Friday, September 16, 2011

Malaysia Day 2011 - Kota Kinabalu

Malaysia Day 2011 was celebrated today with a parade at the new Waterfront City Boardwalk. A new venue was sufficient attraction for me to attend.


With the area around the venue restricted to traffic, I parked "far far away" and walked there.


The staging area was the Wawasan Bus Terminal ...


... there were a lot of participants ...


... government departments, ministries, Bomba & Rescue, schools, ... even the IRB ...


... the uniforms ranged from the usual to the rather attractive and unusual ...


... The Usual ...


... The Unusual (St Francis Convent).


There was a stage setup opposite the square at the Waterfront Boardwalk ...


... a panoramic view of the main central area ...


... and the two flagpoles ...


... these six guys had the toughest job, they were holding the two folded flags until the ceremony began!


... finally, they could raise the flags.


The patriotic choir, dressed in Sabah costumes, was in attendance ...


... and the real Miss Malaysia 2011.


The march-past was led off by the Army boys ...


... followed by the Sailors ...


... then all the rest; marching bands included.


Of course, there was a team from Sacred Heart ...


... and La Salle.


Those "not on foot" like the Cycling Association Kota Kinabalu had to wait their turn ...


... and the Taxi Association ...


... the NEW Myvi 1.5 Extreme (Lagi Power, Lagi Best!) ...


... the "drifters" ...


... the truckers(?) ...


... and lots of Volkswagen Beetles!


... "don't pray, pray!" lots of Volkswagen Beetles ...

... really a lot of Volkswagen Beetles ...


... TRULY!

Friday, August 12, 2011

Road Trip To Keningau

This week I went up to Keningau (the 53km is from this point after Papar). Nice morning ...


... nice scenery of the Crocker Range with the cool temperature and the mist; but some cuttings seen disturbing the nature ...

... more "development" ...


... retaining wall showing the steep road crossing the Crocker Range ...


... earth taken for filling elsewhere, leaving unusual round structures.

Squirrel in A Cage

At my friend's workshop (on Monday), I saw that his mechanics had "captured" a squirrel and kept the poor fella in a cage.


Although well-fed (I saw corn, bananas etc...), he had lost his freedom!


What's a squirrel without a bushy tail?

The camera's "auto-focus" had a tendency (all such dumb / smart technology) to focus on the cage wire. So I switched to "manual focus" mode ...


... as can be seen here ...


... I hope they will let you go free when they are fed-up with looking after you.

Monday, August 01, 2011

Driving Test - Computerised

Continuing with the saga of driving tests (my daughters') ... after the classroom lessons, a computerised test is required.

It can be taken at the JPJ office or at a center in Sedco Complex (between Asia City and Kampong Air).

I believe it was part of a driving school (1st floor) ...

... registration, photo session (for the Learner Licence), room with cubicles for taking the test, 50 questions in 50 minutes, and passing mark was 42 / 50.

"Don't pray, pray!" there were Rules (dress code etc ...).

Having an hour, I walked around the neighbourhood ... I saw "Virus Internet Services" ... I wondered if it was a popular service.

I saw that we had a professional chiropractic practitioner in KK.

I strolled all the way to the flyover ...

... passing the Police Quarters at the Karamunsing Police Station, where I saw someone "came through" the fencing ...

... it wasn't magic; zooming in, I saw an ingenious shortcut! But, didn't that defeat the purpose of the fencing? I presumed nobody with criminal intent will go "into" the police complex?

A Bug Close-Up

After posting on 26 July on the Close-Up lens I bought for the Lumix FZ35, a bug showed up on the dining table, a couple of mornings ago.

Obviously, it must have heard about the photographic opportunity and came bright and early ...

The depth-of-field was very narrow with the DMW LC55. Only the middle of the bug was in full focus ...

... hmm, it looked better from the side ...

... better than the backside ...

... it didn't appreciate being turned upside down, so I released it out the window. I kept calling it "it" and "the bug" because I didn't know what kind of bug it was.