Candid shot courtesy from www.kamkuey.com, taken using lens 17-35mm f2.8-4.

With this,

(This is when the live view came in handy when you can’t reach the view finder.  My first time switching it on.  Unbelievable!)

I get this:

With this,

I get this:

With this,

I get nothing. LOL!  There is no bugs on the dead tree trunk.  Just some wild  wood fungus grew on it.  Furthermore, the wood fungus doesn’t looks nice at all on macro.  It is other wise if they are mushroom.

And for some curious people like Aunty Kambing, no, I was not the only rose among thorn during the outing.  Nah, I got proof here *sticking out tongue*:

Some pretty photographs I took during my Cousin Yun’s wedding:

The last photo shows that there are too many photographers around!  This is a good thing when you have lots of friend carrying a dSLR.  You get free shots but then, bad day for the official photographer (the one in green shirt) as he can’t get a nice shot without ‘additional’ faces in there.  I have never felt so uninvolved in my cousin’s wedding.  Seeing so many photographers around, I better kwai-kwai sit in one corner, yea?  I only sneak up when the official photographer is out of sight.  I know I am such an obedient dog.  Woof!

“Aiyah, just buy some carrot and stick them in the ground then ask your kids to pull lor.”

“Veges from the market don’t want to buy. Come and pluck veges and do all the farmer’s work. He must be laughing his way to the bank!”

Thanks to BIL & Daddy. That is such an encouragement. Not!

Lots of pictures of Kharsyn & Carlgene as he enjoy getting himself dirty. Kharlette is ‘allergic’ (*rolling eye) to mud and has been staying at the cemented floor most of the time.

The first one we attack is the carrot patch!

This is the only proper picture of Kharlette at the vegetable farm

My Nephew, Jonathan looks like a dwarf holding a bunch of mini carrots.  Cute!

Raddish

Unearth the potatoes

Beetroot

One can tell that the cabbage is really heavy by looking at Kharsyn’s facial expression!

Cherry tomatoes.  They are so sweet!

Fresh carrot, anyone?

I’m loving this place.  Will be back again next time and many times more!

By the way, here is some ‘Bees’ photographs that I took in Bees Farm in Cameron Highlands.  The purple flower is lavendar and they have heaps in the farm!

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Before we continue our journey up the winding road, Daddy can’t resist buying some golden yellow looking bananas.

My suaku kids is so used to seeing barcode scanner in Hypermarkets.  They was pretending weighing banana on the weighing machine used in pasar malam.

More post on Cameron Highlands after this

Pictures on the way to Mutianyu Great Wall:

Able to see Great Wall from far!

We are not quite there yet.

At the carpark.

Scene near the toilet.

There are several side of Great Wall that is accessible to tourist like Simatai, Jinshanling, Gubeikou, Badaling and Mutianyu.  We was advised to visit Mutianyu Great Wall as there are less tourist.  I think Badaling is having the most tourist of all.

We took the trip up by cable car (RMB35.00 = RM17.50).  The Mutianyu Scenic spot is hugged by mountains with beautiful natural sceneries.

This is where the tracking started.

The experience at this section of the wall is breathtaking. Thankfully the touristy crowds are not here. However,  climbing up the very very steep steps occasionally made me wonder if I was in shape enough to make the climb. Then awe struck me that this wall that goes on as far as the eye can see was built with hand tools so long ago.

Making our way to the watch tower.

Up at the watch tower.

The sky is awesome, isn’t it?  It is now Hubby’s duty to carry my camera bag as my shoulder is aching, feet is getting heavier and the heart pound faster.

Random pictures

The wall presents different aspects of beauty in the four seasons. Flowers bloom all over the mountains in spring. Grasses dress the hillside green in summer. Trees are laden with sweet fruits in autumn, and especially in October, leaves are turning red or yellow, touching the mountain tops with gold. In winter, the wall is covered by snow, making it seem more magnificent.

We don’t feel a thing coming down.  Now to hike back up is really killing us!

A sled named ‘Speed Chute’ will give you an opportunity to experience thrills by taking you swoop down from the high mountains.  They are almost similar to Luge in Sentosa Singapore.  Instead of wider sledding lane, the single luge skidway was made from aluminum and does not require much maneuver  except to shift some body weight while maneuvring the curve.  Those are arenaline rush ride down hil.  Ticket priced at RMB55 (RM27.50).  For the faint hearted, you may take the cable car ride down.

We have fulfilled one of our wish to step foot on The Great Wall of China.  Check out more photos in my Facebook.

Hutong Village is considered one of the very popular tourist attraction in Beijing. This is where you are able to catch a glimpse of the local daily lifestyle. It is impossible to cover Hutong on foot even thought some houses have been demolished to make way for modernized development. However, some have been conserved and is possible to take an organized tour on a pedicab or rent a bicycle. Or maybe a tour guide if you have the budget.

Hutong in Mandarin is “residential alley” and Beijing was once over-run with neighborhoods of them, boasting the true flavors of the Chinese and the city.

However, over the last decade, Beijing has been modernizing, and Hutongs have been disappearing in favor for ring roads, high rises and stadiums catering to the Olympic games.

A city once crowded with streams of bicycles, is now characterized by swarms of traffic at all hours of the day and a thick, haze!

However, that day the sky was super clear. No haze at all!

We stop by a chinese tea house for the tea ceremony. This is another new that I’ve learnt during my trip. In some part of brewing chinese tea, brewed tea was poured into the thimble-shaped fragrance cup (see picture below). Place the small teacup over the thimble and then turn them upside down very quickly. This is how the tea was served to us.

Gently remove the fragrance cup and allow the tea to inhabit the small cup. Put the fragrance cup between your palm and roll them. Now, appreciate the fragrant by sniffing the fragrance cup. You’ll be surprised at how strong the aroma is from this tiny cup. Interesting isn’t it?

Moving on after getting outselves warm in the tea house as the weather outside is about 6 Celsius.

Emperor/Empress costumes on rental for studio photography

From across the road, I spotted ‘tang (sweets) hulu’. When I was a child, I used to see this sweets in Chinese drama and told myself that one day, if I ever see this, no matter how much or in what situation, I must savor this once. And lo and behold, I yelled, “STOP!!!!” I rush down from my pedicab and get myself one at RMB4 (RM2).

The fruits is actually cored fresh red dates coated with harden sugar syrup. Traditionally Tang Hulu used to be Hawthorn (shan zha) but nowadays fresh fruits has been used. I’ve tried the hawthorn version. They doesn’t taste as good as red dates.

And if you think RMB4 is cheap, the next day a street vendor sold it at RMB1 per stick and another vendor out beat him by shouting RMB1 for 2 sticks!!! And I go, “sucks!”

The gate building is the only thing that we can see along the Hutongs. Chinese people used to try to protect their privacy from being intruded by strangers. You don’t simply go inside their courtyard.

The Hutong tour guide telling us that we are going to visit this particular family…. and a reminder to be respectful and behave after all, this is their home.

According to the tour guide, during season month, they grew vegetables and fruits like grapes, tomatoes, loofah, etc. I’m sure it will be a beautiful sight.

Another part of their house. They are the 5th generation staying in this house. It may look quite run down but over the years, they did some renovation on the interior like using gas stove (with cooker hob somemore!), cement flooring, etc… and I go, “chehhhhh”.

The house owner showed us a few skills like Chinese calligraphy writing using water and written on the floor with a very huge Chinese brush. The toy that I am holding is called ‘cher ling’ or Chinese Yo-Yo. Sorry for the bad picture. It was taken under low lighting.

As we were leaving the place about 5.30pm, the sun started to set. This is the most beautiful sun that I’ve captured so far. The amazing thing is, I saw this type of sun every evening while I was in Beijing.

Night life had begun in Hutong. There are lots of pub that catered for kwai low tourist.

We settled for dinner nearby. I was already not feeling like myself during dinner and thought that I was merely tired and at the same time my tummy felt like having gastric. The next morning, I woke up with a series of diarrhoea. Was purging every 5 minutes and was bed ridden for the whole day. There goes my Day 3 in Beijing. No photo of Day 3 then and we shall proceed to Day 4.

More photos in my Facebook.

Usually the flowers is the main attraction but this year, I somehow find them so-so only. The thing that excite me is the artificial cherry blossom. I am so thrilled! This is the attraction that bought me to FGS Dong Zen in 2006. What are we waiting for? Pictures of course!

They shift the little monk every year from one location to another to make them looks like new.

The Wishing tree

Last year the bamboo is still young but has now grown so bushy they almost block the Kwan Yin Buddha’s view.

The mascot of this year – Moo-moo cow sponsored by Dutch Lady o.O Spot the grass. This year they are brown. I like it this way. Even if it rains, they won’t be muddy at all.

Something new this year. The past 3 years they kept using the same ole lantern.

The 12 Chinese Zodiac sign. Co-incident the three of them get to stand next to each other. The lantern zodiac sign is also from previous year but was shifted to a different location to make them looks new. Smart ass.

Daddy is very fond of anything that is ‘Rooster’. He bought this Rooster at RM50 since the money will proceed to the Old Folks Home fund.

I saw this horse but Daddy did not approve it so I say, “Buy for Di-Di la. He is born in the year of Horse ma.” Immediately he approved it! So easy to manipulate man hor.

Their theme for this year other than the moo-moo cow, they display some miniature wat (temple).  Take the spot light as comparison to see how small is the clay monk.

My best shot for that day, the lantern pagoda.

To begin, I was not the official photographer for my Nephew’s wedding. More of self invited only. Kekeke. Good thing tho as I can have my own sweet time to capture ‘moments’ and ‘details’ on the events and this is the best time for me to graps the new Tamron AF 28-75mm f2.8 lens that I just bought specially for this wedding too. Not to waste anymore time, here are the pictures:

Love the white blinds as it allowed plenty of sun to shine thru. This is Alvin, the bride’s Eldest Brother.

This is also one of my favourite, favourite, favourite pic.

Baby Princess took one of the postcard from the hotel. Without paying. ‘-.- I thought it was some sort of complimentary corporate holiday cards from the hotel as a token of appreciation, mana tau, postcard pulak. Potong stim. ‘-.-

Another shot of her that I love. Don’t be fooled by her innocent smile.

The ceremony (ROC) is about to begun.

Eldest Princess with her cousin. She had a better version of this shot on her PNS.

Niece – Crystal: Love the bokeh again.

During the swearing where the Registrar blurted, “Don’t hold hands yet.” and all of us burst into laughter. Look at the shying bride. Blushing man!

The million dollar question, “Do you agree to take this woman as your wedded wife?” “Yes, I do!”

The proud Mama aka my Eldest SIL

… and another one thousand hundred million dollar question, “Do you agree to take this man as your wedded husband, wash his underwear, cook for him, clean after him, spend all his money, etc…” (OK, I was just kidding. But the fact is true. *kekeke…)

Oh, man! If I was one of the audience, I would have weep the tears of joy too. I am the type that can’t watch soap operas. But that day was different. I was too busy taking pictures. I just wish she could weep longer! So the touching.

Initially the Bride was smart to turn away from the camera’s direction. I have to really squeezed myself between some potted plants at where I am standing.

Guess which hand belongs to the bride? No prize for the correct answer tho.

The Bride’s witness signing away at the dotted line.

This is also one of my favourite, favourite, favourite picture.

The official photographer at work. The funny thing is, he stands at where he is and I stand on the other end and never did once he came over my side for a shoot. Why ah? That makes me shy to walk over to his side too. So what you see is basically almost at the same spot i.e. next to the bride and he would have all his pictures took from the Bridegroom side. Crappy!

One happy family.

One of my favourite shots too. That way, the Grandfather doesn’t look so fat… sheesh….

All the shots I took are mostly candid. Why? Because the official photographer was there. Duhh. And of course, I was kinda shy to ask the Couple to pose even though I have tones of idea running. Never the less, I still love the candid very much.

This is actually a group shot but I zoom all the way and frame at the Couple only. kekeke…

Makan time! This two years old niece can eat curry puff! I wonder how did the parents trained their kids as my 8 years old can’t even take anything with pepper on it.

By the time I open the food container, all I see is food crumbs. So sad and super hungry.

The Bridesmaid’s corsage. Also one of my favourite, favourite, favourite shots!

I stole this shot from far. kekeke…

In the evening during the tea ceremony, I tried several angle but they all don’t looks nice and all their movements are too fast. I gave up after a short while.

Was more than happy to be able to capture this moment. I tried capturing the teacup exchange but failed. Like I said, they are too fast for me. One of the reason is because I was too tired. Not drained energy but the camera is too heavy! They weight more than a tons after you put on the 28-75mm lens and external flash.

I am sure the photographer will thanks me for this shot. He better did!

The many fine details around the wedding banquet. I am glad I noticed their initial embossed on the wedding cake.

My nephew asked if I changed any battery during the event. Well, the camera body’s battery is very ‘tahan lasak’ (long lasting). But the flash battery…. I used up 8 pcs of rechargeable battery and 4 pcs of alkaline battery throughout the day. That is a lot! I think I will need to get more rechargeable battery as alkaline is too expensive.

My verdict? Overall, the Tamron AF 28-75mm f2.8 lens is good superb. It gave me more control compare to 50mm lens as most of the time, I will masuk longkang (falls in the drain). I don’t mean to say wide angle are good. They have their own specialty actually. I still love 50mm for portrait shots but wide angle is still better for covering events.

More pics in my Photo Gallery. Enjoy…