Evening Out

This was where they shot the DiGi commercial on TVPuan Anita wanted to order her ‘baju Raya’ for the year, even though Aidilfitri is about 3 months away. She had it all planned and after work, we went over to The Curve for her to have a look at one of the shops there. There were a few baju kurung which caught her eye during previous visit. Since Irfan is now much better from his fever, we decided to have some dinner outside and some fresh air.

Idlan waiting for his pizzaPuan Anita's kerang rebusThe Curve in the eveningThis was a chance to take the 7D out. Decided to take the zoom instead of my customary 50mm f1.4, and try out the higher ISO setting. The output was actually just as expected although I would still prefer the f1.4. All the photos were taken at ISO 3200. Not bad!

7D First Spin

I can finally afford the EOS 7D and have been trying it out for the last week. Unfortunately I was not able to take it out for a really good spin yet but tryout in the house has been great so far. I am still familiarising myself with the settings and have not got my head around the remote flash triggering system as yet.

I was also rather occupied with booting up my system as well, so I have yet to really manipulate the output on the Photoshop so far. Maybe during the weekend I will be able to go out for a photoshoot, but it will all depend on the weather - so watch this space.

All the photos from this were taken in my back garden using the Canon EF-S 60mm Macro lens. I will only attempt to review the camera after at least taken it for a proper walk about.

And the rest - Idlan's Sixth Part III

As I mentioned earlier, since it was raining on the morning, we had to change some of the plan. We decided to have the cake cutting early and an earlier lunch. Following that, we rushed to our seats at the amphitheater for the bird show.

Jeremy gathering the troopI thought the white parrot must e the chairman of the welcoming committee For those of you who have not been to the KL Bird Park before, it is the world’s largest free flight indoor bird park - which means that it was essentially a giant tent where birds were free to fly around under it. The park was built on a small little valley, and at one of the end was a small waterfall with an amphitheater built at the bottom of it. This was where the bird show was held daily, starting at 1 pm. Anyone with the entrance ticket can just drop by, and the 30 minutes show were hosted by the park rangers, and featured eagles, parrots and other birds performing tricks. The theatre was very comfortable with wooden seatings and well ventilated. Luckily as it only just stopped raining, the weather was still cool.

A decent-sized crowd turned up for the showAs part of the party package, we were given front-row seats. The show started off with a welcoming banter between the ranger and a talking parrot. There were other small tricks right after, and then the ranger called out for Idlan, announcing to everyone that it was his birthday. Rather than freaking out, Idlan enjoyed that and stood up to bow and wave - I guess his plans for world domination was going as planned!

Idlan eagerly waiting for the eagle to fly byJeremy showing us the owlOne of the cousin with a hornbillWas trying a new treatment for my grey hairsThe highlight of the show was the flight of an American eagle snatching a piece of meat at the end of a stick held up by the rangers. After a couple of demo, they then called Idlan to volunteer to hold the stick up. With a drum roll, the ranger blew a whistle and the bird came zooming down and before you knew it, grabbed the piece of meat. The ranger was of course holding the stick with Idlan to keep him steady. Idlan didn’t flinch and again he enjoyed the trick. I did not get any picture as I was with him at the time. It was over before I can do anything! And yes, Idlan still had ten fingers. I counted!

One last pic with the mascot
All packed up and ready to leaveTime to open the prezzieNext was a quick tour around the park, where our guide, Jeremy, told the children about the birds on display. We then fed the ostriches and play with parrots, owls and other tropical birds. We also visited the nursery where the children were thought about egg and hatchings. The children really enjoyed the feeding. The birds were all around them - and also was on top of my head. They then enjoyed some ice-cream in the hot sun, before heading back to the restaurant for some refreshments. We were then joined by the park mascot again for more games and pictures before finally calling it a day by 3 pm. Since it was held at a venue rather than the house, all we had to do was pick up the prezzies - no cleaning up needed! Hurrah all around!

The slideshow for the party can be found here.

The R2D2 cake - Idlan's Sixth Part II

Idlan has always been a big fan of Star Wars and when asked what does he want for the cake, he answered “R2D2”. We can only think of one person who can conjure such cake - Mama Min. It was quite late when we finally made the order, but luckily she agreed. Hurrah!

Mama Min on hand to fix it!It was all right againWe went over to Damansara at pick up the cake the evening before the party. And since the cake towered over the base, it was kinda flimsy and may topple over. The journey from Damansara back home was also precarious at times. We felt that we hit all the bumps along MMR2 to reach home. Unfortunately, we got hone, we realised that one of R2D2’s leg broke and it was slanting at an angle. A quick tweet and Mama Min arrived just prior to the party at KL Bird Park to save the day!

Time for the slaughterMaking a wishThe boys plotting the downfall of R2D2. Trust the force!The cake was certainly a hit. Many people thought it was just not possible to make such a cake, and let alone, it tasted really yummy as well. By the time it was time to pack up and go, only the R2D2 robot was left - it was set aside for Daddy! All the guests remarked that not only the cake looked awesome, they were surprised that it tasted nice. Often we were disappointed that the cake only looked aesthetically pleasing but as for the taste, it left something to be desired.

Oh no! It's gone!Julia's cupcakesMy sister, Julia also brought some cupcakes she specially ordered. That was also finished in double quick time. Since it was raining, we ended up cutting the cake earlier than planned. The original plan was to take a tour of the park before lunch, topping it off with the bird show, then coming back for the cake cutting thingy. Next entry …… bird show!

Slideshow of the party was uploaded here.

More of Mama Min's amazing creations can be found here.

Partyboy - Idlan's Sixth Part I

It took a good few days for me to go through the photographs and blog about last weekend’s party. Was busy as well from yesterday. Took a bit longer than expected. There was also too much to write, so I guess in the first part, I just talk about the venue. Yes, we held it at the Hornbill Restaurant, the main eatery at the KL Bird Park in Tasik Perdana. We have been there a few times and were quite familiar with the place. Unfortunately, not much of birdwatching and photography for me that day. It was all about Idlan.

Registration involved being tagged upBirthday Boy welcoming the guestsIrfan must be wondering why all the presents were for his brother - some of them actually got prezzies for himIdlan’s real birthday was actually the 23rd (Sunday). However, since it clashed with my cousin’s wedding - the one that I travelled to Butterworth for, we decided to hold it on the Saturday - a day earlier. The party started in the morning, guests started to arrive by 11. Unfortunately it was gloomy and threatened to rain all morning, In fact, it rained heavily overnight. Therefore, we had to change the itinerary somewhat. It was originally planned that we take a tour of the park by 11.30, finishing at a bird show at around 1pm. We then double back to the restaurant, have the mascot and cake-cutting, lunch and then some games. Unfortunately with the rain, we cut the cake much earlier and have the lunch, then when the rain subsided, rushed for the bird show. Then came the tour and by the time we arrived back the the restaurant, it was already quite late. The mascot arrived and it was already time to finish things off.

The birds are hungry - let's feed them!Ooops!Nice juggling act, IdlanLuckily the party planner was very flexible and the guide we had, Jeremy was a hit with the kids. He took us around, telling jokes and anecdote of the animals to the kids. The kids seemed to enjoy it. The restaurant was accessible to the public from a separate door to the park main entrance. Coming in, we then take some steps down to another deck where we had the party. The deck overlooked the main park and birds comes over to the verandah on the deck, where we can feed and play with them. The rangers also came and introduced us to some of the parrots and birds to play with while the guest arrived. It was certainly different to the birthday parties I have been to. 

Satay!

Food was served at the verandah, where we got out, pick the food and came inside - with air conditioning of course. That was where we had the cake-cutting and games as well. The area was enough to seat about 100 guests and since we had only about 60, there were plenty of space for the children to run around. Will talk about the cakes, the tour and bird show on the next entries.