REFLECTIONS

1st time using DSLR

2009-10-13T13:22:00.007+08:00

Went to the Lake Gardens in KL for a trial shoot (virgin trip for my camera). I guess it wasn't meant to be. First off, I forgot to charge my battery. Well, actually I thought it was fully charged but it wasn't. hehe.. And then, the day turned cloudy. Really not good as almost all the photos we took were either very dull or over exposed coz the sun came out with a vengence a couple hours into the trip. After that, it even started drizzling! Talk about bad luck on a beginner's photoshoot trip.

Some stuff I learnt from this trip:

1) taking photos using aperture priority is a definite no no when the sun is too glaringly bright (especially when you don't really know what you're doing...)

2) manual focus is good for macro shots, for really tiny teeny thingies like this bug, for kit lens at least (you get to make the most of the macro shot with MF compared to AF) - like the following was taken with MF

3) For not so tiny thingies, AF is good.

4) if only i had a macro lens.. (and if only the dragonfly would coorperate and face me instead of the lake).. see what i mean by bad luck??

5) Joie was absolutely right! hehe.. this is definitely different. I think I spent that 3 plus hours trying to take photos (the operative word here being "trying") but unfortunately most of them turned out disastrous.

6) and believe it or not, the following I found in the Herb Garden. And here I thought it was just a flower...

7) lastly, the power of editing.. from a totally overexposed washed out photo..

to... something totally un-washed-out-and-un-overexposed..
That's all folks! hehehe

busybodies..

2009-10-13T12:59:00.002+08:00

I really don't get it! Why do people have to slow down and watch? If let's say it's a horrific accident, then maybe it's excusable somewhat. But they seem to have to slow down to a snail's pace over any perceived misfortune that happens on the road. Everyone of them deserves to be b*tch slapped!

In fact, just a few days ago, this cab driver in front of me was even worse. Not only did he slow down to a snail's pace, I actually watched his head turning almost all the way to the back just because there was this little boy standing next to a cop on the road! And that was it! Just standing there talking to the cop and a traffic jam was created! ~!@##$@%$#%

I mean, seriously people! Unless you want to stop and get out of your car to help, then just mind your own damn business and drive!

To all the keh-poh-chi's (i.e. busy-bodies) out there, it would very highly appreciated if you could show some consideration next time.

Things I discovered the morning of my bday

2009-05-25T09:19:00.021+08:00

1. Decided to start of my birthday the healthy way so followed my mom’s neighbour to FRIM (Forest Research Institute Malaysia). Now I finally know the location. Apparently it is THE place to exercise for a lot of people. In fact, there was a queue to enter the car park. At 8am in the morning!

2. Fresh air!
I’d forgotten how it taste like.. it taste like.. really fresh air! Hehehe.. ok ok.. I mean, it’s easy to forget especially for city folks like us who breathes polluted air everyday. And it was so cooling it was fantastic

3. My mom’s neighbour drives like a maniac.

In fact, she drives like a I-own-the-road-and-can-do-whatever-I-like kinda maniac. She drives her car like a boat. Yup, as in accelerate, break, accelerate, break, left, right, left, right.. just like riding a swell during a storm at sea I would imagine. Aaand.. she definitely should take lessons on how to use her indicator lights correctly. I mean, correct me if I’m wrong but I don’t think one should leave the lights blinking forever before you change lanes (since I was following her car, I can still see the *blink blink blink* after I close my eyes) or only flick it on when one is halfway through changing lanes, right? Like when you’re already straddling the line… =.=’

4. I can climb a mountain.

Ok ok.. so it’s not exactly a mountain but it sure felt like one to me! My legs are still aching too.. after 2 days!

5. I looked like crap and smelled really not so great on my bday..

coz I ended up sweating like a pig with strands of wet hair hanging in my eyes. And there were so many cute looking guys there too! Especially those in tight Speedos cycling with buns of steel. Well, at least I had some eye candy :)

6. A bunch of aunties can walk and climb faster than me.

We’re talking about housewives who are at least 10 years older than me or more. And they actually did climb the “mountain” while I was just piddling around like 15 steps up photographing mushrooms…

7. I almost had a heart attack.

When I’m behind a camera I’m totally unaware of my surroundings. An uncle actually came right up to me behind my back and gave me a shock when he ask “so did you get what you want?” I never knew that mushrooms can be so dangerously absorbing...

..and I dunno what this is so I call it the mini-boobies.. <*grin>

8. Waterfalls, even small ones are like natural airconditioning.

Just make sure one chooses a spot high up if one wants to play in the water. Otherwise you might be washing your hands in water that someone up there's been washing their feet in..

9. I met a cutie pie. Check him out below…
Ok, it might not necessarily be a “him” but hey, it was my birthday so if I say it’s a him then I’m entitled to my opinion, right? After all, one is always right on one’s bday. :p

10. When one's been climbing "mountains" (yes, I'm still saying that it's a mountain, so bite me! :p ), one can eat 4 slices of pizza for lunch. Note to self, no more pizza after next session.

11. Climbing mountains are really conducive to sleeping.

I slept like a log that night. No dreams, no midnight pee-ing.. just sleeping like a baby.. it was the most restful sleep I had that week.

12. Discovered that the word stamina no longer exist in my dictionary..

coz I was completely pooped out after my morning of exertion and then 4 slices of pizza for lunch it was pathetic..

13. I'm definitely going back there again.. :)

funny travel stories..

2009-03-13T08:49:00.003+08:00

It's now almost 3 1/2 years since I first started travelling for business. Everythings changed gradually. As time passes, places varied, people changed, feelings changed and everything slowly becomes a routine. When I first started, every trip was filled with excitement and each trip felt very much like an adventure. But now, sad to say, every time I pack my bag and leave for the airport, it just feels the same. We get in a cab, drive to the airport, board the plane, land in a new/repeat continent, drive to a hotel, work, drive back to the airport, and fly back home.

The saddest thing is that I was just glancing through my travel photos and my old blog (when I used to blog about each trip) and it hit me that I've forgotten a very important thing.. and that's the laughter on each trip. No doubt each time I 'fly', it's exhausting but we always manage to make happy/funny memories. So I've decided to note them down here so that I won't forget again..

1) The first time I decided to try a traditional Thai massage with a female colleague and became a human pretzel. The only difference is the cracks that you hear everytime we're 'bent' into a new position. One position is still crystal clear in my mind - both of us suspended spread-eagle in mid air resting on the knee of the masseuse in the back of our waist and staring at each other while the blood rushes to our heads.. not a very relaxing position, I tell you..

2) On the flight back to M'sia from Dalian.. when Tai fell asleep with his head on Faris's shoulder and ended up flooding his shirt with saliva... :p

3) On another overnight flight back to M'sia where Rosie woke up in the middle of the night without her glasses on and decided to be a good samaritan. She was sitting in the aisle seat and just happened to glance down and saw a white blob on the floor below her armrest. She thought she must have accidentally dropped something and decided to pick up the trash but when she grabbed the blob and lifted it, it turn out to be the foot of the guy sitting behind her. He was wearing white socks..

4) The first time we travelled with Max to Mumbai and he got tipsy during the cocktail reception. As the reception ended early, the whole team (about 6 of us I think) decided to play some Uno in Max's room (since his was the biggest). When we got there, his roommate opened the door and Max was in bed under the comforter. The first thing he told us was "I'm not wearing any underwear!!" - while giggling..

5) The last time we were in Bangkok, us girls decided to go for foot massage at night and PC and I were ready first so we decided to play a prank on our colleagues. We knocked on their room door and PC said,"Sawaade ka" and I followed by "Loom service" in a very 'hiao' way (quite loudly I might add and in a Thai accent). Apparently it worked because some guy in the next room opened his door! PC ran away lickety split and I was acting like I was just passing by with my mobile phone in hand sms-ing.... I guess he really must have been waiting for some special 'service'..

6) The 1st time we were in Dubai we went to the middle of the desert for a Gala Dinner and had to sit on carpets on the floor with very low tables.. (kinda like japanese style but in the Arabian Nights). Faris and Lina were sitting at an angle at the table with their knees touching. Suddenly, Faris jerked his hand below the table. Later we found out that Lina's legs were going numb so she wanted to massage them. Unfortunately, she massaged the wrong leg and Faris thought that it was a snake so he grabbed it and found that he was holding Lina's hand...

7) Again after a Gala Dinner in Namibia, we (Rosie and me), accidentally ended up at the pool area at the wrong time. We thought that we took the last bus (which we usually do as organisers) and forgot that this time we actually took the first bus instead. So we were planning to just relax around the pool and enjoy the stars and each other's company while everyone goes to bed. Just as we were getting comfortable on the poolside loungers, the 2nd bus pulled up and people started walking pass us. So we ended up flirting for a few hours with 2 mat sallehs who stopped and sat down with us. Then everyone decided to walk back together and we said goodbye. It was only after we got back to our room that I discovered that my hair was like a bird's nest. Yup, I had pinned up half of it but because I've been resting my head against the lounger and moving around, some of the pins came out so my hair was half falling down. Just imagine some crazy woman on the streets but dressed better. That would be moi..

8) The last time we were in Dubai, we had to take a 1 hour bus ride to a posh restaurant in the middle of the desert - again for Gala Dinner. After the function, we were all pooped out. Unfortunately, we couldn't get seats together on the bus and only managed to grab the last 3 seats on the bus next to guys (all foreigners). I was lucky because I was sitting next to a customer that I know quite well so when he saw that I was yawning non-stop, he told me to take a nap and he'll wake me up when we get to the hotel. Lina doesn't remember when she fell asleep and how long she was asleep but she woke up with her forehead resting on the upper arm/elbow of the guy next to her. (The guy was sitting with his arm straight holding on the the top of the seats in front of them). When she woke up, the guy offered her his shoulder to rest on if she still feels like sleeping :) Such a gentleman.. I bet his arm must have been numb but he still supported her head the entire time she was napping. As for PC, she fell asleep in the middle of 2 guys (she was sitting in the last row) who were bickering with each other. When she woke up, they told her that she was sleeping with her mouth opened. We had a good laugh when we got back to our hotel rooms.. in fact, I laughed so hard when Lina told me that I ended up on the floor..

These are the memories that still bring a smile to my face..

That's all I can remember at the moment.. will continue when I recall more :D

11 things to keep in mind..

2009-03-12T10:06:00.035+08:00

...when going on a photography practise outing with friends:

1) start off bright and early... but remember to on your mobile phone so that your friends can reach you to get directions to your house

2) choose a good place.. preferably with no admission fee.. like the putrajaya botanical garden..

3) if carpooling, ensure that your friends either like to sing or doesn't mind the noise polution in the car...

4) go with friends who are fun and doesn't mind posing for silly photos

... and doing silly things that may cause them some discomfort..

5) it's best to go with people who shares your interest in photography.. especially when they have a better camera.. :P

6) of course, you can't go without friends who're willing to model for you..

.. especially when they're so sweet..

7) bring some props if possible...

... and make sure you use it..

8) try to go with friends who're patient.. who doesn't mind waiting for the slowpoke who usually lags behind taking photos...

9) make sure you capture the name of at least 1 place to prove that you've been there..

10) pray that it doesn't rain until you're ready to leave..

11) should always end your photography session with a scrumptious meal at an out-of-the-way place.. remember you should get lost first, so that when you do get to your destination, the food will taste extra yummy..
Or.. you can scrap the above and just remember this... the most important thing of all is just enjoy the company of your friends and Have a Blast! :)

Dream Interpertation

2009-03-06T15:23:00.002+08:00

I just found this interesting website (interesting to me) called Dream Moods. Apparently, it's quite popular as the webite is quite developed with forums and write-ins from the public contributing their thoughts/believes on dream interpretation.

This whole thing was brought about by this bizarre dream that I had last night. I just got curious and decided to google it. For some reason, I dreamt that my nose was so blocked up with unwanted substances (pi sai) like a clogged drain that I couldn't breath. Yes, I have no idea what brought that about because my nostrils were actually quite clean when I woke up because I checked.. :P

So back to dream interpretation, on the website it was even suggested that we should try to control the actions of our dream self in the dream to find out the answer. I honestly wonder if that's even possible? Sounds a bit like a movie to me.. but interesting indeed if it can be done.

I personally think that some of the explanations are pure common sense while others are pretty out there and smacks of superstition. There's even a dream dictionary! I haven't really checked that out yet but hey, if you have time on your hands and a curious mind about your dreams, maybe you'd like to drop by and have a look :)

http://dreammoods.com/

Oh, and I still don't know what my dream means..

Manila again..

2009-03-06T09:59:00.007+08:00

Came back from Manila almost a month ago. Just goes to show my laziness in updating my blog.

Actually nothing much to say about it but compared to my last visit there in 2007, more shopping malls are springing up and needless to say, girls will be girls.. what can we do, right? Of course we had to go shopping.. a bit.. :) Unfortunately, my shopping trip was interrupted by my boss (as usual) so it was not a completely successful shopping trip for me. Since it was such a rush, there was no chance to take photos..

The only photo op I had was in the hotel itself during our waiting session.. that is, waiting for everyone to venture out on our lunch/shopping trip. So we decided to take some pics at the pool area.

I almost went into the water getting this shot..

People were staring at me like I've lost my marbles because I was just wandering around the pool area aiming my camera at everything..

But the Gala Dinner entertainment was without a doubt an eye opener. To be honest, I wasn't expecting much.. but the group they hired had the most fantastic voices. Apparently, they compete internationally. And now I'm even in love with The Philippines's national anthem! At least, their version of it. In fact, most of us forgot to eat, we were just staring at the stage with starry eyes the entire time... hehe..

Check out the professionalism.. to be almost undressed on stage... hehehe.. either that or he just doesn't like clothes..

The pink thingie in the photo below is a public male toilet.. and that black spot sticking out of the top.. is a guy occupying it at the time.. in a toilet without a door.. believe it or not..

Reminds me of Ghana, where people team around cars on the streets selling everything imaginable..

This guy looks really unhappy that I sneaked a photo of him.. thank god I was in a car.. oh yeah.. this is actually on Valentine's Day! Imagine that, we spent it first in a car, and then on a plane..

I guess this is universal... but their cabs look more comfy then ours.. after all, they use Vios and Altis..

Oh yeah, I forgot to mentioned being in a long queue at the airport as well... (how we spent our Vday)...

As usual, when the gang is bored, we revert to being kids.. in public..

well.. what can I say.. my colleagues, they are... (hehehe)

and then there are the 'normal' moments..

since they're now adults again... decided to explore elsewhere.. and realised I haven't really seen these for quite some time..

Then, of all luck, the plane we were on were one of those older versions of airbus and had no personal tv screens.. so sneaked another few shots out the window of the skies between Manila and Kuala Lumpur..

And that was my Valentine's Day..

love.. marriage..

2009-03-05T13:37:00.007+08:00

I would like to dedicate this post to my best bud and f.u.c.k. who's tying the knot this year. You know who you are :)

Just came across some interesting sayings in a forwarded email with the title "How do you know you married the right person?"

"God determines who walks into your life. It is up to you to decide who you let walk away, who you let stay, and who you refuse to let go."

and i realise that it is very easy to become so absorbed in your everyday life, work, problems, etc and forget that nothing in life comes free and that includes relationships. One has to work at it, and work hard at it in order to succeed and keep your relationship "alive".

"The key to succeeding in marriage is not finding the right person; it's learning to love the person you found"

Falling in love is easy but keeping love alive is not. So in the years to come, my friend, don't forget ok? I'm sure doubts will surface during hard times and there will definitely be hard times in all marriages but I think as long as you keep reminding yourself of what made you fall in love with him in the first place you'll be fine. Keep those good memories alive and make new ones :)

So, I'd just like to wish you the very best and a long happy marriage to you and your hubby. Be happy, my friend! *hugs*

biscuit experiment 3

2009-02-03T09:24:00.002+08:00

continue from my previous post..

After another 1 week plus, the biscuits are still in the same condition so now I can conclude that it does put the crisp back but not 100%. It's no longer as soft as bread though and it's edible so who am I to complain? :)

biscuit experiment - result

2009-01-22T09:35:00.002+08:00

This is a continuation of my 1st post dated 9 Jan on the biscuit experiment. I'm going on record now to say that it definitely works!!

As I mentioned previously, I was going to experiment on a bigger batch of biscuits. These I put an airtight container 1 week ago and today we tried a few of the originally 'bad' biscuits and it's about 90% back to normal! Amazing!

our l'il cuppy-uppy-up cake

2009-01-22T08:06:00.012+08:00

I have to say that having a little munchkin in the family changes everything. Especially a really cute one like my niece. *grin*

We'll start with her *cheese* pose.. everytime we tell her to say cheese, this is what she'll do..

her new best friend, the penguin..

making faces at me.. and being all shy at the same time..

my all time favourite.. is she cute or is she cute?

manja-ing my bro... yup, she definitely has him wrapped around her l'il pudgy finger..

and of course, she loves being behind a camera as well.. i guess an interest of photography runs in the family.. hehe.. at least the later generations.. she had to resort to taking her granpa's photo with her daddy's phone because I banned her from touching my camera with her oily, saliva covered fingers..

All this took place last night when we had an early reunion dinner because everyone is going away for Chinese New Year. As usual I had to photograph everything we eat.. ^^

Just a simple dinner of this thing-a-to-eat.. I dunno the name since it was all written in chinese..

this one i know.. shark's fin!.. not very yummy though.. felt more like eating very thick glue..

I can't believe even a dead fish can give me the evil eyes...

the one dish I really do not look forward to eating during every single CNY.. the dreaded pork knuckle..

this one I don't mind eating.. and quite yummy too

Abalone, mushrooms and vege.. to be honest I don't really remember the taste because I was too busy photographing my niece..

this one i remember.. probably due to my still half empty stomach as I was more focused on my camera and capturing the moment rather than food.. an unusual occurance I have to admit..

One thing I realised after last night, (besides the unbelievable fact that I can actually forgo food to focus on my camera).. is that photographing children is a full time job and the most difficult thanks to their boundless energy. The perfect moment can come and go in the blink of an eye.

But one thing does stand out though, and that is, having the cute little munchkin around brings out the kid that I believe still resides in all of us "adults". Also, it's very heart warming to see the appearance of true smiles that comes from the heart and shines through the eyes.. which we somehow lose through the years as we grow older and the walls we build becomes thicker and taller?

Is it always so important to keep our composure and to show the 'perfect' face everytime a camera is aimed our way? It's almost like an automatic reflects. When one sees a camera aiming one's way, the smile will be automatically toned down, the head will tilt at a certain angle, etc..

I guess viewing the world behind a camera does make everything clearer and I would like to remind myself and all who reads this post that a smile that comes from the heart is a priceless thing.. so smile..with not just your lips but with your heart too.. :)

bonne journée!

biscuit experiment

2009-01-09T11:13:00.003+08:00

3 days ago my colleague told us something amazing. Apparently, one can put the crisp back in a soft biscuit just by putting both the soft biscuits and new crispy biscuits together in an air tight container.

All this started when I took out my supply of office biscuits and discovered that they've gone soft like bread because my container is useless. Since none of us have heard of this method, my colleague decided to prove it to us by starting an 'experiment'. We put 3 of my 'bad' biscuits in with 3 of her 'good' biscuits and left it in her air tight container 3 days ago and today we tried the bad biscuits and found that it's really got some of it's crisp back! Not completely yet, so we concluded that more good biscuits might be needed in order to get better results.

Also, we were told that this method works for other stuff as well like chips. But it doesn't work for biscuits/cookies with stuffings.

So we're off to experiment with a bigger batch of biscuits... ^^

New Year with Garfield and Friends

2009-01-01T11:44:00.010+08:00

Welcomed the year 2009 at my friends' Yan's and Lisa's places yesterday. Went for what was suppose to be a new-year-celebration-tea that turned into an all night event. We started off our 'celebration' with some pisang goreng and something-else-that's-goreng (sorry I don't know the name).

Then I met a real life 'Garfield'. His name is actually Ryu but he's the biggest cat I've ever seen. According to Yan, his owner, he used to be as fat as garfield. He's lost a lot of weight due to an operation to remove his kidney stones. I for one had no idea that cats can even have kidney stones but apparently they do suffer the same diseases as us.

Check out his size. Yan was saying that he still weighs a ton especially when he's walking on you. Not that he'll 'walk' on anyone else besides his owners. Try it and one will most likely get a taste of his unsheath claws plus sharp teeth. That's one fierce bugger. To think that I was actually scared of a cat! Embarrassing but true..

So there we were waiting for Lisa to arrive and also waiting for dinner. And poor Rosita was so tired but still wanted me to take her photo. *grin*

Had my first taste of homecooked Nyonya Laksa which was really yummy. Thanks aunty!

After dinner, we went on a shopping expedition for supper (actually some considered it dinner still) and snacks to sustain us until the new year. We bought some doughnuts, a pint of baskin robbins ice cream, drinks and snacks. Unfortunately, once again I've forgotten to take photos of our food because I was distracted by other stuff.. :P

Next, we were off to Lisa's condo for some gaming and movie time.
Unfortunately, the dvd player konked and Rosita was giving me the evil-eye because instead of helping I was taking photos. (I do seem to be getting the evil-eye a lot whenever I try to practise my photography skills.. )
Then we played a mean game of Star Wars Monopoly where me and my little R2-D2 kicked their collective asses! *snicker*.. but I'm now banned from playing Monopoly with them ever again. The only way they'll allow me to join in is as the banker.. *hu hu*

Since I can now consider that as my first and last game with them, I should take this opportunity to gloat a bit.. see that (below)? I was the only one with hotels.. hehe... well, in this case, it's called Spaceports (if I'm not mistaken, since this is Star Wars after all)..
A close up of my bootiful spaceports that earned me either 1120 credits or 1200 credits every time they were 'fortunate' enough stopped on my property.. hehehehe.. which I should mention is what bankrupt Rosita.. *smirk again* And everytime they role the dice they would pray to go to jail rather than pay my very nice spaceports a visit.. spoilsports.. *grin*
After I whooped their asses, we watched some t.v and then M Naser came on and was unanimously declared as the last true Malay man in existance by my friends (in fact, some of them would have loved to marry him.. when he was younger).

When the time came for the countdown to 2009, we went to the balcony and cheered to the sounds of fireworks. The operative word here being 'sounds' as we couldn't really see the fireworks since KLCC was at the back of our building. But I do believe we were the noisiest of the lot amongst the condo blocks. *grin*

Of course we couldn't begin the new year without a festive and boisterous caterwauling session in the car on the way back to Yan's place. It was immensely enjoyable despite not knowing half the words to the songs on the radio. :)

And that was my new year eve celebration last night. Although it was only a small condominium living room, it was still great fun because it was spent in the company of fantastic company. So my thanks to all for inviting me for an evening filled with merriment and laughter! Happy 2009!

Weekend Cruisin'..

2008-12-30T11:57:00.000+08:00

Went on a cruise the weekend before last with my mom and bro. I remember the 1st time I went on one with my family about 10 years ago, it was filled with laughter and yummylicious food. However, this time was quite a disappointment. Not only was the food not up to par, the entertainment was also.. well.. let's just say.. nothing special. And here I thought that the bigger the ship, the better the quality of everything. But as a friend just told me, sometimes bigger things aren't necessarily really better.

Also, it's completely not worth it going on a 3D2N trip coz I think they've changed the embarking time to 5pm. Yes, 5 freakin pm on the 1st day. And we disembark at 10.30am on the 3rd day! So basically we were only on the ship for 1 day plus? They should just say that it's a 1D+ trip instead of a 3D2N! What a load of crap.

So what can we do? We whiled away about 3 hours in a shopping complex and I wandered into the National Geographic shop and took some photos.

To be honest though, I did have fun on the cruise mainly due to my family. Our first night in the tiny cabin and we had a painting for a window.

and my poor bro cracked his head on the ceiling numerous times coz it was super low..

Decided to go for chinese for breakfast and the first dish that arrived..

there were other stuff of course, like porridge, etc but I was too busy eating and forgot to take photos of 'em.. heee

Followed by a 3 course lunch..

hmm.. I do believe I again forgot to take photos of our main courses.. hehe (probably coz I was again busy eating.. although for the life of me, I honestly can't seem to recall what we had.. either I'm really forgetful or the food really wasn't that memorable.. )

My bro giving me the evil eye coz I was playing with my camera nonstop as we were waiting for our food..

Our one and only good dinner on board. Luckily this really nice waitress offered to take a photo for us (if you can make us out in the photo..)

Below was my main course and dessert and if you look very carefully in the photo above, you'll be able to make out part of the caesar salad I had (in the lower right almost-corner). :)

Had to do some exercise to try to burn off some calories by playing basketball.. during noon.. (I had no idea what I was thinking at the time coz after that both my bro and I were almost as lobsters.. nice and pink... and now I'm almost nut brown!! *sob sob*)

and.. my bro (the one acting cool above) also happily gave me a partial black eye with the basketball... and apologised most profusely after.. although now I'm starting to wonder about the 'accidental' part...

Another one of my bro trying on his Godfather look..

My lovely mom who was kind enough to be my model for a few minutes.. :p

And the black-eye-giver actually won the karaoke contest on board.. just check out his cheeky-but-still-maintaining-his-cool smile.. jeez... but I was proud of him.

singing Forever Love.. full of emotion and expression..

Some random photos of the ship as I wondered around the ship..

One of the better photos that actually has me in it courtesy of my bro.. the rest were more or less complete disasters unfortunately.. sigh..

Finally a better quality family photo taken by another staff..

Then it was bye bye cruise and hello Singapore..

So yeah, it was a fun holiday with my family but for anyone out there thinking about taking a cruise in the near future, I'd suggest you do something else..

just a little something to remind myself..

2008-12-18T09:13:00.000+08:00

.. you should not change what you love, or you never loved it to begin with ..

our place in the universe

2008-12-16T15:04:00.000+08:00

I recently watched How The Earth Was Made. It's a 2 hour documentary on Astro's History Channel. What can I say, I'm a bit of a science nut, mostly on astronomy. It's really quite amazing to learn the history of Earth. At least what they know of it so far (which is actually after a couple'a hundred years of research, mind boggling thought, isn't it?) and all I can say is if you've any interest, at all, in this, go check it out. It is worth the 2 hours.

What I got out of the 2 hours is this - homo sapiens is actually the most insignificant in the scheme of things but also the most significant element to life on earth.

We, humans as we call it, are actually at least the 6th or 7th generation of lifeforms on earth. Starting from microscopic organisms (which is actually our common ancestor), to more complicated organisms to giant insects to dinasours to cavemen and finally to us. And we, who think so highly of ourselves are not even the first to populate the earth. But we're definitely the first to start killing it. Yes, we are indeed murdering the host that is supporting our life. And we've only been here for about 10 thousand years. If we do not start taking care of the earth, we will eventually kill ourselves and unfortunately, the majority of us are still marching blindly towards that end. All in the name of power, money and what? fame? The more technology we develop, the faster we use up the earth's resources and the faster we're pushing towards our own extinction. So yes, we are indeed very significant to the life of our planet earth.

On the other hand, it's like everything has it's place in the universe. Look at the mass extinctions before us. Why is it that everytime life flourishes, at least 70-90% of the species gets wiped off the face of the earth? Billions of years of evolution, gone, just like that. Every single time. It's like there's a timeline to every generation. When the time comes, there will be ice ages, plate tectonics movements, mass volcanic eruptions, the asteroid strike that killed off the dinasours, etc. We're talking mass planetary extinction that are completely out of our control. What use is technology in this? Money? Power? Completely useless. All these happened in the past and it definitely looks like a cycle to me. It's already happened 5 times that we know of.

It's like the earth makes the decision because it is alive too. It is evolving along with us and most of us are either too ignorant of the fact or just plain not paying attention. I do believe that we have no say as to how long we have on this earth. The only difference is whether we'll leave enough of the earth for a next generation of lifeforms after us. Which is pretty slim to none if what they predict comes true - in about 2 billion years, earth will become another Mars. Which brings a question to my mind. Since they discovered traces that water possibly existed on Mars before, was Mars a previous Earth? Another planet that was perhaps killed by similar lifeforms like us? Possibly thousands or millions or even billions of year ago?

Anyway, the sobering thought is that we are truly insignificant because we'll be completely helpless to forces beyond our control should it come time for us to cease existence. If we take care of our planet, and if we're lucky, we might go out with a bang (fast and with the least amount of pain), but if we continue damaging it, it acts like a slow poison, and our descendents might have to go through intolerable sufferings before the end.

So I say, live well and appreciate your life everyday but try to be friendly to the earth too. Think of what really matters... don't waste your lifetime on unimportant things.

Photography - good or bad?

2008-12-16T09:37:00.000+08:00

I recently read a friend's blog on the different interpretations on photography and it got me thinking. A reverend commented that "photography is not a good thing to do". He associated photography with memory.

Quote

"A good mind is a mind that works like a sieve, it is able to retain the things it needed and sieve away the ones it does not need. More importantly, a good mind - is one that is able to remember what it wants to remember and forget what it wants to forget. A photographic memory is not exactly that good to have as many old people suffer at their ending days because of their 'good' memory."

To be honest, I haven't really thought much about the meaning that can be attached to such a simple word - photography. I mainly think of photography as capturing a moment in time. Sort of like giving voice to a memory? The 'voice' being a picture. After all, as they say, a picture is worth a thousand words.

Not all of us are blessed with a good mind - to be able to keep the good and forget the bad. I believe many people suffer from 'tunnel vision'. They tend to only focus on one thing and forget everything else at different points of their lives. And slowly, due to neglect, the memory will fade away, be they good or bad.

So is it true that having a photographic memory a bad thing, especially when we're old and gray? I think there is no life without both the good and the bad. You can't have one without the other. Also, everytime we get through a hurdle, we grow wiser. So I have to disagree with the reverend here. I think it is important to remember the bad so that we would be able to appreciate the good. After all, would you really want a monotonous uneventful life? Would you really want to have a life like this _________ (a straight line)?

Not me, I'd prefer to learn from my mistakes and have a colourful life filled with memories that can bring tears to my eyes be they happy or sad.