getting more and more frustrated

Duhhhhh! I think I don't have that much patience tinkering my cam. I'm not getting perfect pictures. Some blurred, some unfocused and grainy. I'm still tempted to use auto mode whilst I'm trying to do it manually. I guess those skills are just gone, rusted, unused for years and years... Well, what is digicam for eh? Auto it girl! ha ha! Why do I have to be tough with myself and oh, what a waste of time. Grrr! Or hey, maybe I'll spend more time tinkering on photo editing softwares rather than moving backwards?

Water Tap

NOTE: EP:A; MM:PATTERN; SS 1/160; AV:F2.2

This shot made my day. I was washing baby's bottle then I suddenly paused to take some shots of the tap as my subject, hoping it would turn out good. It's not perfect but I'm quite happy.

Frustrated with my shot!

note: EP: A; MM:PATTERN; SS: 1/15; AV:F8; FLASH ON

I had a gorgeous subject, but my picture is grainy!!! What went wrong? I'll try to go get another shot in the morning with the mighty sun! Maybe because it lacks light coz I shot this around 5:30 PM.

Getting Back to basics on photography

I have lost my focus on photography for a while now. Nope I'm not leaving it behind, who would? Once you fall in love with photography you'll get hooked to it but I just had so many detours in my life recently...We've been moving a lot plus my pregnancy and now on baby stuffs, motherhood, etc. Did I mention we're nomads? We change home address from almost every year and hopefully we'll put here in KL for couple of years or even more.

Back in India, I had some experiments on flowers as my subject. Hence, I called it FLOWERS OF THE EARTH. After that, my practice continues with food photographs with my KITCHEN JOURNAL where I post all recipes and anything about food. Now that the dust had settled so to speak, I'm putting my feet back again on photography (crossing my fingers). I have so much areas to work on. I'm not a pro nor I don't have a pro camera either.

My camera, (technically its not mine; its DH's) has some limitations and I don't have a powerful lens but before getting one, I have a lot of work to do to maximize its usage first and master the skills. Believe me, this camera has been around since for 4 years, but some functions are still unknown to me, so now, I am flipping through the pages of the users' manual and experiment more and more. Before, my shots are in AUTO mode which does everything for me. I guess I have to do some more tweaking jobs. I need some refinement of my work. I’m quite happy with it and I guess this cam will be sufficient for my experiments.

Now, I feel like getting back to basics using its manual mode, which is quite challenging. Back in my college days, I don't have digital camera, it wasn't a fad during the time and I have worked on manual SLR cameras where we have to develop our photos manually in black and white in a dark room. Gosh I miss those days back then. During that time, it was expensive for me because I have to spend much on photo paper and film plus developing charges in studios. Now, I don't have to spend anything on or at least at a very minimal expense with digital camera and PC.

Will be posting my experiments to keep track on my progress, if there's any. Sigh... I expect frustrations though... double sigh!

Bisdak Entertainment

So what is that Bisaya music that my previous post I was talking about? It's music from Enchi, a local band from my place. I like the band not only that they are from my home town Dumaguete of Negros Oriental but their kind of music. The lyrics are crazy and funny in deep cebuano dialect. Sorries for those who can't understand, but I think I have to post a little entertainment for BISDAK readers out there. Take time jamming HERE.. some lyrics of the songs are there. eNJOY!

A Sunday that was...

Sunday morning while I was cooking crepe for breakfast, hubby came to the kitchen to prepare for lunch. A dish that we have been contemplating to do since last week. A recipe inspired by Gordon Ramsay. Yes, we are such a big fan of him even with all the F words he is saying every F-ing sentence. We both love Ramsay's cooking. I've posted what hubby's recipe in my other blog "The Kitchen Journal" Anyway, back to the kitchen setting, so I was busy doing my crepes and hubby was busy preparing his ingredients for his dish and baby joined us in kitchen gliding on her walker with a teether in her hand. I was playing this music from on my ipod on a portable speaker, songs that nobody understood completely except me. Why? because the songs are in BISAYA! My french hubby knows some lines so he was singing along with tune making funny faces while baby is banging the table on her walker with her hands out of timing of the beat. The kitchen went alive! There were music and giggles and funny lines.

The lunch was phenomenal! We will do the same when we get to Phil next weekend and we will do it in the brick oven that hubby made. Ohwz, havent posted about the brick oven yet. It was a lot of work but will soon.

I've spent afternoon with some with some friends in Pavillion and had fish spa again.

Snaps of KL #001

Will be posting snaps of KL from time to time, hence will be numbered in series. I'll start from my first few snaps..

Jammed!

Raja Chulan - obviously not rush hour! easy traffic.

KLCC Tower on a cloudy afternoon

A view from KLCC park

Am I just Lucky or Have I done something just right?

I’m not an expert in the world of motherhood; in fact, I’m a first time mom and I can’t compare my daughter to others. Having said that, I am not in a position to tell you what a new mom should do when it comes to dealing with their infants. I know that every baby is unique. When somebody tells me “your baby is so quite” and usually this is followed by “you are lucky with your baby” and I don’t really know what to react. I just usually say “Thank you” with a little smile. At the same time, I don’t want to sound hypocrite to tell anybody that she is not used to crying. Literally, she is not used to crying and whining because I usually make sure that she doesn’t cry. As long as her needs are being met on time i.e. feed, nappy change etc. she is not complaining. She is sleeping well at night straight from 9:00 PM to 6:00 A.M, since she was 2 months. Am I lucky? Maybe. Or maybe I have done something just right. I don’t really know or maybe a combination of effort and a little bit of luck? But I’m quite confident it’s because more on effort.

Establishing sleeping Pattern

I started establishing her sleeping pattern when she was 5 weeks old. Technically, she is a newcomer to us couple and we would like her to adjust to our sleeping pattern not us adjusting to her sleeping pattern as much as we can. Infants don’t just do that automatically because they don’t know what is night and day. There is not much difference of day and night when she was still in my tummy. Logically I have to introduce the atmospheres at night like closing window shutters, dimming the lights in the room, no activities, no TV, no music, and only soft talks. We do the opposite during day time, open the window shutters, TV on, lively conversations and activities are as usual even if she’s napping during the day, business as usual around the house. Noisy. She got used to sleeping even if it’s noisy. I make sure she’s not napping on late afternoons. At 5 weeks , I keep her awake from 4 p.m., her last feed at 6 p.m. then a warm bath before bedroom time she sleeps at 7 wakes up around 9-10 p.m. for her feed, I feed her with dim lights to avoid her being stimulated and fully awake. She usually feeds with eyes half closed and go back to sleep right after. She will then sleep longer until 5am. Until it became a habit and her feeds are getting less and less. It became a routine for her and her system as well, she got used to it and since 3 months old, her sleeping pattern is just like ours. That means I'm no longer sleep deprived since then. teee heee! We sleep around 10pm wake up at 6am. But, she didn’t change overnight. It takes dedication to do it. It wasn’t an easy job, I should say.

Putting to Bed

Now at six months, she is sleeping on her own, with out dummy or pacifier. I didn’t introduce her to pacifier ever since. A little bit of but-tapping and lullabies would help her fall asleep. No swinging on the arms just lay her on the bed with her sleeping buddy then she will just fall asleep. In the beginning it was tough to leave her crying but then she later learned to comfort herself. But this didn’t just happen magically. Again it takes dedication and perseverance. She got certain cries that meant “just calling” or if you answer literally by carrying her and she shuts up, she is the one demanding you to come and pick me up and I would shut up. But then it has to stop otherwise she will get the idea that every time she cries, she gets carried so she will associate sleeping with carrying and swinging. Nope, I don’t want to do that. I would like her to sleep on her own on the bed. So I just leave her crying but if she really is very upset with tears, I pick her up. I guess it is really hard for a mother to watch her baby screaming to certain extent. Now, she can’t sleep on my arms or somebody else’s she needs to be laid down on her bed to go to sleep. This gives me freedom and more time to do other jobs as well.

It was really tough but I knew I had to do it from the very beginning and now is definitely a harvest of those sacrifices.

Yes she seldom cries and when she cries she really means it.

Having a baby and when you are on your own without help from family around, like in our case, it’s just the two of us; hubby and me. In times when you need some information on how to deal with baby’s issues, it is really handy to have internet access to do research on issues to focus on that needs urgent action. I found a forum where mums hang out and air out their concerns regarding parenting stuffs. When I had a hard time how to establish sleeping pattern, I had no idea what to do. Thankfully I came across this discussion which was really helpful. There I have read their concerns and solutions. Reading books and Mother and Baby magazines were really helpful. Noting that every mother and baby is unique, I start from there and figure out what works for me and baby. It is really up to you and do whatever you feel helpful to you and your baby.

I am such a newbie to this whole perspective of motherhood and I still have a long way to go. My daughter is still 6 months and so far so good. I’m loving it and cherishing every moment. Despite the fact that it’s heavily multi-tasking job I’ve ever done, I feel fulfilled as a woman.

Thumbs up for Starbucks Honest Staff

I had a really heart throbbing incident yesterday that left me feeling "hanged up" for few minutes. I left my wallet in Starbucks in Aquaria KLCC. I usually pass by there for my cup of coffee on the way back home as this route is a short cut for me, passing through Pavillion. My usual drink, a mug of low fat decaf latte. See why I like Starbucks more and more? They are the only one who has decaf and low fat coffee latte. Now I like Starbucks even more because their staffs are honest, or maybe one in a million cases, I got my wallet back! Thank goodness!

When I realized that my wallet wasn't in my bag, that was when I was about to pay some stuffs in Mercato - Pavillion, I run my hand unconsciously to the pocket in my bag where I used to place my wallet, and it was not there! I blushed in dismay and my thoughts are in panic. I lost my wallet? That is so unacceptable! How could it happen? I ran my memory recall to where my last stop was, when I used my wallet, and hurriedly said to the cashier, I’m sorry I had to rush back, I just lost my wallet and check it out. It was in Starbucks, where I paid my last bill, had coffee, read a magazine, made some phone calls and topped up my phone credit. Yes, it was definitely there in Starbucks, but I checked my table before I left and found nothing of my belonging left. It was just then I figured out that my wallet must be under the magazine and wasn’t able to see it. I rushed to the elevator and traced my footsteps on the way back to Aquaria KLCC. Doubled my steps but I can’t go faster than that pushing my baby’s pushchair. I’m becoming reckless, on my steps thinking that I just lost my wallet, I wished I haven’t withdrawn some cash, but I just did. I had everything in there, my ATM card and other cards. I am so dismayed with myself being careless. I reached the Convention Center building my heart was beating faster and almost breathless. From the escalator, I nervously peeked at my table and the magazine isn’t there anymore! My mug wasn’t there anymore! My table is empty! I almost lost hope, but thankfully, a miracle that I prayed for exist!

Luckily, Gee, the store manager, was smiling at me saying "I know what you want" Oh, what a relief to hear it from her. A staff came handing over me my wallet and I was more than glad to have it back. I had everything in my wallet and I can imagine the mess I will have to go through losing it. I was so thankful to the Starbucks staff. Actually they were searching for me around but couldn't find me anymore. According to Gee, she went through my wallet to search for my contact number but couldn't find any. Okay, I should put my contact number now, I usually don't but now I have to. It's my first time with this kind of incident.. leaving my wallet on the table! Actually I checked before I left. I had a look on the table if there's any of my belonging left and I just saw the magazine that I was reading. It was the magazine from Starbucks that I borrowed and I intend to leave it there. What I didn't see is my wallet under the magazine. There it was! Thanks to Gee and Starbucks staffs that became a fan of my daughter after.

Fish Spa

Fish Spa? what is that? I've seen it once in Time Square, here in KL, when I was with Josiet and was so curious to try yet I'm also hesitant to do it in public place where everybody is watching your reaction as you dip your legs into the fish tank.

I'm not quite sure what my reaction would be. Is this fear factor or what? It was like an exhibit for people to try this fish spa experience, I think it was an introductory thing to promote the fish spa. They set up a fish tank with benches where people can sit on and soak their feet in the tank with tiny fishes that are nibbling on their legs just below the knee. Didn't dare myself to do it until I got a granny neighbor who wants to go and this time, I didn't hesitate to go with her.

We went to Kenko fish spa in Pavillion, my favorite mall, and this time, it is not an exhibit, it is the real spa. I was quite relieved thinking that there would be no passersby to stop and watch me giggling to death if in case. We got ourselves in and a friendly receptionist guided us to wash our feet and proceeded to the fish tanks where we can soak our feet in. The fish tank is filled with tiny fishes called called Garra Rufa. What these fishes do is exfoliate the dead skin on your feet and legs by EATING them! They are commonly known as “Doctor Fish” for their effectiveness in assisting eczema and psoriasis patients in their healing process.

The moment I dipped my feet into the fish tank,I was giggling and a little bit scared of these little creatures gathering themselves waiting for their snacks - my skin! Ohh My God... Holy Fcuk! ... Gosh... that tickles!!! Name it! I can call names! Granny, who was sitting next to me seems to enjoy it. I'm taking my feet on and off the fish tank wanting to enjoy it but I was a little bit scared. But then when I got over with the ticklish sensation, I started to enjoy the experience. A little bit ticklish with pleasure. Yeah, thats the right description.. Ticklish yet pleasurable! The next thing I know, I'm watching the fishes closely as they nibble on my skin taking pictures and video.

It feels like they're gonna bite you but nope, they are not really biting. These fishes would be more than glad to eat your dead skins only. There were other tanks to try on with different sizes of fish. The tiny fishes feels different sensation from the first tank where fishes were about 2-3 inches long . I like both sensations, and I regretted myself in the end because I wasted much time giggling putting my feet on and off the fish tank.

Here's a video clip of these little creatures enjoying their snacks! My legs!



Should I do it again! ohh yes! My skin felt really smooth. It was relaxing. I miss that "ticklish yet pleasurable" feeling.

Kenko fish spa is in 5th floor in Pavillion. This relaxing fish spa costs RM38 per 30 minutes

Chronicles of Leila 0-6 months

I've got loads of photos and video clips of Leila since day 1 and compiled into one in a total of 10 minutes. Will be chronicling my daughter growing up from now on. Compiled Video clips from my phones Nokia N90, HTC and hubby's blackberry and camera Sony DSC -F717. The challenge was to convert the files into compatible files for my Video Editing software. Luckily, I found this Prism video converter that comes in handy for free. If you like editing your home videos this is very useful indeed.



Viewing this feels like she had grown up overnight... forget running the household (sigh) aaahhh...The joys of motherhood.

P.S. Lower down the volume of your computer, there's a baby screaming.

Child proofing

Our daughter ,Leila, is on her walker nowadays and before any accident could happen, we paid attention to child proofing the house. Our first step is to protect sharp edges and table corners with these rubberized corner edges.

KL Tower Lunch

We had lunch in the revolving restaurant in KL tower at the height of 276 meters above ground level. It was nice with malaysian cuisine for main course and western appetizers. I would have loved to stay further for coffee but hubby wanted to go home and baby was becoming a little bit fuzzy. I'm not so thrilled of the view because we had lived in high-rise apartment before which top view becomes ordinary view for me. I was thrilled though, to see our building from there. The KLCC looks magnificent at your eye level. In the revolving restaurant, it is the floor which is revolving so slowly that you can hardly notice it, no worries of getting dizzy while dining, you get to see the view of Kuala Lumpur in 360 degrees. If you like to take your dining experience to a different level, I would recommend the revolving restaurant however, you have to book atleast 2 days before as they are always packed. They also do Weddings in the sky. Or if you just would like to visit and see the top view Kuala Lumpur, there is a viewing deck as well. Cheers to 4 years, Margarita for me, beer for him

While dining, there are some jumpers who jumped from the top, above the restaurant and see them landing on their parachutes. How cool is that? I would love to dare myself to do it! KL TOWER at night, taken from our apartment

I can compare my experience my visits in two towers I've visited. The Eiffel and KL towers.I wish the Eiffel tower have the same idea but the restaurant in Eiffel tower is at the 2nd floor.