Work trip

1.
The past few days Alisya has been sleeping on my tummy, just like she used to when she was a little baby. She just wants to be on my tummy! Last night Alisya, Naufal, Aliya & me slept in their room, Naufal insists to climb down from his bed and join us. As we were talking suddenly Alisya asked me:
A- Ayah nak pergi airport nak work (travel) esok eh?
M- Hmm...bukan esok Kakak, hari lagi satu. Kenapa?
A- Alisya taknak Ayah pergi airport, nanti Alisya takboleh kawan dgn Ayah. Alisya nak Ayah.
M- Ayah kena work Kakak, nanti Ayah balik kita pergi jalan2 ok Kakak?
A- Ayah jgn la pergi airport...Alisya nak kawan Ayah...
M- Hmm....ok mcm ni, Ayah kena work, nanti Ayah abis work cepat2 Ayah balik & bawak Kakak jalan2 lama2 ok?
A- OK Ayah....nanti Ayah balik ok.
M- Ok Kakak....now listen...Kakak, Naufal & Neena kena tidur, esok nak bangun awal Ayah nak work & hantar Kakak & Naufal pergi sekolah ok?
A- Nak cerita Sang Kancil Ayah?
So...I had to do a round of Sang Kancil - their version of the story which we have been creating all these while - and after some laughters they fell asleep...owhh.. Aliya decided to "Anak awan Ayah" (Tak nak kawan Ayah) and went down. Heheheheh...that cute little lady.

2.
Yeah....I have to travel for 3 days starting tomorrow - business trip. Just a short while but it will be packed, am not sure if I am going to have time to shoot some stuff....
speaking of which....I bought a rarely used (like, almost new) P5000 Nikon at below Rm500 from a buddy yesterday...just too good to refuse and it will be great tool for macro shots....

3.
Finally I started writing in the journal again after 2 months of struggling! I did it while having breakfast & waiting for my passport renewall process yesterday...have to be more rajin to write more in the journal.
Yesterday Aliya tried her best to stop me going to work! We played for a while - with her Bubble-blowing Train. She just loves it!
....well....definitely I am going to miss them during my business trip....good thing it is just 2 working days...

4.
Have to pack my stuff tonight....
Gotta go back home early so that I can spend more time with the kids before tomorrow comes....

20.08.2008

1.

The kids woke up as I was preparing for work this morning.....and Alisya casually asked me as I put on my shirt:

A: Ayah nak pakai baju blue color ke?
M: Yes Kakak.
A: Why?
M: Hmm...sebab Ayah suka....
A: Ayah tak ada baju lain ke?
M: Erk....no Kakak....Ayah takda duit la nak beli baju lain lagi Kakak...
A: Tak apa Ayah..Kakak ada duit...nanti Kakak belikan...Ayah nak baju color....red? White? Black?
Haaa...Kakak belikan Ayah baju PINK lah ok?
M: Haaa?
A: *Giggles. Ayah pakai baju PINK nanti.....*giggles

Fresh from the camera, this morning...
(Alisya with the Ted Adnan's Trademark pose!)
only Allah knows how much I love them!

3.
The team is out handling a conference and I have to complete some papers for the trip to a neighboring country next week.
...and apart from some other interesting stuff which I need to put in some thinking & writing, I was asked to do a presentation on MF Design & stuff this Friday....
Owh....today is the first day of the first MF series for this financial year...am sure the present team will handle it well.

4.
Maybe I will go back a bit early today and take the kids for a splash.....hmmm......maybe...

The Second Day

1.

Hello! Welcome to Sunshinefloor!

The workstation is half the size I have been accustomed to....but that matters not.This is just my second day and already I felt like I have been with these bunch for quite a while...and today I was asked to arranged a birthday celebration for Aug & Sept babies and staff who received the long service recognition...and a coincident, the day is the birthday of our VP too.
He is THE kind of leader that I would respect and salute.

It went well...everybody was "kenyang & gumbira" and lunch was not necessary for many....heheh!

My friendly neighbour

..and the The Boss -->.....and I was surprised to receive some set of really nice mugs and that card (near Yoda@my iBook) which is a 1GB thumbdrive....from the Gasunie team....

Dank u mijn vrienden!

The rest of the day went well...with meetings & discussions and I managed to find time to complete editing the job I did last weekend and sent the invoice to the client too...wheeheheh...was informed that the payment is already being processed....hello to more moo-moo-moolahs!

Show me the moolahs!

1.
There's only one word that can summarize how i feel right now - TIRED!
Weheheheheh!!
I woke up at around 4:50am today and by 7am I am ready for action with two of my photographer buddies - Master Ted Adnan and Ian Ahmad.
Today we shot a Corporate Golf Tournament.
Yesterday, had another corporate event but since I just want to spend my last day at The Zoo, I assigned the shoot to another professional photographer buddy.
I guess it is not bad for this month...I take it as a positive sign....and I will keep on improving and finding more opportunities for me & my team from now on.....I am entering the shift to 5th gear of my journey I guess!

2.
Owh, the photo above...that's not me...and that D3 is not mine too! (I wish!!)
The bundle will cost a damage of about Rm30k....ada berani?
I still use the same ole D70s and kitlens....as like Ian Ahmad...his same ole 400D and kitlens too!
Our outdated equipments (for some!) is not a limitation for us...no sir!
Anyway...that baby up there belongs to a talented & respected master in commercial photography & lighting control - Master Ted Adnan.
Maybe one day when I am sure that already have enough skill and capability, I'll bag in one of that...it's not about the equipment anyway....many may mark it as luxury toys...that actually can bring you good returns...or the rights to brag (and laughed at by the real professionals!)
Been witnessing so many "arrogant wannabe" with this same typical never-ending-purchasing-of-equipment habit...and yet the photos are just about as good as Alisya's shot on her 2MP Nikon Point & Shoot....
Your choice Amigo!

3.

...and this, would be the last shot I did of my workstation at The Zoo. Almost empty, all my stuffs were already packed in couple of boxes which I single-handedly brought to the new place and set up what I could over there....minutes before coming back to The Zoo for the last time and taking this shot.
The dude sitting at the opposite workstation would be my buddy Nadzri - a very resourceful & dedicated staff anybody could ever wished for. Good-bye buddy! You deserve a better place and you'll get it soon insya-Allah!
Good-bye workstation...I hope I have not overstayed my welcome, it was a fact I had to make some noise before I got the proper letter of assignment though I obediently did my part months before and even left my other post with a much more comfortable workstation just to honor the offer to join the initial project team....read the earlier entries I did in this blog.
I have done my part of the deal and I have been shown the exit door by the leaders. Thank you for that...that does not make me any less of a human at all.
Oh well....I guess, this is the official last Good-bye to The Zoo....Adios Grengos!

4.
I need to reward myself soon.....hmmm....fair what...I have worked hard and finally made my first thousands in just two days work....as Master Ted put it - in his definition, I am a professional already....rightfully earning the moolahs by giving the client what they expected to have (and maybe a little bit more!) from me & my team.
I guess the best "reward" I got today was when a participant of the tournament - a CEO who used to be my first boss when I started working (he was just a Manager back then) told me his company should have hired me & my team for their event instead of the photographer who did it...he was not satisfied at all with the work of that photographer (whoever that may be lah!)
So...amigos, from now on, no money, no shot!

5.
Here's to a brighter future Torque...for the babies & family....please Help me Allah...Amin....

Vrienden van Nederland

1.
The title means "friends from Netherland".
2.
This is one part of a furniture that I had to purchase last week...yeah..had to!
Not from Nederland..but close to it! The thing is...it is not everyday we get to host a respectable Tun at our place....so since he insisted to stay a couple of days at the condo, we had no choice but to go and buy some necessary items! Good thing we had the fridge and other stuff already installed!

3.

On the other hand, I have been visiting the new unit since last week and - well I must admit this is rather funny for me, in fact I did not believe I did this - I actually bought a neck-tie before I went up to the new place! I was thinking like.....well it has been years since I last bought a neck-tie....so let's treat myself with a decent one to mark the occasion (which will officially be next Monday actually!)

....I think this would probably be the most expensive pice I have ever bought....no..not in thousands....it's less than RM100!

I had some shots of the colleagues at my new workplace in my facebook....well not all of them are new to me, some have been buddies for more than a decade.....

4.
...but I have some new friends too on that floor....
...and yesterday, I met/ made more new friends, van Nederland...
Henk Abbing (First time in Malaysia!) of Gasunie who celebrated his 4xth. b-day yesterday...and Jacoba Bolderheij the head of Econs & Trade Division of the Nederland Embassy in Malaysia. The rest of the Gasunie team are Ulco Vermeulen, Peit Kager and Berlinda Aukema. Very friendly bunch! Very Dutch! The Ambassador was there to officiate our discussion and we ended the day with dinner at the residence of His Excellency Lody Embrechts, The Ambassador of Nederland....who invited us to use the residence as our second office....and Jacoba asked me if I could help her & her husband with photography......

5.
Such a great start, for me who has little knowledge of the industry.....I am going to love this new job...insyaAllah...and tomorrow is my last day at The Zoo...hohohohohohoho!

Torque's Touch

1.

I bought the iPod Touch 16GB in December 2007 from a MyMug buddy at a very good price, brand new, all-in-the-box totally erkkk......UNTOUCHED! I decided to buy it and told myself: "It is okay, I deserve to get myself something"...simple because I hv not rewarded myself anything at all the whole of 2007. It was bad enough for me having to deal with The Zoo so it was fair for me to reward myself with something I know I am going to utilize. So I bought it and I have been using it for stuff it was meant to do. I listen to music, store my photography stuff, surf the net doing some stuff which includes writing this blog.....this paragraph in this entry for instance!So, I can say it was money well spent......and I deserved it more than anybody else!

2.
Of course, for heavier stuff, the workhorse would be Yoda....my iBook G4 (read: already obsolete stuff for many....but not me!) which I bought waaaay back in 2005! 3 solid years of daily bashing.....there's no reason for me to get a Wimpdoze machine to replace the Macintosh based stuff I have been trusting all these years!

3.
Well anyway...I have been thinking to Jailbreak the Touch but the recent Firmware upgrade is such a good option I might as well buy it and give it a try first...when the time is right (read: when I think I deserve it!)
Some people started to compare my Touch when I bought it...the ZooKeeper was one...(oh, I said people did I? Well I'll allow it for this time!) I can still recall it freshly...

So many people in the building - some genuine MacAfficionados but mostly "major wannabe cool with electronic toys" - were busy getting the iPhone. Known to many as "the techy gadget dude" (read: mistaken identity of me embedded in many) some were surprised I still carry a 5 years old Symbian based SE P900!
"Why?" - they asked - because I don't need anything more that what the P900 could do!

Actually THE question I REALLY HATE from these bunch would be - "So what is your latest gadget?" DUH! Seriously, to they think I fart money?
My polite answer would be - "I am not a gadget freak lah! I just bbuy stuff that I know I need to have and really utilize it!"
...and some of them would continue talking tech-shit or brag about their new toys....or new-toys the are going o purchase....and ask me of my opinion...

<- Hayun Facebook |while listening to Music->

<- My "masterpieces" ->

4.
Opinion....yeah...something that I have been giving away to some of the original PockePC-lovers waaaay back in the late 90's...heck even the wonderfully amazing and stable Palm OS plat form! (dammit I miss the WorkPad C3 - so simple and stable and practical..until the color screen and all th hoo-haas started to trickle in...and the next thing you know, every Mamat, Minah, Ah Beng, Ah Lians, Thamby, Minachi, John & Jane just HAVE to have a PDA....regardless what they are going to do with it!

Anyway....yeah opinion...now that is something that I really don't fancy giving away for free to anybody right now...ever since, I dunno...hmm yeah, ever since I got tired of being nice to arrogant-wannabe-cool-by-having-some-tech-shit-in-their-hands. Bollocks.

5.
So, what am I rambling about this stuff?
Nothing...just feel like it...since I have nothing better to do I guess! Ahahah!
Oh...the ZooKeeper story tak abis lagi....when he saw I have a Touch..he thought I have an iPhone..just like some Miss StyloMyloHighPerformer who's his blue eye gurl (like some other ugly biatches in the Zoo lah!)
..and of course, the ZooKeeper (and the biatches) just cannot stand it if there's a person in the Zoo that has "the latest" shit. They are just sooooo conscious sometimes with these shit....wehehe....and he actually told me that in a couple of months time he'll succeed me because his iPhone is arriving by that time.
I just smiled and nodded my head....and I told myself, who care, you stupidprick! I am not competing with you nor any of those stupid wanna-be! Never! What for!!! Ahaha......posers!

6.
Hmm....tomorrow will be my second last Friday in the Zoo....woohoo!!!

Purple...not so deep!

Well...being an "ex-musician" (if I can claim it since I do have some paper qualification and used to play the electone organ for concerts, alto & tenor saxaphone, clarinet, drum and...harmonica!)when I spot a good song, I will appreciate it....to the fullest!

Belantara would be some of the few people that I can vouch for being able to produce great songs - the arrangement & lyric....and Ungu is almost there too...almost - because there are some songs that are not up to my expectation from these boys!
...but they are much better than some local scenes jumping up & down the stage screaming out some badly-butchered (re-mixed they claim!) songs from yesteryears! Butaseni...and yet they have some fans and followers...tsk! tsk! tsk!

Anyway this number - Andai Ku Tahu, tops them all...enjoy it, please!

Newbie Turned Pro

Monday day was quite an upsetting day for me, I just don't believe my final days in the frigging Zoo can still be miserable. I really feel like...owh...fcuk it lah....

Anyway...tonight I decided to "reward" myself...I bought a Pro-Flickr Account for 2years....now I can get more serious....seriously serious!

Now, time to sleep....and hope the Zoo is burnt down to ashes (and maybe some of them animals too) while I am asleep....

tAMagOtChI...tomodachi

1.

Tamagotchi!
The owners of these would be Alisya & Naufal...but they were to young to play with it so heeheh...Mama (the real owner!) has been keeping these as her pets...until the batteries ran out of juice. I just bought a new set for each and the pets are resting as I wrote this....interesting pets...this sets can get connected to the net and do downloads and stuff...I am not going to go there...have lotsa things to settle!! Notice the white envelope? That's my official transfer letter...18-08-08 is the day! Am going 20 floors down, that should be far enough from the smell of this Zoo!

2.
The kids will be going for a long distance train ride tomorrow! Kajang to Segamat. They sure are excited about this trip...each one will carry their own knapsack...well except Neena of course..she's the Boss so she'd not be carrying anything unless she decided otherwise. We are going to travel light and I will try my best to compose a full documentary of their first train ride, insyaAllah!

3.

Been taking some stock photos...and realized there is a speck of dust visible at f8 and above. Annoying ,but nothing new. I seldom shot at f8 except for landscape and under bright sunlight I guess. So, the blower will have to do the job well, have no time to send to Nikon for proper servicing...maybe when I have enough dough to buy a second body...a D700 perhaps!!! Wahahaahha! Berangan!
No way....at the rate I am being progressing, I will be witnessing many others younger than me, surpass me on the corporate ladder....rezeki, yeah...but the ugly truth is not about rezeki at all...manipulation and all.....but oh well....never mind, I just want to be able to enjoy what I get and spend the rest of my life shooting great photos and be with my loved ones.....I may just be driving an old Proton but I don't dedicate my soul to be a slave of an organization and step on people's head to be a leader! The move to the other unit should do me more good...I don't mind calling other people Sir, Boss, Tuan and deal with their mood swings or temper, being ignored conveniently as and when they are not in the mood to be friendly to anybody, salams not answered, smiles not returned...hey, it's their choice...and it just won't affect me that much anymore....the most would be I'd be writing about it in this blog but almost instantly the next moment, I will be on the street shooting stuff....and be happy to have my kids to hug whenever I got home!

4.
Well...poor and selebet as the person I may be, at least I get to live my life to the fullest and be happy with my family......do you?