My Encounter with Panasonic Lumix LX3.

My camera Olympus E620,has served me well all these years.Been to many places even went for jungle trekking with me and many,many photos for Kuching Daily Photo.The photos taken by this camera has probably showed more than thousand time to readers and publish as photo of the day.
Since I'm getting older and DSLR is just that bulky to go with me every where I go so I decided to get a new camera.Looked around for camera review,Panasonic LUMIX LX3 is always the recomended one.(once out of stock in Japan market due demand from Japanese photographers).Actually I'm happy with my current camera,but..I just feel like having campact camera to go with me where ever I go.That's my reason.

After much thought I decided to buy this camera throught online and I'm looking for used LUMIX LX3..and offer the best price less then RM1000...market price (NEW) to-day is Rm1700.
After rounds of comparison,the most suitable camera for me is still undoubtedly Panasonic LUMIX LX3.
My Olympus E620 & lenses is still with me nicely in my DIY dry airtight container.

The following images were taken with the Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX3. Unless otherwise stated, the LX3 was set to Program mode with Auto White Balance and its Standard Film mode. Optical Image Stabilisation was enabled for all these handheld images. Photo by Awang.

A Malay Wedding in the Kampung(Village).

When was the last time you attended a Malay kenduri kahwin (wedding) in the rural area of a Kampung? During Gawai day holiday I was in Pekan Lingga  to attend a  wedding and today I would like to share with my blog viewer/readers what goes on in a typical kampung wedding.

Pekan Lingga is located at the outskirts of Batang Lupar, and is famous for its Longtail shad or locally known as Terubuk, the talk of most outsiders. Here, the fish is sold between RM30 to RM 40 a kilogramme.

The journey to pekan Lingga over two hours from Bandar Sri Aman by land. Throughout the journey, travellers would experience  bumpy ride due to poor road condition.

In Pekan Lingga the majority are the Ibans, and the Malays comprise of 30% of the population, Chinese comprises of 7% of the population while other races makes up the remaining 3%.(Throughout the journey, travellers would be able to take in the breathtaking view of modern Iban long house).

Majority of the people living in this small district of Lingga make farming as part of their living. It is their main source of income. 53% of the people here are involved in paddy plantation while 37 % plant chillies. Another 10% are fishermen.A small minority of them plant vegetables and fruits, open small mini markets, sell rubber and others. There are some who work in the private sector in the towns nearby. Some of them also work with the government either in or out of Lingga.

 The road to the village from pekan lingga is good and wide enough to allow one car to move in one direction
If another car is coming in from the opposite direction, one car will eventually have to give way by gingerly pulling to the side of the narrow road to let the other vehicle through.

We were finally approaching the wedding venue.

Once we had arrived, we were greeted by villagers community clad in colorful Malay attires, as were we. Malays really love bright colors for their formal clothing. Weddings that take place in the kampung are extremely communal affairs; chances are if you're a friend of the groom or bride's parents, you will help the family by participating in the wedding operations or in the city we call it wedding planner.

For example, you might be heavily involved with cooking the food to be served to the wedding guests.
A delightful traditional Malay wedding involve nearly everyone in the kampung (village) and is more elaborate.

And of course, if you're expecting three villages of guests to attend your wedding, you have to have a team of dishwashers, ready to take up the task of plate cleaning with speed and efficiency! Here they all are, ready and poised for action.

 

What's even more interesting is the berjoget (the Malay triditional dance) What indeed is a wedding without music! (karaoke)..It's fun anyway, at this Malay kampung wedding.

Before the Majlis Bersanding they had the 'Majlis Khatam Alquran',  read verses of the Holy Quran signifying that they had completed all the Chapters of the AlQuran. This was led by the Village's Ladies Group who also recites the Marhaban the Verses of Arabic Chorus praising god and the prophet.But in the "good old days" (that’s what my grandmother used to say) a delightful traditional Malay wedding involves nearly everyone in the kampung and is more elaborate.For the Malays,there are certain preliminaries or events which must happen before the wedding for example you can hear the melodies beat of the kompang before the wedding couple can sit regally on the special made Malay wedding dais (Pelamin).

 

I was told that all the villagers  were expected to turn up for the wedding! Therefore a lot of food had to be prepared. 

   The guests are enjoying the local rice and the greatest kampong recipes.

In the kampungs, it's common to see people eat with their hands, and certainly it saves dishwashers time as there are less things to wash! I personally hate washing spoons and forks after I eat.

 

As you're eating, you'll be presented with a small token of appreciation from the host, usually in the form of a boiled egg wrapped in colorful decorations usually called bunga telor.........

 

Villagers are more conservative and therefore proceed to sit in segregated areas separated by sexes. Here you see the ladies and children chomping away in their self-designated territory. The men were located on the other side of the turf.

 

All this talk about small Malay village wedding  and we have yet to see Raja Sehari ("king of the day")!.Congratulations !!! to newly wedding couple.Now, the groom is dressed in a fancy yellow baju Melayu with a sampin wrapped around his waist. Tucked in his sampin is a commonly used wedding accessory, a  keris (Malay dagger, you know, to make him look all macho). The headgear on groom head is tengkolok which is commonly worn by Malay sultans even today especially for formal ceremonies.The Bride also wearing beautiful yellow look alike dress worn by the Malay Princes.......

I can  see that, all the villagers  will come together and assist the family to make the whole ceremony a success and enjoyable even though the kampong house have limited  space  but  the cooperation and harmonious of the villagers, how small or big the kenduri kahwin is going to be makes no difference at all. What matters most is everyone comes together to witness the ceremony of the wedding and the beautifully designed Malay wedding dais (Pelamin).Attending this wedding has made me better appreciate and value my Malay roots, so I'm really glad I decided to leave the hustle and bustle of city life for a few days.

Prince William Divorces Kate Middleton

Prince William Divorces Kate Middleton

You should keep in mind that there is no confirmation of any critic of the royal family and suck all the source close. After an investment of more than 22.7 people watched the wedding of Kate Middleton and Prince William announced last month, Prince William, on Tuesday that he and Middleton were divorced and the marriage was just “a huge mistake every way possible. “Nobody is interested in this research because it is impossible to say if possible, and in this way not only a source that Prince William to Kate Middleton divorce. Daily Mail confirmed that yesterday, newly married royal couple Kate Middleton and Prince William have no marriage contract that would protect their assets in a divorce is signed, although believed to be Prince William to do so.

 Source from:       wwissues365.com

 

Walk down the old alley in Sibu Town.

Walking down the street of Sibu feeling like one of the town’s folks.Why Sibu? It’s not really a tourism destination, not really the kind of place you would choose to go on vacation. If you ask me, I would say if given enough time and money, I would definitely pay my visit to every town in Malaysia that include Sibu my home town of 60's ,70's and 80's

 

Walk down the old alley in Sibu Town,,if safety is your concern don't do this at night.After walking for few hours with some interesting back alleys's to look into I found out that Sibu Town have many interesting shop or street vendor along back alley's of every street.

 

Making Barely RM10 a Day as a Trishaw Rider..

He almost lives hand to mouth, making barely RM10 a day as a trishaw rider in Sibu Town.While pushing his old age trishaw near to Sibu Town express boat jetty  and waiting for customers.He told me that he got an average of three customer a day and on bad days I have no passengers at all.
'Most of my customers are Senior Citizens who use my service to go home after buying daily necessities at the wet market', he added each journey was less than 3km so the fare was just a little.He reckoned that,at his age,he would not be able to handle a longer trip even if the customers wanted it.
He start work at 07:30am everyday and finish when there are no more passengers.He usually park in Channel Road,wet market and express boat jetty to wait for business.
He belived that trishaws would disappear from Sibu street soon,when he and the other rider retired,as they were all advancing in age.

Gawai Dayak celebration-BALIK KAMPUNG CROWD.

Heading home for Dayak Festival or Hari Gawai  @ Sibu express boat jetty.
Riverine transport services here have gone into overdrive to cope with the  heading home rush for Dayak Festival.

It has become a tradition of sorts for them to head home to celebrate the grand occasion with their families only at the last minute.

For folk heading home for the celebration in the upper reaches of the Rajang River, riverine transport remains the sole option to reach their destinations.

The scene at the express-boat wharf is a colourful one at the end of May as Gawai Dayak revellers crowd the place to catch boats home to Kapit and Song .
Sadly, this scenario will be another chapter in the history of Sibu when the road is completed as people will be able to travel by road, which is faster and easier.

With barely days to Gawai Dayak, chicken vendors are doing good business.Their round-the-clock business  will wrap up on May 31 when the Dayak community would have returned to their longhouses.

For a start, what is "Gawai Dayak" all about? In a simple word, it is a festival marking the end of a harvest season.

As with other festivals, "Gawai" has its own special characteristics and significances especially for the Dayak community of Sarawak.

Gawai marks the beginning of the New Year with the ending of the harvesting season and the upcoming activities connected with preparation for the new harvest season.

The festival is an occasion to rest after the strenuous work carried out over the past year and consists of both religious and social elements.

It is also an ideal occasion for the various Dayak races in Sarawak to display their rich heritage of traditions and customs and offers an excellent opportunity for people of other races to learn more of the customs and traditions of Dayaks of Sarawak.

Gawai is an occasion for the community to give its thanks to God for providing them with their daily needs over the past year and to pray for future blessings and religious guidance for the year ahead.

As a festival which is participated in by all sectors of the community, Gawai plays a role in strengthening the inter-communal relations of the people of Sarawak.

Various differences in the way Gawai Dayak is celebrated can be observed among the different Dayak races while difference can also be observed from one area to another. In the uran areas, the method by which Gawai Dayak is observed is different from the method in the interior regions where there is greater adherence to traditional forms of celebrating Gawai Dayak.

In both cases, the basic idea behind the Gawai festival is maintained - that of merry making and thanksgiving to God. 

I wish ALL by Dayak/Iban friends...."HAPPY DAYAK FESTIVAL" (Hari Gawai/Sarawak).

Photo by Awang using P&S (Lumix LX3).

MASwings To Fly To Brunei, Pontianak Indonesia.

MASwings, which currently operates within Sabah and Sarawak, is expected to commence flights to Brunei and Pontianak, Indonesia, soon.
Its managing director, Datuk Capt Mohd Nawawi Awang, said MASwings had already submitted the proposal to the Transport Ministry for approval.
"Based on the positive response from the ministry, I'm quite confident that the flights from Kota Kinabalu to Brunei and from Kuching to Pontianak (West Kalimantan) will take off on July 1 or in July," he said during a luncheon with the media here today.
He said if these flights were successful, MASwings planned to introduce flights from Kota Kinabalu to Tawau and Tarakan (East Kalimanan) and also from Kuching to Mulu and Brunei in October.
"Plans are also in the pipeline for other destinations within BIMP-EAGA region and we hope to provide flight services from Sabah and Sarawak to major cities such as Palawan and Mindanao in Southern Philippines as well as Manado in Sulawesi, Indonesia, in the future," he said.
BIMP-EAGA stands for Brunei-Indonesia-Malaysia-Philippines East ASEAN Growth Area (BIMP-EAGA), a subregional economic cooperation initiative in Southeast Asia.
Mohd Nawawi said MASwings was aware of the need to improve air connectivity within this region as it was constantly discussed among leaders of the BIMP-EAGA member countries at meetings of the grouping.
Apart from that, he said MASwings would also explore the possibility of embarking on international flights from Sabah and Sarawak with immediate focus being on the Kota Kinabalu-Kuala Lumpur and Kuching-Kuala Lumpur sectors.
"These are some of our future plans and we hope we will be able to make it a reality," he said.On its domestic service, Mohd Nawawi said MASwings would continue its service to rural destinations for the benefit of the people in Sabah and Sarawak.
"We want MASwings to be the icon for Sabah and Sarawak.

Source from BERNAMA