Bumblebee

I was up at 4am today and did some photo editing & updating this blog (title below this one). Since it is Friday, I am really looking forward to end the weekend with a happy note. I hope it will be like that by the end of today. Anyway, Naufal gave me his Bumblebee this morning - "Ni Naufal kasi Ayah", he said as I was preparing to go to the Zoo. Weerghh!! I have always wanted this toy (which was why I bought if for Naufal in the first place lah! Wahahahahah!). Alhamdulillah, I gave him a good name and it is what he is.... clear evidence in Naufal's true values - pemurah, penderma, pemberi nasihat....

I always pray that he'll be a good and humble servant of Allah and if he's going to be a leader (insyaAllah), he'll be a gazillion times better than those I have seen & smelled walking around the Zoo....Maybe one day I will tell the story here, Naufal's early days in this world. The fact is, I could not stop my tears when I merely think back about his first day in this world, so, frankly I don't know if I would be able to summon enough courage to write about it without damaging my keyboard! He's a good boy...I would never stop loving giving the best I could for Naufal & all my family members...never.

Hmm...this weekend, maybe a movie would be great.....Kung-Fu Panda is showing now.....weheheh....
There will be a meeting with their teachers this Saturday and on Monday I am going to take a day off. I just want to spend more time with my babies...



...and I must spend less time being around some filthy creatures who think they have the brain and good leadership values. I am a bit too pissed-off with the creatures in the Zoo today (well...nothing new aye?). Feel like slitting some of their throats actually...though in the end it will only make my Sigg knife dirty "tercemar" beyond use anymore...kena samak guna tanah satu lori pun tak tentu hilang bau lagi....that's how keji those people are.
A walk around the Zoo and you will realize there are just too may "bungalow lots" and "mansion" - workstations for Managers, Senior Managers & General Manager.
Mine is a shack compared to the others, I don't stand a chance to get to those positions, for years I have been denied promotion, demoted from the rating I clearly deserve...cantas sana, hasad sini, fitnah sana, dengi sini, umpat sana, keji sini, cilok my thinking & works & get rewarded & recognized for my efforts....
I just hate these people so much I wish I have the license to kill and get it done and over with, today.....
For months already, I came to work using the airgate less used by majority. I don't do breakfast. I do lunch (sometimes) when people have already spent their time - I go down late and will normally took only 20-30 minutes for a quick meal. I don't stick around and mingle with any "smart bunch" anymore. I find excuses to be alone or with my photojournalists friends from outside as often as I can....
Why? Because the damage and the character assassination done is too much and very frankly I cannot see a decent and just future for me anymore.
Even though I get things done and I do things differently and make many people look good to the top leaders year in year out, the others are just too qualified and seems to do more than me even though they actually just do much less and actually even steal other people's effort.
Now, I am asked to move out as if it is a nuisance to have me around them..and it just shows....just look at their workstations and how smart they are trying to be in their conversations!

Oh well...I am sick...with all these creatures....off to Masjid Negara.

Sari Ratu Restaurant

The kids have been enjoying quality times with Tok Mak & Tok Abah. I wish we are living much closer so that there will not be the issue of "dah lama tak balik kampung" and the kids can spend as much time as possible with them.
Anyway...we went to Sari Ratu - one of my favorite eating place - for dinner recently and I discovered something interesting - Jus Terung Belanda. I was like...Hmmm...what is ithis Terung Belanda thing nih......whonder how does it taste.....oh welll. why not just give it a try!!!

So that's what I did....unfortunately I did not remember to take a shot of the juice...BUT Mama was just too curious she had to ask the waiter how this Terung Belanda looks like!

Here it is.....

I don't know about you guys out there but I have never seen this fruit/ vegetable before in my life...I think. Well maybe I have seen something similar, a kind of fruit famous to the Cameron Highland locals which I tried when I was about 10 years of age...similar but not really the same thing.

Next time you happen go to Sari Ratu you may want to try this one...it tastes good...don't ask me what's the benefit of having it in your stomach because the only answer that would get from me is - your tummy will be happy!

Why Sari Ratu? Well simply because I like the decent choice of food they serve...and delicious too...and definitely affordable for a person who drives no luxury car and wears no designer clothes!

The first time we went to a Sari Ratu was for lunch - it was Raya and we took our maid there as a treat since she decided not to go back to Indonesia. Aliya was still inside Mama's tummy then!

Fast forward to present....now Aliya, Naufal & Alisya already know what to ask for when we go to Sari Ratu - the famous Ayam Pop and the delicious Es-Teler (pardon my spelling Indon friends!)....as for the twins...they would ask for their favorite "Teh Botol"....and Mama will definitely not miss her favorite Jus Avocado.

Teh Botol (used to be served straight from the bottle!)
& Es-Teler...

If you have never been to a Sari Ratu, you should try it soonest possible. It classify it as a humble, decent, comfortable and very clean restaurant I would bring my family anytime for a delicious meal.

....ishk..lapar la pulak dah!

Playground View

One of the best thing about living near to the office would be the relatively less travel time. The time lost on the road is less thus the pressure of getting to the office is less. I am not so sure if this is applicable to every single person but for me, it works. This means I get to spend more time with the kids. That is more important than anything else. Than everything else in fact.

Today and yesterday, I get to have breakfast with the kids and arrive at the Zoo within the same time frame I would have arrived if I am in SateVille. I even thought of going back for lunch actually!!

When the office hour ends yesterday, I packed my stuff and went straight home. I managed to bring the kids to the playground since they decided not to go for a swim in the afternoon. They had a two hour swimming in the morning and spend the whole day with their grand parents.

Hopefully things are going to be more easier and fun when we finally move in.

Aliysa.....she'd love to spend more time at "her condo"....notice the KLCC & KL Tower? I can see the condo from my workstation

About 6000 words are told by these images?

1.
This is one corner of my workstation. Not really a good example of a well manage workstation but it is my workstation so as long as I don't use it against company policy, nobody can complain about it lah kan! Looking at the stuff I kept in this corner - birthday cards, photos of my babies, wife in kimono, wedding photo, my parents & kid brother & sister, bouquet from wifey (about 6 yrs old already), small toys...the list goes on....obviously, I am a family oriented person - so, whatever I do, my family is always the main consideration. All I can think of is the time to be back home with the family. That is how bad The Zoo has become.
The good thing is...I have many options to choose from....and I let the "options" to "fight it off" between themselves - the first offer letter that lands in my pigeonhole, will the the next job I would look forward to move on to! Well of course I have look into all the options before I sent out my resume! So, may the best employer wins!
A management member of The Zoo (a cool dude, not the likes of the Zoo Leader and his stupid bunch) walked by a few minutes ago and asked me on the offers I am having - what's my feeling since I have quite a number of options to choose from?
My answer - This is not the first time such things happen to me, and the feeling is the same - I feel appreciated....at least I know my talent & skills are more than marketable & wanted by many out there than this place, dear Sir!



2.
That is me in action. Caught by a buddy - Shukri Jai of LeoBurnett. I can get carried away when "documenting" my "subjects" I guess! That does not mean my documentation are at par with the best....but insyaAllah, I will take it one step at a time....
No I am not a cameraman....I am a photographer, a wannabe photojournalist, documentary writer....really look forward to make happen the "to do list" when I am done with the Zoo (read: pencen!!)



3.
That's my baby Aliya Irdina (Neena) in red, with Shukri Jai's baby during the CNY Celebration of our Condo. Tell me....what kind of a father could ever resist not to hug & kiss babies like this everyday of their life???
If I can bring her to work, I'd do it!!! No second thoughts!


4.
I spend most of "my time alone" with YODA - the Mac G4 iBook that's already obsolete to the current standard of Macintosh fanatics (and wannabe fanatics)...but it still works..and I still can produce better shots that those with much expensive & latest range of gadgets anyway....so, why should I bother replacing it....I don't have the dough to get a new Mac anyway! Ahahah!
Some people would ask me from time to time - what is my latest toy. Apa ingat aku ni tokey kedai mainan???



5.
Alisya & Naufal. The best twins anybody could ever have. As I wrote this, they'd probably enjoying lunch at with Tok Mak & Tok Abah....they had their sports day yesterday and we decided to let them spend their days off at the condo with the grandparents. Alisya did mention to Mama recently: "Kakak miss the condo Mama...kakak nak stay lama-lama-lama-lama kat condo kakak nanti boleh tak Mama?"
Condo Kakak....heheh..yeah, it will be hers. Naufal has his house in Kajang, Neena, sooner or later insyaAllah, a house in Kuching...where I want to retire and put my photojournalism works to action....by that time, the Zoo and the animals that have been damaging my life all these years would not be much of a concern to me anymore.



6.
Probably the most composed subject on my DSLR. Ironically, I have never been to the KL Tower. I will let it be a "mystery" for now...maybe one day I will discover this "mystery" together with my kids...

...but...what I do look forward to do now is - to complete this day at the Zoo and go back for a big splash with the kids!

....3 hours & 22minuts to go!

Lights and flash memory

The thing about digital photography is you get to shoot as many shot and keep it in the memory card for as long as you want - NOT GOOD.
My habit is I would try to edit as much as possible and save it in the CF (my DSLR uses CF) and then burn the completed batch in a CD-R before re-formatting the CF to be used for another round of assignment.
No problem until TODAY! Dammit...all my shots are goners - in the Kingston 2GB Elite Pro 50x CF I bought end of May this year, not even a month old! My other 2 CF cards are Keep 1GB and PenDrive 2Gb, both billed with the purchase D70s...2 years back.

I am going to the shop where I bought the CF and see what can be done to retrieve the images in it. Failure to do so, may end me not buying Kingston products anymore...

Both shots of Aliya were done when we went back for Anie's wedding....
natural light, no flash, handheld...not the Kingston Cf definitely!

Cowards among the braves

Old Idiotic Coward..and probably very stupid too!
If he's your dad, grand dad or relatives, please tell him
next time there's a vigil or street demo, just stay at home or "kedai kopi"

1.
You may think I have no respect to seasoned generation by posting up the photo with the title under it. Well, you are entitled to your opinion and I am entitled to mine...and the fact is the idiot above is truly a coward! Seriously! Read on.

2.
Here is what happened:
I was doing my "job" taking shots of the street protest on fuel price hike last Friday. Many other photojournalists, photographers, videographers and the lot were at the scene and everybody were doing what they were supposed to do - including the protesters....well, NOT ALL of them!

Apparently, there are still idiots (sample of an idiot - please refer photo above) that do not know to behave like civilized humans, although being in a demo.
I was composing for emotions & tension at one spot when the old man passed by, walking together with the mobs shouting and yelling what's written on the placards they were flashing.

When the bastard saw me with my DSLR that was how he reacted (the shot above) and then as he moved closer he made a conscious effort to knock his ugly looking ring (gila babi hodoh punyer cincin siut!) on my DLSR.

Luckily I was still quick with my reflexes (well...years of being an avid martial artists really pays off I guess!) and no damage was done to my DSLR. The other protesters were quite amazed to see the reaction of that old bastard and some actually looked back at the bastard & shook their heads showing disapproval. I just stood and stared at the bastard and smiled...he dare not reacted - well, what do you expect? He's a coward!

Some other protesters who walked by after the bastard, reacted positively to our presence and didn't mind their faces being captured in our composition....infact many of them reacted positively - only this old idiotic bastard. The first one I have ever experienced ever since I started my journey in photojournalism.

3.
Why do I put the shot up in my blog?
Simply because this is my blog! Well actually, my message is - the people who walked the streets, protesting against some issues are supposed to be brave and they hold on to what they think or believe, they are asking for their rights, they want the world to realize and accept their message.

Now, if you are like that old coward, reacting negatively to people who are capable to help deliver the message you want to deliver to the world, creating negative ambiance to the whole group who marched the miles under the scorching sun...you better just stay out from trying to be brave...use whatever excuses you can and just stay out from the streets, let the real men (& women) do the demo, you don't qualify to be in their league at all.

Allow me to express my thought in Bahasa Melayu:
Buang jer la kopiah tu, ntah haji betul ke haji kopi o kau ni pakcik! Kalau nak join sama berdemo, pastikan ada "telur". Kalau tak ada telur, duduk kat rumah atau kedai kopi ajer la! Jangan merosakkan perjuangan orang yg sama berpeluh berpanas, yg berani ambil risiko disembur FRU dan ditangkap pihak berkuasa! Press nak ambil gambar dah sibuk nak tepis, belum lagi kena hambat dgn FRU...mahunya terkencing-terberak orang tua ni berlari! Baik laa duduk rumah atau gi surau berdoa utk kesejahteraan rakyat - itu pun kalau doa kamu makbul laa orang tua belagak...kalau tak pun duduk jer la kedai kopi bergebang seharian dgn berbekalkan kopi secawan...mungkin itu jer pun yg kamu layak buat..dasar orang tua bangsat tak sedar diri.

4.
Me angry? Well, yes....I cannot tolerate seasoned people who are "kurang ajar". I guess they are the cause of many indisciplined and demoralized generations we have in our society right now. If they don't know how to behave properly, what can we expect their offsprings to be like?
Is it not like expecting a pig to teach his son to live like a stallion?
Pepatah Melayu pulak - Seperti ketam mengajar anaknya berjalan lurus?

5.
Think.....and do something about it on your part!

Hike!

Hello! Meet Horton...Neena's new "pet" and doubles as the guard to our condo. I am not kidding you, Neena actually decided call this dude Horton - one of her favorite cartoon character, from the movie "Horton Hear's a Who". We stayed at the condo on weekends but recenty a bunch of our family from Kuching came and we palced them there since it was school holidays. The kids really enjoyed spending more time at the condo (well in the pool is more like it).

To many things have been bothering me, I don't have the mood to write a lot but I took photographs constantly and already have about 3GB of shots to edit & burn into a CD. THings are ok at the Zoo, yeah I just try to make the best of what is left and try no to bother much about being the lowest ranked idiot in the zoo hierarchy....the sooner I get ut of the system, the better it would be for me so, yeah I have been getting offers and I am going to make my move out, perhaps much sooner than what has been instructed by the mothafuckerleaders of the division.

Other than that, I spend time shooting with the real professionals. Ohh...this year is going to be more interesting than 2007, thank you to the price hike and other blunders by the leaders of the nation.....

Fuel price hike is the talks nowadays and gosh..you can find so many petroleum industry economics experts almost everywhere! Maybe they should consider applying a position somewhere in the Middle East because the Arabs are paying 4x of what they can get of the work here...

I get annoyed when people ask me have I filled the tanks of my cars up "....because the price is going up tomorrow haven't you heard?"
Yep...95% of the time - my answer would be I have not heard about it!

Ramai sgt yg tak puas hati but still some of them who can afford to buy cars - luxury, souped-up, customized - should just remain quiet....kalau boleh beli kereta kenalah boleh beli minyak bro!!! Kalau tak mampu, jgn la nak belagak lagi, cukup2 laaa tu! Tau nak bergaya ajer....ishkk...

Why do I have to que up and waste my time to save about Rm25-35 worth of the thing? I'd rather spend the time with my kids or editing my shots....

Last weekend I spent many hours with Aliya...me not feeling well and Aliya in her "manja mode". We took long naps the whole part of the morning, occasionally waking up to talk & play "choo-choo train"...and drawing! Yes...the first drawing session with Aliya! (can be seen the table in that photo above). Well, it was fun and we'd sure will be doing it more after this!

Apart from that, we brought the kids to meet their favorite hero..well onf of their favorite heroes...Ultraman....the whole bunch of them (Tiga, Gaia, Nexus, Dyna, Mebius...you name it!)

Theehehehe.....the kids just naturally posed like that, nobody asked them to do it! The Ultraman with them is Nexus...I think! Oh well, I am not too sure actually...I have to ask Aliya...erk..Neena....

This weekend...hmmm I dunno.....but a splash in the pool and another drawing with Neena would be a definite in our to-do list....

I don't worry about the price hike too much - not because I am filthy rich - but it is beyond my control...and I will just adapt to the situation...that's how roaches have survived for much longer than the dinosours anyway...

It is quite easy for me...I am not the stylo-mylo type of a person and I live a simple life..priority goes to my kids...I may not be driving an expensive car, I may not be wearing branded clothings but I still have quite an amount to spend for my kids every month and continue enjoying life with the family...rezeki comes in many different ways....it is not about how much you get but how berkat it is.....

So...while others around me still continue to be greedy & worldly, I can't just help but observe how pathetic they are....I have suffered enough in the Zoo, nothing can hurt me anymore...but I can sure hurt the blardy monkeys in the Zoo badly if I want too!

Tin Boats

When I went back to Kuching recently, I regretted that I could not add nor re-do shots to my initial documentation. However, I had the opportunity to do my first documentation about Kg Serikin. Yes, I went there unprepared, no proper research or sketches like I would usually have for any documentation - but it's a start. InsyaAllah I will be going there again, and again and again.....

It was the first time in 3 decades for me to re-discover the toy Abah bought be when I first set my foot to this city called Kuala Lumpur ...found the similar toy in Kg Serikin and I stood there smiling for quite a while before I started to compose some shots. I told Alisya about this toy and she was amazed to see the boat moving around....perhaps wondering where the remote control is!

I was about 7 or 8 years old at that time. We stayed at my cousins' rumah bujang and what I can really recall was we went to pasar malam and Abah bought me a red tug-boat that moves with the heat generated from burning cooking oil.

The environment of KL city amazed me back then...the tall buildings, vehicles big & small, people rich & poor...we ate at the road side warungs, not at any air-conditioned restaurants, what more fast food outlets...I was amazed to see kids my age in big cars (no idea WTF BMWs & Benzs are at that age!), wondering how they felt in those so comfortable looking leather seats...with air-conditioned interiors (our Opel Kadett has no air-cond!)

Almost 30 years.... and I guess I am still the same boy who came from a kampung about 3 hours steady-drive from KL...same in the sense that I am still a kampung boy, who wants nothing much than a happy life with my family regardless what others around me are chasing... those overly ambitious, cruel people...who seems to not have enough of everything and always want to be above others in every single sense possible....

Let them be....for me, I strongly believe, there are many poorer souls than me....who may have never had the chance to own a tin boat when they were 7....

Many things happened since my last entry. Though none can change the severe damage done to my heart and soul, I am still standing with integrity and faith..and my prayers to my one and only God....who will be fair to those involved and who will give them proper consequences for their hasad dengki, busuk hati & cruelty.