My work is PRINTED!

The past weeks at "the zoo" (read my blog lah!) has been very annoying. The only time I feel happy is when I am being surrounded by my babies & wife at home....and of course "virtually" being with you people who care enough to read my boring blog lah! :wink:

Today, though I am still at "the zoo", I am a bit happier than those weeks before, reason being...

...a photo I shot recently (when we went picnic/ camping), is being published in today's STAR page N42.

Here's the original:

I did not win anything but it is just rewarding to see my photo being published (although the rest in that page are taken maybe with cameraphones!)

It will be a happy week for me this week! InsyaAllah!

Whatever will be will be

The family sending me off on that teambuilding thingy. I really miss them the moment the coach started to move.

1.

Hmmm....this is becoming a bad habit, not updating this little bloggie as often as possible! Well the fact is I have been too busy with THE ZOO....mainly on securing a new position so that I would not end up damaging my brain working with stupididiotpigs and instead continue developing my capabilities and skills by working with a more dynamic team - even if I would not get the opportunity to have a better cubicle/ room soon.

The teambuilding was nothing to shout about but we had fun - the zany bunch. The pigs were sore especially on the Paintball game - boy did we have fun scaring them off! In the end they chickened-out (porked-out more like it) and although some of us had injuries (minor - the return of those old injuries from the school days mostly) we had fun and we really know who amongst us are really warriors and team players and who are the cowards. In the end we have proven that we are far better leaders (and followers) than any of the pigs....bravo! The indoor session was nothing short of boring but we did not give the chance for the pigs to have any last words, we really bashed every single stupid statements - regardless whether they wanna change to the better or not, we do not care actually, they are pigs anyways!

Rambling aside...I did manage to do some "impressive" shots while on the trip lah...to my own syok sendiri definition at least!

Oh yes...I am moving away from my current position to a more interesting one...within the same zoo - for now, I don't mind staying in this zoo since I have decided to join a far better team....the current team (me & CL) will be "dismantled" soon because the pigbiatch could not handle people and prefers to be a pig and do shitty stuff she thinks will impress the leaders so she went all out to get rid of us ASAP, ironically we made our choice and "helped" the pigbiatch in her attempt to "dump" us out - and she looked really happy with this "achievement" to say the leasy....mmg bodoh punya babi!
So the best team is the one I am joining lah...since the will be no more tag team of me & CL in the zoo!

Other than that, most of my time is spent with my beautiful babies & wifey. Here's what we have been up to these past couple of weeks....not in particular order.....

2.

Yerp....we did GO FLY KITES!
Been a very long time since we last went to this area near Kepong where people fly their kites everyday it almost looks like there's a kite festival al year round in that area. The kids love it very much....promised them if they behaved well we'd bring them to play kites - they have never done this before...when we reached that area, they were excited...gave tthem somr money to buy their own kites...Alisya chose Doraemon while Naufal had a tough time to decide between Batman or Ultraman....he went for Ultraman in the end. Boy! They really enjoyed the afternoon...Aliya too....one day soon she'll be holding the end of the rope of her own kite!

The kite flying activity, unfortunately, could not be done every afternoon due to recent unpredictable rain showers but nevertheless, we know the kids love their kites and we look forward to another long afternnon flying the kites with them.

3.

We did not go balik kampung for the CNY (sorry Tok Mak & Tok Abah) so we that we get to spend more time with the kids. Among other things that we did was had d blast at the theme park in the Jusco near our homey....

Alisya was really into this one Godzilla game (ehhehe! The Godzilla was so cute it looks almost as cute as Alisya!) Naufal tried everything but end up with no "concentration" as always! Ahh well...a boy will be a boy!
Aliya...hmmm this little lady seems to like the train ride the best. They spent almost al of their "pocket money" - given based on how they have behaved in a certain period of time...we had trouble getting them out of the theme park...especially that little Godzilla of ours! Kena bribe laaa plak...promised them we'd do camping the next day....

4.

Which we actually did!
Mama prepared lunch and we packed all the items needed for a camping trip. When we wrrived at our favorite spot, the clouds were minglling above our heads...and just as we completed setting up the tent, it started to rain - HEAVILY!
The kids had their first experience of living and eating in a real tent, under a heavy downpour. They ate a lot too! Aliya explored every possible corners of the tent....and I realized at that moment I need to get a better built tent and a bigger one if my ambition to get them exposed to outdoor activities is to happen soon.
After the rain settled down, we jumped into the stream....of course I cannot take photos when I am being drowned by the little monsters of mine but here are some images I managed to compose for this outing lah...mainly Alisya, because Naufal & Aliya surrendered early to the coldness and had a big nap in the tent....

5.

This little lady is growing really fast. She has a game she loves to play with me whenever she's in the mood to play....she'll chase me around the couch and will never stop chasing me until she either caught up with me or I turned and chase her instead! She'd be laughing all the way and if needs be she will land on the knees and crawl as fast as she could to any of the family member to seek "protection".
Of course, I'll always lose because in the end I will lie down and she'll climb on my tummy and claim victory. She's a natural champion and knows what she wants, and will go for it all she might - I can see that already in this baby girl of ours.

6.
I just love my family more and more each day.



NOTE: Flickr is acting up (dammit!) so those images are hosted on Photobucket or directly loaded from my Mac. Most of the shots were composed on the kit lense of Nikon D70S and Nikon's 50mm f1.8 prime lense but some of those images were done with a Nikkor 70-300 G spec lense - pinjam from Kudeen! A really good lense as long as you know how to handle it with your DSLR.....of course Vr spec would always be better option but it will create a much bigger hole in your wallet!

The Bloody Zoo

Shot this one recently after Friday prayer....how I wish the biatch pig & the ZooMaster & the rest of the mentioned pigs in my essay below to end-up being like that Ah-So in this photo

I really enjoy my time when I go out as photographer - especially when I am shooting street scenes. I seriously think I am the friendliest me when I am shoting street scenes & interact with my "subjects". On top of that, the current craze I enjoy to do (and one of my main reason to keep on breathing) is to cuddle my little daughter Aliya and talk to her, she can pay attention to my words as if she understands it well. At the end of the "conversation" she'd either grab my nose or try to talk back to me in her own language (how I wish I can understand her language!). Getting her to doze is a challenge....but it is one of those things that I know I would not be able to experience anymore after this, with Aliya, it will happen only this once....so, I have to grab all the chance while I can.....just like I did with Alisya & Naufal....oh how they have grown up and able to argue logically - sometimes you just have to admit they are innocently right!

For the past few weeks, I have been working outside the zoo. What a relief. Not that I do not like the zoo so much but I just could not stand some of the muthakcufing idiots walking around the zoo. For the sake of letting me release the heat, let me classify them, the few of them....ohh by the way, the annoying animals in the zoo would always be pigs, regardless what kind of animal they are in the first place, when they became annoying, they will be pigs. So, please, spare me some air, don't argue, just read lah!

1) Annoyingly Arrogant pig - there is only one that really stands out currently
This pig would be the type that would walk with the nose high in the air. This pig thinks she (opps...there you go, a hint! IT IS A BIATCH PIG!!) own the zoo and pays your salary to clear shits in the zoo. The matter of fact is this pig is clueless but managed to maneuver her fcuking way for all these years - thanx to the leaders of the zoo for that...you know, the leaders..those who gets al the best bananas and produce shit for the rest down the zoo hierarchy, while pigs lick their bottom clean and maybe give some jowblob while at it? That's how this kind of pig survive in the zoo, and the monkeys are still up there.
The pig could not get along with anybody but the kind of personality that she choose to get along with - which not necessary be happy to be associated with this pig anyway but never mind about that, since some do became at least half-baked pigs like the arrogant pigs anyway so, be it. This arrogant pig has her own sty which used to be a cool room belonging to a cool boss we used to work as a real dedicated team. That boss has moved to another zoo unfortunately. So now, the room is a sty and it is now the most pungent smelling space in the zoo, filled with elements of boastfulness....ohh well you know it well I bet, those pix and self bought souvenirs placed nicely in every available space of the sty to shout out "I have been to this country, so I am a better person than you who probably have never been outside your stupid kampung"....intentionally exhibited with a little hope that people (or the other half-baked pigs like her) who are unlucky enough to have to step into the sty to admire and envy this visual parade of the arrogant pig's "achievement". Ohhh.....there was even once when this pig actually brought a bundle of thick album of the family going holiday in China....Wow!! China! I have never been there!!! Have you? (China ajer ke? Ingat kaya sgt!!! Money talking - aku pun bleh pergi China every month but WTF whould I wanna do that?!!!)
Nobody in the zoo was that interested about the whole pigshit she's trying to show off anyway but being nice, we just play along and take a peeP at all the kcufing photo albums (photography wise, I'd say those are all ultimately low class tourists shot that I can easily cut do while being half awake, brushing my teeth in the morning) WTF did the pig insist to show all the kcufing albums? Well perhaps to show how lucky they were, not ending in a Chinaman's bowl as stewpeed pig stew?!

Another very distinguish character of this pig would be her ability to be the actual biatch who brought Cruella Deville into this earth. ...let me tell it directly to you lah....who in this world would be so heartless when a staff who have to be on emergency leave to pay final respect to his grandmother who has been sick and died without him being by her side, was sent an e-mail that states he could not apply for compassionate leave but must apply for annual leave instead. No condolences, no apologies NO KCUFING BRAIN for that matter! Oh if that is quite common, then take this...who amongst you all, would want a biatch that feels so important and powerful to actually check & report to the stupid ZooMaster, by "summarizing" the attendance list who came in at what time and what reason was written? Of all the people, they picked a dude who has an untreatable disease and will always have to live with it with out knowing when will be the end. Taught them a little lesson about card system and the air-gate. Oh..and since when do you have to present a letter from the specialist if you came late by the minutes to the office even it is becaues of the kcufing traffic and the day before you stayed back to complete some shit for the pigs until 9pm?? Being me, I actually cornered them to admit that the letter is actually for the pig & ZooMaster who are not going to be held responsible if internal audit is done on late arrival to office (do they actually do this now? It is not the 70's for crying out loud!) They don't care if die on my way to work just to clock in before the allocated time. What they want is to get off the radar of responsibility and score for bigger bonus and benefits by tormenting staff to be slave robots (it is a zoo you idiot, not a factory!) So, you can just guess how messy the sty was during that time of "interrogation" or what the fcuk the pig & the ZooMaster wanna call it.
If that is not enough, how about this....how would you like to have a stupid pig bitch as a boss, who in a team meeting openly tells everybody that she prefers to choose who she can work with and openly admits she will not be able to work well with most of the people around her?
Ohh...if that is not enough, how about a pig biatch who never greets you good morning and straight away business talk (yeah, business your pigshit) and arrogantly say she has done this and that - including doing major amendment on the presentation pack - when we compare the amended pack with the original pack we cracked our brains to prepare when she has never actually put a minute of thinking until the day to present is tomorrow, the major amendment would be some words she changes with the ones she preferred....and color of the frigging slides...that will be enough for her to OINK the hell down on you and say that the pack is a crap...simply because she had to change the color....go fcuk your dead grandad, stupid pig biatch.
Enough samples of this pig biatch? Good. If it is still not enough, you should come & work in the zoo.

CONCLUSION: The fact that I managed to still control my feet to not land on the face of this pig is actually the 8th wonders of the world. Anyway, who'd wanna dirty his shoe on a useless pig.....might as well use an arrow and a bow to do the job! As much as possible, ignore this kind of piggly bastard, or just move far away from them....drop a napalm while leaving, it would benefit the humankind vastly....it will be an interesting entertainment too!

2) Annoyingly Noisy pigs
I bet you have this readily available around you but this kind of pigs is a bit different in this zoo I am in - I think. People make noise when they are excited. That I can accept. But of those people make noise just to be heard, then they are already pigs, not people. For instance.....why the fcuk should you talk so loud on the phone with your renovation contractor on the other side of the line? You want people to know you are renovating your bungalow and the tiles are individually crafted to perfection from Morocco? Similarly, when you are talking to the service center of your luxury car. Similarly, when you are talking to another pig of your kind about your weekend spent test-driving some luxury car....fcuk it! Go buy it if you really can afford it laa...tak abis2 test drive & compare specs...if you are really rich don't berhutang, buy cash, EVERYTHING! Ni renovate rumah pun kalau boleh nak bayar pakai Credit card apa cerita niii?!! P*k*mak punya orang belagak kaya tapi lunch pun berkira....sendiri style gila bergaya (yeah right....suave my foot....kaki dangdut or apek karaoke looks is more like it!!) but bila masuk bab anak sendiri punya pakaian punyala kedekut!

CONCLUSION: I would just love to ignore these pigs. If they are making noise around my workplace, I would bluntly say, fcuk off somewhere else somebody is trying to earn a living to raise his children and save as much as possible while he's still alive. Bastards. Bodoh punya tong kosong....lagak saja lebih.....

3) Annoyingly Annoying pigs
Ahahahah...this type....wow. Amazing how they are still around. They are better than the cockroaches....in a brazillion years I bet you will still have this kind around while the cockroaches who has outlived the dinosaurs may have become instinct already. These pigs are just filled with annoyance, it oozes out of their ears & noses and every holes they have on them....whatever comes out from them - verbally - is annoying. They try hard to be funny, smart and all but it just does not fit the time, place, audience....and the century for that matter! The likes of cracking stupid jokes with very miserable skill to deliver the punch line (the joke is not at all funny in the first place!) when everybody else is trying hard not to realize he is there in the group....always boasting and bragging about what they have, where they have been to, how great a person they are in each meeting thay attend especially those with juniors & beautiful ladies in it....fcuking dangdut punya kaki, bini kat runah tak terjaga sibuk bising about the rights of having 4 wives laa etc...cracking dirty jokes around women audience as if they are your close buddies (perhaps the bastard think he's a lady kot?!)....simply put.....BODOH NAK MAMPOS! GATAL NAK MAMPOS! Takde maruah ke hapa?

CONCLUSION: I would (again) ignore these bastards and move to another space further from them....given the chance I'd like to send them off to Pluto...which is not already a planet in our solar system! So..in other words, it is best for humankind (and whatever creatures that exist in this universe) to be as far as possible from this kind of pigs.

OK. We are done.

In about 15 more hours, I will be on a coach bus heading towards some resort for a "teambuilding" with those pigs and some cool people of the zoo. The original intent of the teambuilding was totally abolished, as instructed by the ZooMaster (yeah, cross breed pig of a dead sloth and a retarded llama)...so in the end, the people in the zoo is not quite sure what kind of teambuilding it is going to be.....but I am going there but with one intention - to shoot (as in photography...ohh got myself a brand new Crumpler for the d70s! that one will be posted later!)...and to shoot the heads of those pigs as many time as I can (as in Paint Ball). Ohh boy....is this not going to be fun and bloody!!!

I don't really fancy being in the same bus/ resort with pigs...

Hmmm...come to think of it, if the bloody teambuilding is getting no where, I might just climb on a bus and be back home before the pigs can say OINK-eh?

Will defenitely miss my kids....

The Outing - Part One

The last entry was an effort - due to hectic schedule - and I have been running around with my usual stuff in the bag but not with the luxury of time to put something up on this site. So, actually what I am trying to say is, this entry is another big effort for me lah! (This has got to stop...somehow! I need more time for my family & my future!)

Well anyway, today I had to work offsite - a departmental meeting outside the Zoo - trying to give "smart" input and ideas The days before, had to cover some shoots (not really my KPI but VITAL for my future development heheheh!) and co-facilitate for a gathering of the zooleaders. The rest of the days before that was spent trying to get things done....or convincing people to get things done...or just look like doing something to get things done! Eheheh!

The fun side of life was after the official zoo hours were done.....especially before bedtime when it is time to wrestle the babies to sleep...and the wee hours in the morning where the babies would wake up each other and create a minor mess in their room...the little one is really too cute and cheeky sometimes I just wish I do not have to work and just spend the whole day with the kids instead of being in the Zoo.

OK..the reality is, I still have to work and deal with the Zoo-poo, so, be it and while doing that I can still be happy......so, no big deal, life goes on!

The weekend is another story. I have been actively involved with the shutterbugs activities recently and actually today I was amazed to be informed by ted that he's "cooking' something up for me and I had to submit some of my works to be evaluated to the client he's meeting tomorrow...if everything goes well the "masyuk" will be substantial.....we'll talk about it when it happens lah but for now, since last week I have done 2 outings - one individually and another one with the CS dudes....and a TT session with the CS.

The CS dudes were the ones who were privileged enough to get the first preso on my shots (during TT gua punya works dah kena taji & koyak daaaa!) For the benefit of those who did not manage to join the TT, here are the result of the first outing...TT and the other outing will be staged later lah ok gua letih laa nak tulis & post byk2 at one go!

Note: For the sake of argument, I use D70S with kit lense for all of the shots done...imges hav ben reduced from JPEG fine L format to adobe jpg files, 72DPi.

Date: 19th. January 2007 - It is one of those days where I had to send my lovely wifey to work although I am on leave and the kids are schooling. So, I decided to shoot some street stuff and other interesting subjects I can find within the day....



Started at the Twin Towers...this dude was happily tapping away on his PPC Phone, did not even notice my presence, had the luxury to compose & recompose and adjust my settings...the result posted is the best I managed to get.

Then I took the subway to CM. Took some shots before I got out of the station.

(An Old Hotel near Klang Bus Stop)
The color of this building attracted me to compose this one. Nothing special about this building - well at least nothing that I knew about actually!

(Graffiti)
If I have a proper zoom lense it could have been a better shot.
Makes me wonder how some people are capable to really mis-used their cool talents!

(TNB Powerhouse)
The blue & red of this building will stand out with proper exposure and lighting. Trying to get the best angle/ composition using the tool I have. Maybe next time if I should use speedlights for more dramatic lights?

(Photog in a Temple)
I actualy "tiru" this one from freak's portfolio (wassup dude!) but not totally 100% tiru lah! with some cropping done and minor curves adjustments, I am quite happy with this composition...that dude is holding a P&S.

From the Petaing Street & Klang Bus Stop area, I moved towards CM area....

(At a junction)
Heheh....probably would be an interesting story to be told if the lady is walking towards the "Reggae Bar" instead. Notice the signboard....so many places to go to!

(Stylo-mylo)
This used to be one of the usual barbershop that I go to when I was a student. Infact, this is where I got my ponytail that I kept for about a year or so (brutal siut masa tu side rambut skinhead, tapi belakang ada ponytail tuuu...time tu gue team manager/ assistant instructor for the Malaysian Varsity taekwondo Team). Approached the machaa and talked a bit with him, asked him to pose for a shot (end up with a couple of shots!) which I took across the street.

(Cari Rezeki)
This worker was friendly enough to response to me calling him to look at the lense...not much time to re-compose so I had to make the best with the spilt second I had him to look at the camera.

(McD..not!)
The color of this section of the building is McD enough but McD operates just next to it.

(Missing glasses)
Some imperfection can be an interesting art too...who needs perfections all the time anyway?!

(BURRDS!)
Well..some bird watching can also be done without white lenses but one day I would want to do the real bird watching thing too lah!

(Typical Malaysians)

The more positive part of being a typical Malaysian

(Yellow windows!)
I spent quite a chunk of my time to compose these images of this building...trying hard not to end up with typical "tourists shot". I think I did quite well here...

(At a junction again)
OH my...where do I want to go next?!

The best option was to move towards Masjid Negara, simply because the Friday prayer time is near....

(Framed Dayabumi)
My first working place framed as part of my life journey

(SAS building)
Perhaps not many shots were composed from this angle of this building...

(BPR)
You people familiar with this one?

(Homeless dude)
This dude was resting and it took me a while before I decided to disturb his rest. Tried to communicate using voice but apparently he can't speak, so I used sign language instead and asked him if he's already eaten. He nodded. Good, because I forgot to pack some grubs with me anyways! So, I gave him some small amount of cash (already pre-planned the night before the outing, together with the route & subjects to shoot!) He was happy to accept it. After a while I "asked" him if I can take some photos of him..he nodded and I took the least time possible to compose and get the best shots of this dude....the dude was lepaking at quite a difficult for me to compose decently good shots but I did what I could to minimize time I am wasting off the dude's resting time...break all the rules except my one and only "Titanium Rule of PhoTorqueGraphy" - it is all about capturing moments!

To braggards and rich boys & girls and their parents (if you happen to read this ugly blog of mine) for once, you should just go out there and learn to be humble......

When I arrived at Masjid Negara, that usual weekly havoc is still there. The "pasarmalam" like environment is still there ever since I moved from Dayabumi. Cool.

(Maths Whizz)
I was mistakenly identified as a reporter/ photographer by this dude but I managed to convince him to continue with his "job" while I took some shots...this one's my favorite.

Then it was time for Friday prayer.....while I was entering the mosque, a brother taxi driver approached me and asked from which press I am from (Hahahah! The Nikon pro-photog vest really works!) Apparently he has been noticing me taking my shots from the CM/ Klang Bus Stop area and he was amazed how far I have walked and covered...then he talked about taxi permit & the politics behind it and wish some press would do some coverage about it...I told him I can't promise much but I will see what I can do lah...after we shook hands (ohhh his name is Aziz by the way) we went into the mosque for the ablution & preparation for the khutbah hearing. After the prayer, there was a small demonstration on ISA issue - nothing interesting to stage here.... so I went to take some shot of the resting place of Allahyarham Tun Dr Ismail, as requested by Kimster.

(Maqam Pahlawan)
I found the perspective of the entry into Maqam Pahlawan is an interesting composition.

(Orang tidur)
This is an interesting perspective too...don't you think?

By this time, my big tummy is already grumbling....time to fill it up...but I stopped at the gate for a final shot....a daughter of a foreign beggar....perhaps a year younger than my twins...

...what if this is YOUR daughter?
Well...you should be thankful of what you have now peeps! There are people out there who have much less than we do...

After this shot, I went for lunch - BURRPP!! - at the gerai I used to go to on Fridays while my office was in Dayabumi...the makcik asked me if I am going to shoot he business place or just eat..."Lapar ni makcik, nak makan laaa tak larat dah nak amik gambau!"

Just as I finished the delicious meal, it started to drizzle...

Well....there goes my plan to do more shots.....off to my wifey's office then....