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?

Prayers

1.
It is another Ramadhan. The first for Aliya. We went back to Kampung on the first day of Ramadhan. It has been months since we last balik kampung. Tok Mak & Tok Abah will spend Ramadhan & a few days of EidulFitri in Makkah so we were there to send them to JB where they will join the congregation for a bus ride into Singapore before they board the flight in Changi.
Since it has been months from our last balik kampung, the relatives were just happy and surprised to see how well Aliya has progressed...she'd probably the chubbiest baby in the family at her age....and "user friendly".

Alisya & Naufal preferred to stay at home (their definition of kampung is the house of Tok Mak & Tok Abah) and that means we only go out with Aliya most of the time.

One intersting thing about Ramadhan in Segamat would be the Bazaar Ramadhan. Yeah I know every other place has this but we have our favorite dishes & beverage available here....because I am sure you cannot find Air katira anywhere else in Malaysia.


The kids met their cousins and they had fun.

Of course, the hardest part was when it was time to say bye-bye to Tok Mak & Tok Abah. They will be spending more than a month in Makkah and that means we will celebrate eid without them until the 4th day of Eid. Well, they have been wanting to do this for so many years and since the last attempt did not went well due to Tok Abah's bad cough, this time thy are really going to enjoy their stay there insyaAllah.

The congregation met at masjid Sultan Abu Bakar JB. It has been at least 25 years since I last ever been there!!! Of course I took the opportunity to take some shots to preserve the moments.

The other opportunity I took was to actually tell Mak & Abah that I love them so much. I don't know when was the last time i ever said that to them but most probably it was way way waaaaayy back, years ago. So, I kinda released some pressure off my self, I have always wanted to say that verse especially since we have Alisya & Naufal in the family. It took Aliya's presence to make me feel guilty enough to hold it back thus I just did it.

As for Alisya, Naufal & Aliya, I would say I love you to each of them everyday and they will reply back and at times they will give me a big hug too.
Hopefully they will continue to do it forever!

2.
My good buddy Rahman Roslan has made his first big achievement in the world of professional photojournalism. He will be in cambodia with the best photojournalists, war photographer of the world soon to undergo a special workshop for selected few. all the best to you buddy!

3.
The news about adik Nurin Jazlin is really really disturbing. My sincere condolences to the family. I am not going to say much since there are so many loose ends if you read the news and blogs but what I really want to see happening is the bastardo who did this to be caught and be guvenb the proper punishment in this world and for the hereafter, may the bastardo earn eternal damnation.

Clawdagger

This is what you get when you reunite a bored wannabe VIIPhoto photojourno with his prime lens....

Everyone..say hi to Clawdagger...Naufal's pet dragon!

Shot was done on my D70s (what else laa!!) using 50mm f1.8 Nikkor prime lens - yg dah lama member pinjam (adeh!).
Creative Lighting System applied - one Speedlight (SB-600) triggered by on board flash.
More to come...if only I still have my Aile Strike Gundam....

Still in Merdeka Mode

It has been a very hectic week for me and for my family, the last time I updated this blog. Then I have another round of hectic week....werghh...good ting I am allowed a free day this Friday ....which I really look forward to.(done already when this is being posted!)

So obviously this post is late and I took time to finish it... and the images comes later or somewhere in between the time I started writing this entry and the actual posting time....eheheh!

Actually when I started to wrote this I am sitting at the foyer of the big hotel where we'd do the many sessions of fora throughout the year, trying to reflect what happened since I last updated the blog....what I can quickly say is I feel relieved that the other forum for the yuppies are over and done with. Yeah we were stretched (my team) but we made it through and pulled a real good one I should say. The AV team was the same team which have been with us or the previous (and future) sessions of fora. What I would like to write is my observation during the session held at a rather well known hotel in the city.

1.
Some people seems to have problem when it comes to saying words of appreciation. Maybe it is not about appreciation for them at all since they "think" they have "paid" the others to do what is expected and they have all the "right" to treat the others the way they seem fit. as long as they get what they want - sometimes it was never mentioned in the agreement up front! What I am trying top say is actually some of us are just a total failure ro realize that we MUST TREAT HUMAN AS HUMANS! Regardless how much the company pays the contractors to get the job done it does not mean YOU ARE THE APPOINTED SLAVE DRIVER!

....end of the day the one that can get along well with all working levels would be in the ultimate advantage. They may not be rewarded by the top leaders but they get things done and make people feel appreciated & connected while doing so.

2.
Then there is this bunch of people who has this wonderful capability of ignoring others except those with high ranks and titles. They will ignore you as if you are not in the same dimension they are in although you are right in front of them and smiling friendly being the natural friendly person you are.

And those blardy idiots will just continue to ignore you existence UNLESS either one of these occurs:

a) A higher ranking leader - the likes of a vice President of the President himself happens to pass by and says hi to you and engaged in a short conversation - THE PARTICULAR BASTARD WILL EITHER TRY TO JUMP IN AND TRY TO ENGAGE IN THE CONVERSATION (regardless what level of knowledge the bastard has with regards to the topic, as long as they can get some airtime - bastards are bastards aye?) OR AT THE VERY LEAST THE BASTARD WOULD SAY HELLO TO THE HIGHER RANKED LEADER AND GREET YOU BY YOU REAL FULL NAME.....just to show that although being a bastard he/ she remembers you name - especially in front of that leader...it is very very important for the bastards to be able to "connect" with the people that those leaders can connect to, naturally.

b) Same as above but as the leader was passing by you just greeted him/ her naturally and "all of the above" happened...

c) The wonderful bastard greeted a leader as he/ she was passing by and in turn the leader realized that you were there and all of the above - again - happened

What am I trying to say? Nothing much but as long as we have the sincere intention to do what is expected of us for the good of the organization, we don;t have to try hard to be noticed. People will notice our commitment and efforts - if they don't the BIG GUY UP THERE will...and that is all that matters anyway.

3.
What made me wanna really write the item 2 above was when recently I was involved in this forum for young leaders or whatchamacallit....when a senior leader holding a position as one of the VicePres were talking to a bunch of 'yuppy' or politically correct name would be - young leaders of course - I was passing by and naturally greeted the VicePres (yeah he knows me because I was the one responsible for designing his speech and key messages & made clear what he is expected to deliver) and the leader then introduced me to the erhmm young leaders which - to his surprise - none of them actually knew me! He was saying something like - how come you all don't know Torque (replace that with my real name lah!)?!!

Ahahah! Young leaders....yeah....whatever.

4.
The Merdeka celebration with the kids was marvelous. Aliya, Naufal & Alisya enjoyed the fireworks, the time we spent together over the long weekend. The only regret was it had to be another round of hotel nights immediately after the celebration....

5.
Ramadahan is coming soon...what a joy!

50 Years already

The Merdeka Celebration this year marked the 50th years of independence. I think my kids are enjoying Merdeka Celebration very much - for Aliya, this is her first experience (second one actually if the one when she was still in mama's tummy is counted!).
Maybe they will soon understand how much it meads to be independent.
For now, at least they know the word Merdeka!