weribbee zoo visit no 2

Today, my blog has been officially 'promoted' by robin

When I read his latest post, my eyes grew as big as saucers :p when I saw what he had posted:

"Why Zoo Negara? Blame all of it on that Brandon (click)!! He poisoned me several times with the pictures he took at the Zoo in Melbourne, so in the spirit of kiasu-ism he got me so inspired to try out shooting at the zoo. Yes Goodness, Brandon, see what you have done to me."

It is indeed a coincidence that I too had visited the a zoo during the weekend - The Werribbee zoo.

I previously first visited the zoo in january this year, post here. This time, I've returned with my olympus e510.

this is how the zoo looks from above

near the entrance

some building made to look like an african hut. not very authentic to my liking

If used properly, the Zuiko 50-200 can be used as a 'macro' lens to take subjects with exquisite details. Most of the photos are taken at wide open apertures, single autofocus, multi autofocus points and iso400.

photographing the most common of animals can also be a rewarding experience

the wide aperture of the lens (f2.8-3.5 helps to give creamy 'bokeh' (blurred backgrounds) to the subject which is very desirable.

all star sneakers

the owner of the sneakers having a snickers
btw, the snickers catch line is - so close u can taste it!

this is one of the latest exhibits at the zoo.. it looks quite sleepy

one successful trait of the zoo is its safari experience. simply put, a bus drives you on dirt tracks so that you can view the animals from a safe distance without having to walk for miles.

american bison.
the alpha male is in the foreground

the indian cow and the little birdie

when an antelopes' horn breaks, it does not grow back.. pitiful, i must say..

you can't actually notice it, but this deer is actually using its long horns to give itself a back scratch

in fact.. almost all the pictures i've taken show sleepy animals ! i think its because the weather was windy and quite cold

a deer was right next to the footpath which enabled me to take this closeup picture of it feeding

a sleepy rhino

but it wasn't sleepy for long.. it soon got up and pointed its massive horn towards us..

imagine a 2 ton rhino charging towards you at 50 kph.. it can topple a bus!

a good thing about these creatures is that you do not need to bring their food.. it grows around them

this giraffe was safely away from our reach. it was drinking from its container, so you can still see water droplets streaming from its mouth

robin.. i shot this meerkat for you!

i guess the lions look sleepy too.

A friend helped me to take this pic at 200mm

A little tip from a steve parish regarding photographing exotic animals:

"the most important rule for photographing animals in fauna parks and zoos when the day is bright and sunny is 'don't bother'. a bright overcast day is essential to enable you to take intimate shots of furry and feathered creatures with lots of detail."

sigh, what a sleepy day.... zzzz!

cuteness !

stubby red fingers

purple bliss

cinderella

the innocence of youth

Got milk?

50-200 swd, f3.1, iso 400

malaysian book of records - the unofficial version

MBR - MALAYSIA BOLEH RECORDS
by TV Smith
07/12/03

In our never-ending quest to set inane records, many other more profound and weighty achievements may have been overlooked. This week, Dua Sen salutes the unsung and selfless individuals who personify the Malaysia Boleh spirit; the true Bolehans…

Highest Number Of Freeloaders Congregating At One Spot - Nilai, 6th December 2003. 10,000 looters stripped a wholesale outlet bare in 30 minutes, carting away 3000 electrical and household items.

Highest Number Of Persons Not Charged In A Single Theft Case - The owner of the looted shop declined to press charges against the looters, thereby creating a new category for MBR.

Highest Number Of Human Piranhas Gathered At One Spot - 1999 Hari Raya Open House organised by the Kuala Lumpur Tourist Association. Thousands of starving Malaysians wrecked the festive treat for foreign tourists by devouring all available food and drinks in sight, all within 25 seconds.
P
Highest Number Of People Who Failed Mathematics Gathering Thrice Weekly At One Spot - The gaming shop.
P
Highest Number Of Road Accidents In The World - 26,662 died in road accidents between the years 1997 to 2002.

Highest Number Of Suggestions Ever Offered - 8,258,235 suggestions and proposals were made regarding the mass carnage problem between the years 1997 to 2002.

Highest Concentration Of Colour-Blind People In One City - Kuala Lumpur. Over 3 million motorcyclists who suffer from this rapidly spreading medical condition are riding through red lights at traffic junctions daily.

Highest Number Of Honorific Titles Awarded In A Single Year - In 2003, 52,987 individuals were conferred titles. 89% of the titles were awarded to newspaper editors, journalists and used car dealers.

Highest Number Of VCD Sellers Per Sq Inch - Petaling Street, Kuala Lumpur. In November 2003, the number of individuals peddling VCDs exceeded the number of visitors by 120 to 1.

Highest Number Of Macha Rappers Per Sq Inch - Jalan Telawi 2, Bangsar.

Highest Number Of Sarong Party Girls Per Sq Inch - 3-way-tie: Jln Sultan Ismail / Jln P Ramlee / Jln Telawi 3.

Highest Number Of Pimps Masquerading As Taxi Drivers Per Sq Inch - Jalan P Ramlee, Kuala Lumpur.
Please do not copy! Link instead, to this article at: http://www.tvsmith.net.my/duasen/071203_mbr.html
Highest Number Of Taxi Drivers Masquerading As Pimps Per Sq Inch - Jalan P Ramlee, Kuala Lumpur.

Highest Number Of Tables & Chairs Found On A Public Road - A mamak stall in Petaling Jaya placed 46, 899 tables and 166,522 chairs on a road stretching 6 kilometers, beating 10,4657 other roadside stall operators in the area.

Highest Number Of National Institutions Found On A Public Road - Jalan Tun Razak, KL. Within a radius 500m, lies the National Theatre, National Art Gallery, National Blood Bank, National Heart Institute, National Library, National News Agency & National Service Training Department.

Highest Number Of Party People In A Sports Category - Hockey.

Highest Number Of Bankrupts In A Sports Category - Badminton.

Highest Number Of Politicians In A Sports Category - Soccer.

Highest Number Of Absent-Minded Officers In A Sports Category - Shooting.

Youngest Security Guard Ever Hired - Sofian Ahmad, aged 11, is believed to be the youngest security guard hired ever since it became trendy to employ scrawny teenagers as guards.

Oldest Security Guard Ever Hired - Hj Ahmad Hanafi, aged 93, of Wing Onn Goldsmith Shop, Kuala Lumpur.

Best Kept Secret Of 2003 - Top-secret successor of Proton Wira revealed months before launch.

Question Most Often Asked By Tourists - Why is it cheaper to fly to Phuket from KL than to take a cab to KLIA?

Question Most Often Asked By Taxi Drivers - Sir, you want best Thai chicken in KL?

Fastest Response To A Road Accident - Tow truck driver, Ng Kim Seng of Kepong takes an average of 11.356 seconds to arrive at any accident scene within the Klang Valley. (I think our Fire & Rescue Department should appoint this guy as consultant).

Fastest Improvement In Service (Temporary Status) - Immigration Department (after surprise visit by PM Pak Lah).

Biggest Mass Migration - 1995-1997. During the mass colonisation of Bangsar by white imperialists, 3 million Indians migrated to nearby reservations like Waikiki, Silk and Backyard.

Biggest Scientific Breakthrough - A net was purportedly used to catch a rock the size of a bungalow during the NKVE rockfall.

Most Remarkable Civil Engineering Feat (Pending) - Building of crooked half bridge to Singapore.

Most Remarkable Social Engineering Feat - Forcing Singaporeans to drink Newater.

Most Enterprising Marketeer - Uncle Ho (& friends) for making available M$ Longhorn OS, two years before its official release.

Most Creative Method To Solve KL's Stray Dogs & Cats Problem - Hiring and underfeeding Vietnamese workers.

Most Unique Broadband Service - A Malaysian ISP offers the world's first and only broadband service at 28.8k speed.

Most Sacred Body Parts - The armpit and the belly button. Appearance banned on all local ads & television programs.

Most Feared Body-Related Parts - Sanitary napkins, tampons & condoms. Blanket ban on television ads.

Most Popular Way To Blow $ 20,000 In A Single Day - Taking a full page newspaper ad to thank a minister.

Most Perplexing Unsolved Mystery - Traffic along the Federal Highway slows down to a crawl in front of the Angkasapuri Building for no apparent reasons. This unexplained phenomenon existed since the 70's when the highway was a dusty dual lane road and continues to defy logic, even with the present day 8 lane-highway.

Most Consistent Naming Pattern - Proton. All their models end with an "a". Saga, Iswara, Wira, Putra, Tiara, Satria, Waja, Arena, Juara, Perdana and possibly Sutra for the upcoming model.
*Update: the only exception being the new Proton Ah Beng - the one that's factory fitted with a giant rear air spoiler.

Most Successful Animal Extinction Programme - All 7 rhinos at a captive breeding center died.

Most Successful Stowaway - A man who wanted a free ride to Sabah got more than he bargained for when he sneaked onboard a plane at one of the world's most high-tech airports. He ended up in Bali.

Most Unsuccessful Mass Suicide Attempt - 30,446 villagers from Kampung Muhibbah attempted mass suicide when they discovered at the last minute that a rival village has already attained the record for the world's longest lemang.

Most Unsuccessful Bodeking Attempt* (Pending) - A minister censuring the public for calling the brand new prime minister; Pak Lah. *pending annoucement of new DPM.

Most Synergistic Corporate Merger (Pending) - Star Publications and Coney Shock Absorbers Berhad. The Saturday edition of The Star is believed to have damaged the shock absorbers and suspension system of thousands of lorries and motorcycles transporting the 10 kg + paper.

Most Unique Top Level Domain Name (Pending) - It is rumoured that the government is planning to issue a new top level domain name in honour of a Malaysian swimmer; com.mydin

© 2003 TV SMITH
Link to this article: http://www.tvsmith.net.my/duasen/071203_mbr.html

what are the chances of..

NO HOLDS BARRED

Raja Petra Kamarudin

1.5% chance of surviving sudden cardiac arrest outside hospital

That was what The Straits Times of Singapore said last Saturday. The Straits Times news report then went on to say:

Time is of the essence if a person is to survive sudden cardiac arrest, say doctors. Generally, the survival rate of people who suffer from it outside a hospital setting is poor - between 1.5 per cent and 3 per cent, said Dr Chee Teck Siong, a cardiologist at East Shore Hospital. This is not helped by the small number of people here who are trained in CPR - cardiopulmonary resuscitation - and also by the limited effectiveness of performing CPR, he said.

This little piece of information is most interesting indeed. But what are the ratings of the many other things that are happening around us and which will affect our life or livelihood? Let us go through the list.

2.5% chance the RM625 rebate will help cover the recent petrol price increase

A full tank of petrol which used to cost us RM80 or thereabouts now cost us about RM120. And this full tank will last us about a week if we are careful and do not travel unnecessarily. The RM625, therefore, helps cover only five weeks of our petrol usage. This means the balance 47 weeks of the year will not be covered and we will need to fork out at least another RM5,640 from our own pocket, which also means the RM625 represents only about 10% of our needs.

1.75% chance our EFP will last till the day we die

According to Bank Negara Malaysia, we will need more than RM1 million in EPF savings if we retire at the age of 56 and live beyond the age of 66. And this would only be so if the retiree lives modestly and does not go for overseas trips or takes too many holidays. Bank Negara further says that most Malaysians finish all their EPF savings after just three years and thereafter they are broke. Not many Malaysians retire with more than RM1 million in EPF savings and the majority would have to survive with a fraction of that amount. This means the majority of Malaysians will either have to die before the age of 60 or else live beyond 60 broke to their bones.

0.25% chance Umno will change

After getting badly whacked in the 8 March 2008 general election, Umno still does not understand the reason why the voters rejected Barisan Nasional in favour of Pakatan Rakyat. Until today, Umno is still raising racial issues and making statements like the biggest mistake they made was to give the immigrants citizenship in 1957 and that these immigrants have shown their ingratitude by voting for the opposition. It is apparent that Umno is still suffering from AIDS (Acquired Intense Denial Syndrome) and will never wake up to the fact that its racial politics resulted in its poor election performance and its further exploitation of race issues will just antagonise the voters even further.

0.75% chance Najib will become the next Prime Minister

Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad says that the only way Najib Tun Razak will be able to become the Prime Minister of Malaysia would be if he divorces his wife, Rosmah Mansor. Betting on the possibility that Rahim Thambi Chik will lose his fetish for underage girls is a better bet than betting on the possibility that Rosmah will allow Najib to discard her like a used condom.

1.25% chance Pak Lah can sit through a two-hour meeting

Abdullah Ahmad Badawi is known to be incapable of reading half a page A4 without nodding off or to stay awake more than ten minutes into a meeting. Getting Pak Lah to read a ten-page report or to stay awake the entire two hours is more difficult than ensuring Rahim Thambi Chik can stay focused on the conversation during a fashion show of the latest bikinis.

0.05% chance the leaders will return all the money they stole

An estimated RM2 trillion of the nation’s wealth has been plundered and squandered by our leaders over the last 35 years or so. The chance of these leaders suddenly getting a serious attack of remorse, which will result in these leaders returning all this money they plundered and squandered, is as remote as the chance of Paris Hilton becoming a nun and campaigning for a ban on premarital sex.

0.1% chance Pak Lah can stay on as PM beyond Christmas

There is a strong possibility that the next Parliament session will commence with a vote of no confidence against Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and there is also a strong possibility he may be out of office as early as next week.

50% chance of Malaysia finally having a Malay Prime Minister

After having non-Malay Prime Ministers for the last 51 years since 1957, Malaysia may finally get its first Malay Prime Minister when Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah takes over as Prime Minister in the not too distant future.

source here

fun with lego

this is what happened when fuel prices rose to RM2.70/liter

credits to fototeacher for the inspiration and balakov for the images

i spy with my little eye...

e510, f3, 1/30 sec, iso 800
hanging rock visitor center

test shots with zuiko 50-200mm

this is one heck of a lens. NEVER before have I used a lens that focus this quickly before. this goes to show its SWD feature (Supersonic Wave Drive) is really what it claims.

Description

Designed to meet the needs of the professional photographer, Zuiko Digital lenses were born of an uncompromising commitment to performance. The lenses feature high resolving power, to get the most out of the imaging element. Zuiko Digital lenses allow light to strike the image sensor at a near-perpendicular angle, minimizing degradation and light loss. This large, award-winning family of lenses is perfectly matched to work exclusively with digital cameras so every pixel is properly exposed.

This is a high-performance super-telescopic zoom lens that features, for the first time, the Supersonic Wave Drive (SWD) autofocus system which enables the lens to achieve an AF speed about two times faster3 than the previous ED 50-200mm f2.8-3.5 model. ED lens elements are used extensively to correct the color blurring that can occur when telescopic lenses are extended to their maximum focal length, while the digital-dedicated design ensures high-quality performance with clear, crisp images from edge to edge. Close-up shooting capability is also superb, with a minimum shooting distance of just 1.2 meters throughout the zoom range.

Features

	50-200 millimeter f/2.8-3.5 zoom lens for digital cameras (equivalent to 100-200 millimeter in 35 millimeter photography)
	Features Supersonic Wave Drive (SWD) technology inside to provide quiet, ultra-fast autofocus speed
	Maximizes the E-3's high-speed autofocus capability
	Digital-dedicated design ensures high-definition performance with clear, crisp images from edge to edge
	Minimum shooting distance of just 1.2 meters throughout the zoom range

shot wide open f2.8 at 50mm

f3.5 at 200mm

200mm at f3.5

117mm f3.3

200mm f3.5

drool !