Shien Long's Blabberin

Haruan License on Berkley Ripple Shad

2011-04-25T18:05:00.009+08:00

Haruan loves clear to brackish water (see previous post). Muddy/silt stained waters are not conducive. Lure size, lure running depth and time of day are some of the considerations that an angler should take into account for any kind of fishing. These considerations should be made based on the environment and behavior of the target fish.

My first quest for Haruan ended frustratingly with no results. I used a topwater plastic frog while my fishing buddy who was using live frog bait, caught (and released) 3 good sized specimen. However I took back the information I had by comparing my techniques and lures with those of my fishing buddy.

Never one who back down from a challenge, I analyzed the differences in baits and techniques used that day. My 1st post on Haruan documents my observation.

On my second outing in search of Haruan, I have decided to try another plastic lure, this time a Berkley Ripple Shad in Firetiger. Flexibility in changing the jig head plus low cost of lure replacement was the main consideration when I chose this bait for my Haruan hunt.

The ability to change the jig head (hence its weight) will allow me to vary the depth the lure is running.

The other consideration was cost. Water visibility was zilch, not knowing the depth and snags in the pool and the thought of losing a prized spinner bait or lure lead me to believe that using a plastic bait to scour the bottom for snags is more cost effective.

I am amazed by the swimming action of the Berkley Ripple Shad. It will display a remarkably life like swimming action at varying speed of retrieve. Thus providing the angler better focus in finding suitable casting spots.

Using a Fenwick medium heavy bait casting rod and Abu Garcia C4, I fan casted from the left. While casting to my right; parallel to the bank next to a half submerged tree branch. Halfway retrieving the lure I felt a fierce strike on the other end of the line and there was a splash of water. The fight was valiant...but it ended quickly. To my joy, holding dearly to the Berkley Ripple Shad was a decent sized Haruan. My first!

Picture above, a beautiful specimen with the Berkley Ripple Shad.

A close up of the fish with the plastic lure.

My 2nd Haruan. Also with the same bait, it was barely hooked. Approximately 1 ft long.

Here's my take on what worked for me this round. This pond faces heavy fishing pressure. Thus trying a different lure might have helped me in this case. I fished with a slow and steady retrieve, enough to impart life like action on the Ripple Shad. Using a 1/4 ounce jig head, I was able to get the lure down to about 2-3 ft below the surface. It might have been lower since I had my rod tip down most of the time. Then finally is location, it occurred to me that I didn't try casting to the partially submerged branch on my first cast. Hooking up 2 Haruans from the same location solidifies the fact that fish loves cover ALOT!

I have finally accomplished my mission in getting my Haruan "license". Both fish was released back to the wild. On to the next mission...do I see Peacock Bass in the radar???

Lomo'ed

2011-02-02T12:56:00.000+08:00

I was introduced to Lomography by my sister. I've read of lomo but did not try it as I was unsure of it. Well, when your sister gives you a lomo camera for free...the "unsure" part just goes out the window ;)

Amazingly lomography has brought me back to the true nature of photography...it is not about the brand, the type of camera, the speed or any other technicalities of photography, rather it is about everything else that matters in the analog world.

Haruan

2011-01-25T10:54:00.006+08:00

This will be a quick update. Went hunting for Haruan. Total 4 of us. I couldn't get any on rubber frogs but a buddy got 3 on live frog bait. Catch and release was practiced.

Things to consider:

1. Depth - my rubber frog was on the surface. All hits were sub-surface. Maybe 1-2 ft below water surface.

2. Size - my rubber frog was huge compared to my buddy's live bait.

Musings

2010-12-08T00:04:00.002+08:00

"Who can you be but yourself?" - Blabberin Long

If you don't know who you can be, then you don't know who you are. It is not a problem, it is a matter of finding a starting point to find out who you are. Once you have found your starting point then you're already on a roll.

You can choose to define yourself from where you have come from, in the end it is just a choice, just as much if you choose to NOT define yourself from where you have come from.

"Runaway" - from the Cardboardbox Studio

2010-11-20T16:40:00.002+08:00

Love this song!

Peacock Bass at Air Kuning

2010-11-18T17:26:00.008+08:00

We started our adventure in the midst of the rainy season. Reports of floods in neighboring states and across the country streamed through the media, causing us to keep our fingers crossed that it would not spoil our much anticipated trip to the famous Air Kuning, Perak.

Our merry group of anglers (of various profession and angling experience) met up at the Gunung Semanggol rest stop on Friday night. Some of us still have our ID tags on, obviously rushing off just after work. This shows how much passion they show for angling.

After a quick dinner, we head off to Tg. Tualang to meet up with Uncle Benny. He showed us our beds for the night. Due to the lack of hotels in this sleepy town, we rented rooms from the Tg. Tualang Hokkien Association.

The pictures above shows the place we had for the night. Overnight sleeping arrangements can be made with Uncle Benny.

They haven't even showered and were already prepping their gear for the Peacock Bass assault tomorrow.

Part of our attack arsenal - our meagre but much prized lures.

Can you tell which one is Rapala? One of them is a lookalike.

All the gear prepped up! There were 3 Abu Garcia's (I think a C4, C5 and Record series), 2 D.A.M., 1 Daiwa Megaforce and 1 Daiwa spinning reel. The spinning reel didn't see much action. To tell you the truth, I fell in love with baitcasting reels after really learning to use them. Their ability to repeatedly cast coupled with distance and accuracy is just beautiful. Although spinning provides you higher ratios at much less cost, they just can't catch up with the castability of baitcasters.

Our trip organizer (Steven) to the left and FS to the right. They are at Level 10 (on a scale of 1-10) in angling passion. Sometimes you just can't help but catch their fever!

Uncle Benny, with the Air Kuning lake and his boat as the backdrop. What a beautiful place. I hope everyone will help to maintain this beautiful place. Please do not pollute the waters and destroy the fish stocks.

Our small boat took 3 person powered by an electric motor (a thruster). Very silent motor indeed although much less powerful than an engine. John Pang and BH showing the intensity of their focus on the mission.

BH with his 1st Peacock Bass. Small specimen but ferocious. This was the 2nd after John Pang caught a similar sized one.

The mid-day heat was too much for us to bear. We took refuge on a man-made island in the middle of the lake (man-made as this used to be a tin mining lake).

This is me and John Pang taking a break. Notice our full head-gear...definitely not for show but to protect our faces from the unrelenting sun. You can see I'm sporting a new shirt (from my usual long sleeved t-shirt). I got this specially for it's anti-UV properties. It's a Columbia Titanium with Omni-Shade. Got it on discount (still pricey) but it was definitely worth it. It worked it's magic on the hottest part of the day. Can't wait for their next big discount to get their fishing series, a much lighter material with a bigger vent across the back.

Finally! A big one! John Pang was just using his 5'6" casting rod coupled with a Daiwa Megaforce (with Twitchin' bar) on 20lb monofilament and there was suddenly a strike. He was maximising the 7.3:1 ratio of his Daiwa through a Storm Wildeyed Minnow 12cm in natural colors when the strike happened!

Darth Vader a.k.a John Pang finally landed this beautiful 50cm specimen! 50cm!!! According to Uncle Benny, the biggest this year was a 59cm specimen!

Darth Vader without his headgear. Notice the red eyes, stripes on the body, bump on head of the fish. Beautiful I tell you...just beautiful. Definitely worthy of it's Cantonese nickname of "King Fish".

Landing the fish on a water soaked cloth to prevent scalding from the heated fiber boat. The lure was 2/3 of the way in the fish's mouth.

And finally, the measuring. My camera could not take the fish from head to tail and show the detail of the measuring tape. However I would show you this picture above where the longest part from head to tail was 50cm.

Definitely not the last big fish! BH caught another whopper with a Rapala lure. It was shy of 50cm. Beautiful!

After a super great day we were in need of a shower and refreshments. Uncle Benny was very kind to offer us the use of his shower. You will feel the passion of a true angler once you step into his humble abode. There were rods, lures, fishing magazines and posters in the hall.

The famous pose with Uncle Benny. Thank you for your services and hospitality! It was a great trip and I would definitely go again in order to get my PB license!

(Uncle Benny provides fishing guide services in Air Kuning. His contact details are below.)

Uncle Benny,

017-5888106

benny_u88@hotmail.com

Blog: www.peacockbassheaven.blogspot.com

R.O.E - Thinking

2010-11-03T21:10:00.004+08:00

"I don't have to think what others think of me as they are already doing all the thinking for me, which leaves me more time for more important stuff." - Shien Long

R.O.E - Mahatma Gandhi

2010-11-03T09:13:00.002+08:00

"In a gentle way, you can shake the world."

R.O.E - A.J. Cronin

2010-11-01T22:15:00.004+08:00

"Life is no straight and easy corridor along

which we travel free and unhampered,

but a maze of passages,

through which we must seek our way,

lost and confused, now and again

checked in a blind valley.

But always, if we have faith,

a door will open for us,

not perhaps one that we ourselves

would ever have thought of,

but one that will ultimately

prove good to us."

R.O.E - It's My Life!

2010-10-31T21:08:00.005+08:00

"It's My Life" - Bon Jovi

This ain't a song for the broken-hearted

No silent prayer for the faith-departed

I ain't gonna be just a face in the crowd

You're gonna hear my voice

When I shout it out loud

CHORUS:

It's my life

It's now or never

I ain't gonna leave forever

I just want to live while I'm alive

It's my life

My heart is like an open highway

Like Frankie said

I did it my way

I just wanna live while I'm alive

It's my life

This is for the ones who stood their ground

For Tommy and Gina who never backed down

Tomorrow's getting harder make no mistake

Luck ain't even lucky

Got to make your own breaks

CHORUS:

It's my life

And it's now or never

I ain't gonna live forever

I just want to live while I'm alive

It's my life

My heart is like an open highway

Like Frankie said

I did it my way

I just want to live while I'm alive

'Cause it's my life

Better stand tall when they're calling you out

Don't bend, don't break, baby, don't back down

CHORUS:

It's my life

And it's now or never

'Cause I ain't gonna live forever

I just want to live while I'm alive

(It's my life)

My heart is like an open highway

Like Frankie said

I did it my way

I just want to live while I'm alive

CHORUS:

It's my life

And it's now or never

'Cause I ain't gonna live forever

I just want to live while I'm alive

It's my life

My heart is like an open highway

Like Frankie said

I did it my way

I just want to live while I'm alive

'Cause it's my life!

My Lures

2010-10-29T21:47:00.004+08:00

Went to the local tackle shop with my buddies during lunch today. Finally bought a proper lure box for my small collection of lures. Previously was carrying around 2 plastic boxes and it is quite troublesome when you are trying to find a particular lure and end up having to fish out the 2nd box.

The local selection of plastic tackle storage system is limited. Plano systems are not widely available and if it is, at a premium for the basic models.

Anyway, back to my new tackle box. It is a double sided system with 8 slots on each side (there's 9 slots if you count the small slot where I've put my light jigging lure on the right side of the picture below). Cost about RM12.00.

I've also bought a new lure from Storm Lures. We're preparing for a Peacock Bass fishing trip in a couple of weeks and I wanna be prepared. So I got a Storm Wildeye Minnow in a wonderful yellow colour.

Here's a shot of the brand of the tackle box. "I-FISH", model "L-165" lure box. Simple and functional, just the way I like it!

Below is a shot of the other side of my lure box. Slightly cheaper lures on this side but experience tells me that cheaper lures doesn't mean smaller fish! I've got a Hinomiya lure, my first hard-bodied lure which the funny thing is that I've never used it before. Couldn't find an official website for Hinomiya lures.

R.O.E - Necessary Noise

2010-10-07T10:28:00.003+08:00

Lets make some NECESSARY NOISE!

If you want to be heard on certain issues or provide suggestions then you have to make some necessary noise. Do not make complaints, complaints are just your emotion talking (although you may have a point). Take the facts out of your complaints and present it in a positive way. Highlight issues and provide suggestions to improve or move forward.

Don't just sit there like a statue. Statues shouldn't be in a meeting. Statues does not have rights. Statues get shitted on by birds higher up. Statues are just decorations. So just bring up your points. The worst that can happen is nothing...same as when you are a statue.

The best that can happen...endless, which you can't get by being a statue. So take the plug out yo' asses and make a contribution as a team.

Go make some necessary noise.

A Snakehead and Crustacean Combo

2010-09-28T18:46:00.010+08:00

After a long hiatus, we're finally back with our rods for some freshwater angling. Personally I prefer freshwater angling. Why? I just can't find my sea legs. I'll puke this morning's breakfast and last night's dinner if the sea is slightly more than calm.

So last weekend we met up with a fellow angler. His passion for angling can be described as avid, however I am more prone to use 'feverish' with him. He has just purchased an inflatable dinghy. So we were excited to see how it performs.

Now what you pay is what you get. But for this price, the Seahawk inflatable dinghy is pretty good quality. It has 3 chambers, a hand operated pump is provided along with 2 plastic paddles. It is good up to 300lb. However it is pretty small. Suitable for 2 small sized adults. My opinion is that it has just enough space (comfort wise) for 1 small adult. It is pretty maneuverable, but with paddles, you've gotta have the chest muscles to really get a move on a lake.

If you are thinking of trying it in a river, well you can forget about it. It is not suitable for fast rivers with strong currents, even with a motor you'll still be at the mercy of the river. I'd suggest a fiber or aluminium boat for that with a much bigger motor. How big is another question altogether.

A couple of days before we went to our favorite tackle shop to get some supplies. I picked up a Storm lure. Its a deep diver with a killer wiggle. Its called 'Wiggle Wart' and true to its name, it sure does pack a mean wiggle! After less than 10 casts I felt a tug on my lure, it was released and the ensuing retrieve initiated a more aggressive attack. In the end an accidental hook-up got me a juvie snakehead (Toman).

Look at the color of the Wiggle Wart. If you're a fish, you can't take your eyes off it, especially if it gives a sexy wiggle ;).

Confession coming here. I don't look good putting the rod between my teeth. Just don't have the look. However you'll get a good look at my gear, a Fenwick rod with DAM round bait-caster.

The crazy mid-day sun shooed us away to go fresh water prawn fishing under the shade in a nearby river. This is one huge bugger caught by one of our buddy. The blue shade of it's claws tells us that it is already an adult.

It is my first time fishing for shrimp with a rod and reel. Different experience but fun nonetheless.

At least 2 finger thick and runs the length of my palm from the tip of my index finger to the base of my palm.

Another place we tried our luck with shrimp. No action after the first couple of catches from the previous place.

John trying out Crouching style of angling.

Looks like John can't wait to cook 'em shrimps...gonna eat 'em sushi style instead. I hope those pincers don't find their way into his nose...

We are the R.O.E!!!

2010-08-20T23:59:00.007+08:00

This is the beginning of R.O.E ... we are the Rebels Of Establishment. The non-conformist, the slayer of white elephants, and the special operation branch of the organization that spearheads changes for the good of the organization. Our actions are officially not recognized, but it is accepted as part of our 'Black' operations.

"WE ARE THE R.O.E, WHO STAND BEFORE THE 'E' AND DECLARE THAT WE WILL NEVER FALL BACK. WE WILL STRIKE WITHOUT FEAR OR FAVOR IN OUR MISSION TO FREE THE OPPRESSED. TREMBLE THEE AND MAKE AMENDS, FOR WE SHALL SHOW NO MERCY."

Project E (minor update)

2010-08-06T16:21:00.004+08:00

After getting most parts of my hardware working, now is time to work on the firmware. In order to reduce my development time, I decided to use ICSP (In Circuit Serial Programming). This removes the process of taking out the microcontroller, then programming it on a programmer, then putting it back into the circuit to test out..replay that process many times, and you'll get what I mean. So ICSP reduces alot of that process and you could just program it on the circuit.

The pic above shows my adaptation to perform ICSP. Managed to get it functioning. So next step would be to dive into the programming, something I am not that good in but look forward to the journey and knowledge gain.

Project E - P2

2010-07-19T18:01:00.005+08:00

It has been a few weeks since my last update about Project E. Project E is a personal project to develop a range finder. It is a self improvement thing for me.

I initially had a problem with my amp. It is a 2 stage inverting amp. I could not get it to amplify the rx'd ultrasonic signal. The other problem was there is no way to know if my tx is working .

The only way I could find out if I had any signal at the rx was to check it out using an oscilloscope. I tapped the signal before it entered the amp and the pic below was what I obtained.

1. No obstacles in front of the tx and rx. Small distorted signal in milivolt range.

2. Next, I tried with a book above the tx and rx. Finally a semblance of a response. Notice the difference? The signal got really thick and messy. That was how I know that my Tx is working.

So something is wrong with my amp. Which I later found out was due to my negative voltage supply. It was supplying a mere -3V instead of -5V. The next step was to find a fix.

I was initially using a MAX232 with its charge pump function to generate -5V. However it turns out that the MAX232 is unable to drive any load higher than 20kohm. My friend at work pointed it out to me (felt like a duche-bag for not reading the datasheet properly).

I ditched the MAX232 and tried a dual output voltage network (recommended by my friend). It didn't work...well, it did get me +5 and -5V. However it had to be connected direct to my source and thus my source will be rendered +5V. Connecting +5V to other devices will create uneven drain on this network and will then affect the -5V output. So this method was ditched too.

In the end, I managed to source a negative voltage converter (TL7660CP) from Texas Instruments. It just needed 2 electrolytic caps to make it work! Simplicity in itself!

I ordered some samples from TI and it arrived in less than 2 weeks! See below for some pictures.

3. Can't wait to open it. This is what came out of the envelope.

4. ESD safe packaging (nothing less expected).

5. Finally got to trying it out on my circuit. There are 2 LED's in the pic. The one on the right (lit up) shows that the Tx is working. The one on the left is the LED connected to the amp output of the Rx. So if everything works, that lower left LED should light up and blink. ;)

6. IT WORKS!!! You can see the left LED lighting up after I put a book above the Tx/Rx! Finally a step forward for my project! I've learned lots! It is never too late to learn!

Power consumption at this point is 51mA (according to the DC power supply).

Next step would be to figure out the programming to calculate the range and output through PIC the distance from obstacle.

Channa Marulloides a.k.a Toman Bunga???

2010-07-13T11:32:00.005+08:00

3 of us took a short trip down south to check out a small lake. We reached around 5.30pm. This beautiful place was found along a roadside, so it was very convenient for us to park. We walked down a small slope and found ourselves on a rocky bank. In front of us lies a beautiful lake with brackish water, water lilies and water grass the the left and right.

We couldn't find earthworms for live bait, so we just headed out with artificial lures. I didn't bring one bit of gear, so I borrowed one from my BIL.

We tried on the left side using spinners but couldn't get any bite. It looks all too quiet. The skies were overcast and the temperature was not too warm. I was afraid either it was too cold or there just no fish here.

We decided to move to the right to try our luck. I changed to a small popper. My BIL got most of his lures from a discount bin. So this small popper costs about RM3.00! My first cast, I had to adjust to the weight of the lure and the rod to get the correct action (which I saw from youtube). The 2nd cast was way off the mark (I wanted to aim nearer the water lilies). My 3rd cast, was also off, but after a few pops...WHAM!!! A bright flash of yellow and suddenly my medium soft rod was bent over double!!!

When the quarry was finally landed, it was a beautiful yellow green and black Toman! I just couldn't believe my eyes. It was just beautiful. My first fish on a lure. I don't have a pic of its teeth, but I didn't regret putting on wire leaders.

1. Holding on to the popper. Popper lure: RM3.00, Experience: Priceless.

2. Putting it into a bucket. We released all of them back into the lake after that.

3. Another shot of it before back into the lake. Notice the horizontal stripes of yellow, green and black?

4. This one was caught by my BIL on a shallow shad profile lure. Lure price: RM8.00, Experience: Priceless.

It just took us 30 min of fishing to land these 2 fishes. Bear in mind we did it from the shore.

Ah...a dream come true for all of us that day.

A Quote from Someone Wise

2010-07-02T08:40:00.004+08:00

"Know the enemy and know yourself; in a hundred battles, you will never be defeated. When you are ignorant of the enemy but know yourself, your chances of winning and losing are equal. If ignorant of both your enemy and of yourself, you are sure to be defeated in every battle" - Sun Tzu

.

Machang Bubuk Pay Pond

2010-06-22T22:23:00.004+08:00

Afternoon fishing trip to Machang Bubuk. FS brought us there for some fresh water fishing experience. A place that you'll definitely catch fish using only bread. I was skeptical at first but you really could get fish using bread! LOL.

John's first Pacu. Later on he caught Rohu and Patin. Now he has 'license' for freshwater fishing.

I didn't get my 'license' till very late. Turns out I wrapped my hook with too much bread. Thanks to FS for the tips and demo!

You can bring home 2 catches. Entry fee is RM15. There is an returnable deposit of RM2.

Our catch after gutting.

Fried patin in sweet sour sauce, not bad.

Lake Fishing in the Morning

2010-06-17T17:36:00.006+08:00

I was back in KL for a short holiday. There was an invitation from my brother-in-law and a colleague of his, Alan. for a fishing trip in Selangor. It was still dark when I left my house. Stopped by a McD outlet for my breakfast and coffee. Better to be awake and energized in case a big fish comes along ;)

The convenience of 24 hr outlets. You'll never go hungry.

Morning view of the lake. Beautiful and calm. Fresh air abundant.

A natural ecosystem at work. Good sign of healthy fish stock.

Some skinny earthworms for bait. My first time using them. Never seen such a skinny earthworm before.

Ikan Keli as live bait for Toman. Didn't handle them, afraid of their sting. Alan was a pro, helped us rig the baits.

Caught juvenile Soon Hock/Ketutu/Marbled Goby. Found that they have interesting feeding habits. Certainly useful for future fishing trips.

Project E - P1

2010-06-03T17:26:00.007+08:00

This is a personal project that I am doing during my free time. There was slow progress due to some work commitments lately and I also stumbled onto a problem. So more work to go until I get it working. The first few steps were not easy but certainly satisfying.

1. Initial testing of PIC. Still unfamiliar with the programming language, however I believe if I continue with more effort it should not be a problem. I removed the switch later, made it badly. You can see the 4MHz crystal on the top right corner. I thought it was not working, later found out that I did not set the configuration bits in MPLAB to XT. Took me quite awhile to realize this mistake.

2. I found another 4MHz crystal to try. This was before finding out my mistake.

3. Manage to get the frequency and signal that I want. Still early stages with my programming and hardware design. The 2 digit LED on the left is just there for show. Not integrated yet.

4. Finally got to organize my components. Collection since university days.

5. Another box after getting organized. Now able to find what I need quickly.

Heritage: The Penang Peranakan Mansion

2010-06-01T09:32:00.008+08:00

The Penang Peranakan Mansion showcases artifacts and a glimpse of the way of life of the Peranakans or Straits Chinese. The Peranakans are of Chinese origin who has assimilated certain Malay culture to create a unique culture of their own such as their kebayas and cuisine.

Here are some pictures of my recent visit. This place bears much resemblance to the Malaccan Peranakan Museum, they certainly have much more artifacts on display, however as this Peranakan Mansion was "recreated", it was not able to provide the feel of authenticity as compared with the Malaccan Peranakan Museum.

1. Some restoration work in progress.

2. Iron hinge, never seen one this old and of this design. Very unique and must have been very expensive during its day and even today.

3. A unique stained glass. I've not seen many stained glass windows in Malaysia and I really love this one.

4. A unique carved door in gold. Very intricate design.

5. Interesting motifs on the tiles. Must be very old ones since you can't see any grout in between. You don't get this workmanship these days.

6. Another motif

7. I loved this, and took a picture. A corner porcelain wash basin with flower motifs. Never seen this before.

8. Tiffin carriers, maybe not unique to Baba and Nyonya culture, but I've never seen one this old before. The array of colors, size, design and innovative accessories made it interesting. You see the 3rd from the right which has different heights and a tube which I guess was to hold chopsticks.

For more info (ie: address, entrance rates and history), please visit http://www.pinangperanakanmansion.com.my/

Our Potential

2010-05-31T13:11:00.005+08:00

"Our world is filled with unexplored paths and undiscovered truths, it is up to us to take that first step to discovery...of ourselves and the world around us."

Round 2: Bedong Pay Pond!

2010-05-26T21:26:00.006+08:00

We went back to Bedong catch and release pond recently after a long spell due to work commitments. This time we have Garoupa King (soon to be Siakap King), John and Reiny to join in the fun and adventure of angling.

Mui Soon a.k.a Garoupa King a.k.a Siakap King was first to cast his line and in a short while caught a 2-2.5kg barramundi (hrm...what happened to John who usually is the kia...um...first to cast his line??)

Here's the King with his 1st catch. Humongous!

You can see how big this fish was by comparing it to the rod. A good 1.5ft! Pretty nice specimen too, healthy skin and fat!

Here is John with a darker specimen. Probably nearing 2kg. Psst...this one not caught by him. Eh hem...lets continue, this was caught by Reiny. The fish were pretty active today, hitting on both live and dead bait (shrimp mostly). No need for fish pellets which we had to use generously the first time.

Here is Reiny reeling in a big one. She's only been fishing a couple of times and this fish she's reelin' in broke both John and Mui Soon's record!

And here it is...look at that! Approx 5kg. Almost 3ft in length! A powerful bugger!

Reeling in another barramundi. It was barramundi day! The water wasn't as clear as before, it was slightly murky.

Reiny with another catch, she caught 6 that day and all were at least 1kg (except that 5kg monster)

Mui Soon with his 1st Ladyfish! It probably weighs about 2kg but the fight was like the 5kg barramundi!!! My goodness, it was just pulling the line...wheeee...wheee...goes the drag. Finally we landed this one and quickly grabbed a shot and released it. He caught a 2nd one in the same pond later.

Actually all of us has at least caught 1 fish. However John didn't get a single bite! It was very very strange. He was working very hard, casting, checking his other bottom rigs, re-rigging live bait...he just wouldn't give up! Then finally at around 5.30pm...his luck came back and he caught his first fish with his new casting reel and rod (DAM reel and silstar 5'6" rod).

Finally with his 1st catch, a sizeable 2kg specimen. After a whole day of fishing under the unrelenting heat...without giving up till the last minute!

I don't know whatcha call this, but it is a flotation device with a motor that turns those paddles which in turn creates splashes to encourage oxygen to be absorbed in the water. These are used in the prawn breeding ponds as they are more susceptible to low oxygen waters.

We only left when the cows came home! Above is a picture of a herd of cows going home, thus blocking our way out.

It was a great day for me. I caught a whopper of a 7kg barramundi! Using soft plastic! I didn't give up using artificial lures. No picture of it though as by the time i got it to shore it was ready to retire, so I just propped it up and let it swim away after removing the hook.

The final results...

MS aka Siakap King (formerly Garoupa King) - 14 Barramundi, 2 Ladyfish
Reiny - 6-7 Barramundi
John - 6 Barramundi
Me - 1 (I know, only 1 but it was a 7kg one LOL)

Books

2010-04-02T00:58:00.003+08:00

Recently I have finished reading a few books. One of them was a biography and the other 2 fiction. All of them enjoyable!

The Singapore Story is a pretty thick book but an interesting read on how Singapore became a developed nation in 30 years. It gives great insight from the island at the end of the Malayan peninsula.

I have also picked up "Playing for Pizza" and "King of Torts" by John Grisham. Playing for Pizza is a refreshing break from the law novels that he is famous for. It shows his love for football. I do not really understand the game but enjoyed the novel just as much.

The "King of Torts" tells a story of how lawyers become hustlers chasing the dollar then come crashing down into bankruptcy. A lesson on not being greedy and keeping your priorities right.

Leobooks at Island Plaza

2010-03-25T23:00:00.003+08:00

Found a quaint little discount bookstore nestled in Island Plaza, Penang. It was really a surprise find. We were shopping in Metrojaya for great discounted clothes. Saw a small banner promoting a bookstore. After shopping we found this small little shop. I was so happy.

If you're into books, go have a look. They sell very cheap books. Some are new and some second hand, both at ridiculous prices.

I only spent 20min there and already bought 3 books. 20min was not enough, I wish I could stay longer...if I stayed an hour I would have bought 9 books! LOL.

Pond Fishing in Bedong

2010-02-23T20:38:00.006+08:00

I have not fished in a pond for many years now and recently I had a chance to do that. This place is located in Bedong, Sg. Petani, Kedah. It is located in a palm oil plantation a little off Bedong town.

This pond has saltwater fishes of a few varieties like the Siakap (Barramundi), Tek Ling (ladyfish) and Bulan (Ox-Eye/Indo Pacific Tarpon). Yeah, you heard right, SALTWATER pond!

I do not have the specific directions but the location is N 05deg 42.196' E100deg 30.031' on the GPS.

1. Clear blue skies in the morning. You can see the size of the pond. The owner has 3 big ponds for you to fish in.

2. See the small raft-like platform in the middle of this pond? It has wheels with paddles and a motor to run it to increase oxygen in the water. These ponds are for prawn breeding. My friend has told me that farmed prawns require water with more oxygen in order to survive.

3. You thought being in the "ulu" places that there would not be any toilet facilities, you're proven wrong here...this place has sinks for you to wash your hands in and they are in progress to build a chalet for those who like overnight fishing!

4. More prawn breeding ponds.

5. The owner is a versatile business man. While walking past this structure here we heard loud chirping noises inside. Initially thought to be a barn to store feed or fertilizers turns out to be a purpose made swift nest...yupe...swallow your saliva 'gulp' for some birds nest!

6. Our live prawn bait. Make sure to bring a portable air pump to keep them alive.

7. This guy caught a sizeable Ladyfish (Tek Ling) using fly fishing gear!

8. This pond is a catch and release pond. However you have the option to buy the fish you caught for a price.

9. Steven helping his father-in-law remove the hook from this Barramundi (Siakap). The hook went deep inside, you can see that Steven was able to get his whole hand inside the mouth...pretty big, almost comparable to the Garoupa.

10. Steven finally removing the hook from the fish, look at the monster...most probably nearing 2kg.

11. John with his 1st fish, also a Siakap looks to be slightly above 1kg. Not bad.

12. Whoa! Finally John with a much bigger Siakap, this looks like it could hit 3kg!!!

13. Steven caught the most in quantity, but I believe John will make it up in variety and weight. He caught the only Tek Ling (Ladyfish) in our group. This fish really packs a fight!

14. A fellow angler who was next to us helping us with the fish.

15. John holding his prize.

16. I didn't catch any fish at first, fought a couple of big ones but was not able to bring 'em in. However my only catch of the day was enough to put a big smile on my face to end a beautiful day. You can see the fish jumping to get the hook off in this pic.

17. Pardon my sloppy looking hair but I had to get the hat out of the way for this pic. My first 1kg fish!!! YAHOO!!! I know nothing to shout about but who cares :P

18. Right after bringing in my first Siakap I hooked another big one, this time the fight was furious, I must have adjusted my drag too tight (it was too loose during the fight) and suddenly the line went slack. It turns out that my hook broke off!

Reminder to self to get better hooks and not the Daichii ones as they are more brittle. Also reminder not to put drag too tight.

Although I did not catch the big one, but the fight was exhilirating enough to give me an adrenaline rush. Whoosh!!!

19. All this excitement whetted our appetites, thankfully this place has 1st class service...there's fried rice served with spicy belacan and 5 super fresh prawns from their own backyard!

20. Getting live baits from the prawn breeding pond.

21. You can see another Siakap being brought near the bank. Very clear waters. You can see the fish swimming nearby.

22. Splash and it was John's 4th fish of the day!

Entry Fee: RM30.00/pax
Live prawns: RM0.30/ea
Softdrinks: RM2.00/can
Fried rice: RM4.00/plate (5 big prawns)

Champion: Steven (total: Too many to count, record: 5 siakap in 5 continuous min!)

Unique Photos worth running away from

2010-02-11T01:03:00.002+08:00

This is a unique blog where the author shares pictures of himself running from a camera with a 2 sec timer.

It makes for creative expression and photography. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did.

http://runningfromcamera.blogspot.com/

How to Fix a Leaky Shower Tap

2010-02-11T00:09:00.002+08:00

The shower in the other bathroom of my apartment started leaking again after I used it. The sound of water dropping into an empty bucket is pretty annoying. Having experienced the same issue in my previous apartment, I decided to fix it once an for all the minute I got home from work.

I dropped by the neighborhood hardware store to pick up a chisel and putty filler for cement walls.

After 2 hrs of carefully chiselling off a small portion of tile and the underlying cement, I managed to find the connecting joint and used a plier to open it. It turns out that the washer of the shower tap was torn, thus allowing water to seep through.

So back to the hardware store for a replacement which cost me 50 cents. Replacement was quick and simple. Filled the hole with putty and then clean up!

Whole process probably 3 hrs. Taking into account my inexperience, all in all a pretty good job. RM 3.50 for the chisel, RM4.00 for wall putty (with enough remaining to fill up 10 more holes :P) and RM0.50 for the replacement washer.

Total cost of repair = RM 8.00 (chisel & wall putty could be used for other stuff, which is a bonus!)

Maybe I could moonlight as a part time plumber for RM50 per small job. LOL.

Tenggiri (Mackerel) Adventure in Yan, Kedah

2010-01-28T22:54:00.008+08:00

Yan, Kedah. One of the more famous Tenggiri (Mackerel) fishing destination in Peninsular Malaysia. You just type "Yan, Tenggiri" in YouTube and you will know what I mean.

We made a booking with Kli on one of his boats a month before (RM450/boat). Even then the schedule was almost full and we were lucky to take the last one. We chose a suitable time when the sea was calmest (between 1st and 15th day of Lunar calendar).

So with all our equipment packed and ready, we headed out at 5.00am to the hunting grounds. The trip took a little more than an hour from Penang. The location on GPS is N 05deg 50.960' E 100deg 21.895'. We were lucky to have met a bunch of old timers on the way while stopping at a traffic light. We followed their van to the destination.

Once reaching there, you will be surprised to see kampung styled coffee shops doing bustling business. All their customers were there for Tenggiri fishing. If you happen to stop by there, try their Nasi Lemak, it is quite nice and served warm.

If you brought your ice box and need ice, don't worry. The 2 coffee shops there sells them at approx RM3/bag.

We quickly found our boat and loaded our stuff and thus began our virgin Tenggiri hunt!

1. In this picture is John Pang, Fook Soon and myself. All excited.

During the trip I was hit by seasickness. After checking the internet I found that I did all the things that could exacerbate motion sickness. The only thing I did right was to lie down and close my eyes. The seasick med that I bought (I got a pack of 10 pills and the brand was 'Pulin') didn't seem to work even though I took it 1/2 hr before boarding (as prescribed).

In the end, I did ZERO fishing and just watched as the rest caught their 1st Tenggiri! ARGH!!! So sad.

However I got to witness in real life how fighting this athletic fish really looks like. When John got the first bite, the line just keep going off the reel. You can feel the strength of this fish when you hear the zipping sound of line coming off. Everyone was focused watching the battle between man and fish. Only once landing the fish on the boat that everyone relaxed their tense muscle and give a shout of 'WOOHOO!'. The exhilaration was addictive.

The whole trip we saw other boats landing bigger Tenggiri's. They seem to be responding to white feather lures instead of natural bait like 'Selar'. So make sure you pack an extra few feather lures before you go. You could also buy some from the boatmen at RM5 a pop, make sure to let them know a day before as they have to make it before hand.

2. Gary here with the 2 largest we caught!

3. Fook Soon posing with the fish.

4. John Pang with his. Guess which one is his...yup you guess right! Another new record for him!!!

5. Gary just loves kissing the fish. It was his first fishing trip. Glad you joined us and hope you enjoyed yourself!!!

6. Fish in hand.

7. This is near the place where the Tenggiri boats dock. You see a small river there (hrm...maybe we can do 2nd round Siakap fishing by this river!) and paddy fields behind. Really beautiful. No haze! Fresh air!

8. This is the sign right by the jetty. It says Kuala Dulang Jetty for fishermen. It is near Sg. Dulang Kechil in Yan.

9. The river meandering towards the sea.

10. A refreshing break after fishing at one of the coffee shops.

11. You can see my seasick face. Totally exhausted.

12. John Pang holding his Tenggiri like a sword.

13. Tenggiri (Mackerel) fishing using casting lures is no easy work. It is very tiring, you can see John's face and you'll know what I mean. He had blisters all over his hands.

14. The result. Very fresh deep fried Mackerel with sweet sour sauce poured over it. Tenggiri being a pelagic fish has very little fats. So it tastes better after frying than steaming.

15. Another version with a dipping sauce.

16. Our full course!

We will be planning another round of fishing before the end of Tenggiri season in Yan. This time I will try new meds (Novomin) and make sure I have enough sleep and face the horizon while in the boat. If all goes well then I will be able to go for the 3 days 2 nites adventure in Pangkor.

So without further delay, let me display the results!

John Pang.........Champion (2 x Tenggiri, 1 at 2.5kg a new personal record)
Mui Soon...........1st Runner up (1 x Todak lookalike)
Fook Soon..........2nd Runner up (1 x small red snapper)
Shien Long & Gary.........ZERO (but 100% fun)

Lure Preparation for Tenggiri Hunt in Yan

2010-01-21T23:44:00.003+08:00

This will be our first time going Tenggiri (Mackerel) hunting in Yan. It will be a first for everyone so everyone have done some homework in preparation for this fishing adventure. Of course you cannot ever be prepared until you get into the heat of things, nevertheless it never hurts to do a little preparation.

Part of our preparation includes bait. Besides using 'Selar' from the market, we will be using lures to cast for 'Tenggiri'.

This will be my first time bait-casting using artificial lures and I am excited to try them out in the open sea.

1. I've made a lure myself, no guarantee of it working but hopefully with a little DIY and experimentation I could make it work.

2. 'Ironman' spoon lure by Bakau. Only RM3.00.

3. Weight of this spoon lure is 12g. The heavier the weight the harder it is to pull the lure through water.

4. A Hinomiya hard lure with 2 treble hooks. Pretty good quality. Flashy colors combined with a rattler inside hopefully would entice the fish to bite.

5. A close-up of the hard lure. The design of the 'lip' in front of the fish determines the depth it will 'swim' when pulled at a certain rate. I asked the proprietor at the tackle shop and he put the depth at 5ft max when pulled.

Carls Jr

2010-01-16T18:27:00.004+08:00

We tried this fast food outlet while we were in Sunway Pyramid. An American Establishment, it looks a little like Burger King. The prices were far from the usual fast food that we're used to. Patty was not inspiringly thick, however their fries and fillings were good.

1. It was a huge cup for large.

2. Someone bought low hung jeans

3. Nice slivers of mushroom

Invitation for a fishing trip to Pangkor (With Pictures)

2010-01-12T13:40:00.005+08:00

Finally some pictures to share with you guys. As you can see from the pictures, the boat is a behemoth specially designed for anglers.

Did I mention before that live bait will be provided? The live bait will be kept in a special built aquarium in the boat with sea water pumped in direct and cycled out frequently.

Food, ice and lodging provided.

We will be aiming for pelagics such as the Barracuda, Threadfin (Senangin or Ngor Hu), Mackerel (Tenggiri), Cobia, Amberjack & Giant Trevally (GT) and bottom fishes like the Giant Grouper, Red Snapper and Stingray.

I am guessing (without any experience to back me up) that we could be doing 2 main kinds of fishing, bottom and bait casting. If possible we will try jigging.

Jigging and baitcasting with 25lb rod and 20lb line should be possible base on many readings in forums. That would be in the range of our current low cost gear. We just need to set our drag low to reduce chances of our line snapping from the force of the attack.

Bottom fishing would need a conventional reel which should cost around RM200++. Once I get one I will update you guys.

Woohoo!!! I am so excited. We still need people to sign up!!! Come on you peeps, send me a mail to soulmen.budweiser@gmail.com or soulmen_budweiser@yahoo.com for enquiries!!!

1. Right below you see the individual shades, this will cater to each angler.

2. The name of the boat..."Seagull"

3. The deck, see the special rod holders on the rail?

4. Here you can see the individualized canopy clearly.

5. A seat will be provided for each angler...give you a moment of rest after catching your 1st big fish!

Note: Confirmation when RM430 paid to organizer. This is because booking of boat is whole payment up front.

Fishing Technically

2010-01-11T18:01:00.005+08:00

The possibility of going to deep sea fishing in May 2010 is high this year and I'm getting more and more excited on the prospects for catching a big fish! I've only eaten a big fish but not caught any before. My own record is a pathetic 400g stingray.

I've started to browse through some literature to increase my knowledge of the fishes that I am going to catch. Hopefully it will help me land a prize catch.

My studies so far has led me to believe in order to catch a fish, firstly you have to know what kind of fish you plan to land and next you need to understand its habitat, feeding preference/method and its active time. I have found this site that put it in a simple diagram. Beautiful!

Next, exploring the limits of my low cost gear, I should be able to (with moderate ability) perform jigging with my biggest spinning reel even though it will be optimum to have a high speed high powered reel for that. Ah, finally able to save cost and then splurge on a deep sea reel for bottom fishing...hee...hee (with silly grin on face).

John has organized a fishing trip next week near Yan, Kedah. I found this blog from the famous Longkang Gang that describes their outing there for tenggiri, the target species in Yan. Here's another site that proves there is tenggiri in Yan!

Invitation for a fishing trip to Pangkor

2010-01-07T02:20:00.004+08:00

Our friends are organizing a deep sea fishing trip in Pangkor. This will be my first trip to fish in deeper waters. So an improvement from fishing from the shore. Gear will be different, so I will be making some purchases soon.

Right now we have 6-7 places remaining. It is a first come first served basis. We need minimum of 13 anglers in order to initiate booking. So HURRY!

Details below, some photos will be added soon.

When: Mid-May (date to be confirmed once we hv 13pax)
Duration: 3 days 2 nites
Price: RM 430 (includes meals,ice, accommodation and live bait, bring your own gear)
Payment: Immediate when confirmed. Booking requires upfront payment.
Boat: 62ft x 18ft (shaded decks with customized rod holders, easy chairs for every angler, lower deck for sleeping. There will be 2 captains on board).
Main Target - Giant Grouper, Red Snapper, Barracuda, Threadfin (Senangin/Ngor Hu), Tenggiri, Stingray, Cobia, Amberjack.

Additional: Min of 13 pax for anglers. Friends and family different charge and limited space, so if interested need to hurry. As for travel arrangements will be discussed later once we get 13 anglers and payment for booking.

Promotion: Kx Racket

2010-01-07T02:13:00.002+08:00

Any of you interested to buy a badminton racket? I have a friend who is a very experienced badminton player and is selling a few brands of racket. He usually field test these rackets so they should be good otherwise he won't use them ;).

Visit his site for more info.

Singapore

2010-01-05T02:48:00.009+08:00

Recently we were in Singapore and we had a wonderful time there. We stayed at Hotel 81, Dickson Road in Little India. It is a pretty new hotel, the rooms are small, probably 11ft x 11ft but clean with attached shower. Hotel prices are pretty steep in Singapore so either go during non-peak season or go for hostels.

Little India is a colorful place, by day you can see many Indian style grocery shops selling very fresh produce. At night the nearby pubs come to life catering mainly to the local Indian immigrants and backpackers.

1. You can observe the "buah kelor" here, they are the tall sticks placed standing up. I've tried it once in Malacca. It is cooked with curry. Quite nice.

After checking in to our rooms we headed out to visit Singapore Art Museum (SAM). I've been there before and loved their exhibits. The last time I've been there they were showcasing art from Korea, this time round they were showcasing art from 2 countries, Philippines and Mexico. We had a lovely time just walking and appreciating the paintings.

2. The winding staircase leading to the 1st floor of SAM.

3. I was surprised to find out that the Philippines has a pretty long history in Arts. This painting you see here was very beautiful. I thought it was from Europe but in fact was drawn by a Filipino. The drawing depicts discrimination against women set in Rome, it symbolizes the oppression faced by Philippines while under the rule of Spain.

4. Statue outside SAM. Note the dark gloomy sky, it was raining on and off while we were there.

5. One of the buildings of Singapore Management University (SMU) along Stamford Rd. Near the National Museum of Singapore.

6. The above is the reason Singapore is called a garden city state.

7. Inside National Museum of Singapore. The building was by itself beautiful. We were very fortunate to be there at 6pm on Thursday as at that time there was no charge for visiting the museum.

8. There are many escalators in Singapore. This was heading to the lower levels of the museum.

9. A display on the tools used to make local food, quite similar to those used in Malaysia. Shown here is an ice shaving machine to make 'Ice Kacang', 'ABC' or 'Cendol'.

10. A reflection of the ice shaving machine set in the middle of tea-cups with many logos of the sponsoring company reminiscence of the traditional kopitiam.

11. Pictures of the many nationalities that made early Singapore their home.

12. I just had to include this. It is a Mamiya Super 16mm miniature camera. Beautiful!

13. See through lock box. You can be nosy without being too obvious.

14. Underneath the dome of the museum.

15. The museum building bathed in lights.

16. Clarke Quay. Popular watering hole.

17. Reflection of Riverside Point along Clarke Quay.

18. We were greeted by skyscrapers as we exited Raffles MRT.

19. The Fullerton Hotel. Very grand.

20. Ion Orchard with one of the biggest Christmas tree I've ever seen. There are entry points around the tree where you can enter and admire the lights. Notice the nutmeg? I wonder what is the significance behind having it there.

21. Perspective.

22. Ion Orchard

23. More of the big tree.

24. Orchard in motion.

25. MMU gang...almost.

26. NTU Surf n Sweat Club posing for a photo while they were promoting their club.

27. Boasted as Singapore tallest vertical mall, Orchard Central has a beautiful garden on its roof. If you're scared of heights I'd suggest taking the lift as the escalators are scary!

28. Reaching for the skies.

29. Moving with the wind.

Exposure

2009-12-31T17:22:00.003+08:00

These days when you go out you will notice more people carrying a DSLR around with them. I am one of these people and I would like to share some basics that I've learned. I am no
expert, but I like to share what I know and if I am wrong I invite you to correct me.

Here I would like to share the basics of exposure. Before we start, if you do not know what an exposure meter looks like then take a look at the picture below. This is the built-in exposure meter (or something similar) that you will see in the viewfinder of your new camera (if you do not know what is a viewfinder, I suggest a trip to some pages on the User Guide of your camera will do some good).

You will see a plus and minus sign. This shows whether the picture you are trying to take is currently in the right exposure. Adjustments are usually made if the exposure is not centered on the bar.

3 main functions in a DSLR controls exposure. They are:
- ISO
- Shutter speed
- Aperture

These 3 functions control the exposure (amount of light) in different ways. ISO controls light by adjusting the sensitivity of the sensor/film. Shutter speed uses time to control the amount of light hitting the sensor/film. Aperture uses different opening sizes to control amount of light entering.

By varying these 3 controls, you can adjust for correct exposure.

Of course each of these controls have different effect on light, therefore it will be interesting to adjust for the right exposure and vary your settings to see what kind of effects you will obtain.

I hope you found this article useful. Have fun experimenting!

Senangin - Demystified

2009-12-31T00:33:00.003+08:00

Right after my Pulau Aman post, I googled the web for Senangin and finally found its English name...THREADFIN here.

Sounds fast and strong. It is certainly an athletic fish, I've seen it flip on top of the surface to break the line the last time we went fishing. John had the 1.4kg Threadfin near the surface and it suddenly jumped out of the water, did some sort of spin.

Knowing that it is trying to break the line, our friend Boon Heng quickly grabbed a net and a split second later it landed in the net.

That time was the first time (prior to this I could not differenciate the types of fish for the life of me) I had senangin/threadfin.

Pulau Aman 2

2009-12-30T23:16:00.010+08:00

After a long period of dark, gloomy and wet season, we finally have a spell of good weather. When there is good weather, there will be good fishing. So this is my second trip to Pulau Aman.

We met up at 9.30am and headed to the market opposite Sunshine supermarket in Bayan Lepas for a hearty breakfast. The stall selling chicken & roast pork belly rice facing Suntech was delicious. After filling our stomachs with food and Penang famous kopi 'O', we headed to the wet market to get our bait. We bought Kembung fish, medium sized prawns and sotong.

Once we got our stuff we headed to our destination of Pulau Aman near Batu Kawan!

1. Here is a pic of John and Mui Soon getting their gear ready. Can you pick out the kiasu one? Every fishing trip he will be the first to throw in the line! Haha...see the face also know right? kekeke

2. Kiasu is kiasu lah, but champion for the day is John! Hahaha. He caught a beautiful Senangin or "Ngor Hu". I'm not familiar with the English name for it.

3. There were a few groups of anglers on the jetty too. This guy was with his two kids and they managed to catch ikan Sembilan or "Thor Sat". Very good for curry. His kids caught many ikan Gelama too. They just throw their lines in and minutes later get hook up.

4. This peculiar looking thing was caught by another group. They told us that this can be used as bait after cutting it up. I have no idea what it is.

5. I am not sure what sort of fish this is. Looks like snapper but I took a look at this site but could not find anything similar.

6. These people are hardcore fishing fanatics! This is one example of overnight fishing. Look at the amount of gear for 2 person. On the right side (not in this pic) there is another setup, with double the gear! I take my hat off to these passionate anglers.

7. Yup, you're right. Live bait! The best! Live shrimp caught by net. Live shrimp is pretty expensive coming at RM 0.40 - 0.50 each. I heard Red Snapper loves live shrimp. No chance to try it yet though (I meant the live shrimp bait).

8. Heard of handsfree kit for your mobile? How about handsfree fishing rods? I'm sure these were around way before handsfree for mobile :D

9. Here's a pic of John posing with his catch. See, no need muscle to catch, just use stiff action rods and 20lbs line the fish will just fly out and land on your lap!

10. Life jacket aboard the boat that ferries passengers to and from Pulau Aman. Funny thing was that no one was wearing them. Even the Captain.

11. We didn't have chance to eat at the Malay seafood restaurant pictured here. I've tried their seafood fried rice, and it includes 3 super large prawns. Can't remember the price, but should be around RM7 - 9.00 per plate. Flavor is ok, but the prawns are fresh and just a delight to bite into.

12. The ferry stops here.

13. Heres the jetty that we do our fishing. You can see it stretches out about 100m from the shore. Allowing anglers to reach deeper waters.

14. Concrete sign welcoming you to Pulau Aman.

15. Shell fish at a local seafood restaurant in Batu Kawan.

16. Soft shelled crabs. Also at the seafood restaurant. Very nice but we didn't order any.

17. Mantis prawns. These are considered the medium sized ones. They are very nice steamed with garlic or stir fried with butter or salted eggs.

18. Lion fish. Notice the big head. Didn't know that they were edible.

19. This is the seafood restaurant that we had our fish cooked and served with dinner. They will clean and cook the fish you caught for only RM8.00!

20. Here's the Senangin steamed with tomato, ginger and asam. Very fresh and delicious.

21. Everyone getting ready to tuck in.

22. The size of the fish against my hand. Keep in mind my fingers are pretty long. LOL.

23. The full menu. Fish, crabs, sotong, seaweed soup and mixed vege. Simple, fresh and heartening meal.

24. Finally, the remainders. ;)

Champion: John Pang (1 x Senangin)

Mui Soon & Shien Long (eat egg)

Chinatown, Kuala Lumpur

2009-09-23T02:19:00.005+08:00

Street photography in Chinatown, Kuala Lumpur is challenging. The heat, road condition, vehicular and pedestrian traffic, unfamiliarity with the place itself tend to get a person disorientated. However, we should give ourselves a followup tour as this place has many hidden potential that only a followup session could provide.

Statement made to the World

2009-09-17T02:44:00.002+08:00

A fitting graffiti in the times we live in. Picture taken on the pedestrian bridge on Penang Road. No editing done to this digital image.

Random Pics of Campbell St.

2009-08-30T22:34:00.005+08:00

Some random shots of Campbell Street. It was a quiet Sunday and suitable for some walking and picture taking.

Powerball in Malaysia!

2009-08-28T20:34:00.007+08:00

My friend introduced me to this new product called Powerball. I have never heard of it before until he borrowed me his to try. It is an interesting device that does not use any batteries (unless you buy those with meters), utilising inertia and gyroscope technology to power the LEDs. The main purpose of this Powerball is for strengthening your wrist, arms and shoulders.

Those who play ping pong, badminton, tennis, speed cubing (Rubik's cube) or even those who sit at the desk the whole day typing will benefit from the use of Powerball to strengthen those vulnerable muscles and to deter injury.

I was surprised to find that there was actually quite a number of YouTube videos on Powerball. These people use it for health and competition.

Prices starts from RM 89.90 - RM 176.90.

Have a look at this blog where you can get them via online orders.

Portraiture & Street Photography at Campbell St.

2009-08-27T20:20:00.007+08:00

Here are some portrait shots using the Phottix Wireless Adapter which I blogged about in my previous post. I was trying out this flash technique and was surprised with the results.

This technique is used when the background is brighter than the foreground. Exposing for the background would render the foreground underexposed, vice versa when exposing for the foreground. Therefore to get some balance, a flash is brought in.

First expose for the background, then if your speedlight has TTL it should automatically adjust to your camera settings. However poor me had to make do with an old Yashica speedlight, therefore no TTL :(

If you do not have a TTL enabled speedlight, you have to play around with your ISO, shutter speed, aperture and distance of the flash from your subject.

I hope the tips above help. Drop me a line if you need more guidance, or share if you have tried with better results.

These shots were taken together with Alisa and Valerie. Visit Valerie's blog for some amazing pictures of Campbell St. and Little India.

Alleys of Campbell St & Little India, Penang

2009-08-27T01:10:00.009+08:00

This is a continuation from previous post. We (including Alisa and Valerie) did take a short tour of Little India after we walked along Campbell St. The following are some pictures of the interesting alleys that we found. Our alleys are not only colorful, but shows how resourceful and creative we can be for functional purposes at the lowest cost possible ;)

Windows of Penang

2009-08-26T00:13:00.006+08:00

These pictures was taken 2 weeks ago on a cloudy Sunday. I went with Valerie and Alisa. We decided to just walk and take photographs along Campbell Road in Georgetown. Walking along the roads you will not notice these windows until you pay attention to them. The color, the age, the simple and functional designs of older times and also the decay. The smells along the 5 foot ways of these decades old shops evokes memories of our younger days. I hope you enjoy them.

Shuttlecock for Sale

2009-07-13T21:00:00.002+08:00

RCL Titanium shuttlecock for sale at Good Deal.

Preview: Phottix Wireless Flash Adapter Review

2009-07-10T01:24:00.007+08:00

I bought the Phottix remote flash adapter 2 weeks ago from Easycam (Ground Flr, Komtar). I wanted to try some dramatic flash photography and getting this adapter will give me more flexibility and ease in carrying that out. There will still be some challenges though as I do not have Nikon's CLS. Budget being a constrain, I will have to make do with my Cybertix generic flash unit.

I chose Phottix as the built quality was much better than Falcon which was more flimsy in construction. The sticker price was RM 180.00 but I got it for RM 110.00. Mr. Tan from Easycam was very nice and gave me a RM 10 discount from the initial price of RM 120.00.

1) This was the original packaging that the adapter came in.

2) As you can see in the photo above, the package includes a wireless transmitter (to the right), a receiver (to the left), 2 AAA batteries and a PC cable for those who has the adapter on their camera's.

3) A composite shot of all the accessories. This was taken in a makeshift light box that I made.

4) The bottom shot of the transmitter. You can see that there is a channel selector (blue box with 2 toggle switches).

5) A standing shot of the transmitter.

I took a few test shots using the adapter and I am pleased with its performance. The disadvantage here is that you would not be able to add a primary flash on top of your transmitter as it does not have a hotshoe. The other thing here is that I am not sure if you will be able to trigger another receiver if you get another one connected to a secondary flash unit. It would surely be interesting to try out. May need to check out with Easycam to see if they sell only the receiver.

Price: 7/10 (I'm happier if it is around RM80-90 range ;P)
Build Quality: 8.5/10 (much better compared to Falcon)
Ease of Use: 10/10 (simple, just plug and play)

Fresh Water Fishing in Grik

2009-07-10T00:49:00.007+08:00

This is my first fresh water fishing as an adult. I remember following my family to fishing ponds back in Brunei. Freshwater fishing is very different from seawater fishing. It is really more technical and the variety of equipment will quickly put your seawater equipment into the useless bin.

Our freshwater adventure started in the wee hours of the morning. Ah San who has a surprisingly comfortable Triton 4-wheel drive provided the transportation. We dumped all our gear at the back of his truck and then left for Grik, our freshwater fishing destination. In total, there were 4 of us including Mui Soon and John Pang.

Grik is located near Tasik Temenggor, a famous freshwater fishing lake. However we are not fishing at Tasik Temenggor, rather we will fishing at the myriad of ponds, rivers and lakes found surrounding Grik.

1) Our first fishing site. Er...you can see that John has a live frog hooked to his rod. It is our first time using live frogs as bait. It requires a different kind of hooking mechanism to hook a live frog, I will show how in the future.

2) The frogs in a plastic bag. They are pretty quick, so unless you have extensive knowledge on how to hold them, I'd recommend a quick and fast throw to the ground to knock them out for a couple of minutes ;). It is good consideration to use fake baits in the future, it reduces the hassle of buying live frogs and you don't have to kill them to get fish.

3) We found a nice place to fish after looking for a couple of hours. This place was hidden in a dense bush, we hack through and found a trail leading to a small clearing which was perfect. Didn't get our lines snagged on any bushes while casting.

4) You can see that we are in a palm oil plantation. These are the places where you find a network of lakes, ponds and rivers where Toman and other freshwater gamefish thrives. The locals over there told us they have caught before Toman and catfish with heads bigger than my fist!

5) The coolest way to ride is to stand behind the truck. Er...although we got whacked by a couple of palm oil trees when we weren't paying attention, ouch!

6) Sadly, this is not the fish we caught. I wish it was. We quit during lunch time as we were getting hungry. Ah San's friend owns a restaurant and they whipped up a good meal for us. This freshwater fish was the tastiest that I have ever tried. I do not know what type it is but mmmmmmmm....i don't mind having it again!

7) We saw a local fisherman with a load of catch which he sold to a few restaurants. You can see a snakehead fish called haruan I think. Correct me if I am wrong. The others are local freshwater species of catfish.

8) Ah San and Mui Soon talking about the fish that got away. Mui Soon's line just kept dragging, his gear was quite good which goes to show how strong the fish is. Ah San got a bite too, but he was using monofilament and the fish got away by cutting the line.

9) The place we had our lunch. Nice food.

My first visit to Grik and by far the most enjoyable fishing trip I've ever had even though I didn't get a bite. I would love to try freshwater fishing again. It is more technical than sea fishing as it requires a certain amount of accuracy in casting and technique to prevent snagging. Looking forward to my next trip!

Old Pictures: After Work Fishing at China Harbour

2009-07-09T11:52:00.005+08:00

I had a pretty hectic time that started from 2 months ago. So in order to de-stress I joined my friends fishing at China Harbour after work one Friday night. This is where the 2nd bridge is going to be built linking Penang Island to mainland.

1) The top of a ship seen through the harbour. You can see it has just gotten dark.

2) My tackle box. No lures yet. An assortment of weights, swivels and bells.

3) Mui Soon and John looking at squid. We tried catching them but it was not easy.

4) My first time using the 4 ft rod that I bought. Really light and easy to wield.

5) Alisa caught her first fish using the new rod! It is a sizeable Gelama.

6) I caught a catfish, urgh!

7) Trying to get the hook off the catfish.

It was a great couple of hours of fishing. Something to get your mind off work. Definitely worth doing again in the near future. The quote by John, "A bad fishing day is better than a good working day" stays true! ;)

Dinner at Momiji-Tei & Drinks at Sunset Bistro with Friends

2009-07-07T21:44:00.007+08:00

Last weekend we met up with some friends to catch up with old times. We drove to Tanjung Bungah hoping to try some German fare at Ingolf's Kneipe German Bar and Restaurant however the place was packed and there were many waiting at the bar. So we decided to head to a new Japanese restaurant Momiji-Tei that we saw just down the road.
1) The exterior have the ambience of a mini Japanese garden, the restaurant proper has just a small number of tables. An empty mini sushi bar sits in a corner, evidence that this is a new place.

2) The service was prompt and efficient, very soon we have our cups of hot green tea. Everybody was famished as it was already 8pm.

3) While waiting for the food to arrive, we fooled around with the camera as Chia Ling was interested in getting a DSLR camera.

4) I love this shot of myself taken by Chia Ling! Rarely do I have a nice candid and natural picture of myself. Thanks girl!

5) Our appetizer arrived first. This sushi roll is made from fresh salmon (or tuna...I couldn't remember) and mango. It has a pretty interesting taste and I like it very much. We also ordered Tonkotsu ramen, Kimuchie Ramen and others which were pretty good but the serving portion of the ingredients was pretty small compared to most ramen establishments. I did took some pictures but they didn't come out as nice as I hoped (more practice needed there).

6) After a nice dinner we headed to Batu Feringghi to a nice beach side place called Sunset Bistro. I didn't know Batu Feringghi had such a long beautiful beach and the night life there was pretty up and happening with many locals and tourists sitting on the beach and having cocktails with names like "Sex on the Beach", "Sex on the Roof" if I remember correctly and many others if you could imagine ;)

7) We had some fun with the 50mm portrait lens and these are some of the shots we got.

8) There was also a fire show performed by this very daring lady. It was really interesting to watch, they even invited the patrons to give a try, too bad none wanted to play with fire ;)

9) You know Street Fighter? This looks like one of those combo shots done by Guile o.o
The service may be a little slow but at least you get your drinks cold. The menu comes with an extensive list of beverages (alcoholic and non-alcoholic) at the market rate, the food choices are standard and a little pricey; they even have a cigar menu certainly to cater for the tourists.

When asked if I would come to this place again, I'd say yes, but make sure to come earlier in order to get parking space. The quirky cocktails, tables on the sand, long beautiful beach, soft waves and good company is an irresistible combo.

Elaine & Chai's Wedding Part 3

2009-07-06T22:28:00.013+08:00

Finally Part 3 is here. There's so many photos that I would not want to waste your time by giving too many comments. Hope you like them!

Elaine & Chai's Wedding Part 2

2009-07-05T16:39:00.013+08:00

This is part 2, the 2nd day where we went to fetch the bride. The weather was brutal, but all "heng dai's" were dressed in their best blue shirts and Chai was to be the knight in shining armour. The games were not very tough, maybe because we were able to think on our feet and answer with pin point accuracy ;)

1) Chai in a 3-piece white suit. Phew, must be roasting there.

2) I didn't catch any of the games, but here are some shots of us trying to cool down to a stand fan in the super hot weather.

3) Chu Huan browsing through the pre-wedding photos. Very good quality from Kuang Yee.

4) Wanna know how hot it is, look at Lam Hin's back...that's not water!

5) After going through the barricade setup by the "sister's" and the tea ceremony, we went straight to St. Anne's church for the church ceremony. Pictured here is the old St. Anne's church building, still looking grand.

6) Some shots by the car requested by the photographer before everyone arrives.

7) Elaine and Chai having a light moment during the posing session.

8) It's their big day and they are the superstars as witnessed in this photo with many image capture devices being trained on the shining pair.

9) A beautiful flowing dress, I had to capture this with my wideangle. I have another shot near the church entrance.

10) Zhen Wei familiarizing himself with the bubble maker to be used in the ceremony.

11) More shots in front of the altar.

12) Beautiful dress.

13)

14) Chai and his family.

15) Chai and his other bunch of heng dai's from Secondary school and College.

16) Lam Hin couldn't get enough of the bubble maker device.

17) BID heng dai's posing for the camera.

18) Walking out as husband and wife after the ceremony.

19) Everybody who has a camera snapping away.

20) Love the plate...too bad no soda cans on strings behind the car... :)

Part 3 (Wedding Dinner) coming soon!

Elaine & Chai's Wedding Part 1

2009-07-05T02:27:00.009+08:00

Finally found some time to update this blog and also to upload some photos of my friend's wedding. The professionals took care of the main shots, I focused on our friend's journey to marital bliss with us "heng dai's" bringing him there.

1) Lam Hin drove us to the pre-wedding dinner and later on bachelor's party at Chai's House. He has one hand on the wheel and the other on the gearbox. Efficient driving and ready to sweep the corner Initial D style if needed in order to get there on time.

2) Chu Huan looking so "leng chai" ;) Siew Jing was the only female "Heng Dai"...all were dressed up and looking pretty for the evening!

3) Wideangle shot of me and Siew Jing. I thought it was a bachelor's party first, didn't think that there was dinner for the bride's side involved hence my cowboy apparel :(. Siew Jing flashing the peace sign hehe.

4) Brandon is taking the video of Chai singing Bon Jovi's Thank You for Loving Me. See Liew giving a funny smile, maybe due to the singing.

5) The lovely couple giving a toast.

6) Ok, getting ready to drink from the champaigne glass...

7) Love this shot of Elaine looking lovingly at Chai.

8) Chai trying to open the bottle...cute cake on the right.

9) Zoom shot of Chai.

10) All the BID & x-BID heng dai's with the bride groom. Love the macho look, sorry for the blur shot guys, guess I was too excited to grab this shot that my hand shook.

11) Chai giving a ceramah on the strategy for retrieving the bride tomorrow. We had a whole crate of tools and what-not stashed behind just in case the bride's "sisters" gave us any trouble. We were doing it Mafia War's style ;). BTW, just joking about the tools.

Keep a lookout on this blog, I will be coming back with more photos for the Church ceremony and the Wedding Dinner which is the 2nd and 3rd installation. I know everyone has been waiting very long to look at some of these photos, my apologies for taking so long (editing skill not so pro leh)...ahem, hope you find them nice.

*Please contact me to obtain full resolution photos.

Camping at Monkey Beach

2009-06-14T22:17:00.008+08:00

This is my 3rd time camping at Monkey Beach and I have to say that I am not bored of it yet. Monkey Beach provide the perfect site for camping as it provides the bare necessities, toilet, water, tables, benches, long beautiful beach and calm waters. The sunsets and sunrise are not disappointing too, 3 times in a row!

1. A view of our campsite. There were 6 of us, Mui Soon, John Pang, Reiny, Valerie and Stephanie.

2. John Pang and Reiny are now nicknamed the PufferFish Couple since they managed to catch 11 puffer fish between them!

3. Sunrise taken with Canon Ixus. Breathtaking...

4. Stephanie (left) and Valerie (right) with the sunrise behind them.

5. It rained briefly in the morning, Mui Soon was catching more shut eye as we fished till 4am. John Pang with his cool pose while Valerie goes "duh"...hehe

6. Mui Soon with his book, he never fails to bring one on a long trip.

Overall a very nice trip. Everyone had fun (Err...I hope). Some learned to fish, some caught fish, some learned to camp, and everyone enjoyed the weekend!

PS: You can view more pics at John Pang's fishing blog

Valerie's Inspiration

2009-06-10T23:55:00.001+08:00

Finally my best friend has got her own blog and started to dabble in photography. I have to admit that girls have a much better eye in photography compared to guys...or...erm...I am only referring to myself. Sigh. Oh well, have a look at her site here!

Father's Day Promotion

2009-06-10T23:53:00.003+08:00

Anybody looking to get a cake for your Dad on father's day? You may want to have a look here for some promotions.

Fish Farm

2009-06-09T00:26:00.010+08:00

Just a couple of weeks ago we were invited to a fish farm near Pulau Jerejak. Me and my girlfriend was late but Mr. Ong was very kind to send another boat to get us. This trip was organized by Ong Lee to Mr. Ong's fish farm. Thank you very much guys! I had a great time on the biggest fish farm I've ever seen!

1. These blue buckets were filled with mushed up fish meal to feed the fishes. Some are grinded into a fine paste for the smaller fishes.

2. You can see here they are feeding the fries.

3. These groupers are slightly bigger and you can see that they are not afraid of humans.

4. We still have a long way to go in improving our mind set. Tons of rubbish still get dumped into the sea everyday. They end up killing wildlife and polluting our beaches and seas. We should do our part to stop throwing rubbish everywhere.

5. Timmy with his casting reel.

6. Someone is definitely having a good time relaxing!

7. We had a wonderful dinner. The fish was great! Thanks Mr. Ong and Sue for cooking the meal.

8. Hui Yean enjoying herself. At the back you see mainland lighted up.

9. Twilight is when we are transitioning between day and night. Here the sky is still blue even though to our eyes it is already dark.

10. Sweet ladies having a chat and group photo.

11. Another shot toward the mainland.

12. Here is Alvin posing with the fish farm and Pulau Jerejak as the back drop. He took many nice photos. Go to his link here.

13. We were goofing around with some special effects. I have to say using a compact camera to create those effects are much easier than carrying an SLR. You can see Ah Wee getting ready with his camera to do some special effects.

14. Everybody loading on to a humungous passenger boat. The motor on this boat was so powerful you could feel the acceleration, on water! Hahaha. We had a great time. Thanks to Mr. Ong and Ong Lee (nope, they are not related. Are they???)

All pictures posted on this blog are the exclusive copyright of http://shienlong.blogspot.com

Penang Floral Festival

2009-06-03T01:40:00.003+08:00

You just got to love Penang. They not only have great food, they have many events throughout the year. You will never run short of photographic opportunities. Go to my friend's linkz below to have a look at some of the beautiful flowers on display!

Grouper Fishing Tips

2009-06-03T01:30:00.002+08:00

My friend John has published some grouper fishing tips. Pretty good tips seeing that he and Mui Soon caught so many groupers recently. Have a read here if you are interested.

Fishing in Pulau Jerejak

2009-05-28T22:14:00.011+08:00

Our fishing destination today is the east side of Pulau Jerejak. We were supposed to push off from the fishing village at 8am but it turns out that the tide was still low. So we went to get some breakfast at Sunshine market instead. Since we're there, we stopped by the wet market to buy some squid for bait then off we go to the fishing village near Queensbay.

1. This is the view that greeted us when we arrived. Definitely low tide. You can see many boats stranded on the beach. We waited while the boatmen got ready the boat. I kept myself occupied by taking some photos.

2. Mui Soon and John waiting for our ride.

3. Random shots of a hut where the weather wearied fisherman take a nap.

4. This is a handmade rack to hang the engines. I guess they alternate the engines for different sea conditions and distance out to sea. A fisherman told us that engines used to be cheaper, a 15 HP Suzuki engine to the left used to cost only RM2,800 not too long ago but now it costs more than RM5,000!

5. Enough time to sit down with the fisherman/boatman to chat about the fishing conditions and type of fish to be found where we're going to try our fishing luck!

6. I guess you don't have to go to a mamak shop to have some teh tarik, during this tough economic period, why not make your own jug of teh tarik and bring your own chairs to the beach to lepak!

7. On our way to Jerejak! Everyone looking at the island we are going to have a good time!

8. We reached Jerejak island and we were dropped off where there's a small abandoned hut right on top of the sea. There were tables, shade, piped water and even a toilet! Although all were in bad condition, it was useful nonetheless. Here you see John getting straight to work! He was the first to cast a line...hehe.

9. Mui Soon trying out casting with his new rod and Shimano casting reel. It is one damn beautiful looking reel. I wanna try too!

10. Mui Soon and John was first to catch fish. They caught a baby grouper and a weird looking fish which we called "Helicopter" respectively.

10. Trying to get the Helicopter fish off the hook. At the bottom is the new tool I bought which is designed to unhook fish.

11. I bet John is thinking, "Where is my fish!"

12. John looks like a fishing hero with his rod in this picture. You are my fishing sifu!

13. During this trip I found that wasp just loves raw squid leftovers.

14. There were some leftover mosquito coils which we lighted up to keep mosquitoes and flies away.

15. I caught my first Helicopter fish. Look at it, standing up like that! I've never seen a fish stand up have you? If not, please stand up, please stand up!

16. Plenty of space to stow your gear. Not to mention the shade too. Too bad there was no air-conditioning.

17. There was a crab trap left by someone, we fixed the hole, attached a squid in the trap and set it down to catch some crab. Guess what, we caught crab!

18. John imitating a monk to get fish. :P

19. I am in the background casting my line. You will notice to my north there's a fish farm which I suspect is why we are not getting any big fish.

20. The crab cage not only catches crab, it catches fish too. Hehe. I had no idea it was a puffer fish until John did something. See what he did in the next picture.

21. Don't worry, he did not step on it. He was trying to push the fish back into the sea with his slippers when the fish got agitated and turned into an airball. It floated on the water when we pushed it into the sea. Literally.

22. You do notice the teeth right!? Pretty white and straight too.

23. At the end of a day, we brought home a Grouper, 4 Helicopter fish and another fish which I can't identify. The helicopter fish is delicious! I didn't know it was edible, but Mui Soon and John always see it in the market and people do eat them but they are not very popular. I think its because of the size of the fish, it doesn't grow to be very big and you have to remove it's tough skin before cooking.

We took the fish to Teluk Kumbar Good Friend's restaurant to be cooked. It was a nice meal to end a great day. "A bad fishing day is better than a good working day", this is a quote I got from my friend's website. It sure rings true :P.

My New Fishing Rod

2009-05-12T22:54:00.006+08:00

I bought my 3rd rod and reel last week. Yay! Erm...actually 'I' didn't buy it. It is a gift from my gf...er...not really a gift...I sorta tricked her. Hehehe. You have to blame John Pang, coz he was the one that influenced me :P. The story starts with him losing his first ever rod to the fish on his previous trips (don't ask me how, it is a long funny story), so his girlfriend bought him another one. Then Mui Soon (another fishing sifu) also asked his wife to buy him one when he got to know. I feel that this tradition should not be lost, so I proposed to my gf to continue this tradition. She agreed (after much begging).

My rod is a Relix Champion RC120, 4 foot 6-15 lb rod, pretty short fast action rod compared to the other economy ones at Zainxan Pro-Fishing Centre (141, Beach Street, 10300 Penang). See map below.

View Larger Map
The location of the shop is near the Fire Station along Beach St. Click on the bubble 'G'.

1. The fine print on the rod states the length of the rod (4 feet), using line of 2.7-7kg. It does not state that it is fast action.

I do not have my reel with me now. I've lend it to John Pang for his fishing trip to Pangkor over the long weekend. Dang, would have loved to join them. However I haven't seen my family for a long time so maybe next time will go when they organize another trip. John text'd me what he had caught on the 1st night (2 grouper, 2 yellowtailed fish and 1 stingray)...grr. John bought the same rod and he caught all fishes with that rod and my reel, which is some consolation to me since I was looking to get a shorter rod for better fight with small fishes.

Visit his site for some pictures of his fishing trip to P. Pangkor!

2. The boss gave me RM3 discount off the total price which you can see here. However no discount for the reel at RM48 :(. Whole set cost RM81.

3. The great thing about this rod was that it came with its own bag. Great for keeping my rod in good condition after cleaning.

Snatch Theft is a Hideous Crime

2009-05-07T12:35:00.002+08:00

The recent news reports of snatch thefts causing the death of 2 pregnant ladies is very sad. The Star reported the 2nd case. I am appalled by the actions of these criminals. This is a hideous crime indeed. It is no longer a small matter of theft but a crime of the most heinous kind. These criminals should be brought to justice immediately to demonstrate to our society that we do not tolerate these actions. A tougher sentence need to be meted out or the laws reviewed to provide severe penalties in order to deter such actions.

We as the public could do more to help the police in their jobs to catch these criminals. Call the police when you witness these events or even those who look suspicious. It is always better to take preventive action. Visit the links below to note down the emergency numbers or even better, save them in your mobile NOW!!!

Historical Tour of Malacca - Day 1

2009-05-06T23:41:00.011+08:00

Finally finished with the 1st part of our Malacca trip. Got some great feedback on the pictures to be of a smaller size when enlarged, this series will not have this, however I'll work on it for the next series.

1. Our bus was at 12.00a.m. We were fresh and excited. The tickets for Penang --> Malacca costs RM47! I thought the fuel price went down for many months now. It used to be RM35. Hrm...I wonder what excuse they are giving for not reverting back to the original price.

2. A new building which I have not seen before. Must have been built the last couple of years. It is the shop for "Shan Shu Gong", literally meaning "3rd Uncle" selling local delicacies such as durian cendol, bedak, gula malacca and many others. During the afternoon there were many people in and around the shop as people came in droves to buy the local specialty foods. Saw many cars with Singaporean plates. The whole area was in a constant state of traffic jam from 11a.m till 12a.m.

3. I like this shot of my friend's Gim Hooi and Paige. This was taken near Harper's cafe.

4. Shot of a building near Stadthuys.

5. Lovely couple by the fountain at Stadthuys.

6. Ching Fang & Alisa posing by the fountain.

7. The water looks like its coming from my hands. Nice shot by Alisa ;)

8. Looking at souveniers.

9. We could actually enter this church, but you cannot wear sleveless or slippers. The caretaker there was pretty rude to us when we tried to enter. It would not hurt to be more polite since it is a tourist spot.

Tried to get the sky to show more blue, but hard to control the exposure without rendering the foreground black. This was the best shot I have. Did some post processing to bring out the foreground as it looked a little dark. Overall happy with the shot as I wanted to get the glare through the bell above the cross.

10. I am addicted to wideangles. Should have placed my subjects closer to the left. Forgot the rules of third which is a dumb thing to do, especially when you have great friends and super duper location for pictures! The effect of the wideangle does makes it looks better somewhat, so some consolation for me.

11. A row of empty aluminium cans on an ancient fort by Malacca river. Is this the kind of culture we have in Malaysia? This is a UN Heritage site and yet we are littering everywhere. Hope we can realise our mistakes and do not litter, instead recyle to preserve our environment.

12. It was a terribly hot day but very windy. A lucky shot of Ching Fang nearly blown away by the wind. This was taken near the ancient fort.

13. Visited the museum that looks like a ship. It is a replica. RM3 per adult (local) and the best thing about buying this ticket is that you get to visit 2 other museums on 1 ticket. Great idea!

14. Inside of the ship. Replica's of many ships by the Portugese, Dutch, English, Malays, Chinese, Indians and other nationalities that ply the Straits of Malacca with many goods. The most valuable during that time were spices.

15. This is the interior of the RMN (Royal Malaysian Navy) museum. Gim Hooi became our impromptu guide as he was formerly from PALAPES, a volunteer force for the Navy. So don't mess with me....er....or I will call Gim!

16. After our day tour, we headed back home for a shower (phew, you didn't know how hot it was!) and rest. At night we went to visit the famous Jonker Walk. There will be many stalls selling trinkets, souveniers, street food, ointments and there's a street lined with street cafe's and bars. Real good shopping to be done here but be careful of your belongings.

Not much to worry about traffic as they close off the road to traffic. There was a show going on when we entered Jonker Walk, there's this guy who was cracking a whip tearing the newspaper into half. I've never heard a whip before, and it makes a pretty loud crack!

17. Plenty of shopping for the ladies. There's bags, costume jewellery, clothing and accessories. Pretty colorful stuff. Some imitation stuff too. Price wise not many that you could bargain, but hey, its a tourist attraction, so tourist price.

Overall a great first day. Hot and sweaty the whole day no doubt, but enjoyed company of friends which was great!

Historical Tour of Malacca - Day 2

2009-05-05T22:32:00.016+08:00

I sort of got the sequence of days wrong when I loaded the photos. Being the lazy bum that I am and not wanting to go through all the trouble of loading the photos on blogspot, I'm going to leave it as it is and start with day 2.

We started off the morning with some breakfast in town. I'll chronicle our foodscapades after all the touristy stuff. After a great breakfast and some Malaccan coffee, we headed off to A'Famosa for our first stop. Parking was a challenge as it was the holidays and there were many local and foreign tourists.

Map of Historical Sites

1. The detailed lettering on the cannon made hundreds of years ago by the Dutch clearly visible today

2. The cannon hole is blocked, just in case.

3. Paige and Gim Hooi posing in front of A'Famosa fort, their first time here!

4. Gim Hooi proposing to Paige, again! Hehe

5. Really good buskers serenading the tourists at St. Paul's Church. They even sang a Chinese song pretty well!

6. Another shot of the buskers.

7. They were just looking out into the courtyard. I turned around and saw this beautiful composition.

8. Inside St. Paul's church. It is situated on top of a hill overlooking the sea. Must have been a very beautiful church during that time.

9. A marble statue of St. Francis Xavier on St. Paul's hill

10. An abstract of a gate near Jonker walk. Looks like a line of guy's p***s.

11. Dragon guarding the gates to Cheng Hoon Teng temple

12. Candid shot of Gim Hooi

12. Side doors at the temple

13. Alisa looking very sweet in this shot

14. Pantene moment, there was a cool breeze blowing on a hot day

15. Side road to Jonker walk

16. Ching Fang smiling at our jokes

17. Gim Hooi looking candid

18. At one of the many curios shops around Jonker walk

19. Random shots of buildings

20. Colorful lanterns for sale

21. Thanks to my friends and gf for posing

22. I didn't catch the joke, it must have been very funny, but I did catch the picture ;)

Teluk Kumbar Portrait Shoot

2009-04-26T00:38:00.006+08:00

Photo shoot was organized by John Pang with Cheng Yen, Reiny @ Photographer and Grace as our models. The light was nice and there were total of 6 photographers using Canon, Nikon and Sony gear. Thanks to our models for being patient as we fumble and tumble with our first steps in giving directions on posing and at the same time finding nice light to photograph in. We had a good time and learnt alot from each other.

Hope you enjoy the photos and please feel free to comment.

Here's Reiny in one of my favorite shots.

We discovered a new modeling talent in Yew Jin quite by accident. He does make a good model. He is also our first time photographing male models! Thanks man!

Our talented male model in his element.

A lovely and funny couple. John and Reiny.

The other photogs. Their energy shows through the photo, makes you want to join them and take a few shots and make the right exposures.

2009-04-25T00:58:00.003+08:00

Some shots made while taking part in the competition.

John Pang posing with his D200

Saw some interesting street art. I wonder what message does it conveys.

See if you can spot people you know here. I can see John Pang, Reiny, Jess and John K.

Everyone pointing their camera at Roxanne.

Waiting to start on the first day of shooting. You can see YJ with his 70-300 behind Jess.