How big is big?

I always tell Amy before we got married that my mum's side of the off the family is big. During big occasions especially Chinese New Year, everyone will be back to Sitiawan to celebrate it. So how big is big???

In total I counted there are 59 people in this photo and there are quite a few people missing. My brother, his wife, 2 cousins with their wife, some uncles and aunts from overseas. The picture composes of:

• 1 Great Grand Mother
• 6 Sons and Daughters (total I think is 9)
• 3 In-Laws (Husband/Wife to Sons and Daughters)
• 2 Close Family Friends
• 28 Grand Children
• 21 Great Grand Children

Comes Chinese New Year the family grows exponentially and the sound in the house it like an earthquake. It is truly a sight to behold. Ask Amy.

Canon 40mm F2.8

Every since I got my Canon 5D, Canon 17-40mm f4 and Canon 70-200 f4 about say 3 or 4 years ago ( I got all of them around the same time), I have not bought a single lens since then. It has been a long time because any lens that is f4 aperture and below are either super expensive (RM5000 and above) or fixed focal length. I almost got the 28mm F1.8 however it was super rare in Malaysia and when I finally found one, I kinda lost interest in it.

That day I received a package from a friend who carried it from the US.....

I knew the thing I ordered was relatively small and this box seems a bit huge to contain what I ordered. So I took a knife to the box and this was what was inside....

This is why Adorama is such a popular place to buy camera stuff in the US. It was packed very nicely so that it arrives to its destination safely....

That is the lens box compared to the box it was shipped in. Why you ask I bought the 40mm F2.8? Well it is dirt cheap (bought it for RM450) and it is small. The small size is the one that attracted me the most. How small you ask?

Still not convinced how small it is? Check it out beside my next smallest lens which is the 50mm F1.4 (actually it ain't my lens, it is Amy's but I use it more and after married what is mine is mine and what is hers in mine anyway. Hehe).....

Here is how the 50mm looks like attached to my camera....

and this is how the 40mm looks on the same camera....

Looks like a toy when compared to the camera. Hahaha. I have yet to have time to take it out for a spin. I will post some pictures when I do. I have been reading some good reviews about this lens for the price....

Just Hopping around

I think I just got back from my Paris trip and I was walking into the house, I saw a huge grasshopper sitting on my car. I had to get my camera, put on a macro lens and started taking pictures.

The pictures ain't great. It ain't focused at the right parts (the eyes) but had to grab a few quick grabs before it started running away and finally hopped away. Oh well that is what happens when you work with "wild" animals and insects. Hehe

Happy New Year Everyone!

It kinds sucks that New Years Eve is on a Monday and I am not able to take leave so unfortunately I am working today. However it is still New Years Eve and I am gonna celebrate the ending of 2012 and the coming of 2013 with my lovely wife and some good friends. However that is for another post.

Reflecting back on the 2012 year, it of course has it ups and down. Lows were saying good bye forever to a dear cousin who finally lost his fight with cancel (Rest in Peace Kel and Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you. Hope you are enjoying it where ever you are. I still remember the green crocodile and how we used to play firecrackers in Sitiawan). Here is some photos tribute to who Kelvin Choo was....

I will always remember and it is still sad that you have gone but I know that the higher ups have a plan for you and it unfortunately is not with us. As for career well I took a step backwards of sort but hopefully it will lead to something more rewarding in the future. Just have to work hard and see what happens in the 2013 really.

I had some good times as well like surviving the end of the world, going to Macau with my entire family, seeing some good friends like GSC getting married, having a better time in Paris, going to Bangkok, staying in the Banyan with my wife, meeting up with Chong and Ee Von in Bangkok, having crazy 4pm drives to Genting just to go to the Nike outlet shop, had many MWLT (Mid Week Liquid Therapy), PMWLT (Pre/Post Mid Week Liquid Therapy), adopted a dog, had to give away the dog (kinda sad), celebrated Xmas modern style and various other happy occasions. 

I have to say that 2012 has been good and there were more goods then not goods and the best of all about 2012? You got to end 2012 with a bang and on Saturday I did just that. I had 2 super extremes for the day. First I was man handled by another guy for 2 hours and I was literally sore throughout my entire body (except the A-hole and any sexual parts) for the next couple of days. Then I had dinner with.....

8 beautiful, lovely but feisty ladies in a small table at pasta Zanmai. Dun believe the feisty part????

You think it is fun to hang on with so many ladies. However I think that is all movies and cinema man. In real life when you have 8 feisty ladies around you, you learn to behave and not say stupid things or not 8 beautiful and lovely ladies can become 8 little terror cells plotting to chop your balls off. Haha.

Well it has been a really fun 2012 so I bid farewell to 2012. If I have done any wrong please forgive me and lets look forward and work hard for a better 2013. Happy New Year Everyone. Have a safe New Years Eve 2012 and see ya next year.

Merry Christmas 2012 C+ Style

I know it is kinda late to wish everyone Merry Christmas, however I am sure everyone is still in a Christmas mood so Merry Christmas everyone!!! I always tell people that Chinese New Year, Hari Raya and Deepavali is celebrated exclusively by the chinese, muslims and hindus respectively. However Christmas for some reason is celebrated by everyone irrespective of race. Maybe it is also the end of the year syndrome but I think it is pretty cool everyone comes together and have some fun.

For the past many years of my working life, I have been in a big-ish company and usually we have a nice Christmas tree setup and we will do the standard gift exchange or go for a nice Christmas lunch. Usually the tree is also setup by someone else and the gift exchange is arrange by someone else. However now I have gone to a smaller company with smaller budget so we had to get a bit creative with the Christmas tree. Let me present to you the CoherentPlus Christmas tree.....

 Since most companies are into all the Green initiative, I think our company is in line with that since no trees were harmed for our Christmas tree and we didn't use any artificial or non-biogradeable material to make this tree. On top of that we can change with the season without wasting anything.

 We are of course very proud of our new tree and have to camwhore in front of it a bit lar. Then come the gift opening ceremony. We had quite a bit of fun see what each of us bought for each other....

Although it was a small Christmas celebration but I think it is very meaningful as everyone put a bit of effort to get something nice and "decorate" the office especially our Christmas tree. Everyone was very happy with their presents and everyone was showing it off in the office after that.

I think this is so much a better way to celebrate Christmas. Merry Christmas everyone and a Happy New Year.

Giverny

Giverny is a little quaint town in the north of France and it is about 45 minutes away by train from Paris. The 3 of us decided to do something different and head to Giverny which is famous for Claude Monet's home and garden. Sze Jean told me that the Claude Monet's house was closed during the winter but they kept telling me there is a garden and I thought it was an open park for some reason. However, I wasn't told that the garden is also in the house and they are closed together. Anyway we still took the train to Vernon.

We arrived at Vernon and were told there are 3 ways to get to Giverny.....

1. Take local shuttle
2. Walk to Giverny (5.5km walk)
3. Rent a bicycle and cycle there

Guess which method we decided to take.....

None of us have ridden a bike in many years but like they say everything is just like riding a bike. It  can't be that hard. So equipped with a very rough map, we set off and cycled towards Giverny. On the way we stopped by a bridge over the river and took some pictures...

We were cycling towards Giverny and I saw a bakery and wanted to get some water. I asked the ladies if they wanted anything and Ee Von specifically asked for not 1 but 2 baguette. The worst thing is that it wasn't mainly for eating but more for taking photos. Sze Jean made a boo boo and asked for something soft and short. She meant croissant or pain au chocolate but Ee Von and I took it totally out of context and Sze Jean regretted asking for it for the rest of the trip.

After we got some water and Sze Jean had her soft and short bread, we took off and I saw this fantastic tree for some photography.....

After I took this picture, the ladies caught up and I got a fantastic idea to do some portrait shots of the ladies.....

We spent a good half an hour there and then cycled on towards Claude Monet's house. The path towards Giverny was so nice and I could not stop again to take some more pictures....

We finally sort of reached the are of Claude Monet's house.....

At this point Ee Von started to get hungry and started to ravage the baguette....

Since the train from Vernon to Paris was only comes once every 2 hours, we decide to cycle back towards the train station. My butt was also getting super painful from all the cycling. It was however a very nice ride and I am super glad we decided to come to Giverny.

On the way back, the ladies couldn't help to drop in a nice shop selling pastries...

While waiting for the train, we sat down at a cafe to have our pastries and some cam whoring and beer....

It was a seriously nice day out and I thoroughly enjoyed it. We did some cam whoring, did some exercise, enjoyed the nice weather. Although we didn't see Claude Monet's house but it was so worth and throughout the trip, I so wished that Amy was there to see it as well. Oh well next time.

That is it for this Paris trip. This time around I enjoyed my Paris trip so much more. Maybe I won't be so reluctant to head back to Paris the next time. If my company sends me there again....