Another late write up as usual!!! This year we tried something different... My mum decided to try out one of the newest hotel in 'Batu Pahat'... 'Pine Tree Hotel' is the name... In my opinion, it was also one of the coolest hotel in my hometown... I really like their interior design... Minimalist and modern... The room was awesome too...

I'm really in love with my new 50mm lens!!!

Nice leg huh!!!

The designer did a really good job!!! Just love the reception area... 'Pine Tree Hotel' is not the most standard hotel around but definitely the coolest...

Although this is one of the coolest hotel in 'Batu Pahat', but this can't be said for their food or services!!! Foods are still acceptable but the service........... haiz, really hopeless in my opinion...

'South African Ostrich' according to them... Ostrich meat is suppose to be tender but theirs is rock hard!!! And please observe the sauce being serve...

'Grilled Salmon'...

'Tom Yam'...

'Chicken Chop'...

'Australian Beef'... Hard and over cook!!! So did you notice something similar with all these dishes except the 'Tom Yam'??? They served all the dishes with the same sauce... BBQ sauce for all!!! I love BBQ sauce but according to the menu, the 'Chicken Chop' and 'Ostrich' can be serve with either black pepper or mushroom sauce... So why BBQ sauce??? BBQ sauce is not even in the menu!!!

WORMS!!!

Very nice design and environment but spoil by the food and services offered but the rooms look superb though... Recommended for staying overnight but not for their food!!!

Overall Rating - 2/5

Pine Tree Hotel

36, Jalan Mengkudu,

83000 Batu Pahat,

Johor.

07-431 9933

Not again!!! Another battery problem it seems... The first time it happened when the car clock around 20,000++ km... Now the car mileage is around 60,000++ km and the battery is having problem again... This is the first time in my motoring life that I've encounter something like this... All my previous car have not been tow before... Not even once... But the 'Peugeot 308 Turbo' has been tow twice... Please I don't wish for a hat trick!!!

I'm really confuse to why can't the battery last a little bit longer??? I ask the technician from 'Peugeot' and they told me that the car have a lot of electronics, so obviously it consume a lot of battery... A modern 'BMW' or 'Mercedes Benz' have a lot of electronics too... But why their battery can last much longer compare to the 'Peugeot'??? My previous car battery last a staggering three years while the 'Peugeot' one last less than a year!!! We own the car for one year plus and this is the third batteries including the one that came with the car...

Those of you who drive the same car, please make sure that you ask the service advisor to get your battery check before your car reaches one year old because the warranty coverage for battery is only one year according to 'Peugeot'... I'm keeping my finger cross and hopefully this new battery can last at least a year!!!

p.s. Although I'm really frustrated with it, I'm still very much in love with our 'Pug'!!!

Since I got nothing to do, I decided to test my latest lens which is the 'Sigma 50mm F1.4 EX DG HSM'... All these shots were taken wide open at F1.4... Man I'm in love with it the moment I saw the pics... Very nice bokeh if you ask me... Smooth and velvety and not forgetting pin sharp where I focus on!!!

I'm a sucker for bokeh so I guess I made the right choice for getting this lens... The only downside that I find with this lens is the minimum focus distance which is a bit longer compare to my old 'Sony' 50mm... Guess I have to live with it...

What I need to do now is to get use to the DOF which is very shallow and mis-focus is quite common if shoot af F1.4!!! Guess I need to practice more now...

I have always been a BIG fan of the 'Fast and Furious' franchise... Being a normal guy, there is nothing for me to dislike the movie... Cars and plenty of sexy ladies with their overly short pants that reveals half of their bums!!! The winning combination to capture the average Joe's attention... Throw in some storyline and you got yourself a BIG hit... The first one is a BIG hit if you ask me but this can't be said for the second one... I think that movie is a flop but still people are crazy over them when they released the third movie then the fourth and lastly the fifth (I can guarantee that this will not be the last installment!!!)

If you ask me, I think the latest one which is the one I'm blogging about is the nicest among the others... I know some of you may complain about the lack of cars, but they compensate it with a much better storyline and I believe this is a really good trade off... Besides that, they decided to bring back the lovely 'Gal Gadot' which really spice up the movie, a lot!!! I'm not going to talk about 'Paul Walker' or 'Vin Diesel' as I'm straight!!!

This is one of the better movie that I have watch this year... Hopefully they can continue with it and stop producing crappy one like '2 Fast 2 Furious'... Is ok if they decided to exclude some ultra cool cars but remember to bring back the character 'Gisele' play by 'Gal Gadot'!!! A really good movie and it is highly recommended!!!