kuching, malaysia (the moments)

chiang mai & chiang dao (the journey)

travel mates:

• alex, joyce, stewart, ling, gary, lj & raymond

date of travel:

• 20th october 2007 to 24th october 2007

duration:

• 5 days 4 nights

route:

• chiang mai city -> chiang dao (tribal village) -> chiang dao (chiang dao nest) -> chiang mai city

accomodation (min 1*, max 5* based on my personal review):

• raming lodge, 3.5* good location (near to night bazaar), nicely decorated and clean room and superb breakfast. should have gotten a 4* instead but was disappointed on the way they miss-handled my check-out. managed to get a good room rate through wotif.com, thumbs up to the agency, will be happy to book through them again.
• lisu village's hut, 5* nothing beats this tribal hut with basic facility, but perfect hosts and stunning view. imagine watching sun rise when you are having your morning cup of tea, what else can you ask for? for me, this is perfect!
• chiang dao nest, 4.5* friendly host and staff, clean room and very comfortable bed. hut is small and lovely with lots of greeneries around.
• baan nam ping, 4* owner is a very kind lady, who took the hassle of driving us to the town since it is a 30mins ride which could cost us a bomb if we decided to take 2 taxis. she is also very helpful in arranging budget transportation for our group of 6 persons. the breakfast that they served is of very high quality, can't forget the tasty ham and yummy mango juice. location is ideal for those seeking peacefulness (it is along river ping) but a bit far for those who want some night activities.

~ upon arrival ~

• take the licensed taxi to city, it costs 120baht per head

~ chiang mai city ~

• this is the ideal place should you need some serious retail therapy. shopping is great at chiang mai gate night market (only at weekend) but try to avoid night bazaar if possible. price quoted at night bazaar is exorbitantly high, which could still cost you a bomb even if you bargained hard. there are a few stalls at night bazaar that offers item/service at a decent price, but you just have to search harder for it. chiang mai gate market on the other hand is frequented by locals. the price quoted at this market is always affordable and you could bargain for another 10-20% the most. the other drawing factor is food stalls that offers a large variety of chiang mai food or snack. we have lots of fun tasting each and every of it, including the fried insect. to shuttle around night bazaar and chiang mai gate night market, fare is 15baht per person using the red songthaew. chiang mai is filled with lots of massage establishments and one of the recommended one is "just relax", which is located at the same building as mcdonald, along night bazaar. joyce was satisfied with the foot massage but gary wanted a more aggresive type, so he rated it as average.

~ chiang dao ~

• chiang dao is 1.5hrs from chiang mai city and we were heading there for a 2 days trekking. we started around 11am on the first day at chiang dao nest, took a 45mins ride to reach our starting point, a village. from there, we went for a caving trip then back to the same village again for lunch, before stretching out further to the waterfall and finally reaching lisu village at 7pm, the place where we stayed overnight. the village faces a very nice valley and mountain view and the valley was misty during night and early morning.
• second day started with the spectacular sunrise, followed by a sumptuous breakfast, and gift distribution for the childrens. we headed to a small village for a simple blessing ceremony by the shearman at 9am. after that it was a 2hours trek to another cave, which is big enough for you to walk without the need to bend your knees. we then had our lunch before visiting another tribal village, "karen village". most of the childrens were not around when we were there because they were helping out in the plantation. we managed to distribute some stationeries to the children and also requested a teacher to share the rest of it with those that we have missed out. after visiting the village, we had the toughest climb of the whole journey, a continuous up/down hill until we reached our pick-up point at 6pm. who was the happiest person when we reached the end point? ling, of cos.
• the trek is somewhat demanding to my opinion. you can do without the caving and waterfall. but a visit to the villages is a must. children at the village are innocent and they are often too shy to accept a gift from you. comparing to other places where the kids are basically begging you for money. it is the best testimony of what civilization is capable of bringing upon the community, "poison to the innocent mind". my advice when visiting this rural villages is to bring their need to them but not to "poison" them by offering them money.
• chiang dao tuesday day market is where locals pick-up their usual supplies, including the small resorts where we stayed. nothing fantastic but worth a short trip to see the life of the locals.

chiang mai & chiang dao, thailand group shots (the moments)

chiang mai & chiang dao, thailand (the moments)

tian ya filter (review)

tian ya filters have arrived few days back. shipment from the hk online shop was prompt but there is a slight problem with the 5 in 1 reflector, which the silver side has peeled off, leaving non-reflective and dull surface. have informed the person in charge to look into it, sent them some photos yesterday night and still waiting for a reply.

did a quick check on the filter quality at 100% crops, seems like it does not reduce the overall sharpness and so long the photo quality doesn't deteriorate, for me it is a good buy. i heard some rumors that you will lose resolution after using filter, perhaps my 6mp sensor is not able to resolve the difference.

(*update: the shop refused to replace the faulty reflector and had given me a lame excuse, stating that it is a norm to have peeling but it won't affect it's performance. i am still wondering how is it going to reflect light when it is supposed to be silverly reflective, which has in turn becomes, greyishly dull. i will re-emphasize this point to them and should they decide not to attend to my complaint, i will post the info on hk's photography forum and make sure everyone avoids that crappy company)

fun with sigma 10-20mm (the journey)

had some fun on the sigma at 10mm over the weekend with my wife and younger brother. wanted to do the same with my elder brother and sis-in-law when they popped over but didn't manage to because they were rushing for time. will do so when they come over the next time, then we can have a complete family photo...the candid way.

photos were taken, purely for the fun factors only, so white balance is way off and even the focus is not right. anyway, i will be doing some serious test shots in these few days time if possible. wee wee, raymond, tina and mike will be coming this wednesday, so i might be busy showing them around.

fun with sigma 10-20mm (the moments)

items arrived!

brother managed to get a few items from hk, except for the tian ya filter systems and holga 120cfn. have been searching high and low for the tian ya filter from local forum and seems like it is quite difficult to get it locally. the most important filter for me is the gnd or gradual grey but seems like even for cokin, it is always out of stock, unless you plan to get it from those shops, which are waiting to rip you off with 50-100% jacked-up price.

well, i decided to get the filters from hk's online dealer instead, one piece of tian ya filter costs around hkd40, slightly more expensive than buying at shops in hk at around hkd30. it's still cheaper than getting from singapore's online dealer after adding in the shipping charges and most importantly, there is available stock.

i ordered:

1. 2pcs of gradual grey
2. 1pc of gradual blue
3. 1pc of gradual orange
4. 1pc of nd4
5. 1pc of 52mm adapter
6. 1pc of 77mm adapter
7. 1pc of filter holder
8. 1 dust blower
9. 1 set of 5 in 1 110cm reflector

all these for usd97. local price would be around usd133..... let's see if the items will arrive on time for my upcoming chiang mai trip. argh.... now i need to find ways to get a cheap holga 120cfn, saw it in buy & sell forum the other day for S$20 but was thinking that since brother will be helping me to get a new set so i give it a miss. within minutes, someone grabbed the deal already.

will spend some time tomorrow to play with my new lenses and flash.

tripod review (manfrotto 725b)

managed to get a 2nd hand manfrotto 725b (c/w integrated 484rc2 ball head) at a good price of S$90. condition of the tripod is very good and scratch-less. the reason for me to get this instead of the initial setup of 190prob and 486rc2 is because it is much cheaper and also lighter for me to carry during hiking (2.46kg vs. 1.54kg). 1kg means a lot, especially when i am going to carry it together with my camera, flash and 3 lenses for 5 hours each day during my up-coming hiking at chiangmai.

my first impression:

• positive ~ manageable weight, smooth ball head, easy to deploy, clean look
• negative ~ no independent panning base/lock

there are a few limitation on this tripod, (1) not suitable for panning if you are doing sports or moving object (2) no detachable column for odd angle shot (3) legs can open-up to 45 degree max (4) ball head is non-detachable, and (5) no additional hook for stability

for me, i don't do sports photography, or maybe not at this point of time so i can do without panning, (1). i took mostly landscape so i can live with (2) and (3). my current setup is well within the maximum weight this tripod can carry so (4) and (5) doesn't affect me much. all in all, this is the right tripod for me, at least for now.

11 december 2007, update: this tripod has served me well over the last 2 months. i am currently looking for another tripod for low angle shot so that i can include some foreground elements since i have expanded the scope of my landscape photography. i will still keep this light weight tripod in my arsenal for usage as and when i plan to travel light. it is simply a gem!

it's shopping time

it's shopping time. requested my brother to get me a few items from hong kong during his up-coming trip:

1. sigma 10-20mm lens
   
2. nikon 50mm f/1.8 lens
   
3. nikon sb800 flash
   
4. nikon ml-l3 controller
   
5. tian ya filters
6. holga 120cfn mf camera

it's dirt cheap comparing to the price in singapore. managed to save a couple of hundreds! keeping my finger cross he will get the whole lot for me.