GINZA | Master Zeng Said...

Just wanna post some night photography photos.


Just outside Ginza Station of Tokyo Metro.


So, how am I going to cross this street?


A small booth on the street walkway, selling some local stuffs.


Speaking of technology, even their "ordinary" bust-stop have LCD screens for displaying information.


Happy couple back from work (it was about 2200 hours, yet still look fresh), walking along the under the railway bridge.


Yea, you got me there, Hait, Konbawa, Arigato gozaimashta.


Tokyo equivalent of Brunei's Nasi Katok cafe?


Master Zeng Said;

Every day I examine my character in three respects;
am I disloyal in my designs for others,
am I untrustworthy in my dealings with friends,
have I failed to practise what has been passed on to me.

JAPAN | Ginza St.

Ginza, Tokyo is one of THE places to be when in Japan. The area is really happening in the evening, and also during the weekends.


Ginza showered with colourful neons.


Beautiful designs + neons.


Also the place to see posh cars with designer boutiques along the street.


Driving topless in a classic ride.


Passing Tiffany & co.


No, not the coach as football coaches nor coach in transportation, this is the Coach in designers.


Apple store can also be found in Ginza, as can be seen reflected on the glass window.


Look at the huge Chanel building, imagine all those designers handbags, apparels that you can have.


Ito Ya, get all your office/school stuffs here.


Ginza Street sign.


You can see how heavy the traffic are along the street.


Despite the hectic street life, it is still relaxing to have a stroll with the young ones along the street.

SEOUL | The Lantern Festival

Whilst in Seoul, City Hall area to be exact, I stumbled upon, some sort of festival, as it was all spoken in Korean, so I assumed this is some sort of a lantern festival.

As for the protocol, I was not too sure the do's and don'ts duringthe festival, hence I did not captured as much photo as I want, furthermore I did not have any fast lens, tripod nor flashgun with me at that moment, so, these are few that I can share.


The locals, adorning their local traditional attire, Hanbo, carrying a lantern each.


Saying a prayer while holding on the paper lantern.


People of all walks of life are busy with each other, greeting one another, calling their loved ones and such.


A young child can be seen in the crowd, don't wanna miss this historic event.


It's getting late, the festival is coming to the end, people are now walking around more freely.

Had a long day, it was time for me to go as well.

TRAVEL | SINGAPORE | The Fullerton Hotel at Turn 14

The Fullerton Hotel, Singapore.



As many people would know by now, Singapore will be hosting the world 1st ever Night Time F1 race, scheduled to be held on the 28th September 2008.

It will be a street race, and the Fullerton Hotel will be one of the witnesses of this amazing race.

The race will be held within the vicinity of the Marina Bay area, and the Fullerton Hotel is at Turn 14.

If you wanna be a part of the historic event, book your tickets and hotel now, but mind you, the hotel along the race track cost at least $1,000 per room per night! And you have to book it for the "5 days" weekend!

The flood lights are now being tested at St. Andrew's Road, the intensity of the race light is about 3,000 Lux, oh FYI, the normal street light is about 100 Lux, where as the normal sunlight is about 50,000 Lux!

For sure, the road will need to be resurfaced, and the manhole covers need to be welded, or otherwise the G-Force from the over 300km/h F1 car will pull them open!

TRAVEL | SEOUL TOWER

Been quite a while I have not post anything about Seoul, Korea.

So here is another quick post.


Was trying to capture the tower and the sign, the only way I could squeeze them all with my available lens was to compose it as such, and captured hand held.

REVIEW | Leica R8 + Summicron 50mm f/2

This is just a quick simple review of how this machine performs at low light/ night time.

An earlier photo sample from this machine can be found here



The above photo is the actual photo from the Leica R8, where the film negative was developed then scanned digitally directly from the photo-lab, so from my side, there is no additional post-processing or 'watsoever', and it is a full-frame, real 50mm view.

This was taken some time ago during a night discussions.

As you can see from the photo, it is easier to focus as it is using a full manual focus system plus the large clear split-image view i.e. "parallax error system" , it performs brilliantly under a low-light situation, where some dSLR with AF find it difficult to focus perfectly.

As you might already know, the Leica R8 is a film SLR (thou you can buy the add-on digital back, so it can be used as a digital SLR, but with a hefty sum of about $9K!), anyway, the film used in this photo was the one with the ISO400, (can't find any higher one).

In short, this is a very nice camera if you are want to do a photography in a "relaxing" in-your-own-sweet-time photography, as it is a full manual camera, hence everything need to set accordingly before you can actually capture those moment.

Note: Not recommended for Wedding, unless if the subject has so much time in hand.

BRUNEI | Pelita ...

.. as mentioned in the previous post ... here is the close-up of the "new" old-fashioned gasoline filled "candle" .... or "Pelita" in malay ...



.... I think lighting these up is more soothing to the eyes than those modern coloured lights ... as long as there is gasoline .. or diesel (.. thou it gives out black smoke ... ) in the can .. it will still lit-up .. withstanding the wind and rain ... good to deter the mosquitoes .... :) and u can use it to burn the fireworks .. and those tiny firecrackers ....

CONCERT | Live in ....?

... Saturday nite .... a nite usually fills with entertainment ... be it indoor .. or outdoor ...

... and for those who opt to stay in .... there aren't many interesting stuff to be watched on telly .. or even cable .... I guess.. they don't want the people to stay in ... hmmm....


... a performance during the Singapore's NDP countdown concert...

SINGAPORE | NDP 2007 | The Volunteers in Red ...

.. just realised that .. most of the recent photos were in B&W .... hmmm... well.. now ....adding a single colour .... red .....to the.. black & white photo .......

.. photo of the volunteers ... taken at nite with the available light ....

TRAVEL | The Local Top Shopper....

... waduh sudah 1 pagi ni .... gawat ni ... mau naik taksi pun susah banget ....

... gini aja deh .. pergi ke sinilaizer aja deh... emangnya dibuka 24 jam .. bisa nonton apa aja di bioskop doang ...

... so what to do after midnite...? .. in some big city ... u can go to the 24 hour shopping mall.. .... or chilling out at the 24 hour street cafe .... or u can catch a movie at the 24 hours Cineleisure .... take your pick ....



... even after midnite .. the street are still busy as you can see from the photo above .... and hmmm... isn't that guy that top local model...? hmmmm... so what is he doing there again ...? posing some more what ....

... oh yea.....no wonder.... he is the Local Top Shopper .... eermm... why u might ask ....

... well... this "local bank" held their 60th anniversary's roadshow at one of the shopping malls at the capital .. and one of their events was.. this shopping spree... sort of those Supermarket Sweep like thingy .... so the motive was to get as many item in the supermarket within 6 minutes duration ....

.... so few clients of the local bank registered .. but only 6 made it to the final .... and to cut it short ... The Local Top Shopper managed to fill 2 full trolleys of 634 items worth more than $2300!!! .... items which include ..boardgames..... pencils ... pens ..... cutleries .. ( what for eh ..? ) .... batteries..... toothbrushes .... stickers ... ( loads of 'em ... even took the hook off the shelves) .... disposable diapers ( .. hmmm... interesting ...) ... and many more unnecessary stuffs ... but guess what .. no chocolate bars??!! .. no keropok eh ..? ... or drinks... ? at least can eat what ...

.... anyway ... the prize for winning was... the winner can keep a total of $750 worth of whatever items were collected during that match .... fantastic isn't it ... :) ... and ooh ... before that .. this Local shopper also won 3rd place during the mini treasure hunt from the same roadshow that day ..... eeh steady jua ah ..... congrats eh .... !!!

... Hiduuuppp Cineleisure .....!!! ... chiiaaaaaaa!

NEWS | SINGAPORE | National Day Celebrations 2007 ...

... August is the month of "National Days" ... from Singapore .. to India .... to Indonesia ..... then Malaysia ... and some other nations are celebrating their National Day in the month of August ...


... people passing-by and glancing to the poster at the Esplanade ....

SINGAPORE | The Next Top "Local" Model....?

.... hmmmm..... as if some sort of a symbiotic relationship ..... one loves to pose .... one loves to take photo ... ... ermmmm...

... could he be the next big thing in our local celeb scene.. after Wu Zhun? .... or was he before Wu Zhun ... hmmmm....


... the local celeb .. who's trying to be "local" ....at the locale ...

... the celeb .. " ... hmmm.. I don't want too much light on my face ... make it just eermm.. it is there... but not there....? .... The light I mean... "

... adeeeh banyak demand jua .... model nya ni .... ku ikat karang bawah merlion biar basah kena aying fountain ah ..... Huahahaha..... atau .. mau di Palm Garden Hotel ... ?

BRUNEI | The "60" Monument @ Nite ...

.. a nite view of the monument....

... the newly renovated waterfront the capital ... overlooking the water village ...

SINGAPORE | NDP 2007 | The Countdown ...

.. since we can't watch Singapore's TV channel in Brunei ... hence we don't really know what kind of celebrations they usually are having for their national day ... thou we can read them from The Straits Times (Singapore Edition), which is available in Brunei .......

... but usually ... we know how the Malaysians celebrate their national day .. because we can watch their local TV channel in Brunei .... especially ... those mega concerts with their popular artists.... awaiting for the clock to strike 12 or 0000 Hours on 31 August....

... well.... in Singapore they also do such celebration ... a free concert was held within the vicinity of the Esplanade ..... the Marina Bay area .... performance by Singapore local artists ...


... countdown celebration ... at exactly 12:00am 09.08.07 .... (wow ... nice number.... just realised that ...) ...... the people celebrating the National Day of Singapore ...


MC: .... yeaaaa... u want more free music?? ..... of course... we all know that we Singaporean love FREE stuffs.... got free concert some more what ....

SINGAPORE | NDP 2007

.. today 9th August 2007, marks the 42nd National Day of Singapore ...

... and for the very first time ever ... the celebration this year was held at the Marina Bay ...


.. fireworks.. the climax of the celebrations ....

... fireworks were everywhere..... even on top of the skycrapers.....

.. more photos to come..... soon ... ;)

BRUNEI | HM's 61st B'day | THE FIREWORKS 6.0

.. as mentioned on the earlier post ...

... was hoping if only we could conduct all the water taxi driver.. to make some sort of numeral design ... hmmmm.....

... oh well .. while waiting in between the fireworks .... so made this ...



.... 61 .... 61st Birthday .....

... hmmm... I must admit... some people did stare at me for doing ... eeer... whatever it was I was doing .... ;)

BRUNEI | HM's 61st B'day | THE FIREWORKS 5.0

... zooming out further ....

... some of the spectators watching ... and enjoying the fireworks display ....

BRUNEI | HM's 61st B'Day | THE FIREWORKS 4.0

... one of the limitations in taking photos stuck to one point is that, you are limited to a certain compositions only, especially if the subject is more or less at the same spot...

... this is where having a prime lens have it disadvantages... unless you have loads of prime lens with different focal lengths ......

.. in using a tele-zoom lens...by varying the focal length ... you can have a different compositions .... despite standing on the same location ....



... the photo above shows yet a new landmark .. which is the water village on the other side ...

... those light trails on the water are the lights from the moving water taxi ... which is an art of their own ...

... was hoping that I could conduct their movement... such as those synchronize swimming... perhaps .... this time they could design the number 61 ... hmmmm...... oh well... it only happens in the movie ...

BRUNEI | HM's 61st B'day | THE FIREWORKS 3.0

... zooming out .....

... there were so much activities going on that night ... be it in the sky .. or on the water ... the water taxi ferrying passengers from one point to another .... manouvering frantically yet steadily thru the darkness of the night ... thou that night it was lit by the glowing fireworks ...


.. the photo shows another new subject on the foreground ... the structure on the waterfront ...

BRUNEI | HM's 61st B'day | THE FIREWORKS 2.0

... the night was showered with the glitters... and glow of the fireworks.....

.. what ever it was fired in the sky ... would then be reflected on the water .... making it a nice show both in the sky and on the water.....


The fireworks... with the Royal Palace .. and the water village on the foreground ....


hmmm..... while we're on this fireworks... or in malay .... "Bunga Api" ... or in Bahasa Indonesia. "Kembang Api" .... perhaps... here are something to ponder...

Banyak-banyak bunga... bunga apa yang panas? BUNGA API!

...bunga apa yang lebih besar dari Bunga Rafflesia?? ..... BUNGA API!

... ada bunga yang harum baunya ... ada yang inda brapa jua... tapi bunga apa yang bau angus? BUNGA API!!

.... selalunya bunga mesti disiram aying ... tapi ada bunga ani.. mun di siram makai aying .. inda pulang baik .....apa nah bunga nya ....? .. BUNGA API!!

.. bunga apa yang inda payah dibagi baja...? BUNGA API!

... bunga apa yang inda kena jual di pasar bunga di Hortikultur Rimba Gadong ? .... BUNGA API!

... bunga apa yang paling lagu time Raya ...? Bunga raya!? salah ! .... BUNGA API!

... bunga apa yang inda dapat dibagi arah gelpren mun kan jalan dating?? ... BUNGA API!! .. ( lain lah mun kan outside dinner ... kan pasang bunga api... atu buang kes...)