Living in A Big City

In a big city like Jakarta want it or not you just fall and follow the lifestyle. During my last visit, I realised it is not cheap to live here (eventhough the income is very little). Lately a lot of people go and hangout in the "it" restaurant and cafe here. And since most of them also sell the ambience, the food doesn't come cheap eventhough they are not nice.

Out of curiosity, I went to some of these restaurant with my friends just to experience the place. And yes, they are not cheap..

Seggara
Located inside Taman Impian Jaya Ancol. This place is at the furthest end of the beach (after the Dutch cemetery). It faces the sea and from the seat outside you can see some factories near Ancol - so you better see carefully before you choose where you sit.

The food itself is good. I tried the calamari and pizza (I forgot which one) and they were nice. I don't know if I was too hungry but from my cousins comments, they were nice.

The view around sunset was nice though the sunset is not directly infront of you. The down part is only the mozzies. They will come out when it gets dark so make sure you bring your mosquito repellent when you o to this place.

Le' Bridge
Located in the same complex like Seggara, this restaurant is literally on the water. To reach the place you have to cross the bridge which is quite crowded in the evening.

I am not sure about the food since I didn't try it. I was just came across this place on my way to Seggara. Maybe next time I should try it.
* to go to both Segarra and Le' Bridge you have to pass Ancol entrance. This will cost you another Rp13,000 per person and Rp13,000 per car besides the food.

Cafe Batavia
Located in Kota Tua, North Jakarta. This cafe has "oldie" interior. Guess its location which is in the old city of Jakarta inspired the feel. Though has a western feeling, the food is a mixture of western and asian food (which I find a bit weird).

There were lots of Caucasian came to this place to have lunch or just to have a cup of tea.

For me the food wasn't so great. It is just OK. But the ambience was nice. There were lots of pictures on its wall and somehow you feel like you go back in time to the very old days of Batavia.

Social House (SoHo)
Located in Grand Indonesia shopping mall, inside Harvey Nicholls to be exact. This place is always packed after office hour since it is strategically located in Jakarta's CBD. You can see a lot of businessmen and women here. Tough the food wasn't so great (I have tasted better lasagna), its location made it a place to hang out ofter work with your colleague or just to meet your friends who work in the area.

* the pictures for SoHo was taken using my iphone since the place was too dark and I don't have external flash yet.

Bibliotheque
I guess this place is more of a bar or lounge than a restaurant. I went with my friends here during lunch but I can say even or lunch the place was great. The ambience, the food, the location was great. The food worth what you pay for and I bet the place must be nice at night. Too bad I didn't have a chance to visit during the night time.

This library like bar is located at the ground level of Sampoerna Strategic Square which is also a very unique and beautiful building. From outside the bar look like a normal bar but once you step inside the interior is very unique. A friend of mine said there even some people mistaken it as a real library.

Even the seats look like a real "Europe-kind" of library seat and yes they are heavy.

This is home

It is 8.34 in the morning

A New Look

I have been wondering how to change my blog for a while. Not a fan of all the text and the borders but too bad I am not good with all the HTML thing. So I figured what if I just change the header.

It is such a pain for me cause I used to work with photoshop and stuff and the next thing you know you can't really upload transparency (or can I? oh well I told you I am not good with website stuff).
So I have to find the smartest way so the header can be seen without overlapping with the blog title.

Anyway, here it goes. Not so amazing, but at least I feel a little bit better (somehow it looks like Canon and Crumpler ads together). Meanwhile, I will think of something else better.. Will change again one day ^^

Owl City - a lesson to learn

I went to Jurong Bird Park last weekend to shoot and long time ago a friend of mine told me if I happen to go there, the owl section was nice but it is very difficult to take picture since it is very dark. Thanks to my memory loss, I forget about it. Added with my laziness, I didn't bring my tripod along.

Indeed the place was very dark and it is very difficult to take picture. Even using 50mm F1.8, you need to use very slow shutter speed and very high ISO. It was such a shame that I didn't get a chance to take a nice picture there. I should have brought my tripod along and the owl didn't move much so I guess it is fine if I used very slow shutter but not so high ISO.

So next time, if you plan to shoot owl, please bring your tripod (they don't allow flash since they are very sensitive to light). And below it is not a good example of noise and focusing. Ah.. I wish I can go back and shoot again.. My bad.. But I learn my lesson.

Glass Talk Part II

I always have an impulse to buy a new lens but I am still not sure which one I really needed. I heard some friends recommend this and that but still.. I always feel confuse. I don't need them urgently so I will slowly take my time to decide.

One way to know if the lens is good enough is to rent them.

I went to this camera rental shop at South Bridge Road for the second time (few months ago I rent a 17-55mm F2.8 IS USM here) and this time helped my friend to rent a 70-200mm F4L IS USM for an event he will cover. Since he is a good friend of mine, I got a chance to borrow it and try it myself.

Another friend told me to try this lens in Jurong Bird Park or Singapore Zoo. Since I went to the zoo twice, I decided to go to birdpark and snap away..
I was very pleased with the shoot. Weather was very nice the whole day. Very colorful pictures. And the best part was the lens. It was very sharp and the focusing was fast. Even though I was frustrated at first since my lens is not as fast and it took a while for me to get use to the focusing part (I kept missing my subject) but I really enjoy using the lens. All the images above were taken using 70-200mm.

So the next time you want to try any lens. You can check it out at http://www.camerarental.biz/

*For PR or foreigner they require deposit. It varies for different lenses.

Join the Club

About a month ago I joined the iphone club. YES, I am an iphone user now and NO, I am not an iphone freak. I don't spend my time staring at the screen and playing with the phone everywhere I go. I just a normal iphone user. Yes, I will play with the application once in a while but not all the time.

Anyway, I just want to share the camera capability of this phone 3Gs. For 3 megapixel camera phone, the images turns out not too bad. I didn't notice at first but one of my friend told me it can create quite a nice depth of field. Hey.. which camera phone can have a nice depth of field. At first I didn't quite believe that until I tried it. It indeed has a nice depth of field and the image quality is good and sharp as well.
But well, a camera phone is just a camera phone... You just don't know when the image is very sharp or blurry.

ps: I still love my DSLR more ^^

A heavy workout ( I really mean heavy)

So yesterday after a year of absence, I decided that I have to go for my morning walk again. Walk?? Yes. I don't run, I walk. I just don't run, it is interesting to some people, but yes, I only walk. Running is just not my kind of sport.

OK I will try to run, but slowly. I just start to exercise again. Guess after a full month of eating those festive food, I finally realize I need to be healthier.Anyway I always find the place I went for a walk is nice but I don't have my camera that time (yes, always the same excuse). So today during my morning walk I decided to bring my camera. A bad decision I can say. So no more next time. Morning walk with camera only happens once, next time I will only enjoy the scenery. Since I am not a nature photographer. I find out of 200 images I took only a few can pass. Have to practice more I guess, but not during a morning walk.

Triple 1 and Triple 0 (01.01.10)

Wishing you all a Happy New Year 2010 ^^

Before the Clock Strikes 12 Times-

I skip the new year countdown for last year since it is always crowded, hot, hectic and the list goes on and on.. Another thing, I don't have any SLR. The best thing I had was my point and shoot Olympus camera which fails to the max when it comes to take night photographs.

So this year I have my SLR and have the urge to take photos of the new year countdown. Thinking I can bear with the crowd and my other million reason to avoid Esplanade, I went down with my camera. This time is to try my photo journalist kind of picture. I hope I don't failed miserably (I did failed on the noise side since I don't have external flash. oh well.. what can i do).





ps: my extra 2010 resolution, to buy an external flash..

This is the last time..

Yes, I have to admit it. The title was taken from Angels or Devils song by Dishwalla. One of my favorite song I can say and I the first five words suit this post.

Anyway, it is the new year again. So this is the last time to take picture in 2009. Below are some of my last pictures from 2009. Enjoy..

And I'm back

Finally. That's the only thing I can say.
After few months of events and lazing around I finally decided to go out and roaming around the city to take picture again and somehow all picture I took this time are buildings.

Have Youself a Merry Little Christmas

Just want to wish you all a Merry Christmas. Hope you have a blessed one ^^

ps: I wish for at least 50mm prime f/1.4 so I won't have a harsh blur. 50mm prime f/1.2L will be nice though ^^

Foodies not always means goodies

I always want to try food photography but I haven't got a chance to try it. It always amazed my how photographer can capture a really nice food image when it is actually err.. I can say not really nice to eat.

A lot of us were fooled by nice food photos but when we ordered the food and taste it, it's just OK, so so.. or even not nice at all. I guess the restaurants have to thank these photographers for their great skill to make the food looks interesting.

Anyway I still want to learn how to take food photo though I will fool people who thought the food looks nice ^^ Below are some of my food photo from my Christmas lunch and dinner. Did I fool you? umm.. I don't think so... Have to practice more..




ps: my friend said it is a torture to be a food photographer. Especially when you are hungry and the food smells so nice but you are not allowed to eat it

Goo goo gaga..

One of my good friend just gave birth to a baby boy. When she was still pregnant I told her I want to take picture of her pregnancy and the baby after he is born. Too bad I was too busy and every time I met her I didn't bring my camera along. I was too also too busy to go to her place and take picture of her, so yes.. I miss the pregnancy part.

Anyway. She told me she gave birth to a very healthy baby boy and I thought, "OK this time have to take picture. Can't miss this one since he is her first child and I never take picture of baby."

I have to admit, I love taking picture of baby. They have sooo much expression and it is quite a fun time taking picture of him. Though he is only 10 days old, he is very alert of the camera. Few times I realized he was staring at me and my camera for a while.

Anyway, here are some picture of him. A very adorable baby boy, Isaac.
Once again, congrats to Adrian and Sophia!! ^^