DR KOH KHO KING

Can  you see two lions?

My hair will go wide when long…especially when just wake up from bed…

My lovely Megumi in her lion dress…

This is a typical Japanese meal. My wife went to a Japanese cooking class…after hours of hard work…this is the results:

Japanese are very particular in food presentation. They like layers…not only in dressing but in food also. You can see many layers in their food.

Of course, it taste nice too.

Don’t you agree?

Took this photo in autumn 2007. Lovely momiji tree (maple tree) in Japan.

We brought Megumi for her first autumn experience also…

She inherits some pretty genes from her mother… 

Of course, not forgetting photo of myself taken by my wife also…

and of course some “Quality” genes from me too…  

…and there have this restaurant in the middle of the “jungle”…good hot ramen in the cold autumn… (we did not try it though…)

Autumn is beautiful in Japan!

I just found out that Google has just updated their PageRank recently.

Some of the blogs in BlogMalaysia has jump from PR0 to PR3! Congrates!

Here’s the PageRank changes of the blogs in BlogMalaysia.com:

(P/s: Negative PageRank means that the site has not been assigned a PR by Google yet.) Read More

Glad to see that BlogMalaysia.com has more than 100 blogs registered in the directory now!

Just a month+ old, BlogMalaysia.com is growing well…and many bloggers has show support by volunteering adding BlogMalaysia link logo in their blogs:

Besides directory, BlogMalaysia.com is having a forum for bloggers too now! We have a two very dedicated forum staffs at the moment, one is:

APPLE – a very dedicated blogger who is great in blog design as well as art design. Her blog updates frequently, with various type of informations and news. A good example for new bloggers to follow.
http://www.xiaoyenzi.com

Another one is:

Alvin – a buddy who I know personally, very knowledgeable person with good experience in forum management and serving.
http://alvinjani.mylovepress.com

Do take a look at their blogs, and of course don’t forget to register your blog for FREE at BlogMalaysia.com!

Happy blogging!

Can you sense the fire?

Don’t play with fire at home…

(My wife’s not so good mood in one morning…)

This is Megumi at night during winter time…we have a sun ON all the night…

The dark shadow in front is the hair of Megumi’s mother…

What is the differences of Megumi in the two photos below?

Just bought this lens recently, at quite a good price in Japan.

This lens has been regarded as the best portrait lens by Nikon users for years. Though it is an old lens…but the optically quality doesn’t fade with time.

Here’s some sample tests shots I did few days ago:

Megumi:”Papa…new lens huh?!”

“Hmm…manual focus…old lens…”

Tested on Nikon D200 DSLR. Exif intact so you can check the exposure yourself.

One of the “problem” of using long lens is how to maintain sharpness. For a 105mm focal length in digital, you have to use shutter speed of at least 1/200s in order to yield sharp photo. This is just a rule of thumb…still depends on your hand steadiness.

Here’s a not so sharp photo:

(Megumi taking breakfast)

“ARHM!”

I use flash in all the above shots, to try using flash light to “freeze” the motion. Not always successful.

Worth buying lens? Yes for me, I love manual focus Nikon legendary!

I used to love Google Gtalk, as it is simple, easy and fast! Quality was superb when I use internet phone conversation with my family oversea.

However, now Gtalk quality is really bad. I still like to use it for messaging, but when coming to voice talk…it just doesn’t work. The opposite just can’t hear what my voice, real bad quality. As compared to Live Messenger, it is miles behind. I love to use Live Messenger now for voice call.

I guess the quality drop is mainly due to the popularity of gmail/gtalk now. With the increment of users, quality drops. This is bad…

NO!

YES!

Voice call? Sorry, Gtalk. Thanks, Live Messenger!

The long awaited Sigma DP1 will finally hit the shelf on 3rd March 2008 in Japan.

Price? Around JPY9,9800, Sigma said that this is the camera without class. Not a DSLR, not a P&S…one of its kind. Using the same Foveon X3 sensor as in Sigma SD-14 DSLR, which is definitely the first P&S camera that uses full size DSLR sensor.

Comes with fixed focal length lens of 28mm f4, minimum focusing distance 30cm. Fixed focal length lens is much more desirable than zoom lens, which has much better image quality and speed performance as compared to zoom. For a camera that has such a big sensor…it would be a waste if the zoom lens can’t deliver enough quality for the sensor.

Nikon Japan has just announced that AF-S Micro 60mm F2.8 G lens will be available on 14th March 2008.

This is one of my dream lens…but the price is kinda high at around RM2k (street price). Most probably still NOT going to get it…without VR some more…price too close to the AFS 105mm F2.8 Micro VR lens…

A song dedicated by my wife to me…

Siti Nurhaliza was…and probably still is the most popular artist in Malaysia. Not just a cute/pretty artist but she sings well.

“Bukan Cinta Biasa” in English “Not Ordinary Love”

I notice that WordPress has really really poor thumbnail image quality when I upload my photos online. It really spoil a photo or even discourage people to view/click your photo.

To change the thumbnail image quality:

Edit File:
/wp-admin/includes/image.php

Change:
if (!imagejpeg( $thumbnail, $thumbpath ) ) {

To:
if (!imagejpeg( $thumbnail, $thumbpath, 90 ) ) {

90 is the image quality of your thumbnail. My personal experience is that 85-90 are of very good quality. Not encourage to use 100 as it will generate big file size with virtually very little different in image quality.

Here’s the thumbnail from original WordPress default setting (I used trial and error to check the compression setting of WP default, should be around 60-65%, which is definitely TOO POOR for photography work):

File size = 19.52 KB

Here’s after (80):

File size = 22.31 KB Read More

Just a simple dish to share…fried fish. Simple but yummy!

Not easy to fried a fish hoh…especially till golden colour. Don’t believe you try it yourself…

RTM 2 Interview of PhotoMalaysia Exhibition 2008 – What Now? Malaysia After 50

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Ten Ways of making a Blog Looks Terrible

By following the 10 steps below, 99% chances you will be success in making your blog looks terrible… Try it at your own risk…

1. Use default design
Be it at Blogsphere, Bloggers or WordPress, use the default design given and don’t add any new things/widgets to it. Use the default colour and layout, so that everybody that use the same blogware will have the same look as yours. Users will come and forget about your blog in no time. This is the first successor move in hit and forget blog.

2. Blog name / Domain
Create a blogname/domain url with more than 10 characters and more than 4 vocal sounds.
Eg. http://www.blogextemehardremem.com

People will never be able to remember your domain name, even if they did, they will never spell it write (because you spell it wrong in the first place).

3. No photo, no picture
Use only TEXT in your blog. Make sure there is no picture and no text. A picture worth a thousand words? Nevermind, type one thousand words each time, don’t replace it with any picture. Show that you are a great typewriter.

Read More

A dream machine?! Dual processors with quad core each! In total eight processing engines flying your desktop to a new level!

Codenamed “Skulltrail”.

The Intel Desktop Board D5400XS, when paired with two Intel Core 2 Extreme QX9775 processors, forms the foundation of the Intel Dual Socket Extreme Desktop Platform. Hardcore gamers will welcome the opportunity to enjoy multiple simultaneous graphics card solutions featuring either NVIDIA SLI or ATI Crossfire for today’s latest graphics-intensive titles.

Read More

Enjoying the food till very very full just now…

Sweet prawn + Pumpkin Cili Mushroom

Pork bone soup

Today is the Chinese Valentine in Chinese calendar. I went to bought a cake for my wife…

It is a raspberry cake with strawberry on top. Haven’t taste it yet…but sure sweet b’cos my wife is happy.

Present doesn’t have to be luxury…small gift can make your life sweeter.

Read More

How big is the apple in Japan?! It is as big as Megumi’s face!

Megumi:”hem! I am bigger!”

今天，你为了我们迟了去学校。我知道你今天会更迟回家。所以今天我不敢交代你早点回，我不想你感到压力，我只是希望你安心做完你的事，知道家里有人在等你平安的回来。还有，诺诺今天不用睡 sarung，我让她睡床，，虽然间中有哭一下下，不过情况有比较好了，至少也睡了两个多钟头。不用担心了。（可能可以给她戒掉sarung瘾了)

今天是元宵节，也是中国情人节。祝你情人节快乐！

诺诺的妈妈(上) 

Yes…this might be the hottest news in the technology world recently. Toshiba has announced that they are officially quiting the HD-DVD format, leaving few others players behind.

In case you are wondering…this it the world for the next generation high storage DVD format, between HD DVD and Blu-Ray (Sony).

Toshiba’s HD DVD is backed by Paramount, Universal Pictures, Microsoft, Sanyo, and NEC.

Sony’s Blu-ray is backed by Disney, 20th Century Fox, MGM, Dell, Panasonic, and Philips.

In Japan, the TV news even conduct a very comprehensive war analysis between the two formats…but my memory not so good to remember all. In summary, Sony Blu-Ray seems to have more promising future, with HD DVD dying slowly. PlayStation 3 is definitely playing big help in promoting Blu-Ray format.

You can read CNN news on Toshiba quiting the HD DVD format at:

http://www.cnn.com/2008/BUSINESS/02/19/toshiba.hdd/index.html

My sister’s friend, Louis, who happened to browse ShaShinKi.com few days ago only found out that I am the brother of his friend’s Adeline (my sister) last night. My sisters and nieces visited his house for CNY gathering.

This is the shot that they took last night.

I can see ShaShinKi.com on the monitor screen. Thanks Louis for emailing me this photo.

(Sis, you seems pretty tired…please take care of yourself. May God bless you and protect you, and give you peace. In Jesus name I prayed. Amen.)

Yes…you read the title right.

Ricoh has decided to dump Caplio…which is a good move.

No, Ricoh is not discontinuing their digital camera series. They just decided to dump the Caplio name and make it more direct naming with the upcoming Ricoh R8. No more Ricoh Caplio R8…

Personally I think this is a great move and wise decision by Ricoh! Simple name is always easier to remember. R8 sounds elegant, Caplio isn’t.

Read More

Toys…

Chilli Crab
(with eggs…)

Closeup of Chili Crab

Steam Salted Fish with Tau Fu
(with lemon juice…)

= Yummy!

Megumi doesn’t like to lie down nowadays…can move around already…so quite dangerous to leave her on bed without fence…

Don’t believe me? See…

Megumi:”hey…me good girl hoh…”

My church is having a group photo shot today, going to be used in the 20th anniversary magazine (if I am not mistaken).

Just to share with you my brothers and sisters in Christ.