Milkyway at Kokol Hill, Sabah, Malaysia

I finally managed capture some milkyway which I have tried but failed miserably before. Last Sunday, my friends and I drove up to Kokol Hill around 2 in the morning. Kokol is situated about 30 mins from Kota Kinabalu.

We stopped and started shooting nearby a communications tower which is situated just before the top of the hill. It was windy and slightly cloudy that morning.

I took my small camera, placed it on a tripod and hoped that it can perform on par with its bigger siblings which my friends used. :D

 f2, 15 sec, iso3200

  f2, 15 sec, iso3200

Then we drove up but couldn't find any suitable locations we drove down. Be careful when you stop especially when a house is near as dogs can be quite a nuisance. I can swear some of the dogs teamed up and tried to chase us away. 

  f2, 20 sec, iso3200

  f2, 20 sec, iso3200

 f2, 25 sec, iso3200

So far I'm satisfied with my shots and definitely will go up again very, very soon. It's quite near to my house anyway. :D 

An interesting appetizer with galangal, asam and anchovies.

Recently my mother in-law prepared something interesting that is perfect as an appetizer. What you need are galangal, buah asam, anchovies, red chillies, cooking oil and sugar to taste. There's no exact amount for this recipe. It is up to you whether you want more sour taste from asam, hot from the chillies, sweetness from the sugar, 'sweet' and 'spicy' from the galangal or the saltiness from the anchovies.

 Skinned both buah asam and galangal. 

 I used small anchovies. You can also use anchovies that has been cleaned. Pound them using stone mortar as well just to get them soften.

Next step. Pound the galangal using stone mortar. Some may prefer to blend it but i prefer to maintain its crunchiness. 

Slice buah asam into thin strips. 

Stir-fry anchovies using a small amount of cooking oil. You just want the anchovies to be brownish in colour.

When the anchovies is done, place it into a bowl and mix them with galangal and slices of asam. Reminder, there's no exact amount here so the taste is up to you.

Put in minced red chillies and sugar. 

I think mine has too much anchovies. Some extra galangal and asam. 

Done! Great for breakfast, lunch and dinner, and it tastes good with plain porridge! 

Portrait session with RX100M2

The main reason why I bought the Mark 2 over Mark 3 is due to the hotshoe. I love playing with lights and obviously Mark 2 is the only one having it from all the RX100 series. Unlike its Alpha brother however, RX100s do not support wireless flash out of the box, or with its pop-up flash so I used triggers instead.

A friend who is an up and coming local singer asked me for a photoshoot when I was in Kuching for Christmas last December. We did a similar shoot for his first album previously and I used my a77 with two flashes personally I think we did great. Found a great location and using the two Sony flashes fired wirelessly I was able to capture nice photos of him.

All photos taken with a77, 35mm 1.8 and two Sony flashes with the help of the morning sunlight. 

Then, last December he requested for a night photoshoot. I had already sold the a77 and my lenses so I borrowed Pixel Soldiers trigger and receivers and a Yongnuo flash to use with the RX100. I wished I had another flash unit but none was available so we had to make do with one.

Personally I'm not satisfied with the shots I took because of the time constraint and we didn't have much time to recce for more places. I do think another flashgun will bring more 'colours' to these shots. There's still time for another photoshoot anyway and I do hope I can do more with the little cam.