Work trip

1.
The past few days Alisya has been sleeping on my tummy, just like she used to when she was a little baby. She just wants to be on my tummy! Last night Alisya, Naufal, Aliya & me slept in their room, Naufal insists to climb down from his bed and join us. As we were talking suddenly Alisya asked me:
A- Ayah nak pergi airport nak work (travel) esok eh?
M- Hmm...bukan esok Kakak, hari lagi satu. Kenapa?
A- Alisya taknak Ayah pergi airport, nanti Alisya takboleh kawan dgn Ayah. Alisya nak Ayah.
M- Ayah kena work Kakak, nanti Ayah balik kita pergi jalan2 ok Kakak?
A- Ayah jgn la pergi airport...Alisya nak kawan Ayah...
M- Hmm....ok mcm ni, Ayah kena work, nanti Ayah abis work cepat2 Ayah balik & bawak Kakak jalan2 lama2 ok?
A- OK Ayah....nanti Ayah balik ok.
M- Ok Kakak....now listen...Kakak, Naufal & Neena kena tidur, esok nak bangun awal Ayah nak work & hantar Kakak & Naufal pergi sekolah ok?
A- Nak cerita Sang Kancil Ayah?
So...I had to do a round of Sang Kancil - their version of the story which we have been creating all these while - and after some laughters they fell asleep...owhh.. Aliya decided to "Anak awan Ayah" (Tak nak kawan Ayah) and went down. Heheheheh...that cute little lady.

2.
Yeah....I have to travel for 3 days starting tomorrow - business trip. Just a short while but it will be packed, am not sure if I am going to have time to shoot some stuff....
speaking of which....I bought a rarely used (like, almost new) P5000 Nikon at below Rm500 from a buddy yesterday...just too good to refuse and it will be great tool for macro shots....

3.
Finally I started writing in the journal again after 2 months of struggling! I did it while having breakfast & waiting for my passport renewall process yesterday...have to be more rajin to write more in the journal.
Yesterday Aliya tried her best to stop me going to work! We played for a while - with her Bubble-blowing Train. She just loves it!
....well....definitely I am going to miss them during my business trip....good thing it is just 2 working days...

4.
Have to pack my stuff tonight....
Gotta go back home early so that I can spend more time with the kids before tomorrow comes....

20.08.2008

1.

The kids woke up as I was preparing for work this morning.....and Alisya casually asked me as I put on my shirt:

A: Ayah nak pakai baju blue color ke?
M: Yes Kakak.
A: Why?
M: Hmm...sebab Ayah suka....
A: Ayah tak ada baju lain ke?
M: Erk....no Kakak....Ayah takda duit la nak beli baju lain lagi Kakak...
A: Tak apa Ayah..Kakak ada duit...nanti Kakak belikan...Ayah nak baju color....red? White? Black?
Haaa...Kakak belikan Ayah baju PINK lah ok?
M: Haaa?
A: *Giggles. Ayah pakai baju PINK nanti.....*giggles

Fresh from the camera, this morning...
(Alisya with the Ted Adnan's Trademark pose!)
only Allah knows how much I love them!

3.
The team is out handling a conference and I have to complete some papers for the trip to a neighboring country next week.
...and apart from some other interesting stuff which I need to put in some thinking & writing, I was asked to do a presentation on MF Design & stuff this Friday....
Owh....today is the first day of the first MF series for this financial year...am sure the present team will handle it well.

4.
Maybe I will go back a bit early today and take the kids for a splash.....hmmm......maybe...

The Second Day

1.

Hello! Welcome to Sunshinefloor!

The workstation is half the size I have been accustomed to....but that matters not.This is just my second day and already I felt like I have been with these bunch for quite a while...and today I was asked to arranged a birthday celebration for Aug & Sept babies and staff who received the long service recognition...and a coincident, the day is the birthday of our VP too.
He is THE kind of leader that I would respect and salute.

It went well...everybody was "kenyang & gumbira" and lunch was not necessary for many....heheh!

My friendly neighbour

..and the The Boss -->.....and I was surprised to receive some set of really nice mugs and that card (near Yoda@my iBook) which is a 1GB thumbdrive....from the Gasunie team....

Dank u mijn vrienden!

The rest of the day went well...with meetings & discussions and I managed to find time to complete editing the job I did last weekend and sent the invoice to the client too...wheeheheh...was informed that the payment is already being processed....hello to more moo-moo-moolahs!

Show me the moolahs!

1.
There's only one word that can summarize how i feel right now - TIRED!
Weheheheheh!!
I woke up at around 4:50am today and by 7am I am ready for action with two of my photographer buddies - Master Ted Adnan and Ian Ahmad.
Today we shot a Corporate Golf Tournament.
Yesterday, had another corporate event but since I just want to spend my last day at The Zoo, I assigned the shoot to another professional photographer buddy.
I guess it is not bad for this month...I take it as a positive sign....and I will keep on improving and finding more opportunities for me & my team from now on.....I am entering the shift to 5th gear of my journey I guess!

2.
Owh, the photo above...that's not me...and that D3 is not mine too! (I wish!!)
The bundle will cost a damage of about Rm30k....ada berani?
I still use the same ole D70s and kitlens....as like Ian Ahmad...his same ole 400D and kitlens too!
Our outdated equipments (for some!) is not a limitation for us...no sir!
Anyway...that baby up there belongs to a talented & respected master in commercial photography & lighting control - Master Ted Adnan.
Maybe one day when I am sure that already have enough skill and capability, I'll bag in one of that...it's not about the equipment anyway....many may mark it as luxury toys...that actually can bring you good returns...or the rights to brag (and laughed at by the real professionals!)
Been witnessing so many "arrogant wannabe" with this same typical never-ending-purchasing-of-equipment habit...and yet the photos are just about as good as Alisya's shot on her 2MP Nikon Point & Shoot....
Your choice Amigo!

3.

...and this, would be the last shot I did of my workstation at The Zoo. Almost empty, all my stuffs were already packed in couple of boxes which I single-handedly brought to the new place and set up what I could over there....minutes before coming back to The Zoo for the last time and taking this shot.
The dude sitting at the opposite workstation would be my buddy Nadzri - a very resourceful & dedicated staff anybody could ever wished for. Good-bye buddy! You deserve a better place and you'll get it soon insya-Allah!
Good-bye workstation...I hope I have not overstayed my welcome, it was a fact I had to make some noise before I got the proper letter of assignment though I obediently did my part months before and even left my other post with a much more comfortable workstation just to honor the offer to join the initial project team....read the earlier entries I did in this blog.
I have done my part of the deal and I have been shown the exit door by the leaders. Thank you for that...that does not make me any less of a human at all.
Oh well....I guess, this is the official last Good-bye to The Zoo....Adios Grengos!

4.
I need to reward myself soon.....hmmm....fair what...I have worked hard and finally made my first thousands in just two days work....as Master Ted put it - in his definition, I am a professional already....rightfully earning the moolahs by giving the client what they expected to have (and maybe a little bit more!) from me & my team.
I guess the best "reward" I got today was when a participant of the tournament - a CEO who used to be my first boss when I started working (he was just a Manager back then) told me his company should have hired me & my team for their event instead of the photographer who did it...he was not satisfied at all with the work of that photographer (whoever that may be lah!)
So...amigos, from now on, no money, no shot!

5.
Here's to a brighter future Torque...for the babies & family....please Help me Allah...Amin....

Vrienden van Nederland

1.
The title means "friends from Netherland".
2.
This is one part of a furniture that I had to purchase last week...yeah..had to!
Not from Nederland..but close to it! The thing is...it is not everyday we get to host a respectable Tun at our place....so since he insisted to stay a couple of days at the condo, we had no choice but to go and buy some necessary items! Good thing we had the fridge and other stuff already installed!

3.

On the other hand, I have been visiting the new unit since last week and - well I must admit this is rather funny for me, in fact I did not believe I did this - I actually bought a neck-tie before I went up to the new place! I was thinking like.....well it has been years since I last bought a neck-tie....so let's treat myself with a decent one to mark the occasion (which will officially be next Monday actually!)

....I think this would probably be the most expensive pice I have ever bought....no..not in thousands....it's less than RM100!

I had some shots of the colleagues at my new workplace in my facebook....well not all of them are new to me, some have been buddies for more than a decade.....

4.
...but I have some new friends too on that floor....
...and yesterday, I met/ made more new friends, van Nederland...
Henk Abbing (First time in Malaysia!) of Gasunie who celebrated his 4xth. b-day yesterday...and Jacoba Bolderheij the head of Econs & Trade Division of the Nederland Embassy in Malaysia. The rest of the Gasunie team are Ulco Vermeulen, Peit Kager and Berlinda Aukema. Very friendly bunch! Very Dutch! The Ambassador was there to officiate our discussion and we ended the day with dinner at the residence of His Excellency Lody Embrechts, The Ambassador of Nederland....who invited us to use the residence as our second office....and Jacoba asked me if I could help her & her husband with photography......

5.
Such a great start, for me who has little knowledge of the industry.....I am going to love this new job...insyaAllah...and tomorrow is my last day at The Zoo...hohohohohohoho!

Torque's Touch

1.

I bought the iPod Touch 16GB in December 2007 from a MyMug buddy at a very good price, brand new, all-in-the-box totally erkkk......UNTOUCHED! I decided to buy it and told myself: "It is okay, I deserve to get myself something"...simple because I hv not rewarded myself anything at all the whole of 2007. It was bad enough for me having to deal with The Zoo so it was fair for me to reward myself with something I know I am going to utilize. So I bought it and I have been using it for stuff it was meant to do. I listen to music, store my photography stuff, surf the net doing some stuff which includes writing this blog.....this paragraph in this entry for instance!So, I can say it was money well spent......and I deserved it more than anybody else!

2.
Of course, for heavier stuff, the workhorse would be Yoda....my iBook G4 (read: already obsolete stuff for many....but not me!) which I bought waaaay back in 2005! 3 solid years of daily bashing.....there's no reason for me to get a Wimpdoze machine to replace the Macintosh based stuff I have been trusting all these years!

3.
Well anyway...I have been thinking to Jailbreak the Touch but the recent Firmware upgrade is such a good option I might as well buy it and give it a try first...when the time is right (read: when I think I deserve it!)
Some people started to compare my Touch when I bought it...the ZooKeeper was one...(oh, I said people did I? Well I'll allow it for this time!) I can still recall it freshly...

So many people in the building - some genuine MacAfficionados but mostly "major wannabe cool with electronic toys" - were busy getting the iPhone. Known to many as "the techy gadget dude" (read: mistaken identity of me embedded in many) some were surprised I still carry a 5 years old Symbian based SE P900!
"Why?" - they asked - because I don't need anything more that what the P900 could do!

Actually THE question I REALLY HATE from these bunch would be - "So what is your latest gadget?" DUH! Seriously, to they think I fart money?
My polite answer would be - "I am not a gadget freak lah! I just bbuy stuff that I know I need to have and really utilize it!"
...and some of them would continue talking tech-shit or brag about their new toys....or new-toys the are going o purchase....and ask me of my opinion...

<- Hayun Facebook |while listening to Music->

<- My "masterpieces" ->

4.
Opinion....yeah...something that I have been giving away to some of the original PockePC-lovers waaaay back in the late 90's...heck even the wonderfully amazing and stable Palm OS plat form! (dammit I miss the WorkPad C3 - so simple and stable and practical..until the color screen and all th hoo-haas started to trickle in...and the next thing you know, every Mamat, Minah, Ah Beng, Ah Lians, Thamby, Minachi, John & Jane just HAVE to have a PDA....regardless what they are going to do with it!

Anyway....yeah opinion...now that is something that I really don't fancy giving away for free to anybody right now...ever since, I dunno...hmm yeah, ever since I got tired of being nice to arrogant-wannabe-cool-by-having-some-tech-shit-in-their-hands. Bollocks.

5.
So, what am I rambling about this stuff?
Nothing...just feel like it...since I have nothing better to do I guess! Ahahah!
Oh...the ZooKeeper story tak abis lagi....when he saw I have a Touch..he thought I have an iPhone..just like some Miss StyloMyloHighPerformer who's his blue eye gurl (like some other ugly biatches in the Zoo lah!)
..and of course, the ZooKeeper (and the biatches) just cannot stand it if there's a person in the Zoo that has "the latest" shit. They are just sooooo conscious sometimes with these shit....wehehe....and he actually told me that in a couple of months time he'll succeed me because his iPhone is arriving by that time.
I just smiled and nodded my head....and I told myself, who care, you stupidprick! I am not competing with you nor any of those stupid wanna-be! Never! What for!!! Ahaha......posers!

6.
Hmm....tomorrow will be my second last Friday in the Zoo....woohoo!!!

Purple...not so deep!

Well...being an "ex-musician" (if I can claim it since I do have some paper qualification and used to play the electone organ for concerts, alto & tenor saxaphone, clarinet, drum and...harmonica!)when I spot a good song, I will appreciate it....to the fullest!

Belantara would be some of the few people that I can vouch for being able to produce great songs - the arrangement & lyric....and Ungu is almost there too...almost - because there are some songs that are not up to my expectation from these boys!
...but they are much better than some local scenes jumping up & down the stage screaming out some badly-butchered (re-mixed they claim!) songs from yesteryears! Butaseni...and yet they have some fans and followers...tsk! tsk! tsk!

Anyway this number - Andai Ku Tahu, tops them all...enjoy it, please!

Newbie Turned Pro

Monday day was quite an upsetting day for me, I just don't believe my final days in the frigging Zoo can still be miserable. I really feel like...owh...fcuk it lah....

Anyway...tonight I decided to "reward" myself...I bought a Pro-Flickr Account for 2years....now I can get more serious....seriously serious!

Now, time to sleep....and hope the Zoo is burnt down to ashes (and maybe some of them animals too) while I am asleep....

tAMagOtChI...tomodachi

1.

Tamagotchi!
The owners of these would be Alisya & Naufal...but they were to young to play with it so heeheh...Mama (the real owner!) has been keeping these as her pets...until the batteries ran out of juice. I just bought a new set for each and the pets are resting as I wrote this....interesting pets...this sets can get connected to the net and do downloads and stuff...I am not going to go there...have lotsa things to settle!! Notice the white envelope? That's my official transfer letter...18-08-08 is the day! Am going 20 floors down, that should be far enough from the smell of this Zoo!

2.
The kids will be going for a long distance train ride tomorrow! Kajang to Segamat. They sure are excited about this trip...each one will carry their own knapsack...well except Neena of course..she's the Boss so she'd not be carrying anything unless she decided otherwise. We are going to travel light and I will try my best to compose a full documentary of their first train ride, insyaAllah!

3.

Been taking some stock photos...and realized there is a speck of dust visible at f8 and above. Annoying ,but nothing new. I seldom shot at f8 except for landscape and under bright sunlight I guess. So, the blower will have to do the job well, have no time to send to Nikon for proper servicing...maybe when I have enough dough to buy a second body...a D700 perhaps!!! Wahahaahha! Berangan!
No way....at the rate I am being progressing, I will be witnessing many others younger than me, surpass me on the corporate ladder....rezeki, yeah...but the ugly truth is not about rezeki at all...manipulation and all.....but oh well....never mind, I just want to be able to enjoy what I get and spend the rest of my life shooting great photos and be with my loved ones.....I may just be driving an old Proton but I don't dedicate my soul to be a slave of an organization and step on people's head to be a leader! The move to the other unit should do me more good...I don't mind calling other people Sir, Boss, Tuan and deal with their mood swings or temper, being ignored conveniently as and when they are not in the mood to be friendly to anybody, salams not answered, smiles not returned...hey, it's their choice...and it just won't affect me that much anymore....the most would be I'd be writing about it in this blog but almost instantly the next moment, I will be on the street shooting stuff....and be happy to have my kids to hug whenever I got home!

4.
Well...poor and selebet as the person I may be, at least I get to live my life to the fullest and be happy with my family......do you?

Shadow chaser

1.

The day is drawing nearer....time to pack but I still have a couple of stuff to nail down before leaving.
Anyway, I was a bit down this morning when the Germany deal failed. The writer did not have the authority to purchase so she decided to use some other shots from somewhere. I realized that I did the right thing - none of my shots are for free! My skills, effort & passion comes with it so no way I am giving any of it easily for free. Though it means I am back to square one, the time will come when it will come sooner or later insyaAllah!
To cater for "the loss" I decided to send two shots to the stock agency I am attached to...Alhamdulillah...not bad at all, one of the two shots was accepted so, I am good. More stock shots for the agency after this!

2.
I don't know exactly why I like to compose shadows..but part of it was due to some influence by Trent Parke's works. I even created a dedicated experimental & discussion thread in one local photography forum about composing shadows. After more than a year, the thread is still pretty much active and shots are still being sent in for discussions. Well anyway, the shot above was accepted by the agency (proper format, not web version like this one lah). I did it while waiting for Mama to pick me up from work....

3.
The present state of my spot in the zoo!

Wehehehe!! The boxes are waiting to be filled. The mess will be cleared soon for the next occupant...who, I don't know and I don't really want to know! I don't actually car much about the workstaion. Where ever I am stationed this one section will remain the same. This is where I put the photos and stuff to remind me of my kids & family. Some of the items have been with me ever since I started working more than a decade ago....and still in good condition...like the white mug in this shot....been there with me since 1996!

4.
Recently I added another member to my fountain pen collection (as if aku ada byk sgt fountain pen!! Wekekeek!). I bought the same Lamy!! The purpose is to have one with green ink and one in black ink.
....but I have not written anything for a very long time in that monologue.....will have to start again soon since I have decided not to bring the Mac to office anymore so that I can spend time to write & shoot, not editing!

5.
Can't wait for the week to end...have planned something for the kids!

Olympia DL2000

1.
There is only so much of things on a list that I can do in a day. Sometimes I can do more, sometimes I can do less. Sometimes I just don't bother to do the list and decided to do anything else , totally unrelated to the list. That is a sign that I am tired or pi**ed with something or someone or many things....or many "ones"....but I still try to do the minimum so that nobody will be in trouble....to don't look too bad to the eyes of any farking people they are trying to impress. Recently, I had to do deliver another "small" miracle for the Zoo....and I did. Then, as I though I am incompetent imbecile, I was shoved and kept in the dark..and today the whole shipload is at a place discussing things for the benefit of the organization in the next FY. Everybody else is there because we need to cut the number of support staff...and I am one who volunteered to not to be there. Support staff? Eheheh! With this brain that I have, I am not going to rate myself just as a support staff ! I have had enough of everything with this Zoo. Last Friday I was in the lift with the Top Most Leader The Zoo - The VeePee. I don't even bother to say salam or hello to him. I consciously made that effort not to. He's not entitled for any kind of respect from me. The rest of the Zoo have given enough of that already I guess..for whatever reason. Truth be told, this same idiot was the one "officiating" an orientation for a bunch of new staff, lead by a Penghulu. That Penghulu observed this same person and concluded he's filled of bulls**t and knows nothing about the other business lines except for the one he's been doing all his life...and not an impressive contribution at all so to say, because the mess had to be cleared up by the next leader who took the place. Ironically the Penghulu was also called in to be in of of the transformation effort...and couple of years after that took pride to be in the seat of a unit he himself helped created.
To cut short, the Penghulu is moi. No applause please...I was just doing my part to turn the organization to the better.
The journey to the center of the organization has come to end end and I can conclude my hypothesis when I first started in working - I was spot on. The center is filled with....(you have read my entries...fill in the blanks)....who has no respect to the lines and too afraid to face them.
Finally I can move on - and they made it look as if I am not fit to be here - so insecure, these bastards - the fact is there are more than 3 positions waiting for me without requiring me to be interviewed. No, I am not damn good - only the Zoo creatures always like to think they are - I just do my part of the deal as expected and hope to get a proper reward as a return from the unit I am in.
So far, it never happen. The worse is when I am not only denied my rewards but being demoted without proper justification.
So when I got the letter from HR Zoo, who mentioned that I need to improve yadayadayada...I just put it aside and wish someday some of the idiots in the HR fraternity will be audited and be properly punished - they don't have a clue what is happening in the organization...if they even do, they just prefer to shove it up their own arsses and pretend they have made things good for everybody. Amazing.

...okay, enough rambling. The day is 16th August....but I am shutting down all my contribution to the Zoo from today - the final "miracle" has been delivered and I was treated like an idiot for helping out so I don't think I owe anybody in this Zoo anything more than just a polite "talk to the hand" message from today!

2.
There! My new toy! A very unique camera sold to me by my good-old buddy Ian Ahmad: great talent in photojournalism and documentary photography - please visit his site, the link at the sidebar of this blog. He has quite a collection of camera - which he bought at very low prices...the thing about Ian is he is not actually a collector, he uses the cameras to test his skills and try to produce the best!

Olympia DL200

Well...I have just sent the first roll of film to be processed. Shots taken from last Friday up to this morning. Even did a night photography session with Ian & Jidin, after we had a really good discussion with Shuk & Zaid of Belantara on the weekend....I went to bed at 4am that morning.

3.
This week I want to be a bit more serious than the previous 2-3 weeks in framing my daily shots...maybe need to do a proper plan to deliver a short documentary of a subject by end of this week.....

So....for a start....I have to listen to more RATM music!!

36y + 12d and counting days....

1.

It's been almost 12 days. Been trying my best to cope with stuff in the Zoo....difficult to find time to write and when I am back at home, cannot keep awake that long anymore...fatigue. Maybe because I am forcing myself too much to do stuff for the Zoo - final stint Ah Torque! ...for the sake of friends who will still be there....just a couple more weeks to go......
Anyway, whatever I still have to endure at the Zoo, my celebration mode is still quite alive. We went to see Journey to the center of the Earth in 3-D, the most expensive movie ever for me - RM17 each! - but it was worth every single sen spent. The kids just enjoyed it and next in line would be Batman....woohoo!

Some more shots, my b-day cake cutting with the kids
The MC is non other than Miss Kepohchee-ketot....

2.

Other than trying to complete the whatevereitisthatIhavetocompletebeforeIgetthehelloutofthestinkingZoo stuff, I try to remain sane by solving the cube....

....which I managed to solve in a record time of 2min 11 sec. Anybody can try beat that I guess...I am just wondering how the world record was set at 8 seconds! I did not boy myself anything to mark the 36th b-day...tho I really am screaming inside to get that legendary supremo-wide lens that I am good in handling...but that can wait...the money means a lot more to some friends & relatives than me purchasing the lens, or anything at all...let them have it first, my time will come sooner or later insyaAllah.

3.

...and I finally managed to complete the editing job for the kids sports day, concept paper for Belantara & the shots done during the discussion session...now preparing for a golf tournament shoot mid August...

I have became "selfish" in many ways - no free shots anymore, I don't offer my skills or views or knowledge freely anymore to just about anybody, I don't give input or suggestion willingly unless the audience or the person who ask for it is worthy to be given such feedback....

Simply because I feel I can just trust some of the core members the ChAPs as really worthy friends, peers...while at the same time we still push & compete against each other to produce better works than any other....envied by some perhaps. Only them ChAPs dude in this world are kool tand worthy to be trusted!
....the rest - at The Zoo especially - I cannot say much about them anymore....the damage I have suffered is too much already. Really can't wait for August to arrive.

4.

The political scenario in this country has never been so interesting....I am apolitical but I must say, I have been a victim to the ruling party since I was 10 years of age. So, basically I have no respect to any leaders who has an empty space between their ears....and that is just it! Go figure!

Anyway, the current issue actually helped me a lot to build my portfolio...some of my shots were being hmmm...well, recognized, if I may use that word, by a couple of on-line photojournalism sites....

....one of the site approached me and asked for my permission to use one of my shots....did some negotiation and we'l see how it goes from here...another step forward for me...Alhamdulillah.