TRAVEL: Ha Long Bay, Hanoi

Here are some of the photos I took during my vacation at Ha Long Bay in Hanoi, Vietnam in June this year.

Photog Entry: Wedding

All the shots are taken with
D70: 80-200mm f/2.8
Flash: Nikon SB-800

Style: I focused more on the emotions of the couple. The long (but pretty heavy) zoom lens allowed me to be off distance and yet be able to capture the intensity of the moment.


























Getting The Girl Session
All the shots here are taken with
D70: 18-70mm f/3.5
Flash: Nikon SB-800

Photog Entry: Portrait Capture 6

All portrait captured at Malaysian Tourism Centre (KL)

D70: 18-70mm f/4.5, Handheld
Flash: None

TRAVEL: Siem Reap, Cambodia [Day 02]

Here are updates on Day 2 of my trip to Siem Reap, Cambodia.

We paid an exorbitant USD40 per person entrance fee to get access to the entire Angkor sites for 3 days. Upon purchasing the tickets, we were asked to take our photos which was provided for free. The pass/ticket was issued immediately. Cambodians can enter any part of the site for free. It's not that I'm complaining or anything but the USD40 fees per person is a very hefty sum. Not everyone comes from a US-currency friendly country.


We have to present the ID to the guards when they request for it.



This is the south gate... the tower is majestic and pictures do no justice to how magnificient the structure is.



The face of King Jayavarman VIII. Just look at the details!



This is Cambodian's mode of transportation which is somewhat the equavailent of our bus.



A popular tourist spot where you can snap a photo as if you were speaking with King Jayavarman.



What is visiting a country without shopping? =D The ladies can really shop while the men wait for them outside under the hot sun!



Can't remember the name of this place but an incredible shot as no other souls spotted in the photo!



For USD1, you can get a plate of this delicious noodle. It's spicy and not really what you call a wholesome meal but very tasty indeed.



And I really wonder how all these images get sculpted along the walls of the Angkor.

Siem Reap Day 1

My Brand New PC

Okay, here, let me brag a little about my brand new self-assembled PC. It is not the most blazing fast PC around but it is very capable.

Specs:
- E6600 (2.4Ghz) Intel Core 2 Duo overclocked to 3.11Ghz
- Asus P5B-E Plus Mainboard
- 2GB Kingston DDR2-667Mhz (Dual-channel)
- XFX 7900GT 256MB GDDR3 Graphics Card
- Dell 20" 2007WFP Widescreen display (1680 x 1050)
- Seagate 400GB Hard Disk drive with NCQ
- Samsung 18X DVD+-RW
- Altec Lansing ATP3 (2.1 speaker system)
- CoolerMaster 450W Power Supply
- CoolerMaster casing
- Windows Vista Ultimate

My PC scores a 5.5 in the Windows Experience Index with 5.9 being the maximum (currently)!

Tough Decision & Lesson Learnt

I made one of the toughest decisions yet earlier this year. I will leave my current company and move to another establishment. I came to realize that I'm not happy where I am at this point of time and therefore, decided to just pack and leave. A lot of reasons motivated me to leave but it basically boils down to not being able to work with certain people.

I have also came to realize how much lacking I am in my specialization field of Computer Networking during my job interviews. The interviews I went through led me to believe that I am so far behind so many people in terms of technical skill and exposure in corporate scale projects. What really sold myself (as I believe - cheh wah!) was the confidence I exude during the interview sessions. For me, it wasn't even an interview. It was more like a chat session.

On the positive note, I went for 3 interviews and I landed myself with 2 job offers. Not bad eh? I had to turn one down though and it is never an easy thing to choose between companies. Both are excellent establishments but I went for the one that had a wider job scope and, with a better prospect in terms of career advancement.

1 Year & 1 month Now...

My last post was on the 15th of March 2006. 1 year & 1 month later, I decided to continue on where I left off. So many events has transpired and I don't even know where to start, but I'll try.

The most signifcant ones that happened since the last blog:
+ve Events
- Got engaged to my San
- Pay rise =D
- Trip to Pulau Redang with entire family
- Celebrated my grandfather's b'day in a long long time
- Nina, Marjana & Mogie visited me in Malaysia
- My brother finally got posted to KL General Hospital
- Bought myself a brand new Dell 20" Widescreen Monitor
- Assembled the latest Core 2 Duo PC with 7900GT Graphics card!!
- Bought tickets for a vacation to Hanoi, Vietnam
- Bought a new Kancil

-ve Events
- My car broken into and notebook stolen - so much data gone!
- Leaving my company for another
- I still owe a lot of money to the bank (home loan, study loan, etc.)
- Haven't exercised in a long time now... getting fatter by the day
- Got into a terrible argument with a relative of mine
- Feel bored with my daily routine
- Lost my D70's LCD cover while covering the Windows Vista launch event