New Camera

Thanks to the generosity of Super F, I was able to get myself a Fujifilm S6500FD for a fraction of the price. It isn't a full-fledged DSLR but so far after using it over the weekend, I can see a big improvement in the photos I took in terms of colors, depth and sharpness. It takes pretty good night photos too, I haven't been too reliant on the flash and have been able to depict "real" colors rather than too-bright faces at night.

I also found an free online photo-editing tool called, Picnik. If you have the time and patience to wait for the upload and download from your PC, its cool to create effects like changing your photos into Vignette, Cinemascope, Lomo, Holga-ish or spot color. I did discover though that its faster to get photos for editing from a photo site like Flickr or Facebook rather than uploading from the PC.

Check out my newfound artistry:

Sultan Abdul Samad building near Merdeka Square


Cooling off at the KLCC park pool


Petronas Towers view from Menara KL

Travel Planning - Europe edition

As the take-off date for my short European jaunt gets closer, I can't help but get excited. I thought so hard and long about this (and for such a short trip -- 3 weeks) that now, just 16 days away, I feel I'm already prepared. For someone who usually packs for a trip the night before its pretty unbelievable!

I've mentioned it before, I just love travel planning. Its convenient to hand everything over to a travel agent especially if you can afford the best. But I can't so its lucky for me that I find it more fun to see what other options are out there and put together my travel package on my own terms.

The internet also makes things so easy! Here are the sites I pore over to help me out:

• Air Ninja - lets you find a discount airline for your destination or comparison check between regular airlines as it also links to Expedia, Orbitz, and Travelocity.
• Octopus Travel, Venere.com, Trav.com and Hotels.com all help book the best deals on hotels.
  
• Trip Advisor - Lets you check location and hotel reviews and sometimes links you to rates. Its invaluable because it lets you filter hotels based on your travel style (singles, honeymooners, seniors) and also your budget.
• Lonely Planet and Contiki also helped me choose my getaway places, like Italy for my detour between Norway and Greece, and Santorini for my Greek Island escapade because it lists the interesting sights and activities.

Anyway I was able to use Trip Advisor to help me decide on my free-day-in-Rome hotel, the Della Torre Argentina for only Euro 60 a night (a bargain for a hotel in the city center) , as well as my little Santorini hideaway, Hotel Antonia in the heart of Fira for only 33 euros a night!

With my new pseudo-DSLR camera courtesy of Super F arriving this week and my Schengen visa freshly approved as of today, I'm really all set to go!