SE Asia

[kameraguy]

Ok,

I'm in Malaysia now since the 28th and boy am I tired. At first I felt fine but now i'm pretty jet-lagged. I haven't been out much, mainly just sleeping all day and wacthing some cool F1 documentaries on the local sports channel :)

My room has a decent view of the city. This is the local radio tower in KL:

http://img266.imageshack.us/img266/1411/p1000253eh6.jpg

The DMC-FZ50's 420mm pays dividends already:

http://img410.imageshack.us/img410/2443/p1000255wg9.jpg

Some random rooftop:

http://img409.imageshack.us/img409/7249/p1000267eg2.jpg



It's freaking humid. Not a suprise i know, but I have never been in stiffling humidity before. The air is thick and constricting....all the time. It's not hard to breathe, but not very comfortable if you do anything strenuous. Like walk :p

First thing I notice. So many gorgeous women here :D I think I will suffer whiplash before the end of the week.

The people are very nice.

I tried to get some dinner last night which was a relatvely adventurous task. The KL Petronas Towers are literally three blocks away, maybe less than 1/4 mile. But what makes this trek hairy is the fact there are sometimes no sidewalks and you are walking next to express traffic. Even worse at night. At first I was "oh hell no" but after seieng a mother and her kids doing it I GUESS it was safe...

The Petronas Towers are larger than life. I wasn't able to visit NY before 9/11 so I can't compare their presence, but man, they are awe inspiring:

http://img248.imageshack.us/img248/7228/p1010730nq3.jpg


I was WAY too close so i couldn't get both towers in any less skewed of sa perspective, LOL. And I was too tired to walk to a better vantage to get both. Maybe latter this week i'll manage a better pic.

Inide the Towers is a mega-mall about seven stories high. This place is fully pimped with all the high end stores possible. I was hoping to find some bargains on stuff....but not here!

Fortunately there was a fashion show going on which had some gorgeous models. Here si where i wish i had my 85mm 1.2 as there was not a lot of light. It was very crowded, so I was only able to get a high vantage point:

http://img409.imageshack.us/img409/1576/p1000201sn1.jpg


There was a Kinokuniya and Japanese supermarket which allowed me to get some gorceries for the hotel room. Picked up some cool local soda which was very good:

http://img256.imageshack.us/img256/8769/p1000212xa3.jpg


On the way back to the hotel, it started to rain. Actually....it started to flash flood monsoon style yo. Exactly when i was mid-way between the Towers and hotel. There was no shelter in sight so i had to sprint to an overpass which was too late. I was drenched:

http://img341.imageshack.us/img341/9808/p1010733nl6.jpg


I entered the hotel completely drenched. Fortunately there weren't a lot of guests around as i managed to waltz through with little stares. Note to self: buy an umbrella today.

http://img338.imageshack.us/img338/2739/p1010741my5.jpg


Well, more to come as the week progresses :)

[Renn 208]

Nice account dude. Stay safe, be adventurous, and keep reporting back!

[redline]

Excellent report! Love the Petronas shot!

[98c43amg]

That's great to read and see! Great picturial account of the Pani! I'm taking your thoughts on 'travelling light' you posted to me in the other thread to heart and the pendulaum is swinging back from a full D-SLR + two lenses to this or the Canon again.

[benzaholic]

wow superbly written, and gr8 pics man, enjoy...:)

[HaFaMaCa]

It's great to see your photos again!

[Dr. ///AMG]

gangsta! Man, I need to travel!

[krk230]

sweet pics, kam...loved the shot of fashion show and petronas.

gangsta! Man, I need to travel!

lemme know if u wanna go to spain...i might go this summer :)

[kameraguy]

Sorry for the late update. Work has been more hectic than I anticipated.

Ok, so here's where things are so far.

Pro: i'm not in jail and still alive.

Con: i'm working normal US hours so I usually see Malaysia at 11PM to 8am local time. There's not much to see or do afterwards as i'm dead tired and sleep most of the day.


So here's one of the better roads I use. The cool part is you get to walk right up agains the traffic as there really are no sidewalks as we know them in the US. I prefer facing oncoming traffic so I get to at least see who hits me. Oh, but i'm usually walking at night, so take this image and darken it in photoshop by 99%:

http://img241.imageshack.us/img241/1329/p1010751tz0.jpg


Here's a cool Buddhist temple along the way. I hope to have a look inside sometime next week:


http://img241.imageshack.us/img241/5541/p1010752od5.jpg



However....

The walk is worth it because I get to see this everyday:

http://img241.imageshack.us/img241/8759/p1010772qn5.jpg

It just so happens my company shares the same building :rolleyes: They have been closed fo rthe past few days as it is a holiday here, but I will check it out and report anything of interest hopefully tomorrow.

Because i'm working some off-hours, it's quite challenging to find places that can accomodate "lunch" at 3am. Fortunately my friends know the local hot spots that are open 24hrs. They are few and far between though. Here's a spot which is where a lot of the local street racers, clubbers, transients, and gangsters hang:


http://img241.imageshack.us/img241/2899/p1010774va0.jpg


After eyeballing the mix of peeps, I decided it would be wize not to shoot inside.

But outside is cool. The food is amazing, and CHEAP. A meal for four is easily under $10. The chicken Tandoori is sexcellent:


http://img241.imageshack.us/img241/4699/p1010783mh9.jpg


http://img241.imageshack.us/img241/677/p1010784uv1.jpg


I'm heading back to the HOtel and grabbing some shut-eye now. More stuff later!

[98c43amg]

Great hearing from you. ...but, I dont' care how cheap, I'm not touching that "soilent green" stuff on the stick next to the Tandoori (that's the red one, right?) chicken ... :p :)

[Renn 208]

...is People!

[krk230]

fantastic, kam...please post more !!!

and the fooood, yesssssss. :) :banana:

[redline]

Great shots!! Thanks for the update, looking forward to more!

[benzaholic]

once again, gr8 gr8 pics, looking forward for more pics, stay safe, and enjoy

[Hank]

sweet pics, kam...loved the shot of fashion show and petronas.



lemme know if u wanna go to spain...i might go this summer :)

lol... doc will go to spain just to make fun of the original beaners. lol..

[Hank]

http://img241.imageshack.us/img241/4699/p1010783mh9.jpg


VELY SOLLY SIR, here at RK House, we serve NO POK!! NO POK!!!!!!!!! AT ALL!!!

[Hank]

http://img241.imageshack.us/img241/677/p1010784uv1.jpg

Kam, they got messicans in malay???

[krk230]

http://img241.imageshack.us/img241/677/p1010784uv1.jpg

Kam, they got messicans in malay???


he's not messican ! :ph34r:

[myker*]

wald!

[tpliquid]

wow didnt know u were kidnapped and brought to thailand to work as field slave

[kameraguy]

^^^ LOL! :)


Ok, well here's where things are so far:

The range of places to eat in the wee-hours of morning are slim. We find ourselves coming back to the same places. But we did hit up a different "street vendor" style food joint. Now I don't know how many of you are from, or have travelled to Asia, so maybe this is not a huge deal. But these places certainly wouldn't pass health inspection in the US, that's for sure. But I'm a trooper and go along for the experience. I won't sugar coat it...there are rats the size of possums occasionally zipping by, prostitutes stopping by to hang out and possibly solicit new business, and the tables and chairs are a nothing more than plastic lawn furniture, but the cooks are nice and the food is good. I try my best to mentally block out the rodents as i eat...

http://img183.imageshack.us/img183/7125/p1010859eh5.jpg


There is a strong street racer scene in Malaysia, especially in KL. The country taxes "imported" brands as high as a whopping 300% to encourage the purchase o fthe local brand "Proton", a sub-division of Mitsubishi fo rthe Malaysian market. The Proton cars are seen almost everywhere because of the extremely high tariffs.

Many of the street racers modify the Proton 2-door hatches for the same reason as here in the states. For weight and handling:

http://img182.imageshack.us/img182/741/p1010849ay3.jpg

A far cry from what we are used to seeing I know. But after a while, it's refreshing to see a different take on tuning cars. Less bling here for sure.

But on occasion you see a nice Euro...

http://img104.imageshack.us/img104/8269/l1010784uf6.jpg


http://img59.imageshack.us/img59/3699/l1010783pg3.jpg

Although the cars are an interesting mix of extremely tiny micro cars due to the narrow roads, there are a suprisingly large amount of big luxo-cruisers such as BMW 7s and MB S-Classes. At the hotel i'm staying at, I am seeing a regular mix of German sedans, and once in a while a tuned luxo-beast pops-up at the Valet. There are a lot of Brabus-themed MBs here. I have seen about three Brabus-themed w203s just down the street from my hotel, as well as four Brabus-themed S-Classes and three Brabus-themed W210s and one W211. I saw one CLS-Rocket look-alike two days ago. This may not be a big deal if you are accustomed to the SF Bay Area, LA, or Manhatten, but consider that @ 300% markup that $100K S-Class equates to around $340,000 USD after converting to Malaysian Currency....Crazy.

A nice 5-series i spotted this morning at the Valet. Sorry it's blurry though...6am is very dark here!:

http://img59.imageshack.us/img59/6906/p1010954sq8.jpg


Gotta love the pimp black license plates. On a black car, it looks so hard it hurts at times.


http://img59.imageshack.us/img59/228/p1010887ci8.jpg



There's a Porsche Dealership down the street from my office where a lot of the high-ticket cars park. Looks like an executive hang-out if I have ever seen one. Soooo tempting to spend the whole day admiring these kinetic works of art, no matter where they are.

http://img59.imageshack.us/img59/9615/p1010945zj8.jpg



If there's one thing that's perfectly clear about KL, it's under rapid growth. There's constant construction everywhere. From high-rise luxury condos to new high-rise office buildings...everything is about bigger and higher here.


http://img59.imageshack.us/img59/7672/p1000306go1.jpg


http://img59.imageshack.us/img59/2842/p1010869ca4.jpg



http://img59.imageshack.us/img59/8320/p1000409es1.jpg



There's a cool hotel/water theme park (Sunway) nearby which has an Egyptian theme:

http://img59.imageshack.us/img59/9140/p1000401xf1.jpg


We hung out here a bit to grab a bite to eat. A huge resort this place is.

http://img59.imageshack.us/img59/8425/p1000383rz6.jpg








Went to an Indian restaraunt and viewed the local shops. There's a ton of places to buy stuff. But I quickly found out that if it's imported into the country from Japan or the US, it's going to be even more expensive here. So say no to buying electronics or brand name clothing in Malaysia :(


http://img59.imageshack.us/img59/2929/l1010755do3.jpg




http://img59.imageshack.us/img59/4638/l1010756lo8.jpg





As i'm residing in the heart of the city, i'm only seeing city-scapes. Malaysia has some nice rural areas of course, but i'm only able to see this most o fthe time:

http://img104.imageshack.us/img104/2890/l1010831ce8.jpg




http://img104.imageshack.us/img104/2748/l1010833cl7.jpg







Petronas Towers once again:

http://img104.imageshack.us/img104/6479/l1010798sz6.jpg



Skybridge detail:


http://img104.imageshack.us/img104/7041/p1000424mr3.jpg


The Towers at dusk...


http://img104.imageshack.us/img104/1151/l1010842ye3.jpg



Gotta run and do some more errands. Will post more when I get a chance.

Oh and btw, there are zero (0) messicans here :p

[sorbo]

that shot of the W203 is amazing!

word up on the street food (and to you for rocking it) it is, um, interesting... and it brings together a unique group, i was always getting asked if i needed "shit", drugs.

[crazy00c230k]

wow, awesome write up, and even better pictures, thanks for sharing

[rammbs]

very nice documentary, kam! i can tell that you're enjoying your stay there.

thanks for the pics!!!

[JRE320]

I love that bldg say KAM PHOTO on it. :cool: ;)

[benzaholic]

wow as always gr8 pics man, and 300 percent taxes on imported cars..thats crazy man, back home it was the same thing, but they ended up slightly reducing it a lil...

[sorbo]

benzaholic, what is the national auto maker, i am thinking were talking about Syira right?

[HaFaMaCa]

Thanks for sharing! Can't wait until the next batch :cool:

[redline]

Nice stuff! Great writeup!

[kameraguy]

It's 1:34am on Saturday 05/12/07 and just got back from a great dinner with my friends here. Have spent the last hour packing up 90% of my stuff. so i won't have to stress tonight prior to my trip back to the US.

I'm bummed as my trip is coming to an end. This week was hectic at work, but I managed to squeeze in a few more things to see.

Will post some more pics of my shenanigans when i arrive back home. Here's a quick image for now.

Time to get some sleeeeep!! :cool:


http://img253.imageshack.us/img253/7048/l1020183yy6.jpg

[hvmercy]

have a safe trip home.

Hvmercy

[BigDan]

Awesome pictures Kam. Very interesting to see this part of the world.

[98c43amg]

So Kam, what's the verdict? Are you happy with your purchase?

If you'll indulge a flood of a few questions... ;)

The colors are quite vibrant. The focus on those pics are great. What % would you say were "throw-aways"? In your opinion, would you categorize the sharpness as 'soft' though? Noise is better then I imagined. Though I'm assuming you forced it not to go over ISO400?

I've narrowed my choices down considerably myself (though too much is out-of-stock or availability unknown). Not to go OT I'll just say after leaving B&H Photo yesterday, I was more confused then when I went in however. :wacko: Im going to have to go back on a weekday, and without the Mrs in tow, to spend a lot more time there. I've been there early December before Christmas and Passover holidays, and yesterday was just like that!

[kameraguy]

Thanks for looking at my images guys. Glad you liked them :)

As for the DMC-FZ50, I must say I am extremely happy with it. I only used it for 10% of the images I shot, but those images were not possible without it's reach. At 420mm wide open at F 3,7, all I can say is WOW. Tack sharp.

The colors in most of my images are straight from the camera, with the exception of some which i had to do custom white balances as part of post processing. In some cases i slightly increase the color to what i would expect from film.

However the colors from all the cameras I used are quite exceptional. I am a long-time Leica fan and user, and this trip was 100% Leica optics. If possible, I prefer to shoot with Lecia over Canon. Not to say Canon is bad....not at all. I just prefer the colors straight from the Leica glass.

The Panasonics are quite simply the least-expensive way to get into Leica optics.

I would say I had about 30% throw-aways. Mainly because a lot of my shoots were in extremely low-light or from fast-moving vehicles. A lack of my skill rather than the camera's.

The "softer" images might be from the fact I am shooting some images from behind windows...either a car or building. Oh, and not all the pics I posted are from the FZ50...about 90% are from my DMC-LX1 point and shoot. Which IMHO is a terrific little camera. My favorite camera to use of them all actually (even next to the 1DmkII). It's so pocketable, yet tack sharp and fully manual. Were there any images in question? I can tell you which camera shot what.

I can say that all the images from all the cameras I used were all tack sharp when not shot through windows. So any softness is due to the situation rather than the optics.

The noise of the FZ50 is definitely there even at 100. But it is not always unpleasant. More often than not the Panasonic noise looks like film grain. Most of the time I use noise-ninja to reduce the noise. Sometimes I leave it as is if it adds artistic value.

Yup, I never shot over ISO 400 on the FZ50. Anything higher really is ridiculously noisy :(

I'm perfectly happy with the FZ50. In fact i'm still quite amazed it costs as little as it did. I thought i'd regret not gettingthe v-lux instead, but after seeing the results i'm quite happy with my purchase.

More images to come soon. I'm just catching up on work!