Feeding Time...

Since the last weekend Jun Lee now knows how to plop herself onto her pillow when she sees the milk bottle. She actually started doing so about a fortnight back, but would end up with her head not actually on the pillow. Now she's doing it quite accurately, and it's so cute to see her go to her pillow (either in the cot upstairs or the playroom mattress) when she sees us coming with the milk for them.

Photo Gear Talk...

This will basically document the stuff I have at any point in time. It is most telling that I change stuff very often, but then luckily I almost never lose any dough on them...

Sep 2008
Nikon D40, Nikon 18-70mm f3.5-4.5, Nikon SB-400, Crumpler 5MDH, Nikon 80-200mm f4 AI, Manfrotto 190PRO

Oct 2008
Nikon D60, Tamron 17-50mm f2.8, Nikon 18-70mm f3.5-4.5, Nikon SB-400, Crumpler 5MDH, Nikon 80-200mm f4 AI, Manfrotto Monopod 676B

Nov 2008
Nikon D60, Tamron 17-50mm f2.8, Nikon 18-70mm f3.5-4.5, Nikon SB-400, Crumpler 5MDH, Manfrotto Monopod 676B

Jan 2009
Canon 450D, Canon 17-40mm f4L, Canon 17-85mm f4-5.6 IS, Canon 50mm f1.8, Nissin Di622, Manfrotto Monopod 676B, old Tatonka bag

Feb 2009
Canon 450D, Tamron 17-50mm f2.8, Canon 430EX, Manfrotto Monopod 676B, Bagman CA05

Jan 2010
Canon 450D, Tamron 17-50mm f2.8 VC, Canon 430EX, Manfrotto Monopod 676B, Bagman CA05

Amazing isn't it, the gear changes in February alone? Almost all the lenses I had in January have been sold. It's pretty normal as I am new to the Canon system, so a lot of trial and error. For now I think I've reached a sweetspot, and this setup should stay for now. Maybe a 50mm f1.4...

Babies Holiday... Day 2...

Jun Lee & Jun Yen woke up around 0730 (fairly typical time) and sent me running to make their milk. However, they drank very little, about 3oz of their normal 6oz. Went to breakfast at the coffee house at 0900, got a seat on the verandah. Food was okay, with a decent selection. The service was also alright with plates being cleared in good time and all, but the replenishment was so slooowwww...

After breakfast, off we went around Cameron Highlands...

First we stopped at Cactus Point, where there were some flowers, and a lot of cacti (obviously!).

Prickly stuff...

Went on down to Tanah Rata to have lunch at the Summer Kaye Garden. This place has decent food amidst a garden-like setting, with their home-made noodles particularly noteworthy...

Grandma, put me down, I want to walk...

Our tummies satisfied, we went over to the MARDI facility. Bought some strawberry jam (which from previous experience was quite good) and a bottle of strawberry concentrate. (which later proved to be great poured over ice cream...)

Later that evening, went to the Sungai Palas Plantation visitors centre, and got a nice table right next to the balcony.

Jun Lee: Mommy, why you copy me...

Jun Lee: See... copy me again...

Jun Yen & Jun Lee...

Jun Lee & Jun Yen...

Tired out from the long exciting day (largely from all the loading and unloading of strollers and what have yous...) decided not to go out for dinner, and we tapau-ed from Marrybrown. Something not available in the Klang Valley (which someone subsequently corrected me is in Berjaya Times Square...), and from previous experience at Genting, their chicken is really good...

Thus ended Day 2...

Babies Holiday... Day 1...

To my amazement, I actually finished editing the photos by Saturday! So here's the post on our recent holiday... complete with pics!

Brought the babies on their first holiday last week (13 Dec) to Cameron Highlands with their Grandpa, Grandma and Uncle too. Although I'm tickled pink describing it as babies' holiday, because indeed, what could they be needing a break from? Hehe...

Stayed at the Hotel Equatorial's 3-bedroom apartment. Our experience of the place warranted a story on its own here.

We left home about 11am and stopped at Sungkai for lunch at about 1pm. Lunch was superb, with braised pig's trotters, river fish, and local veges. Absolutely amazing stuff being dished out from an unassuming coffee shop setup on the main road.

Arrived and checked in at close to 4pm. The babies slept almost all the way from Simpang Pulai to Kea Farm, which is a good thing. After checking in, settled down and had tea, and Mom prepared the night's dinner. Basically we were just sitting back and relaxing until dinner time. Balcony has a decent view of vegetable farms and we had a pleasant time sitting there.

This place is nice and cool...

Later just before dinner, fed the babies with cereal. As the usual baby chairs were not available, we made do by sitting them on the couch. Worked fine on the most part, though they kept getting up and walking all over...

Cereal in the highlands...

Dinner was great, we had steamboat next to the balcony, and Mom brought a lot of yummy things including her home-made fishpaste, and some scarily big prawns! We put the babies next to us in the cot. Speaking of the (hotel-supplied) cot, it was in surprisingly good condition, complete with little blanket and sheets. Though for the sake of familiarity we brought the babies' own sheets and pillow...

Mommy, we want a big big prawn...

After dinner put the babies to bed around 9pm (past their usual bedtime) but they were so excited that they protested very vocally. But they were so tired from the long day they didn't keep it up and fell asleep rather quickly...

Hotel Equatorial Cameron Highlands...

On our recent holiday to Cameron Highlands, I ended up booking the 3-room apartment at the Hotel Equatorial for 2 night for the sum of about RM1,500, based on my favourable perception of the Equatorial Melaka.

Decent hotels are not exactly plentiful in Camerons, with the only premium hotel, th Cameron Highlands Resort, charging prices similar to a hotel room in London. We previously stayed at the Century Pines in 2006, and it was actually pretty good. However, this time they were fully booked.

Equatorial, being a reasonably well known name in these parts, came to mind. So in booking a place there, I was looking forward to comfortable rooms, decent breakfasts, et al as I have come to expect of Equatorial hotels (the Melaka one anyway...).

What we got was utter rubbish (for the price) for most part, which I will not describe here as it will take a few pages. All I can say is if you're going to Camerons, do NOT stay at the Equatorial. You have been warned.

What, no pics?...

Okay, I KNOW I take forever to upload pics, and wifey's breathing down my neck doesn't help. I've never quite managed to be happy about the stuff that comes directly out from the camera, something always needs tweaking.

Lest you think I'm guilty of fakery and embellishing photos, I'm not, and my tweaks are usually limited to exposure adjustments. The exposure meter can sometimes be wonky... Nikons of late have meters that seem to need a bit of manual intervention, and usually veers on the side of overexposure. Trust me, I'm not the only one who complains of this trait.

The good thing is most pics come out bright and cheery and saturated to the point of looking really punchy, and most people are happy to the point they don't notice the blown out highlights...

On another note, I've had a revamp of my photo equipment lately and there has been a lot of buying and selling of stuff in the last 2 months.

Stuff I've bought: D60 body, Tamron 17-50mm f2.8, Nikon 55-200mm f4.0-5.6 VR, Manfrotto 676B monopod, hotshoe mounted spirit level, Kingston 4GB SDHC Micro-SD card...

Stuff I've sold: D40 body, Nikon 55-200mm f4.0-5.6 VR (yes you read that right...), Nikon 18-70mm f3.5-4.5, Crumpler 5MDH shoulder bag, Nikon 80-200mm f4.0 AIS...

So now all I am left with is the D60 body, Tamron 17-50 and an old Tatonka bag. All I need to get is a decent bag (thinking of a Kata).

I love the D40 series bodies for its small size. I used to own a D70, and it was very cumbersome. Similarly I really like the 18-70 lens, but ultimately plumped for the Tamron due to its large aperture. Reminds me of my old Tokina 28-70 which I used on my F80 many years ago.

Also dislike backpacks as they are large and not conducive to quick photos. Imagine to access something in the backpack, you have to take the bag off, lay it on sometimes very questionable surfaces, and then take the stuff out, and close the bag and lug it back on in case someone nicks your stuff... Very very tedious. Of course they're great for carrying lots of gear, but now that I am in the minimalist equipment school-of-thought, I can make do with a small shoulder bag.

And now, back to work on the photos... Just got back from the babies' first vacation in Cameron Highlands on Monday, and promised myself I will upload pics before the week is out!

The Trick...

I spent a good part of yesterday with the twins as wifey was out for some shopping and gym.

Bro came over for a while, and saw Jun Lee do a nifty trick to get back her toy. Jun Yen is the more possessive one, and tends to grab toys from Jun Lee. For whatever reason, despite being bigger than Jun Yen, she seems to lose in most of these grabs.

Today Jun Lee was playing with a plastic ring, which is nothing new to them, but Jun Yen just had to have it and grabbed it. Jun Lee let it go, and went to pick up a book, and started to like wave it in front of her sister to attract her. Jun Yen then dropped the ring and went to get the book, and Jun Lee got back her toy. Mission accomplished!