JUMPER

Rating: ***1/2

Cast: Jamie Bell, Hayden Christensen, Samuel L. Jackson

Genre: Sci-Fi/Action

Watched on 24 Feb 08 at Plaza Sing with Chup and Bur.

Nothing deep about the storyline but it is definitely a refreshing and innovative idea. Wish I can JUMP like that too. But I definitely won't like the electrocution.

... the one who's stuffed with noodle, papaya and guava

One Saturday afternoon in KL

These are photos taken in KL on the afternoon of 16 Feb 2008. They are of 3 different houses, by 3 amazing designers... The tokina 12-24mm lens is also proving to be pretty controlled with regards to barrel distortion. Pretty good value for money.

Chup

Ash no more...

Remember Ash?

Just heard from Chup who came back from KL yesterday (17 Feb 08) that Ash is gone :( Her last owner was with Chup's auntie. The auntie said Ash lost her appetite one day and did not eat anything for the next few days. After that, Ash never came home anymore. I'd guess Ash has died. And it probably happened somewhere in end 2007. She didn't even hit 1 year old...

...the one who wished Ash was brought to vet when she was not eating

More Results

Here are more shots from the new toy today. It's our family reunion cum Valentine's Day dinner.

The first shot is a try-out on the D300's "multiple exposure" mode. It's what film cameras could do, but the D300 allows this now and the exposure is automatically adjusted and compensated digitally.

The second shot is an ordinary family portrait, except I had the multiple focussing points on and I forgot about it; so the result is Lin and I are more "in-focus" than those in the centre of the photo. Can't blame the camera; it was just being intelligent. I've tried the camera's "live view" feature as well, and it's a dream come true for architectural photography. I can now check that all lines are accurate before taking the shot, instead of cursing after I've downloaded and scrutinised them.

Nikon has also fixed that stupid problem which the D70 had: all the images have numbers that restart from 1 after you download the photos. Canon never had that, and the D300 has banished that now.

Chup

Results!

Bought the Nikon D300 last night, with body selling for $2,600/- at Cathay. I trusted all the things I read in the Forum pages and relied on them to buy the camera after handling it for only 5 mins. It felt very good in the hand and was lighter than I expected. Got a Tokina wide angle lens 0f 12-24mm to go with it too. And here are 2 of the very first shots taken this morning when I took parents for a tour of the wild and wacky Terminal 3. They're actually set to the 6 Mpixel size and yet, reduced to highest compression, they are still about 400kb. Luckily, can still upload them to this blog. I'm still fiddling with it and reading the thick but dry manual, but so far, it has been stunning! I'm no longer camera-less!

Chup

New Place

This is an aerial view of our new place, albeit a slightly out-dated one. The great thing about a google shot is that they are orientated with the north pointing up, so you get an idea of where the evening sun shines on. The block we live in is the point block at the extreme left. That uniformally green patch next to it in the west is a natural lake; no concrete embarkment and drains. We get a view of the lake from our balcony, but most visitors to our place can't see it. There's also a smaller lake next to it, south of our block. This is shallower and filled with kois and other clear-water fishes.

The new place is that strange hybrid which is neither private nor public. The buildings, as I understand it, are privatised, but the land still belongs to the Ministry of Defense. The buildings were previously army housing, and indeed, the area across the expressway is still filled with army camps. There are 5 blocks of 23 storeys and 8 other blocks of walk-up apartments. I reckon there are about 480 units here. The buildings are more than 30 years old. They are recepients of cool breezes. especially at night, when we don't even bother to turn on our newly installed air-conditioning units. Thankfully, there are virtually no mosquitoes, an amazing difference from our old place. There's a good-size swimming pool and a dependable cafe that cooks warm dishes. The population is also large enough to sustain a well-stocked supermarket. The residents here are now mainly tenants, with a large presence from India.

Historically, this was an oil depot, and the place was up in flames during the Japanese invasion. There are stories that all the drains then were walls of fire. Malay soldiers who were retreating from the Japanese army were burned trying to jump across these flaming walls. Today, none of this is evident. The estate is generously wooded and fringes the slopes of a sizable national park. Butterfly lovers and naturalists comb these havens with huge cameras. In the coming weeks I hope to join them and explore the grounds in depth.

Chup

Moving House

Here are 4 photos I took of our moving house ordeal. The day was 6 Jan 2008. Top: the night before the move, when it was standing room only over large areas, middle 2: the day of the move (pity the movers as we had no lifts), and bottom: memi cooking tau fu as soon as we settle in the new place, on the custom that "fu" sounds like luck. Memi loves the kitchen of the new place; spacious and windy. She's also proud of the new stove and hob. But after 4 months with us, she's back at Takengon now, so no more good old home-cooked meals for now...

Chup

Jump!

6 of my students doing what comes naturally. One of my favourite shots of them, taken by Emily, on a trip to KL last year that I didn't go. The shot was taken at first attempt, they tell me. No photoshop or doctoring. Teens on the verge of adulthood. Remember when you were 19? Good chemistry with friends and gravity-defying optimism. Their studies have just ended this week. They'll all move on. I'll miss them. They are the greatest cohort the school has ever seen.

Chup