The Abandoned Classrooms

by Daniel Chiam

It's been one heck of a few busy days for me lately. Wake up early for setting up and taking care of districts level competition for primary and secondary schools. Its harder when you're a night owl whose always up late for God knows what reason. Anyway, I saw some old abandoned classrooms near the Banjar Primary School's hall where we were setting up our sound systems and lighting for the competition. So I took my camera and explore a bit.

Abandoned buildings are always great for photography. It always has that melodramatic, melancholic and nostalgic kind of feel when you put the photos in black and white. All photos were taken using the Nikon 50mm f1.8 Series E lens. Just to let you all know, I have another new vintage lens in my collection already! This new one was built sturdy like a tank! Will write about it once I have enough time for some test shots :D

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A Walk in the Woods with Lady D

by Daniel Chiam 

Today I brought Lady D for a walk in the woods to help me with my manual focus practice. I seldom use a manual lens before this and most of the time everything was on autofocus. Recently, I just got my Nikon 50mm f1.8 Series E lens and now I rarely switch it with an autofocus lens anymore. I fell madly in love with the vintage lens and I am determine to stick with vintage lens for as long as I possibly could. The downside for beginners like me, often we find it hard to get the right focus when using a manual lens. Especially the one with big aperture, which often made us desire for that bokeh shots. Go wide open all the way they say...

The truth is, the wider the opening the harder it is to get your subject in focus manually. Before this I always open my lens the widest possible, so that more lights can come in, faster shutter speed and less shaky hands effect. I even took most of my landscape photos that way, which was totally a major disaster. I later realized that with wider aperture, the less details you'll have in your photos and that is not something you want for a landscape photo, and I repented since.  Nowadays I'm very confident with my camera setting and the reason why I always chimping is because I'm worried with my focus. I find it very difficult to get the right focus with the manual lens but I'm too stubborn to give up perfecting it. 

Anyway, today's practice I learnt that you don't necessarily have to go wide open all the time to get that bokeh shots (depends on how much you want your subject to be in focus). I dialed down my aperture a bit and was really happy with all my shots. I need an average of 3 shots to get the right focus. Plus, it will be easier once you have fine tune you diopmeter, so that your eyes could correctly see how much of your subject are in focus and how much will it actually be in focus in the photo, once you have taken that shot. I'm quite happy with my practice results today and the fact that all of it only required effortless post-processing, I can't wait to see if the same can be achieve with live model. 

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Luanti Fish Spa, Ranau | My Sabah Road Trip

by Daniel Chiam 

I'm not really sure if Luanti Fish Spa is the official name for this place but that's how some of the people I met address it. The name of the river is Sungai Moroli, located in Kampung Luanti Baru, Ranau. Winner of the Malaysia River Care Award back in 2006 and you can obviously see why. The water is clearer than crystal clear and the place are populated by hundreds of fishes (if not thousand!). Why do they call it a fish spa? cause you'll be attack massage by the fishes once you put your feet into the water. Personally I find it very ticklish at first, then some of the fish just bite the dead skin of your feet! Ouch a bit... but mostly ticklish, hehe. Oh, did I mentioned that some of the fishes are huge!

To get in the place, you'll need to pay a small amount of fee to get in, and you'll need to choose whether you want to just dip your legs in or the whole body into the river for the fish massage. You'll also be getting some fish food and you'll only be spending around 15 minute in the water. After that, you'll have to leave the water in order to avoid the fishes from over work. Haha, you'll have to leave or else the place will be congested with people getting too excited to not want to leave the fishes alone. The Luanti fish spa sure is one of the fun stop in Ranau that you'll enjoy.   

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My other stop:

Batu Punggul, Nabawan

Mahua Waterfall, Tambunan
Sabah Tea Plantation, Ranau

Sabah Tea Plantation, Ranau | My Sabah Road Trip

by Daniel Chiam 

The long house

Our camp just right behind that purple flower

Bokeh

White Lotus

Big tree

I've been here before and honestly I don't really feel like coming back here for any kind of touristy visit, but since we were already off schedule for our visit to the Luanti Fish Spa, I decided to drop by and see if we could find a place stay overnight at the Sabah Tea Plantation, which located next to the Luanti Fish Spa. If you have been to Cameron Highlands tea plantation, then you'll be a bit disappointed with what Sabah Tea Plantation has to offer. Not a lot of great scenery of the tea plantation but it does offer a cheap price for you to camp there. For only RM10 per person, you'll have electricity, clean toilet and hot shower! They even have a small cafe there where you can enjoy the Sabah's tea.

Budget traveler like me just wanted a safe place to rest for the night. The rest of the facilities was really just a bonus and I can't resist a hot shower after a tiring day. All in all, I wouldn't say Sabah Tea Plantation is a must visit place if you're visiting Sabah, but if you are looking for a cheap place to camp for a night, facilities to recharge your electrical gears and to refresh yourself, then you can always swing by to Sabah Tea Plantation for the night.

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My other stop:

Batu Punggul, Nabawan

Mahua Waterfall, Tambunan
Luanti Fish Spa, Ranau

The Hungry Ghost Festival

by Daniel Chiam 

It turned out green in the photo *spooky*

The angels that's looking after for one of the grave there

Some of the burn offering

Path of lights

The spectators

The last thing that I remembered about The Hungry Ghost Festival was that it was used to be a big celebration here in Keningau. They will have big joysticks with figure of dragon wrapped around it and placed around the town's football field. A lot of burn offering in all shapes and sizes, and I remember I used to go around and pickup those money and thought it was a Chinese version of monopoly currency when I was little. Later only I found out that it was actually hell's money for the dead. They'll setup a big stage for performances. It was like an open concert where you get to listen to all the Chinese oldies, and it was just too happening to have a certain spooky feeling that it was actually a festival for the dead.

I can't remember when did the festival stopped being organized in a large scale, and nowadays, every Chinese temples or Chinese association are organizing their own small festival for the dead. I attended one yesterday for work purposes, and it was held in a cemetery. It was my first time being in a cemetery at night, and I realized there was nothing scary about it. I don't really know much about my Chinese side of the heritage and cultures, and it's always great to know something about it as I go along. After the festival has ended, I realized that even the festival for the dead is a ritual for the living to be bless with great prosperity too. 

If you are hoping for a ghost story, then I don't have one for you right here. Sorry.

   

Monochrome Skull Face

Photographed by Daniel Chiam
Makeup: Farah Paul and Bulma
Talent: Farah Paul and Daniel James

This was kind of an impromptu shoot for me, and I guess this is what happened when a girl saw something on the internet and decided to give it a try. Honestly, I really like this monochrome theme, and since this was Farah and Bulma's first trial with the makeup, I can't wait to see what they can come up with next. 

Anyway, I realized later I've used too large an aperture (f1.8) for some of my shots and I didn't managed to get everything in focus for those photos. Come to think of it, using a smaller aperture shouldn't be a problem since I was using flashes the whole time (was trying out my new Yongnuo YN560 III). That's the reason why I hope these girls would give it another try again soon. So I can redeem myself, haha.

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Introducing Jimmy Bo | My Minimalist Friend

by Daniel Chiam

Jimmy Bo 400 from Crumpler

Jimmy Bo 400 is a photo bag from Crumpler and it got to me just in time today. I do have to be honest that my first impression of the bag was that it was too cute and too small to fit in a DSLR with extra lens and some gears (like a speelight), but after trying it out and using my Tetris knowledge that I've earned during my childhood, turns out Jimmy Bo does come in handy as a on-the-go camera bag when you decided to hit the street for some freestyle.

The turtle shell shape

Did I mentioned the bag looks cute? Yeah, my friends sort of affirmed that statement. Shaped like a turtle shell, in the size of fun, Jimmy Bo sure feels nice to have around. I really like how you can attached it to your waist or carry it around across your shoulder when you feel like it. I personally prefer to attached it around my waist. Easy and quick access to my camera and I don't have to worry about the bag slipped off my shoulder or dangling in front of me when I lean forward to take some shots.

Don't let Jimmy's size fools you. I managed to fit in a Nikon D90 (without battery grip) with a 50mm lens + Yongnuo 560 III Speedlight (without the diffuser on) + 18-105mm lens. When I switched and attached the camera with the 18-105mm lens, the remaining space can only fit the 50mm lens and I had to remove the speedlight. The bag also have a few compartment where you can put your extra sd cards, business cards, batteries and any small accessories for that matter.

It can fit 18-105mm lens, Speedlight and D90 with 50mm lens attached

The inside of Jimmy Bo

The material for the outer front layer of the bag is waterproof. While the outer back layer of it does absorb water, and the water test proved that Jimmy Bo is vulnerable from behind. The inside feels wet after the water test =/ The fabric on the main compartment where you'll put your camera can actually stick to a velcro for you to make your own divider so that your gears and camera won't rub on with each other.

Outer back layer

All in all, I still adore this small dude. Of course it's not an ideal bag for travelling but it sure does the job when you feel like going out for some street photography or for job that doesn't require you to bring too much lenses and gears. It was made for going light, its comfortable to bring around, and it looks cooler than normal photo bag.

I got the bag from Fiq Bagshopz over FB, and the person was kind enough to give me a discount (thank you!) because I did mentioned to him that it was for my birthday gift and it arrived exactly on my birthday too! So yeah, happy birthday to myself and happy 6th anniversary to room8five.com. Now I can go around with a cool bag attached around my waist and that's Jimmy Bo 400 from Crumpler.

Mahua Waterfall, Tambunan | My Sabah Road Trip

by Daniel Chiam

Water buffalo and its calf

Bad hair day?

Offered to take photo for a bunch of friends who was on vacation

Sign of visitors

Mahua Waterfall, Tambunan

Mahua waterfall located not far from the town of Tambunan. It will take less than 30 minutes car ride to get to the place, and I've been here long time ago with my school mates and teachers. Back then the road was still gravel and it took us more than an hour ride just to reached the place because of the road's horrible condition. Well, that was the past and today, even with an ordinary sedan car, you'll have no problem reaching the place.

If you ever feel like getting away from the hustle and bustle of your busy life, or just a short weekend gateway with your family/friends, this 17 meter high waterfall just might be the right choice. You can even forget about internet reception here, as it always comes and goes, and mostly its just not there. So posting your selfie here would just have to wait until later. Aside from just the waterfall, you can actually go for jungle trekking here, but you'll need to hire a guide for that.

You can even plan to stay overnight here as they also provide accommodation and food. Most importantly they have clean toilet! I've asked before and it is okay to bring your own tent and camp there for FREE. Not sure if they will start charging if many people are starting to do the same, but as for now, this place was absolutely a budget gateway for a budget traveler like me.

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My other stop:
Batu Punggul, Sapulut, Nabawan
Sabah Tea Plantation, Ranau
Luanti Fish Spa, Ranau

Batu Punggul, Sapulut, Nabawan | My Sabah Road Trip

by Daniel Chiam

Under the bridge

Under the stars

The limestone, Batu Punggul

On top of Batu Punggul

The tajau shaped limestone

The folklore has it that Batu Punggul was once a Rumah Panjang (long house) belong to one of the Murut tribe in Sapulut. The tribe and their long house was cursed and was turned to limestone for making fun of a leech by making it drink the rice wine and getting it drunk. They were laughing and humiliating the leech and thus it offended the spirit or guardian of the forest. 

On your way to the top of Batu Punggul, you will come across a cave which believed to be the entrance to the long house, and in it you will see a huge tajau (traditional jar) shaped limestone which believed to be one of the remaining of the long house. 

I would also like to thank Mr. Lantir and his whole family from Kampung Tataluan for the hospitality and for taking good care of us when we were there. Thank you for the shelter and for the freshly caught wild board for dinner! We really had an awesome time there.

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My other stop:

Mahua Waterfall, Tambunan

Sabah Tea Plantation, Ranau

Luanti Fish Spa, Ranau