Happy moment during Chinese New Year!
Megumi and her nephew (Aphieny) at playground in Miri, Shell Boat Club.
Thanks go Samsung Galaxy S3 burst mode, I managed to capture the moment!
Aphieny’s sister, Rachel…joining the FUN!
My sister’s family…
Twin monitor is good, it really makes working more efficient.
On the left is Samsung LED 23″, left is Dell 30″.
Have to get a good display card to drive the Dell, as the resolution is 2560 x 1600 px. More than Full HD. My old display card got burnt, so I bought a new one that support TWO DVI output.
EVGA is said to be the No 1 nVIDIA display card in the USA. I have bought one for my wife’s computer, she uses TWO Dell monitor with two FULL HD resolution (both DVI). Digital output is much richer in colour than VGA analog output.
Too bad, the Samsung SA350 does not support DVI, while only HDMI. Yes, the EVGA I bought has one HDMI port, but is mini HDMI. So I will need to get a HDMI to mini HDMI converter, or DVI to HDMI converter.
Going to get one tomorrow (if I am free).
We went to playground last Saturday, kids are having good time!
What did I do today?
Called my usual grass cutter to come trim the grass in my garden. Not very long, but better to get them trimmed to look nicer. RM40, reasonable or slightly on the cheap side.
Then, at around 4pm, rained. Stopped at around 5pm, and when checking the garden, I noticed that my cars are so very dirty! All the dirt from the grass cutting are on my cars. No, cannot just wipe using cloth this time, as the dirt is grass and sand and soils. So, decided to rinse all my cars and wash the car porch. Took around 1 hour+ to get them all done, and I am happy with the results.
Have my children playing in the small swimming pool at the same time. Yeah, enjoying themselves during the weekends.
Done some USED products uploading at ShaShinKi. Still have many more to go…
Thank God it is Saturday!
Took the photos during our Chinese New Year 2013 fly to Miri via AirAsia.
Some of the food we ordered.
Not bad…
Megumi in a big…no, should be HUGE flower cone…
She is 85 years old now. Visited her during CNY 2013. She is my beloved grandmother. May God bless her with health and happiness and peacefulness. In Jesus’s name. Amen.
Having fun at home…simple swimming pool…costs less than RM20 at Giant hypermarket. Doesn’t take too much water (and air to pump it full).
The children just loving it!
Happiness…priceless.
The toughest thing during my childhood…now pass on to Megumi…later Emmanuel…
Can see but cannot eat…what a torture… :p
She found a Chuck Chuck in her bag…
Beginning of a torture…
Think can bite it opened?
Scissor?!
Getting impatient and frustrated…
Found a breakthrough on the wrapping…
Yeah…
(I have to jump in to remove the plastic wrapping at the end…)
Decided to give him some yogurt and let him feed himself. Nevermind for the dirty mess later…
Megumi and Emmanuel…
Emmanuel: “Can you guest who am I? ”
Was my birthday…cake chose by Megumi…
Photos took by my kakak…can’t complain now…next time I should use my own tripod… :p
Cake from Seasons, simple but nice. No Secret Recipe as too big for us.
Megumi is enjoying the cake…
I bought a present…for my kids.
They are happy, I am happy.
Happy Birthday!
Besides the birthday present (a new wallet, mine was quite broken already), she cook long life mee for me in the morning, with red wine soup and two pigeon’s eggs.
Thanks love!
First time inviting people to our house…
Catering by Restaurant Hui Huang. Great food!
Skudai Chinese Methodist Church choirs. With a short sketch bringing out the meaning of Christmas.
The guests.
Megumi, friends and cousins are having fun time with balloons.
We do birthday celebration for Emmanuel as well. Thanks for the Church choirs for singing out the wonderful birthday songs (Chinese + English)!
Praise the Lord!
Pastor: Rev Wan
Church: Skudai Chinese Methodist Church
I guess this is my Christmas present this year!
Got an email from NST Life & Times editor few weeks ago. Asked if I am available for an interview. Yes, I told him.
Few days later, the editor wrote that one of his staff will be coming over to JB to do the interview. We arranged time on weekends at 11am for the interview. Interviewed by NST, Mr. Izwan Ismail.
This is the cover page of NST of 17 Dec 2012 (Monday).
On the 2nd page, At a Glance, can see the “glance” of my interview mentioned. Turned to Life & Times page 10-11.
This is the cover page of Life & Times. Yes, featured on the front page.
Double spread page at the center page of Life & Times.
Available online at NST website too:
http://www.nst.com.my/life-times/tech/buying-photography-equipment-s-a-snap-1.186998
Dr Koh Kho King makes shopping for photography equipment so simple, writes Izwan Ismail
SEVERAL activities are taking place in a warehouse in Skudai, Johor Baru, including inventory checking and packing items for shipment.
Supervising the activities with watchful eyes is Dr Koh Kho King who operates one of the biggest online malls for photography equipment called ShaShinKi (www.shashinki.com).
He started the company in 2005 while pursuing his Ph.D in Japan. The warehouse is one of two that stocks more than 8,000 photography-related products — from cameras to peripherals such as filters, dry cabinets, batteries, tripods and cleaning tools.
The business is an unlikely venture for Sarawak-born Koh who was pursuing his doctorate in marine engineering in Hiroshima. But ultimately, his love and passion for photography charted his career path.
PHOTOGRAPHY INTEREST
Koh, 35, bought his first SLR camera, a Nikon F60 and two lenses for RM2,000 in 1999. It officially marked his venture into photography.“I’d always wanted to own an SLR camera but never had the opportunity,” says Koh whose businessman father is also a camera enthusiast.
“Although my father had a few good cameras, I hardly got to use them as they were expensive gadgets.”
After his first degree in Marine Engineering from Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM), Koh did his Master’s degree in the same field and then worked as a research officer at UTM.
GROWING INTEREST
Meanwhile, Koh’s interest and passion for photography grew. He tried many genres of photography, from macro to landscape to portraits, and travelled to Cambodia to take landscape pictures as well as get close to living things through his macro work.“It was just amazing to see life from different perspectives through photography,” says the father of two.
He printed and framed some of the photographs he took, hanging them on the walls of his house.
His interest also led him to set up a platform for enthusiasts to meet, discuss, share photos and organise photography outings.
“Although digital photography was still in its infancy in early 2000, it already had many enthusiasts but they did not have a proper platform to meet and exchange views. Most of the time, we communicated through emails and forums,” says Koh.
In 2001, he and a friend from the US set up PhotoMalaysia (www.photomalaysia.com), the country’s first and largest photography community to date.
SHASHINKI’S BIRTH
Through his involvement in PhotoMalaysia, Koh realised that local photographers had difficulty purchasing photography equipment and accessories.It was in Japan that he discovered the popularity of online shopping, which was still quite alien to Malaysians in 2005.
“Online shopping was a trend in Japan at that time. Almost anything could be bought via the Internet,” says Koh who then decided to set up an online mall selling photography equipment. Prior to that, he and his wife, Lydia Wong, used to sell photography equipment via email and phone sales.
“The early business model was not systematic and we wanted something that was both systematic and easily accessible. So ShaShinKi was born,” he says.
In Japanese, shashin means photograph while ki means machine. ShaShinKi also means camera in Japanese.
“Since the business was started in Japan, it seemed a good idea to have a Japanese name,” says Koh.
While in Japan, he was assisted by his wife who is now the general manager of ShaShinKi. His sister in-law, who lives in Sitiawan, Perak, helped with the Malaysian operations.
“In the beginning I used my house to store the products but as the business grew, I had to find a warehouse,” he says.
CHALLENGES
Starting an online shop in 2005, when Internet shopping was still new here, was a big challenge.“Many people were still sceptical about buying online and I had to convince them that it was safe and reliable,” says Koh, adding that gaining customers’ trust is more important than profit.
“I convinced prospective customers by asking them to check with those who had bought from us online as well as forums like PhotoMalaysia,” he says.
“On top of that, I also introduced Paypal so that people will have assurance of the products they bought,” he adds. To ensure products reach customers within 24 hours, Koh uses Pos Laju. Customers can make payment via Maybank, CIMB, Public Bank or Giro interbank transfer.
Another challenge was to make the ShaShinKi portal attractive and easy for customers. He designed the site himself by learning some coding via the Internet. Koh still does it himself as it gives him the freedom to design it according to his wishes.
“One of the challenges in maintaining a website like this is to continue to make changes and to upgrade to the latest technology. Today, I have to make sure that ShaShinKi is also compatible with mobile devices such as iPad, Android tablets and smartphones as more people are accessing the Internet via these devices,” he says.
To make the website more user-friendly, Koh has created a question and answer session where he answers most of the questions regarding products and photography.
FUTURE
Koh receives lots of request to open a physical store, so he is planning to open a showroom for his products to attract beginners in photography to visit ShaShinKi.He feels there is a misconception that online business is easy and can make lots of profit.
“It’s not something that you do today and get the profit tomorrow. How do you convince people to pay thousands of ringgit without seeing the products they buy?” he asks.
In order to be a successful online entrepreneur, Koh says one must have a deep passion for the products that he or she wants to sell.
“As for me, I only recommend products that I’m comfortable with,” he says. “Also, don’t treat your competitors as your enemy because you are your own competitor and only you can improve your business,” he says.
Went there yesterday. Megumi has wanted to go there for long, after her friend went there and told her in school. So we promised to bring her there during the holiday.
She was already extremely excited since we told her that we will be going there on the coming Sat.
We started our journal from home at around 10am. Reached there after around 30 mins.
Parked in their still under renovation car park, then follow the sign to go to Hello Kitty house. Quite easy to follow actually.
Before entering the house, we went to the gift shop first. It is a beautiful shop with lots of girly toys!
This is the Entrance to the Hello Kitty House, right after purchasing the ticket. A HUGE Hello Kitty statue board.
More later…
She still love balloons…posing happily for me.
Another balloon…she is actually combing her hair…said the balloon is her mirror..invisible one…hahaa…
I have always been a fan of Paint Shop Pro software. Been using it for many years, long before Corel bought over the software from JASC long time ago.
I am still using X3 version (licensed, bought during their promotion period.). Today, got the mood to install and try the new X5 version (30 days trial), see if it is worth the upgrade cost of USD39.99 (promotion price at the moment).
Original
Edited
Got the chance to try out Nikon D800 today, the new definition of MEGAPIXEL in Nikon DSLR. 36.3MP, yes, 3x more pixel than my Nikon D3s.
I am eager to know how well the sensor resolution really is…so I pull out one of the sharpest lens in Nikon, the AFS 60mm F/2.8 Micro lens.
Megumi full body shot. Resized, no editing.
This is a 100% crop from the above photo. No editing. Click to enlarge.
It is actually quite hard to image how much resolution Nikon D800 gained from the new sensor as compared to Nikon D3s. So I pull out my D3s and did some similar shots and compare them.
D3 Full Frame shot
100% crop, click to view in full.
Ok, it might be hard to imagine or compare the difference still, so let’s see the side by side comparison below for the two crops both at 100% size.
From the above, the D800 is really much more significant in resolution than D3s, and MORE than 3x the resolution in my opinion. I am eager to see how much improvement the file can deliver for a 24 x 36″ print.
More photos below…(some with editing)
Found the photo from my wife’s camera.
A nice stop by for AIRCOND… 
Took at Old Town Coffee, 9 Sept 2012, breakfast before going to Legoland.
Not forgetting Emmanuel…
and the “cool” me…hahaa…:D
This is what he eats daily, prepare by his caring mother. All natural ingredient, as healthy as possible.
Feed by his mother most of the time.
Time for food…
“YEAH! I LIKE IT” – said in very confident tone…or facial expression!
Megumi made the mask last Friday, during their school’s children day.
Her signature…heart shapes on the drawing.
Megumi’s colouring in the morning of today.
All coloured and written by herself.
I am too sexy…
right before bath time…
Megumi and her “bobo”, the green cloth on the left.
Changes of expression…
Holding Emmanuel with one hand…holding my camera on the other hand…snap snap…
He is my baby…he ain’t heavy…
but the Nikon D3s is too heavy…so I only managed to get one sharp shot.
Concentrating on her iPad games…
Busy…busy…no time to entertain me…
Hello Megumi! Hello Papa!
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