So hard to catch a glimpse of him not moving… hope he becomes fatter and lazier.. then I can take my time

Curry Chicken Nasih Lemak
Malaysian style curry chicken with coconut rice, served with sambal ikan bilis, 1/2 sliced egg, salad and a papadom. Authentic taste! The curry is a little spicy (just perfect) and the sambal is pretty spicy! Get some water ready  Love those papadoms!

Chinese with Chinese Mushroom Casserole
Generous pieces of chicken with chinese mushroom in a claypot, ideal for a cold night!
Have it with a bowl of white rice, garnished with ginger, red hot chillis and fresh coriander.

Once again it has been a long time since the last update *cough*

Better not remind you all hahaha

Well I have been working hard on my full time job and meanwhile in my spare time I have decided to be a freelance photographer, this will help me fund other lens so I can experiment more

Here is the first prototype! Hope you find it mouth watering as much as I do

Creamy Seafood Homemade Tofu
Delicious homemade tofu, creamy in the inside and a little crispy on the outside, garnished with succulent prawns, red hot chillis, and spring onions

More will come soon! I can only work on it during the weekends as work is tiring me out *puff*

Feel free to drop by this new restaurant HS SouthEast Asian Restaurant located in Takapuna

62-78 Hurstmere Road, Takapuna Licenced B.Y.O.W Tel: 09-489 3988

They serve Authentic South East Asian food!

Open for lunch and dinner 7 days a week from 11:00am - 3:00pm, 5:00pm - 10:00pm

They have Nasih Lemak, Curry Laksa, Hainanese Chicken Rice and so on! Drop by to find out more

If you have any photographic or graphic design work for me, feel free to leave me a message

Here I present you GINTARO, a 4 and 1/2 months old pure bred blue & white bi-colour Scottish Fold kitten! A boy! The blue colour in the name actually indicates that it is Grey in colour.

In New Zealand, you can only take home a kitten from its breeder when it is 3mths old… he is from Palmerston North originally

He was born on the 31st of March (an Aries) this year (2008), so it’s definitely a date to remember *lol*

His name means Silver Boy in Japanese, similarly to Kentaro a common name in Japan.

Meeting Birdy for the first time…

Feeling *SHY* and *TIMID*… well not for long!

Initially I wanted a girl, because they can be more affectionate but unfortunately it has been sold before I saw it. At this time of the year there are not alot of Scottish Folds for sale, as they only breed twice a year or so, and not all litter (a set of new born kittens) will have the folded ears.

Sometimes only 50% or all of a set of litter has folded ears! All Scottish Folds are born with straight ears initially, but after about 21 days their ears will start folding to a degree of single, double, triple fold or NO FOLD (Scottish Fold Straight-Eared).

On a side note, you should not breed a Scottish Fold to a Scottish Fold for health reasons (at risk of bone concerns), my Scottish Fold is a pure-bred between a British Shorthair and a Scottish Fold.

Apologies for the photos being slightly grainy, his actions are so fast I could only try capturing using a shutter speed of 1/500 resulting in quite dark pictures. I will work on my shutter speed skills

Recently, he has caught a cold and has a minor eye infection therefore he is weeping yellow discharge as you can see in the pictures, but he is recovering fast (thanks to the antibiotics). Remember to clean their eyes often to help them recover faster.

A picture of the silly boy standing up!

Getting playful with his new buddy… Birdy

Standing up and in CONTROL

Gintaro: Caught a live one! Let me see how it tastes *nibbles*

Birdy: … *SIEN* Be gentle can or not? My left eye also peeling liao (made of sticker)

Mmmm…

Observing the birdy, ready for an ATTACK

Gintaro: Freeze! and NO ONE GETS HURT!

Birdy: You again?! Aiyoh I need a break… I think I will be taking unpaid leave for a week!

I will be posting pictures of him regularly to track his growth and his silly behaviours as well as to improve my animal photography.

So be sure to tune in if you find him adorable!

I ended up in Sky City Metro and decided to catch a movie, “The Dark Knight” was screening at the IMAX theatre, it was awesome! the huge screen and surround sound was crazy. Tickets were sold out fast, so we had to sit 3rd row from the front, sure does make us DIZZY at times, nevertheless it was a kick ass experience.

SEE MORE, HEAR MORE, FEEL MORE — IMAX is the ultimate movie experience. With crystal clear images and wraparound digital surround sound, IMAX lets you feel like you’re really there.

Definitely worth watching it! Loads of action and packed with cool gadgets, architecture, cinematography and all that usual good looking stuff (Nokia phones, Lamborghini and so on).

Catch it at IMAX now! remember to book early and sit FAR FAR

Sky City Metro neon blue theme all over the escalators, trying to attract the young generation, i guess?

From another perspective, blue, funky, futuristic and cool lighting.

Actually it is quite confusing to find your way around. Almost like a puzzle or a maze!

I take a while sometimes how to reach some shops or to exit the building Only sometimes!

Yes…. due to the rain we had to hang around Sky City Metro for up to 2hours, and therefore could not resist not to buy the Wii Fit at LiveWire. It was $188 and was cheapest of all places which was at $199+. Since my Wii is New Zealand bought, it was worth buying, though it isn’t the cheapest in the world.

The Wii Fit consist of the Wii balance board and a game (up to 40 training activities).

Only 1 player can play at a time though, but you can go jogging with a 2nd player, by using a 2nd Wii controller.

After 3 days of using it, it really does work! It does make you do a good workout, try it out! I recommend buying it since it does help improve health without trying hard, because you can actually enjoy doing it!

Try to be competitive and do better each time, and sweat it out! Yoga workouts are really good, it really stretch those muscles!

I WILL do a review on it soon.

Look at all the marios in the pile. Just had to shoot it. I love Super Mario Brothers! Mario, Luigi and not to forget Yoshi!

From now on, each of my post will have a series of shots that contains the same theme.

The weather was so bad it nearly blew me off my feet.

I also found many DEAD/DAMAGED/NEGLECTED umbrellas all over the place

I decided to take advantage of Britomart’s underground walkway just to walk home, and to avoid the rain because I did not have my umbrella with me.

It was quite late and has barely anyone there.

Nowadays it seems like you must keep an umbrella handy beside you in AUCKLAND

You never know when it is going to RAIN or SHINE, almost like DUNEDIN

The escalator from my perspective

The very last stop for Downtown Auckland

Keep left if you are not in a hurry, keep right if you are! As always.

Caution: Keep your eyes on the moving train, stand within the line

More pictures tomorrow.

I need to get some sleep

It was held at the ASB Showgrounds on Greenlane West. It also mentioned in the advertisement there was going to be fruits and flowers for sale! Also Thai food from selected restaurants.

Fruits like durian, longan, lychee, mango, coconuts and mangosteen *wow* all the fruits I MISS eating!
Especially at this time of the year, WINTER in NEW ZEALAND, it would be a nice treat to savor on those fruits.

Look at that, doesn’t it look tempting? The strong smell of durian fragrance was all over the place.

These were directly imported from Thailand just 3 days before the event.

Yes, this was the durian I bought. Look at its spikes, remember to handle with care!

Don’t drop on your feet *lol*

$49 for 1 DURIAN, I know I am a big sucker but heck it was worth it!

Though you can get them for around BND7.00 = NZD6.50 at SupaSave (Brunei supermarket (Brunei grown durians))

Or BND12.00 =NZD11.30 at SupaSave (Brunei supermarket (Thailand grown durians))

Delicious rich yellow flesh, I was expecting fewer and smaller flesh, but turns out it has big juicy pieces.

Longan seller and heaps of longans! So happy to see longan in New Zealand! They tasted very good, bought a bag for $5

Mangosteen!

The Lychee tasted abit funny, abit sour

The Durian can be divided into many sections.

Heaps of rich yellow flesh

Yes, the car, fridge and house stinks of durian

The smell should diffuse within 2 days

But if you can try to appreciate the strong fragrance, you will enjoy eating and smelling it!

Look at this cute girl’s costume, she looks so natural

Thai lady performing traditional dance, very entertaining.

Notice the fish behind her back, apparently another male performer who is meant to be the monkey is searching for it high and low, if you were there, you would get what I mean

The monkey was quite hilarious but it was a nice overall performance, I especially liked the traditional music.

Cute boy observing me, observing chrysanthemum flowers in the water.

Longan and lychee comparison. Lychee seed is much bigger, but also shiny black in colour.

Behind the busy counters. Babies babysitting themselves

There was heaps of food!

I only got to sample the fish cakes 1 skewer for $2, which is so good!

As good as Thai Smiles on Colombo Street from Christchurch.

Overall, it was a fun event, though the weather was daunting and pouring non-stop.

Approaching the end of Princes Wharf, the sun and wind was both very strong.

The waves were swelling not long after.

Originally printed as “FISHING, DIVING, SWIMMING IS STRICTLY PROHIBITED”.

Now as “WISHING, DIEING, SWIMMIN IS STRICTLY PROHIBITED” and the message underneath that says “NO HOPES AND DREAMS ALLOWED”.

Vandalism is quite common in New Zealand.

So bright I squint my eyes most of the time

The RED line is a precaution to indicate you should stay within it.

I thought I spotted the America’s Cup yacht sailing (New Zealand), but it’s actually a service offered to tourists.

If you are interested Visit Sail NZ - NZL40 & 41 Experience sailing America’s Cup yachts on Auckland’s Waitemata Harbour and ‘On the Edge’ sailing catamaran in the Bay of Islands

Click here http://www.sailnz.co.nz/site/content.aspx?pageid=10

The stunning Hilton Auckland Hilton Hotel at Princes Wharf.

You can dine at the exquisite White Restaurant while enjoying the beautiful views.

It was a very very sunny day for Auckland this Sunday afternoon.

Grabbed my DSLR and went for a stroll at the Viaduct Harbour

Here is a baby Sparrow that I have been stalking for a few minutes, he seems to be pondering about something…

OK maybe its a female.

OK after snapping away many pictures, he decided to take off on me!

FLY AWAY………

He was really one cute baby Sparrow bird.

You can find them everywhere, but be gentle and quiet.

They fly off very fast by distraction.

Posts like these do not necessarily imply they were shot on the same day.
Just think of it as a set of experimental photography

Outside Scene 1 Apartments on Beach Road. Just after the rain…. it has been a cold and gloomy winter this year. I really like Scene 1 apartments more than Scene 2 and Scene 3, modernist and minimalist architecture. Those green coloured windows are sound-proofed glass, they do work… but not really as it’s still very noisy living in the city

Looking up into the sky near AXA building, gives me a mysterious dark feeling… it was a very cold day as well. The branches were crackling away as the wind kept blowing.

On the other side of the world… Outside Times Square at Causeway Bay, Hong Kong. It was a chilly night.

I love the atmosphere.

At Singapore Changi Airport, while waiting for my Mum talking to a free fortune teller , I saw this very pretty tube of fluorescent light behind the sofa.

This is the sugar cane seller, he is so nice and friendly! I ask if I could take a picture, he said YES and cant stop smiling.

Anybody knows him?

Buying a huge glass of delicious sugar cane juice for SGD$2.00, my Mum thinks its expensive…

Anyhow this is at the airport I guess prices are a little higher?

How are the prices outside at local food stall? anyone care to share? THANKS