Its over and it has begun.

Glad that you are back!

Finally, you are back. What a relief to see you standing there next to our sons. Finally normalcy has been reinstated. 

Gifts from Mak

Now, the new beginning has begun, that is, the start of Ramadan. Yesterday night was the first time I went for Terawih with Adam. He has grown into a young man now. Takes care of me with the foresight of a mature adult. I am blessed. Now let us see what Allah has in mind for the young one.

Buying food stuff at Haig Road.

Hopefully this Ramadan will bring lots of good news and tidings from Allah s.w.t.

In Say Allah.

3rd Day

Is it almost almost over?
At this stage I am counting the number of days you have been gone. It seems so long. I have yet to start counting down the days when you will be back.

The day started early enough. I woke up at 6.15, hoping you would call, but it seems you were out. So I did the next best thing, I continue my sleep. Woke up at about half past 9. Brought the boys down to the badminton court, but you already knew that. Went up, Idris slept for a few minutes and we had lunch together. Fitri fried some rice and Adam loved it.

Dinner time was spent alternating between the living room and the common corridor. In between we had visits by Malcolm, who played monopoly, and Wan Achik. Wan Achik came with Calli. She is so thin! Idris looks more "well built" than her.

We ordered Pizza, Boston, for you, Hawaiian and Tuscany. Fitri cooked fish lemak cili paid, and we still had yesterday's chicken soup. I think, if we play our cards right, there should not be any more cooking until Friday.

Love the pictures that you took. I wonder how much was the kebab...

Here are some pictures that I took for the day.

Adam with Malcolm

Editing a movie

Me and my shadow

Brotherly Expression

Idris and Calli

Following Adam.

Take 5

Clean up

Kicking around

Mak called

Lunch

Monopoly, and Idris is the lookout

Mr Grumpy

Pole Dancing

Putting on shoes for the kick around

Sayang

Examining

Talking to Mak

I guess thats it. Hope to see you soon.

Slim

2nd day

Su has left for the States on Saturday night / Sunday morning. So I guess this is the second day I am living the bachelor's life. Although I have two boys who will say otherwise. It has been good. My helper helps lots. My feet hurts lots too. The young one seems not to exhibit any withdrawal symptoms while the mom is not here while the older seems to be able to grasp the fact better. Seeing that this would be his third time that he has to be alone with me.

All in all, I am happy I have them. Keeps me on my toes. So darling, if you are reading this, I hope you know that you are wanted still. I said my I love yous on whats app and hangouts and whatever, but it does not beat being able to say it while snuggling with you on our too soft mattress...

Here are pictures of what happened today.

Tea Break, instant noodles, Adam's idea.

Wanting to come up the bed.

Wrestling. As usual, the older one lets the younger one win.

Multi tasking

David and Goliath. Role play is good?

Trying to spoil my other camera.

Now he wants the smaller camera.

And take 5 while answering a call.

Love you.

milk tea

milk tea, a photo by Nor Salman on Flickr.

Went to Satay by the bay for some breakfast. Was served this cup of coffee and bread with kaya and toast in between. Prior to this, I was at marina barrage doing my morning walk. It was boring. I kind of lost my mojo that day.

It has been a few days since that day. I hope to get walking again.

Slim

Via Flickr:
OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Sold!

Manage to sell my A65 together with the flash and a 24-85mm lens. Threw in a 50mm 1.4 for good measure. All in all, its a win-win situation for buyer and seller. Now to find out why my lenses have fungus...

Slim

Did not go..

Walk
Did not go for a walk today. Went for a drive instead. Drove to Boon Keng. Met a guy, who introduced me to a lens, and I bit the bullet and brought her home...
heh heh..

Newly acquired.

Pictures of yesterday's walk.

Met a

Wooden Crosses

Met a friend for breakfast yesterday. And so, I went for breakfast before I went for my morning walk. Met him tag Bedok Corner. Talked for awhile and decided to head to the Far East for a change. Since it already half past nine, traffic should have improved.
I was right. It was a pleasant drive, all 15 minutes of it.

Changi Chapel Museum
I stopped by at the Museum on the way to the beach. Along with my trusty EPL2 and the Minolta 50mm F2.0, I trudge along into the museum. There was only a bus and another car in the car park, so human traffic was light. As such, I could take my time, doing my walk. I am not a Christian, but being in that chapel, museum whatever and looking at the exhibits stirred some feeling in me. Feelings of those who died, and wondering how they must have felt and how their loves ones could have felt. I was sad.

Left by other visitors.

I spent a good 30 minutes reading and all in all, I said a few al-fateha for those that had fallen.

Changi Village
I then proceed to Changi Beach. I parked the car at Car Park No 1. and amble towards the beach. The day was windy, and I must say, that it was a distance. I expected the walk from where I park my car to the beach to be a short one. It was not as short. I had to rest as my feet was hurting and the sun was already up. Although it was cloudy, the light was generally flat.


Took some pictures while I was there.  The usual pictures of the boats came out as being too usual, so I had to improvise. In other words, I had to take what I can get. All in all I spent a good 45 minutes there and I only reached home at 12.30 pm. That was the longest time I spent on my morning walks.

A couple

One of the good things you can get while taking pictures over there is that you can be really close to the boats as they manoeuvre out into the sea.
Slim.

Having a conversation.

Went for a walk.

HOORAY!

I went for a walk today. Did not went too far, distance wise, but spent more than an hour on my feet. I can feel my feet and my body getting the their strength back. I think the last time I walked was about a month ago. I missed it. Here are some pictures I took.

I used my EPL2 and my oldy but trusty Minolta 50mm F2.0.

More pictures at my flickr page.

I went to Singapore Botanical Garden. Although I did not actually went in, these pictures are took just by the car park, I did sweat. I took a break when I reached the reception area. There were big dogs and beautiful dog owners who took them for a walk. Woot!

Ok. I guess this is all for now. I'd see if I can take more pictures of Idris in the playground later.

Slim

I am missing something.

Must
I must be missing something. I do not know what it is but I am always seeking things to buy on Ebay or clubsnap buy and sell forums. I have a feeling that I am missing my Minolta 40mm f2.0 M mount lens. I love that lens. I sold it or rather, traded it for a Contax G 90mm lens. I should not have but the lens is getting old and because it was on my nex 7 most of the time, it has shown its age.

As in the previous post, I have bought several new items, and one of them is a leica. A 60mm 2.8 macro Elmarit. That is quite a mouthful. I do not even know which word comes first. What I do know is that its a German made Leica. I realise that one can get this lens cheap. I traded my CZ 28mm 2.8 ZM mount for this. But I think, and this is my opinion, it more than able to make up for it's monetary value. I enjoyed using this lens. I wished I would have gotten this lens sooner.

Blue Bells

I love the look of the out of focus background. I believe that I have never seen it before. The colour produced is fantastic. Its rich but not over saturated.

Currently, I am using the M43 system and I more often than not, I am using a SGD$120 EPL2. I love this camera for its ergonomics and its functionality. However, its a mismatched for the lens. The lens makes the whole set up front heavy. Nevertheless, I find myself enjoying the front heaviness, quite a different feel to using the EPL2 with the Panasonic 14mm. One of the smallest lens I have in my arsenal.

Ant on a leave

Thus, that is why I am looking forward to getting an M mount lens, to replace my Minolta 40mm. I am looking forward to get the Voigtlanded 40mm f1.4 SC. I would think that it will be bigger than my Minolta but not as big as the Leica and hopefully not as heavy as Contax G 45mm planar + the metabones adapter.

If everything goes well, the lens should be in my hand next week.

Slim

Panasonic 14mm 2.5

New toy
Well, strictly speaking its not a new toy. Its newer. I bought it used. I bought it for SGD$180. I bought it yesterday. Thus, used, $180 and yesterday should provide an inkling as to how excited I was in using this lens.

EPL2 and Panasonic 14mm 2.5

Not yet
I have to use it for a full day yet. But the pictures look promising. Its small, much smaller than the panasonic 20mm, another new lens that I just bought.

This lens provide me with a fov of 28mm, and although many would argue that a 35mm (the olympus 17mm) or a 24mm (the olympus 12mm) would give a more satisfying photography experience, I beg to differ. I like this focal length. It is more practical. It gives less distortion and its much much cheaper than either of those two lenses I mentioned.

Wide
I would think that this 14mm is a safe bet for those who wanted a bit more oomph as compared to the 14mm in the kit lens. The improvements in low light picture taking is in itself a boon.

Here are some pic which I took today using my EPL2.

As I exited out of the tunnel

The traffic was at a standstill. I wind down the windows and I took a snap.

Hat on a dashboard

Wife made this. Its still on my dashboard.

Stay tuned for more pictures.

Slim

A new toy

Traded
I bought or traded a new toy today. I traded my EP2 with an EPL2. I know, to some, I am making a mistake, seeing that EP2 is placed higher than the EPL2. Well, EPL2 is newer and it fits more comfortably in my hand.

EPL2 with the Panasonic 14-45

Test

As usual, once a photo bug gets hold of a new toy, he, or she, will inadvertently find excuses to play with the toy. As for me, well, I had to do my morning walk. I went to Punggol Riverside again, but this time I shot nearer to the main road, not anywhere near the river.  And below are some shots while I was cooking and when I just had the camera. I love the handling so much that I shoot everything and anything with it!

At Serangoon, test shot immediately after I get hold of the camera.

Latitude

I find the exposure camera of this camera much, much better than the EP1 and the EP2. The picture appears smoother and there are more details in the shadows and the highlight. 

Chicken searing in the hot pan prior to becoming a stew. Olympus 45mm 1.8

And color and the tone is somewhat more pleasing to the eye. Perhaps its the lens, perhaps its the new image processing software. I don't know. What I know is, the EPL2 rocks!

Reflection, Punggol Riverside. 

Handling

Even though that there no more of the vertical aluminum dial, the handling is convenient enough. I don't make use of the vertical dial often enough in my EP1 and EP2 to miss it in the EPL2. The mode dial clicks confidently when you rotate it. The AF is fast enough and does not hunt as much a compared to the EP2.

Size

If this EPL2 is mated to a pancake lens like the 17mm or the 20mm or even the 14mm, this will fit into my shirt pocket sans any problem.

Red leaves.

Steve Huff did a review of the M43 which you can find it here. He seems to be very into the M43 system, and I now understand why. I am loving it.

Caveat...

I am not saying that the M43 system is the holy grain (pun intended). I still grab my Sony when I know I need to shoot in High ISO, but for general photo taking, its portability, I believe the Pen and maybe the Panasonic GF and GX series (I do not have one), more than meets the expectations.

Slim

More pictures:

Gears, converted in LR 4.

Using the Olympus 45mm 1.8

Adam, Indoors under various color temperature.

And it rained!

Droplets on leaves, using the camera's high grain black and white ART filter.

Ok, good night for now.

Slim