Tamron 180mm Macro Lens

I got this lens on Sunday and I must say that I am pretty happy with my latest acquisition. Still lots of bloopers with shaky hands. Hopefully, when I get use to the weight of the lens, I will have better shots than what I already have. However, I'm having a heck of a time focusing especially if my subject is really tiny but if the lens finds its subject. Details can be amazing. See the details the lens picked up of this tiny common dartlet.With larger critters, it doesn't have that much of a problem like dragonflies. The pair of mating
ypthima horsfieldii humei below took me many tries before I got a decent photo. The drawback of this lens is that it is slow in focusing if you move around a lot or want different perspectives.

Shin Kushiya

I indulged on Saturday and went to Shin Kushiya at Suntec for lunch. I've eaten at the restaurant several times but never with my camera in toll. As I was having a leisurely day with just a couple of errands to run. I had the camera with me, for this trip I ordered an aji (horse mackerel) chirashimi set, having learnt my lesson in Bangkok, I opted not to have the udon that came with the set. Instead, I had a bowl of miso soup and a side order of three sticks of kushiyaki.Here's a close-up of the slivers of aji on a bed of vinegary rice, with nori and pickles. It was a bowl that hit the spot.Not long after I tucked into my bowl of aji and rice, my side order arrived. I ordered grilled eggplant, shishito (Japanese green chilis) and enoki mushrooms wrapped in bacon.I lightly dusted the grilled side order with sour plum salt, which brought out the flavors of the grilled vegetables and the enoki mushroom wrap so well. Add that to the rice it was a combination made in heaven.Well I did part with quite a bit for the meal but I enjoyed it so much that I want more.

Branded Imperial

This is one of my favorite butterflies. This one allowed me to get close enough to take this shot. I think it has the cutest face on a butterfly.

Dragonfly Workout

I'm trying out my new Tamron macro lens, which I just got yesterday. Thus far I am pretty excited with the lens and the details that the lens picks up. Most of the bad shots are the fault of the person holding the camera not thinking and checking setting.
Above is a pair of dragonflies doing a workout. The one under is doing the bench press and sit-ups while the other is working on cardio by flying the two of them around.If you don't know what they are doing, drop me a message and I will enlighten you.

Hai Kee Char Kuay Teow

I visited Margaret Drive Food Center for some nostalgia, this is another food center that will be closing soon. There are a couple of hawker food that we Singaporeans will say die, die, must try. Hai Kee char kuay teow (ckt) is one of them. It was only 5pm and there was already a queue about 10 people deep. There were others already tucking into their plates of ckt.I joined the queue and waited patiently as the uncle attended to each of his customer personally before he fried up your order. Folks this hawker serves with a smile too. I ordered mine with no chili as I like my ckt without the spicy taste and added extra "harm" or blood cockles. I am one who must have harm in my ckt and laksa as the blood adds another dimension to the dishes.This here is my $3.50 plate of ckt and it doesn't look that much when you look at it. The plate is a simple dish of egg and rice noodles fried with garlic, eggs, pork lard, bean sprouts and cockles. See the cockles done just right and the brown bit on the right is crispy pork lard. This is old school food. These days many hawkers have gone back to using lard, I guess it is because it does give a different flavor to the dish.After playing with my food, I happily tucked in and enjoyed my hot plate of ckt. Next time, I'm asking for more sweet sauce. Go early and before the food center closes.

By Golly a Neon Moth

After not being able to find the yamfly, I decided to walk on and see what else I could find. On a tree trunk I spotted this moth that I had seen only in photos. I got to photograph it but the photos weren't too good. I was a little rusty with the macro lens having been shooting mainly with the 300mm. This is the pompelon marginata.

Yamfly

I found this tiny butterfly by chance and followed it for a short distance before it settled on a grass stalk long enough for me to photograph it. Then it took off despite my best effort to follow it, it disappeared literally before my eyes. What captivated me was brilliant orange color of this butterfly. I was excited too as I found different lycaenidae. The lycaenidae are the second-largest family of butterflies, with about 6000 species worldwide, whose members are also called gossamer-winged butterflies. They constitute about 40% of the known butterfly species. Adult individuals often have hairy antenna-like tails complete with black and white annulated appearance.I tried looking for it but I just couldn't find it. About 45 mins later, I spotted my little beauty again. This time up in the vines and it allowed me to photograph it with its wings closed.

In Search Of Good Minced Pork Noodles

I went to Toa Payoh Lor 7 to try the minced pork noodles last Sunday morning. As I had heard lots of raving reviews I had great expectation. I stood in line as the stall had just opened for the day and there was an invisible queue as regulars had placed orders in advance.The bowl looked promising as I like lots of liver in my bowl of noodles.The sauce was a let down as it had tomato ketchup in it and it lacked the bite of good black vinegar. I went to SCGS and mince pork noodles with lots of vinegar was our staple food. Well folks, I still haven't found what I'm looking for.

Greater Racket-Tailed Drongo

This a common bird of the forest but not an easy one to photograph. I finally got decent shots of a drongo last week. This one has lost one of its long tail, I suspect that this is an old bird as it wasn't as glossy as others I have seen.

Fruits Galore

The hot weather and the afternoon showers have triggered the fruit trees in the forest to fruit. The fig trees are laden with figs and the star fruit trees too. But you got to have sharp eyes to be able to spot the star fruits up on the trees. These just look so succulent, I wonder if they are sweet. Most of those on the forest floor are half eaten or rotten.

And Then There Were These Butterflies

It was a long walk but I did spot a number of creatures and I came home a happy person. I shot these beauties but to catch them you really need a lot of patience and very quick to get your shot. Meet the butterflies from last Saturday.
The common caerulean, finally came to rest on this damp leather weight lifting glove. May be it was getting ready to do some serious weight lifting of its own.

Here's the female and male of a butterfly species called archduke.The malayan viscount.And this one...long brand bush brown.

Trying To Be Invisible

I'm back and looking forward to winding down after another hectic week and picking up the camera again tomorrow.

I photographed these two malayan colugos in two different locations last Saturday. Colugos are funny animals as they will not move even when they know that they have been spotted that could be the reason why there are so few of them left. I think I've been lucky to have spotted four of these animals in a span of two months.
Here's animal no#3

and animal no#4They look similar but I did find them in two very different locations.

A Tight Squeeze

I spotted this guy yesterday morning in his tight little nest and it wasn't hard to find him again today. So I ended up photographing yet another clouded monitor juvenile. I don't mind as it is nice to see wild life thriving and not ending up in some one's cooking pot. This shy guy slide back into the dead tree trunk as he didn't trust the black lens pointed at him.I especially, like this shot of the lizard crammed between the split trunk.

A Sleeping Beauty

I went on a four hour long walk today with my camera and chanced on a number of interesting creatures. A habit of checking things out paid off. I peered into this hole and was delighted with my little find. In the tree hole was a little slumbering beauty.I found me a collared scops owl, see if you can spot the bird's face.

Raising Cranberry Beans

I bought some cranberry beans last Sunday to make soup sometime during the week. I decided to prepare the soup on Monday as I didn't want to leave the beans in the fridge too long. As we opened up the pack, we found that some of the beans had sprouted. I decided to take these beans and grow them in the hopes of having my own bean crop.This photo was taken yesterday and the seedlings have grown an inch a day. I stuck the plastic ruler in to show the speed of growth. Now that the plants are growing, I need to find a spot for them to grow.

Eating At Toa Payoh Lorong 7

We went to try some hawker food at the hawker center in lorong 7. The area looks extremely promising with lots of coffee shops selling food and they all looked pretty decent. However, they still need to past the taste test another trip is definitely in the works.

We focused on sampling the food from hawkers we came to try - Hai Nan Xing Zhou Beef Noodles , Lau Pa Sat Fishball Minced Meat Noodle, Long House Popiah and Dove Desserts. I had the beef noodles while my friend has the minced pork noodles.My dry beef noodles was tasty but the soup was a little too sweet. Overall, I still enjoyed my bowl of noodles. We also ordered a side order of popiahs from Long House Popiah. I've been wanting to try the popiahs for some time and I'm glad I finally did. I especially like the crunchy bits in the popiah roll.Next came desserts, I ordered cheng tng and chendol, which are what Dove Desserts is known for. The chendol is hand-made and infused with pandan is really fragrant and the bowl is topped by gula melaka and coconut milk. The cheng tng would have been good if it wasn't diluted. I made the mistake of ordering it cold. There was just too much shaved ice in the hot bowl and it diluted things. I'm coming back as I'd like to try the bak chor mee too.

Yet Another Doughnut Joint

Now that the doughnut frenzy is pretty much over, I can buy these breads without having to wait in line all day. Last Sunday, I went to doughnut factory and bought doughnuts.The large box was for a client meeting and the small box was mine for munching. I decided to pick two to try when I brought the boxes home.I'm a chocolate fiend and these were good. The next day, I tried two more amongst the three of us. I had fun with the heart shaped doughnut by cutting into half - a broken heart. Then we wolfed them all down. Frankly, the 8 second warm up for fridge cold doughnuts aren't sufficient. I had to warm them a little longer.After tasting doughnuts from three different doughnut outlets, I have to agree with the majority. Doughnut factory rocks, munchy doughnut next and j. co brings up the rear.

Mad Dash To The Zoo

The cousins, aunt, niece and I made a mad dash to the zoo. As my cousin wanted her little daughter to watch the elephant show. I tagged along for the opportunity to photograph the animals. Lucky, we had free entry to the zoo otherwise, it would have been a waste of money as we only got as far as the elephant enclosure for the show before the sky opened up. I only managed a couple of animals while the rest went ahead to watch the show.
False gharials sleeping off their meals, they look mean with all them teeth.

I dashed along to the white tiger enclosure for my favorite big cat. This handsome guy is a pacer as he paced back n forth.The barbirusas or pig-deers are quite strange and unique. They are Indonesian wild pig with enormous curved canine teeth.Lastly, the delightful Cotton-Top Tamarin.