I feel sinful

Yes, after staying for just a few hours in a Genting Maxim’s Club Suite. Had to come home just because I have tuition tomorrow. And dad has a golf game. Might be going back there tomorrow though. Because we have 2 nights there. It’s my first time staying there. I’m normally used to staying in regular rooms at Highlands Hotel but this one is HUGE. In a way it’s crazy.

First of all, let me introduce to you the “team” behind the following photos.

Note: all photos in this post have been edited with Colour Balance, Curves, Brightness/Contrast, Hue/Saturation and Unsharp Mask tools in Adobe Photoshop CS3 Extended.

My EOS 400D and EF 17-40mm…

… with the 17-40mm occasionally being swapped for this EF-S 10-22mm wide angle

Their carriers, my Lowepro bags

And the EOS 5D, EF 24-105mm, EF 70-200mm and Cokin P-Series Filters

The room is on the 16th floor so I thought I’d get great views from there. The lounge area on the 16th floor is so quiet it’s creepy. I kinda prefer the slight noise at the regular rooms. When you walk in, the first thing that hits you is this.

A little office corner. Ah okay, the basics of one. A printer/fax, telephone and a computer. Not bad. But things got better when I realised they provide you with internet connection. Yay. It’s rated at 100.00mbps so I guess it’s from Streamyx.

Oh yeah, the lounge area. The empty one.

I really wasn’t joking you know. Even this counter was empty.

But the decor is pretty cool

Back to the room, the bathroom takes up like, a third of the total area. Seriously, I think it’s ridiculous. You don’t need one like that.

You don’t get just a shower. But also this bathtub. That looks out to the view of Genting.

And a little LCD TV too. Madness. Oh yeah, notice that little steel dustbin in the previous photo? You don’t step on it to open it. You just wave your rubbish in front of it and it opens up automatically. And closes that way too. Just goes to show that people that stay here are probably lazy ones.

Here’s the room. Really nice. Crazily nice. Whatever.

So… interested in the view you get from the bathtub? In the evening, it looks like this.

Yeah, seriously. Okay, enhanced a little in Photoshop. And that’s only the clouds. I felt like I was in a different world, really.

Then we went out for dinner and a walk so I grabbed some night shots. This is one of them.

Yes, I know the 10-22mm is quite amazing (:

Right, that’s about all. It’s getting late now. And I have 4 freaking hours of tuition tomorrow. Might be going there again just for that 1 night left, so well, might have more photos That’s all.

Report card?

The report card day was earlier today. And I’m pretty surprised Thilaga DID NOT bomb me in front of my parents. And thankful at it too. Overall, I dropped. From 2nd in class to 6th. And dad wants something like top 3. Crap I tell you. It’s not easy.

Before it all started they had this shit assembly where one bugs you about the course and another repeats the same thing about the report card day, which was already went over yesterday. We (our group, which doesn’t consist of malays) talked about things like “I’m gonna dieeeee!” LOL and all that while the teacher was discussing with the parents that came early.

About my marks… I really did drop compared to the monthly test. No fails, no Ds, just plenty of Cs. My maths was really low. Something like 55. That’s the only one below 60. Thilaga still kept on saying I have to put in effort. You think I didn’t?! dammit. I know I should have probably put in more but don’t expect perfect marks from me. It isn’t primary school anymore where I really could.

Well, at least I didn’t get much complaints. Just that I’m quite talkative in class LOL. Well, I went home after that and now I’m here so I didn’t know what happened after that. Steffi was after me. Then Sharvessh’s dad came along to get his marks. But the dude wasn’t around. Probably still snoozing as I type.

I didn’t bring my camera along, not even my compact P&S Lumix, so no photos. I only snapped one with my phone, which is of crap quality so it’s not gonna be here. The only time I’m definitely going to bring my dSLR to school is for the PMR marks giveaway. And oh yes I’m going to get my external flash Speedlite 580 EX II soon so that’ll be used to shoot the 3 Ilmu gang’s expression by then. Next year, we’ll all be separated and streamed down. Damn, I hope I’ll get 4S2 along with some of them. My brother was in it. Competition isn’t as extreme as the S1 class but it isn’t a terrible class, so, well, it’s a good balance. And no, I’ll not go to any arts stream class. Unacceptable. Only next time in university, whichever I’ll end up in, hopefully Singapore, I’ll take up photography.

Hohoho, I have to get the report card signed. And then find out how much the Speedlite costs. Anything around RM 1400-1500 would be okay

Well, that’s all. Just a simple post. Yeah, happy birthday, dad. I hope you’re okay with my marks dropping a little. I’m surprised you didn’t opt for golf today

Kuala Lumpur Bird Park and Orchid Park

Went there during the holidays with dad. Mum probably wouldn’t wanna go to something like that. Sweaty and all. Plus, we were there to shoot stuff, not enjoy the area or whatsoever. Took the Myvi, mainly because it was just on that day that fuel prices went through the ceiling. The Beemer would drink up fuel like nothing. Dad had his 5D + EF 70-200 f/4L IS USM and I had my 400D + EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM.

The bird park is actually situated in the middle of the city centre, quite unlike the national zoo, which is something commendable for the environment. Entrance fees (I think) for myKad holders is RM 16 for kids and 25 for adults. People there are also quite friendly. I’m pretty surprised by the variety of feathered friends they have there. These friendly fellas include plenty of peacocks and peahens, the toco toucan, ostriches, emus, flamingos, pelicans and a few exotic ones like the rainbow macaw, owls, eagles, hawks and the rhinoceros hornbill. Most are kept in the whole enclosed sanctuary, which means they’re around you. Some (probably rascals and rare ones) are kept in cages so they don’t cause trouble whatsoever.

The man-made area is also quite well done up with nicely simulated waterfalls with a good variety of greenery and foliage. The walk around the whole area (except the duck area) took about one and a half hours. Here are some photos in no particular order.

Note: The following photos have gone through ZERO editing except for watermarking with layers

Hornbill sleeping

Click “Read the rest of this entry” for more!

I didn’t wanna disturb it so I avoided it and snapped…

…feather closeup!

Water lily

Common bird by a (man made) waterfall

Greater flamingo. Honestly, I’d call it lamer flamingo because only its wings are pink, not like those in the wild as their diet is exclusively prawns

Showoff. lol Actually it was drying its feathers

Macaw at the photo booth. At times, it looked rather sick

Eagle at the photo booth. This guy stayed amazingly quiet and still in an open area!

These birds kinda enjoy the waterfall (?)

The toco toucan! It looks really fake, like some toy

I also went to the nearby orchid park. Admission is free on weekdays. Flowers there are pretty well cared for.

Off to the orchid park! Actually I was just testing if the light is sufficient for my pre-selected ISO speed

The beauty of being able to manually control your camera, something all dSLRs have

Blue skies and nice clouds all depend on good timing

No, no strobe work involved

In the orchid park we saw someone about dad’s age carrying a 5D and 135 f/2 L. A beautiful lens it is I must say.

Next, we went to KLCC, all sweaty to meet RHB people for dinner and the company’s paid-for movie, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull at TGV, KLCC. The movie was great, very exciting I must say. Shia LaBeouf did very well as the later-revealed Indiana Jones’ son. I lol’ed everytime he started combing his hair. And the best part was probably when the scorpions went after him. Overall, I’d give it 8/10. A good watch.

Oh, btw, if YL Camera gets a 2nd hand EF-S 17-55 f/2.8 IS USM lens in, I’ll probably get it and dad will take my 17-40 as his super wide angle.

That’s about all. I hope you enjoyed the photos. Thanks for reading.

Canon World of EOS at Suria KLCC, 1st June

Canon’s World of EOS was in Suria KLCC this weekend starting 30 May to 2 June. I was there today, 1 June. Not much activities were held today, most were yesterday. Just too bad I couldn’t go yesterday instead because I had tuition… Yesterday’s event saw a model shooting, with models holding many, many nice Canon models and a chance for the photographers to win a Canon EOS 40D with a photo from the event. The give out cameras like nothing sometimes.

Of course, since there wasn’t many events, I have to admit the main reason I went there was for the Eyes of EOS section, which you’ll see later. Okay, also to get a basic checkup and service for my camera and lenses there, which is free to Canon EOS and SLR users

Random: atrium

Note: photos in this post have gone through no editing other than watermarks.

Click “read the rest of this entry” for more. I don’t wanna flood it.