The Maiden Flight

Sunday Morning, and I have less than half a dozen patients to review in the ward. I decided to start the day early with a short drive to Taman Tasik Titiwangsa. There was a fun run going on in town and some of the route were diverted. I didn't have any issues getting there though and at around 7.30 am, I got everything set up.

Then came the calibration and pre-flight stuffs. All the connections were in order and I have updated the firmware on the drone the night before. All charged up and with the press of a button - or in this case, a swipe on the screen - the Phantom 4 was airborne. And off it climbed!

I picked an open space around 100 meters from the car park. There was no trees to block my view and I soon got the drone flying above the famous Tasik Titiwangsa. I snapped some photos, pointed the drone towards the city centre and snapped some more. Next came the video recording. For the first flight, I decided to keep things simple and recorded the footage in HD rather than 4K.

45 minutes later, I was out of juice from both the battery packs and it was time to head home and study the footage.

A new perspective into my photography from this angle. Shame that the light was not the best ...There was a miniature radio car circuit right next doorMe with some spectators at base camp ...The maiden flight went off without an issue. There was a couple occasions where the connection with the drones dropped due to interference, but it reconnected within a few seconds. ANd the footage looked amazing.

I wished that the weather was a bit better. It was an overcast morning and the sun was well hidden behind a wall of cloud. There was hardly any contrast in my snaps but the angle alone from which the photos were taken guaranteed a different perspective on my snaps. I kinda loved it! And the quality of the camera was much more than I expected!

I also realised than how important planning was for each flights, what route to take and when to get images or video. I still got plenty to learn plus I would need to sharpen up on my post-processing workflow as well. I needed some training for Final Cut Pro!

All in all, it was a great outing which made me dream for more .....

Chocolates!!!

We did not plan to shop while we were in Langkawi. All we had in mind was some time off and the beach. The hotel we stayed in was also well away from the main town. There were hardly any opportunity to shop there.

Luckily, the driver was kind enough to take us to some shops on our way back to the jetty. The boys got their wish - chocolates!

And the chocolates there were damn cheap! Much cheaper than I expected. No wonder people loved to shop in Langkawi. We could get anything else though as we don't have any more space to carry them.

So, a quick stop, grab what we could and that was about it .....

The Beach

Allegedly, Tanjung Rhu Resort owned the longest beach front in Langkawi. From end to end, it was 2.7 km, snaking around a small horn where the sea and freshwater meets.

The beach was shallow enough for small boats to reach the shores while the beach was safe enough with only gentle waves as the whole beach twisted around like a lagoon with a couple of islands in the middle. There were thread of jellyfish from time to time, but the beach was well observed and they have a special flag for that.

The sand were tended daily by the staffs and the beach front regularly cleaned. It was too hot for me to go into the sea however, plus the sunset pool next to the hotel was just too damn nice.

Another attraction was the seafront restaurant, and should you be more adventurous, you could book for a barbecue for two right on the beach tended by your personal chef for a romantic meal. We couldn't try that as the boys had to tag along! Party poopers!

I walked along the beach on the final morning, went past the spa, a small art shed straight towards a public beach - also owned by the hotel. You don't have to be a guest of the hotel to enjoy the pristine beach. There were also some shops and restaurants at the end there, with some space for car park.

Definitely worth a visit even if you do not stay at the resort as you can just park or dine at the restaurant to enjoy the sunset.

Denied!

It had been raining in the afternoon lately and I have not been able to fly the drone after work. I reached home early yesterday and check the internet on the weather.

Apparently the chance of rain in Putrajaya was less than 5%, but with a heavy cloud cover - of around 40%. Good enough I thought. So, I rushed 45 minutes away in the traffic in the hope of catching some subset at one of the landmark there.

Reached there in ample time. Got my parking space and the take off spot. All ready for the lift off. And guess what? I left the controller back home! Denied.

Without the controller, there woukd be no flying! Time to head home disappointed! At least there was no beautiful sunset as the cloud cover remained unlifted. Hopefully better luck tomorrow ... Lesson learned ...

The Sunset

The sunset was to die for. And on both afternoons, the weather was clear and the tide was low. This allowed us to walk along the sand beach to middle of the sea while the sun was low on the horizon.

Irfan soaking up the sunset

As an avid photographer, the golden light it produced was simply mesmerising. Definitely worth the trouble of taking the ferry here to Langkawi ....