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is when I believe I can fly! Awesome

What is more amazing than watching sunset, having a nice meal and a beautiful scenary of Kuala Lumpur! Check out this place in Ampang/Hulu Langat, Look Out Point.

Background of Petronas Twin Tower, p/s: that is not the moon! it's the sun...

The night view is also beautiful… who said we must have sharp images??

The rest of the images are posted to my Flickr Site: http://www.flickr.com/photos/amy_rantz

How to go to Look Out Point, Ampang/Hulu Langat:
a) Take the Jalan Ampang, drive towards Ampang Point Shopping Centre

b) Once you’ve passed Ampang Point, drive straight on until you see Ampang Waterfront on your left. There are a lot of shops, restaurants… continue driving until you reach a traffic light where there’s a sign showing ” Hutan Lipur Ampang” or “Taman Rimba Ampang”. You will not miss this sign post because it’s quite big. When you see this sign post, you must be at the traffic light. (You may also see a moderate sign post of Carrefour)

c) At the traffic light, turn right. You’ll see Carrefour supermarket on your right, continue driving and start counting the traffic lights, you should pass 5 traffic lights and at the 5th traffic lights, turn to your left

d) Once you turn in, you’ll see a sign “Menara Tinjau” – the sign post is located on your left. At this point, you’ll realise that you are actually driving up hill and there are no street lights, therefore please be careful!

e) Continue driving for another 3km, it’s quite hilly but not very steep. And you’ll see a big sign saying “Pusat Pelancongan dan Menara Tinjau, Look Out Point” on your right. Turn in to the carpark. (RM2, otherwise you can drive up to the restaurants area and ask for jockey parking , pay additional RM3)

Creative people talking about creative things!
In conjunction with KL Design Week, Pecha-Kucha Vol6 was held at Urbanattic, Cap Square on the 31 March.
URL: http://www.pecha-kucha.org/cities/kuala-lumpur/6

It was an interesting night, the ‘chit chat’ was good, and I particularly like few of the local and overseas designers presentation that night. However the venue was not great for photography! It’s been a while since I use my ‘baby’ (Camera) and looking for good spots for pictures was not that easy. The place was crowded with audience and it was very dark. Spotlights are not working for the first two presenters, making it even harder to take good pictures

But, anyway I’ve enjoyed the photography session especially with EaWei! He has been the ‘unofficial’ photographer for few series of Pecha Kucha Night in Kuala Lumpur before, so he’s quite experienced!

Only one picture here, the rest are uploaded to my Flickr site. Enjoy!

 (Photo: All pictures are copyrighted to Amyrantz)

Stops 8: Macau Tower Convention and Entertainment Centre

From Mount Fortress, we ride on a bus to Macau Tower. Boy, I have to say…walking all the way to the bus top was quite far, but it’s much cheaper to travel by bus instead of taxi.

From ‘Senado Square’, walk towards Avenida do Infante D. Henrique, and before reaching Casino Grand Lisboa, there are rows of shoplots, you may also notice that there are quite a number of goldsmiths along the way, and you’ll find a bus stop. You can either take bus #32, 23, 21, 18 or 9A to the Macau Tower. It only cost MOP2.50 per person.

When we arrived at Macau Tower, the first thing that came to my mind is ‘Amazing Race Asia’… the tower is really high, measuring 338m in height from ground level to the highest point. It is the 10th tallest building in the world and the observation level is located at 233m. I’m there not for the observation, or lunch, or shopping…I’m there to experience the ’sky jump’… yup, just like in the Amazing Race Asia.

Unfortunately (sob sob sob) The visibility was quite bad, the wind was too strong, the bungy and the sky jump activities has been cancelled for safety purposes at the time I arrived. The only adventures activity that we can do is ‘Skywalk X’, so we decided to do so…

We paid MOP$986 for two person which includes a certificate, T-shirt, membership card and a CD which contains all the photos for Skywalk X. By the way, this is part of the AJ Hackett Adventures, which you can also find in KL Tower, Malaysia.

The experience was thrilling, because you are actually walking on the main outer rim of the tower at 233 meters above ground without any handrails. I can feel the excitement the moment I step out of the gate. My cameraman/safety officer is Daniel and he’s really cool! I like him. It was very windy, and according to my certificate, the wind speed was 19.4kmph/s. The view was great and I can see the whole Macau, including ZhuHai, China… The feeling is really good when you’re out there :D

Stop 9: Venetian Hotel and Casino

I have mentioned earlier in my blog, I stayed at the Venetian Hotel and Casino, so after our thrilling excitement, we went back to Venetian and check out all the shops at the Grand Canal Shopping area in Venetian. We had our afternoon tea at the bar and the view at the canal was great except that the items sold at the shop is very expensive.

I have to say, I never thought Macau can be such a fun place to be. I had such a wonderful time here, and if you are someone like me, who doesn’t like to gamble at the casino… be sure to try out all the places I’ve mentioned here. I would recommend Macau to anyone, anytime.

Before I cont. with the blog, I’m wishing that, my friend MooMoo, who is currently stranded in Bangkok, Thailand due to the closure of Suvarnabhumi airport will safely arrive home! Fingers crossed…

Day 2 : Historic Centre of Macau

Narrow Streets

After passing by St Augustine’s Church, we walk along the narrow street and arrived at ‘Leal Senado’ building which was built in 1784. This is Macau’s first municipal chamber. The design of this building is very classical, and I found the cool stonewalls, covered with tiny glimpses of history in the shape of plaques and tiles, and as you walk up the stairways, you will find a small and charming courtyard garden. It’s beautiful!

In front of Leal Senado building, is the Square (Senado Square), surrounded by hundreds of people…we of course would not missed the opportunity to take photos especially when we walked passed few historical building, such as Holy House of Mercy, St Dominic’s Church and ended up at the famous Macau iconic ‘Ruins of St. Paul’.

Ruins of St. Paul

Ruins of St. Paul actually refers to the facade of what is originally the Church of Mater Dei built in 1602-1640. It was destroyed by fire in 1835. We arrived just in time before the sunset, and managed to took some pictures for the night scene. We are definitely coming back tomorrow morning for the morning scene and few other places which I’ve marked them for exploring. I would not say that we’ve seen Macau if we did not covered the rest of the ‘East meets West’ land!

Stops 5: Dinner at Tou Tou Koi Restaurant

According to TimeOut Hong Kong, we must try out this restaurant if we’re in Macau. The name of the restaurant is Tou Tou Koi, located at #6-8 Travessa do Mastro, Macau. It’s just 10 min walk away from the Senado Square.

Getting a table in this restaurant is almost impossible if we don’t have a reservation. Thanks to our friend from Hong Kong, Patrick…he managed to book this restaurant earlier and all of us had a chance to dine at this 70 year-old restaurant. The food was great, and all of us (there are seven of us) had a good dinner and good laugh. However I found that the waitresses are a bit loud and rude. But that’s okay.

After dinner, we took a taxi back to Venetian.

Stops 6: Ruins of St Paul

The next day, we came back again to Ruins of St Paul, and this time the view of this place is totally different from last night especially the crowd – there are too many tourists from Mainland China and I felt that I’m surrounded by people in the market! (as usual, this is not my first encounter, I’ve experienced the same thing while in Angkor Wat, Cambodia)

Anyway, at the back of the facade, there’s a stairways in which people can climb and view the area around from a different angle and you will not missed The Grand Lisboa Casino and Hotel. The weather was a bit cool that morning, after taking some shots and posing (hahaha)…. we went up to the Mount Fortress. It’s just located at the left side of the facade.

(I took a close up picture of a grim skeleton on the Ruins of St. Paul. The Chinese wording next to the skeleton means “Remember death and you will not Sin”)

Stops 7: Mount Fortress

Mount Fortress was built in conjunction wiht the Jesuits from 1617 – 1626. The fortress was equiped with cannons, wells, barracks and it’s a huge place. Check out the picture of canon that I took!

Notice the name of the company that produces this Canon back in 1860? It’s B.P & Co.
I’m just wondering whether this company still exist today? Perhaps I need to do a little bit of research…

I wanted to write more but I guess I’ll cont. with in the next entry. Two more stops and I’ve covered my Macau trip. If you’re interested, do drop-by to view the next entry!

Day 2 in Macau…

Stop 3: Fisherman’s Wharf

We decided to travel to this place called Fisherman’s Wharf located at Macauis outer harbour. We ride on the free shuttle bus from Venetian to the island and stop at the harbour, from the harbour,  it’s just another  10min walk. This place is huge, consists of entertainment, retail, food, hotel, marina, convention and of course casino.

Maybe because it’s too big, or perhaps there is nothing really interesting…the place seems to be a bit disserted. Not to mention, some of the shops are closed too. There are some big structural building such as Dynasty Wharf ( a replica of Tang Dynasty architectures) and also some European and Latin style architectures. They even have a Coliseum.

I took a picture of the Tang Dynasty architecture and edited the file…do you think it looks like the picture from those calendar’s holder which is made from metal…just like in the early 70’s…

Stops 4: The Historic Centre of Macau

We departed from this place, and took a bus to the Historical site of Macau. We took bus number 10A and arrived at A-Ma Temple. Well, of course while checking the map and looking like a lost cat, someone managed to took a picture of me!

Btw, the Historial centre of Macau it’s the 31st designated World Heritage site in China, and this places/streetscapes consists of twenty monuments, (A-Ma Temple, Moorish  Barracks, Mandarin’s House, St Lawrence’s Church, St Joseph Church, “Leal Senado” building, Kuan Tai Temple, Holy House of Mercy, Cathedral, Lou Kau Mansion, St Dominic’s Church, Ruins of St Paul’s, Na Tcha temple, Section of the Old City Walls, Mount Fortress, Dom Pedro V Theatre, Sir Robert Ho Tung Library, St Augustine Church, St Anthony Church, Casa Garden, the Protestant Cemetery and Guia Fortress!! (phew!!)

I have to say, I didn’t managed to cover all places…

A-Ma Temple

The name Macau derived from this temple. And it’s already existed before the city of Macau came into being.

Location: Next to Maritime Museum
Entrance: Free

Using my Macau Guide Book, I followed the path and walking towards Moorish Barracks. It was just a building among all the flats. Currently it serves as the HQ of Macau Maritime Admin office. Later, we walked towards Lilau Square, where this place used to be the first Portugese residential quarters in Macau. The buildings are quite unique, I have to admit!

From Lilau Square, we walked on foot again to the Mandarin’s House but the house was closed for renovation, therefore we divert and heads to St Lawrence Church, later to St Augustine’s Square, Dom Pedro V Theatre, St Augustine’s Church….

All along the way, I can smell and see Portuguese tarts being sold by the local traders…arhhhh, just like the old times

Anyway, I would like to continue this blog, but I’m a little tired…will do more updates tomorrow.

I’ve been away for the past few days, and yup! I was away for a short holiday again and this time, I make a trip to Macau. Macau Special Administrative Region is part of China and it’s only about 60 km from Hong Kong and you can actually make a day trip to Zhu Hai and Shen Zhen via Macau.

According to wiki, Macau was both the first and last European colony in China. Portuguese traders first settled in Macau in the 16th century until the handover to China in 1999. Although Macau is considered part of China, but we as Malaysian doesn’t need a visa to enter Macau because it still maintains it’s own legal, police, monetary, customs and immigration policy.

When I was in Macau, it reminded me so much of Philippines, especially the old city of Manila because there are so many historical properties in the urban area and some of them are officially listed as World Heritage Site by UNESCO. Cool!!

Well, enough of the intro, let me show you some of the places I’ve visited! Btw, I stayed at the Venetian Macau Resort, and this is the best hotel experience that I have ever encounter! The hotel is only about 5 min away from the Macau Int Airport and Venetian provided their guests with free shuttle bus services to/from the airport, making the journey to the hotel very convenient.

And the room is huge and so is the casino.

Painting on the ceiling!

Read the rest of this entry »

It was an interesting 2 day photography workshop with Lucien De Pryker, a professional photographer who is currently based in Malaysia. (www.belgazone.com)

We had a day of theory class on Thursday and follow-up with 7 hours of photo-shoot around KL on Friday. We started our first photoshoot at Heritage Hotel located at the Old Railway Station, later to Central Market, then to Annexe and finish off at KL Convention Centre.

Here’s are some of the photos taken during the lesson. [All pictures taken using Canon EOS 40D]

1. My first picture shoot during the lesson, I like the composition and the colour contrast.
(1/30 f4.0 17mm ISO 640)

2.  This picture was taken inside Old Railway station, the colour of the window panel is slightly yellowish towards white. To ensure that the camera is capturing the actual colour of the wood panel, I have to play with the colour temperature. The rule of 1/3 applied here. (1/60 f8.0 56mm ISO 400)

3. Potrait photo of Lucien. I’m experimenting colour temperature – since Lucien is very fair (he’s a Mat Salleh) and we’re actually inside the Central Market food court, which is not bright because of the greenish tungsten light above us and I think this picture come out the best! (1/30 f5.0 44mm ISO1600) – yup I know the ISO is too high and the picture is a bit noisy but I’m quite satisfied with the outcome. What to do, I don’t have my Pentax with me!

 4. We played with shutter-speed priority with Lucien as the moving object. Photo were taken at Old Railway Station, it was quite dark at the station because of the rain. I started at shutter speed 1/250, followed by 1/60, 1/30, 1/15, 1/8 and lastly 1/5.

I would like to share more posting of those pictures taken during my lesson with Lucien, watch out for more updates!