party camera. It's currently retailing for around RM1400 with 1GB SD card, so it's still quite expensive for a point-and-shoot. This is not surprising, given the 850IS is actually a lifestyle product that happens to make good pictures. Design and branding are paramount, while image quality and usability are 2nd priority.

There is a replacement already announced (IXUS 950IS) that has higher resolution, but drops the wide angle lens (which is really a shame). Wide angle is so much more useful than telephoto, unless of course you plan to snoop around and be a pseudo peeping tom/private investigator.

Congratulations Suky & Yap!

My ex university friends Suky and Yap were wedded yesterday.

Congratulations to both of you and may you enjoy each other's company for the rest of your lives together!

Thanks for the "entertainment" during lunch too ;)

Congratulations Jsun & Joy!

My ex colleague Jsun (Tho-San a.k.a Jsun-chai) and my ex university mate Joy Teoh were wedded last last Saturday.

Congratulations and may you have a wonderful future together!