16th World Guppy Contest

Another great contest held by Malaysia Guppy Club (MGC), hosting an international event in conjunction with Petworld Exhibition at Mid Valley Exhibition Hall. The contest managed to attract over 350 entries from all over the world. Judges from America, England, Korea, China, Taiwan, Singapore and Malaysia are invited to judge the contest, giving valuable points to worthy fish in the tank.



Brand new tanks!

Here are the categories;

I.  Ribbon
II. Swallow

1. DELTATAIL
a. Albino
b. Snakeskin/Lace
c. Mosaic
d. Grass
e. Tuxedo/Bi-color
f. Red Delta
g. Blue Delta
h. AOC

2. DOUBLESWORD
3. TOPSWORD
4. BOTTOMSWORD
5. SPEARTAIL
6. ROUNDTAIL
7. LYRETAIL
8. VEILTAIL
9. PINTAIL
10. SCARFTAIL
11. COFFERTAIL

And here's the judges;

Frank Chang from America


Wang Zuo Wei from China, Akihirou Satou from Japan
 

Frank Liao from Taiwan, Stephen Elliot from England, Yap Vui Soon from Malaysia
 

and not forgetting, guppy legend from the States, Mike Khalid & Joe Mason from the States comes to Malaysia to participate and have fun!


Benching in and waiting to be judged!


Here's some of the results - winners photos after judging. Not categorised yet. Information will be updated soon.

World Champion


Grass


Albino Solid Color


Doublesword




Speartail




Crowntail


Yellow Tuxedo/Bi-Color


Roundtail


Red Lace


Mosaic


Topsword

Sneak Peek of Melbourne & Perth visit

The next chapter of my life continues with the visit to Melbourne and Perth for few weeks, and so far, it's been real great! Amazing trip, great fun, new friends, good food! I'm loving it and don't feel like going home! Hahaa..

For the first week, i've been to the Great Ocean Road, 12 Apostles, Philip Island, and of course, Melbourne CBD itself. Very happening city and lively. Manage to visit quite a number of locations and take some shots, so here's one taken from Yarra River.

I left Melbourne about 2 days ago, and came to Perth. Did quite a bit of shoots as well, but need some time to filter. Here's one taken tonight at Swan River, the cityscape of Perth CBD at dawn.

More to come soon when i get back home to Malaysia in about a week time. Stay tuned!

Nikon D800E 'review'

Another late post.. so sorry bout that. Being caught up with quite a number of things, some being good, some being complicated, that's life isn't it? Before i start mumbling.. i should head straight to point. My sis came back from her Asia tour with Ryan and bring back my new baby for me... i've sold my D700 few months ago and ordered the new Nikon D800E. Being quite busy exploring and shooting, and here's some of the first 'few' photos that came up..

Tweaking and playing with some filters (post processing) after shooting on Anzac Day 2013

and some 'review' about the camera.. It's a good camera, one of the best.. but i'm going to pin point out the things i hate mostly. Just some humble opinion, but don't get me wrong. I love the camera! I'm not particularly tech savvy person. Always on first impression, instinct and feels.. nothing too technical to talk about. Besides, dozens on great reviewer out there in the internet.

Sharpness and Moire

One thing i noticed, the sharpness is insane.. unbelievable! However, the main drawback is i think it's very susceptible to hand shake and movement. Slight movement causes blurriness. Got to keep an eye on the controls especially if you're passing to someone who's not familiar with dslr to take your photos. 8 out of 10 are subject to blurriness to a certain extend.

As for moire, i havent seen one yet... so i guess it's pretty much acceptable for me for my daily use

Full HD Movie

This is actually the reason i buy this camera.. to shoot some nice full hd video. Some say i should go for  D800 instead to minimise the moire effects but heck, i don't want to regret either losing some sharpness.   Gotta live with it. I've yet to shoot a lot of videos with it, nor had the experience to complain about it but so far, it's the stabilisation. Nothing can beat the Olympus OM-D EM5 hands on! Period. 

Active D-Lighting

Another new tech that i couldn't get used to it or like, is the d-lighting and perhaps the new active d-lighting. I just don't like how it process in-camera to bring out the shadows or saving the highlights.. just don't quite like the results, but maybe it's just a matter of time to get used to it, or, found the right setting. 

ISO performance

Nothing to be complain or praised. Quite similar to Nikon D700, but the noise seems to look better even at high iso. Personally, i wouldn't go more than ISO 3200..

Lens and Accessories

You seriously have to have some good optics for this camera to bring out the goodness. Primes being the number one choice. I don't have primes yet besides the cheap ol 50mm, nifty fifty they call it. It did perform quite well and i love it. Lens i've own that worth mentioning is probably the Nikkor 16-35 F/4. It's sharp, but distortion on full frame.. hate it. That's not the main point though.. thinking to upgrade to 14-24 F/2.8. Much brighter and better bokeh, although the distortion is pretty much unavoidable with ultra wide angle lens.

Another complain is the grip. Not as comfortable as i expect, and the battery grip is hell expensive! Gotta look out for some third party one i guess.

Ok... enough bashing the camera.. haha.. just some small little thing that bothers me sometimes but other than that, oh boy, what a great gadget. Here's some of the photos taken around Marlborough region... hope you guys like it!

 

My boss is great! She let me use her car for the day.. nice ride with Chevrolet Cruze

Went around Port Underwood Rd from Picton to Blenheim. Some part of the road were gravels, with tight turns but the views is amazing! Here's Kakapo Bay

And here's some autumn photos when I'm driving back from Nelson to Blenheim

I'll be continue to add more feedbacks regarding the camera as i go though each day.. that's for now, catch you guys later!

Easter Weekend :)

It's holiday time! Easter weekend had been great, because we are closed on Friday and Sunday. And for the first time in 10 months, i'm given a saturday day-off. It was simply the best thing ever happen because i can finally meet up with Leia and her friends and go for a short holiday.

Destination? The tip of South Island, collectively called Golden Bay. This is the 2nd time i'm visiting Golden Bay, and it's great! Lovely and peaceful place. Since my car is gone long time ago, i went back to uncle Bruce of Arrow Backpackers to rent his Toyota Estima for 3 days. Pick up the car early on friday morning and drove to Motueka for a night. Stop by quite a number of places, taking some photos with my old trusty D200 (still waiting for my new baby to come... :( )

Anyway, the trip here is to take friends around for a tour, and i do hope my 'tour guide' is worthy. hahaa.. Some hiccups along the way, like 'lost' in our supposingly short walk to Wharariki Beach ends up in Green Hill Beach. Sorry guys! :P And hopefully my driving doesn't causes too much nausea and dizzyness..  the hills of Takaka is hard to tame :)

So here's the photos from our trip at end of March. Day 1, Blenheim-Motueka Town, stop by Mapua for fish and chips again @ Smokehouse, hehe.. and mini potluck at night with Leia, Kim, Shiny, Pauline and Karl at Abel Tasman Motel.





Day 2, we start early, roughly around 7.30am and head straight to Takaka town. We visited Waikoropupu Springs around 9.30am, took some photos, short walks, and heads back to Takaka (well, it was only 10 min drive) for lunch. We walk around the town, had some crepes, while waiting for Dangerous Kitchen to open. It's pizza for $10, which is pretty cheap and tasty. After lunch, we head straight to Collingwood town, which is nearby, 30 minutes drive to check-in at Somerset Backpackers! Weeeee.. i miss Somerset's Chris and Hiromi, and Joy, the Labrador mix, and their wonderful home made breads and bush honey. Yum Yum!

Dancing Sand


From left, Karl, Shiny, Leia, Pauline, Kim, Me


There's heaps of midges flying on the water surface, and so does spiders setting webs and wait for easy meals.


Interesting plant hanging from the trees


We made some changes to our plan since low tide is imminent when we are there, and we could visit Wharariki Beach on that day itself. Low tide was around 5-7pm, which is perfect! We plan to take the 'short' walk around some small lakes before entering Wharariki Beach on the other side, but somehow, all of us miss the signs and end up walking further until we reach Green Hill Beach. Alamak! It was unexpected, but not too bad... at least another beach added to travel list.

First, we stop at Cape Farewell for a look out. Stunning view..






Next, we went to our 'short' trek... which ends up here; Green Hill Beach


Wharariki Beach on low tide.. reveals the mussels, seagrass bed, which is quite vibrant!


Leia and the famous arch of Wharariki Beach


Nice beach...


Sunset is beautiful on the beach


3rd Day, we decided to climb on top of Pillar Point to have a nice view of fossil point and Golden Bay
The view is stunning just like last time, but sadly, my camera was not wide enough. But it's a nice hike! Our next destination is fossil point but sadly, after just a short walk, it started to rain :( Have to cancel our plan and heads back to Motueka. Since the day is still young, we went to visit Abel Tasman National Park, and visited the Apple Split. Had quite a bit of fun there too..



We end the day with a dinner prepared by the girls. Another nice home cooked meals :) I had a great time for the past few days.. it's great, spending time with Leia and friends around Golden Bay.

Another day in the Sounds!

First of all, thousand apologies for such a long delay in posting.. Being busy, might be just an excuses, kinda neglect the blog for a little while. Laziness to be blamed :S

Euan's house, with a little patriotic touch of Malaysian flag! Thanks Euan!


After the flight with Sounds Aero, i visited another customer of mine, Euan Macdonald and his wife in Picton. They are such a wonderful and friendly couple. Our plan of the day was to have lunch at their place and then head to the Marlborough Sounds with his boat/yacht called Taranui.



So here they are, from left, Euan & Gillian MacDonald, and their neighbour.




As we leaving Waikawa Bay, we pass by a huge yacht belongs to a Russian guy who tour around the world. Rumours said, he was a Russian mafia. Hahaha..


We visited several bays around the Sounds, and this particular bay is famous for the fishes here. The fishes here are accustomed to be fed by humans, and they know when boats arrived.


After feeding the fishes, we head to Lochmara Lodge. One of the best place to hang out and have coffee or tea.


You can canoe here, swimming, all sorts of water activities here. Great for family outing!


As you walk in, there's a big green gecko greets you :P


The cafe and bar of Lochmara Lodge


The deco here is pretty creative, and i kinda like the way they recycle computer parts and turn into this!


Besides the 'gecko', there's also Indian Ringneck Parakeet who meet and greet everyone there. Cheeky little bird.





and kinda naughty too!


Besides having coffee, there's a short walks around the lodge. It cost about $8 per entry, worth it as the money goes into conservation, especially for these highly endangered Nautilus geckos.


It was a really great day out with them.. had fun, relax on the wonderful cruise around the Sounds. This is how i want to spend my day off! :)




Thank you for reading, will update soon, with photos from Havelock Mussel Festival 2013!