M

Fresh Meat

2010-10-25T10:05:00.001-07:00

A waste of time

2010-08-20T10:29:00.001-07:00

Company

2010-06-01T11:00:00.000-07:00

With the right company, a simple cup of coffee can be simply divine.

A very basic A - Z guide to photography

2010-04-28T08:46:00.000-07:00

A is for aperture. Measured in f-stops, its basically how big your lens is open. The bigger the number, the smaller the opening is. Smaller opening = less light = greater depth of field (lots of stuff are in focus).

B is for blur. Created or caused by the subject or the camera moving while the picture was taken. A common occurrence in pictures taken at slower shutter (1/25 and below) in low light conditions. Sometimes blur is intentionally captured to create a sense of movement in the final image.

C is for cropping. The art of cutting things out which apparently is too hard for most people these days.

D is for depth of field(DOF). A direct result of a combination of A and F.

E is for exposure. Derived from the old days when films were exposed to light, it is basically how long your sensor is left open. An overexposed image has too much light.

F is for focal length.Measured in mm, it is basically the coverage area of your lens. 14mm - really wide which lets you see almost everything in front of you while a 400mm is really zoomed in, much like viewing through a telescope.The wider it is, the more distortion as the lens cramps everything visible onto the sensor. The longer it is, the shallower the DOF.

G is for graduated filters, where one half of the filter is covered with colour, reducing its density towards the center of the filter. Very useful when you only need to filter half of a frame. Used mainly in photographing landscapes.

H is for highlights. These are the brightest parts of an image. Shadows are the darkest parts.

I is for ISO. Sensitivity of the sensor towards light. ISO 200 means the sensor records 2 times as much light at the same settings compared to ISO 100. Increased sensitivity also means increased noise,artifacts and generally crappier pictures.

J is for jpeg. Another industry standard in image compression. Most point and shoot cameras record images in the jpeg format to save space.

K is for Kelvin, as scale used to measure colour temperature. Higher color temperatures (5,000 K or more) are called cool colors (blueish white); lower color temperatures (2,700–3,000 K) are called warm colors (yellowish white through red).

L is for lenses. The barrel full of pieces of glass you put in front of your sensor. Without it, the camera has no idea what it's looking at. Range starts from dirt cheap plastic ones to more-expensive-than-a-house ones.Best coverage+best quality optics = a 10-22, a 24-70L and a 70-300L (all canon). The canon L lenses are lenses with the best quality optics that it is possible for them to manufacture.

M is for memory card. Comes in a whole range of formats namely SD,MicroSd,CF etc with the industry standard being CF(compact flash).

N is for Neutral density(ND) filters. Used to limit the amount of light entering the camera, used especially under ultra sunny days when there's just too much light.

O is for out-of-focus. This refers to areas in the image that are not in focus and appear blurred out. Especially apparent with a low depth of field which are bloody amazing. It also refers to moments when the camera is unable to focus on the desired subject.

P is for Photoshop, the industry standard in image manipulation. Photoshop is excellent only if you intend to create works of art by carefully editing your pictures as many photographers used to do back then with their negatives. If you're merely interested in managing and editing your pictures well enough to be presented then Adobe Lightroom is the answer. Please bear in mind that Photoshop is not a miracle software. While it can make a great image slightly better, it will never be able to make a bad image good.

Q is the letter after P and before R. 10 points in Scrabble.

R is for raw. There seems to be a never ending debate of jpeg vs raw. This is one of the dumbest and most pointless debates in photography today. Raw files are not images. They are chunks of information taken directly from the sensor, without any compression or processing whatsoever. Raw files are exceptionally useful when you intend to do heavy post-production work later on as the file carries all the information needed and therefore enables you to edit it without quality degradation. In comparison, each time you open, edit and save a jpeg file, it is recompressed.

S is for shutter speed measured in fractions of a second (1/10, 1/50). Imagine the water tap in your kitchen. Now imagine opening it and closing it really fast. Now do it again really slowly. That is almost exactly how the shutter works. A faster shutter lets less light in but captures motion quicker than a slower shutter.

T is for tripod. Absolute essential when taking pictures in low light conditions, long exposures and other situations where the camera has to be absolutely still. Ranges from dirt cheap shitty ones to ultra expensive carbon fibre ones. Investing in a moderately priced and sturdy tripod is highly recommended.

U is for unnecessary editing. This is when the photographer feels obliged to edit every single image by adding preset effects and filters in any particular software without any need for actually doing so. Popular crimes are adding the sepia and black and white effect for a pseudo-emotional/sentimental effect.

V is for vignetting. This is the dark region around the edge of a picture caused by poor quality optics. Especially apparent when the lens is wide open. Or sometimes added into images to create a desired effect.

W is for white balance. Different lighting environment confuses the camera in capturing colours correctly. Adjusting the white balance is basically you telling the camera what the correct lighting conditions are (sunny,cloudy, fluorescent etc). Manual white balance on the other hand is telling the camera (with a reference picture) what is considered white under the present lighting conditions.

X is for x-sync speed, which is the fastest shutter speed the camera can use with flash. Any faster and it will only capture a 'partial' flash. X sync speeds are generally between 1/150 and 1/250 for average cameras with mechanical shutters.

Y is for why? A question generally posed when looking at people doing stupid things such as(and not limited to): people who go to historical sites, climb over thousand year old monuments and pose with the victory sign as if they've just discovered it.

Z is for zoom. Zoom lenses cover a range of focal lengths in a single build; 18-200, 70-300 etc. This is much more flexible in terms of practicality and coverage as compared to a prime lens which is fixed at a certain focal length.

Fight!

2010-02-17T10:54:00.000-08:00

Dig deeper

2010-01-22T00:54:00.000-08:00

Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.

Circles

2010-01-06T10:54:00.000-08:00

Series

2009-12-25T09:22:00.000-08:00

One of the many gifts I have had the privilege of receiving in the past month. From Russia with love.

Mirror

2009-12-17T23:51:00.000-08:00

I think no longer in words and sentences, but in images and movement.

Pop

2009-12-16T11:04:00.000-08:00

Dunes

2009-12-15T08:34:00.000-08:00

The Golden Palm

2009-11-29T10:42:00.000-08:00

Lesson #45

2009-11-24T23:37:00.000-08:00

The Edge

2009-11-11T10:52:00.000-08:00

Gloomy Monday

2009-11-09T01:04:00.000-08:00

Halo

2009-11-03T10:06:00.000-08:00

Nevermind the halo around the moon, here's an even rarer one. A halo around the sun.

Taken from the back of a ferry while leaving Pulau Tioman.

Grand Prize National Geographic International Photography Contest 2009

2009-11-02T06:00:00.000-08:00

Inspiration / Keep Going ®

I was captured by a cry of sadness when taking this photo, but later I realized that the amazing man probably had the heart of a lion...instead of lamenting, he had turned his life into a fight...and he wasn't going to lose it. Every time I look at it I feel a sad happiness.

Photo and caption by Bernardo Medina

The irony

2009-11-02T05:23:00.001-08:00

Translation: "Warning. Do not scribble here. Caution"

Recovering pictures from corrupted CF card

2009-10-11T09:30:00.000-07:00

Here's what I did to recover some of my pictures from a partially corrupted memory card.

It started when I took the camera back from my sis and noticed the red card-activity LED blinking furiously. I immediately switched the camera off and and back on. Previews were fine but the trouble began when I attempted to transfer the files onto my PC. Windows detected an error and after several failed attempts, I decided to allow Vista to 'repair and recover' whatever files it could.
Now this is something that sounds fairly straightforward but isn't, as with everything else that has to do with Windows.

After the repairs were completed, I reattached the card and to my horror, a good two thirds of the files were gone. I have always enabled the 'view hidden files' under the folder options so I noticed an additional hidden folder(semi opaque) named FOUND.000 in the card. Inside were numerous files with the extension '.chk' . Single clicking on them will reveal their size.

Just in case; in Vista: Control Panel>Appearance and Personalization>Folder Options>Show hidden files and folders

in Vista Classic view: Control Panel>Folder Options>View>check the hidden files and folders option

All you have to do to get the pictures back is to copy the hidden folder onto your desktop, and then rename the fragmented files by replacing the extension '.chk' to the extension that the files were originally saved in. In my case they were .jpeg for the smaller ones and .cr2 for the larger raw files.

I'm fucking ecstatic that it worked for me. Time to get a couple more cards. Phew. Hope this helps.

Friday Night Fun!

2009-09-18T11:56:00.000-07:00

There was nothing special about last night at all.

The streets were packed with last minute raya shoppers and a bit later the party people took their turns to make sure the minimum quota of congestion for the day is met. The last thing I wanted was to be part of the sludge that habitually forced its way through the arteries and veins of the city. I left the office early. This time I had my camera with me as I wanted to capture the empty streets right in front of the office before they officially opened it to the public.

There was nothing special at all.

At least not until I turned around and was greeted with this

Camera+kids might just be the second worst recipe for disaster after kids+cotton candy+ice cream+cadbury dairy milk chocolates. It was pretty amazing to see how kids are effectively immune to being conscious to the presence of the camera.

Sure there isn't much difference when you compare them to a pack of rabid squirrels but every once in a while, in the moments when you least expect it, they make you smile. They remind you of much simpler times where life was.. stop. I shall refrain myself from going into an ultimately futile philosophical soul seeking question and answer session.

Just look at the pics and you'll get what I mean. I don't know any of their names or where they came from. They sreamed and giggled in delight when I showed them pictures of themselves.

As I told them I was leaving they asked me if I wanted to join them for a round of sandals throwing game that they just invented. I just laughed out loud and said something to them before I turned around and left.

Immediately they all screamed back to me in unison,

SELAMAT HARI RAYA!!!

Now that was one special night to remember :D

M

home

2009-09-15T03:02:00.000-07:00

Short Film - 'home'

Fragments

2009-09-09T02:26:00.000-07:00

100 years beneath my feet

2009-09-08T10:34:00.000-07:00

Up, up and away - Movie review

2009-08-27T07:41:00.000-07:00

This here is one of Pixar's simplest production relative to it's entire span of works thus far. In fact 'Up' is pretty much a feature length short film.

It's simple. Right from the start the premise of the film is set and the adventure begins. No time is wasted with fancy introductions and gimmicks. A ballooner (someone who specialises in balloons) promises his wife that one day they will travel to the far reaches of South America.

Shit happens on a daily basis and it remains a dream. His wife fails to conceive and thus they spend the rest of their adult lives loving each other to bits. Moral of the story is kids are unnecessary and all they do is cause trouble to every miserable soul unfortunate enough to be in the viccinity.

Anyway bla bla bla the old man decides to leave the city in search of the elusive I-forgot-its-name-falls by tying a hundred thousand helium filled balloon to the fireplace, thereby lifting the entire house up up and away, high above the city skyscrappers. What happens next is worth a movie ticket so go watch it.

It's romantically nostalgic. Many parts of the movie reminded me very much of a book I used to read as a kid. The Lost World by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The images in the books were so unbelievably awesome that they xerox-ed themselves into my permanent memory. I used to spend hours lying on the bed dreaming of myself in a fantastical lost world, running away from the pterodactyls and touching the skin of the stegosaurus.

Coming back to the movie, I am absolutely certain that the makers of the film drew their inspiration or at least its spirit from this book. Here are the scans of a couple of pages from the book. Note how the movie parallels the story.

You don't get children book covers like these anymore do you? Stuff back then used to be so well crafted that they stood the test of time.

In the book, an explorer in the name of Professor Challenger comes back from a strange and far away land and insists that dinosaurs still exists in the remote jungles of South America.

As always he is ridiculed by the press and by his colleagues. He then invites the writer to join him and a couple of others on an expedition to the exotic jungle.

The rock column extending out from the plateau looks strangely similiar to the column in the movie. Except of course it's now a waterfall.

Reaching the heights of the plateau they chance upon strange creatures as they have never seen before.
One aspect of the film that I found really impressive or different from most animations was the characterization of the well, characters in the film. None of them were cliche or done in a templated style. The kid was unlike any other kid in any other film. The dog was also unlike any other dog. None of them appears on screen as if they were created to be cute or charming or adorable. They were genuine characters with individual personalities to hold them up.

Sure, Pixar has always had an illustrious history in creating absolutely astounding masterpieces in animation works but somehow 'Up' stands apart in terms of focus and clarity. Notice the absence of wonderfully bizare or overwhelmingly innovative creations in the film. Everything in it was 'normal' except the scenario in which they were in. A fresh dose of surreality.

Dug has to be one of my favourite on-screen dog ever. Dug was just perfect. It encapsulated the human idea and image of a dog perfectly. Instead of trying to create a wonderfully immaginative and cute dog as in 'Bolt' or many other films, they chose to capture the essence of a perfectly normal, fun loving, innocent dog and craft it into something so natural.

Sure it has its flaws but the little kid in me just couldn't help laughing and falling in love with it. This is a film that does not try to outdo the previous film. It doesn't try to impress at all. This is a film that demands you to reach deep down inside and relive the joys of being a kid once again. It's that simple.

As I almost rolled on the dirty, sticky cinema floor in laughter, I couldn't help but notice that the others in the cinema were almost silent. Perhaps they didn't find what they were looking for. Perhaps they were dissapointed at the lack of excitement and action and explosions. Or perhaps as a child they simply lost their imagination and sense of wonder.

I absolutely loved it and if you didn't then.. well too bad. ;)

It might be hard to imagine it in the context of modern society but I find it very romantic. The idea of an adventure to a far away land, discovering hidden gems and wonders that no other human have had the charm to lay their eyes upon. The object in question will not last. It will die and it will decay into nothingness but the memory of such an adventure will live forever.

Which is why this book is going into my vault for the future generation. That is unless my brother claims it back :P

Squirrel!

M

Heart

2009-08-23T06:28:00.000-07:00

G.I.Joe Rise of Cobra Movie Review (BM)

2009-08-22T06:08:00.000-07:00

As usual I always have something to say or complaint about a film I happened to watch recently. Hari ini, filem yang begitu bernasib menjadi mangsa saya adalah filem yang berjudul 'G.I.Joe' atau lebih dikenali sebagai 'G.I.Joe'.Filem arahan Stephen Sommers ini berkisahkan pasukan tentera istimewa yang ditugaskan melindungi kepentingan dan keselamatan Amerika Syarikat daripada ancaman musuh antarabangsa.

Mengikut Sommers, G.I. Joe adalah nama singkatan bagi 'Global Integrated Joint Operating Entity' tapi sebernanya dia tu tipu je. G.I tu adalah nama singkatan bagi Government Issue dan Joe tu nama panggilan biasa untuk lelaki putih di Amerika. Mana yang muncul dahulu, G.I.Joe atau average Joe masih tidak diketahui. Antara masalah masalah logikal yang muncul dalam filem tersebut adalah seperti berikut.

1) Pasukan diorang tu ada kapal terbang canggih giler, 'base' yang gempak giler tapi Scarlett tu nak jugak pakai 'crossbow' yang memang tak partikal langsung lagi mengarut. Lagi lagi dia kena record muka askar tu pastu tembak peluru berpandu ke langit dengan harapan peluru berpandu tu akan balik dan menyelamatkan nyawanya. Takleh ke buat kerja senang sikit kalau pakai pistol biasa?

2) M.A.R.S cakap NATO yang bagi diorang duit nak buat senjata nanomite yang begitu power sekali sehingga boleh memusnahkan seluruh bandar, malah negara sekali. Dah boleh buat senjata tu, diorang buat 4 biji kepala perang (warhead) je.

3) Nanomite tu macam anai-anai(termite) yang menggunakan nanotechnology. Maknanya dia buat robot tu kecik gila, pastu dia boleh program nak buat macam macam. Daripada sejuta benda yang dia boleh program, dia program nanomite tu untuk makan besi. Pastu kena activate pulak (ini lagi satu benda mengarut). Lepas activate kenapa pulak nanomite tu tak makan peluru berpandu tu? Plastik ke?

4) Ni part dia nak activate warhead tu. Baroness tu, boyfren dia sepatutnya dikenali sebagai Baron. Ala sama macam Datin dengan Datuk kat negara kita la. Ok so boyfren dia tu Baron, duduk kat rumah besar giler, hensem lagi kaya dam bergaya. Tapi kerjanya saintis kat sebuah particle collider. Tapi bila you tengok Discovery Channel kat saluran 551, saintis saintis semua muka diorang memang kesian. Mandi pun tak pernah, apatah lagi bercukur.

Baron punya lab tu nampak sebijik macam Hadron Collider yang baru dibina. So lepas diorang curi warhead tu diorang pergilah nak activate kat lab boyfren Baron tu. Dahlah senang gila nak masuk, lagi senang rupanya nak activate warhead tu. Takyah collide apa apa, cuma tembak laser je kat warhead tu terus jadi. Laser apa benda tu tiada siapa yang tahu.

5) Ada satu part tu, Duke dengan kawan dia pakai sut pemacu (accelerator suit) yang bernilai berjuta juta pastu berlari lari nak kejar Hummer yang Baronness duduk dalam. Dulu masa RoboCop susah gila dia nak jalan tapi bagilah chance sebab RoboCop tu teknologi lapuk. Ok ini part yang I memang tak paham. Dah ada senjata yang power giler, tembak je lah Hummer tu. Takkan tak bawak kapal terbang ke apa ke? Ini nak kejar sampai hancur satu Paris.

Snake Eyes pulak lompat atas Hummer tu. Dia guna pedang dia cucuk bahagian atap Hummer tu tapi nak bertumbuk dengan Storm Shadow pulak. Lepas bertumbuk tu dia terpaksa berpegang kat bawah Hummer tu. Lepas beberapa minit dia lepas la sebab dah bosan duduk kat bawah tu. Baronness cakap dia dah berputus asa tapi Storm Shadow cakap tak. Lepas part tu tak nampak dah muka Snake Eyes. Tengah minum kopi kot. Lepas satu team kena tangkap baru dia teringat nak tunjuk muka. Patutnya buatlah Snake Eyes menyeludup masuk kat penjara pastu tolong gang dia melarikan diri. Baru gempak.

6) Ada satu lagi part bila diaorang nak masuk sebuah bilik kecik dalam 'base' orang jahat tu. Scarlett cakap sensors kat lantai tu memang sensitif sampai berat duit 20 sen pun boleh dikesan (kat atas dinding tu ada tertulis instruction manual untuk sensor tu). Lepas cakap je Snake Eyes terus berjalan atas sensor tu guna pedang dia. Itu memang sensor yang paling mengarut di dunia.

7) Tentang base orang jahat pulak, fulamak, memang gempak gila. Sampai ada lif dengan bermacam macam terowong lagi. Bila Cobra nak lari dah dia suruh budak dia letupkan bahagian ais kat atas tu, biar hancur sekali base tu. Fuh memang power plan dia. Tapi masalahnya, semalam masa I minum teh o' limau ais, ais dalam gelas tu terapung. Ais kat mana mana pun sama je, terapung jugak. Teknologi apa dia guna sampai dia boleh buat ais tenggelam entahlah aku.

8) Kat base diorang tu pun ada sebuah meriam besar yang kena charge, kalau tak silap I EMP. Sama la macam yang Morpheus guna nak shut down Sentinel tu dalam Matrix. Lepas dia charge dan tembak tu macam takder effek apa apa pun? Bina meriam besar lagi canggih tapi mengarut je. Ada jugak teknologi hebat giler lagi duit banyak giler tapi susah sangat ke nak menang?

Kalau nak dipikirkan lagi, memang banyak lagi benda mengarut dalam citer ni. Tapi siapa suruh duk fikir? Citer ni I rasa memang best giler sebab dari mula pun memang dah mengarut, sama macam kartun dia dulu. Ini berbeza daripada cerita sains macam 'the core' yang cuba sangat nak buat cerita realistik tapi tipu pun tak pandai.

Konklusinya, citer ni memang best bukan saja untuk peminat kartun dia dulu tapi juga untuk sapa sapa yang memang takder kerja lain nak buat.

Citer ni dapat 6/10

Baru semalam I tengok citer 'Up'. Kelakar giler. Tengok la esok ke lusa ke bila bila la I tulis lagi ok.

M

Old Railway Station

2009-08-06T02:16:00.000-07:00

Optimize the Force!

2009-07-23T03:29:00.000-07:00

What I see is not necessarily what I saw

2009-07-20T06:40:00.000-07:00

Hush

2009-06-01T08:46:00.000-07:00

Accident

2009-05-18T09:32:00.000-07:00

Isn't it amazing? You can plan, compose and shoot a thousand different shots but most of the time the unintended ones come out best.

Name the movie!

2009-05-05T10:20:00.000-07:00

Complaint form

2009-04-27T06:20:00.000-07:00

Kelantan Part 3 - 2

2009-04-06T03:36:00.000-07:00

The evening sun was simply a pleasure to stroll under. I headed for the stadium area where there was a PDRM march and some bazaar going on. The streets were dense but the air was fluid. I loved it. Being the odd looking one with a camera, the locals assumed I was a foreigner and spoke to me in English. Kids zooming around on bicycles called out to me and waved from afar. No wonder foreigners think of Malaysians as ‘warm friendly people’.

As I was walking pass the PDRM headquarters and the Wisma Persekutuan, my senses told me to just stop immediately. I looked ahead and just 2 inches away from me was a huge spider sitting on its equally massive web. Mind you this was no ordinary spider. It was really big and the web it spun connected the fence to the signboard on the road. Perhaps the locals come here to offer their misbehaving kids as a sacrifice.

The main hospital was on Jalan Hospital which connected to Jalan Doktor. Try guessing what was the name of the road behind the hospital? 5 brownie points if you guessed Jalan Belakang Hospital. And Jalan Hospital connects to Jalan Gajah Mati. Poor elephant didn’t reach the hospital in time. Another funny road was Jalan Pintu Pong. I couldn’t help laughing to myself when I saw the sign. What on earth is a Pintu Pong I will never know.

Right across the stadium was the MPKB where I watched a little football game going on. I never expected it but it was one of the most relaxing moments I’ve had in a long time. There was just something with sitting on the grass and cheering when the ball kissed the net, regardless of who kicked it. Watching adults cheer and make fun of other adults while little kids attempted to ‘balance’ themselves on the white line was more than enough to make me look like an idiot smiling to myself. The air was extremely light and you could almost breathe in the setting sun.

For dinner I headed back to the medan selera and this time, I got myself some ‘ayam madu’ chicken wings (RM1.50 each) and beef murtabak for dinner and a couple of different types of kuih for supper. As I was eating I noticed 3 old Chinese men sitting at the table just adjacent to me. They had their eyes fixed on the football match showing on the television. The owner came over to the table and told them that squinting from a mile away wasn’t the way to watch football and moved them to the table in front of the tv.

It was an act, so simple and insignificant, yet I felt honored to have witnessed such a fine gesture.

Just before midnight I walked around the silent market area for a couple of shots. Turned out it wasn’t so silent after all. An old man was sitting on the floor surrounded by cobras and pythons while shouting over the megaphone about the miracle cure that he has to offer. According to him it would cure asthma, back pains, reduce weight, remove toxins, cure buasir and generally make you feel bloody awesome. I already did just listening to him.

I visited the now-empty wet market and the streets where the pasar malam was just a few hours ago.

This is one of those few places where walking alone is perfectly fine. The back alleys were empty without the usual drug pushers, thugs and prostitutes in other cities.

Perhaps crime doesn’t pay in Kelantan.

I kissed the cold air goodnight
and hello to my little vampire friends.

Kelantan Part 3 - 1

2009-04-06T02:44:00.000-07:00

Day 3

I woke up to the sound of thunder and heavy rain falling. I was staring at the ceiling for the next 10 minutes wondering whether it was really pouring outside or was it just the sound of the water pump in the bathroom down the hall. Lucky me it was bright and shiny outside.

I sat there waiting a full hour for the owner but perhaps he found great pleasure in remaining elusive. Walking around the ‘reception’ area I managed to get my hands on a little map someone left behind. Stuffed it into my bag and headed down to the market to grab a bite.

The market area was especially crowded with makciks and pakciks carrying bags of all sizes filled with their daily harvest. Mornings were makan time and the front part of the market was jam packed with more makciks selling a whole variety of kuihs and nasi bungkus.

I was practically salivating like a rabid dog. Morning hunger + attractive little kuihs = awesomeness. I got myself a pack of nasi dagang and a couple of funny looking green kuihs and headed back to the hostel.

About half an hour later the owner finally appeared. He came in panting and breathlessly lamented how hard it was looking for Kopi Tok Janggut in the mornings. So THAT’S why he left the building alone for more than 2 hours? This taught me 2 things
1) the probability of a crime occurring here is VERY VERY low
2) that damn coffee had to be really good

I asked him about renting a bicycle and he directed me to another little hostel just behind the street. I went there and picture this; a customer had to tell me to wake the owner up who was sleeping on the floor in front of the tv. I perfectly understand the meaning of ‘laidback environment’ but this is just ridiculous. At least that’s what I thought at first. Anyway it turned out that the owner of the bikes went home and won’t be back till noon so I had to rely on my trusted feet and my newly found map to give me a tour of the city.

Padang Merdeka with a little memorial thingy.

The royal customs museum.

Istana Batu.

To get to the beach I had to catch a bus at the Tourism Malaysia building just around the corner from the Istana Batu. As usual the locals had to sit around and wait for the bus driver to come back from his morning tea break which can take anywhere between 10mins and a full hour. He might not even come back if he didn’t feel like it.

This dude was arguing with his wife on the left.
RM1.70 and 15 minutes later I got down at Pantai Cahaya Bulan under the scorching sun. How ironic.

Out of the three words that made up the name of the place, I only got acquainted with one. After years of erosion, there wasn’t any pantai left nor was there any bulan in the sky. Understandably the place would have been much livelier if I had made the trip in the evening but nothing could change the fact that there was practically no beach. Disappointed, I went for a walk in the kampong area just behind the beach front stalls.

The entire area was just plain dirty. Kampongs aren’t expected to be spanking clean like those seen in our Cuti Cuti Malaysia ads but this level of cleanliness is far from acceptable. Rubbish was everywhere and I even came across a tombstone planted in one of the backyards.

Heading back to the city centre I actually dozed off in the bus and very conveniently woke up the very moment we reached. That heavy breakfast wasn’t such a good idea after all.

The sun was blistering hot and I would’ve killed for something icy. Walking back to the hostel I stumbled upon the holy grail of all icy things. A cendol stall. A cup of cendol after a long walk under the sun was simply divine.

Heading back to my room, I grabbed a quick lunch nearby and took a nap for the afternoon.

Continued in the next post

All hail the king!

2009-04-06T02:25:00.000-07:00

This was the front page of NST a couple of days ago. Somehow it just reminded me of this:

Let's all be nice and lend our support to King JibJib :D

How's it goin dude?

2009-04-04T10:02:00.000-07:00

Kelantan Part 2

2009-04-04T03:31:00.000-07:00

Part 2

Dawn

I woke up at 6am to make sure I wouldn’t miss the first light of dawn. My alarm was on vibrate as I didn’t want to wake anybody else up, firstly since I’m such a nice and thoughtful person and secondly, I just wanted it to be a quiet and peaceful experience. The last thing I wanted was for some kid to start screaming for food and their parents wishing they took the plane instead.

I stood alone at the end of the coach staring out into the darkness, with only the outline of the mighty hills hinting at the impending wash of sunlight. It remained dark until it was almost 7. Looking at the hills surrounded by mist bathing in the pinkish glow of the morning sun was simply breathtaking.

Especially so when the train came into the Gua Musang station. I was very disappointed I couldn’t take a picture of it no matter how hard I tried. My window was just too small and there wasn’t enough light. Magnificent limestone hills shadowed the train from the sun and greeted us into the land of lightning.

The train pushed on to Wakaf Baru and reached at about 10.18am. Here I must give credit to KTM for providing an above than average service contrary to public perception. The train left and reached on time, the coach was clean (yes, including the toilet) and the crew on the train made it a point to alert every passenger individually when the train reached their respective stops.

I was starving the point of fainting. Having overheard a conversation between two makciks earlier, I learned that the canteen at the station served one of the best nasi dagang in town. I would’ve been more than happy to agree with her if only the stall was open.

With a bloody heavy bag and an empty stomach I caught a car (it wasn’t a cab, just a random old guy offering his services) and headed straight into town. As we were walking towards the car, I managed to pass myself of as a Kelantanese with the little I’ve managed to pick up from watching ‘Salam Pantai Timur’ on RTM1 and my ex-colleagues.

My cover was blown the very moment I sat in the car. I was trying hard to pull the seat belt (which was stuck) when he looked at me and said “Oh, tak pernoh datang Kelate ye?”. Lesson learned.

Turns out the old guy used to live in Kuantan back in 1977. He dropped me off at the hostel where I got a room, dumped my stuff and ran out to get something to eat.

The only stall open was a little medan selera type eatery just opposite the hostel.
Nasi putih + wood roasted chicken drumstick + another piece of chicken in gravy + beef rendang + vege = RM4.50

What a pleasant surprise. After lunch I went for a walkabout wherever my feet would take me. I just kept walking and turning and walking until I stumbled upon the state museum. I’m a huge fan of museums so I made it a point to visit EVERY museum in KB. The problem was I didn’t have a town map. The usual practice was to visit the local tourism centre and grab a free map but seeing that it was the Sultan’s Birthday, every single building in the city was closed. Except 7 eleven of course.

I took a picture of the map in the museum and then drew a rough map in my little notebook. After walking around for a couple of hours, I must admit that I was a wee bit disappointed with what I saw. The roads were really nice and all but the sidewalks were just plain dirty. Walkways were breaking up and you could find rubbish everywhere.

In a place like Penang you could just blast your shutter away at almost anything and you’d end up with something worthy but here there was almost nothing for me shoot. I realized that I had to make a shift in my perception real quick.

I spent about a half an hour sitting on the steps of a building in a back alley watching this old Chinese guy manning his aging restaurant. It was then I realized that the beauty of this place was not in the shape of the buildings or the number of shopping malls or even the number of ‘places of interest’ but rather in the way the people of this city function as a society.

Being a state with about 96% Malay Muslims and being under the rule of Pas, it offered a model of society unlike any other state in the peninsular. I’ll elaborate more on this later.

My spirits were instantly rejuvenated when I stumbled upon the Pasar Besar Siti Khadijah. I just love the smell and sight of fresh produce in a wet market. Especially one as expansive and vibrant as this one. Now this is exactly what I came for. The ground floor was filled entirely with fresh meat, vegetables and fruits while the 1st floor was covered with dry food items and kuih and the 2nd floor was a cloth enthusiasts wet dream. No, I didn’t buy anything. At least not yet :D

As the sun bade it’s farewell for the day, I walked around looking for food. The streets in front of the market were already filling up with people setting up tents for their nightly pasar malam so I just followed a steady trickle of locals down a really dark alley (street lamp so mahal ke?) and ended up in a little medan selera.

It was a little square area with seated stalls lining the sides and stalls in the middle. I grabbed a half of a chicken of ayam percik and sat at one of the stalls.

Very interesting concept of dining. You could buy anything you want from any stall and then sit at ANY table and eat. It’s perfectly fine with them even if you only order a drink and then use their plate and spoons to eat what you just bought. I absolutely loved eating there. Whatever, wherever and how ever long you wish is fine with them.

Not my picture but it looks about the same. Minus the slices of timun. And a bit more gravy.

I got myself a bowl of tom yam campur (big bowl) + milo ais (tall glass +kaw) for RM4.50

Sitting there biting away at my ayam percik while wiping my nose from the tom yam was just awesome. I stuffed myself with as much as I could and headed back to the hostel. I planned to wake up really early the next day and go look for nasi dagang and try out some kuih which I love so very much.

A whole fleet of mosquitoes made a meal out of me. Oh well, having a room to myself was already a luxury. I just couldn’t risk sleeping with strangers seeing that I had my laptop and camera with me.

To all the bloodsuckers who found me oh so sweet, I love you too. Goodnight.

Part 3 - Celebrations and round and round we go

*I'll be posting the entire collection of pics pretty soon.

Kelantan Part 1

2009-04-03T12:29:00.000-07:00

Part 1 Departure

My bag was just too heavy. A whole bunch of unnecessary clothes and a brick of a laptop.

I reached Sentral at about 8.15pm, just about enough time to catch the one and only train leaving for Wakaf Baru at 8.30pm. Since the online ticketing system would technically but not practically allow for the purchase of a ticket, I had to resort to last minute begging and ended up with a less than desirable position.

Trust me, the upper berth is only comfortable if you’re planning to spend the entire journey like a dead body in a morgue. The lower berth on the other hand had a really low bed, a little mini table by the side, a little compartment above the head area and a HUGE window pane.

Such discrimination and such luxury for about the same price. My devious plan to roll up my pants and act like some poor disabled traveler backfired when I realized that most of the bottom dwellers were old people.

I dumped my bag in the corner, pulled the little curtains and waited patiently for the train to leave. As it left the station and headed down south to Gemas, my only company were the dim lights of faraway buildings and the sound of mothers telling their children to behave. It was only the beginning of a 14 hour journey and I didn’t feel like sleeping just yet. I had my thoughts buried in ‘The death of a salesman’ for most of the time and sometimes I just listened.

The sound of the wheels as it glides across the permanent rails. The sound of the engine room as it zips in and out of the coach when someone mistakenly thinks of it as the entrance to the washroom. The sound of idle chatter between strangers. I just love being on a train.

After a couple of hours, an old station signboard passed my view and I knew it was Gemas. My mother’s hometown where my grandfather and his brothers spent their lives working on the railway. They were stationmasters and train drivers. They were part of history.

Trivia: Did you know that about 240km of the east coast railway were stripped by the Japanese to be used in the construction of the Death Railway over the River Kwai? Well, now you do :D

In the middle of the night the train came to a halt and I could hear the head of the locomotive detach and another one affixed itself to the other end, ready to pull us through the jungles along the east coast line. As it started chugging up north, in the faint light of the night sky, we passed along the railway yard where the old trains were kept. Some were already torn apart and some were just kept waiting. I knew I had to come back one day.

I ate some biscuits and tried to sleep. It was like sleeping in a cot as someone rocked you from side to side.

Part 2 Dawn

*yes I do realize that most of what I've described does not tally with the pictures I've inserted but do bear with me. I'm not the sort of person who photographs every little tiny thing that he comes across. Part 2 will be much shorter with less ramblings :P *

A Rarity

2009-04-02T11:23:00.000-07:00

Conform!

2009-03-26T02:43:00.000-07:00

Conform my dear friends, conform. And always remember that you are special, just like everybody else.

Death to all those who defy the convention and seek to be different. Death I say!

Justified

2009-03-25T04:06:00.000-07:00

Surgery

2009-03-23T02:52:00.000-07:00

Hush now

2009-03-19T07:05:00.000-07:00

Burn

2009-03-05T05:34:00.000-08:00

So much has been going on in the past month that I've haven't been able to pen any of my thoughts or for that matter, stories of my travels. Recent events, though mostly negative, has given me a much needed 'rekindling of passion'.

I'm all fired up :D

* learnt a very valuable lesson today. Don't send your pics to the local not-so-friendly photo lab. All my recent prints turned out crap. Darn.*

The Island

2009-01-31T00:55:00.000-08:00

Fishes above water

2009-01-14T04:43:00.000-08:00

I saw a cat

2009-01-14T04:23:00.000-08:00

I saw a cat.

White. Patches of brown. Or was it brown? With patches of white?

Lounging lazily under a warm car it didn’t bother to even look. Even if it did it wouldn’t care would it. I stepped closer. Eyes remain shut. Whiskers twitch. Ignorance is bliss. I am now the barking dog. Woof woof! Hey you! Puss without boots! Woof! Eyes shut. Buzz off! I wonder. Oh well.

Let’s move on. Away I walked, leaving the self proclaimed maharaja on his throne. Maybe another time his highness would acknowledge his humble servant. Imagine that. I am not worthy enough even for a nod. Not even to be looked at. Perhaps I did not bark loud enough? Wait! What’s this? The exalted one now walks along side his servant? How is this possible? What am I to do? Am I to bow? Am I to kneel? Or perhaps a humble greet might suffice. I jumped in front of him, hoping to catch him with surprise. And surprised he was. He reeled back. Look here mister! You have no business jumping in the line of the royal blood. Or more of such. Where the fuck did you come from? Go away. Humbled, he walked away with his head down. I understand now.

A deaf cat.

Yet again I saw a cat. Black. Patches of white. Or was it white? With patches of black? I’m going with white on black. Just look at the sky. Is it not the same? A white moon on a black sky. Oh dear where is he now? Or was it a she? Must’ve been a she. He’s waiting for her at the bottom. What is she doing tip toeing across the hat of a building? What is she up to? Is she not afraid of falling? Breaking a leg? Ginger steps. The soft fur of her paws kisses the tiles of the roof ever so gently. No not a French one silly! She covers the length of a distance in a blink. Poof. She’s gone. He sees only black now. Didn’t she see him? Or perhaps she did. She stole his attention and dragged along his imagination. How could she?

A thief in the night. A cat.

I saw a couple bathing in the nude. Not completely of course. They had their grey suits on. Fancy that. Sleeping and bathing in the same suit. And doing it in public? Have some decency would you? It doesn’t help to look around every now and then. Oh yes I’m looking at you. Flapping your wings and splashing all over. Go ahead and have fun while you can. If only you knew who’s breathing down your flesh necks. Oh he’s coming. He’s coming for you. Make a choice. Spread your wings and reach for the skies or stare death in its indifferent face. They saw death approaching. They stepped a tiny step to the right. Death sees them and prepares to make his move.

He turns and walks away. What? This is not right! Were you not eyeing them with your lustful eyes? Were you not reminding them of the natural order of.. well.. nature? How could you just walk away? Can’t you see them snickering behind your back? You should be ashamed of yourself.

Imagine that? A cat shying away from a couple of pudgy pigeons. Just imagine that.

A cat. Hmph! Them and their silly little games.

Knock Knock

2009-01-11T11:27:00.000-08:00

Day and night

2009-01-08T03:54:00.000-08:00

I really don't feel like saying anything.

To a great year ahead

2008-12-31T23:37:00.000-08:00

Nothing works. Especially when it's very well supposed to.

Today today is the 1st of January in the year 2009. It's supposed to be a 'new' year.

Tomorrow tomorrow will be the 2nd of January. Is it not newer than today?

But seriously, anything new?

2008 was bloody fantastic. At least personally.

and 2009 will be better.

Girl

2008-12-17T01:20:00.000-08:00

Finally an update.

So it turned out my poster didn't win anything. Not even the consolation prize. Somehow I can't even find the winning designs online. They had better be darn good if mine didn't even qualify for a special mention.

Apparently the winning entries and the other (including mine?) were on exhibit on the 12th of December at the Annexe Gallery, just next to the NIDA class I was attending. Well I noticed it was Amnesty something something but I had no idea what was it about. Blame it on lousy marketing.

No updates for the past 2 weeks since I was stuck in KL with a broken keyboard and limited internet.

I'm not normally inclined to say cheesy lines as such but the 2 week short course with NIDA was nothing short of a life changing experience. New ideas, new insights and most awesome of all, great new friends.

It was pretty much a stroke of luck for me since I actually got the mail saying I didn't get it only to get a call the very next morning saying I got it. I applied for the course in Screen Direction, which was a pretty hard choice over Screen Acting and Screenwriting. We had 4 tutors dropping in from NIDA, Australia in the likes of Yves Stening for Direction, Nicholas Bishop for Acting, Nicholas Parsons for Screenwriting and Tahnee MacGuire assisting the 3 of them.

A whole bunch of us, Adit, Crystal, Zaki, AC and myself made a hell of a group, coming up with the craziest ideas. This was when we were filming 'the return of the killer kangaroos'. Don't ask.

Prakash with his now infamous 'Cut it!'. I was quite surprised we got to work on MacPro's for our editing sessions. I expected much much less. Thanks to Astro for the sponsors.

Here's my co-director, Ramdan. Works magic with the camera. We worked together on the final project, titled 'Girl' about this lesbian girl who gets dumped. We did a mighty awesome job at it, considering we only had 2 days to shoot and a full day to edit it. Now I'm just trying to get a copy of it from Astro. More on the film very soon.

It was a pretty sad moment when the classes came to an end on the 13th. Great times with great friends. As usual Facebook is the preferred 'keeping-in-touch' platform for most people of today. I wonder what ever happened to getting together for drinks and a quick bite. People today are so comfortable socializing behind the screen that they become so distant and alien to human contact. The more connected we are, the more detached? I wonder.

I'm not a huge fan of social networking sites at all. The way I interact with people depends very much on subtle changes in body language, emotions etc. Honestly I just hate the handphone and even email. Having conversations over the internet is a big no no. Unless of course the other guy is half way across the world.

Oh well, enough of me whining about how shitty new things are. I'm pretty much an 'old-school' kinda guy.

More updates on recent works coming soon.

*I don't know why but the site is being a pain in the ass, but photo uploads aren't working properly*

Lipstick

2008-11-27T22:45:00.000-08:00

After numerous drafts and revisions, this is the final version of the poster I've designed for the Amnesty International Malaysia poster competition. Tried a whole bunch of other subjects with photoshoots and stuff but sadly it didn't turn out the way I wanted.

As we got closer to the finish line we had to think fast and indeed in the wee hours of the morning we came up with some pretty brilliant stuff. Taking into consideration the cost of printing we had to cut down the ideas into 4 workable ones. The others are joint works so you'll get to see it after the closing date :D

For now I'm stuck with an annoyingly useless powerpoint presentation. I firmly believe there is a level of hell where all sinful nerds and IT geeks go to.

There, nothing is compatible with each other and everything requires you to perpetually source for,download,install and update new drivers. Oh and they all run on windows.

Today and tomorrow

2008-11-26T01:15:00.000-08:00

Soon. Maybe. Later.

2008-11-22T02:37:00.000-08:00

Somehow HTML coding isn't loading up so I'm stuck with the default fonts. My page has been violated

Anyway,I love my new pen!

So much to do, so much to say and yet so little time. Oh yea and I'm down with a flu. Just got myself a super cheap Genius Tablet which has been awesome so far. Did I mention how much I love it? There's really nothing like using a pen to draw and sketch instead of my mouse which for some reason confuses single click for a double click. And we wonder why some people can't differentiate right from left.

Anyway I had great plans for the Amnesty International Poster Competition but unfortunately almost nothing materialised. Deadline is on the 1st of December, which is like.. ermm.. few days away and I'm dangerously close to the Argh-screw-it! zone. It's supposed to be a poster with and idea pertaining to Malaysia. I guess the recent ISA arrests would be a better subject than the usual impoverished/dying/slave kid.

Great plans coming up for the trip across the peninsular. More on that later on when more details are set.

The production team for the up and coming, yet to be written film which, very curiously deals with voyeurism is slowly snowballing into a creative powerhouse. Somehow reminds me of the game Katamari Damaci where the huge sticky ball picks up everything along it's path. Yea it's voyuerism. Unfortunately the word has become a taboo in today's society many thanks to the load of porn on the net. Damn, what an organic way to set things up.

Looking forward to getting down to business soon enough.

Starting work on an artwork comissioned by my sister's friend. More on that later.

I'm such a procastinator.

Hollywood revisits Oldboy

2008-11-09T10:26:00.000-08:00

Steven Spielberg and Will Smith are in early discussions to collaborate on a remake of Chan Wook-park's "Oldboy." DreamWorks is in the process of securing the remake rights, and the new pic will be distributed by Universal.

In the 2003 Korean original, a man gets kidnapped and held in a shabby cell for 15 years without explanation. Suddenly, he's released and given money, a cell phone and clothes and is set on a path to discover who destroyed his life so he can take revenge.

Spielberg had been looking for an opportunity to make a film with Smith, who would play the kidnapped man if all the pieces fall into place. Spielberg is looking for a writer to begin the development process.

http://www.variety.com/VR1117995429.html

I can't belief this is even happening. Ok that was a lie. Even if it didn't happen today it would have happened sooner or later even with me saying my daily prayers to the gods of cinema. Since it has already happened I can only think of 2 reasons why, 1) Somehow I missed a day of customary DVD sacrificing OR 2) The gods of cinema died a long time ago.

Somehow I think it's the latter.

I'm sure we're all used to hearing news of Hollywood remaking Asian films but what made me highlight this particular bit of useless information is the unbelievably retarded combination of director-actor-story to be adapted.

I cannot even begin to imagine what were/is going through the minds of Spielberg and Will Smith as they watched Oldboy.

For those of you who have not watched Oldboy, here's a little bit of how it goes. Man gets kidnapped, isolated for 15 years and then released for no apparent reason. Man then goes around beating the shit out of everyone to find the badass who kidnapped him in the first place.
The rest of the film (yes there's more) is too awesome for me to reveal them here.
Go watch it. One of the best films to come out of a sorry bag of soppy love stories with suspiciously feminine looking males. Oh it's Korean by the way.

Hardly the sort of film that would be of any interest to the 2 top commercial superstars in Hollywood. Yes, COMMERCIAL. Which means they make things that sell. They make what people want. And almost nothing good can come out of that.

The reason I say almost is because there is always the potential of something good coming out of it. Just look at what Scorcese did with Infernal Affairs which he made into his very own The Departed.My question is this. Does it even matter anymore what Hollywood comes up with? Regardless of the quality of the film in any aspect whatsoever, when it is released into the wild, expect hordes and hordes of people to still pay and watch garbage on the not-so-silver screen. Films of today earn millions and millions over the weekend simply because the masses would gladly pay any sum of money to be distracted from their daily lives. It is sad and downright pathetic but unfortunately that's just the way it is. For all film enthusiasts out there, brace yourself for the worse is yet to come. But I'm sure you would have already realised that :D

A mild distraction

2008-11-06T04:43:00.000-08:00

'Initiation'
Nov 08
Oil on canvas

NSM

2008-10-31T18:01:00.000-07:00

I love history. It is what we do in the past that dictates who and where we are today.

There is no today without yesterday.

Someone once said that the only thing we learn from history is that we've never learned anything from it. How true. History in this country has disintegrated into the most boring subject in the education system and the museum a place where, heck most people today don't even acknowledge the existence of museums. Such is the level of ignorance and appreciation instilled within the youth of today. No amount of campaign or roadshows will ever fire up a genuine admiration of the country's rich heritage and history if the government continues to rewrite history to suit it's needs.

A visit to the National Museum of Singapore was a welcome change from the usual dull and gloomy atmosphere museums are famous for. The overall architecture and interior design of the building is fuss/clutter free with an emphasis on space and aeration, maximizing the use of natural sun light (superb conditions for photography) and walking space. I suck at explaining stuff with references so I'll let the pics do the talking.

Particularly interesting was how they made the escalators part of the design rather than try to hide it away in some corner as it is with most buildings.

* lighting in this pic is a bit bad since I took in RAW to adjust in PP but I can't do much without my laptop *

Ooh what a pose. Somehow every single thing I had on me that day was black. Thats the image of myself being projected behind me. Duh.

This is the part of the building where exhibits are discreetly hidden behind every door making it as if you found a secret level of some sort each time you stumbled upon an exhibit (like the secret areas in Quake haha).

Entrance to the theater area which had huge screens projecting P. Ramlee films and a whole bunch of other film and theater related exhibits. I'm a huge fan of P.Ramlee by the way. It was too dark to take any pics inside so I didn't bother.

Huge 180 degree screen with a superbly produced movie with narrative chronicling the history of how Singapore came to be.

This is how history is meant to be appreciated. Accept what has happened as the past that cannot be undone and move forward. I truly enjoyed how facts were presented in a non-bullshit manner no matter what the subject was.

The exhibit on the invasion by the Japanese Army was particularly impressive with a detailed timeline of what,who,where,how and when it happened. This is something, unfortunately Malaysia will never be able to do since we refuse to accept history as it is and instead edit it to suit the times.

They even had bottles of herbs and flowers for you to sniff at but somehow the sniffing machine was out of order. Glad they were smart enough than to let people open the bottle and start sniffing around themselves.

Decisions. Decisions. Decisions. Sigh...

Even their walkways could rival that of an airport.

There was a special exhibit on the history of photography and I couldn't help but notice this picture. Try looking closely at the expression on the girl's face who I assume to be the family slave.

That is seriously one of the most pityful faces I have ever seen. I can't even begin to imagine the kind of life she must have led during those times. Looking at the picture, it's easy to just dismiss it as you would any other picture, but try taking a few seconds to stare into the girl's eyes and imagine yourself being in her shoes. The horror. The horror.

I find it amazing how Malaysia and Singapore can have so much in common and yet function so differently.

Once upon a time both countries decided to run in a race. After the first lap, both were still very much equal so Singapore decided to put in the extra effort and work harder. Till today they're still at it, working harder than ever to keep running. Malaysia on the other hand, after the first lap decided to stop at a nearby stall and have teh tarik with nasi lemak. And we have not gotten back into the race ever since.

With how things are going today, we never will.

Thanx a bunch to Aaron for taking time from work to hang out and especially to Felicia for her hospitality. Wah sounds so formal haha.

Singapore

2008-10-31T02:16:00.000-07:00

Back from Singapore. Well actually I got back some time back but I haven't been able to sit down and sort things out until today.

How retarded of me to leave my laptop charger behind. And now I'm laptop-less for the next few weeks or so. Which in turn turned out to be sort of a good thing since I finally got down to
working on my canvas again.

My thoughts on Singapore. I can't help but love it and hate it at the same time. Who, in their right mind would not fall in love with a country (I prefer 'city') that does everything right? It's clean, organized, safe, vibrant and (fill this space with any other cool adjectives you can think of).

It's the complete opposite of Kuala Lumpur in terms of standards of living, which is truly awesome and yet I can't help but feel almost 'suffocated' just by spending a few days there. I can't even begin to imagine myself living/working there. Here is a country with its very foundation built on trade and commerce.

One night I was just sitting alone on a bench along Orchard Road with a bottle of mineral water, doing absolutely nothing for hours. I felt like I was sitting at the edge of a huge flowing river and I had better be careful not to be swept away by the strong current.

This was the heart of the city and it was beating fast. The streams of cars that stopped and cruised at every change of light was like the gushing of blood through the veins of the city. Every shopping mall built bigger and better than the other was like an important organ to the body, each playing it's own part to run the machinery of the city.

People move in and out of buildings, MRT stations, cars and buses as if it was a cardinal sin for any one of them to just stop moving even for a split second. Singapore would collapse if people stopped moving.

Perhaps not many would share my enthusiasm about sitting and doing nothing at the heart of a city but it is in these contemplative moments that the city reveals itself the most. Most people of today lead a life of frenzy that they mistake the act of standing still and doing nothing as a luxury.

Get the logic of this, standing still and doing nothing in a bus/lrt is a waste of time but standing still and doing nothing in a resort is a luxury. It's amazing how people pay thousands to just sit and do nothing. Or stand, it's up to you really.

A few more pics on the National Museum next.

Wet, wet wet

2008-10-16T03:13:00.000-07:00

For the past week I have been trying to find the time to try out some water droplet photography. Here's how it actually went.

Attempt 1
I had every single item set up in my 'mini studio' when I realised that I actually left the tripod in the office.

Attempt 2
This time I had the tripod. Things were going smooth right up til the moment I actually put the damn camera on the tripod. I couldn't. Stupidly I brought the tripod but not the bracket to fit the camera on it. Excellent. Classic stupidity.

Attempt 3
I had the tripod. I had the bracket. Everything was in place. Tried a few test shots and it turned out like shit. Inadequate lighting. Surprise surprise. One IKEA lamp didn't have enough photons to blast the damn thing. Solution: add ANOTHER IKEA lamp.

Somehow 2 lamps wasn't enough, so I decided to try out the 'free roaming' bulbs I wired up back when I was making the glass lamp (another story for another time.. maybe). This is when shit happened.

I switched it on, a mini explosion happened and the room went black. Awesome! Now nothing works and I didn't get a glimpse of what actually exploded. Tried checking everything but to no avail.

Only next morning I found out that the fuse tripped and all I had to do was push the damn switch up at the MCB.

Attempt 4
This time it had to work. Test shots sucked so bad that even watermarks were more interesting than the subject.

Since it was already going into the wee hours of morning I could only experiment with a few different variations. I'm not bothered to process any of the pics so bear with me. This was done with droplets of ink into water. Didn't expect it to turn out this way though.

Here's another

And here's the aftermath but with flash

Oh well, they all suck but at least I now know what needs to be done.

More experiments coming soon. At least after I'm back from Singapore.

How dreadful. Sigh...

Still movements

2008-09-27T04:35:00.000-07:00

Framed in perfection

2008-09-21T04:08:00.000-07:00

The guys at Criterion make the best DVD covers ever. It's amazingly beautiful how a single frame captures the emotions expressed in an entire film.

How can anyone not love covers like these. *drools*

Best Malaysian Films

2008-09-19T05:51:00.000-07:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i8JT1FkdEOc

http://www.antoofighter.com/main.htm

Without a doubt this has to be the most anticipated local film ever. Sheer technical brilliance and mindblowing originality. This is the sort of film that I believe Malaysia needs. Take that Scorcese! Never underestimate the spirit of Malaysia Boleh!

Synopsis

A group of ghastly creatures from the past led by Drakulat Van Listerooy (Awie) returns to free one of Satan's spawn – Lord Sharon. Drakulat and his ghosts terrorise Kuala Lumpur in search of the chosen one, a girl named Delyla who represents a bloodline extraordinary powers, making her the perfect sacrificial victim for Lord Sharon's freedom. It is now up to a top-secret group called Antoo Fighters to protect the world from evil and to save Kuala Lumpur!

I am seriously considering ending my filmmaking career knowing that I will never make a film as good as this. I am speechless.

Let me just go crawl into my little corner and die. I'm not worthy enough to even share the same pixels as the poster of this film.

First light of dawn

2008-09-11T22:25:00.000-07:00

It was only yesterday my love,

the air of dawn is cold,
the air of dawn is dark,
the air of dawn is silent,
yet it speaks to me of what is to become.
Such are the words of the night.

Embrace me my love,

for there is nothing that I long for more,
than to the feel the warmth of your skin across mine,
strangers as they are, they speak an unlearned language,
a language never heard, only understood.

Be silent my love, she said,
even the humblest of whisper will betray us.

fill the gaps between my fingers with yours,
let me feel the warmth from your fingertips,
let me feel them rushing through my veins,
as they fill the emptiness within me,

the mighty waves of the ocean are strong,
yet they submit, to the humble grain in their infinite numbers,

let me breathe you in, my love,
dive within me and set me free,
untie the knots that suffocate me,
complete the puzzle that defines me

in your embrace we are one my love,

we are the silhouettes of dawn,
as streaks of light casts a faint glow upon us,
blessing the union of two strangers,
as the darkness of the night dissolves in approval.

Make me a promise my love,
A promise that will stand the test of time,
A promise that will hold when all others crumble,
Promise me my love,

That you will hold on,

do not ever let me go.

Let there be light

2008-09-10T01:36:00.001-07:00

Being an artist in this country is somewhat similiar to this tree. Things are shitty as hell but you see the light in it and you try your very best to make it through. This is especially so in the film industry. Just take a look at the list of films we have produced in the past year and tell me it isn't so.

Malaysian box-office 2007
1. Jangan Pandang Belakang (director: Ahmad Idham, company: Metrowealth): RM6.3 mil
2. Otai (Razak Mohaideen, Line Clear/Grand Brilliance): RM3.5 mil
3. Nana Tanjung 2 (Razak Mohaideen, Line Clear/Grand Brilliance): RM2.5 mil
4. Zombi Kampung Pisang (Mamat Khalid, Tayangan Unggul): RM2.4 mil
5. Impak Maksima (Ahmad Idham, Metrowealth): RM2.1 mil
6. Mukhsin (Yasmin Ahmad, Grand Brilliance): RM2 mil
7. Waris Jari Hantu (Shuhaimi Baba, Pesona): RM1.7 mil
8. Qabil Qhushri Qabil Igam (Zaili Sulan, Sonata): RM1.6 mil
9. Anak Halal (Osman Ali, Tayangan Unggul): RM1.5 mil [*completed screening Jan 2008]
10 = Sumolah (Afdlin Shauki, Vision Works): RM1.2 mil
10 = 9 September (Pierre Andre, Metrowealth): RM1.2 mil
12. Puaka Tebing Biru (Osman Ali, Tayangan Unggul): RM1.03 mil
13. Chermin (Zarina Abdullah, Starry Eye): RM0.8 mil
14. Orang Minyak (Jamal Maarif & C.K. Karan, Infohibur): RM0.6 mil
15. Syaitan (Bade Azmi, Tayangan Unggul): RM0.5 mil
16. Haru Biru (Shadan Hashim, JAS): RM0.4 mil
17 = Diva (Sharad Sharan, Astro Shaw): RM0.3 mil
17 = Kayangan (Raja Ahmad Alauddin, Raden Pictures): RM0.3 mil
17 = 1957: Hati Malaya (Shuhaimi Baba, Pesona): RM0.3 mil
20. Budak Lapok (Anwardi Jamil, Matahari): RM 0.2 mil
21. Cinta Yang Satu (Zulkiflie M Osman, Wan's): RM0.1 mil

Yasmin Ahmad's Mukhsin is without a doubt the only acceptable film in the long list of garbage. I can only wonder why. Why do directors make films with laughable storylines, bad lighting, bad acting, bad film and sound editing, bad everything and still be proud enough to release it as a piece of work.

I feel exhausted just thinking about it.

A friend said to me once, " You know you complaint so much about all these bad films, why don't you make your own movie and watch it". Sure this was said in annoyance but who cares.

If something was done in bad taste I will say so. I am in no way obliged to say a local made film is good just because it was made locally. Support local films they say. Why of course we should support local films but on the condition that they at least put an ounce of effort in coming out with something credible.

This is the mentality that permeates through the minds of most Malaysians and hence why we will never be able to move forward until we are prepared to be progressive in whatever we do.

In response to what my friend had said, I will indeed.

I write, I paint, I shoot and I make good films :D

Stay tuned. We'll be right back after this.