Hao Jiu Bu Jian

“Hao Jiu Bu Jian” is a Chinese equivalent for “Long time no see” :)


Its been a while since I last posted. Frankly nothing bloggable happened since I last wrote here. Except of course a weekend visit to Hukou to see MJ. That was the only good time I had in months. Other times I have been doing the same mundane chores day after day and it doesn’t seem to get any better for another couple of months.


That said the reason I chose to write today is that I’ve finally got a DSLR for myself now isn’t that a bloggable thing hence the post :D


A brand new canon EOS 450D XSi is sitting right on my lap at this very moment with its 18-55 mm IS kit lens attached. It makes me blush like a 7 yr old boy that I was 2 decades ago who had just received his shiny little cricket bat as a birthday gift. On top of that I also received my Canon 50mm f/1.8 II lens a couple of days ago ;)


I took over 200 shots with it till now, mostly in auto mode and mostly indoors. It was delivered on last to last Friday but the following weekend was washed out, thanks to typhoon Jangmi and the other days I was tied up at work. Here are some of them which I think are somewhat presentable.

This one is taken using the Canon 50mm f1.8 II lens. I absolutely love this lens. What an incredible value for money. In fact I haven’t used the kit lens after getting 50mm prime. It is lightning fast. It is razor sharp and it is incredibly small. What I love about it is that it demands me to move back and forth, puts more emphasis on the composition, basically it makes me “think” about my shot. It teaches me to be a better photographer. So far I’m enjoying the challenge of engaging myself with my subjects. Primes are what I suppose I would be definitely exploring more in the future.

There isn’t anything spectacular about this picture but what made it worthwhile for me is that It was taken on weekend when I actually woke up to see Sun rays as they glanced through the window. Lately Taiwan has had its fair share of summer typhoons, 3 of them in September. It felt refreshing.

Later in the evening we went to our favorite Korean hotpot restaurant. Apart from selling the delicious hotpot for dirt cheap price till the late hours, it also has quite a few Wang ChienMing pictures, framed and pasted all over the place. Reminds me of those indefinite places in India that boasts similar affection for Indian cricketing idol Sachin Tendulkar

After the dinner we went to another favorite place of ours to enjoy some coffee. This place is on top of a small hill, one which needs to be overcome if you are taking a back country road heading towards Hukou. The setup is quite interesting. Cafe shop is actually mobile meaning it is housed in a small truck which they park right besides the mountain road. They have managed to put up a wooden deck on the edge of the cliff that trembles everytime someone walks on it. The deck houses around 15 tables. Five member team, all of them seem to belong to the same family but I’m not sure about that yet, runs the business. In addition to coffee and various tea, several kind of pizza, myriad of sandwiches are also on the menu.

We usually go there to taste a great cup of coffee and soak in the lovely mountain breeze while watching Jhubei city lights in the distant.

Next couple of months will be exciting as I get more handle on my 450D. Addition of another lens will take time but for now I guess I need to get hang of the basics first. Even before that I need to buy a nice camera bag and a tripod. Any suggestions?

~ by ashlin on October 6, 2008.