Of Grass..

Well folks we see grass everywhere but do we really notice it and give some thoughts on its importance to our survival. Just take a second and think. Would we be able to live on this planet without oxygen? It is the greens on this planets that provides us with the oxygen that we so needed for our survival on this planet. And one of the many greens is the ordinary grass that we see on the roadsides and on the playing fields. Without oxygen we would all perished. It not only gives the look of freshness which is so pleasing to our eyes, it is also one of our important sources of Oxygen. 

So the next time you passed a patch of grass do give some respect to these humble plants. Above is the flower of a blade of grass that grows in front of my house. See how beautiful it is when look at close range. I took that flower of the blade of grass using the Macro Lens and it turn out to be such a beautiful image of that humble grass. Enjoy it folks. 

Of Pollination...

In everyday life one takes the flower as beautiful or just brushes it aside and move along, at time hardly noticing it. It is only when photographed that one get to see the wonder of a flower. One of it is the stigma as seen at close up. It is the sticky part of the pistil where birds and bees in search of nectar would left pollens on the flower, thus help in the pollination process of the plant.  Above is the closeup of the pistil of a white Hibiscus in my little garden, an amazing part of nature as seen using a Macro Lens. Enjoy it folks.  

[ Click on image to enlarge]

Have a nice day.

The Ant...

Above is an image of a little Ant enjoying it morning visit to the Hibiscus flower behind my house. 

The image was taken using a Macro Lens. 

The image above shows how small the ant is  relative to the flower.

Enjoy it folks.  Have a nice day.

[Please click image to enlarge]

Of iPad and Photography...

I have been toying with the iPad since I start using it from August this year. It was a gift from my kid on my 72nd Birthday on August 17th. Indeed a great gift and I cherished it very much. I found it to be using an advance computing technology putting the Laptop to another era. Tonight I tried the camera using the special effect Apps provided and the result is as you see above. I am astonished as to the quality of the image, awesome indeed. And sharing it here for all to see and enjoy. Have a nice day.

November 11, 2011[11.11.11]...

Woke up to a beautiful Friday in November. Today it is special folks for today the date is written as 11.11.11. Not always we get this combination of date, month and year. I am posting this at 11.11AM Malaysian time today. so that we get all the one's that happens today. 

Have a nice day folks and take care.

This year Eid Adha...

This year Eid Adha falls on November 6, 2001. Woke up early and together with our son-in-law and the two grandsons went to attend the special Eid Adha prayer at the local mosque nearby. With the two granddaughter now studying overseas it left little Adibah to help grandma, her mom and Auntie Lin in the kitchen preparing the cakes and cookies for the Eid. 

She had insisted of making some cookies and with the help of her auntie Lin got it done. With her two elder sisters away she was left alone to do her things without been tease or disturb by the elders. And the result of her works is the image above; tasty and colorful indeed. She did well and we are happy with it. 

While she was happily in the kitchen her two siblings are busy at the computer as seen in the image on the left. 

Meanwhile Lin our youngest daughter who has taken over the kitchen from her mom did the Butter Cakes. It is one of my favorites cake and I love it. 

As for the lunch she prepared a Chicken Biayani which turns out to be good. Better then the one we often ate at the restaurant nearby. 

Well folks we did had an enjoyable Eid Adha. It was indeed a great family reunion. 

Have a nice day.

[All images was taken with the iPad camera - please click to enlarge]

ETS - Malaysia first Electric Train...

Well, this is new to Malaysia. They had been on this project for years already and I found the first phase was completed this year and the service start operation last May. It is call the ETS, short for Electric Train Service. As usual with me I wanted to try something new and this is surely going to be an interesting ride on an electric train in the country. So I planned to take the train to the north, to the city of Ipoh, the capital of the state of Perak. I ask my spouse whether she wanted to go too but she decline saying that it’s not that comfortable to sit for the more than two hours ride. I told her that I would go alone and try it. A relative who heard of me going call and say that he wanted to go too; so that was nice, we have now two cranky old man to take the trip together. 

On the gorgeous morning of October 13, 2011 we made history. I had told that relative of mine to meet me at the Sentral Station and we would take the 10:45AM train. This train would make a few stops on the way with the ETA in Ipoh at 13:01.  There are three types of services to Ipoh; one a nonstop, another with a few stops and the other with many stops. We decided to just take the one with a few stops that leave at 10:45 in the morning. [image on the left is the Ipoh Railway Station]

It was a beautiful day with the sun shining bright. I could see some white clouds against the blue sky.  It looks like it’s going to be a beautiful day to travel. I drove the Honda to the parking lot of the KLCC then walk to the underground station of the LRT nearby and took the LRT to the Sentral Station arriving there just before ten. The Sentral Station, the hub of the railways service to all part of the country is already hived with folks like any other central station in the world are at this hour of the morning. It was really nice to see so many people on the move and going somewhere. We are actually going on a trip to nowhere. Just for the fun of it only. That folks is the beauty of been a retiree, nothing to worry and with plenty of time to ourselves. Time is ours to use how and whenever we like careless of the happening in the real world. Life if beautiful and I am enjoying it. So this first trip on the ETS is going to be an enjoyable one. Besides I had my iPad with me and could surf the net and at the same time give live commentary in Facebook for the world to share my trip today. 

I went to book the ticket and for senior we were given a 50% discount and that amount to just RM27.00 one-way. At 10:45Am we boarded the train and it whizzed it way to Ipoh with a few stops on the way. We both got seats on the front and nearer the TV screen overhead, where they show some movie and the same time the time as well the speed the train was traveling. I took my iPad and start surfing the net. It was really nice to going places when one could just take it easy and enjoy the ride. With the iPad I did a live posting of the happening on FaceBook all the way until we arrived in Ipoh. While in the train drink and snack were sold. I ordered a black coffee and a sandwich. The coffee taste good and the sandwich were as well. I relax and enjoy the ride while surfing the Net. Soon there are comments on the FaceBook posting. I replied the best I could and kept posting new images of the happening on the train and the scene outside. [Image on the left is the Ipoh tree]

On arrival we got outside the station and since Lias, my relative knows this part of the town well, he took the lead. There is a beautiful park out-front of the station. I love park so I took the time to browse along and took as much images of the well manicured garden. The greens on the park refresh me. I wonder along and found there is wealth of knowledge in that little park. Here planted in a prominent setting is the Ipoh tree, a tree where the poison Ipoh latex came from. It was use by the native to poison their blowpipes darts. The place that was once a jungle full of the Ipoh trees is now a sprawling metropolis the capital city of the state of Perak. Ipoh soon became the mining town and now the name of that humble tree is the name of that town call Ipoh. In this garden too there is a Cenotaph to commemorate the lost of lives during the second world war where many lives was lost building the infamous railway-line to south Thailand. After awhile we decided to move on and eventually went to have lunch at the food court behind the Town hall building. After that lunch of a traditional Malay food we decided to just take a spin on the town by taxi. As usual we got to talking with the taxi-man that adds to our knowledge of this town in the north. We decided to get some of Ipoh's famous White Coffee and then took the ride back to the Railway Station. 

There we decided to get the 4PM train to KL. While waiting for the train we decided to have coffee at the Station's cafe. It was nice to sit outside and watch folks gather to board the train. As usual, with the iPad I posted an image of us while having coffee there. Unlike the laptop one does not have to download the photo from the camera and then post it to FB. With the iPad it was made easy; just click and then post it using one of the Apps. In my case I use the Mypad+. Voila it got posted while we were sipping coffee there. Soon the train arrived and we board it and this time it whizzed away to Kuala lumpur. As the train approach Kuala Lumpur I saw scenes of my city that I had not seen from this angle. I took my camera and snap a number’s of the changing scenes. It was a magnificent sight to see the panoramic scenes of the city. The images are as I had posted in my earlier Blog posting here.

It was a great train ride to and fro KL-Ipoh-KL and indeed a value for money. The interior was beautifully done with a cheerful concept. The ride was smooth and comfortable all the way. How I wished this ETS would go north as far as Penang and to the South as far as Johor Bahru, our gateway to Singapore.I did had a great time on that train ride. An enjoyable day trip indeed.

Have a nice day. [Please click image to enlarge]