Cinema Chopping heads....

Well until recently my movie outings are rather limited. Being a father of two now, and with the little one just coming up to a year old me and wifey has had little time to go to the cinemas. I'm a movie buff and I love the whole cinema experience, you know, big screen, exploding audio, popcorn and the likes.

Here in Malaysia movie buffs have a few choices, theres the TGV cinemas, The GSC cinemas, Cathay Cineplexs and the upcoming MBO cineplexes.

Lsat weekend me and wifey went out to Sunway Pyramid decided to check out a movie a TGV cineplex there titled " Whats your number " starring Anna Faris and Chris Evans. The movie was quite good but the cinema...horrid.

I seriously think anyone who chooses to watch a movie at TGV cinemas nowadays have to be half drunk or temporarily insane.

If TGV wants to stay in the game of local cinema entertainment they really have to UP their game. Previously at TGV, I have had a cinema that had "No airconditioning", at one time there was some sort of glitter paint smeared on the projector screen, and few times the audio was either too soft, suddenly went mono or even NO sound at all!!! (mostly at TGV 1Utama)

This particular time, at TGV Sunway Pyramid, It was the Projection of the movie that totally failed. What do I mean by failed?

Watching the movie with its acpect ratio gone haywire, in plain english its like watch a movie with all the actors and actresses forheads being cut off. How much did I pay for watching a movie with the actors head cut off? A freaking RM14 bucks!!!!

I personally feel that TGV is on its way down, the competition is wayyyy better with better seats and bigger screens.

If you are a serious movie goer, take a trip down to TGV and see hear and experience for yourself. you have been warned...

Since it is illegal to take a photo in side the cinema the picture below is modded to look exactly how my cinema experience was at TGV at that unfateful evening.

See what I mean??

Growing up with Casios...my early watch craze

hmmm way before there was portable gaming, PDA's and ipods... the coolest gadget that a kid born in the 80s could have was a Sony Walkman and his Casio Digital Watch...

When it comes to watches I'm one of those weird guys who is a righty but also prefers to wear his watch on his right hand. Through out my kid and teen days casio was always the watch of choice....why? coz of the many functions to toy around with. I was a sucker for features and of course got suckered into the various models made by casio.

Among some of my geeky casio's were :


1) Casio 300m water resist - not that I went diving anyways, just for bragging rights haha (my watch can go deeper than yours)


2) Casio Data Bank - I could store phone numbers and even dial using the watch (by putting it near the mouth piece), damn I guess you cant get any lazier than that.


3) Casio Barometer BM-200 - This watch was freaking cool, as I could measure the altitude and the determine if it was going to rain wooohooo!!!

I actually really miss this watch as it was lost. Being in the aviation industry it would have more significance now than it did before. If I ever do find this watch at a flea I wouldn't think twice to grab it.

None of these casio watches ever did die on me. It was just mostly my negligence in using them and some lost during trips or relocation. Later on as I grew older the mentality that digital watches were for kids kicked in and I started wearing analogue watches (to be continued in another post)

Until today I still own a casio and make it a point to own at least one casio for the role of beat-em-up watch (jam Belsahan). The casio's are the ones that always follow me on camping trips, beach vacations, sports, and bike rides.

The current one that has been with me for almost 5 years is a casio Duro 200.
- Stainless Steel, analogue and digital (still need the analogue touch)
- Calender calculated till 2099 ( i dont think i'll even live that long)
- Stop watch, Timer, World time
- Tempreture and tide graph (the geek feature)

Actual picture of my watch... battered and bruised but still ticking

GiLA-GiLa CaMeRa...

Ever since I had my first born I fell in love with photography i share this hobby with my other half. I just wanted to post this to keep track of the many few lenses and camera's that I have had the pleasure of owning and using. I'll do some reviews another time, for now, lets just make a list.

It all started with this...(in order of chronology)

Body - Olympus E-system E-420 DSLR

Lens - Zuiko Digital 14-42mm f3.5-5.6

Lens - Zuiko Digital 40-150mm f3.5-4.5 MK1

Lens - Zuiko OM 50mm f1.8 Manual focus

Lens - Vivitar OM 24mm f2.8 Manual focus

Lens - Nikkor 50mm AF1.4D

Body - Nikon D90 DX DSLR

Lens - Nikkor 18-70mm AF-S f3.5-4.5

Lens - Nikkor 55-200 VR AF-S f4-5.6

Lens - Tamron 17-50mm f2.8 (non-motor) MK1

Flash - Nissin Di622 TTL

Lens - Nikkor 28-105 AF3.5-4.5D

Lens - Nikkor 28-70 AF3.5-4.5D

Body - Fujifilm S3 Pro DLSR

Flash - Nikon SB-400 mini flash

Flash - Nikon SB-80DX

Lens - Tokina 11-16mm f2.8

Lens - Nikkor 70-300 AF4.-5.6D ED (non-VR)

Lens - Nikkor 70-210 AF f4 constant (two-touch)

Lens - Nikkor 80-200 AF4.5-5.6D

Flash - Nikon SB-800

Body - Fujifilm S5 Pro DSLR

Lens - Nikkor 24-85 AF2.8-4D

Lens - Tokina 80-200 ATX Pro f2.8 (gold ring) MKII

Body - Nikon D70s DLSR

Lens - Nikkor 35mm AF2.0D (my latest acquisition)


Whoa!!!! I guess thats a lot of lens, now you might think that I spend a lot on these lenses, but the truth is I dont keep all of them, I sell and then buy others lens (some call it being poisoned). Some of these lenses I bought used and I got for a real bargain. The thing is these lenses have really good resale value (depending on quality and rareness). I even made some really good profit selling off some of the lenses (not gonna tell you which one though haha)

Now, among all of these cameras, lenses and accessories, the ones that are still residing in my dry cabin are....

From left to right.... Nikon D70s, Nikkor 35mm AF-D f2.0, Tamron 17-50mm f2.8, Tokina AT-X Pro 80-200 f2.8 (SB-800 flash not shown)

Now why did I keep these items?

D70s - it just rocks!!! awesome colours, the best blue skies you're gonna get. (go ahead...ask any nikonians) shame about ISO limitations though (I dont shoot anything higher than 800 anyways)

Tamron 17-50 - The non-motor version is a gem coz they dont make this version anymore. AF-is fast, no back focusing issues and sharper than the built in motor version. Some distortion at 17mm and have yet to compare with the VC version.

Tokina AT-X 80-200 - For some reason tokina does not make 80-200mm lens anymore. this lens performs just as well as the nikkor two touch AF-D (perhaps because it shares the same design) Even though this lens rarely gets out that much, but it comes in handy for any sports events or concerts :D


So thats my current gear for now...

among my wish list is (if I had the money)

Body - Nikon D200 or D700

Lens - Tokina 12-24F4, Nikkor 85mm F1.8, Nikkor 28-105 or Nikkor 24-85 (yup I feel like buying these again)

Flash - Nikon SB-700 or Metz Mecablitz (heard good things about these)

alrite...off to shoot more photos (and finding more money ;P)

Autobots...roll out!!!

The real life Datsun Fairlady

I was born in 1980...So I virtually grew up with the "more than meets the eyes" "Robots in disguise" toy and cartoon hit

TRANSFORMERS!!!

Im quite picky in choosing robots for my collection, first and formost!!!! I only collect Generation 1 Transformers. Not

the beast wars, beast machines rubbish, and hell not the michael bay ones either.

Anyways recently I got my hands on smokesscreen a robot that transform into a 1980's Datsun Fairlady. This also happens to

be my favourite car in real life too :D

Other renditions robots of the Datsun Fairladys are Prowl (police car) and Silverstreak (a silver Datsun)

Other autobots cars that I have are... Jazz, Sideswipe (G2 black version) and skids.

Medieval Miniatures

Should have posted this a long time ago...

I have lots of respect for miniature hobbyists, especially those who paint their models themselves and can create effects such as rusts and battle damage. I can never do such things especially with my uncontrollable hands.

Remember that movie Ronin (the with Jean Reno, Deniro and all that car chases). There was this dude who was painting samurai miniatures (explaining what the word "Ronin" means).

Well... I have a friend just like that dude and here are his miniatures...

Please dont ask me what the names of the characters are... I have no idea... i think they are from War Hammer or War Machines :P

To Live... Is... To Ride...

As far as I can remember...I have always loved two wheelers...there no feeling like it. Sure it rains, and there is the potential danger of falling down and such, but... the feeling of freedom and the rushing air in your face... there is nothing like it...

Let take a trip down memory lane shall we...

• 1992 - 10 years old, my first motorcycle ride. My uncle's honda Cub C70. Rid it into a drain hehe
• 1993 - 13 years old, suzuki best 110R, short joyride on Uncle Zaibo's bike
• 1998 - My very first bike - The kawasaki K1 115R - This bike was superb, fast and very stable
• 1999 - Yamaha RX-Z 135cc - One one best bikes I have ever owned, Malaysia's favourite bike at the time.
• 2002 - My RX-Z was stolen :( - used the insurance money to buy a second hand RX-Z (very bad and not in good condition)
• 2004 - Yamaha TZM 150 - Veryyyy fast... veryyy powerful but a bitch to maintain...power valve oli seals always leaked (poor engine design)
• 2006 - My first SBK - Naza Blade 250N or Hyosung Comet 250, Red in colour, quite a looker. Really robust V-twin DOHC engine. A pleasure to own and ride. Many memories... many dudets had a ride. Met the missus too hehe :D. Had to let go of it coz expecting my first son.
• 2011 - Kawasaki Ninja 250R - after 3 years of non riding... final I'm back on a two wheeler. been using this baby for almost 2 months now. and I'm loving it... speed is good, mid RPM peak torque means that all I have to do to overtake while cruising at 110km/h is just pulll the throttle and it'll go to 130km/h in a jiffy. more on this bike after I have used it for a while...

To live....IS....To RIDE!!!!!


*note these pictures are not the actual pictures but the exact same model and colours huhu :P

Basstamasta....

Finally after a long wait, I finally got my bass guitar...well lets hope I'll have more time to practice...well whatever it is... I am getting ever closer to having my own jamming room hehe. Currently my set up is :

• One vintage Ibanez Musician Guitar
• One Yamaha DDS-55 Digital Drum (small but OK for practice)
• One Laney Hardcore 15 watt Bass Amp
• One Yamaha RBX 270J 4 string Bass Guitar

Well if my kids ever develop a keen interest in music... at least Abah will be ready to jam...

Nice and blue with no annoying pick guard :D

Deftones...rocking good time!!!

Once in like 2-3 years some of my favourite rock bands make it to our humble shores for a concert and this time it was Deftones!!!! Yeah!!! Thanks to my pal Mahfiz a.k.a Toge (who bought the tickets for us) Toge, Syed and myself made our way to Deftones first ever live concert in Kuala Lumpur. (sure wished Bob could join us)

Syed having taken the day off, myself on half day and togeh (he is his own boss), we made our way to KL far earlier in the afternoon and decided to take a stroll down the old Sungai Wang Plaza while waiting for concert time. Sure enough some things have changed.

Afterwards we parked behind Istana hotel and walked ti the concert venue : KL Live or better known as Life Centre as the oldskool dudes used to call it.


Tune, the main sponsor and the organizers had much to be desired of. The theme for a rock concert was a bit "Gay"ed up. I mean seriously whats with the rose petals, red ballons and the faggot cupids???!?!? Valentines day was Yesterday!!!! Get over it!!! Eff that!! I'm here for a head banging good time!!!!

Once we got in we proceeded to the "Balcony". The concert hall wasnt that big, but that was actually a nice thing because the fans were very close to the band and made the whole concert feel abit like a personal private gig.

Deftones rocked the place hard and was really energetic!!! I think the dude had like a one minute break to greet the fans and then went rocking straight on for like another 5-6 songs.

All in all it was a great performance by deftones and satisfied us oldskoolers by playing their songs from "Adrenaline", "Around the Fur" and "White Poney"

The next concert that I would kill to get tickets for are perhaps Red Hot, Foo Fighters...and System...(bit of a long shot there). If these guys dont make it to KL...at least I can count on our friendly neighbourhood island if Singapore.

Rock on....

Pictures courtesy of Toges FB page