Waterfront revisited

The penambang boat used to be more colorful with Sarawak flag being part of the decoration.

1.
After 3rd day of Eid, as always - the boredom starts to creep in. For myself at least. I just need 2 days to visit the relatives and have a feast on rendang & ketupat etc etc. Comes 3rd day, I will get bored rather easily. Especially when scores of visitors flood the house and majority of them knows me not. The worst would be the late night visits. I just cannot accept visitors during twilight hours, for the sake of Maghrib prayers & definitely I don't want to have any visitors after 930pm....and that is what I totally dislike about the male school friends who year in year out seems to have this preference of visiting wifey in the late evening. This year is the same. Since I don't really want to voice my concern for others to respect my position as the husband and furthermore this only happens once a year (I seriously hope so) so I made the choice to do something more meaningful and beneficial for myself & my babies like taking them out for a spin and snack at the city center until I think the time is about right to "reclaim" the house - when it is more peaceful & quiet to be called home.

When the time is right I will buy a decent house, in Kuching and I will decide who will be our visitors and at what time. I am all for family privacy, always. Nothing matters more than having quality hours to spend with my babies.

2.
Sometimes the Eid celebration is really being taken out of proportion - instead of treating it as a Muslim festive to be celebrated in the path of Islam, many take it as a traditional celebration - side-lining the rules & teachings of Islam. I am not saying I am a totally good Muslim but whatever I do I try my best to do is "as Muslim as possible".

Look around us. Are we really celebrating Eid as what Muslims should?

3.
When everything else fails, I will just go out and shoot!

Eidul Fitri 2007 Oct 13th.

This year we celebrate in Kuching first....and for formallity let me start off with the round of wishes to the family & friends....

To our family in Johor:
Mak, Abah who'd already be on the flight back from Makkah after more than a month staying there,
Angah, Tini, Danial, Durra, Danish
Lala, Wan, Raiyan, Raiq

Mak Ngah, Ayah, Abg Ad & family, Ngah Aziz, Abg Mat & family, Abg Usop & family, Abg Yar & family
Mak Long, Kak Ilah & Abg Meng & family, Abg Zahar & family, Abg Cak & family
Mak Long, Abg Atan & family, Abg Long & family, Ngah Zam & family,Kak Aton & family, Abg Mursyid & family, Abg Halim & family
Cik Tamyes & family, Mak Ngah & family, Cik Amin & family, Cik Mek & family, Cik Abu & family, Cik Yah & family

Family in Kuching - Bapak, Mak, Kak Yati & Tun, Kak Mona & family, Abg Rie & family, Abg Meor & family, Abg Niman & family, Abg Haq & family, Zaini & family, Anie & all our relatives....

My colleagues and friends - Rosli, Kimster, Che Lie, Rinz, Sham, Nahar, Sha'arin, Nadzri, Ifthi, Anis, Kimi, Nah, Kem, Kudeen, Emil, Haikal, Sham-shull, Saiful, and all FIV new drivers & seasoned drivers....and to all many others!

My professional & "almost there" photographer friends - Ted Adnan, Bazuki, Shamshahrin, Amal Aziz, Rahman Roslan, Saiful Nang, Adi Nang, Pak Mat, Zzoux, Bubba, Grom, Crawlipaz, Norm, Namerumonka, Kamachan, Albar, Zayd, Urie, ShamAbd, Balulalok, Nadio, Ian, Wanoridz, RoyalJelly, Azrul of BH, Napie, iLynn, Appen, Syai, se7en, Freal0s, MHasni, ...and to all many others!!

Maaf Zahir Batin!

IN KUCHING....

Visiting and reciting doa for Nenek & relatives at the Tanah Perkuburan of Kg Pasir Pandak...on top of a hill with a view of Gunung Santubong in a distance.

An elderly citizen moving out from the Masjid from the exit facing the old Limbungan Brooke.

Part of the Perkuburan Islam next to Limbungan Brooke, within the compound of the masjid.

Three diasbled friends after Friday prayer on the last day of Ramadhan Oct 2007.

Fishermen's boat at Kg Pasir Pandak, on a low tide.

A local in Kg Pasir Pandak checking out the area during low tide.

A group of photographers from Kuching that I met on the afternoon of Eid while I did some shots of Kg Pasir Pandak (in my baju raya!)

Revisiting Satok

NO lands!! Ahh!!! finally!!

After weeks and weeks of the kids asking - when are we gonna take that plane ride back to Kuching as promised - we are finally there. Wheww!!

Looking forward to a great break, the whole month has been hectic...up to the last moment...at 3am, the day of the drive to JB, was still with Mama at her office completing some stuff!

The kids spent some tome with cousins Danial, Durra & Danish...and now they are fast asleep after spending the whole afternoon playing with cousins Ika, Waiz & Aizat....

Then, I had the opportunity to revisit Satok after a year....here's some of the shots I managed to compose....and I found a speck of particle in the photos at certain setting, cannot see it on the CCD though..ishhkk...tensi!

The infamous stretch just before the Tun Abd Rahman's Bridge - Satok is the place to be for visitors & locals to search for decent serving of local delicacies.

A seller of ketupat casing & kuih kelupis attending to his business.

A cab driver taking a smoke right in front of the entrance of Satok. On the opposite side the Satok Complex is filled with bustling crowds hunting goods for Eidul fitri.

An Iban woman making "ketupat casing". The process is called "menganyam" and rather tedious...Personally I have been trained to do 8 different types of "menganyam"...believe it or not!

Iban women "menganyam" the ketupat casing on the corridor of Satok shop lots.

This is very unique business...only during the month of Ramadhan you can buy carpets & rugs here, the rest of the year, it is actually a cafe.



An elderly couple walks the streets of Satok in their effort to get the items they need for Eidul fitri preparation.

....and what is a country without tourists!


....am gonna shoot more of Satok and Kuching while I am still here!

A Vigil

Myanmar vigil @ KLCC Malaysia.....
These are the first few "bolehlaa simpan" shots I took on a "real outing" as a photojournalist with buddies ImageMaker & Rahman Roslan. It was interesting and almost a total disaster - I hv no shooting plan and did not doo my homework! Lessons learnt! Expect a better performance next time! Nothing less.

The vigil was a mess actually, almost totally out of focus, with speaker blabberring clueless talking points....and rather farcical....such a pity...they should have been more organized and be serious about it.....be focused about the actual issue, bukan just nak hantam gomen & asyik2 pasal harga minyak! Them idiotas! Who asked them to drive a 3L car if they know they cannot afford the petrol??
.....maybe this will get better in the future?

Light, smoke & shadow...and stupid Malays

1.
Hmmm....why do I feel like as if it has been a month almost since my last entry - BAD! REALLY BAD! Ehehe! Sorry la my blogsite, I am too occupied with other things, have been wanting to update but only now I have the time to do so.




2.
There was an outing with SFCS crowd - Ramadhan @ Chowkit. Actually malas nak turun but in the in "terturun" sebab the cool people invited me and insist for me to be there. Well, I did manage to frame some really satisfying shots.....more improvements, another notch up, yet more to go though!
Shot with Rahman - the guy who'll be with the best Photojournalists & War Photographers of the World, thank you to his very professional coach - Shamshahrin @ ImageMaker. It is a blessing for me to be their buddies even though my skills and capabilities is nowhere close to them. A privillege.
Every outing, teh tarik will be filled with learnings. They have achieved so much in their field, andmore to come insyaAllah!

3.
We have surpassed the middle of Ramadhan....and that means, the end is coming closer. It is a joy to have my kids around during ifthar....we'll sit down together regradless they were fasting or not (well they are still babies!) Aliya is fond of the azan. She'd hug me and try her best to immitate the verses from the TV every time Maghrib arrives. Cute. Very! Eidul fitri is going to be fun this year insyaAllah!

4.
I cannot understand why some Muslim adults just can't seem to respect Ramadhan. Today, while walking the mall over lunch break I saw a couple sitting and chatting casually while having a cuppa at StarBux....Malay, definitely....Melayu Modern....anak siapa la agaknya ek?
I would not let my kids to be like them, never.

5.
What is happening to kids nowadays? In my teenage days, we used to have full session rugby training & taekwondo training during Ramadhan....hmmm...I gues that is why it is easier to find FAGGOT CUT clothings than a real man cutting like we used to have back then....right?