Okay, I know I promised for the full post on the Fancy Dress party but hey, there was a glorious full moon tonight and I couldn't help unleashing my arsenal of camera gear to start shooting it.

Don't worry, all the fancy dress photos have been collaged and batch edited – ready to go! (it's currently halfway written and saved in my blogpost draft at the mo)

Shot at 1925 HRS

It's funny how the sun begins to set at 5.45pm here in Australia, as compared to how it sets at about 7.30pm in Malaysia. Talk about a huge difference!

Goodness gracious, by 6pm the sky is already dark here!

But the moon only begins to appear at approximately 6.30pm

So yes, the moon. Remember how there was so much buzz on the Supermoon roughly 3 weeks ago?

Supposedly a rare occasion where the moon is at its closest point to the earth?

Well, BIG DEAL. *rolls eyes*

To be honest, all I saw was a round full moon that night. Just like any other moon on any full moon night.

But tonight, it was beautiful and huge.

So off I set out from my rez carrying nothing but my camera and a few lenses

I was crawling all over the floor and climbing rooftops just to get the shots I wanted.

Few of the people on rez gave me weird looks and thought I was a drunkard trying to break into houses LOL

As you can see, the clouds were being a bit of a b!tch so I waited and waited

And when the sun has COMPLETELY set on the opposite end of the horizon, all was still, silent and pitch black in the sky.

Finally, my wait is over. Now, let's shoot the moon!

Now, that's more like it.

I shot this one whilst on top of South 8's rooftop.

Don't ask me how I got up there, I just did. Well, blame the extra dosage of hyperactivity.

Shot this on top of a tree branch

Again, don't ask me how I got up there.

I was scratched on the arm in the process. Sigh.

The great lengths photohunters go to just to get their perfect shot.

This was shot while I was lying flat on the grass

I know they all probably look similar to you, but notice the difference in colour and positioning.

Ahh well, I loved how the moon looks tonight. Opalescent, romantic and a tad eerie.

Just the way I like it.

Don't mind me. I have a solid excuse 😛

I was waiting for the moon to peek from those annoying stratus clouds

It took me slightly over an hour to get all my shots together. Heck, it was very windy so all the clouds just kept coming in the way! Oh, bother

But hey, it's all good. I got home safe and sound in the dead of the night… with slightly numb ears and fingertips because the idea of putting on a jacket didn't quite occur to me in the midst of my hype to go mooning.

Silly me!

Now that my assignment marathon is over, it's time to clear up the rising hill of clean laundry on my bed.

Yes, as I mentioned here, my bed hasn't been slept in for a week; my room is tantamount to a touch-and go-hotel room, where I'd just come in, change my clothes, freshen up and head right off either to uni or south rez.

Anyway! I've got some time to chillax before diving headfirst into the next round of assignments again.

Mother Nature celebrated with me today – with such a lovely weather 🙂

Altocumulus clouds! I've never seen quite like it before.

It's all white and fluffy! Arranged so haphazardly against the azure canvas, I couldn't help but to stop in my tracks and watch it with admiration.

I mean, sure, I've seen lotsa clouds before but these little specks are really cute as!

I

Here I am on my way back from grocery shopping at Woolworths 🙂

Bought lotsa stuff for my dessert baking session for 1 birthday party and 1 BBQ party this week

If you noticed in the background, yeah there are construction going on around Churchill at the mo.

They're prolly trying to upgrade the skatepark or to quote my mates, they might be "building a rape dungeon" -__-"

Right.

Oh and, as I was walking over to South rez after shopping, I came across these lovelies snugly rooted amidst the grassy field.

It's an Agaricus Bisporus!

Yup, White Mushroom is its common name 🙂

I wonder if I could just pluck it off and cook it ala Portobello mushrooms? haha

It's nice spacing out one day from the busy city life to actually breathe and give nature a chance to take the front seat

Have you explored your neighbourhood lately? Or even your backyard?

You totally should, you'd be surprised what you might find there!

As promised in this post, it's to the city again I go!

It's a voyage I've always looked forward to. Adjourning from the suburbs in Camberwell via Metlink Train.

Can't help that this city girl is always waiting to burst out into the urbans!

I raced the train to capture it passing by!! 🙂

Anyway, excitement over. Let's rewind. First I had to walk to the nearest train station, which was about 15 minutes away by foot. *pants*  So I started walking…

Sucha sunny day today, ain't it?

… and walking  

… and walking

I loved how the insane weather held up just for me 😛  

At least I'd like to think so hehe  

…..and walking  

… and walking! Good thing I put on some real good & comfy kicks.  

So yes, I finally reached the railway tracks half an hour later LOL.   That's due to all the shooting, taking in the perfect view of mother nature and stopping to smell the flowers.

Yeah, literally, I did stoop down to pick up daisies, how ladylike of me *coughs*  

Oh look! I'm standing in the middle of the tracks.  

Let's just hope a train doesn't come by while I work the camera 😛  

Standing right in the middle of the railway 😛  

Okay, enough fooling around 😀  So I finally arrived the train station, Hartwell Station, along the Alamein line  

Bought my Metcard and hey ho, let's go!  

Train was very efficient, it came right on the dot according to the board which displays each train's estimated time of arrival.

So I got in and it was kinda empty, but it'll eventually fill up with people as it gets closer to the city 🙂  

After less than half an hour, hello again city!! 🙂

I can finally breathe some air into my "metropolitan" lungs

Aaaahhhhh *inhales and exhales*

Shot this from the inside of Flinders Street Station

It's one of those beauuuuutiful train stations that never fail to capture the interest of tourists.

In the short moment that I was there, I've already spotted 10 odd foreigners snapping away!

The breathtaking urban life before me

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Melbourne city 😀

Can't helping taking a shot WITH it too 😛

Similarly to Bukit Bintang or KLCC area back home in Malaysia and Orchard Road in Singapore, Flinders Street and Swanston Street here in Melbourne are pretty much always abuzz with a myriad of people… anytime of the day!

Swarming with people at most pedestrian crossings

When I got to the other side, I wanted to take a touristy ride all around the city on a free service called the City Circle Tram. It's a brown tram which circles the main zones of the city.

So hop on with me!

Here I am waiting right opposite Flinders Street Train station at one of the tram stops.

It comes every 5 minutes or so, very efficient!

You can see many other tourists (and some locals) waiting for it too.

I can't wait to see what's in store for me in the city. Elizabeth Street, Swanston Street, Queen Victoria Street Market, Burke Street, the State Library of Victoria, Southbank and so many others!

Walking along Elizabeth Street!

Was too excited touring the city! Sucks that I got hungry at 3pm-ish

Because at that time, most of the yummy food court shops at the Queen Victoria market had all shut 🙁

And if you didn't know, all the malls in Melbourne closes at 5pm.

YES FIVE O' CLOCK IN THE !@#$%^&*( EVENING.

I miss hanging out/shopping in malls till 10.30pm back in Malaysia!

Wonder what do Australians do after 5pm? Dinner and then go home?

Anyway, speaking of my lunch, I was too late! The only stuff available were Subway, Maccas (Yes, that is what they call McDonalds in Australia), Hungry Jacks and all the other fast food stuff. Bummer 🙁 🙁

I ended up with Subway and omg the Subway there has SO MUCH MORE CHOICES compared to the one back in Malaysia.

Okay, nevermind the fact that we don't/can't have pork nor bacon, but I'm also talking about the variety of sauces/bread/condiments!

Disappointed! 🙁

I didn't come all the way to the city to eat fast food nnoooooo

Issokay. There's always another day!

Besides, I headed up to Lygon Street for their Italian food with a good friend of mine, Alexis.

Went to one of the chocolate lounges with buddy Violet and her boyf James

Greek food for dinner with fellow Malaysian pal Rebecca 😀

Now, those were yum! (and a dent in my pocket yeee-ouucchh)

Back in Flinders Street Station the next day to do more exploring!

Where did I go and what did I do on both these days?

That's for another story, ye? Wait for it, dear readers, you'll see pretty damn soon, you bet 😉

Houmaigawd holy bejeebus it's freezing and the thick cashmere gloves that I'm wearing is not making it easy for me to type at all.

The heating system has just been turned on but the ice-cold wind wouldn't stop howling, and vapor fogged out from our mouths as we spoke to each other.

Throughout my stay in Melbourne so far, there was only 3 outta 11 days that had somewhat warm/sunny weather. The rest of the days was just blistering with gushes of cold wind and rain… you call this summer? 🙁

Anyway, I miss the city! Badly!

Driving past Melbourne city for the very 1st time

I spotted lotsa pretty sights and sounds all around me! The transport system is cool and buildings here look really colonial -a different architecture from Malaysia's altogether!
 

Take a look 🙂

People waiting for the tram – which arrives under 10 minutes flat!

Melbourne's General Post Office. It has restaurants and bars in it too! 😉
 

Funny/unique names!

Saw a railway track like, right across the middle of the road

Drove past the Flinders Street Station yay! Nice

Couldn't help taking a picture of this old man jaywalking the streets

It was so nice of Mr. and Mrs. Lee to take me for a drive into the city center just to lemme have my 1st sight of it on my 1st day in Melbourne. I lived with them for more than a week, they were so accommodating and made me feel so at home 🙂
 

So yeah, here I was for those 9 days of my stay. In a beautiful suburb, called Camberwell 🙂

Their humble abode, a very impressive double-storeyed brick house in my opinion!

I was pretty intrigued by their garage, hedges and gateless/fenceless neighbourhood.

In fact, almost every house has all of those.

Their neighbour, 2 Italian men! Hubba hubba!

And their suburbs are different from the one in Malaysia because the houses here are hardly terraced. It's like an entire house with a backyard and lawns which run throughout the sides. Back at my home country, those types would be considered a bungalow already.
 

But here, almost all landed properties are constructed as such.

My room! 🙂 Yes I know, the clothes, the mess and my huge red luggage

The view from my window when I wake up in the mornings 
 

When the Lee's ain't around at home, I pass my time blogging, jogging in Lynden Park (more of that soon!) and playing with Ruffey.

Who's Ruffey? As mentioned here , it is their pet dog, a Japanese Chin.
 

Ruffey here isn't a puppy anymore.
 

He's a 12 year old dog in human years, which makes him 84 years old in dog years!

Now, that's pretty old, ain't it?

I see him on the carpet every morning while eating my breakfast

We bond pretty well despite Mr. Lee telling me how grouchy and territorial it can get.

I honestly don't see Ruffey in that light at all. It's actually very friendly to me!

I've even taken Ruffey out for a walk at Lynden Park too.

Dinnertime was at Chadstone Shopping Center (fondly known as Chaddy) a popular mall in Malvern East.

I superloved that mall!  Totally reminded me of One Utama Shopping Center back at home.

Sorry, only took pictures of the food zone because I was too busy shopping to take pictures 😛

As a Malaysian, I couldn't help converting the prices I see here into Ringgit Malaysia (RM).

I multiply everything I see – according to the exchange rate – by 3 times.

The only way I reckon I can stop doing that is to get a part time job here… which I will. When I find one 😀
 

Omelette Sandwich | AUD$9.90

THAT'S 30 BUCKS IN RM FOR SOMETHING AS MEAGRE AS THIS! *faints*

Since it was my first meal out in Melbourne, I guess the figures hadn't really gotten to me yet.

So I bought some salad after that

Pumpkin Chick Pea Salad | AUD$5

THAT'S 15 RINGGIT FOR THIS TINY CONTAINER OF COLD BITES.

Good heavens, I can get some elaborate food in a swanky restaurant for RM45 back at home 🙁

Oh well. What am I to do? I only have 3 choices. Get a job, get used to this or get lost.

Mrs. Lee and I at Chaddy.
 

It was funny how after Sunday service (yes they brought me to church) at Clayton Church of Christ, my new mates and I decided to go to Chaddy. AGAIN, for me. LOL!

But hey, I didn't mind at all cos I actually fancy that place 😉

 Lunchtime/teatime woots! Heading towards Chaddy 😀

Camwhoring with Tim! 😉 We hopped into his car and he gave me a ride

As we had a BBQ early lunch already in church, Tim and I were still feeling quite full

But not Stuart! 😛 He ordered some huge Beef Steak

At Reactor in Chaddy 🙂

We got a complimentary basket of Garlic Bread wheee!

'Cos Stuart knew one of the staff who worked there

Tim and I munching on free Garlic Bread woohoo

After eating, Tim had to leave early. Stuart and I then walked around Chaddy and he showed me around!

This part of the mall reminded me of Pavillion/KLCC back at home.

Somehow lah! 😛 Gave me a feeling of home for a sec

Bought a couple of stuff and soon after, Stuart gave me a ride home

It was already 5pm! Didn't know we all spent so much time in the mall

Oh and did I mention that Stuart had this really awesome car? It's wicked! I like

Obsessive compulsive disorder and devil's code 666!

Nais

So that was my short adventure in the suburbs. The next day, Stuart took me to another suburb too, called Glen Waverly. More of that soon okie? Next post, I'll be heading downtown to Melbourne City alone! Exploring so many sights and sounds. 🙂

Join me, aight? See ya! 

Hiya! 😀

As you know, I'm in Ozzieland now and I do tend to get lazy lugging my Nikon DSLR around! Imagine walking around so tired, sweaty and having an extra weight on your shoulders 🙁 I’ve been scouting around for something compact instead! Everyone needs some form of a back up 😉
 

Remember my tweet  a fortnight ago being all excited about a supercool gadget by Nikon?
 

Yup, so I've been toting around the new Nikon S1100pj for a month now and I must say, it is one swell piece of technology!

First of its kind. You bet! 😀

A projection thing-a-ma-jiggy all in the palm of your hand. I shall show you how awesome it is in a while.

But first! Lemme review some of the photo specs and features.

Here are some of the piccies I've taken with my new baby 😉 Ready?

Arguably the easiest mode in this camera, the Easy Auto Mode changes to the best adjustments to suit all types of settings. Perfect for camera newbies and/or lazy photographers 😛 Take a look!

I like how it's so bright and cheery

Test-shot with some of my gurls during lunch at Fika Swedish Restaurant & Cafe

This one's taken with flash mode on with my gurls YingZi & June

And this one is shot without the flash

I love how it brings out the best of natural lighting!

Despite taken in dark areas, the shadows casted by it all fall in the right places for a nice silhouette 🙂

Another feature I've put to test is the Smart Portrait Mode

This one detects faces, smiles or expressions pretty well

Smile as widely as you can! This smart baby of mine can recognize our Cheshire Cat grins LOL

But it can sometimes get rebellious/emo and decide not to detect my smile.

A rebel. Like owner like camera.

But the photo turned out pretty well! 😀

*grins widely*

Venessa and June had fun with the face detection mode too 😀

The next feature that I tried was Scene.

It boasts 17 different Scene selections to cater specifically to each different setting we want to take photos in

Just tap on the SCENE selection and take your pick

From left to right (in order)

Portrait | Landscape | Sports | Night Portrait |Party/Indoor

Beach | Snow | Sunset | Dusk/Dawn | Night Landscape

Close-Up | Food | Museum | Firework Show | Copy

I've put some of the Scene Selections to test!

These are my faves taken with the (food) mode I've played around with :

Delicious Mushroom Bruschetta from Dish Deli Cafe in Mont Kiara

Creamy Pumpkin Soup!

The very rubbery, icky and dry Chicken Thigh from that restaurant as well

Beef Steak medium done in Fika, Singapore

Swedish Meatballs also from Fika!

Salmon Mentai from Oh! Sushi in De Garden, Ipoh

Unagi Roll also from my sushi dinner

Lovely. I like how it macros up the food yet maintain its natural atmosphere of wherever food outlet you're in

Takes food photography to such an easier level for those budding photographers!

After dinner, I decided to take some pics of the interior of Dish Deli cafe.

All taken with the (party/indoor) mode.

Love the vibrancy!

Kelly and I at dinner. The colours are all pink and cheery!

With this mode, the flash doesn't completely bring the photo into a white-out overexposed shot

It's really nice how it captures how it exactly looks like in real life.

After dinner, we headed out for a walk. Another scene I've used was the (portrait) selection.

Makes portraiture so fun! 😀

Kelly and I couldn't stop taking picture-perfect portraits of ourselves up on the rooftop

Playing around with this new Nikon s1100pj made me wanna explore further.

I soon ventured out with Kelly to the other side of the upper levels of Solaris Mont Kiara to take in the scenic night atmosphere. Ideally, I used the (Night Landscape) mode to take this photo below.

It surely complemented the colored spotlights 🙂

We then decided to go for drinks and chillax our Thursday night away.

Here's when I chose a different scene selection, the (night portrait) mode. It's something like the (portrait) mode but gives a different effect. The former brings out all the source of lights within the frame and the latter focuses more on the main subject itself.

Love the exposure and the entire perfect picture.

Night portrait scene selection FTW!

With such decent pictures it can take, I was also impressed with the video mode too.

It shoots footages all in High Definition and just by one press of a button. Unlike other cameras, there's no need to go through the hassle of searching into the menu to pick out the video mode.

This works like a real video camera. One red button to start recording!

Here's just one still scene of my house foyer.

Last day of Chinese New Year already! 😀

 *DRUMROLL*

Now here's the best part of this new Nikon s1100pj. The extra kick why photo enthusiasts want it and flaunt it!

Uber cool ey? That's theboyfie Josh and I. But how did we get on the table?

Watch this awesome video advertisement to find out

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9nrrl1shzhc&feature=related

Pretty nifty ey? One heck of a technology packed into a compact camera

So, best part is pretty obvious by now. It's the built-in projection feature.

Great for presentations or visuals! Also, I just hate to pass around my camera to random people whenever a group photograph is taken, for you'll never know whether it'll be returned rightfully to you.

That's actually how I lost my previous camera. 🙁 🙁 During my convocation, it never came back to me!

With this kick-ass feature, I bet you won't suffer the same fate as me.

Here's how you can show everyone the picture SAFELY in your own hands.

It may be small now, but it can be enlarged clearer to the size of an A4 paper

Oh and just so you know, I loved that video ad I embedded above. It's so expressive!

So, I've put together my own version of the video montage too, just for the fun of it! Imma video editing newbie at the moment so pardon the not-as-impressive-as-the-official-Nikon-video-advertisement-skills of mine. 😀

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kXoZyP3N_ug

So, what dya think? I think it's a pretty good buy.

It's been almost a month with my new baby now and I'm having fun thus far! Still getting used to all the attention it rakes in by its awesome pictures and projection power.

Just the other night whilst back in Penang I showed some of the piccies I took in KL to my homies (there were 7 of us at the table) just by projecting the slideshow on the ceiling of the cafe! That way, everyone can see it at the same time.

Standing ovation please?

The s1100pj is yet another fine piece of Nikonian tech to salute to!