Travel Post - Lanterns! Lanterns! Lanterns! Hoi An, Vietnam - Part 12

Been tied up with project work and yes!....trying to keep my own promise to blog somehow.  Today's post will be pics, pics and pics. Hoi An and its charms has captivated me enough to warrant another trip in the near future hopefully, the simplicity of it all; the great food adventure, the beauty of the place and its people.  One of the things that never fails to draw my attention ?

The lanterns here in Hoi An.  They are everywhere! Hung in trees, lining the streets, as common lights in shops...well really,...everywhere. Of course, shops selling the lanterns are aplenty and they come in all shapes, colours and sizes!

Travel Post - Morning Market in Hoi An, Vietnam - Part 7

For today's post, I shall just continue with some of the other pics I took at the busy morning market which a really interesting trip.  The photos will give you an idea how it was, but nothing like being there in person, smack in the middle of it all! In other words - have a holiday in Hoi An!

Travel Post - Thuan Tinh Cooking Tour in Hoi An, Vietnam - Part 6

I had very much wanted to keep to my blogging schedule but the sudden death of my laptop derailed my plans.  But yes, now I am back, after a quick and rather painless mournful period as my laptop was resurrected! It lives! Hahaha...

So, what else can one do in Hoi An apart from taking in the lovely scenery and eating the local food? How about enrolling in a cooking class for a change?  TT came across this website and sent me the link to Thuan Tinh Island Cooking Tour.  Priced at USD34, the tour consisted of pick up from Hotel, trip to the morning market, coach ride and then a boat ride to the island for the cooking action to begin.  It was one of the more interesting cooking class that we came across and the plus factor was that they teach only a maximum of 10 participants and 4 dishes (most of the others only taught 3).

So, off we went to the morning market! The morning market is really amazing!  Hustle and bustle of people everywhere, our senses were working overtime...the vivid colours of the scene around us, the noise of people chattering, the smell of raw greens, spices and meat permeated the air.  You will find quite a number of Caucasians in the sea of Asians, as these are the very same Caucasians who are making a pit stop here as part of the cooking tour. Well, most of them were as we could identify them by the shopping basket given to us participants to carry the purchased ingredients.  Hahaha... Our guide took us around the stalls and picked up all the ingredients needed for us to cook with and each of us helped out to carry the items boiught.

Travel Post - Hoi An, Vietnam - Part 4

Walking around Hoi An, there were many random pics that I took.  Once again, loading them onto Facebook would be easier but I would like to have them on my blog with it's own link for easy search and access.  If you are looking at my posts on your mobile phone, make it a point to have a look at them on your laptop/desktop computer as the photos are meant to be LARGE, rather than ones that fit onto a 6 inch screen display :o).

The Joy Of HTC One ... HTC Zoe, Sense 5, BlinkFeed, Battery and more ...

I received my HTC One phone while I am on vacation in San Francisco and have been taking it out with me on my daily walks.  There is so much to love about the HTC One...apart from what I have written about it from my earlier post of the HTC One launch.

For one, the battery life of HTC One is really good.  I use it often to take photos (lots of it) and editing, for Facebook and surfing...Using it heavily between the hours of 10am till 4pm (cos that's when I am out and taking photographs!), after a total usage for about 15 hours (from the time I switched it on at 9am till the time I took the screen shot of the battery level) I am left with a 24% battery juice.  I am extremely happy with the performance.  I do not use the Power Save feature and control the brightness and the timing of the phone manually.

I have also become more up-to-date with news around the world.  Well, the World news is kinda depressing at times...so, I keep myself happier with news from the Entertainment world instead.  With BlinkFeed, I can do just that without having the dig for the information via search engines.  Once I choose my options from categories like Food, Music, Movie, Politics, Gadgets etc etc..news about these are just a fingertip away.  You can choose from a "pull-down" tab of which category you would like to see on the BlinkFeed page ... and presto, you are now updated with the latest news and trends! Check out this screenshot I took of my Movie news :o)  Read more about BlinkFeed HERE ...

WooHoo ... coincidentally, news about my favourite couple, Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie on my BlinkFeed!

As most of you would know, I love photography and HTC One's camera app with added features has made it one of the most used feature of the phone.  I have it daily on me as I go for my walkabout around San Francisco .... and so far I'm pleased with it.  The Ultrapixels allow me to take great low light pics (regardless of some complaining of the low 4 Megapixel camera...it's not like I will be making extra large prints of my pics.  I think it's great enough for a fullscreen laptop viewing!).  I am not a technical person, not so critical on specs...I just like what I see and get with the HTC One and that makes me one happy camper!

I took this pic in a dark room with the TV as the ONLY light source....though grainy, I am still impressed that it was able to capture the texture and the shadow of the blanket on the bed. I have not done any further editing to this photo.

Well, of course the HTC Sense with the added Zoe feature which takes a 3 second moving shot allowed for a nifty feature - a Zoe Sequence Shot.  This means that I can choose several frames from the moving shot and combine them together for a sequence shot.  Read more about HTC Sense 5 HERE ...

Cool right? Shot at Embarcadero.  Once again, no further editing was done to this photo.

Pics around Bentong

We walked around a bit in Bentong farm and ended up at an organic orchard.  Here are the sights of this lovely quiet and rustic place.

Kek Seng, Remembering Penang - Photo Series Part Eight (Final)

Remembering Penang - Photo Series comes to an end with this final Part 8.  This time round, these set of photos of food and the coffee shop were taken at the well known Kek Seng Kopitiam at Penang Road.  I still remember this place with fond memories; whilst the food is still pretty good but not as good as before, this coffee shop itself hasn't changed much through the years. Time has pretty much stood still in Kek Seng; the wooden benches and tables have withstood the test of time (though one will spot some new chairs in place).  Nostalgia aplenty ...

ASSAM LAKSA

Remembering Penang - Photo Series Part Seven

Continuing with the Penang series ... here are some shots during my trip to Penang.  The first two being things/places that caught my eye while the rest are the usual suspects...FOOD! hahaha....

Have a great week ahead, everyone!

Remembering Penang - Photo Series Part Five (Gurney Drive)

Continuing on with Part Five in this photo series... photos of Gurney Drive and the food of course!

Off The Beaten Track, Gerai Makan & Minum Kampung - Bukit Tinggi, Bentong

The month of June was a time of mini trips for me; I had the opportunity to go on a day trip to Bentong.  I tagged along with some friends (thanks to RB! xxx) and had a wonderful time albeit it was a short trip.

Packed into a van, we started our journey towards a place that I have long not visited.  Having absolutely no sense of direction, I asked no questions as to where our first stop would be but to let our distinguish host take us to where ever he wanted as he has been travelling through this route countless times.... I was relieved to know that we would be stopping for lunch first as I was famished at that time as we had started our journey pass noon and only arrived for late lunch.

Let me digress a bit here ... Take a walk around the vicinity and you'll find a fenced up area with a guard dog on duty.  Guarding what? Organic avocados! I've not seen one as green and big as the ones here.  Okay...back to the food...

I had done a quick search on the internet and the other flogger who has been to this place is PerutBesi.  Click HERE to read her post which also has directions to this simple and delightful Gerai Makan & Minum Kampung in Bukit Tinggi, Bentong.  As it was already quite late, we practically had the whole place to ourselves ... I just loved the place, it's full of character; the small town simplicity, the aged decoration/memorabilia adorning the walls and the feel of warm hospitality from the family who runs the restaurant.

Remembering Penang - Photo Series Part Four

For Part Four of Remembering Penang Series, I manage to take some photos of my friends' primary school, Island Girls' Primary School (just a couple from the outside as the gates were locked) and secondary school, St George's Girls School.  I was fortunate to have been able to take a quick walk around the school, hence more photos of it.  I only wished that I have had the same opportunity to take photos of my old school, Bukit Bintang Girls School before it was demolished to make way for Pavilion.  I had some really great memories of my old school.  Well, at least my friends will have these photos of their old school to look at ....

Remembering Penang - Photo Series Part 3

Remembering Penang - Photo Series Part 2

Continuing from Part 1 last week ....

Remembering Penang - Photo Series Part 1

I had taken this Penang trip  a while back and was fortunate enough to be part of a journey that was full of nostalgia; sharing the memories of my dear friends from Penang as I followed them around the island to revisit their past.  A past that they left behind but by no means, memories that they still hold dear to their hearts.  I tried to capture the memories in pictures; the places, the people and of course the Penang food (a food pic from Ipoh too as we made our way up).

Remembering Penang - Photo Series Part 1 begins ...

The Awesomeness of HTC One X ! At the launch of HTC One Series, Pavilion

I was at the official launch of HTC One series yesterday at Pavilion and it made me sad, looking at my current HTC Sensation. Hahaha....

I have always love HTC and it was naturally my one and only choice when I bought my first smartphone last year.  However, after looking at the HTC One X (RRP RM2099), my 9 month old HTC Sensation looks almost like an antique (and it left the other competing brands in the dust too, in MY opinion).  HTC One V was also showcased, being the smaller and less impressive of the two but still a good value at a RRP of RM999.

Charismatic Canada - Quebec's Parliament Building Part 9

Happy Sunday everyone....

It's a start of another wonderful day and yes, I'm still swooning about Canada (especially about Quebec!).  Here's yet another pictorial post on Quebec's Parliament Building.  The place is so picturesque and is filled with statues...actually, can be rather scary at night actually!

Testing Android Photography Apps - HDR Camera on Super Kitchen Chilli Pan Mee

Just a quick post today...I've been checking out the Photography Apps from the Android Market.  I've bought a few but there are loads of free apps in the Market that are rather good.  One of the free apps that I would recommend is the HDR Camera app. The HDR Camera App takes three consecutive shots at different ISO settings, merges them for stronger colours, depth and clarity.   But of course, you obviously have to try to be still while the three shots are being taken, so you will need to have steady hands. I have done some brightness/contrast adjustments to the photo below but the clarity part of the pic is what I would like to emphasise on.  Would you have known that this shot came from a phone's camera if I didn't tell you?

 Super Kitchen Chilli Pan Mee, Kota Damansara (tastes better than the SS2 branch).  Taken with HTC Sensation using the HDR Camera app (with some post editing).

I have to admit that I've been using my HTC Sensation phone to take photos of food nowadays.  I only use my DSLR when I'm doing a proper/official food review cos it's a lot easier and simpler using the phone's camera. While of course, it might still not be able to deliver shots like pics from a DSLR, I find that the HDR Camera app does a pretty good job...don't you think so?  This is just but one of the few HDR apps around.  Camera 360 has this option too with two selections; HDR Light and HDR Heavy which works just as well too.  It takes just one shot and changes the settings.  However, while this is a simpler one shot HDR app, the processed photo is only available in a much lower resolution.  Take your pick and pic, whatever it is...these are sure great additions to pushing the phone's camera limit further; especially when one doesn't have a camera in hand.  Have fun most of all...I just love all the phone photography apps.  I'll be blogging more on such apps in the near future. 

Weekend View

Ahh...the weekend has come and going...and will soon be gone. It's been another busy week for me and here are some random pics that I took in San Francisco.

Beautiful houses ...

Pictorial Friday!

While I'm away in Taiwan, I thought I would post some photos of mine that were taken when I spent 2 months in San Francisco last year.  Yes, I haven't finished blogging on my USA trip! Hahaha.... I've also mentioned that there is still more from that trip to be blogged since I also traveled to Canada and took a little side trip to Las Vegas and here I am now, in Taiwan!

So, enjoy the sights ... Have a great weekend everyone :o)!

Columbus Tower (Francis Ford Coppola's American Zoetrope Studios) along Kearny Street

Stopping to smell the flowers along California Street ...

To Ipoh We Go - A Tale of 5ive Floggers & 1 City (Part Two)

The internet connection has been acting up of late.  Had wanted to blog earlier but I had problems trying to load the photos.  Here's a quick Part Two of the Ipoh trip ... After our visit at Thean Chun, we decided to walk around the area to take some photos of Ipoh city itself and not just the food :o).  Here are some of the pics I took.