This was held in Mid Valley Exhibition Centre in conjunction with Buy
Malaysia Bling Bling Fair. Although the name ‘bling bling’ sounds
kinda new use in consumer fair, but its pageant contest successfully
draw more crowds. Hope it didn’t steal the spotlight. The Miss Bling
Bling contestants are very young age. The final will run on this
Sunday.

I met VJ in year 1994 in class 1 Budi, SMK Raja Muda Musa. He is quite
chubby that time. We had a wonderful secondary school time. We are in
same class, prefect, school magazine team, sports club, tuition
classes… Almost everything happen in school will involve us. VJ
always act as a leader in helping school to carry out our
contribution. Of course the success will be effort coming from team
members name Poobalan, Thanasekar, Suntheresan, Selvan and me. After
SPM we are together again in Form Six of SMK Sultan Abdul Aziz. We
done the same thing again just as previous five years. It is more than
friendship and like brotherhood.

VJ is a very funny and humor person. Although he like to joke around
but we always serious in business and have good understanding. He has
a dream to become a doctor but we need more luck to reach that level
in this country. However he is PHD in material chemical now. He has
gone the farthest in education than any in our batch. Best wishes to
his wedding with Ms Rinjani. Another touching moment is meeting
Thanasekar and Selvan which has lost contact for long time in the
ceremony. Welcome back pal!

I have blog about VJ’s engagament in September.

LIMA Exhibition (Langkawi International Maritim and Aerospace) is one
of the premier expo in this region. My last visit was on 2001 during
my university semester break. It is one of my ‘must go’ event,
especially for it air show and sea show. LIMA is host every bi-annual
and this is 10th edition in 2009.

Due to last minute booking, all hotels were full. Someone even told me
that during LIMA period most hotel and restaurant in Langkawi Island
will double their price. But I can’t wait for it another two years. I
decide to do a day trip. Sounds crazy when you only spend a short time
in such beautiful island.

The maritime expo is hosted at Porto Malai. The taxi fare is Rm22 from
airport. The Awana resort is very beautiful and sort like European
rest house. The KD Razak warship is park at the nearby jetty.
Malaysian submarine KD Abdul Rahman was on display too. Huge crowd is
queuing to visit KD Razak. As usual the queue line become blur and
crowd was lost control and pushing each other. I only stay a while on
board before decide to abort the visit since it is over crowded until
no room to walk. I saw our ex-PM Tun Mahathir too!

The maritime demonstration is good. The marine police run a live
demonstrate of hijacked boat rescue mission, just like in movie. There
are superfast and surround the target boat within 20 seconds and take
control of the situation. Bravo!

The airshow and aerospace expo is hosted at Mahsuri International
Exhibition Centre, just next to airport. It was cloudy and the
aircraft look too grayish in air. Some photographers setup step-up
ladder and shoot from the defensive gate outside runway. So they can
catch the take off and landing action up close. The indoor expo hall
is open for public on its last day and entrance fee is RM10. Most of
the exhibition booths were closed. Beside commercial transport vendor,
there are many weapons exhibitor too. Many aircraft and missile models
are on display.

I should plan a 4 days trip to catch more airshow actions. Let’s meet
again in 2011.

The Honda Wave 125 rear shock absorber always rated as soft by most of the user. Actually it is design for comfort but some how Malaysia road is so bumpy and result the absorber worn out quicker. I have seen most of the user has change to aftermarket absorber for better

performance. My absorber set was just passed 100,000km. I always have a pillion on board and recently I just feel like riding horse on a bumpy road. When exiting corner the bike will swing to the opposite direction. Due to safety reason it should be replace.

I did some online research and survey at spare parts shop. Most user recommend brand Gazi, Showa and YSS. The former two are not easily to find and many imitations in market. Other unnamed brand is range from RM70 to RM100. Some even come with gas canister which look kind high tech but the dealer told me it is more for cosmetic rather than performance. The best option left is YSS which has wide range of models and inexpensive. I google and found JuniorZ is carrying YSS dealership in Malaysia. I make a trip to his store at Batu Caves.

The YSS absorber is made in Thailand and exported to many countries include Japan, Europe, Australia and America. I believe it has OEM quality in this industry. The model for my bike has few colour variants; gold/black spring, gold/red spring, blue/white spring and full chrome. The gold and red spring suit my bike most.

First impression of YSS absorber is – HEAVY. It is about 4kg compare with my existing 3kg each. It doesn’t feel cheap quality and the soldering is very well and neat. The spring is very high quality too with hard plastic cover. The best thing of this absorber is adjustable for different weight load. It has 3 levels setup from 60-160kg, 160-220kg and 220kg up. But you need some force to adjust it since it is very tight. The absorber design is up-side-down type which gives your bike more racing look.

After mounted with YSS rear absorber immediate I feel my bike has gain weight. I need to adapt the new weight to put on double-stand. The bike acceleration is a little affected because of the weight but it is OK since my bike got good torque. The riding is smooth and comfort, even with pillion at back. I still maintain the 60-160kg setup since both person weight is in that range. When doing cornering alone, it is tight and hard. I can make a 80km/h curve confidently. Overall I am very satisfied with the ‘upgrade’ and it only cost me RM120.

Pass by a Perodua showroom ans saw a white MPV display outside. Then I found it is Perodua Alza, the latest MPV model for Malaysia. It’s look very sporty from front and rear, low seating. But the interior space room is not very spacious, especially the third row seat basically is only good for children seating.

The price is from RM53k+ (manual transmission) and RM58k+ (auto transmission).

Find out more details of Perodua Alza here. Now Malaysian has more MPV choices.

This is the second edition of Anime Festival Asia in Singapore
(AFA09). The event started in 2008 and successfully creates a new
communication platform for anime industry in this region. It is an
exhibition of figurine, anime products and subculture that goes along
with. This year edition has added anime song concert perform by May’n,
Shoko Nakagawa, Ichirou Mizuki and Yoshiki Fukuyama.

AFA09 is my first visit to anime or figurine exhibition. IT is very
overwhelming and crowded. I took 30 minutes to queue for ticket. More
than 300 people are line up anytime to enter AFA09. I still see huge
crowd by the time I was leaving. The ticket is SGD15 for one day entry
and SGD25 for two days. Many fans dress in cosplay mode and enjoying
them self since morning. I saw the same cosplay gang in lobby from 2pm
till 7pm. It is kind of anime worship festival to me

More than 100 booths locate in exhibition hall. The biggest one would
be Ban Dai where many toys character products can be found here like
Tamagotchi, Ben10, Gundam, Mameshiba and so on. Japan blogger Danny
Choo booth run a Tokyo Figurine Show where many beautiful artworks are
being display. The Moe Moe Kyun Maid Café waitress is all in maid
dressing but no photography is allowed. They aren’t dressing sexy but
very cute as Japan manga character. The main attraction in this area
would be shopping and taking pictures with cosplay. There is also fans
art display area.

There were events running on main stage range from speech, fashion
show, cosplay competition, karaoke and concert. All are free entrance
but the concert has ticket seating. AFA09 visitor can still view it
from open area which is about 30m from the stage.

Overall the event is good and interesting especially it get full
support from Japan sponsor and artist. I think it needs a bigger hall
next year to accommodate more crowd and activity place.

Naruto cosplay. They have been there whole day and still energetic to post for camera.

This is scary and horror.

Your toy is your signature.

Crowded ticketing booth.

This one my favourite… because I already know this, the rest of the anime I am few light years behind.

kawaiiiiiiii

You cannot miss the vending machine!

Ban Dai user hands on corner.

This eneloop bateery tester will show you the battery charge. I want to buy it because of cute.

The Gundam win Regional Cosplay Championship. Many were shock!

This is real person and not doll.

Another cosplay group.

One more cosplay finalist.

See you next year if you want to compete in cosplay!

But the Gundam has difficulty walking down stair… Can it fly??

Danny Choo time! Storm Trooper dance!!

Danny Choo and Miracle Mirai (pronounce mi-ra-cel)

Danny Choo fans in Tokyo.

This is the biggest model in expo.

Take it!!

My childhood memory. Expensive hobby.

Kids corner.

Family time.

Kamen Rider and AFA showgirl.

Cool stuff. Making cartoon is interesting nowdays.

Danny Choo.

Beautiful Alodia.

Sorry, you can’t eat this.

Young fashion designer start from here.

This is old news but I intend to share it about how camera firmware upgrade can improve picture quality. Firmware actually is the software that running camera system, just like our computer requires operating system. Sometimes an error or defect can be fixed by upgrading to new firmware. It is common for DSLR because the system is complicated and users tend to discover new error that engineer never thought of. When there is a firmware upgrade we should thanks the manufacturer because their responsibility in correcting it. Of course they can just shut the door and release another better camera.

Here is Sony Alpha A700 picture comparison after firmware upgrade from v3 to v4. Left is v3 image and right is v4 image. It has improved the noise reduction logic and produce slightly cleaner image. These entire images are shot and applied low noise reduction from camera. I have to enlarge the picture up to 100% in order to find the minor changes. As a gear head sure I am happy about this improvement. The visible changes will be at ISO3200. But practically, how many will blow up my image to check every single details or compare the noise?

Image noise for me is less important because it is part of the digital sensor natural behavior. In old days anyone complain about ISO1600 film grainy? Many historical pictures were captured and still preserve until today. The picture is so harsh and lack of fine details but what is the matter? General photography is about capture moment and preserving memory.

Zainal Halim is Reuter photojournalist. I always like to know how international media work. Basically he describe himself as a ‘firemen’. Company will assign him to various destination when there is news for coverage. He will find his best way to arrange all equipments, logistic, documentation and such in order to landed the news scene and start working. There are no clear guidelines and all up to his interpretation of the environment and story. Later he will need to edit caption for the photo as well. Such a amazing job he got!

Following are some sample photos taken from www.zainalhalim.com and quoted with photography tips by Zainal.

” a good photographer creates the pictures”

” always try to get clean background” ” Find a nice bacgkground, then wait for the subject”

“subject must stand out..”

“always think one step ahead”

“walk around” “study what to shoot”

“Know your lens, what can it do” ” 17-35, 70-200″

“Diagonal lines, nice pictures”

The best gift for motorsports fans would be witness the race or
drivers from the racing track. It definitely beat the grand stand
viewpoint. On race track everything is extra lively, it’s not just
adrenaline stimulating. I am so thankful for the opportunity given by
Dorna to access Sepang Circuit paddock and track during Malaysian
motoGP 2009.

On Friday I check-in to media centre. This time I have pre-booked a
work desk and locker a day earlier so I can keep my equipments safely.
This is 3rd time I’m in media centre since SuperGT and MME2009. It
always proud to come back here and work together with other
photographers and journalists. It’s like an international media frenzy
with me sitting next to Ducati medias. I rushed to track after that to
catch the pit lane walk. Most riders welcome fans at their paddock
and without questions the Yamaha Team has the biggest crowd. Once the
session closed I went back to media desk to do some live blogging. It
is fun when you can tell the world that you are bringing this Live!
from the media centre!

Next session is the free practice and my adrenalin was pumped up and
shutter continues firing. I can’t afford to lose any good shots on the
track until I missed my lunch. Well, fortunately I had a hearty
breakfast and it is not everyday I can spend time doing the things I
that I’m passionate for. The photo shuttle feeder does a great job
totting me around circuit. It’s a comfy change to sit in VW SUV.
Sepang Circuit has the longest track in of all the motoGP races. There
are plenty of spots to catch nice shots. The most memorable one would
be turn 14 and turn 15 where racers will do wheelie after the practice
session before heading back to paddock. Additionally, at this point
you will
hear the loudest engine sounds. I need ear plugs for tomorrow session.

It was tiring after in Friday’s session but I still managed to reach
the circuit in the morning. I couldn’t remember much details on
Saturday other than shooting practices and qualification photos round
the track. It was a hot day, reported 36 Celsius degree. In media
centre I have the chance to peek at other photographer’s photos. It
was so eye catching and what I saw inspired me to do slow panning and
colour contrast boost. Bummer! The network connection on my desk is
out and I have no chance to do
live blog. I went to grand stand mall area to snap some event
pictures. This year there are lesser booths. I planned to get a new
helmet but there are limited choices. Kawasaki booth are still the
biggest and features many models. That’s how to run a motor show! At
the end of day, Rossi and Lorenzo secured 1-2 pole position. Rossi has
renewed circuit best pole timing. I missed yesterday press conference
due to the fact that I’m not aware that I can join in the live
coverage of the press con. So today, I ensure myself to join all media
and photographer in the press conference. It is LIVE in front of me!
This definitely beat the watching live on TV because I can see not
only the riders, but also other people in the room such as team
managers and officers. Another fun day ended and I rush back to town
to attend a wedding dinner.

Sunday morning I saw many motor convoys heading to Sepang Circuit.
There were antiques, superbike and cupchai (moped). It is the most
happening day for motorcycle fans in this region. In warm up session
Rossi did a wheelie in front of supporters. What a great entertainer!
That’s why everybody loves him. The 125cc always in tight battle. The
Malaysian wildcards entries finished the race and celebrating. I like
bikes rowing together and allows me to take awesome pictures. The
250cc saw Aoyama having a tough battle with Simoncelli and Japanese
claiming victory. Just minutes after the podium ceremony ended, it
rained and delayed the motoGP race from starting. The photographers
came prepared and put on their impressive complete rain gears. Most
Malaysian photographers sonly put on a disposable poncho, for them and
camera as well. I was so impressed! Soon after the rain had stopped,
the race begun. I standby in turn 4 to witness the first lap battle.
Surprisingly, Pedrosa and Stoner led the way and Rossi was at 7th
position. After few laps Stoner is flying away but Rossi did a
comeback to stay at the 3rd spot. I left turn 4 and proceed to turn
7th where Rossi fans are waiting Rossi to complete final lap to be
crowned as champion. The fans brought a real live chicken and some
eggs. In later press conference Rossi explained that old chicken
doesn’t lay egg, but this time, however ‘chicken’ (himself) did laid
some eggs for ninth times! Funny but meaningful. The fans stopped
Rossi and to congratulate him. I ran back to podium to catch the
ceremony. In press conference Yamaha explained that Rossi will decide
his future with the team. Yamaha would like to keep Rossi until he
retires from racing. To me as long as Rossi stay in motoGP the fans
will be happy regardless which team he is in. I see fans waiting at
paddock for his appearance and he will try to sign as many autographs
as possible . Year 2009 motoGP championship is very difficult
especially challenges came from teammate Lorenzo. The strong always
grow stronger, that is extra lesson I learned from this trip.

This trip is made possible by arrangement from Dorna and Sepang
Circuit. Big thank you to both and it is really a life time
experience.

The track is baking hot in the afternoon at 36 degree Celsius. Yamaha
racer Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo both secure 1-2 grid place in
tomorrow race. Pedrosa from Honda team share the from row at 3rd spot
with Yamaha rivals. I like the press conference because it really make
me feel live with motoGP. Rossi become the spotlight of all journalist
and photograph because he has renewed fastest Sepang lap record.
Meanwhile he only need to finish at top 4 in tomorrow race to crown
world champion of 2009.