WORLD | Maulidirasul .... 12 Rabiulawal ...

... kepada yang menyambutnya ... selawat serta salam ke atas nya ...

... sepertimana yang dimaklumi ... Barang siapa yang memberi selawat kepadanya dengan satu selawat .... Insya Allah ... Tuhan akan membalasnya dengan 10 kali selawat ....

... Allahuma sali ala Muhammad ... wa ala ali Muhammad .....

The photo shows the annual gathering & procession held at the Capital city of Brunei to mark the birthday of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon Him). (2007)

SINGAPORE | The Numbers Info ...

.... for those who frequently uses the public transport would know what the numbers stand for ... hmmm.. nope ... not the 4 Digit numbers .. nor the QMS (Queue Management System) ... it is the number of the buses for the designated destination...

.. BTW .. did u know that... there this hotel in Singapore .. where by... your hotel key card... can be used as the MRT travel card ... as well as for the buses .... ... and the key card can also be used to pay for your shoppings and your ticket to the movies... ( eeerr.. ignore the movie & shopping bit ... I'm just over exaggerating ... ;p)... anyway .... how cool can that be ... that's how the integration of electronic or e-thingy ... should be ... as well as the integration of the private and public sector ....

ABSTRACT | Recycle in Colours ....

... while we are still in this colourful theme ....

.. what some consider as rubbish ... might be something useful for some .....

... the same with art ... for some ... this is just a "rubbish" photo ... but ... for some... hmmmm.....

... btw just wondering ... instead of colouring the bins with different colour... why not just label it.. and make it transparent .... so that people can see what is inside and just drop their rubbish to the appropriate bin ...... hmmmm... oh well just thought ....

SINGAPORE | Tabuk Bekolor

... now zooming even more .... really like those colourful wodden window panes....

... in some part of the world, certain area, their buildings, cottage, houses and the like are painted in those colourful yet warm soothing pastel colours ....it sure make them quite cheerful.. and picturesque ....

... in Brunei where can u find such motifs .... hmmmm.... in bandar ..? ... do u realise they tend to "colour" bandar nowadays... the first u'll realise is the Public Library .... nice pastel colour in contrast with the magnificient and only murals.......

SINGAPORE | Canopies@ Clarke Quay ...

.. the photo from the previous post was taken from across the river ....

.... and now trying to zoom and capture more detail....

... the ubiqutous canopy.. with the colourful pastel coloured wall finishes at the background ...

SINGAPORE | Clarke Quay

... the Canon DSLR EOS 350D was launched in Singapore some time in 2005 during an IT/AV Expo in Suntec City.. and after using a film SLR for some times ..... I boughtthe DSLR during the expo straight away .... and this is one of the first few shots that I took after I bought the camera ....

... Clarke Quay ... where u can dine ... shop ... and have good time ... thou is not similar to Salford Quay in Manchester UK .... but ... somehow I always associate them both ..... hmmm.. I dunno....

.. anyhow .... Clarke Quay was named after the 2nd Governor of Singapore ... Sir Andrew Clarke .... here u can see lotsa varieties of stuffs ... away from those typical street scene .....

........ antiques .... 2nd hand materials .... souvenirs ....... fun ....and obviously lotsa photo opportunities .... so those photo enthusiast .... don't just go to Orchard Road ... but this is the place to be seen with your huge bulky .. troublesome ... eyesore... eye catching ....photo gears .. n get as much photo as u want .... ( the Singapore Tourism Board oughta give me some insentive for this article .... )

MALAYSIA | Steel & Glass ...

.... I guess .. this need no introduction .... despite of only showing a bit of the actual structure... people will already recognise what it is .... can't u ...?

... well... this is for sure one of the most photograph structure in Malaysia .... every tourist including the local tourist ... would have the photograph of these structure lurking somewhere in their album ....

... hmmm.. but now .. the challenge is ... how to capture it in a different angle ....

ENTERTAINMENT | MAWI AF3

.. eh what ..? .. Who's Mawi World ? ... world kah banar ..?

... first .... Vince AF1 .. then... Zahid AF2 ... .. after that ... Mawi AF3 ... later .... Faizal AF4 ... and now .. AF5 is on ... will it be still the guy .. or the girl ...? .. but seeing from this early stage ... it seems to be .... still the guy ... 'coz .. even from the start the ladies are voted at the bottom place ... y..? ... because I presume... most of the voters are ladies.. hence... why would they vote for the ladies ..... nda ja ...?

.. so who are the participants for AF5 ...?

Afiq AF5 , Aizat AF5 , Aswad AF5 , Candy AF5 , Dafi AF5 , Dekna AF5 , Diya AF5 , Ebi AF5 , Farha AF5 , Fatin AF5 , Heliza AF5 , Mila AF5 , Noni AF5 , Rizal AF5 , Shawal AF5 , Zana AF5 ....

... the 1st round was over.... 2 participants were "voted out" ... Diya AF5 .. due to less votes... n ... Zana AF5 .. hmmmm... Zhana .. she voted herself out on her own will .... hmmmm... y.. u asked ... well don't ask me ... check it for yourself .... ;)

.. .Mawi AF3 .. signing autographs for his fans, (more story here) ....(...adakah in gambar kontroversi AF yang di cari ....? .. hmmm.. mungkin tidak.... bukannya gambar bogel ni .... mun gambar bugil baru tah kontroversi... ani gambar skodeng pun bukan ..... kantoi tah banar ..... ) ...... anyway ...some people said that .. his popularity was still hot .. that ... not many people were aware of the AF4 winner ... hmmmm .... but now .. I think ... the storm has calm a bit .... and especially due to the very early controversional issues clouding AF5 ... ... people are back getting engage to AF ....

.. but u should try watch Indonesian's version ... AFI ... waduh ... emangnya lebih ngetop gitu ...

MALAYSIA | F1 Concert ...

... it's the Formula One (F1) season again .... as u all know.. quite a number of re-shuffle been made....

.. Kimi Raikkonen move to Ferrari was... uhmmm.. a great loss to McLaren ... what he needs is a consistent machine .... coz he can really drive ...... even if he was no. 15 at the starting grid .... by the end.. he'll zoom thru the top 3 ......

.. Alonso .. he's lucky .. to drive a consistent Renault last season .. but now in McLaren ... hope he can do much better ...... come on lah McLaren .... loads of supporter are having high hope this season ....

.. then ... Renault ..? .. without "star" driver doubt it they can go far this time around....

.... and the rest ...? ... good luck to u all .....

...anyway ...... while in KL few years back ... during the F1 weekend .... night time around the Bukit Bintang area... there's a free concert held there... performed by Malaysia's well-known "Hijau" artis .... Zainal Abidin ... who used to be in the group, Headwind ... (Kepala Angin) ... man ... the Golden Triangle was packed with people from all walks of life.... but it was fun thou .. despite the large crowds....

... Ikhlas Tapi Jauh .... Hijau ... Orak-Arek .... Kita Serupa ..... Inayah ..... Manis ...... are some of Top Ten songs ... sang by Zainal .....

... Zainal Abidin.. performing one of his hits while playing the percussion ...... " .... manis mulut di bibir ... sangatlah merbahaya ...... "

NOTE: The photo was taken with a 4MP point & shoot Canon Ixus i

MALAYSIA | The Curvy Reflection ...

... some said ... look at your reflection in the mirror .... but .. does it portray the real reflection ...?

... in Physic 101... we know that ... if the mirror is not a perfect flat surface .... it will distort the reflection .... thus u get those mirror in fun fairs.. and circus ... where they can make u look fat or thin ... depending on how u wanna see your own self....

......... this....... can also be reflected in our life... depending on how we wanna see ourself .... now ... or even the future ....

.. if u wanna be in a certain situation ... aim to it .. focus ...

.... aim for the sun... even if u failed ... at least you'll fall among the stars ..... ;)

.......... and its better to say u love someone and get rejected than to never said it .. and forever in a question ....


... a reflection of men passing one of the newly built government complex in Putrajaya Malaysia ....

TRANSPORTATION | Sampan ...

... not far from the "rich man's ride" ... and in contrast of those huge one .... I encountered these children ... paddling happily in their self made rowing boat ... or in malay also known as Sampan ...

... looking at their gears ... they might also be an "expert" in scuba diving ... hmmmm.....

.... I still remember .. back in the childhood days ..... living in Kampung Aying (Water Village) ... (yeap ... I'm from Kampung Aying ... and proud of it ... ;) ) ..... doing a backflip ... from the verandah to the open water below .... playing with those mud .... covering our body with it ... ( and now lotsa SPAs are also doing it.... that .... the mud bath thingy .... .. macam orang kampung aying jua tu .... ) .....

..... we also manage to "play" with those small square paddle boat .... and our heart will be pulsating with excitement .. everytime the tide rises ..... siuk kali ah ... mun aying dalam ....


... and yea ... while we are in the subject of who follows who ....

... did u know that ... or realise that ... there are a lot of similarity between Sushi ... & Pulut Panggang ...? if u cut Pulut Panggang .. accordingly .. it will look like Sushi ....

... well... yang banar nya ... durang atu ... dulu masa jaman jipun ... dorang teliat Pulut Panggang ... so eyatah .. dorang ikut di Jipun .... but dorang inda tercari daun nyirik atu.. or watever daun yang kena pakai membuat Pulut Panggang ..... so they use the ubiquitous Seaweed .... n Tada .... there u go ..... the origin of Sushi ..... ;)

TRANSPORTATION | The Yacth .. or Yatch ... or Yacht .. (.sp?)

.. a yatch ... ( how come it's not pronounce the same as WATCH? .. the difference is only between W & Y ... yyyyyyy????? ) .. btw a yatch ... in today's context ... just like the one in the photo ... can it still be considered .. a necessity as a mode of transportation.. or a luxury..? .. as a form of leisure activity ....

.. imagine having one of those huge yatch ..... with your name printed on the sail .....

... then travel around the world .... then .. imagine ... eeer... hmmm... oh well.. nevermind ... just imagine .....

THAILAND | The Day & Nite of EGV ...

..... whilst in Bangkok ... one can not miss the Big C .. or EGV Metropolis ... which is on the opposite side of The World Trade Centre .. or was it the Covention Centre .. hmm.. oh well.. it was within the vicinity of Panthip Plaza, the place where the tech geek can fiest there craving with gadgetary on more than 5 storeys mall ....

.. anyway ... at nite ....while walking along ... passing the EGV .... I tried to capture the nicely lit neon lights covering them ......

.. then morning ...the next day ... I also captured the same building .... without realising I was standing in roughly the same spot as during the nite time .....

........ and I only realise it while trying to process the photos ....

... well... is that a coincidence or what ...?!

... the above photos was not edited to make it looks like day & nite ... I just flipped the nite time photo so that it seems to be a reflection of it ....

THAILAND | 2 Officers & 7 Red Cones...

... whilst staying at the 20 something floor hotel room in Bangkok ... looked outside the window.. and saw this interesting subjects ..... zoomed in and thus this is what I got ....

RANDOM | Brunei's Photo Mag ... 2nd Issue?

.... don't wanna type much ... just a continuation from the 1st part ....

.. oh .. if u r wondering .. yeap .. she's a real person ... n yeap ... the photo was captured by the GF's Team ... ;)

BRUNEI | Mencari Rezeki ....

... for some.... their "9 to 5" job is "sitting comfortably" in an air-conditioned office ... for some .... it might be under the heat of the sun ... or.... deep in the jungle .... high in the sky ... or roughing the cold North Sea .... yet .. whatever it is ... it is still their means... for a living ....

... the photo shows..... the silhouette of two fishermen mending their own business.... despite the rough water.... just to have a small piece of share from the vast open ocean....... enough to earn for their living ... to feed their family .... to live for another day ....

... rezeki ada di mana-mana .... siapa yang rajin berusaha... insya-Allah .. akan menerima ganjarannya ....

... bukan jua apa .. ani kan bercerita tah jua ni .... mun orang luar .. dapat idup arah negri kitani ani ... napa plang orang kitani ani inda.... ada-ada saja alasan nya .... cuci kereta kah .. jual nasi seringgit kah ... jual penyaram kah ... jual cendol kah ... apa kah ... yang penting Halal bah ....

.... nya orang ... bjual Batu sama Akar pun boleh jadi duit bah ... nda caya kah ..??

.. cuba tia liat ... di garai di mana ah ... banyak jua orang bejual Batu tu .. Batu jed lah ... batu cincin lah .. batu ini lah ... batu itu lah ... .. batu bata lah ....

............... then ... Akar ... liat saja tia .... Akar Tongkat Ali ..... Akar seribu guna lah ... akar tunjang lah ... Kg. Sungai Akar lah ... membuang sampah lah ..... semua jua jadi duit tu ... sampah pun boleh jadi duit mun di kitar semula ... atau nya omputih Re-Cycle ...

... eyatah ada orang.. nya boring udah duduk di rumah ani ... nda buat apa apa....

... adedeh .. mun boring duduk di rumah .... berdiri plang ... napa kan ....

.. tapi ah rahmat udah ni arah kitani ani ... Syukur tah .. Alhamdulillah ..... ambil saja tia peluang yang ada atu ....

.. I still remember during one of my high-school assemblies ... some of those notorious students were asked to clean the toilets.. then they complaint it to their family ... then of course ... obviously ... the family came to the school and scolded the teacher .... but then .. what did the teacher told us ..... bukan plang kami yang kena denda atu ... but ani ia gtau kami time assembly bah ... eyatah nya ....

... " ..... napa hina kah cuci jamban ani ..? ... Adakah hina ... pekerjaan cuci jamban ...? .. Adakah hina jika ibu kamu .. atau adik-beradik kamu .. atau keluarga kamu yang mencuci jamban di rumah atu ..?? ... Hina kah ah ...?? "

... bukan kan ambung ... with due respect nya orang London ..... anu bah ... stiwades yang lawa lawa atu pun cuci jamban jua tu lai ....

TRAVEL | Pulau Mayat ...?

... if any of you are a frequent traveler between Brunei & Labuan Malaysia.... along the way you can see loads of islands ... which include the Kuraman Island ....

Actually .. on a clear day ... if one stands from the Serasa Beach the land end of Brunei, you can see the Island of Labuan clearly.... and vice-versa ....

... one interesting island that one might notice is this one island which resemble a lying body .. or a corpse ... or in malay known as "Pulau Mayat" ... well not so sure of the actual name... but the shape can only be seen at a certain angle.. .. anyway I'll just let you decide on your own ....



NOTE: ... btw yeap ... the photo's blurry ... I was on a fast moving rocking boat when I took this photo, plus .. I had to extend my "cheap" non-Optical Stabilised lens to the very end of its 300mm ... and the time span was only couple of seconds.. otherwise.. if u missed the angle.. u won't see it, as it is, as above....

TRAVEL | The Beach | Rambat ...

.... so what else is associated with beach ... ocaen .... ?

... sunset? .... yeeaaa... but ... if you are looking for those typical sunset photos... you'll be dissapointed ... no such typical sunset photo here ....

... n would u believe it that.. I've come across one of the public photo forum which stated along the line something like this .... " .... we know u all love to shot sunset n sunrise, but we have tons of those already, so please don't post such photos anymore ..."

..... so with that in mind ... I'll try to capture not such typical cliche .... n what do I got?

... see it for yourself .... " Rambat Tersidai Di Batang Pantai Di Bibir Waktu Senja..." ...or in Speaking London .... " The fishing net, on the not so suspended log, at the beach not the ocean, at the lips of sunset ...." .... antam saja tia bah ..... ;)

TRAVEL | The Beach | Waiting For The Sunset ...

... so what do u do after having those beach fun ... beach games ...and beach fiesta ..... etc

.. lying on the sun .. waiting for the sun to set ....

... looking at the ocean ... the waves dancing with the sand beach .....

TRAVEL | The Beach | Beach Football ...?

... OK .. enuff of the yoga thingy ... so what else can u do at the beach .... hmmm... lotsa stuffs actually .... beach volleyball .... beach football ... beach that.. beach this .......... just anything that u can possible imagine ...


... the good thing about playing at the beach is that .... there is no rule.. u can make your own rule in any of the game .... and why is there no rule...?

.. napa kan ... biar tia bah .. ingin-ingin ati bah ... sama jua for fun saja.... ;)

... in the photo above..... guess what they're playing .....

.... hmmmm.. beach football .... u say ...? ... but where's the ball....? ... find the missing ball ....

TRAVEL | The Beach | Gym Yoga ...

... hmmmm.. I guess... everyone wanna display how flexible their body is ...

... bending their knees ... bending their hip .... bend it like Beckham ... Bender Mender Fender.... Bender that Robot from Futurama ... .. Bender Seri Begewen ... adeeeh.. over tia ... exaggerating .....

.... I think .... was it because of the aura of the ocean .... that made people wanna bend everything ....

... or they just wanna make the beach as some sort of a Gym ... like those Muscle Beach in the US ...

.... Mr. Jim Yoga (not his real name) doing a headstand at the Beach Gym Yoga...

TRAVEL | The Beach | Yoga Bal ...?

... walking further.. along the beach ... saw this guy doing yoga ... or just an ordinary stretches.... or cooling down exercise.... or perhaps practicing ballet...? ..

.. but there's a yoga mat near him ... hmmm... may be ... the feeling of the natural sand is much more satisfactory than the synthetic man-made material ....

.... n guess what ... he's wearing Crocs! .. hmmm... first .. the photographer's shoes... now ... even Yoga Bal is wearing it .... wooohooo!.... 79-15/8 x 23 + 2007 votes for Crocs! ....

.... keep on bending those curve Mr. Yoga Bal ! ....

TRAVEL | The Beach | Blue Sky, Yellow Rafters...

... the colour of the tower is quite catchy ... looking above .... one can see the contrasting colour of the sky and the rafters .....

... in some parts of the world... most of the housing or building along the beach are usually painted in pastel or brightly coloured paint..... which look quite interesting and "photo-able" ....

TRAVEL | The Beach | The One With The Shadow ...

.. walking along the soft sandy beach ...
.... feeling the cool sea breeze brushing pass your face .....
... glancing the golden reflection of the glittering ocean ....
..... hearing the soothing rhyme of the ocean waves ....... can very calming ....

.. and if u cannot get enuff of it, one can climb up one of the tower houses along the beach..... to enjoy the magnificient view of where the beach meets the ocean ... as far as the eyes can see...

.... and while on the tower house ... saw this interesting scene .... with the sun beginning to set ... as the shadow becomes longer ... and the camera lens becoming longer as well ... hmmmm... eh no ... the lens should be shorter .. otherwise can't get a wider view .... hence... I manage to share u this moment ....

TRAVEL | The Beach | Sand Sculptures ...

... whilst trying to get another shot of her .... along the way .. stumble upon these sand sculptures ...

... at first .. just one... then ........two ............ then.......... suddenly mushrooming to hundred....... then thousand .. then.... eeer no just .. I was just exaggerating ... ;) ... not that much thou ... but managed to get such composition as the photo below ...

........ building sand sculptures ... or sand castle are also associated with beaches... sandy beaches that is ... coz unlike the beaches in Brighton, UK ... which mostly consist of small pebbles .... so how..... what to build meh? .. Castle on the Rock eh?

... some parts of the world take sand sculpting as serious business... where they will organize a world championship in building sand sculpture or sand castle ....

..... building a sand sculpture does not require one to posses an engineering degree nor architectural degree..... or even hotel & management degree .... but what u need is a QBE .... (Qualification By Experience) .....

... mix some sand .... water ... feel it ... touch it .... blend it .....and make sure it is far away from the reach of the ocean wave...... then imagine what ever u want ... then .... pray for a miracle .... good luck ...... ;)

TRAVEL | The Beach | Globe Trekker Thingy ...

... woookay ... I think.... enuff of the shells thingy ... now we get to the real stuffs ....

.. one of my fav. channel on telly is the Travel & Living .... especially the Globe Trekker ....

Love their style of documenting their journey .... love the cinematography.......along side funny presenters ... especially the funny guy Ian Wright ..... and also not forgetting ... Megan McCormick ... and Justin Shapiro ..... just to name a few ...

.. the shows often goes way beyond the typical tourist attraction...... where the host .. will interact with the local communities... or participate in local events .. and mostly were unrehearsed..... although... some researches were done before the actual filming ...

... and when you watch the opening montage of the series... you will notice this guy .. on a beach .. with a stick ..... as if writing something on the sandy beach ...

....... well well well .. what do you know ... as I walk along one of the beaches during traveling ... ..... about a hundred metre away ( I dunno the actual distance, didn't bring a measuring tape with me .....) .... anyway .... saw this lovely lady doing the same thing..... so not to miss the moment ... this is what I got .....

... what a lovely beach it is ..... blue ocean ... blue skies .... and as if being planned.. blue sarong ..... hmmmm... coincidence ... or what ... you tell me ..... ;)

... eh what .. here name? ... .. here fone number...? .... sorry .. even if I approached her.. I won't understand their local language ... ;) ... ooppss

TRAVEL | The Beach | Shells... Loads of 'em ...

... and .. waheeeeyyyy.. what do u know .... there are shells everywhere....

... shells here... shells there ......

.. here a shell .... there a shell ....

.......... everywhere are shells ...... a e i o u .. yo yo yo ......

TRAVEL | The Beach | Shell ...

.. and what do beach usually associated with ...? ...

... donuts? .... beach balls...? .... sand...?

.. eeerrr nope .. not hot ladies in sexy bikinis .. (err that one too.. but this is something else...)

............ well .. it is Shell ..... nya orang kitani tekuyung .....

... n .. yea I know .. of course the obvious cliché ..... The Tongue Twisters' Thingy ....

She sells sea shells by the sea shore.
The shells she sells are surely seashells.
So if she sells shells on the seashore,
I'm sure she sells seashore shells.

.....and some other "simple" one...

Red lorry, yellow lorry, red lorry, yellow lorry.

Unique New York.

Mrs. Smith's Fish Sauce Shop.


.. or if u want in Malay or Bahasa Indonesia.. jugak bisa......

Pokok Kopi, Pokok Kopi, Pokok Kopi, ...

Cuka, kicap, cuka, kicap, cuka, kicap, ...

Buaya biawak, buaya biawak, buaya biawak, ...

.. and did u know that in Tagalog they also say...
Buwaya, Bayawak, .... ;)

.... Pangako Sa 'Yo ....

TRAVEL | The Beach | "Sponge Rock" ...

... when traveling it's good to visit their beaches .... you just don't know .. how beautiful God's creation until you see it ....

BRUNEI | NDP2007 | 24 Hours ...

... the National Day Parade 2007 was held on the 24th February 2007, Saturday ....

.... this photo shows Bandar Seri Begawan on the 23rd February 2007 ...... about 24 Hours before the National Day Parade....

ABSTRACTS | Aying Mengalir Di Batu ...

... Air Mengalir Di Batu ...

.. Air ...

.. hembusan bayu membelai lembut dedaun layu ...
... gemersik deruman air yang mengalir ... memecah keheningan pagi ....
.... aliran air yang mengalir ... meraba-raba dicelah kehangatan batu...
.. seumpamanya memberikan ketenangan ...
..... membersihkan dedebu yang melekat utuh di atas batu ....

.. namun air masih mengalir tanpa menghiraukan waktu ....
.... mungkin waktu mengetahui makna yang tersirat dan tersurat dibalik aliran air di atas batu ...

Asil Nukilan
GF