SIMPLICTY@gombui.net

Getting Hooked to Small Things

Every time I go back to my hometown, I would take the opportunity to play around with my Sigma 150mm macro lens. I have to say that capturing small things is quite exciting to to mention challenging because most the subjects that I’ve taken so far are insects. You might opt for a stable tripod if you have one to stabilize your camera. If you don’t have one, settle for one of those modern stools?  The only downside of the Sigma 150mm thus far is that it does not have any lens stabilizer built in.  Perhaps that’s the only regret I have.  Nevertheless, I’m satisfied with the results and far reach that it has so as not to distract the subject.

Some of the photos taken at our backyard.

Subscribing to Earthquake updates

Something bizzare that I did recently was to subscribe to the Malaysian Meteorolgogical Department’s SMS service for Earthquake updates.  All you need to do is send  the following message - on eq to 15888.  You will get charged RM0.20 for every update.  Lately I’ve been receiving an average of one update per day.  The most I’ve received was two.  It’s quite scary when the quake update is happening just around this region.  This morning I received an update on the Taiwan quake.

What happenned in Haiti and Chile within a short span compounded by the series of smaller quakes all around has caused me to be alert.  Although it’s relatively safe here but one can never know.  I believe the devastation just like the one shown in the picture above will remind you that even the dead are not at peace.  I wonder if it will have an effect on funeral cost in those area.  Chile might have been more prepared than Haiti I think.  The buildings there are sturdier than Haiti’s, that’s probably the reason why we don’t hear very high number of deaths in Chile.  I wonder about our buildings here in Malaysia.  We have not had major quakes just tremors.  So perhaps I don’t mind paying RM0.20 for every earthquake update I receive,  at least I will get a chance of survival.

Almost…

Almost but not yet.  Anyways we had completed the last hurdle of our Alza.  We don’t even have to wait for any auto insurance quotes because it’s all conveniently included into our hire purchase agreement.  If everything goes well, we will get the keys by next week.  Perfect timing too since we had planned to go for a family excursion during the coming school holidays. We’ve been seeing increasing number of Alzas on the road, which is a good sign that ours will be the next addition.

Orang Kuat Sabah 2010

Last Sunday I witnessed the debut of the local version of the strongman competition, “Orang Kuat Sabah”.  The competition features some heavy lifting, carrying and pulling by large able-bodied men from various places of Sabah.  The men are muscle built and large by local standards that they probably need some custom travel mugs.  One thing I noticed that the largest and seemingly bigger muscled men may not be the ones who excel.  Anyways I didn’t stay long at Padang Merdeka because the weather was too hot.  Perhaps in the future the organizers can have more attractions and choose a cooler season.

It’s coming….

Finally we received news that our new Alza is due to arrive next week.  Late last year, we decided to sell off our 4-year old car to make room for this new car from Perodua.  We have read good reviews about it eventhough it’s not as large as other MPVs.  I think it’s just nice.  By the way, Perodua’s tagline for the Alza is fitting - Car One Moment, MPV the Next.  This model is actually based on Toyota’s Passo Sette. We’ll be getting the full premium specs with dual airbags, which means we don’t have to sign up for a high risk auto insurance.   That’s good news since we don’t want to spend much on insurance fees too.