Bunratty Castle, Ireland

DAY 3: Brian & Cath decided to take us to Bunratty Castle/folk village, located at Limerick (thanks to them for taking us all the way). Bunratty Castle is a huge tourist attraction in the town of Bunratty. It is owned by Shannon Heritage

Bunratty Castle, meaning “Castle at the Mouth of the Ratty” is a large tower house in County Clare, Ireland. It lies in the centre of Bunratty village. The name Bunratty, Bun Raite in Irish, means the ‘bottom’ or end of the ‘Ratty’ river. This river, alongside the castle, flows into the nearby Shannon estuary.

Vertical Mill – a rural undershot watermill and the Horizontal Mill – a working corn mill based on findings of an excavation in Mashangla Co. Cork. This type of mill is described in Irish Law texts from a 1000 years ago.

Group photo, everybody, kiss Clarissa!

FOTA Wildlife Park, Ireland

On our 2nd day in Ireland, Brian & Cath took us to FOTA wildlife Park, located at Cork, Ireland. It was a bright shinny day, superb for wildlife photography. I was looking forward to more big cats’ shots like lion or Tiger. Unfortunately, there were only Cheetahs. The fence was high enough to kept them from jumping outside, I could not get a clear shot of the cheetah.

We started to walk inside the park. As first we saw Ostrich, Giraffe. Then, we realised that Guanaco were left outside the fence. So, I asked my wife to get closer to the animals while I was a few meters away to take a picture. The Guanacos were safe for visitor to pet them. There were also, rare exotics animal such as, Black Swan, Sea- Eagle, but my most interesting ones was Red Panda.

This cutesy fluffy creature is called a Red Panda, usually found in outskirt of Himalaya and China. The Red Panda, were also called the Firefox or Lesser Panda. Is a mostly herbivorous mammal, specialized as a bamboo feeder. I was pleased I could see it in real life!

I wish I could adopted them and bring them home.

Squirrel monkeys live in the tropical forests of Central and South America in the canopy layer. Small and highly gregarious.

Perfect photo for the squirrel monkey as I managed to get a back rim light behind it.

This is another type of monkey. I’m not sure either this is Colobus type, or Gibbon.

At 4pm we were lucky to watch a cheetah run show. The cheetah was to be fed but they had to chase a high speed cable that hook the food. This device makes the cheetahs work for their food by suspending it on a cable. The cable travels 10 feet off the ground, at approximately 65kph.

We witnessed how fast they can really run. I swear if one of these chase me, I won’t even been able to lift a foot before I get caught.

Group Photo, from left to right : Me, Nisa, Clarissa, Cath, & Brian

My wife, Nisa posing for the camera before we left the Park.

Holy Year Walk at Clonmel, Ireland

On 1st day at Ireland, my wife and I decided that we wanted to view around the town of Clonmel. We stopped at the Tourist Information Center and we asked for the place of interest around here. The lady was very nice explaining in detail and she also gave the direction, which bus to take, etc.

My interest has always been walking trail. So, I asked the lady if there is any chance that I can climb up there in the mountain. She showed the map of the Holy Year Cross Trail walk no 3. The Walk alongside River Suir, Clonmel. From the top of the mountain you can see the breathtaking panoramic view of Clonmel Town.

Erected by people of Clonmel to honour the “Holy Year” 1950. Stations of the Cross added in 1953. Oratory erected in 1963. The Cross and Shrine is maintained by a committee drawn from the people of the Old Bridge and Scrouthea area of Clonmel. Mass is celebrated each August Bank Holiday Monday at 11 am at which thousands of people attended.

We started the journey according to the map. The weather in Ireland is quite strange. It was about to rain at first, and suddenly turned into a bright shinny day. We met a local resident around the area, he was kind enough to explain the history of the Holy Year Cross. If we were not in hurry, I bet he would keep on lecturing about the history of Clonmel as well.

The Walked took 3 hours. We reached up the mountain, it was cold, bright sunny day and our eyes kept on wandering. It was a really worthwhile.

New Talent: Farah Hanan

26 April 2009, Taman Metropolitan Kepong: Firstly, I would like to apologise by not posting this outing on FMDC forum. I was trying to keep the ratio 1 model : 10 Photographers on first come first serve basis. Secondly, there was a 50/50 chance that it might be canceled last minute. Farah was my friend back in Leeds, we knew each other from the Malaysian unity game in Sheffield. She had no confident at first to be in this outing. I had asked a lot of friends to be my talent in the outdoor modeling shot, but most of them were not serious.

From left: Maha, zlanj, FaizZaki, Ashikin, Ida, Farah, Razak, Sheikh laporpo, achit, Cikgu Zzoux

This was my first outing that I organized. At first I was quite frustrated when the outcome  was not as what I expected. However, as all the attendees were keen to share knowledge made this outing a successful one.

To make the photo shoot successful, Cikgu Zzoux highlighted that:

1. Make a survey on the site first. Find a good spot.
2. Set a posing for a subject. It is easy if we bring fashion magazine and ask the subject to pose exactly like in the magazine.
3. Must have a reflector, to fill in the shadow

To summarize, this outing taught me on management and how to organise an event. Many thanks again to Cikgu Zzoux and Achid for the knowledge of CLS.

Dr detik pertama kali tu lah akan mengajar kita segala macam bentuk pengalaman yang mengajar kita berfikir dengan lebih matang. Tahniah sy ucapkan dengan waktu yg cukup singkat anda berjaya organize aktiviti sebegini. Untuk outing yg seterusnya, belajarlah dr kegagalan outing yg sebelomnya dan perbaikinya sebaik mungkin.

Sy juga berharap perkongsian ilmu sy yg tak seberapa pada hari itu serba sedikit kenkawan yg dtg masa tu dpt manfaatnya walaupun tak byk. Kalau ada yg tak kesampaian, minta maaf bebanyak yer. Kalo reramai macam ari tu, sy kompom transform jadik gugup tatau nak bercerita macam mana. Mmg takde skill nak menyampaikan ilmu rasanye.

Kalau ada outing sebegini lagi next time, mebbe anda sume bole bincang2 dulu ngan rerakan. Diskas dr segi detail yg paling kecik hinggalah yg paling besar. Ini untuk melancarkan lagi outing anda nanti.

Juz my 2 sen ….

ZZoux

Great ! we’re on newspaper

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