Some key features:

• This park is a home to more than 50 species of animals from various continents. Oh, the park also maintains Bengal Tiger (the white one) which, as far as I know, is an endangered species.
• Visitors can enjoy the safari in guided cars or bus.
• This park has Baby Zoo where you can interact with cubs of wild animals. Its latest attraction is swimming with Crocodile. Yudieth intended to go there but I immediately dismissed that idea .
• This park also runs night safari, guest houses, and jungle lodges.
• Educational shows.
• In-situ and Ex-situ conservations.

In my opinion, the animals are seemed in good condition. The facilities are well maintained and the food stalls are clean. Almost forgot to mention that the air is very good.

The entrance fee is reasonable; IDR 10k (ca USD 1.5) per a vehicle and IDR 65-100k (ca USD 6-12) per person. Food price is higher but it is still reasonable considering this is a recreational facility.

Their website is kinda lame and it doesn’t offer valuable information. But don’t judge this part by its website. This park is really a good place to go, especially if you like good air, trees, and animals.

We brought the tripod and took the pictures of ourselves hehe…yeah, we’re the banci foto . I think this place has many good photo spots.

Below are some cool animal pictures, taken by me and Yudieth.

Canon 24-105 F4L

Canon 24-105L (courtesy JPC Kemang)

I used to own a Canon 28-135mm and was satisfied with the result. It met my requirements. But few weeks ago my friend let me to use his Canon 24-70 F2.8L for an extended time and I immediately fell in love with L series due to its image and build quality. However, I was not satisfied with other attributes of Canon 24-70L; its weight, size, focal length and price.

I like portrait and travel photography, so I want a light, versatile, and longer focal length lens. 24-70 is a damn fine lens, but it is heavy (carrying it all day long is a nightmare) and the maximum focal range is 70mm, which does not fit my requirement. For portrait, I’d prefer to shoot around 50-100mm on crop camera and I also find that 50-100mm usually fits my travel photography needs.

24-70 is better in creating bokeh and it performs better under low light than 24-105 due to its wider aperture (F2.8) but I can create almost equal bokeh performance using 24-105 at 70-105mm focal range, so bokeh is not big concern for me.

Low light? Yes, 24-70 is better than 24-105 (F2.8 brings two times light than F4), but I’d prefer fixed lens for low light condition.  And in my case, I rarely shoot motions in low light condition so I’d prefer to have IS rather than wide aperture.

Image quality? Both lenses arguably deliver same image quality. I don’t see any material differences from both lenses.

Build quality? Both lenses bear the mark of L grade lens; excellent build and weather sealed.

Price? 24-105 is about 15% cheaper than 24-70.

The diameter is 77mm, so it makes filter sharing among Canon’s top lenses are easy (24-70; 17-40; 24-105; and 70-200)

So in overall, 24-105 is a sensible choice for me. Now I’ve been using this lens for around a month and I am completely happy with my decision. I think this lens really worth the investment.

Manfrotto 7302YB

Courtesy of JPC Kemang

I thought a Tripod would be a good addition to me. It would help in low light photography, getting tack sharp photo, landscape, and photos which include myself . 

These were my key considerations:

• Weight.  I am not looking for stable but heavy tripod. What’s the point of having a heavy tripod but often left at home? I am looking for a compact and considerable light tripod.
• Build quality. I believe tripod is almost like a one time purchase so I am looking for a good build quality tripod.
• Budget. My budget was USD 300. I am not willing to spend a fortune just for a tripod because in my opinion, the key hardware contributor to good images is good glass, not good tripod. And afterall, I won’t carry tripod everywhere I go.

A Gitzo will perfectly fit my first and second requirement but it is way off my budget. So I was looking to Manfrotto, Slik, or Velbon. I didn’t find any other brands which fit my requirement.

Slik was considerably cheap and it has good build quality. But unfortunately most of its models are bulky and heavy (its carbon fibre models are off my budget). Velbon was a tempting option before I stumbled upon a Manfrotto 7302YB. It seemed that this Manfrotto meet all my requirements and it is far below my budget .

Later I bought this Manfrotto and now I am completely happy with that. It is not heavy (only 1.4kg), compact, has build-in ballhead (yeah, a ballhead! not a pan-head), and it can carry upto 3.5kg.

It is made from Aluminium, so I am not worried if it falls (I heard Carbon Fibre is easy to break). Its build-in ballhead is irreplaceable but I am completely okay because it can carry up to 3.5kg and yet offers so much movement flexibility. My current setup (EOS 500D and 24-105L) is about 1.5kg and it works perfectly on the tripod. I also read that a setup of Canon 5D2 and 70-200L would work on the tripod although it would need babysitting. Anyway, if I can afford 5D2 plus 70-200, I will upgrade to a Gitzo tripod .

Its ballhead works fine and the tripod design offers flexibility. I am 175cm and the height of tripod is fine.  The height is around 165-170 cm when the center column raised (if I’m not mistaken) but I will less likely to raise center column due to stability reason.

But the best of all, I can get it with USD 170. Nothing beat this at this price!

Chinese New Year, Lunar New Year, or Spring Festival is the most important of the traditional Chinese holidays. It is commonly called “Lunar New Year”, because it is based on the lunisolar Chinese calendar. The festival traditionally begins on the first day of the first month (Chinese: 正月; pinyin: zhēng yuè) in the Chinese calendar and ends on the 15th; this day is called Lantern Festival. Chinese New Year’s Eve is known as chú xī. It literally means “Year-pass Eve”.

Chinese New Year is celebrated in countries and territories with significant Han Chinese populations (Chinatowns), such as Mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, Singapore, Taiwan, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Thailand. Chinese New Year is considered a major holiday for the Chinese and has had influence on the new year celebrations of its geographic neighbors, as well as cultures with whom the Chinese have had extensive interaction. These include Koreans (Seollal), Tibetans and Bhutanese (Losar), Mongolians (Tsagaan Sar), Vietnamese (Tết), and the Japanese before 1873 (Oshogatsu).

On the days before the New Year celebration Chinese families give their home a thorough cleaning. It is believed the cleaning sweeps away the bad luck of the preceding year and makes their homes ready for good luck. Brooms and dust pans are put away on the first day so that luck cannot be swept away. Some people give their homes, doors and window-frames a new coat of red paint. Homes are often decorated with paper cutouts of Chinese auspicious phrases and couplets. Purchasing new clothing, shoes, and receiving a hair-cut also symbolize a fresh start.

In many households where Buddhism or Taoism is prevalent, home altars and statues are cleaned thoroughly, and altars that were adorned with decorations from the previous year are also taken down and burned a week before the new year starts, and replaced with new decorations.

The biggest event of any Chinese New Year’s Eve is the dinner every family will have. A dish consisting of fish will appear on the tables of Chinese families. It is for display for the New Year’s Eve dinner. This meal is comparable to Christmas dinner in the West. After the dinner, some families go to local temples, hours before the new year begins to pray for a prosperous new year by lighting the first incense of the year.

(Wikipedia)

Last saturday, I went with other bloggers (Toni, Parvita, Juinita) to Hok Tek Tjengsin Temple. It is located near Standard Chartered Building. The temple was not too crowded, so it was a good place to take pictures. However, when the night falls, they turned on neon lights which disrupt the photo mood. Nevertheless, in overall we’re satisfied with the results and yeah, the Barongsai was great! Too bad none of us has the Canon 5D or 1D to perfectly capture the Night Barongsai Show. Oh by the way, I think Yudieth is a talented photographer. She took some of the pictures here. I should start considering to buy a new camera body from now on

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Last week we run a photo event in our office. It was good. There are so many talented photographers here. Some photographers also posted their works. Now we are planning to launch our first photo hunting.

• Mercy is a short form of Mercedes Benz
• Tiger means Macan. Macan stands from MAnis dan CANtik. In English, it can be translated as Sweet and Beautiful
• Mercy Tiger means Sweet and Beautiful Mercedes Benz
• Mercy Tiger however, is usually referred to Mercedes Benz sedans which produced before 1985.

Model names were usually related to engine sizes, type of engine, and chassis type.

• D for Diesel,
• E for Einspritzung (fuel injection)
• Lang for Long Wheelbase
• T for Transport and Touring (estate/station wagon)
• C for Coupé

The 280E was enormously popular, thanks largely to the sweet 6 cylinder being equipped with the Bosch K-Jetronic fuel injection system with air volume control (first seen in the 6.9 litre monster 450SEL).

The car had all the style and grace of the larger “S” class cars, but with a much more appealing price. And the optional sunroof was a pearler, employing an automatic wind deflector.

The 280E came standard with 4 wheel disc brakes, electric windows, power steering and could be optioned with cruise control, fog lights and central locking.

They are not particularly collectable, but a well cared for example will provide a high class drive even by todays standards.

http://www.uniquecarsandparts.com.au/car_info_mercedes_280e.htm

In anatomy, heterochromia refers to a difference in coloration, usually of the iris but also of hair or skin. Heterochromia is a result of the relative excess or lack of melanin (a pigment). It may be inherited, due to genetic mosaicism, or due to disease or injury.

Eye color, specifically the color of the irises, is determined primarily by the concentration and distribution of melanin. The affected eye may be hyperpigmented (hyperchromic) or hypopigmented (hypochromic).^[5] In humans, usually, an excess of melanin indicates hyperplasia of the iris tissues, whereas a lack of melanin indicates hypoplasia.

Although infrequently seen in humans, complete heterochromia is more frequently observed in other species, where it almost always involves one blue eye. The blue eye occurs within a white spot, where melanin is absent from the skin and hair (see Leucism). These species include the cat, particularly breeds such as Turkish Van, Turkish Angora, and (rarely) Japanese Bobtail. These so-called odd-eyed cats are white, or mostly white, with one normal eye (copper, orange, yellow, green), and one blue eye. Among dogs, complete heterochromia is seen often in the Siberian Husky and/or the Australian Shepherd. Horses with complete heterochromia have one brown and one white, gray, or blue eye – complete heterochromia is more common in horses with pinto coloring. Complete heterochromia occurs also in cattle and even water buffalo.^[6] It can also be seen in ferrets with Waardenburg Syndrome.

This is the picture of a tamed cat when I was at my friend’s house.

Lyrics:

Du guckst mich an, und ich geh mit,
Und der ist ewig, dieser Augenblick.
Da scheint die Sonne, da lacht das Leben,
Da geht mein Herz auf, ich will’s dir geben.
ich will dich tragen, ich will dich lieben,
Denn die Liebe ist geblieben.
Hat nicht gefragt, ist einfach da,
Weglaufen geht nicht, das ist mir klar.

Liebe will nicht,
Liebe kämpft nicht,
Liebe wird nicht,
Liebe ist.
Liebe sucht nicht,
Liebe fragt nicht,
Liebe ist so wie du bist.

Gute Nacht mein wunderschöner und
ich möcht mich noch bedanken.
Was du getan hast, was du gesagt hast,
das war ganz sicher nicht leicht für dich.
Du denkst an mich, in voller Liebe,
Und was du siehst, geht nur nach vorne.
Du bist mutig, du bist schlau,
Und ich werd’ immer für dich da sein,
Das weiß ich ganz genau.

Du und ich wir sind wie Kinder,
die sich lieben wie sie sind.
Die nicht lügen und nicht fragen,
Wenn es nichts zu fragen gibt.
Wir sind zwei und wir sind alt,
Und wir sehn die Dinge klar.
Und wenn einer von uns gehen muss,
Sind wir trotzdem immer da.

Wir sind da.
Wir sind da.
Wir sind da.
Wir sind da.
Wir sind da.
Wir sind da.

Liebe will nicht,
Liebe kämpft nicht,
Liebe wird nicht,
Liebe ist.

Liebe sucht nicht,
Liebe fragt nicht,
Liebe fühlt sich an wie du bist.

Liebe soll nicht,
Liebe kämpft nicht,
Liebe wird nicht,
Liebe ist.
Liebe sucht nicht,
Liebe fragt nicht,
Liebe ist so wie du bist.

So wie du bist, so wie du bist.
Liebe, ist so wie du bist.
Liebe, ist so wie du bist.
Liebe, ist so wie du bist.
Liebe, ist so wie du bist.
Liebe, ist so wie du bist.
Liebe, ist so wie du bist.
so wie du bist.
so wie du bist.

English Translation:

http://german.about.com/library/blmus_nenaLiebeistE.htm

you look at me
and I go with you
and it’s eternal, this moment
the sun is shining
life is laughing
my heart opens up
I want to give it to you
I want to carry you
I want to love you
for love has remained
didn’t ask
is simply there
there’s no running away
that’s obvious to me

you and I that’s quite surely
like a wonderful deep rapture
of the very special kind
and we have a right to
keep meeting again and again
to keep looking at each other
when the big wide world calls
I’ll surely go with you

love doesn’t want
love doesn’t fight
love doesn’t become
love is
love doesn’t seek
love doesn’t ask
love is like you are

good night my marvelous one
and I’d still like to express my gratitude
what you did
what you said
it certainly wasn’t easy for you
you think of me in complete love
and what you see only moves forward
you’re courageous
you’re smart
and I’ll always be there for you
that I know for sure

you and I we’re like children
who love each other the way they are
who don’t lie and don’t ask
when there’s nothing to ask
we are two and we are one
and we see things clearly
and when one of us must go
we are still always there

we are there, we are there, we are there
we are there, we are there, we are there

love doesn’t want
love doesn’t fight
love doesn’t become
love is
love doesn’t seek
love doesn’t ask
love feels like you are

love should not
love doesn’t fight
love doesn’t become
love is
love doesn’t seek
love doesn’t ask
love is like you are

like you are
like you are
love is like you are
love like you are
love is like you are
love is like you are
love like you are
love is like you are
like you are
like you are

About Parmalim

If you see people with cloth covering their head in the above pictures, they were the follower of Malim (also known as Parmalim). Malim is based on the native religion of Batak people and it has been influenced by Hinduism, Islam, and Catholicism.  Today the largest followers are from Toba Batak which reside around Toba Lake.  The largest of the existing Parmalim groups has its centre in Huta Tinggi in the vicinity of Laguboti on the south shore of Lake Toba.

In Indonesia, Malim is not considered as a religion therefore for administrative purpose, the Parmalim have to declare one of 6 religions (Islam, Protestant, Catholic, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Konghucu) in their ID. Moreover, people often perceive Parmalim as heretic, probably because of polytheism, magic practice, and animal sacrifice practice (before Christianity and Islam, the Batak made human sacrifice).  Some followers even receive discrimination from workplace despite the key messages of Malim are just the same with other religions: harmony with nature, love thy neighbors, love thy families, karma, and love the Creator of this Universe. Before Gus Dur rose to Presidency, Parmalim held their ceremonies privately but nowadays they openly held their ceremonies and their annual grand ceremony, Pesta Bius, is becoming a tourist attraction. Nevertheless, they are still fighting for their existence, acknowledgement, and more important: religious freedom.

Some useful resources (mostly in Indonesian languange):

• http://www.parmalim.com/index.php
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parmalim
• http://maulanusantara.wordpress.com/2008/05/29/parmalim/
• http://wongalus.wordpress.com/2009/06/26/parmalim-yang-tersingkir/
• http://budiawan-hutasoit.blogspot.com/2008/04/penghayat-kepercayaan-terpinggirkan.html
• http://maulanusantara.wordpress.com/2008/05/30/parmalim-%E2%80%9Ckami-bukan-penganut-ajaran-sesat%E2%80%9D/