An Evening in Putrajaya

Took my D50 out to Putrajaya last Sunday for a ride and got a few decent shots. Mr Cloud wasn't too friendly that day and it was a dull evening. Nonetheless it's a new city in the country that has been shot to death by countless photographers and the lights were awesome couple with some fine architecture at night.

Alamanda Shopping Complex - 1/13 sec, F/22

Shangri-La Putrajaya - 1/20 sec, F/3.5

Seri Wawasan Bridge - 8 sec, F/5.6

From the tiny 2.0" screen of the D50 this photo looked pretty damn good. But I was wrong 'cos I shaked the camera a bit when I was releasing the shutter. How can I forget to use the Timer?! Argh...

More photos here.

Hari Ini Dalam Sejarah

It's US$23,000 in the pocket - SE k610i

All the early mornings and late nights work aka hard work has finally paid off! US$23,000 / MYR87,400 is ours - the MSC Skyhawks - for the taking! The team has been working their ass off for the past 2 months and this is the day we've all been waiting for, the 2006 Cash Contest winners announcement. Nobody gave us a chance at all of having a shot at even the Top 10 (18 clubs in Asia competing). MSC Skyhawks was dead last for the whole month of August. but a team compromising of a rookie GM and a bunch of never-give-up-comeback-kids prove the world wrong. So I was right when I once said that we would be the Comeback Kings :)

This is payback time.

Champ's Bistro

Prawn Mee @ Champ's - 1/10 sec, F/3.8

One of the best prawn mee that I've had in a very long time! Why didn't I figured out earlier? Must give it a try if you're around 1U/TTDI.

Champ's Bistro
F10, First Floor, Centrepoint, Bandar Utama
Opening Hours: 10am - midnight
Phone: 03-7722 5800

Link: http://www.kuali.com/dining/restaurant.asp?re=824&r=239&index=1&page=1

Forza Italia!

Italy are World Champions for the fourth time.

Finally the month-long competition has come to an end. Who would have thought Italy have a chance to even play in the Final? Impressive record throughout the competition, they have scored in every matches and conceded only 2 goals (An own goal and a penalty). Defenders win the cup.

Well, I lost a subway lunch to Kim but still it was one of the best match in the Germany so far. Good attacking and build up play by both sides. And what was Zidane thinking? His sending off means he can't take any penalty in the shootout. What an end to such an illustrative career - a red card in a World Cup Final - it's the last thing any footballer can think of.

Nonetheless, a great way to end an underwhelming World Cup - in my opinion - where so many over-rated or so-called 'star' players aren't playing at their best.

Goodbye Germany.
Hello South Africa.

The World Awaits

I was going thru my blog some days ago and I bumped into this post. Just want to clarify that I no longer support England national team after Premiership season 2005/06 ended. Honestly I felt that the English team are overrated and lack passion to succeed. They all proved themselves in the World Cup itself in Germany - Enough said.

Anyhow, screw the English, it's Italy vs France now. The biggest Blues on Earth facing each other later in the Finale. Would it be Cannavaro or Zidane that'll lift the coveted trophy? We'll find out soon enough. I support neither team but in my opinion, France will win.

Just came back from the Hotlink World Cup 2006 Finale Street Party at Bukit Bintang. Didn't have my camera with me so here's a few shots from my V3i..

Bukit Bintang street already flooded with people as early as 6pm

What the hell is Zidane doing here?

And Henry too!

Some creative paintwork, not enough time to witness the finished product

And the world awaits a new champion...

How are you?

Can't believe I didnt touch my blog for another 3 months. Well, I'll put this blame on my current job just because I don't have Internet access at work and I don't really blog when I'm home, unless I took some pictures outside. I didn't take much pictures this 3 months. Enough said.

So, how are you? How am I? Not sure.

So, how's the World Cup? Boring.

The host's progress to the finale was halted yesterday night by two dramatic late goals. The tournament's most talk-about stars were underperforming throughout. Ballack, Totti, Rooney, Ronaldinho, Ibrahimovich, all failed to live up to expectation.

The dream that never come true

England never had a chance to win the World Cup from the very beginning. The Brazillians were unable to control their over-confident attitude. Bad luck hit Argentina and their teen prodigy, Messi were unable to kick a ball against the host nation. The Netherlands need more time to gel as a team.

This edition of the World Cup started brightly and remain interesting throughout the group phases but things got bored from Quarter-Finals onwards. Seems like things are going anti-climax, rather than the opposite. Anyhow, it's still gonna be the greatest party on Earth come this July 9. Game on.

The Bittorent Song

With lyrics - sing along!
Link: Brent Simon

I like too!

Really I admit that I don't blog enough. I just don't. I read as much as I could but I just don't write as much as I could have. Anyway, yeah, this is really good.



The way those traditional instruments are integrated into this R&B was really really good. Heard this song (花田錯) some weeks ago and I thought it was really ordinary until I saw this video. Thumbs up Lee Hom.

Link: Itsy Weensy Bytes

First rainbow shot

Rainbow - ISO 100, f/4.8, 1/600 sec

I probably should have used a higher ISO to allow more light in. It's a bit dull but that's my first rainbow shot, in the car on the way back from Penang. More photos here and here.

Flickr fever

Not sure if anyone has noticed about my Flickr page. I've been a member about a year ago but never bothered to post photos there due to limited capabilities for normal members like me. I posted all my travel and activity photos to Life Taste Good which was hosted by Fotopic instead. I'm reviving my Flickr account and will post interesting photos there - and still keep Life Taste Good intact as it what it has always been.

There's a Flickr badge on the right menu which shows my most recent Flickr addition, I'll update it whenever I think I have an interesting shot.

Happy Birthday Sis

Just pop by to wish my sis a Happy Birthday.
Happy Birthday sis! Have a wonderful year ahead.

Happy Valentine's Day

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Love is all around. Happy Valentine's Day.

Lots of Love from GT

Back to work; Penang photos

It's back to work time. It's been a normal Chinese New Year so far, nothing too exciting, but I did went to Penang for 3 days 2 nights last week. The company was good but I thought the island was bad.

The drivers own the roads. The food were overrated. Traffic was bad all the time. Weather was hot and sunny all the time. Hotel is the worst.

Armenian Street aka Chinatown

The long queue for the so-called best Cendol in town

Eastern & Oriental Hotel

It's time for food galore (Although you can find similiar/better ones in KL)...

Nasi Kandar

Asam Laksa

Roasted Duck

Wantan Noodle (Which was quite good)

Cendol

And many more here.

Happy Chinese New Year & Gong Xi Fa Cai to everybody out there again.

Penang Verdict
Traffic: Very bad, local drivers own the roads, and you can't drive in Penang if you don't know how to side park
Food: Overrated
Moan of the trip: Worst hotel I've ever stayed in my entire life - Grand Continental

Gong Xi Fa Cai 恭喜发财

Play animation at milan.net

Gong Xi Fa Cai

Horse Arrive Work Done

Step Step High Rise

Year Year Got Fish

Heart Think Work Done

Dragon Horse Sperm God

New Year Enter Step

Happy Chinese New Year everyone and Gong Hei Fatt Choi! Have a wonderful and prosperous year of Dog! Drop me a line at limgt(a)hotmail(d)com if you want to give me angpau.

Toll Booth - the Malaysian way

LDP Highway Toll Booth

I don't think many people realise that this has been a common practice at many toll booths in our highways - there were more Touch n Go/SmartTag counters opened than cash counters. I mean, what the heck? Is this a way for Touch n Go/SmartTag operators to convince people like us (Who always use cash on tolls) to buy their cards/tags? I was driving back from One Utama yesterday night and the 2 cash counters queue were awfully long and the 3 "express" counters were smooth. Think about this, if you can afford it, you would've went straight to the office and get the card/tag but what about those who can't afford it? I can't believe the toll operators open only 2 manual counters, especially on this festive season.

Try to notice a similiar situation the next time you go thru a toll booth - not the first time I've experienced this.

PS: I've just checked Touch n Go's website and this is extremely appropriate with their slogan "Why wait in line, when you can Touch n Go".

Bill Gates runs like a girl

Screenshot from G4TV video

Click here to watch the video.

Chinatown!

It's weird to know that I've never been to Chinatown (I mean our very own Chinatown in KL) at night before. The last time I went was few years back. If anyone of you remember just last month, issues about fake items were brought up to the media and really, it's everywhere. It's like "Chinatown: Keeping it Real Fake".

I didn't have my E5900 with me but I do have a camera on my T630. The quality is not good I know but better than nothing to record my first Chinatown visit at night.

Reaching Chinatown

Chinatown's main arch

Chinatown at night

Oh yeah and this is also the first time I have to pay a RM10 deposit to order the famous grilled fish (Just beside Hong Leong Bank) and I was made to wait for an hour! Is it so good that everyone would wait for so long, I wonder. No it was not worth the wait. It's not good at all. Not recommended at all.

Chinatown's famous grilled fish, and other seafood

The Blue Roof (TM) - see this post

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Half Tripped

Yeah, half part of my house's electricity got tripped yesterday noon and resulting in the upper part of the house without power. This is what happened to the fuse that connects power to upstairs...

Burnt fuse - ISO 200, f/2.8, 1/4 sec

It seems that the fuse have been struggling for few days (See this post) and it couldn't take it anymore and burst out. The white plastic at the background is the cover that broke due to the impact of the bursting fuse. Thank God nothing serious happen and all we need is just a new fuse.

Mac in the dark

Mac in the dark - ISO 200, f/2.8, 2 sec

The room's light tripped for a moment while I'm walking in so I decided to shoot for fun. Grabbed my E5900 on the desk, switched off the lights and shoot.

My wishlist

I was editing my Blogger's profile and I saw this option to ask me to display my wishlist. It recommends me to get a wishlist from Froogle and since I already have an account with Google, I created my online wishlist. I'd be more than thankful if anyone of you could get me any item from the list!

This is something that I'll get very soon for my new iPod...

Griffin Technology's iTrip for iPod

Image taken from: www.griffintechnology.com

Well, if you people start saving now, it should be enough to buy me a birthday present that I wished for! :P

Here's my complete wishlist.

Fujitsu Deskpower TX is here

Fujitsu's first home entertainment PC with instant DVD recording capability, dubbed the Deskpower TX has finally arrived to our shores here on the 9th of January. This post is few days late because I don't have a camera with me until yesterday to shoot the photos of this new 32" PC-TV. This sexy baby will cost your wallet RM 15,888 and no you can't have it straight away - there's only 1 unit in the whole country and we will have to order it from Japan for you.

Fujitsu Deskpower TX

This PC-TV comes with built-in double TV-tuner - yes, you can plug in your home's standard TV antenna and watch your favourite channel right away - and equipped with a Dual Layer High Speed DVD recorder so you can record Desperate Housewives from the TV when you're out of the house. There are front accessible ports such as USB, Firewire, S-Video and RCA.

Front-accessible ports and buttons

Nonetheless, the TX does include a remote control plus a set of wireless keyboard and mouse. The funny thing that I encoutered is that the keyboard and mouse's wireless receiver is built-in but the remote control's wireless receiver is USB-powered! Not sure why Fujitsu has did it this way but I certainly thinks that it'll be perfect if the remote's receiver is built-in as well. Overall, the built-in speakers and surround sound quality is good. Of course, if you want a true surround sound, get an external surround speaker set.

DVD-recorder drive tray cover

Last but not least, this PC-TV is pre-loaded with Microsoft's Windows XP Media Centre Edition which is supposed to make entertainment and multimedia more fun and easier. Interface are much the same, just that there's an extra app called the "Media Centre" where you have all those entertainment and multimedia playback options.

Click here for the full specifications.

Meanwhile, I'm going to watch Transporter 2 on the TX...

The photography side of me

Yeah, anyone noticed that I've changed the color-scheme on my weblog? I've decided to post more photos that I'd take from time to time, in one way, I'm trying to improve my shooting skills and in other, just want to let everyone see that a camera can shoot many exciting photos! I'd still blog things that crosses my mind but now it's more to photos, photos and photos.

I've also decided to stick to a single color of text, rather that selecting different colors on each different post to standardize things up. Then I'm increasing the font a bit and hopefully it'll be easier to read.

And to start things of, it's something that I'd never imagined before. This morning a piece of flesh got cut off from my toe due to infection. I've been walking on the blister since NYE, I poked it few days ago and cleaned it up, but it seems that some dirty blood are clogged inside and it end up infecting my toe... I was japped 3 times in 2 minutes just to make me feel less painful when the flesh was being cut but alas, I only felt the jap effect after I paid the bills...

My recovering toe...

I left my camera in the office so I only have the camera from my T630 to shoot it before I go to the doctor again to open it up tomorrow...

Singapore photos now online

3D 2N Singapore (21st - 23rd Dec 2005) photos are now online at Life Taste Good. Collection includes both Jason and my camera's shootings. I omitted Jaclyn's photos because I'm simply too lazy to modify the EXIF of her photos - apparently, she didn't set her camera time properly, resulting in wrong dates and time of all her photos, and it was all over the place when I sort all the photos together.

Some of the places we went...

Chinatown

Merlion Walk, Sentosa Island

Christmas at Orchard Road

We went to the biggest fountain in the world (Guiness Book of Records), located at Suntec City, dubbed the Fountain of Weatlth. From the Feng Shui point of view, the fountain brings an unlimited water flow which means wealth in chinese and is strategically located between 2 Suntec City towers, evidently showing how important Feng Shui is in the city.

Fountain of Wealth, Suntec City

The Esplanade - Theatres on the Bay

And you can't miss this if you're going to Singapore. Yes, it's the newest thing in town, the G-MAX: Reverse Bungee! They call it the "Reverse Bungee" because it uses the same concept of bungee but instead of jumping from the top, the G-MAX jumps from the bottom! 0-200 km/h in 2 seconds. 0-60 metres high in 2 seconds. Enough said.

G-MAX: The Reverse Bungee!

Yeah so we all really did had a very good time there. I think everyone is already looking forward to another great trip like this soon!

More photos: http://www.lifetastegood.net/c819010.html

Ghimteik @ Now Playing: You're Beautiful - James Blunt

Flying around KL

Ever wondered how our lovely city looks like when you're flying at few thousands feet above ground?

TAR College, Setapak, 2000ft

The college where I picked up my Degree last year is there! On the right was the then UTAR which constructions (As shown on the satellite photo) completed early last year, and below it is TBR where we always hang out during our breaks...

And, ever wondered how does Pudu Jail looks like?

Pudu Jail, 1000ft

The other day over at Nailli's, I asked some of my friends about the longest blue roof stretch in KL but nobody knows about it. I didnt' realise about the blue roof until when I was just trying to find my way to Chinatown from Sg Wang Plaza at 2000ft above ground...Here is it - Tada!

The Blue Roof (TM), Chinatown, 2000ft

It was a great experience flying around the city at few thousands feet above ground. You actually get to see stuffs you never thought you would see.

For a day's experience on the sky, click here. Enjoy.

Ghimteik

Louis Braille

Tribute to Louis Braille (4th Jan 1809 - 6th Jan 1852) who invented braille and helped countless of blind and visually impaired people to read.

Louis Braille in braille

Image taken from Wikipedia

Link: Louis Braille on Wikipedia

Ghimteik

2006 Bash!

Happy New Year!!! My NYE was spent on a middle-east cuisine - Tarbush - restaurant located just opposite Lot10, not the most enjoyable dinner but the company was great! By the time we came out of the restaurant it was already 11.30PM and it's 2 minutes to 2006 when we reached Rum Jungle!

Rum Jungle & Fireworks photos linked from www.itsybytes.com

We heard the countdown inside Rum Jungle and we shouted as well from outside and managed to catch the fireworks - on a bad angle - before heading in to party. A weird new year's celebration but hey, it's something different! Happy new year again!!!

Link: http://itsybytes.com/?p=244

Ghimteik @ Happy 2006!

Perth trip photos now online

Photos I took from my holiday at Perth, Australia are finally online. Check it out at www.lifetastegood.net. Other new collection include Amy & Michael's Wedding Dinner. I just upgraded my Fotopic space, that's why it took me so long to upload those photos. Singapore trip photos coming soon.

Ghimteik