Author Archives: TV Smith

Swinging Time

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What do we adults do when we go to IKEA? We bounce on the beds and lounge on the sofas. This little girl checks out a hammock while her siblings and mother looks on. It was an unexpected and happy photo moment for me as I was chillaxing on a cushion seat nearby. For the unusual and dramatic perspective, I held the camera directly above her and framed with the LCD screen tilted at an angle.

The giant Swedish store is great fun for children, adults and shutterbugs during the current hazy spell. The over 8 feet-long Garo hammock and stand retails for RM 398 (about USD 125).

Trivia: The largest IKEA store is the Stockholm store at 594,000 sq ft. The biggest outside Sweden is Shanghai at 531,000 sq feet. The sole Malaysian store is 360,000 sq ft.

Olympus OM-D, ISO 500, f4, 1/30 sec.

Hammock

Hazy Sun

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The South-East-Asian region is choked in smoke originating from illegal forest fires and large-scale agricultural burning in Indonesia. An annual affair, the transboundary air pollution is causing health and social-economic problems for affected countries.

With the haze, I was able to photograph the sun directly without using a ND filter. A neutral density filter is a glass filter that cuts down the light, enabling a lower shutter speed or wider aperture. The thick haze acts as one.

Olympus OM-D, ISO 200, f11, 1/1250 sec.

Hazy Sun

Maggi Goreng

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The Japanese instant noodles was invented more than fifty years ago. Its block packaging has since evolved into ramen cup noodles. For many students and workers staying away from home, it became a staple food.

As a testament of its success, Nestle’s Mi Maggi or Maggi Mee (from Chinese word ‘mein’) became synonymous with instant noodles in Malaysia.

Funnily, the humble hostel room meal is now offered as a mainstream item in coffee shops. Many restaurants also serve a stir-fried version generically named ‘Maggi Mi Goreng’ in which garnishes are added on top of the sachet of seasoning. Unlike fresh noodles, instant noodles break into characteristic short strips when stir-fried.

The quality of the cooking vary and thus I was happy to stumble upon a really tasty fried version at Kashmir Cafe in Kelana Jaya. The lady boss explained that she uses only the original Maggi brand. Nothing less.

Olympus OM-D, ISO 200, f5, 1/60 sec.

Maggi Mi Goreng