Zey's Car Detailing Photography Blog

The Exam Day

2009-11-26T23:54:00.006+08:00

Back in August 2009, I managed to book a lab exam seat in Sydney on 20th November 2009 when someone dropped the booking last minute. I paid for the CCIE exam fee (USD1400 excluding VAT) on the spot. Time flies and 3 months had been fully utilized for final preparation and I was pretty confident for my first attempt.

My flight to Sydney was on 18th November at 10:40PM, and I reached Sydney airport on 19th November at 9:30AM. I took CityRail to the Central Station which is located just a few stops away, that costed me AUD15.60. The hotel which I stayed is Sebel Surry Hills, situated nearby Central Station. The hotel check-in time is 2PM, so I still had plenty of time to hang out before I can settle down. After I left my luggage at the hotel, I went back to the Central Station to take a train ride to St. Leonards station, which is where the lab exam center is, that costed me AUD3.40.

Since I couldn't sleep during the flight to Sydney, I was pretty tired. I had an early dinner at the Sussex Center's food court at Chinatown, it was just like 15 minutes of walking distance from the hotel, pretty convenient. After I returned to the hotel, took a hot shower, I felt really exhausted. I intended to go through the notes before I goto bed but I couldn't help and fell asleep as early as 8:30PM. It's actually a good news. Most people fail to sleep early the night before the exam, and that'll affect the performance on the exam day.

I had a total of 8.5 hours of sleep and woke up at 5AM. My mind was so fresh that I can remember every single thing I've studied. I headed down to the hotel restaurant to have a hearty breakfast at 6AM till 6:30AM. I left the hotel at 6:45AM and walked towards Central Station to catch a train to St. Leonards. The journey was predictable as I've done my homework the day before. I reached Cisco's office at 7:15AM and nobody was there yet. I waited till 7:25AM and the first person I met was the famous proctor - Scott Anderson. He opened the door and asked me to wait at the reception area.

At around 7:50AM, the other CCIE candidate (Voice track) arrived. Scott briefed us about the dos and don'ts for about 10 minutes. Most of the things were expected as I've been asking around and surfing forums to find as much information as possible regarding the lab exam. Two pieces of paper, pencils and color pencils were given.

The lab exam started at 8:10AM. I spent about 15 minutes reading the whole set of questions. I drew a simple table on the given A4 paper with the first column indicating the task number, second column indicating the remarks and the third column indicating whether the task is completed. The first four sections (L2, IGP, BGP and MPLS) took me 2.5 hours to complete. Then here comes the core section of the whole lab which is the VPN. Another 1.5 hour flew, lunch time was approaching and I was basically done with the VPN section, except for a subsection. I didn't have the time to reboot my routers right before the lunch break, but that was OK as I would prefer to reboot it only after I'm done with the whole lab.

A food menu was given before the exam started, and I chose Smoked Chicken Sandwich and Apple Juice for the lunch. I didn't have much appetite during the lunch break, and I couldn't finish the sandwich. As soon as we're done with the 20 minutes lunch break, we're back to the lab by 12:30PM. So the proctor told us we have 4 more hours to go. I spent about 15 minutes on the left over VPN subsection. As soon as I'm done I proceeded with the remaining sections (QoS, Security and Services). By 2:30PM, I was done with all the questions, except with a few doubts on multiple subsections.

Overall I feel the information given in certain questions are not sufficient. This might lead to multiple methods to answer the question. It's rather easy to interpret the questions wrongly, so it's best to clarify with the proctor. But please do not expect the proctor to help you. He or she might or might not even answer your questions. I struggled with a few questions by doing my own assumptions, that was a very tough decision and I shouldn't spend too much time thinking about it.

The remaining 2 hours were just enough for me to reboot all the 9 routers and thoroughly verify the result. Ping, traceroute and those necessary "show" commands were heavily used throughout the verification process. I had to make sure all my routers are working perfectly fine after a reboot. Also, ensure that all the required interfaces are up after you shut it down for testing purpose. By 4:30PM we were asked to stop working on the configurations. I left the lab by leaving all the equipments in privilege mode.

I took the train back to hotel with a blank mind. I thought could have felt more relief after the exam but I was wrong. If my answers for those few unsure questions are wrong, I could easily fail this lab exam. The more I thought, the more down I felt. I then checked my email at around 5:30PM but no news from Cisco yet. Instead of waiting in front of the laptop, I headed towards Sydney CBD for a walk. I took the opportunity to visit the Apple Store which is located along the George St., after the Queen Victoria Building. I reached the Apple Store around 7PM and I found out there were lots of people using the free internet over there with Macbook/iMac. I too found a vacant and quickly open up the browser and start checking email. This round there's an email from Cisco stating that my lab score report is ready. I clicked on the URL inside the email and logged in using necessary information. My heart was pounding extremely fast as the result page was loading half way. And at last...I saw the word "PASS" appearing on the screen, including the CCIE number assigned to me, which is #25728.

Screen capture of CCIE Verification Tool

That was the golden moment in my life! It's hard to describe how I felt with words as there're really not many people in this world could pass this exam in single attempt. With the amount of effort I've put in, I think it's really worth the reward. It's as if a new life has just begun, as this certification allows me to achieve a big leap in my career. One week has past, I still feel great and can't believe what I've achieved...I now can do the things which I've always wanted to do before this, and also buy the things I've always wanted to buy before this. It's time to enjoy for awhile before I start my new journey with Juniper certification...

CCIE #25728

2009-11-26T00:14:00.005+08:00

Hey guys! OMG, before I make any announcement, let me apologize for not updating my blog for 5 months and 20 days. The reason being I'd been so busy with my CCIE lab exam preparation like there's no tomorrow. After suffering for more than 365 days, finally I've PASSED the exam last Friday at Cisco Sydney's lab exam center in single attempt! My CCIE number is #25728. This number will be tied to my name forever.

FYI, CCIE (Cisco Certified Internetwork Expert) is the highest level of technical networking certification offered by Cisco. According to Cisco's statistics, there are a total of 20782 of CCIEs worldwide since 16 years ago, as per update on 26th October 2009. I should be the 105th Malaysian CCIE, and one of the less-than-ten-people specializing in Service Provider track. The statistics are frequently being updated here.

Below is a long list of people I would like to especially thank for helping and inspiring me throughout the CCIE journey:
- Father, mother, sister and brother
- Girl friend, Kim Yew (You're the best dear!)
- Best friend and his wife, Alvin and Any
- Joseph Goh (CCIE R&S/SP/Security/Voice, JNCIE) from Cisco AS
- Brian Ng (CCIE R&S) from GK
- Goldman Lee (CCIE R&S/SP/Security) from GK
- Ruby from GK
- Loi (CCIE R&S/SP), Edward (CCIE SP), Ethan (CCIE R&S) and Muzamil from Cisco
- Aizudin, my manager
- Mohan (CCIE R&S), my team leader
- Chong, my buddy/colleague
- All my colleagues
- Hann Yong (CCIE Voice), my ex-colleague
- And many more...

The journey was extremely rough, with more than 1000 hours of lab practices, several hundred hours of reading and thinking. Without their help and motivation, I might not be able to pass this 8-hour killer lab exam, especially in first attempt. I'll be documenting the process of my studies, hopefully can help some of the CCIE candidates.

Ever since I knew the result of my exam last Friday night, I felt so much relief and had never feel so great before. It's one of the biggest achievement in my life. I extended my stay in Sydney over the weekend till Monday. I had 2.5 days to explore this wonderful city. Sorry guys, no DSLR for this trip, only depending on Fujifilm F11, Gorillapod and iPhone's camera.

Below is the marvellous view of Sydney CBD from the CCIE lab exam center situated at St. Leonards.

Sydney Harbor Bridge captured from Sydney Opera House

Headlamp Restoration

2009-06-06T17:21:00.003+08:00

The headlamps of my gf's Atoz is getting hazier and hazier. Not to mention it reduces the efficiency (due to light scattering and absorption), it also makes the car damn ugly. Here is how the headlamp looks like before the restoration:

Upon closer inspection, the surface of the lens has thousands of micro-cracks. The above photo shows how hazy it was (*puke*). This is beyond compounding's job. So I had to resort to wet sanding. My buddy (Thanks Alvin!) gave me 3 sheets of sandpaper (1000, 1500 and 2000 grit) for me to try out.

Below are the tools I used for this exercise:
- Makita 9227
- Wolly wool pad
- Meguiar's W8006 Polishing Pad
- 1000 and 2000 grit sandpaper
- M85 Diamond Cut Compound
- M83 Dual Action Cleaner/Polish
- 300W halogen light

Since the micro-cracks are pretty dense and deep, it took me quite some time to level the lens' surface by wet sanding. I started out with 1000 grit, and finished off with 2000 grit. This is to ensure that at later stage I won't face sanding mark problem. Here's how it looks like after wet sanding:

Once I was done with wet sanding, I brought the gloss back with M85 (old school yeah). Though the lens looks way better now, but the combination of M85 and wool pad left some heavy buffer swirls. This was easily fixed by M83 with polishing pad.

Check out the result!

(*) Specktacular!

2009-05-22T00:05:00.002+08:00

The iPod Touch is more useful than I could ever imagine. Now I can read my Cisco eBooks on it wherever/whenever I am, surf web wherever there is WiFi, enjoy YouTube videos and much more without having to lug my heavy laptop along. Jailbreaking it will even further unlock more features.

Exterior build is high in quality and more than 95% of the surface area is glossy. This could also mean that it's so easily scratched if you're not careful with it. Also, it is impossible to keep it 100% fingerprint-free. I don't feel easy when the iPod is being used 'nakedly'.

So I Google up to find out which is the highly recommended protection case for the iPod and it turned out to be the Speck PixelSkin.

Several reasons why I choose this over other brands/designs:

- Silicon material prevents scratching the iPod
- Protects from bumps and scratches
- Snug fit
- Improves grip
- Funky design

I opt for the black color so it will look virtually clean all the time. It also comes in other colors such as Blueberry Blue, Sherbet Pink, Huckelberry Purple, Marshmallow White, Spearmint Green and Corncob Yellow. I also bought Capdase ScreenGuard (Crystal Clear) along with the Speck PixelSkin from Machines at Mid Valley. Overall I'm very pleased with the purchase.

Thank You Cisco

2009-05-19T19:09:00.002+08:00

Cisco organized an event today held at Nikko Hotel with a theme of "Cisco Data Center of the Future". Featuring the latest data center virtualization concept using a combination of Cisco, VMWare and EMC products. It's amazing to see how LAN and SAN are merged with the Cisco NEXUS while at the same time providing virtualization and automation services via Unified Fabric. The technology behind this concept is made possible by FCoE (Fiber Channel over Ethernet) on top of CNA (Converged Network Adapters). Very soon in future we'll be seeing more and more data centers going towards this virtualization technology to save space, power, cost and improve efficiencies of network.

While it's great to meet the key speaker: Damian Ryan (Regional Director for Cisco Data Center Asia) and Sal Fernando (Chief Architect of EMC South Asia); The best thing I have today is I WON AN APPLE iPOD TOUCH 8GB from the lucky draw at the end of the event! I LOVE it! Thank you Cisco!

Powered by Core i7

2009-05-17T15:13:00.002+08:00

After spending 1.5 month to practice on the InternetworkExpert Service Provider Volume 1 workbook, I've suffered enough of sluggish response of the emulated routers on both my company laptop and desktop. For Volume 1, the maximum number of routers required is 10; Volume 2 simulates the actual CCIE SP lab, so it requires 14 units of emulated routers (R1-R9, CellModeATM, BB1, BB2, BB3 and TermServ).

Just 3 days ago I've started practicing on the 1st lab of the Volume 2 via multiserver Dynamips and this causes both the C2D 2.13GHz and DuoCore 1.73GHz's CPU utilization to shoot up to 100% fulltime. This triggered me to go ahead and upgrade my system. Here's what I bought yesterday:

Intel Core i7 920 2.66GHz
Intel DX58SO Motherboard
Corsair 6GB DDR3 1333MHz XMS3
Cooler Master 550W Power Supply

Unfortunately, WinXP can only support up to 4GB of memory allocation, and under the System Properties, it shows only 3.23GB of RAM with Physical Address Extension activated.

The next thing I did after setting up the PC was to load the full lab topology. I'm extremely pleased with the performance as the CPU utilization is only 14% with 14 routers up and running without any configurations. With all the common SP services (OSPF, BGP, MPLS VPN, MPLS TE, etc) turned on, the load increased to an average of 17% only. Ping response time improved from more than 1 second to less than 40ms, which is acting almost like a real life router!

Perhaps this upgrade is one of the most well spent toy (or rather tool) besides my Makita 9227C and EOS5D. Hope this tool helps to speed up my lab practice and head for the exam before the 4th quarter of this year.

Barry's Visit to the Meguiar's Detail Center

2009-04-25T18:11:00.002+08:00

It was the 3rd and also the last day before Barry flew back to the States. We had a Friday night party at Meguiar's Detail Center along Jalan Templer and Barry dropped by for a visit and press interview. Here are the pics...

Forum Thread
Gallery

Barry Meguiar & I

2009-04-23T00:54:00.002+08:00

More than 10 years ago when I first started using Meguiar's products (which was the Cleaner/Wax and Clear Coat Body Scrub), I always see Barry Meguiar's photos and videos over the Internet. He's such a wonderful person and I would consider him the father of detailing. He might not need to be an expert in machine polishing like Mike Pennington or Mike Phillips, but his experience is more than enough for him to handle Meguiar's Inc. When he was giving a speech during the dinner, I can feel how passionate he is in managing Meguiar's. Seriously, nothing beats meeting the real person who is "As Seen on TV". Here is a priceless "souvenier" he left for me. I guess it's my first time posting my own photo, except for that tiny blog avatar. :-)

Barry Meguiar is in Town

2009-04-22T14:45:00.002+08:00

Car detailing enthusiast will definitely know who Barry Meguiar is. Just in case you don't know who Barry is, he's the president and CEO of Meguiar's Inc. Barry's grandfather, Frank Meguiar, Jr. is the founder of this prestigious international company.

Barry has just touched down at Kuala Lumpur today at around 11AM. He'll be attending the Meguiar's conference held at Sheraton Imperial Hotel later at 6PM till 10PM. I'm assigned to be the official photographer for this event. It'll be an honour for me to meet Barry in person.

Time off from my studies...

Addicted with Dynamips

2009-04-18T12:49:00.003+08:00

In the past, whether you're studying for CCNA, CCNP or CCIE, you need Cisco equipments for lab practice. However not everyone has the chance of playing around with the real equipment, unless you're working as a Cisco vendor or end user with spare equipments. Some of them might rely on the Boson's router simulator, which is just a simulator. It's programmed in such that limited functions can only be performed.

A few years back, Dynamips, which is a Cisco router emulator program was written by Christophe Fillot to emulate Cisco routers. The front-end software such as Dynagen can be used to configure and provision Dynamips emulator networks. Cisco engineers now can use such wonderful software to emulate Cisco lab with the desired network topology without having to use any real equipments.

I'm currently using Dynagen for my CCIE Service Provider lab practice. My pathetic Intel Duo Core 1.78GHz (2GB RAM) company laptop is able to emulate about 8 routers, while my Intel Core2Duo 2.13GHz (2GB RAM) desktop is able to emulate about 10 routers, both with simple MPLS VPN services. In order to run the full lab topology, I need a CPU which allows me to emulate 14 routers. Alternatively, I'm running multiserver Dynagen, distributing the processor power over my laptop and my desktop (7 routers each). As long as there is a Layer 3 connection between the two PCs, it should be fine. In my case, it's running over home wireless.

Now I just can't wait to buy the Core i7 and run the lab smoothly.

The Wait is Over

2009-03-28T22:33:00.005+08:00

Just got back from the DCiM where Canon showcased their EOS5DMkII. Fantastic HD videos recorded and large prints shot using this wonderful piece of equipment.

The wait is over? Not for me. Still a long way to go for my CCIE certification before I can reward myself with this body. Currently I need budget for a new PC for my CCIE lab preparation with Dynamips. Core2Quad or Core i7?

EOS350D, EF35mm F/2

KL Vintage & Classic Cars Concourse 2009

2009-03-22T00:44:00.003+08:00

I know, I know, I know...I haven't been updating the blog for more than 2 months. Thanks to a few projects running concurrently, plus my CCIE studies. Sometimes I just have to force myself to take a break else I'll start to neglect things/people around me.

Currently KL Vintage & Classic Cars Concourse 2009 is held at Titiwangsa Lake, Kuala Lumpur from 21st till 22nd March 2009. You should check it out if you happen to be around here. I was there shooting for half a day for Meguiar's. This round I use my good old EOS350D coupled with EF24mm F/2.8 and my favourite EOS5D coupled with EF135mm F/2L. Since I had to carry two cameras with lens attached, the Lowepro Flipside 400AW does the job very well.

True enough that prime lens is not as flexible as a zoom lens, but I do enjoy such kind of limitation. The reward is extremely sharp images and ultra thin DOF made possible by the large aperture characteristic.

Alright, here are some of the photos. Click on the Gallery if you wish to view all other photos.

Gallery

MyMazdaClub.com Detailing Clinic

2009-01-13T18:42:00.002+08:00

11th January 2009, Meguiar's @ Jalan Templer

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Gallery

Gitzo

2009-01-10T21:37:00.002+08:00

During my trip to Singapore, I dropped by TK Foto at Shaw Tower for a visit. My main purpose was to take a look at the latest bags by Think Tank Photo (StreetWalker series) and Lowepro (Classified AW series). None of them match my requirements so I looked around the shop and came across a selection of Gitzo tripods. I've never thought of owning a Gitzo tripod as the brand always gives me an impression that they're dead expensive. With the help of TK's staff, they recommended me GT1541T which is suitable for travel use. Its weight is merely 970g and 180 degree foldable to a length of just 42cm. Don't be fooled by its size as it can withstand 8kg of weight - Thanks to its 6X carbon fiber legs and the G-Lock system. The finishing is top class and is believed to last "almost" forever. I match this leg with a reasonably priced Manfrotto 486RC2 ballhead and the photo can be seen below. The total weight of this combination is 1.43kg. The Manfrotto 190MF3 without a ballhead is also in the photo for comparison.

[WTS] Manfrotto 190MF3

2009-01-09T16:52:00.006+08:00

I had been using this beloved Manfrotto 190MF3 for the past 2 years and it had never failed. However, due to my recent addiction to Gitzo tripods, I had to sell this Manfrotto away to fund for a Gitzo GT1541T. 190MF3's 3-section legs are made of carbon fiber tubes with a thickness of 1.2mm. Die cast parts are made of magnesium, hence the name of MagFiber. This tripod is considered lightweight at 1.6kg, lighter than most of the aluminium models such as 190PROB and 190XPROB. Its maximum height is 142cm and when folded, it's 56cm in length. Maximum weight support is 4kg. I've mounted EOS5D + BG-E4 + EF70-200mm F/2.8L IS USM + Speedlite 580EX on it without much worries. If you wish to travel light, I would recommend Manfrotto 486RC2 to match with this tripod. Besides that it comes along with hand-set bubble spirit level and a hand strap. As usual, I'm extremely careful with my equipment so there isn't a single scratch on the surface. Almost as good as new!

Price: RM800 (nego)
Condition: 9.9/10
Location: PJ
Contact: zeytee@gmail.com / 012-3798137
Status: SOLD

For Pixel Peepers

2009-01-07T14:39:00.002+08:00

Yes, I'm one of them. It's hard to resist not to pixel peep, but I just can't help it at times just to make sure that my equipments are working in tip top condition. Like what Ken Rockwell adviced: "Do it too much and you could go blind or grow hair on the back of your hand". Here's a comic by WTD for you pixel peepers...

I hope it's not too late to wish all of you a Happy New Year!

Singapore: Here I Come!

2008-12-27T12:56:00.002+08:00

This year I'll be counting down for 2009 at Singapore. I'd made 6 trips to Singapore this year and this will be my 7th trip. Previous trips were just day trips, done over the weekend, alone (yes, pathetic), while I was working in JB for a project. Singapore is considered extremely small compared to Malaysia, but I find that I like that place very much. Every corner of the country is safe, clean and organized. Public infrastructure is first class, and I can get most of the things there, especially photography stuffs.

For the upcoming trip, I've decided to put in some extra effort of carrying my tripod there. Besides that, I will be bringing my EOS5D, EF24-105mm F/4L IS USM and EF70-200mm F/4L IS USM, packed inside a Lowepro Flipside 400AW. Hopefully it's a fruitful trip for me.

Here is the shot I took in February, handheld and thanks to IS.

24mm, F/4, 1/15s, ISO1600

KLCC

2008-12-24T22:58:00.003+08:00

My buddy finally got influenced by me to purchase the value-for-money EF85mm F/1.8 USM. This lens will be coupled with his EOS400D as a portrait lens. The Canon shop in KLCC has 5 units of it in stock, so we headed there in the evening. I brought my tripod along to perform some simple AF test, just to make sure the lens is not having the front/backfocusing issue which we faced it 2 weeks ago at another shop. The EOS400D body had been calibrated at Canon due to slight front focusing but it's working perfectly now. When you perform an AF test on the lens, it's important that your camera body is focusing accurately, or vice versa.

Lucky enough, the lens' AF nailed on each test shot. After testing for almost 20 minutes, my friend was fully satisfied and we left the shop with the lens. While it was still early, we went to the KLCC Park to wait for the magical hour. With the tripod, we can afford to use the lowest ISO setting at 100, F-number of 11 and as long as 6s of shutter speed. After waiting for almost 30 minutes, this is what we captured with a EF-S 17-85mm F/4-5.6 IS USM at 27mm (35mm equiv).

My Birthday Present

2008-12-17T16:44:00.000+08:00

EOS5D, EF50mm F/1.4 USM (F/2, 1/125s, ISO100)

The parcel has finally arrived my house today, from Amazon.com. Usually it takes more than a month to reach but this round is truly fast - exactly 2 weeks from the day of ordering. Out of the four books, one of them was bought at Kinokuniya today. The other three books were paid by my father as my birthday present. What a lucky son! It's time to get serious with my CCIE studies. :)

Woei Chuan & Pauline (AD)

2008-12-14T16:14:00.002+08:00

Tamron SP AF90mm F/2.8 Di Macro

2008-11-28T22:36:00.000+08:00

I hardly shoot macro photos and I can't even remember when was the last time I used the Tamron SP AF90mm F/2.8 Di Macro lens for macro work, but only for close up product shots. There are several lifesize macro lenses for Canon EF mount in the market. One of the cheapest lenses is this from Tamron. I'm very satisfied with it not only because of the price (around RM1300) but the performance. Being designated as "Di" lens, it supports both fullframe and APS-C body. This is the added advantage compared to Canon's EF-S 60mm F/2.8 Macro USM which is designed solely for APS-C body.

Being offered at this price definitely has its own drawbacks such as extending barrel, slow and noisy AF and no FTM (Full Time Manual). The extending barrel is the most annoying part since the barrel will be fully extended by a few inches when I require a lifesize (1:1) magnification. This reduces the "working distance" and the lens will be relatively closer to the subject, as compared to Canon's EF100mm F/2.8 Macro USM which offers internal focusing. If you're not going to use this lens for other purpose such as sports shooting, you'll be fine with the slow and noisy AF. I only use manual focusing when I shoot macro. With newer generation bodies such as EOS50D and EOS5DMkII, extremely accurate focusing can be done via the LiveView LCD with high magnification viewing. Focusing with the small pathetic optical viewfinder is a history.

If you intend to own only one budget medium telephoto prime lens for macro and portrait work, then this is the lens. Else I would recommend you to get EF85mm F/1.8 USM specifically for portrait work due to larger aperture and faster AF.

Here's a shot of an Australian bank note.

EOS350D, 90mm, F/16, 2.5s, ISO100

100% Crop (click for fullsize)

EF200mm F/2.8L II USM

2008-11-22T22:00:00.004+08:00

There's an advantage of being black: being stealthy. As you know most Canon's L series (super)telephoto lenses are in white colour, mainly to dissipate heat easily under hot sun. The downside is it gets way too much of attention in the public. EF200mm F/2.8L II USM is the longest telephoto prime lens in L series which comes in black colour. This lens was launched in April 1996, together with its younger brother: EF135mm F/2L USM. Optically and physically they share almost the same design. Here is the photo of both lens.

What I like about EF200mm F/2.8L II USM is its size and weight. Compared to EF135mm F/2L USM, it's about 2.4cm longer, and merely 15g heavier. Compared to EF70-200mm F/4L IS USM, it's 3.58cm shorter and merely 5g heavier. It consists of 9 elements in 7 groups, 8-blade diaphragm, minimum focusing distance of 1.5m yielding 0.16x magnification ratio (on fullframe body) and utilizing 72mm diameter filter. If you often mount the camera on tripod, I would recommend you to get the black Tripod Ring A II which is supported by this lens for better stability and balance. EF70-200mm F/4L IS USM also uses the same tripod ring but in white colour. The photo below shows the EF200mm F/2.8L II USM mounted on a EOS5D with a white retrofit tripod ring. The ET-83B II lens hood is supplied along with the lens.

At the price of around RM2900, this lens doesn't come with IS (Image Stabilizer) nor weather-sealed. As a rule of thumb, it's highly recommended to shoot at least 1/200s of shutter speed for a 200mm lens to avoid handshake blur. Conversely, I can easily get sharp image at 1/10s with the EF70-200mm F/4L IS USM, due to the presence of IS. From all of my test shots, I get excellent handheld shooting result at 1/200s.

The AF is fast yet accurate. On this sample copy, the AF result is dead on. The focusing ring is very smooth and built is solid. Being light and short means highly portable. I use Think Tank Urban Disguise 30 to carry it while it's attached to a EOS5D body.

If you think that this lens is slow, and wish that it has IS mechanism and don't mind to pay alot for a lens which is heavier and larger, then I would recommend you to go with the approximately RM19,000 EF200mm F/2L IS USM. Fulltime sports photographers might prefer this unit.

In terms of image quality, it gives me the same feeling as its sibling (EF135mm F/2L USM). It's sharp wide open from edge to edge on a fullframe body. I wouldn't hesitate to shoot wide open all the time if that's the result I desire. For pixel peepers, this is the lens for you! Colour and contrast are as usual on L series lens.

200mm, F/2.8, 1/250s, ISO800

200mm, F/2.8, 1/320s, ISO200

200mm, F/2.8, 1/320s, ISO200

200mm, F/2.8, 1/200s, ISO800

Below is the 100% crop of the above image. Click for fullsize.

200mm, F/11, 1/30s, ISO400

Depends on individual's need, if you often shoot at 200mm and F/2.8 and yet not willing to spend extra money, not willing to carry bulkier and heavier lens, then this is the lens for you.

*Thanks to Canon Malaysia for loaning this lens.

Less Wisdom

2008-11-17T14:05:00.000+08:00

I started to experience on and off gum infection a few weeks ago. That lead me to suspect that I had an impacted third molar (wisdom tooth) problem. Last week I went to the dentist when I couldn't stand the pain caused by the infection any longer. The X-Ray result showed that the lower left wisdom tooth is horizontally impacted, pushing against the tooth adjacent to it. The surgery couldn't be performed immediately due to the gum infection with pus.

The surgery was done about 4 hours ago. It took me about an hour to remove not only one, but two wisdom teeth. The problematic one is embedded deeply in the gum, requiring the tooth to be drilled, gum to be cut and plucking the remaining bits - sounds horrible isn't it? Thanks to the LA (Local Anesthesia), I don't feel a single pain at all, but my mouth is full of blood. Another wisdom tooth located at the upper left jaw took the dentist less than 5 mins to be plucked.

The reward from this surgery is 3 days of MC. Hopefully I get to make use of the free time to study and detail cars...LOL!

Experience at Perodua HQ

2008-11-07T19:37:00.000+08:00

Two weeks ago, I was assigned a task to perform network assessment at Perodua's HQ in Rawang. One of the few tasks involve studying the current network design and performing site survey throughout the whole campus. During the past few visits, I've visited the casting department, QC department, assembly department, R&D department etc...What's more interesting to me is today's visit. I get to enter the highly restricted area: Paint Shop. It's a huge multi-storey building with conveyor transporting the car chassis going through several areas. It's pretty exciting to watch the robots painting the car, workers performing spot corrections, and cars going through the high temperature oven. Walking in the paint shop is pretty risky, one will easily get into trouble if he/she is not careful. Since the conveyor keeps moving, car chassis keep moving too. For those car chassis which just came out from the oven, it's literally "freshly baked from oven". I can feel the heat even the car is about 50cm away from me. As I walked past the QC area, I noticed a few workers were doing spot sanding and compounding on a few chassis, probably to remove dust nibs. And guess what, I saw tonnes of Meguiar's products in their storeroom of the paint shop. Products which I saw are SOLO system and M80 Speed Glaze. What a great day!

EF85mm F/1.8 USM

2008-11-01T23:26:00.001+08:00

Reasonably priced at around RM1400, the EF85mm F/1.8 USM is suitable for head and shoulder portrait. Though it's not part of the L lens league, but the lens is able to deliver crisp sharp image even at its largest aperture. The only drawback is the purple fringing at F/1.8 and once stopped down to F/2.8, it's almost eliminated. Launched in July 1992, this lens is still able to support today's standard, especially for pixel-peepers. Also, having 8-blade diaphragm renders excellent and smooth bokeh to eliminate background distraction.

The build is solid, it has metal mount and the focusing ring is smooth. Weighing merely 425g, it offers great portability. Compared to its elder brother - EF85mm F/1.2L II USM, it's less than half of its weight, and almost 1/6th its price, but lacking the L quality and slower by more than a stop. If you're on budget, it's a no brainer to choose the F/1.8 version. However, being cheap doesn't mean it's poorer in every aspect, its AF is way faster than the F/1.2 version due to lighter focusing group elements. Overall, it's a value for money prime lens for Canon shooters, be it fullframe or APS-C body.

EOS5D, 85mm, F/2, 1/160s, ISO400

EOS5D, 85mm, F/1.8, 1/60s, ISO1600

EOS5D, 85mm, F/2, 1/60s, ISO1600

Good Bye October

2008-10-30T21:51:00.001+08:00

Phew! I'm so happy that October is finishing soon. It's the busiest yet most productive month! So what I've achieved this month?

- 2 exams (one of them is due tomorrow)
- 2 wedding photoshootings
- 2 advertisement shootings
- new/old projects from my day job started/ended

Everyone is given 24 hours a day. I consider myself to have a full-time job and two part-time jobs. None of them are really related to each other: computer networking vs automotive detailing vs photography. If you ask me "Which one you love most?", I might answer you "I love all of them". Now I wish I have 72 hours a day so that I can give equally full attention to all of them. OK, stop dreaming.

For the past one year, I had been struggling to find an answer to my question of "What do I want to focus on?". Do I want to be a CCIE (Cisco Certified Internetwork Expert) qualified network consultant? Or to be a fulltime professional photographer?

I guess I've roughly figured out what I really want for my career path. Yeah, I chose to pursue CCIE certification and hopefully will be a network consultant very soon. CCIE is the highest qualification in the networking world. According to the statistic from Cisco, there are 18084 CCIEs worldwide as of 10th October 2008. Among them, 82 CCIEs are from Malaysia. The country with the most CCIEs is USA, a whopping 5076!

There are 5 tracks under the CCIE certification program:
- Routing and Switching
- Security
- Service Provider
- Storage Networking
- Voice

Each of these tracks specialize in different areas of networking world. Routing and Switching is considered the most common/favourite track among CCIE candidates. As for me, I plan to take the less common track which is the Service Provider. Why SP? That's because I love routing, especially BGP (Border Gateway Protocol) and MPLS (Multiprotocol Label Switching). I love dealing with large-scale network, which makes things more complicated, yet exciting. At the same time it's rather easy to do mass destruction (lol).

To prepare for my CCIE pursuing journey, I have done the followings:
- Drop wedding photography (starting Jan 2009)
- Decrease car detailing frequency
- Obtain basic (stepping-stone) certifications (CCNA, CCDA, CCNP, CCIP, CCDP)
- Mentally prepare for almost-no-social-life
- Collect study materials (not fully done yet)

To clear-up whatever is left in 2008 (2 more wedding shootings in December), I will only officially start my CCIE (Written Exam) studies in January 2009. There are at least 9 books to be read, such as:

- Routing TCP/IP, Volume I, Second Edition (Carroll, Doyle, ISBN# 1587052024)
- Routing TCP/IP, Volume 2, (CCIE Professional Development) (Doyle, DeHaven Carroll, ISBN# 1578700892)
- CCIE Practical Studies, Volume I (Solie, ISBN# 1587200023)
- CCIE Practical Studies, Volume II (CCIE Self-Study) (Solie, Lynch, ISBN# 1587050722)
- MPLS and VPN Architectures (Pepelnjak, Guichard, ISBN# 1587050021)
- MPLS and VPN Architectures, Volume II (Pepelnjak, Guichard, Apcar, ISBN# 1587051125)
- Traffic Engineering with MPLS (Osborne, Simha, ISBN# 1587050315)
- BGP Design and Implementation (Bartell, Zhang, ISBN# 1587051095)
- Definitive MPLS Network Designs (Guichard, Le Faucheur, Vasseur, ISBN# 1587051869)

I'm not too sure whether is this going to be worse than my Masters studies, but I know for sure it's going to be darn tough. It's not uncommon for CCIE candidates to sit for a few attempts of lab exam before they get certified. And each attempt will cost more than RM10K, which includes air ticket (Sydney/Tokyo/Brussels/SanJose/etc...), accomodation and exam fee.

Whatever it is...I have to focus and suffer (or rather enjoy the studies) for at least a year before the right time comes...

CupCakeChic

2008-10-27T16:09:00.000+08:00

Meguiar's Ad

2008-10-22T20:32:00.002+08:00

Meguiar's advertisement photos...

Swift Club Malaysia Detailing Clinic

2008-10-17T18:34:00.000+08:00

23rd August 2008, Meguiar's Show Car Detail Center (Jalan Templer)

Full Gallery

Bimmersclub Detailing Clinic

2008-10-17T18:29:00.000+08:00

16th August 2008, Hypercoat Enterprise.

Full Gallery

Kin Sun & Jane's Wedding

2008-10-17T00:23:00.001+08:00

Last weekend I shot Kin Sun & Jane's wedding for the entire day. The morning session took place at Jane's house and the Methodist Church. Church wedding is always more organized and in slower pace, allowing me to have time to move around for various framing angles. Though the light level was very low, but thanks to IS (Image Stabilizer) and low sensor noise on my EOS5D (EOS5D MkII will do even better job). The dinner was held at Tropicana Clubhouse's Tai Thong Restaurant with extremely low light level. The only way for me to light up the moderately high hall was by flash. Here are some shots for sharing, more shots can be found here.

Art Wolfe's 70-200

2008-10-10T11:34:00.003+08:00

Art Wolfe is an American professional wildlife and nature photographer. He's one of the photographers featured in Canon's Explorer of Light. Canon USA has a dedicated website to feature Art Wolfe's work - Art Wolfe's Travels to the Edge. Recently he had replaced his EF70-200mm F/2.8L IS USM with EF70-200mm F/4L IS USM due to the F4 version offering huge advantage in weight saving for traveling shooter who work on location. Also for the same reason he preferred the EF400mm F/4 DO IS USM (1940g) over the EF400mm F/2.8L IS USM (5370g).

Jeff's 70-200

2008-10-04T16:20:00.000+08:00

I'm a fan of Jeff Ascough. He's one of the best wedding photographers in the world, from UK. His shooting style always amazes me. He's currently shooting with Canon system. A few days ago he updated his blog, mentioning that he just got his brand new EF70-200mm F/4L IS USM. The reason being, he's tired of the weight and size of his previous EF70-200mm F/2.8L IS USM. I'm quite surprised that even a professional like him would have the same complain as I do, but due to the excellent image quality of the F/4L IS version, it's rather easy to sacrifice a stop of light/speed.

EF70-200mm F/4L IS USM @ The Gardens

2008-10-02T22:55:00.000+08:00

I take a day off from studies and brought along my EOS5D attached with EF70-200mm F/4L IS USM to The Gardens, Mid Valley. Overall I'm very pleased with the result. Even if I do 100% pixel-peeping, every detail is recorded clearly on the focusing plane. The best part is I don't feel tiring to carry this body-lens combination for the whole day. Here are some sample shots...

165mm F/4 1/125s ISO200

200mm F/4 1/125s ISO200

150mm F/4 1/100s ISO400

121mm F/4 1/100s ISO400

If you often shoot at 200mm and wish to have an even smaller yet faster lens, I would recommend EF200mm F/2.8L II USM, as for APS-C shooters, I would recommend EF135mm F/2L USM. Both are light weight (765g and 750g respectively), short (136.2mm and 112mm respectively) and discreet (black in color).

EF70-200mm (F/2.8L IS USM vs F/4L IS USM)

2008-09-28T14:39:00.002+08:00

When I first got started with photography, I'm always being amazed with all the white lenses which Canon had been offering in the past 2 decades. These lenses do not come in cheap price and most Canon shooters often drool over them. Two years back, Canon had 3 variants in the 70-200mm range: EF70-200mm F/2.8L IS USM, EF70-200mm F/2.8L USM & EF70-200mm F/4L USM. The most expensive being the F/2.8L IS USM version (RM6200) while the cheapest being the F/4L USM (RM2700). During that time, I wished Canon came out with EF70-200mm F/4L IS USM because I simply couldn't afford the F/2.8L IS USM version, and IS (Image Stabilizer) certainly increases the chance of getting sharp picture at lower shutter speed.

My wish came true, Canon launched the EF70-200mm F/4L IS USM on 24th August 2006. It has basically the same construction as the F/4 USM (non-IS) with additional 4-stop IS module. In addition, the optics are better, resulting higher resolution. And finally, it reached our shore in November 2006. Without waiting any further, I ordered the lens and got it immediately. The lens has a manufacturing code of UU10XX which indicates that it's made in October 2006 - spanking new!

On an APS-C body such as my EOS350D, the effective focal length is 112-320mm. Pretty suitable to be used for zoo trip or racing events. Being just 760g, you won't feel tired even if you carry it all day long. The zoom ring has sufficient grip and makes zooming easy and comfortable. The 4-stop IS is very efficient as I could get sharp still photos even at 1/8s @ 70mm (112mm equiv). The image produced at wide open F/4 is stunning, and it doesn't improve much even if I futher stop down the lens to F/5.6 and F/8. Since this lens was used on an APS-C body, the DOF is pretty deep and we couldn't expect an F/4 lens to give smooth creamy bokeh an F/2.8 lens.

I hungered for less DOF as I shoot more with a 70-200mm and that triggered me to upgrade to EF70-200mm F/2.8L IS USM. To fund for this lens, I sold my F/4L IS but at the same time I was so reluctant because I really love that lens. The benefit of using a F/2.8 lens on my previous EOS30D is that it will activate the extra sensitive center AF sensor. This makes AF more precise especially under low light condition. At wide open F/2.8, the image is sufficiently sharp and DOF is significantly shallower. I'm able to separate the subject from background easily with this lens. Something which I didn't really consider before buying this lens was the weight. It's freaking heavy at 1470g! When coupling this lens with a EOS5D, it became worse as the body itself is already 850g. The good thing about this combination is that the DOF is extremely shallow. Effective focal length is back to 70-200mm as the focal length multiplier on a fullframe body is x1.0. This focal length range is very suitable for small event coverage, portrait and landscape.

Due to its weight and size, lately I realized that I hardly use it. Lugging it around for a few hours is enough to cause my arm to be sore - also due to lack of exercise. The lens hood is also a pain to be stored. When I use this lens for automotive shots, I usually stop down to F/8 - F/11 to gain more details. Also I realized that when I need extremely thin DOF, I would opt for my EF85mm F/1.8 USM or EF135mm F/2L USM.

The funny thing is I started to give the F/4L IS lens a second thought. On the EOS5D, the DOF is pretty shallow even at F/4, especially at the end of the telephoto focal length range. To handhold this lens, I don't need the vertical grip which weighs another 200-400g. In fact, it's just 10g heavier than the EF135mm F/2L USM. Simply an ideal travel lens! Though I lose a stop of light, but I feel that the recent launch of the EOS5DMkII has about 2 to 3-stop of improvement in terms of sensor noise level. At 100% crop, I notice that ISO6400's output on the EOS5DMkII easily outperforms the output of the old EOS5D at ISO3200. This gives me the idea that F/4 lenses eventually will be very popular among photographers, especially when they just cost a fraction of what F/2.8 lenses cost.

I picked up my EF70-200mm F/4L IS USM from the Canon Pro Center yesterday, did a series of focusing and sharpness test to ensure that the copy I got is a "sharp copy". Now my dry cabinet has 3 white lenses and I guess very soon I have to part with the F/2.8L IS...Just the matter of the price I can let go...

Major Detailing: Iswara

2008-08-28T20:28:00.000+08:00

The Iswara had been back home from Seremban for two weeks as my sister is having a semester break now. That car was totally neglected and not washed for 5 months. Bits and pieces of cut grass are sticking on the paintwork, water doesn't bead at all and thick black dirt film coats all over the car. Before it goes back to Seremban again next week, I decided to give it a major detailing and hence I'm on leave today.

Job scope:

- Wash and Dry (Meguiar's Shampoo Plus)
- Wheel and Wheel Well Cleaning (Meguiar's Safe Degreaser)
- Clay (Meguiar's Mirror Glaze Mild clay)
- Tar Removing (Mercury M6000)
- Paint Cleaning/Polishing (Meguiar's M80 Speed Glaze)
- Waxing (2 layers of Meguiar's M16 , 6 hours apart)
- Trim Dressing (Meguiar's Gold Class Trim Detailer)
- Tyre Dressing (Meguiar's Endurance Gel)

Duration: 7 hours

If it's going to rain tomorrow, I will enjoy looking at the water beading on the paintwork!

My Bag Collections

2008-08-25T23:32:00.004+08:00

[Updated on 14/3/2009] Sometimes I just can't understand why am I so in love with bags. Whenever I open up my cupboard, I can't believe how many bags I've bought. Here's the latest list...

For laptop
- Crumpler, The King Single
- Dicota backpack

For cycling
- Deuter Superbike L

For hiking
- Berghaus 45L rucksack

For casual
- Timbuk2 Classic Messenger Bag (Small)
- Eastpak shoulder bag

For camera
- Lowepro Flipside 200
- Lowepro Flipside 400AW

- Lowepro Fastpack 250
- Lowepro Deluxe Waistbelt & Shoulder Harness
- Lowepro Lens Case (LC1, LC1S, LC2, LC2S, LC4)
- Lowepro Sliplock Pouch (10, 20)
- Lowepro Utility Case
- Domke F5XB

- Lowepro Apex 120AW

- Lowepro Apex 140AW
- ThinkTank Urban Disguise 20

- ThinkTank Urban Disguise 30
- Crumpler, The Bundle

The camera bags I've used and sold...
- Tamrac Adventure 7
- Lowepro MiniTrekker AW

- Lowepro Vertex 100AW

- Lowepro Vertex 200AW

- Lowepro Toploader 65AW

- Lowepro Toploader 75AW
- Lowepro Stealth Reporter 100AW
- Lowepro Stealth Reporter 200AW
- Lowepro Stealth Reporter 400AW
- Crumpler 5 Million Dollar Home
- Crumpler 7 Million Dollar Home

- KATA H-12

- Lowepro LC4S

That's all...8-)

Meguiar's International Calendar Submission (Updated)

2008-08-21T10:31:00.001+08:00

Three months ago, I took 3 shot of photos with Meguiar's end users posing with their cars. These photos are submitted to the 2009 Meguiar's International Calendar set for selection. I'm very impressed with the work from France, Holland, Germany and UK. Their photos do have good composition and lighting. This triggers me to get the 3rd flash...

Update (23/8/2008): Hypercoat just informed me that one of the photos (Toyota Wish) was selected to be part of the official 2009 Meguiar's International Calendar! This really excites me as it's the first time my work get published internationally.

Long Time No Buff

2008-08-13T22:24:00.000+08:00

Last month, I promised myself to give my Vios a good buff after my exam. I'm done with another paper today, so I'm extremely happy and in good mood. Back from work earlier today and started to detail in the evening. I haven't been polishing the Vios for almost 2.5 years, since the first day of ownership. Here goes the job scope:

- Wash
- Clay (Bonnet/Roof/Boot)
- Dry
- M82/W8006/RB (Bonnet/Roof/Boot)
- M16/Hand

Duration: 5 hours

Though there wasn't much cutting being done, but the before-and-after effect is obvious enough, at least for me. Majority of the 'pimples' are removed, left behind those deeper etchings. Those "pimples" will come back again probably in next few months time, due to paintwork problem. This phenomena is not seen on both the Accord and Myvi paintwork. Alright, the rest of the panels will be done probably after next exam. There're some road tars on the lower door panels to be cleared...

Total Satisfaction

2008-08-03T21:31:00.000+08:00

My business trip down to JB had been extended from 7 days to freaking long 12 days. Being away from home means I can't have a 'usual' lifestyle. During the weekdays I worked for long hours at customer site and over the weekends I spent my time at Singapore and sleeping/studying in the hotel.

Now I'm back to KL, and since I have to return to JB on coming Wednesday for another week, I have to finish up all my chores before I leave. And guess what? I washed both the Accord and Myvi! Total time takes less than 3 hours and it's a total satisfaction. I don't usually do that except for unusual case such as mosquito oil fogging...

Time for shower and revision...Ciao!

1901

2008-07-20T23:30:00.000+08:00

Every 19th of the month, 1901 offers chicken/beef hot dogs at very affordable price: RM1.99. By the time I was there yesterday, the chicken hot dogs were sold out. So I opted for the beef hot dog and took away as my Sunday breakfast. Great value.

Canon EOS350D+EF35mm F/2, 35mm, F/2, 1/125s, ISO100

Cycling Memories

2008-07-18T02:32:00.000+08:00

Back in 2002/2003, I was still doing my post-grad course in Imperial College, London. This college is now ranked 5th in World and is located right in the heart of London, next to Royal Albert Hall, Science Museum, Victoria & Albert Museum and 10 minutes walking distance from Harrods. Driving in the city of London isn't a wise choice, and almost none of the students I know drive to the campus. Walking, taking a tube/bus and cycling are the only options for us. So you've guessed it correctly, I chose to cycle. Practically, I cycled in London (from Zone 1 up to Zone 5) and that's the cheapest way of moving around. If I were to walk from the hostel located along Edware Road to the college, it's going to take me at least 40 minutes, while cycling took me 10 minutes only.

Degreasing and lubing the chain, polishing the bike frame and fine tuning the mechanicals are done over the weekend whenever I'm free. It keeps the bike in tip top condition and feels great to ride on it. The feeling is exactly the same as driving a nicely detailed car. Old habits of mine. :) Ah...BTW, what made me recall these memories is the video I found in YouTube. Created by one of the students in IC who cycles to the college, and coincidently, same department as where I was. Enjoy!

EF Primes

2008-07-13T16:35:00.001+08:00

I started to fancy prime lenses ever since I own the 5D. The older generation (back in 80s and 90s) of EF lenses were designed for 35mm film SLR. There's a series of (non-L) prime lenses in the EF range such as 20/2.8, 24/2.8, 28/1.8, 28/2.8, 35/2, 50/1.4, 50/1.8, 85/1.8 and 100/2. These prime lenses are fast (at least having aperture of F/2.8), light in weight (between 200g and 500g) and cheap (less than RM2000). If you wish to travel light, consider bringing one or two prime lenses. I'm pretty sure the total weight (and price) would still be less than a EF24-70mm F/2.8L USM. Of course you lose the convenience of changing the focal length in just a twist, but people usually believe that using prime lens will drive the photographer to think more, compose more carefully and shoot better.

Apart from the weight/size/price, prime lenses allow me to shoot a photo under low light condition without using a tripod. Of course if you have the luxury to shoot with a tripod, that would be the best. Stop down the aperture to F/8 or even smaller i.e. F/11 to get more DOF and use the lowest ISO setting for best image quality. The trade-off which anyone can think of is the inconvenience, not to mention certain locations disallow the use of tripod.

Generally, on fullframe bodies, 20mm - 24mm are considered ultra wide angle; 35mm is considered wide angle; 50mm is considered standard; 85mm - 100mm are considered medium telephoto. For APS-C bodies, 20mm - 24mm are considered wide angle, 35mm is considered standard; 50mm is considered medium telephoto; 85mm - 100mm are considered telephoto.

For APS-C body starters, I would highly recommend the EF35mm F/2 lens. With an effective focal length of 56mm, it can be used as a walk-around lens. The minimum focusing distance of 0.25m allows close-up yet capturing the blurred background at F/2. Very versatile. The price is just nice, around RM1000. As for half-body portrait, the EF50mm F/1.8 II is a steal at RM300. With an effective focal length of 85mm, you can capture half-body portrait without distortion at a reasonable distance to maintain communication with your model. If you feel the F/1.8 version build quality isn't up to the standard, you may consider its sibling EF50mm F/1.4 USM at a higher cost of around RM1300.

My personal favourite combination of these primes depend on the type of the trip. For landscape and portrait, I migh couple 24/2.8 with 50/1.4. If I just wish to bring only a single lens, 35/2 could be an all rounder. How about coupling 50/1.4 and 85/1.8 for just portrait? Too many combinations! But I will always try to limit to 2 lenses at once. Either of these combinations would easily fit into my DOMKE F-5XB shoulder bag.

If you wish to know more about these prime lenses, please read this article "Ugly Ducklings: the early EF primes".

Just for price comparison purpose, checkout how many prime lenses you can buy from a single high quality L-series zoom lens:

EF24-105mm F/4L IS USM (RM4500) = EF24mm F/2.8 (RM1500) + EF35mm F/2 (RM1000) + EF50mm F/1.4 USM (RM1300) + RM700 of cash

EF24-70mm F/2.8 USM (RM4800) = EF24mm F/2.8 (RM1500) + EF35mm F/2 (RM1000) + EF50mm F/1.4 USM (RM1300) + RM900 of cash

EF70-200mm F/2.8L IS USM (RM6300) = EF85mm F/1.8 USM (RM1400) + EF135mm F/2L USM (RM3300) + RM1600 of cash

EOS5D, EF24mm F/2.8, F/2.8, 1/40s, ISO800

EOS5D, EF24mm F/2.8, F/2.8, 1/40s, ISO800

MerzClub.org Detailing Clinic

2008-07-06T22:12:00.002+08:00

5th July 2008, Meguiar's Show Car Detail Center @ Jln Templer

To view the gallery, click HERE.

This is not a Mercedes Benz, but certainly I can't resist to capture it. :)

CupCakeChic

2008-07-04T23:28:00.000+08:00

Some photos which I shot for CupCakeChic for their advertisement...

Quick Paint Cleaning

2008-06-28T22:42:00.000+08:00

The weather is still consistently being poor. If your car is parked outdoor, most probably you'll face the dirt film problem. The Myvi at home is parked outdoor most of the time, and being light colour, it shows the dirt film easily. Tight schedule disallows me to bring out my rotary buffer to give it a good paint cleaning and light polishing. It's good enough that I can wash it once a week.

On horizontal panels, the dirt film is the thickest, followed by the streaks of stain on vertical panels - the path where most water will flow down. Besides that, the paint is really rough when you touch it. These feelings make a car wash result less satisfying.

But there is a quick (or you call it lazy) way for me to overcome such problem by firstly giving the car a regular wash. Follow that by claying the paintwork. Then apply paint cleaner (such as M82/M80) by hand. Lastly, top it up with your favourite LSP.

When you apply M82/M80 by hand using the foam pad applicator, it's not going to cut at all. For areas with light scratches, you may exert abit more pressure to remove the defects. This method is very effective in removing the dirt film. The previous claying step will leave the paintwork a smooth touch, but it will not remove the dirt film much. So both steps complements each other.

That's how much of effort I can afford to put in these days...most probably will rotary buff my Vios after my exam in July. :)

Meguiar's Users

2008-05-30T01:20:00.001+08:00

VAGMY Detailing Clinic

2008-05-25T14:08:00.001+08:00

This round of clinic was held at the new Meguiar's Showcar Detail Center located along Jalan Templer in Petaling Jaya. This center conforms to Meguiar's USA's standard and opearating procedure. Go check it out if you are interested in having your ride being detailed professionally. Click HERE to view the complete album.

Where is Zey?

2008-05-19T22:13:00.000+08:00

Hey people, I might seem to have disappeared lately. Don't worry, I'm still here. :) Been very busy with my job and also studies. There's one upcoming exam this week and I had been spending all my personal time to study. No photography, no detailing, just studies. One thing I can't deny is that, to be able to achieve and master in something, being consistent is very important. If you want your car to shine in long term, consistent washing is required; If you want to get good grades in your studies, consistent revision is required; If you want to snap good photos, consistent practice is required. If you think that spending just a little bit of time daily on something is not going to help, you might be wrong. Over the long term, it's going to give you the desired effect. Alright, I'm not being consistent with detailing and photography at the moment, but will be back after my certifications. Enjoy the dry days for the time being before rainy season strikes back.

Glass Cleaner Concentrate

2008-05-03T00:10:00.000+08:00

50mm, F/3.5, 1/200s, ISO160

There're just a few drops of NXT Glass Cleaner left in the bottle. If I'm not wrong, I got it during the KLIMS 2006, it lasted me almost 2 years. Today I dropped by Meguiar's to pick up a bottle of Meguiar's Glass Cleaner Concentrate (1 gallon) and its 32oz spray bottle and chemical resistant sprayer. This product belongs to the Detailer Brand and it's meant for the production line. Similar to Safe D-Greaser, it's dilutable in the ratio of 10:1. From this bottle of liquid, I can dilute it into 11 gallons of glass cleaner! Let's calculate the cost of every mL as compared to NXT Glass Cleaner...

Glass Cleaner Concentrate's Price: RM115.50
Diluted Volume: 11 gallons = 41.627L
Price per 100mL: RM0.28

NXT Glass Cleaner's Price: RM38
Volume: 24oz = 0.7096L
Price per 100mL: RM5.36

This simple calculation shows that the NXT Glass Cleaner is more than 19 times more expensive than Glass Cleaner Concentrate. It's suitable for people like me who wipes down the glass daily, or even a few times a day.

50mm, F/2.8, 1/160s, ISO100
Canon EOS5D, EF50mm F/1.8 II

M16 Professional Paste Wax

2008-04-28T17:08:00.000+08:00

50mm, F/8, F/160s, ISO100
Canon EOS5D, EF50mm F/1.4 USM

Product Shots

2008-04-27T02:11:00.000+08:00

Just to share what I shot before I went to bed...Two light sources diffused with umbrellas. The bottle was positioned far enough from the background (which was my cupboard :P) to take advantage of the rapid light fall off and specular highlight (of the umbrellas).

Meguiar's Cleaner/Wax

Meguiar's M82 Swirl Free Polish

Canon EOS5D, EF35mm F/2, Speedlite 580EX (x2), PocketWizard Plus II (x3)

Windshield Repair

2008-04-26T12:04:00.001+08:00

Exactly 3 weeks ago, while I was driving the Accord up North for "cheng meng", the windscreen was chipped and cracked by a flying stone inflicted by a speeding modified Satria. I was at the speed of 110km/h and I guess that fellow must be beyond 130km/h. The chipping sound ain't loud but the effect of it was quite bad. The glare caused by the star crack is very annoying while driving under harsh sun light.

To prevent from further cracking, this morning I brought the car to Glass Mechanic located at SS2 for repair. Since the windshield was insured, they advice me to claim the repair fee from the insurance company. Unfortunately, they're not the UniAsia's panel, else they can even claim it for me.

A few pictures captured while they're working on the repair. The result is acceptable while leaving some chip mark on the surface is unavoidable. More important is the crack will not further grow.

Fujifilm F11

Makan-Makan @ 1Utama

2008-04-20T22:04:00.000+08:00

What a great way to spend my lazy Sunday afternoon having lunch with close friends at 1Utama! We had our sumptuous meals at Canton-i and delicious dessert at Haagen Dazs. It was so satisfying though I'm still in the middle of flu. No car detailing over this weekend. :P

Canon EOS5D, EF35mm F/2

Another Weekly Wash

2008-04-14T19:49:00.000+08:00

I put on the 2nd layer of Meguiar's M16 Professional Paste Wax on my ride last week. After a week of rain, the water still beads nicely. In terms of water beading durability, it wins NXT Tech Wax hands down. Not quite sure about NXT Tech Wax 2.0 which I'm still waiting for the stock to arrive Meguiar's Malaysia. I stopped using Soft99 Fusso Coat because it sticks dirt easily especially on horizontal panels.

Check out the water beads on the paintwork after hosing down the car. To minimize DOF, I switched on the macro mode on the Fujifilm F11, positioned the camera almost as near to its minimal focusing distance (6cm) and took this photo. The water beads as if the paint was just waxed.

Fujifilm F11, 35mm, F/2.8, 1/160s, ISO80

I simply love the image quality of the F11. Bokeh is considered excellent in its own class. And most of the time, the sharpness wins some DSLR kit lens! Another two closeup shots after the car wash.

Fujifilm F11, 35mm, F/2.8, 1/60s, ISO100

Fujifilm F11, 35mm, F/2.8, 1/80s, ISO100

Fujifilm F11: Samples

2008-04-13T12:10:00.000+08:00

This camera is so light and small that I don't feel there's a burden carrying around. Auto focusing is quite fast and accurate. Unlike DSLRs, compact cameras will not suffer from front/backfocusing issue. If there's any focusing error found, most of the time it's due to human error. Talk about DSLR AF issue, I got my Canon EOS5D calibrated a few months ago. When shooting with aperture larger than F/2.8, it is exhibiting backfocusing error. On the other hand, my EF50mm F/1.4 USM suffered from frontfocusing error! This is annoying enough but once sent in to Canon for calibration, it works perfectly fine again.

Back to the topic...Here are two samples taken over this weekend. The first one is my gf's F11 and the second is my car.

81mm, F/4.3, 1/100s, ISO80

36mm, F/2.8, 1/80s, ISO200

Fujifilm F11: Noise Challenge

2008-04-06T23:13:00.001+08:00

*Photo courtesy of Watch Impress

Most of the photography enthusiasts might have heard of Fujifilm F11 regarding its low noise performance at high ISO setting. Other models such as F10, F30 and F31fd share the same platform. Though it was launched in 2005, but it's still being rated as one of the top performers in that range. By using a larger than conventional compact camera sensor (1/1.7") with 6.3 megapixels on it, it's one of the reasons why it could produce very low noise at ISO800 and 1600. Focal length range of 36-108mm (3x zoom) is quite usable for light travel.

The best part was lately my buddy encountered a bargain on this model at one of the Foto Shangrila chain stores, selling at only RM499. This price tag includes a 1GB xD card and also a camera pouch (which is useless for me). Without considering much, I grabbed it while stocks last.

Why do I still need a compact camera while I have a range of lenses and a fullframe body? You guessed it correctly, it's due to its size and weight. At around 200g, it's almost weightless compared to let's say a EOS5D fitted with EF35mm/2. When you don't wish to grab attention from the public while capturing street photos, this is the "weapon". Most people might assume that you're not so serious in photography, hence less obstruction.

Alright, not too much of reviews here, but just to share with you photos I captured this evening. Photos had been resized, no touch up.

35mm, F/2.8, 1/80s, ISO800

35mm, F/2.8, 1/60s, ISO1600

Meguiar's Show Car Detail Center: Grand Opening

2008-04-02T22:54:00.000+08:00

28th March 2008, Hypercoat Enterprise.

> gallery

My Detailing Mojo

2008-03-31T23:14:00.000+08:00

It's back! Ever since the Iswara had left the house (my sis took it outstation for long term), I got to make use of my Vios as a daily driver. It has not been driven frequently for the past one year and the mileage could be less than any of the garage queens: 7600km in 2 years! Though the car was parked under the porch, but the amount of dusts settled on it are harming the paint quite badly.

Since it's being driven out more often, washing it more frequently makes sense to me now. The paint is very rough, but still beads water quite well due to previous UQD application. The excellent weather encouraged me to give it a good wash even I'm back home late from work. After the wash, I clayed the horizontal panels (bonnet, roof and boot) which usually get contaminated quicker than the vertical panels. Slapped on the Meguiar's M16 Professional Paste Wax and the finish became silky smooth. The reflected image on the paintwork turned to be sharper abit, but more room for improvement can only be achieved when I polish it. And that's when I have the time to pull out my RB...:)

Camera Bag Craze (Part 4)

2008-03-15T14:00:00.000+08:00

Welcome back to my blog for the Part 4 of Camera Bag Craze series. Before you start reading this section, let me ask you a couple of questions: Have you ever felt tiring to carry so many equipments during a short trip? Do you feel like leaving all your heavy fast zoom lenses and flash light behind and just bring along a body without battery grip attached with a short fast prime lens? How about a bag which gives you easy access to your camera within seconds? If all of your answers are yes to the above questions, then you might be interested in the ThinkTank Photo Urban Disguise 10 or 20.

I used to love zoom lenses alot as it gives me the flexibility for composing a picture. Modern zoom lenses such as the Canon L series zoom lenses are able to produce as good image quality compared to fast prime lenses. However there are several downsides, such as slow aperture (occasionally even an F/2.8 zoom lens ain't fast enough!), heavy weight (more elements) and larger size. Since I can cope with limited focal length choice for my own leisure shooting, it's still OK for me to just shoot with single fast prime lens (either EF35mm F/2 or EF50mm F/1.4 USM) on the EOS5D. Either lens when coupled with the EOS5D weigh around 1kg only.

TTP UD20 is my choice for urban shooting. Lots of thoughts had been put in for such disguised design, as the name suggested. It looks like one of those formal luxury document bags. I keep my passport behind the main flap which is secured by a huge buckle and two strips of Velcros. This compartment is also designed to store a Canon 1D-series body (no lens attached). All Urban Disguise models (10, 20, 30, 40, 50 and 60) have only 10.5cm of internal depth measurement for the main compartment. This will restrict the storage of 1D attached with lens in the main compartment. However, I particularly like this bag due to its low profile design, since I don't plan to attach battery grip with the body whenever I use this bag. I would recommend this bag to Rangefinder (RF) owners too. UD20 comes along with plenty of internal dividers, which allows me to create a room for an extra fast prime lens such as the EF85mm F/1.8 USM. But of course, I do use this bag to host EOS5D attached with larger lense such as EF24-105mm F/4L IS USM, or EF17-40mm F/4L USM, or EF135mm F/2L USM too.

Think Tank Photo Urban Disguise 20

Camera Bag Craze (Part 3)

2008-02-28T20:47:00.001+08:00

During 2007, Lowepro launched a new series of backpack named Vertex. It comes in 3 different models: Vertex 100AW, Vertex 200AW and Vertex 300AW. This series of backpacks are very solidly built. Extra thick padding, seam-sealed AW cover and water-resistant zippers easily hint that the design is meant for serious outdoor usage. At that time, I was unable to view the actual bag locally as it was relatively new in the local market. Based on the online reviews, specifications and photos, I decided to try the Lowepro Vertex 100AW. Thanks to my friend who used to work in Singapore and helped me to buy from there. Its internal size is similar to Lowepro MiniTrekker AW, except that it's deeper at 15cm. The depth easily accomodates an EOS5D with BG-E4 (1D-series body too). Similar to MiniTrekker AW, the height of the bag is beyond the length of an EOS5D attached with EF70-200mm F/2.8L IS USM or the slightly longer EF300mm F/4L IS USM. There are also alot more compartments to store your memory cards, batteries, remote release, cleaning cloths, lenspen, keys, etc...Vertex 100AW also features a laptop compartment, but it's rather useless for me since my company laptop is way too big for that. Perhaps it will fit a 12" laptop. I use this compartment to hold 3 units of PocketWizards Plus II or sometimes magazines, so I don't have to worry having a bent antenna or a crumpled magazine. The adjustable harness system makes this bag suitable for long distance travelling. A detail review will be made in the future.
Lowepro Vertex 100AW

Like I mentioned above, Vertex 100AW doesn't fit my laptop. Furthermore, its internal dimension is not sufficient for most onsite assignments I do (besides wedding). I needed a Lowepro Vertex 200AW to simultaneously carry 2 bodies with lens attached (EOS5D with EF24-105mm F/4L IS USM and EOS30D with EF70-200mm F/2.8L IS USM), my company widescreen laptop, several other lenses such as Tamron SP AF90mm F/2.8 Di Macro 1:1, EF50mm F/1.4 USM, EF135mm F/2L USM, 2 units of SpeedLite 580EX, 3 units of PocketWizards Plus II, laptop power adapter, and not to forget several lens hoods. It sounds insane for the amount of equipment it can fit, and it's even crazier to carry it. Each time I use it, it easily weighs more than 15kg, and I can never withstand the weight for more than 15 minutes. However, transporting all my equipments is always less hassle if I were to split it into 2 or 3 bags. This bag can even fit a pro body attached with EF300mm F/2.8L IS USM with lens hood inversed! A strong competitor for this bag is the ThinkTank Acceleration, which features thinner padding and not really meant for outdoor usage. Compared to Vertex 100AW, Vertex 200AW provides more comfort for the same amount of equipment which Vertex 100AW can hold due to larger surface contact with your back.

Lowepro Vertex 200AW

For the last few wedding assignments, I did not carry any shoulder bags nor backpacks. I prefer to use the Lowepro belt system. It's scary to leave your equipment behind while you're shooting the event. You wouldn't know whether it'll be stolen or damaged. Using shoulder bag or backpack ain't practical either, especially if the event location is crowded. So Lowepro Street & Field Deluxe Waistbelt is the solution. It uses Lowepro's proprietary Slip-Lock mechanism, able to hold several Slip-Lock accessories such as lens cases, water bottle holder and pouches. You can customise it for each different shooting events. On top of that, I use a Lowepro Toploader 65AW to store my body with one zoom lens attached. Here is a list of cases I'm using:

Lens Case LC1S - EF35mm F/2, EF50mm F/1.4 USM (without hood)
Lens Case LC1W - EF50mm F/1.4 USM (with hood), EF85mm F/1.8 USM (with hood)
Lens Case LC4S - EF17-40mm F/4L USM (with hood), EF24-105mm F/4L IS USM (hood reversed), EF135mm F/2L USM (hood reversed)
Lens Case LC4 - EF70-200mm F/2.8L IS USM (hood reversed), EF300mm F/4L IS USM
Sliplock Pouch 20 - Microfiber cloth, memory cards, Lenspen
Sliplock Pouch 60AW - CP-E3, Speedlite 580EX
Bottle Bag

Lowepro Toploader 65AW

(Updated 15/3/2008)
With the aforementioned modular system, the belt easily weighs 4kg and above. This will require me to tighten the belt around the waist to prevent it from slipping down. It's also not going to be comfortable after long hours of shooting. And here comes the need of Lowepro S&F Shoulder Harness. This harness effectively distributes weight to the shoulder. The buckle of the Deluxe Waistbelt is only used to restrict horizontal movement (instead of vertical weight prior to shoulder harness usage). The extra SlipLock loop on the shoulder allows me to attach the SlipLock 20 Pouch, and provides me extra space on the belt. The best thing is, it's much easier to access to CF cards, MF cloth and Lenspen with this attachment. So if you're carrying more than 2 heavy lenses, this is a highly recommended product to be used with the Deluxe Waistbelt. (Note that the S&F LightBelt doesn't support the S&F Shoulder Harness.)

Lowepro S&F Shoulder Harness

More stories to be shared in Part 4...

Camera Bag Craze (Part 2)

2008-02-28T18:30:00.001+08:00

As my gear collection grows, I started to be greedy and wish to carry more things in my shoulder bag. Though the Crumpler 7MDH is able to fit quite alot of things, but there isn't enough of compartment for me to isolate my accessories such as memory cards, batteries, Lenspen, etc...Plus the non-padded flap doesn't give me a safe feeling. An almost similar size bag by Lowepro would be the Lowepro Stealth Reporter D400AW. This bag has several hidden compartments, which is good for storing important documents such as your passport. Besides that, there's a padded pocket which can fit a multimedia storage such as the Epson P5000. There are proper places for your name card, pens, keys and much more. It comes along with a pouch to hold your battery charger, and a digital wallet to store your SD/CF cards. It's quite a pretty neat bag for reporters. The main flap is lightly padded, and features a water resistant top zipper. This zipper allows me to reach my lenses or flash without having to open up the flap at all. Compared to 7MDH, this bag is more suitable for outdoor use due to the zippers and the built-in rain cover, but it doesn't look as trendy as 7MDH.

Lowepro Stealth Reporter D400AW

Not all the time I carry along my long lens, so getting the Lowepro Stealth Reporter D200AW makes sense to replace my 5MDH. It's slightly taller and wider compared to 5MDH. The features are exactly similar to the SRD400AW, except that it's smaller. It fits my EOS5D (with BG-E4) with EF24-105mm F/4L IS USM attached, 2 units of SpeedLite 580EX, and EF50mm F/1.4 USM easily. Quite a nice bag for assignment and travelling.

Lowepro Stealth Reporter D200AW

Cra"zey" enough, I went to get a Lowepro Stealth Reporter D100AW for my EOS350D (with BG-E3) with EF-S 18-55mm F/3.5-5.6 II attached and EF50mm F/1.8 II. Due to its size, it restricts me from carrying more equipments, which I ended up feeling comfortable even if I lug it around my shoulder for the whole day.

Lowepro Stealth Reporter D100AW

More stories to be shared in Part 3...

Camera Bag Craze (Part 1)

2008-02-28T01:48:00.003+08:00

Looking back at year 2006 when I just got my first DSLR, one question hit me: What kind of camera bag do I need? Since photographic equipment is quite a heavy investment, so I need a bag which can provide good protection and comfortable to be carried around for long hours. During that time, Tamrac had just launched their latest Adventure Series Backpacks. I was quite attracted by its design, since it doesn't look like a camera bag, the top half can be used to carry things like a jacket and the bottom half is dedicated for equipments. This model was too new, the local distributor had not brought it into Malaysia. By just viewing the photos online, I chose Tamrac Adventure 7 and purchased it from Adorama's online store in the States. After waiting for a few weeks, the bag finally arrived Malaysia via my friend's friend who worked in Colorado Springs. This bag fitted the EOS350D, EF17-40mm F/4L USM and SpeedLite 580EX nicely. It's a great daypack for travelling. As usual for most camera backpacks, the accessibility is poor. To get the equipment out from the bag, I have to put it down and unzip the compartment to reach for them. This isn't really convenient if you plan to take street photos. You either have to carry your camera all the time, or find a proper place to take it out when you want to shoot.

Tamrac Adventure 7

Due to the accessibility issue, I started to seek for a shoulder bag. Traditional shoulder bags with Canon/Nikon logos are out from my list as I never want to announce to the public that I'm carrying a camera inside. Crumpler caught my attention. To fit the same amount of equipment which I had during that time, I chose Crumpler 5 Million Dollar Home. The outlook of this bag is absolutely simple yet trendy. People who do not know this brand will never know it's a camera bag. With this bag, I carried my equipment with more confidence in the crowd.

Crumpler 5 Million Dollar Home

In the late 2006, I got my very first telephoto zoom: EF70-200mm F/4L IS USM. This is the smallest white lens in the Canon EF range. By fitting it on the EOS350D, the total length is around 24cm, which easily exceeds the height of the Tamrac Adventure 7 and Crumpler 5MDH. To reduce the frequency of detaching lens, I prefer to store the body with lens attached in the bag. Here comes my interest on the classic Lowepro MiniTrekker AW. It's one of the most popular Lowepro model among local photographers. This backpack's main compartment is purely for equipments. The remaining front pocket are for accessories. This bag offers plenty of room for majority of the photographers without overloading their back. The "AW" along with the model name denotes All-Weather. It has a built-in weather cover which can be unfolded from the bottom of the bag just in case you encounter less favourable weather during your outing.

Lowepro MiniTrekker AW

Again back to shoulder bags, I chose Crumpler 7 Million Dollar Home which can fit the camera body with telephoto zoom lens attached in the vertical position. The design is pretty much the same as 5MDH, except it's alot larger. Crumpler's X Million Dollar Home series of shoulder bags have average padding. The main flap itself is very thin, fastened by a single buckle and some velcros, and there's no padding at all. There's also no weather cover and extra zips to completely seal the camera compartment from the elements. If you're using this bag for city usage, it should be fine. I would not recommend it for outdoor activities.

Crumpler 7 Million Dollar Home

More stories to be shared in Part 2...

Le Tour de Langkawi Stage 9, 2008

2008-02-19T00:25:00.000+08:00

17th February 2008, Kuala Lumpur.

Gallery

Dual-Brand Shooter (ThinkTank user too!)

CupCakeChic: Now Open

2008-02-02T11:55:00.000+08:00

My client's shop has finally open at The Curve starting from January 2008. Featuring all sorts of cupcakes with different flavours according to the schedule. They cater for walk-in buyers as well as bulk orders for events such as weddings. Not only that, you can enjoy coffee along with cupcakes all under one roof! Check it out now at The Curve, 2 doors away from the Secret Recipe shop!

CNY Events @ 1U

2008-01-27T23:07:00.000+08:00

This is the second last weekend before Chinese New Year comes. And as usual, every shopping complex will start to organize events and decorate their premises. Since I had my lunch at 1U today, and wanted to try out my new EF85mm F/1.8 USM so I stayed abit longer to catch the 4PM show. It's challenging to shoot with large aperture lens, especially on a full frame body - DOF is very limited. It's either you nail it, or you miss it. It was a good chance to capture candid photos as those kids were very active. Some would even pose for you. :D

Santosh & Tina's Wedding

2008-01-17T11:38:00.000+08:00

Congratulations!

Gallery

BMW Club Malaysia Detailing Clinic

2008-01-16T21:55:00.000+08:00

Gallery

Kakikereta.com Detailing Clinic

2008-01-07T12:47:00.000+08:00

15th December 2007, Hypercoat Enterprise.

Forum Thread

A Long Sunday

2008-01-06T21:42:00.000+08:00

Set my alarm clock to ring at 5am on a quiet Sunday morning. I'm not an early person but due to work, I have to reach my client site at Putrajaya, 8am. To take advantage of this trip, my colleague and I met up at Hassan Cafe (Cyberjaya) at 6:15am for breakfast. With the new KL-Putrajaya highway, I reached Cyberjaya within 30 minutes with a sleepy head. After the breakfast, we rushed to the Lake Club at Putrajaya to catch the sunrise. The air was certainly refreshing and it's the best time for a morning walk. Captured a few shots before I rushed to the client site. It's a long and fruitful day as I managed to take photos and migrate client's network successfully.

Right before the sunrise.

Right after the sunrise.

Misty feeling. Distance building is the Istana.

My Car Wash Statistic of 2007

2008-01-03T21:26:00.000+08:00

After each detailing session, I have the habit of recording what and when I've done on Excel spreadsheet. It's just for keeping track so that it's easier for me to plan ahead. 2007 is over, and here is my car washing record:

Accord - 12 times
Vios - 14 times
Myvi - 19 times
Iswara - 10 times

Total number of washings - 55 times
Total number of cars - 4
Total number of weeks - 52

Number of washings per week (for 4 cars) - 1.057 times/week
Number of washings per week (for 1 car) - 0.264 times/week

Number of weeks per wash (for 4 cars) - 0.946 week/wash
Number of weeks per wash (for 1 car) - 3.78 week/wash

On average, each car is washed almost ONCE A MONTH! What a busy year...

Putrajaya

2007-12-31T00:29:00.000+08:00

The 8th Visit

2007-12-21T20:28:00.000+08:00

You might be surprised that the Myvi visited the Perodua workshop for 8 times, just to solve the engine oil leaking problem. This time it involves people from the HQ (Rawang) since the service center at Sec.19 is incompetant to solve it for the past 7 visits (11 months). The car was left with Perodua for 2 weeks and they loaned us another Myvi. Within these 2 weeks I was hoping the car will be free from extra dents and scratches in the workshop. Besides solving the engine oil leaking problem, they replaced the left side headlamp too. The right side headlamp was replaced a few months back due to the well-known defects (crack lines appear on the internal side of the housing).

Got the car back 2 days ago. A couple of annoying things hit my nerve. Dirty finger prints every where on the paintwork, which is OK with me as long as they don't try to clean it. Front number plate holder was misaligned. They didn't mount it back properly after fitting back the front bumper. There were 3 missing wheel well fasteners, which I believe they forgot to put it back. However, the most important is I don't find anymore oil drops on the floor after 2 days of driving. I hope the problem is solved.

This car is almost 1 year old, the paintwork hasn't been receiving much attention due to the aforementioned problem which requires me to send the car in to workshop. Since I'm on leave today, I had the mood and time to detail. I washed and dried the car as usual. Next I clayed the bonnet and polished it with Menzerna 106FF and Meguiar's W8006 pad, at the speed of 900RPM with the Makita 9227C. Thanks to Kenneth for being generous enough to give me some sample of that wonderful product. The product stays wet eventhough the ambient temperature was quite high. The longer buffing time allows me to breakdown the diminishing abrasive more efficiently, leaving a swirl-free and high-gloss surface. Maybe it's a light color paint, so I don't see any holograms.

I did the same on the roof, which is the most challenging part as Myvi's roof is quite high plus the fact that I'm not tall. Standing on the IKEA stool with both hands operating the rotary buffer make balancing the body quite a challenge. A 3-step ladder would be beneficial in this case, not to mention I can use it during a fashion show shoot too. :D The paint is so smooth and clean now, except that there are some etched watermarks at the center portion of the roof. Can't expect much for a car which is parked outdoor and seldom being washed. I used Soft99 Fusso Coat as the LSP. I hope the NXT 2.0 or M21 2.0 are able to arrive on time before I finished it.

What I'm glad is I enjoyed the process more than the result. I hope all of you spend your Xmas holiday well not only with your family and friends, but also detailing.

X'mas @ The Curve

2007-12-20T23:40:00.000+08:00

Meguiar's Malaysia on YouTube

2007-12-14T02:14:00.000+08:00

Heya guys! I just found this out from YouTube, a compilation of the past Meguiar's Malaysia detailing clinic photos which were taken by me. Thanks to Matt Davies of Meguiar's (USA) for such great music video.

Chris & May's Wedding

2007-12-11T19:33:00.000+08:00

Congratulations!

Gallery

Cup Cake Chic

2007-12-09T12:52:00.000+08:00

Outdoor Portrait

2007-12-02T00:18:00.000+08:00

The weather had turned really fined and it's time for detailing and outdoor photography. So I took this opportunity to take some outdoor portraits at the TTDI park. Most shots were taken with two strobes diffused with umbrella. PocketWizard didn't disappoint me due to its 100% consistency.

KK

2007-11-30T22:18:00.000+08:00

Had been ~~escaping from KL~~ working at Kota Kinabalu for the past few days. With much less working pressure and relaxing environment, it's more like a leisure trip. Generally people go back home from work around 5:30PM as the sun sets at around 6PM.

It's definitely the right time to visit KK now as it's the first time Sabah hosting the F2000 World Cup Powerboat Race at the Waterfront. Just opposite of where I stayed, Le Meridien Hotel. Too bad, I'm back to KL even before they started the event, from 1st to 2nd Dec.

The famous Filipino Market is also located opposite the hotel. It features vendors selling traditional handicrafts, souveniers, as well as woodstuffs. This is the colorful outlook of the market.

And the bench along the walkway of the market. I managed to capture it without having anyone sitting on it.

One of the stalls specializing pearls. They do have a branch at KL Sentral, but selling at a much higher price. I had a hard time choosing as there're just too many varieties.

I like the way this cheeky monkey staring into my lens :P

Butterfly

2007-11-25T11:36:00.000+08:00

88mm (35mm equiv.), F/5.6, 1/200s, ISO400

The only advantage of using a small body and lightweight zoom lens is for the sake of convenience. It won't break your back after carrying the whole day. The EOS350D attached with EF-S 18-55mm F/3.5-5.6 II was with me the whole day. It weighs more like a prosumer zoom camera (under 1kg), but the picture quality which it can deliver is way better. The above photo was taken spontaneously when I came across this butterfly next to the Cineleisure's flea market. The close focusing distance of the kit lens coupled with the 1.6x crop factor of the EOS350D yields acceptably large magnification ratio. If I'm not wrong, you can still get yourself a 350D kit at just RM1800; Or if you have a little bit more to spend, go for the 400D kit at RM2400. Start your photography journey from there...

Meooooow...

2007-11-24T23:51:00.000+08:00

I was shopping at IKANO today and came across a cute range of handphone pouch. Had a thought of giving my PocketWizards some 'clothes' to wear on for cosmetic protection just in case it dropped, from let's say the lightstand (hopefully not). This brand is certainly not as fancy as Golla and more important it's not as pricey too. At almost a quarter of Golla's price, I found 2 pieces which are snug fit for the PWs. Each priced at RM9.50, available at the Novacell shop. Product is branded as "animob".

Xmas Gift

2007-11-23T21:08:00.000+08:00

Xmas is approaching in a month's time. It's the best time of the year to give myself an excuse to buy things which I always want it. In the past, I gave myself detailing stuffs such as waxes, polishes and accessories. This year, it's some what different: 3 units of PocketWizard Plus II. Yeah, nothing to do with car detailing. It's a wireless radio flash trigger which can be triggered as far as 1600ft (0.487km) away! 1 unit for the body hot-shoe, and another 2 units for 2 flashes. I bought mine from a brand new online shop: Yamiya e-store.

Jaguar XK8

2007-11-18T11:47:00.000+08:00

Gallery

Note: This car was previously detailed by WetShineDetailing, full story HERE.

Alvin & Mindy's Wedding

2007-11-13T23:03:00.000+08:00

Congratulations!

Gallery

Luna Bar

2007-11-11T22:55:00.000+08:00

Mediterranean Pizza

Green Mussels

Dinner View

My Ball...head

2007-11-09T21:44:00.000+08:00

It was a nice evening with clear sky and sadly I wasn't detailing the cars; was working in front of my computer instead. I noticed that the sun was shining into my room via the window at around 6:40pm with a harsh golden ray. With the iron grill, the golden ray threw an interesting harsh shadow pattern onto my tripod ballhead. By carefully positioning the ballhead, the Manfrotto logo (the red one) was illuminated. Within seconds, I snapped this photo before the ray disappeared in the next couple of minutes.

Big Apple Donuts

2007-11-08T22:44:00.000+08:00

Putra Collective Detailing Clinic

2007-11-07T21:19:00.000+08:00

Gallery
Forum

MB C-Class

2007-11-07T00:09:00.000+08:00

KL Butterfly Farm

2007-10-28T23:17:00.000+08:00

Gallery

BMW 525i

2007-10-28T01:00:00.000+08:00

Meguiar's New Dual Action Polisher

2007-10-25T17:02:00.000+08:00

Image Source: Meguiar's (USA)

This is not the latest news, but certainly I would like to share among all Asian (especially Malaysian) and European detailing enthusiasts. If you've been struggling with the limited choice of ROB (Random Orbital Buffer) and DA (Dual Action) polisher, yet unable to use the old Meguiar's G-100 DA polisher (for 110V source), now you'll certainly fancy this brand new DA polisher by Meguiar's. Most probably it'll come in 240V version, expected to be launched next year. Meguiar's will announce the details during the upcoming 2007 SEMA Show on 30th October 2007. Meanwhile, make use of what you have now and hold on your purchase.

Painting

2007-10-20T13:28:00.000+08:00

Canon EOS5D, EF50mm F/1.4 USM.

Taps

2007-10-20T00:18:00.000+08:00

Me

2007-10-19T00:51:00.000+08:00

Photo courtesy of Woei Chuan.

Epson R-D1s, Carl Zeiss Biogon 35mm F/2.

Listen To My Heartbeat

2007-10-16T18:53:00.000+08:00

HCOC Detailing Clinic

2007-10-14T11:01:00.000+08:00

7th October 2007, Hypercoat Enterprise.

Forum
Gallery

Curve

2007-10-13T23:56:00.000+08:00

Unlike the usual weekends, The Curve was being rather quiet over this Raya weekend. The weather wasn't that great after all (means no detailing) so I only had the opportunity to shoot in low light condition when the rain stopped in the late evening. Put the EOS5D & 50/1.8 to a good test.

She was having a good time reading the mags comfortably at the Borders.

2+1

2007-10-13T13:40:00.000+08:00

To all my muslim friends/readers, Selamat Hari Raya! Hope you all enjoy the 2+1 days of holidays.

Cup Cakes Tasting

2007-10-11T23:06:00.000+08:00

It's great to have CupCakeChic inviting me for her brand new cup cakes tasting session. These new flavour cup cakes will be available once her new outlet in The Curve is launched in December. Good news for cup cake lovers as this is absolutely the first cup cake outlet in Malaysia!