Last Saturday evening, I was invited by my dear friend Jaya to watch the Fish Lantern Parade happening at Little Ghost Lane (or locally known as Kwai Chai Hong). My friend Kieon Long visiting from Kuching also joined us. I was not planning to shoot the parade in the first place, I was out and about and was doing other things. Since I have never seen a Fish Lantern Parade before, and it did look quite interesting, I decided to put the camera to work. I had the Nikon Z5 with me and I was in the midst of testing another lens, but I brought the versatile Nikon 40mm F2 lens with me, so used the 40mm F2 for the entire shoot. I did wish that the parade started a little later when the sky got a little darker. In some shots, the bright sky was fighting with the glow from the lanterns, and I think the lanterns would have shined brighter as the sun set further. 

Last Sunday afternoon, I attended a private launch event for yet another exhibition by dear friend Azul Adnan in Kuala Lumpur. This time the location was at a cafe in Cheras, Erni & Tina. This exhibition showcased some of Azul's past work, all compiled in one place, while the patrons can enjoy coffee, tea and treats while viewing the images exhibited on the cafe walls. Since I was away for 2 weeks for Chinese New Year holidays, and just got back to KL in time for this event, my fingers were unbearably itchy and I worked my Nikon Z5, capturing some shots from the event. I am sharing these images here, taken with various lenses - Viltrox 20mm F2.8, Nikon 40mm F2 and TTArtisan 75mm F2. Azul's exhibition at Erni & Tina will continue to run until end of March 2025!

I was away from Kuala Lumpur, and was back in my hometown Kuching, Borneo for more than 2 weeks recently. I went home for the Chinese New Year celebrations with my family. Every time I went home to Kuching, I would embark on my Kolo Mee journey. Those who follow me on my personal Facebook account would know that I post photographs of Kolo Mee every single day I was home without fail. Of course I took some images of them with my camera and I shared them here. 

According to Wikipedia, Kolo Mee is Sarawakian dish of dry noodles tossed in a savoury pork (or chicken, duck for Halal version) and shallot mixture, topped off with fragrant fried onions originated from the state of Sarawak, characteristically light and tossed in a transparent sauce.
The last tine I tried the Panasonic 20mm F1.7 was more than 10 years ago, and it did not leave a good impression on me. From my memory with limited experience shooting with the lens, the AF was the slowest among all Micro Four Thirds lenses and there was something unnatural and not pleasing about the image rendering from the lens. Therefore I never bothered to look at the lens at all. I must admit the Panasonic 20mm F1.7 is a favorite lens among the Micro Four Thirds community, especially the street shooters and I thought it would be a great time to revisit the lens. I found one in the used market recently and I did some shutter therapy with my beloved Panasonic GM1. You can see my video I have made on the same topic here (click). 

I purchased the Fuji XF10 in 2020 because I found one at a very good price, and I was curious about a "Ricoh GR III alternative". I did shoot with the camera for a year or two and gave it to a friend, because I no longer used it as often as other cameras that I have. Fast forward to 2025, I thought it would be a great time to revisit this camera, so I borrowed it (took it back for a while) from that said friend, and did some shutter therapy with it recently. I think Fujifilm should definitely bring the XF10 back! There is clearly a huge demand for compact, advanced cameras with larger sensor and designed for street photography - an updated XF10 with much improved AF, weather-sealing, built in image stabilization and tiltable-LCD screen would have been a huge hit! I talked about this in my latest video here (click). 

My friends Azul Adnan and Grace Ho have just launched a new photobook titled "Under The Shadows Of Merdeka". This was a one year long project in collaboration with PNB Merdeka Ventures and Think City, documenting the scenes, surrounding activities, people and happenings around the areas surrounding the Merdeka 118 building (currently standing at the second tallest in the world). I am so happy to see the project finally coming to fruition, and the book is now published and available for sale! I attended the book launch event last Sunday afternoon at Riwayat (book store) and of course, being myself my hands got terribly itchy and I clicked the shutter button away, covering the event. Both Azul and Grace were there sharing their experience and adventures not just about the photography process but also the journey of making the photobook happen.  I am so incredibly proud of both Azul and Grace, a hearty congratulations to both of you! 

The book "Under The Shadows Of Merdeka" is currently on sale at Riwayat book store. More places available soon, and you can check both Azul and Grace's socials for updates, or contact them directly. Below are the images shot during the book launch event by myself, unless otherwise stated. 

In all the midst of chaos and crazy packed schedule, I managed to squeeze in some time to do a quick review for the Viltrox 35mm F1.7. Viltrox sent me the lens but I made sure I have full control on what I have to say here as well as on my video published on YouTube (here). I managed to test the lens on a Nikon Z50 II which was loaned from Futuromic Malaysia (official distributor for Nikon in Malaysia) and I brought this combo out for some shutter therapy sessions. In my quick test, I was very impressed with the Viltrox 35mm F1.7 - it is so compact and light, it produces excellent sharpness and bokeh, it manages lens flaws very well (no distortion, minimal flare and chromatic aberration) and the autofocus on Z50 II worked wonderfully. There really is nothing much to complain about the lens, considering the budget price tag! If you are in the market for a 50mm-ish equivalent prime lens for a Nikon Z APS-C camera, I'd say this Viltrox 35mm F1.7 should sit at the very top of your consideration list!