Malaysia and Singapore: itinerary, photography bag and some news
Here we go, we leave in few days, ready to write another chapter of my beautiful book called “world”, new pages to be filled with images and emotions. Destination East, again, after Thailand and Japan, because it’s a land rich in history, culture, humanity and contrasts. Singapore, Malaysia and Malaysian Borneo, a long journey of 16 days where I’ll see a little bit of everything: big cities, small villages, idyllic beaches and wild jungle.
The Itinerary
We (me and my beautiful wife) starts from Singapore (2 nights) and then take a bus to Melaka (1 night). The following day bus to Kuala Lumpur, the capital of Malaysia. Here we stop one day but will return and have more time at the end of travel. After a short stay in KL, off to the Malaysian Borneo, with a domestic flight (Air Asia) to Kuching, in the Sarawak region. Here we will stop for 6 days, during which we will explore the virgin jungle, visit and sleep in the village of headhunters, Iban longhouse, and spend a few days with them, living the life of the village. After the hard and tiring experience in the jungle, we’ll returns, with domestic flight (Air Asia), in the Malaysian Peninsula and relax for 2 days on the beautiful beaches of the Perhentian Islands. Found the well-deserved rest, we will then return to Kuala Lumpur on a short flight (Air Asia) to pass the last 2 days of travel and do the deserved shopping!
My Photography Bag
Completely satisfied after the last trip to Japan, I will use ‘for this new journey the beautiful Lowepro Urban Reporter 350. Sober, discreet and with many useful pockets. There are few changes from the recent trip to Japan, but important ones. This time i carry only fixed lens, no zoom, so to continue my growth in photography that will lead me to reduce the equipment to the essentials: one, maximum two lenses. In the last few days I decided to send back the Fujinon XF 56mm to replace it with the Fujinon XF 14mm for two main reasons:
- I missed an hi quality fixed wide-angle lens
- found I could get the same results as the Fujinon XF 56 with a very small and old Pentax Super Takumar 55 f1.8 , bought for a few Euros at a flea market !
My main and indispensable lens is the Fujinon XF 35mm f1.4 , the one I use more ‘and that I find extraordinary. It will be fixed on the X -T1 and with this combo i will shoot mainly street and portraits, while the XF 14mm, mounted on the Fuji X -E2, will help me when I’m gonna ‘ shoot landscapes and large scenarios. The Super Takumar 55 f1.8 will be useful only in the case of closer portraits and as it’s really small and lightweight, does not take up too much space in the bag. I also have a 135 f2.8 lens, an old Olympus Zuiko bought for a few Euros at the flea market, a focal length that I not use that much, but that could be used in case I can not get too close to the subject … and in the jungle, this can ‘ easily happen. In fact I would leave it at home, but I will decide at the last minute … Another big news for this trip is the portable printer Fuji INSTAX Share Sp-1, a desire I had for some time and now will follow me on all trips because I love the idea of printing small “polaroids” right on place and maybe give it away to someone or keep it as a souvenir. Surely I will use it a lot in the village in the Borneo, with the children. I already tried it and it works great in combination with the iphone. Another thing totally new for me is the Aquapac case that will allow me to do some photos diving in the beautiful waters of the Perhentian islands, or at least I hope so. I’ve never done underwater photography and I do not know if this case really works well, but I’m curious to try it. There will be a lots of turtles and colorful fishes so i want to give it a try.. Of course I will test it before putting the X -T1 in and dip into water … Finally I added another 2 to 4 batteries that already had to be quiet especially during the 3 days in the jungle where we will have no electrical connection and will have to ‘ measure out the use of the devices.
Here is the detailed list
- Fuji X-T1 with Lowepro camera strap
- Fuji X-E2 with Lowepro camera strap
- Fujinon XF 35mm F1.4 R
- Fujinon XF14mm F2.8
- Pentax Asashi Super Takumar 55 f1.8
- Olympus Zuiko 135 f2.8
- Fujifilm Instax Share Sp-1
- Polariser filter 58 mm
- 4x Sandisk Extreme 8Gb 95kb/s
- Manfrotto tripod 785B
- Aquapac waterproof case
- MacBook air
- iphone 5s
- HD western digital 500Gb
- Anker USB Power bank external charger 8400 nAh
- Hama cleaning cloth for lenses
- 6 batteries
- 2 battery chargers
- 2 plugs adapters
- Multiuse knife
- Compact torch
I’m looking forward to dip myself again in the smells and colors of the street food and crowded street markets. For sure it will be another important step in my growth as a photographer of people and cultures.
Salut, Sabino
