I am TOUCHed.......iPod rules!!!!

This is my first attempt to post here using my iPod Touch!
IT IS SO COOL!

Baby Yusuf Airiss...another angel whom I met

17th December 2007....Monday.
It was supposed to be a joyful day for my bro Bawal, who is an excellent photographer and a great buddy.

Baby Yusuf Airiss, the long awaited 3rd baby for the lovely couple Rizwal (Bawal@Grom)& Ailin, was born...but the specialists immediately found out the lungs were not functioning well....and did all they could to save Baby Yusuf.....

There was nothing much that we could do except pray & pray and pray....

....until I got the call from Bawal....Baby Yusuf has peacefully died in his arms....

Another angel.....another sorrow which will take more than just time to mend....

I managed to arrive at the ward just as Bawal was carrying Baby Yusuf's body to Ailin....and how heartbroken we were to witness it...me, Jani & Ku Eng...of the XC clan, dismissed the boundary and let tears flow as we were not able to control it anymore.

There are no words that could ever describe how we felt....even more for Bawal & Ailin.....and their family members.

I asked Bawal's permission to touch Baby Yusuf...I just could not resist the opportunity of touncing an angel...the second one this year....

Baby Yusuf is so adorable, so adorable....but Allah loves him more...and he'd probably be waiting for his family when the time comes....

We love you Baby Yusuf Airiss....we love you Bawal & Ailin.....

Al-Fatihah....

Just what I need...sheesh!

1.
Lookie lookie....I injured my right hand wrist while trying to force a frigging screw off a flat tyre of the Scenic...on 12-12-2007...and later had to spend Rm600 for a pair of new tyres and all.

I hate flat tyre!! This is the 3rd time in my life experiencing a flat tyre incident.

Apart from that, wasted half a day on Friday trying to "tukar hak milik" but found out there are more than just a form and some money to pay the responsible party, banyak la hal pulak!!
Dammit...I need a spare car and with 2 spares down and lotsa frigging issues to get the rigs legally on the road again....am sick & tired of car maintenance, maybe it is about time to get a motorbike for commuting? Yeah...let's do the math to get a frigging scooter/ mopad whatchamacallit...

2.
The shot was done by a buddy when we went street shooting on Saturday. It was fun, at least I got my min off the frigging car issues.

The theme we decided was "Faces Behind the KL City Scenes".
Some of my shots...

Faces behind the KL CITY

~ Pakcik Shaharudin, from Perak has spent more than 30 years sweeping the streets of KL, earning less than Rm1,500 per month. He's retiring in 2 years time and plan to become a taxi driver then.



~Pakcik Along, a friendly middle aged Malay who is originally from Kajang, sharing his stories having spent 20 years guarding a parking lot in central KL.

Challenged myself to only use a 50mm f1.8 prime lens for this outing.


3.
The thing about having kids is....you cannot find enough time to be with them!
Aliya..erk Neena has been very very close to me these past few weeks. every night she'd be looking for me before bedtime and we'd sing & play together until she finally feels sleepy and dozed off.
First thing in the morning she will do is to look for me. All day long if there's anything that bothers her, she cry out for me.
She's really adorable. That's my baby girl.

Opel Manta

When I was about 6 or 7 years of age, my parents drove an Opel Kadett (Plate Number JJ8237) and my first ever favorite car was also an Opel...Opel Manta

To my delight, after decades since I last been in an Opel, I finally get to photograph an Opel Manta, during the A1 GP in Sepang recently.



I told the family - when I was a kampung boy this car was my dream car....THE sports car that I dream to own one day.....but for now, may be I'd settle for a Cooper-S lah...one day nanti, then kalau dah kaya sgt nanti maybe get a Manta as a part of the collection of muscle cars & bikes (it is okay to have a dream right?)

I guess I must have been too occupied that I have not posted some shots during the A1 GP in Sepang....well here are some of the shots...

We got some pass to the grand stand so we decided to bring the kids - their first ever racing circuit experience...earplugs & stuffs they carry their own in their own bags (train dr awal nanti senang dah biasa bwk beg sendiri maa), and off we go....but the first stop was BangiKopiTiam lah...a good morning breakfast...for everyone including Baby Aliya...No no no no! Neena! Neeenaaaa!
...erhkk owh sorry..Baby Neena!

At the grandstand we tried to take the best seats available - so that the kids are comfortable & I can get decent shots with my "cap ayam" lenses. The qualifying result was dominated by Team Switzerland...and so was the race. Team Malaysia fought well, they deserve a good round of applause at least....

Aliya missed the race day, since she started to get cranky half way through the qualifying day, Aliya did not follow us on the race day....

Here are some shots done on the qualifying day & race day:


~ Alex Yoong of team Malaysia on the qualifying day....hehheh! Checkout the detailing done in this composition - the Jalur Gemilang in the background - to show the event is held in Malaysia.


~ Alex Yoong of Team A1GP Malaysia hits the dusty side of the KL Straight in the closing rounds of the Malaysian A1GP 2007 in Sepang. Despite his battling drive and determination to bag a podium finish on home turf, Alex only managed to finish on 13th place for the feature race, mainly due to a collision with the New Zealander Jonny Reid.


Neel Jani demonstrated the definiton of sheer supremacy by clinching both sprint & feature race pole for Switzerland in the A1 GP of Sepang, Malaysia 2007.


~ Sérgio Jimenez of Brasil with the Union Jack hoisted at the camp of Great Britain A1GP team in Sepang. Brasil & Great Britian were penalized for being stationary at the red light on the pit exit after the first mandatory pit stop in the Malaysian A1GP 2007 in Sepang. 2 second penalty caused Brasil to be demoted to 3rd place, allowing France to be promoted to the 2nd place.


~ Loïc Duval of France clinched the 2nd place in the Malaysian A1GP 2007 in Sepang due to penalty given to team Brasil & Great Britain.


The winner - Team Switzerland

Fatigue and restless..what's next lah?

- A Pol Pot muffler from Cambodia - souvenir from Rahman Roslan recently
- A Han tribe headgear from Vietnam - souvenir from Felic years back
- A Crumpler, a present from me...about a year ago!

Pol Pot |päl ˈpät; pôl| ( c. 1925–98), Cambodian communist leader of the Khmer Rouge; prime minister 1976–79; born Saloth Sar. During his regime the Khmer Rouge embarked on a reconstruction program in which millions were killed. Overthrown in 1979, Pol Pot led the Khmer Rouge in a guerrilla war against the new government.

1.
Why suddenly Pol Pot? Not that I admire this vicious ethnic cleansing killer or what but I got a souvenir from my photographer buddy Rahman who just came back from Cambodia - a
Pol Pot muffler - something that any hardcore photojournalist or perhaps those who knows the history of Cambodia would buy as souvenirs. Cool thing that's nice to be worn especially when it is cold.

2.
Talk about vicious I think I am a bit merciless when I put that Pol Pot muffler on. How come? Well, I am asked to be the project manager for the forum that is currently in progress whi8le this line was written - due to to some circumstances. The venue of the forum is in two hotels in the same building. Rather unique but I don't care about that at all because what I do really care about is when i am spending hundreds of thousands of company fund, I would surely expect the service & whatnots to be the best....of course I can tolerate some errors but when the carelessness is too much coming from a rather prestigious brand in hospitality industry, then they are asking for it.
Anyway, that does not mean I am being vicious to them all the way. Only at that particular point of time. then everything is back top normal - I am the same friendly ole Torque again.

3.
Come to think of it, I am kinda jumpy nowadays with ridiculously incompetent imbeciles...especially if their title is two or three notches above me. One particular idiot got it real bad from me the morning after the incident above. I actually asked him straight to the face whether he is really doing his job or not - and kept him waiting for another 24 hours to get what he asked for. The farking Zookeepeer tried to handle thing s and asked if the request is technically possible - fark off...don't talk about technical shit with me if you don't want to be butchered and fed to your own pigs you idiot. Action speaks louder than words, so they have to wait for a day until I decided to release the audio shit they wanted...and I am going to make sure the bastard dlivers what is expected of he'll get it from me really really teruk from this one..and he'llnot goin to be in the list from now on - I will call the writers I prefer and if they cannot make it, no writer is needed around the session at all because we'll be writing...Heck we wrote better stuff than those imbeciles anyways!

4.
The weekend is flying off fast...I still cannot get the bloody gearbox issue settled and the grant for the farking Persona is still lost..had to spend almost Rm1k to rent as car for for the family members coming for holiday....

5.
I REALLY DESERVE A CALM & QUIET HOLIDAY....only with my kids & wifey.

Dad & daughter

This was shot last night...by my pretty wifey. Quite a good compo for a lady who seldom handles a DSLR! Aliya - ergh...owh sorry - Neena is always looking for me nowadays. The only time she'd want to be left alone is when she's about to doze off...or bila dia mengigau tgh2 malam (weerghhh!!...unlike the twins, only wifey can handle her in this case).

Anyway, she's really really fast...not even 2 (about a month to go) but she can already combine 2 or 3 words to make a proper phrase. Depending on her mood she's be talking to strangers - kids or adults - as if they'd understand what she's trying to convey....wna hand gestures + facial expressions included.

It is a norm for her cheeks to be pinched by passers by....at times she'd even offered me her hands and say "Djijit, djigit" (gigit or bite me!).

Now tell me why deep in my heart, every day when I am off to work I will have this problem of saying good-bye to Aliya - erghh sorry baby - Neena?


This card I'll always keep as a treasure

Fatigue....fatigue

Manuel & his flute

1.
All I can wish for everytime I left the towers is I just want to have a good night sleep...seriously I cannot push myself to stay up and read or edit my photography works as I used to earlier this year and seriously I am not sure why. Work at the zoo is as "okay laa" and photography is the way I channel my frustration at the zoo...but now, I cannot seem to find that extra energy & drive to stay up & do more for my photography journey than before and it worries me a bit.

2.
Sometimes it just worries me, doing stuff that I was not really being assigned to do and covering things up for others (and maybe vice versa) but always been marked as the blacksheep of the zoo. It may not be worthy at all to give the best when you know you'd only be getting the gauntlet if anything - at all - goes wrong...and of course you are just going to get the same rating when the time comes....even though you have done more than you were expected to to....and it seems that it is in your KPI that you are also to expect that the stupdidiotas and bastardos to get better than you for just being what they are - stupididiotas & bastardos....and noise that you make will deemed you as "not a team player". When will they F**K O** and D*E....them stupididiotas & bastardos!

3.
Ok, the past 2 paragraphs have been negative....this one is gonna be neutral...coz I do not intend to write enything negative in this paragraph...and I have no positive stuff to put in either!!

4.
December is supposed to be the "winding down" month but it seems like it will be another hectic one for me. Whatever it is, once the 5th round of the fora is done I will put myself to "windind down" mode and take the rest of the leave balance...woohoo!!!

5.
With all the fiasco in the zoo, I just want to end this week and after that I will be free....yeahh freeeeee!!! Which means that I will have more time to hug Neena (ahemm...Aliya has made it clear to all in the house she is to be called Neena!) and do more ultraman wrestling with Alisya & Naufal...and Neena too...and we'll have more time to draw & paint do origami....play bubbles....go swimming.....take more photographs....yeahuuuu!!! I cannot wait!!!

6.
Well, in actual fact, it will not really be that easy... for instance, I have about 250 pages of data to "consume" and get a report out by Tuesday....and I don't know what to expecte when I put my feet in the zoo tomorrow, and the day after,mand the next day after that...ohh boy...let's just take it one day at a time Torque!!!

7.
...and here I am still infornt of my Mac.....ok ok I'll start cracking now lah!

Machu-Picchu Mari....

Manuel and his pan flute doing a duet
with Farouk on the angklung set....
more shots will be pubished!

1.
The only thing that I look forward in this round of forum was to shoot some images of Farouk & Manuel. They performed marvelously!!!
They are really cool....performing contemporary to traditional numbers assisted by a minus-one. The only minus apart from the minus-one is the crowd (in this case a big bunch of "leaders" both young and seasoned) is kind of clueless when it comes to appreciating real talents and work of arts. Not all but major mass nonetheless. The lost is theirs anyway....their choice!

2.
Some people have ot massive issue when it comes to following instruction - simple instruction - even though they are supposedly "leaders" which means they may have subordinates and they would surely expect the subordinates to be able to follow their instruction.

3.
Some people have the mindset of expecting everybody to treat him/ her as King/ Queen...they demand the best and expect the best and will bitch if they get something less then they expect. They are like that simply because they belong to a company that have been giving them more that what the others out there would give them. Infact some of them have been getting more than what they are actually deserving to have and still refuse to realize that they are worthless and are just nuisance to the younger and more highly capable people who has been denied access to better position because it is filled by idiots like them!

4.
Whatever it is...it is a fun to observe these bunch of idiots...and keep on reminding ourself not to be like them one day

Helloween weekend

Helloween...
(Future World....hheheheh!)

1.
Last Saturday, we started the day early....especially Alisya. I took her for a bicycle ride (she does the cycling on her bike, I walk!) from the house to her kindergarten...then to the playground.
One lap of the field on foot, then cycle on the court for a couple of rounds then back home.
Yeap...exercise for Alisya....and me also lah! Never too late to start..better now then never!


Then...the other two joined us. We did a big round of our housing area. The kids saw this Morris and they became excited and though that it looks like Mr Bean's car....well, almost....Rowan drives a Mini Minor but this is a Morris Minor....same difference!

Then we went to the playground and the kids sweat it out for almost 90minutes. Aliya is confident with the slides & some other stuff at the playground.
Ohh my...the kids grew up playing in the same playground...I can still recall the days when I took the twins for their morning walk at the same spot..and now Aliya is being taught by the twins to climb the stairs of the slide and all....time is really flying away!

Mama's masterpieces...I can proudly say no other cupcakes can match Mama's - in quality and taste and design.


2.

In the afternoon, we went to Amir's place for Layla's 5th B-day party....Helloween Theme....

Our Butterfly Princess

Our little ballerina.....she won't sit still and was very "user friendly to everyone....

Naufal was supposed to be Batman but I think it was a bit too hot for him to comfortably put on his masks all the time.....nevertheless, they had a great time!
We then went to Uncle Kamar's...been too long sice we last been there......

3.
On Sunday, we had a late start but made the best of what we had for the rest of the day......slightly beore noon we shoot off to Alamanda...
Yep.....indoor playground for the kids....and I got to try out the Canon EOS 300D of Kimster (pinjam form him to make myself familiar with more than just one camera system)
Macam baby koala la pulak Kakak!!

Naufal taking a breather

This lady is really really energetic....

What surprised me was this....Kakak & Aliya & even Naufal can easily make friends with the kids at the playground. Kakak even helped this baby to the slides! Aliya assisted her too!

...and being a cheeky baby, Aliya will always has something in mind to amuse everybody around her....tu kononnya tgh merajuk laa tu....but in the end she stood up laughing and running.

Oh yes...they love each other so much!

4.
During bedtime, I had to do a round of "Sang Kancil" - their "preferred" version - with pelakon tambahan: Monkey, the kids themselves and props that include a fire engine, treehouse....some other stuff and believe it or not - buah durian (don't ask me, they are just too creative!)

The trick is to end the story by making Sang Kancil telling them to sleep.....something like as if they are there with Sang Kancil.....and for Aliya, she will insist on a round of Twinkle2Little Star before she decides whether to doze off or continue bullying me until she's finally sleepy........the next morning they will wake up and go straight to my room looking for me!

Starting last weekend...this little lady has got this idea to call herself Neena
(maybe from her second name - Irdina)

"What is your name baby?"
Instead of the usual "Aaiiya (Aliya)" or "Eeiya" she'd yell out loud "Neena! Neena!"
She won't budge an inch at times when we call her Aliya!
It has to be Neena - then only she'll respond!

5.
I have to lead a forum in another hotel from Tuesday until Thursday...and that is a big issue for me and the kids - because there will not be Sang Kancil & the fire engine story for 3 nights nd for Aliya@Neena, there will be no Twinkle2Little Star for her...
I am definitely going to miss the kids......they cannot follow me this time because the twins are having their yearly assessment at the kindy.....will take the Friday off and I look forward to another great weekend with them....
....I'll see you on Thursday my babies....

Twin Rainbows weekend....

Well.....since Mama is already back from Beijing, and Saturday was rainy and dedicated for the Saujana Impian OpenHouse....



1.
So, the first thing that we did on Sunday was to get a good breakfast...off to BangiKopiTiam! One of ouor favorite place for a decent meal - anytime of the day but mainly for breakfast or supper (TT with the photographer dudes normally!)




Shot on a Sony Alpha100 with Minolta 75-300mm...
Waiting for their orders to arrive

Aliya, Mama, Alisya & Naufal waiting for their foods

Probably... no ...definitely the handsomest customer around!

Yeshhhh!! Finally!! Gggruubbbbss!

YUMMY YUMMY!!
ALIYA & her fresh "popok" (keropok)

Aliya is really a cheeky baby...suka menyakat. Here she's clowning around with Mama who's trying to enjoy the delicious Nasi Dagang...owh Aliya loves Nasi Dagang too...

Ohohohoh!!! Lookie lookie! Somebody is sleepy!!

....not this girl though...she can stay awake until the wee hours in the morning, always finding reasons to argue why she is awake..or doing something that "looks important" so that she can stay awake!

2.
After a good breakfast, the kids decided to go to a playground with swings....so off we go!
The same playground they have been visiting since they were couple of months old...and now they have almost overgrown the playground!

When they first came to this playground, we had to lift them up to these swings...

Timelessness....

Naufal trying the crunch.....heheh, obviously he can do it pretty easily.

Aliya & Mama...trying the same ol see-saw

Ok babes! Time to go home!!

3.
The afternoon was spent mostly in the house...becaus it was rainy...only towards the end of the day, the kids had the chance to go out and play with their neighybourhood friends....

I was half asleep at at the sliding door when Baby Aliya slam-dunked my tummy....and then she looked outside started to say "Bubbles! Bubbles!! Yeaaayyy!!"

I looked out and saw something - RAINBOW!!

Ran up to my room to get the D70s and kitlens....and here it is....

Naufal came to me while I was clicking..."Ayah ayah! Ada dua rainbow ayah!"
He was right!!! I did not realize that! I recompose and took whatever I could

For the first time in my life, I saw a double rainbow...and it was the first time in my life to photograph rainbow....what a weekend...