.. today marks the 50th anniversary of Malaysia's Independence... which was on the 31 August 1957 (31.08.1957) .... various celebrations are held today... and many distinguished royal guests... head of states.. were invited to celebrate this historic day ... including HM The Sultan of Brunei and Prince Andrew of the UK .. just to name a few...
NOTE: Photo taken with a camera phone by: PKH, and edited accordingly by the editor... the above photo shows Dato' Seri Hishamuddin bin Tun Hussein, (LL.B,LL.M) currently the Minister of Education in Malaysia, his father.... is the 3rd Prime Minister of Malaysia, and also ......... the cousin of the current Deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia, Dato' Seri Najib Tun Razak...... His father (Tun Hussein) was also known as "Bapa Perpaduan Malaysia" (Father of Unity)....... oh yea.. btw ... which one is which? ... one is the real Hishamuddin .. where as the other one is the Brunei's Hishamuddin look-alike... so they said .... iakah? .... some said that.. we have another 6 others around the world who look like us... hmmm.... interesting ....
.... another photo of the B&W series .... .. an interior design of one of the malls .... with sexy curvy escalators ....
... the view within ...
... people often say .. do not believe everything you see... especially from a photo ... looks can be deceiving .... ... even in real life .. how many times have you encountered such experience .. while having coffee and such .... then someone or something caught your attention from afar ..... hmmmm..... beautiful from far..... then ... as it gets closer .... far from beautiful ......
... the photo above .... people would surely believe this a normal scene from a remote village in any country .... without a doubt . and for sure you will believe if I say that this photo was taken near a beach in Trengganu .... or Pattaya ... or even the Bahamas .... or South Africa .... or even Brunei .... .. but did you know that, this photo was actually taken at the Singapore City Centre? .. in fact from one of the Shopping Malls ... ;) ... figure it out .... ... speaking of photo tricks .... fake photo and stuff.... in our daily life ... we often read in the papers.. or even listened/watched the news and such ... every now and then ... some new scam pops-up out of nowhere... and some innocent ... and not so innocent people were duped by it ...... email scams .... SMS scams .... winning large amount of money ..... received an email saying that you have been picked as a winner of 20 million ... 30 gazzilion dollars ... and in order to get the prize.. u need to give your personal details... bank details ... your love life details ..... your diet details . or whatever it is just to make it sound genuine ...... and for sure you have heard ... even in the local scene... where one can be approached by a sales person.. for promotion and such .. then saying u have won yourself a gift...like this scenarioCASE STUDY 1.07 <--- JUST READSalesguy: .. wah encik mau cuba promosi? ( Wanna join our promotion?)Person: .. apa kan tu ..? ( What's that?)Salesguy: ... cuba lah teka... gores... dan menang .. ( Just try your luck, scratch and win)Person: .. bah cemana? ( How's that?)Salesguy: .. nah cuba lah gores ( just try to scratch this card)Person: .. *scraaaaatcch....* Salesguy: ... Waaaaaahh.. TAHNIAH! .. anda memang ... belum pernah orang lain dapat ini hadiah .... ( Congrats! You've won, this is the first time anybody have ever won such prize)Person: .. wooohoooo..... so how?Salesguy: ... so encik kena beli ini dahulu kemudian encik dapat itu hadiah... ( but u have to buy this stuff first, only then u can get the gift.)... so that person ... naively .. just bought that overly priced stuff ( whatever it is) ... then only to find the gift is just a cheap stuff where u can actually get from those night markets ....FAKE STUFF? SCAM? PHOTO SCAM? AWARD SCAM?.. so Dear Readers ...... beware of such scam.. or fake stuff ... even your Memory Cards... e.g. CF cards or SD cards could not even get away with it.. scams ... if that CF card's price is too good to be true... e.g. 4GB CF cards Ultra for $30!! oh man ... something's not right ... so know what to do .. check it ... search for it ... google it .. whatever... make sure it is original .... CASE STUDY 2.1 Fake CF Cards! <--- GOOD TO READ.. this guy found a "too-good-to-be-true" .. 4GB Extreme CF cards on the net for cheap ... $20 or so ... then bought it .... smiling and inserting it into his prized DSLR .. and just snap away ... when suddenly... after quite a number of snaps .... *daaaaaannnng* ... the CF card melted in his camera! .. hmmmm.... so can complain or not? .. nope... it was a fake card... thou the case study is not related but more info about Fake & Real Memory card.. u can read it hereCASE STUDY 3.9 Dear Original CF Card! <---INTERESTING READ... on the other hand .... having an original .. and "heavy-duty" memory cards really help u a lot ... there's this guy .. trying to capture a photo of the demolition of a ruined bridge... carefully setting his camera gear on a tripod and such .... he wanted to get the action on photo ... unfortunately ... when the demolition crew triggered the detonator ... the blast was stronger than he expected ... hence damaging his equipment ... everything turned into bit and pieces .. except his Memory card! .. don't believe me? ... read here for more info ... CASE STUDY 4.7 Fake Award? Photographers Scammed? <-- MUST READ!.... this another interesting case .... more or less the same as the Case Study 1.07 above ... but this is about Photography ... few photographers jumped for joy .. when suddenly some so called institution... called them.. emailed them... saying that.. they have won "The greatest photographer in the universe" Award.. ... the " Terrific Photographer of the Year, even the photo is lousy" award ... ( ignore the award title, those are exaggerated) .. but u get the flow .......... but .......... but the funny thing is ... even a lousy photo ... posted ages ago ... from this particular website also can also be awarded as the best photo of the year.... and the photographer is then invited to attend the award ceremony.. at a certain exotic location... and saying that .. some people from National Geographic ( so they called) will also be attending .. ( ddduuuuuhhh) ... and if u can't attend .. just send them money .... ( few hundred dollars) ... and they will send you, your shiny crystal trophy.. and etched medal... via courier even! .. oh well... I don't wanna talk any longer... for more detail... just read it here ...... and here.... HAPPY READING ;)
p.s. .. feel free to clearify and enlighten me with these case study ... and share your experience if any ...
... this conical structure is another well known landmark in Singapore... particularly those who frequent Orchard Road ....... originally when it opened in 1994, it was called Lane Crawford Place... then after its closure in the late 1990s due to the Asian Financial Crisis ... it was renamed The Wheelock Place .. after its owner... the Wheelock Properties ........ there are a lot of variety of stuffs .. that you can find in this building ..... ranging from those who loves books.. magazines .... bags.... shoes .... eateries... scrapbookings ... and coffee.......... Borders ... epiCentre@Orchard (for those Apple Mac lovers...) ... Crumplers .... Birkenstocks.. Marks & Spencers... ... just to name a few.... can be found here... n yea... those who loves coffee (or tea) ... u can hang out at The Coffee Bean.... or just within the vicinity.. u can also be at .. Starbucks .... Burger King .... otherwise .. just across the road.. just watch movie at the cinema ... or just shopping.... and shopping .... and more shopping ........ 
... the conical glass & steel structure ... an unmissable structure at the crossroad...... and for those who loves people passing by .... here is the place to be ...... here is the place to be seen.. or not to be seen ... hmmmm....
.. still on the black and white series ... and getting closer towards the ice cream vendor... also known as the Eskrim Potong Man ... or loosely translated as The Cut Ice-Cream Man ..... from the big box container .. the ice-cream is then cut into a cuboid .. or an elongated cube ... which is then wrap with bread or soft bun... or just taken as it is ... plain ice-cream....... one can have various flavour .... Yam ... vanilla ... corn .... durian ... yeap... Durian the fruit.... 
.. a young girl wait solemnly for her "ice-cream" potong ... from the eskrim potong man ...
..... strolling along the city walkway on sunny Sunday.... and the Ice Cream Man suddenly passed in front of you.. so what else.... approach him and get your favourite ice cream ....
... having an ice-cream break in the middle of the city .....
... Vivocity is a "playground" for the architect .... having a very large space .. which could enable more creative designs to be implemented... and integrated .... 
.. one of the modern sculpture blended to the interior design of the building ... I'd assume that .. the design of this twisted non-bearing column is from the leave of that plant at the bottom of the sculpture ....
... officially opened in December 2006... covering an area or 1.1 million square feet of retail space .. it is considered the largest in Singapore compared to Suntec & Ngee Ann City .. .. thou I still think that .. Suntec is larger ... hmmm... or it just feels like it .... oh well.. .. anyway ... to go there.... just get off the MRT at Harbour front .... from here.. you can also go to Sentosa Island .... either by cable car .... ferry ... by car .. or by the express train ... ... Vivocity was designed by the reknown Japanese architect Toyo Ito .... who focuses in utilising the nature... climate ... and open spaces ........ and the Engineer is ... eermmm.... hmmm... doesn't mention anywhere ... why always like that ah.... only the architect built the building ah ? ... aiyoo....
.... the outer cladding of Vivocity .... which evokes the images of waves in the sea....
... August is the month of "National Days" ... from Singapore .. to India .... to Indonesia ..... then Malaysia ... and some other nations are celebrating their National Day in the month of August ...
... people passing-by and glancing to the poster at the Esplanade ....
... the opposite of Orchard Road.... when one travels to Arab Street .. instead of finding tall modern skyscrapers..... instead... they can find a simple... "old-skool" designed row of shops ...... yet .. IMHO ... none resemble an Arabic architecture... nor Persian motif ... but .. nonetheless... the design of the structures are timeless..... 
... the elegant and colourful designed buildings in Arab Street ....... Arab Street .. used to be the centre of thye Muslim Communities in Singapore ..... selling Muslim amenities .. like ... praying mats, the Holy Quran, praying gears and such ..... but now ... it is popular because of its textile .... chiffon ... silk ... organza...... and even batik .... as well as camel skin .... .. if you are interested to go to Arab Street .... the nearest MRT station is the Bugis MRT ... .. happy bargaining .... :)
.... hmmmm..... as if some sort of a symbiotic relationship ..... one loves to pose .... one loves to take photo ... ... ermmmm...... could he be the next big thing in our local celeb scene.. after Wu Zhun? .... or was he before Wu Zhun ... hmmmm.... 
... the local celeb .. who's trying to be "local" ....at the locale ...... the celeb .. " ... hmmm.. I don't want too much light on my face ... make it just eermm.. it is there... but not there....? .... The light I mean... "... adeeeh banyak demand jua .... model nya ni .... ku ikat karang bawah merlion biar basah kena aying fountain ah ..... Huahahaha..... atau .. mau di Palm Garden Hotel ... ?
... ok guys.. and gals ... fess up .... people like .. .eeerm.. no ... they love to see sites with wedding photos ... be it the photos of the newly weds... or photos of their families... friends ... as long as there are loads of photos of people in some certain functions ... events ... sports and such ...... in other words ... people love to see site with photos of people ... ... then they will go ... " ... ooohh.. ia ani rupanya .... sama si anu ani nya ... " ... roughly translated as .. " .. ooh he's the one... so he's with her now eh ..." ....
..... " ... eh bisai jua kainnya atu ah .. dimana ia membuat ah ...." .. ( where did she get that dress from ...)
... or .. " .. eh behapa ia ani sini ... saudaranya kali ... " .. ( .. eh what is she doing here..... her relatives perhaps....)... or even ... " .. adeeh.. gambarnya saja... inda tah kan ada orang lain ... sadang luan jua eh .. " ... ( oh no .. not his photo again ... )
... unfortunately .. or fortunately ... ( depends on how u look at it ..) .. my site is not a wedding-photo-only site ... for those type of photos .. u can visit my friends at the links section ....
.. so why am I not doing wedding photo u might ask,...... despite loads of request for it .... oh well.... 'coz ..... I still need my off days ... need some happy hours with my families and friends ...
... hmmm... but if one really do insist ... oh well.. I might consider ... ;)
... a relative of the newly wed... receiving a "door gift" .. as she arrived at the ceremony ... ;)... in the local wedding scene ... giving a door gift for the guest is considered a norm ... given at the "door" ...or during "meet & greet" session.. it all depends on the situation ... .. different types of gift can be expected during the ceremony ... mugs ... umbrella .... frame ... praying mat.... plate... small decoratives.... place mat ... hmmmm.... I'm still waiting for those giving those actual PVC chair used at the ceremony .... so any takers...?
.. since today is a Sunday .. so might as well post this up ...
... some businesses run from 9-5 ... some only certain specific time .. and some even run 24 hours .... but whatever it is ... it depends on your ability ... or even what the customer needs....... some people believe that ... customer comes first ... then the staffs ...... but I think .. that mindset should be changed .... thou customer is important .... but you must first make your staff "happy" .... a happy staff .... will work well.... that eventually ... they will serve the customer better .... ;) ....don't you think so ... :)
.... what comes to mind when the word "Singapore" is mentioned? ..... for most people .... it will going to be ..... Orchard Road .... Shopping .... i.e. ... shopping@Orchard .... or shopping thereabout ....... well... i would suggest this time around.... for those enthusiast photographer ... I'd suggest ... dished out Orchard Road ... get away from it ... go somewhere else.... "get-lost" ..... go out ... ride the MRT ... follow the "circle route" ... and hop out to any destination which might interest you ....
.... Arab Street in Singapore ... famous for its textiles and fabrics etc ....... ~ .. jalan-jalan ke negeri arab ... pakai baju berderab-derab ...~..." ... waaal fadang fasir wul .... tumpuk-tumpuk ............. "
GF TIPS FOR TRAVEL PHOTOGRAPHY
1. .. some people have asked ... which equipment/gear/lens to bring ... well.. just follow your heart .... bring all the equipments that you can afford to bring/carry ... kit lens .... tele-zoom .... prime lens .... ultra-wide zoom lens ..... and bring along your tripod if you will .... because you never know you might need a particular lens... and you might blame yourself for not tugging it along with you ...
2. Do I have to bring all the equipments everywhere I go at the destination?
... no u just leave it in your hotel room! .. Dooh! ... why u wanna leave it in your hotel room? .. Might as well not to bring all the gears at the first place! ... well.. the actual answer is ... yes of course.. u need to bring all or some of the gears .. make sure u have a proper camera bag ... be it a shoulder bag, slingbag .. or a bag pack( thou the most comfortable but backpack is quite troublesome to get the gears in and out of the bag)
3. So if I am to carry the camera bag, how can I carry all my shopping bags?
.... hmmmm... on top of your head or you can bring an assistant with u!... oh well.. if you are asking me such question, you are like asking, can I eat while I drive? .. or can I play Tuba and dance at the same time? .... well u can ... but it is going to be ultimately difficult ...
.... if u wanna go shopping, don't bring your camera equipments then ... shopping and photography doesn't work well with each other ... unless you are shopping for camera equipments .. or photographing people shopping.. then .. that is a different story ...
4.How about Batteries & Memory Cards?
... bring as much batteries as u could.. so much that they can power a third world country ...eeermm... not! ... just bring what u can, but for batteries, remember to bring your charger, and check if the socket is compatible with the place of destination.... where as for Memory Cards, if you are shooting RAW, then 1GB for sure is not enough, unless you wanna take ONLY ONE photo for each day... if you don't have loads of Memory Cards, bring your laptop, or external hard disk, or get those online storage thingy ... otherwise... use the smallest jpeg setting on your camera... for sure 1GB can get you about 1000 photos ....
5.Wear a comfortable footwear .... I'd recommend ... get a CROCS! ... tried & tested ... might looked ugly to some ... but hey ... it is extremely comfortable ... and of course... because the "cheerful" colour and funky designs of the CROCS ... you must be confident enough to wear it in public .... must not be shy shy one meh ... hmmm.. and if you think you are those shy type... well.. forget about bringing those bulky SLR with you then......as you might be just to shy to use the D/SLR in public too ...
NOTE: .. more tips in upcoming posts ...
... in any event anywhere.. be it in Brunei.. or elsewhere.... for sure... there are those who are camera shy ... .. those who turn away as soon as you direct the lens ... or even the light(for videographer) towards them .... there are some who will be a 'lil agitated ....... and of course ... those camera friendly ... they will approach ... "lure"... the photographer to capture their "not-so-candid" pose ... ;p .... 
.. the guy ( who think that he is Kevin's Backstreet Boys lookalike ....but now he thinks he looks like Brad Pitt ....?? ....).... and the 3 next top model ladies .... ;p
.. well ... as informed from an earlier post .... today is the "Annual Photo Day" ..... so as to commemorate this auspicious day ... I'll let you feast with these photos from different part sof the world ... different genre of subjects ... different cameras .... different lens ... a mixture of the modern digital ... and the traditional film negative ........ (in no particular order)#1 | The Fuji TV Building @ Tokyo, Japan
.. scanned from the printed photo with a Umax 610P scanner .... captured by an ordinary Point & Shot, (P&S), Kodak APS Film camera ....#2 | A Government Building @ Putrajaya, Malaysia
.. taken with the P&S, Canon Ixus i | 1/100s | f/2.8#3 | The Reflection @ Chao Praya River, Bangkok, Thailand
.. a reflection taken from a moving boat at the Chao Praya River ... captured with the DSLR Canon ESO350D | Sigma 70-300mm | 1/640s | f/4.5#4 | An 'ol Alley @ Seoul, Korea
... taken from an old alley at one of the many great palaces .... 18-55mm | 1/100s | f/22#5 | The Orchard Road@Singapore
.. taken during the Singapore's NDP 2007 .... 1/200s | f/4.5#6 | The WaterFront Skyline@BSB, Brunei
... captured from a rocking boat with a Film SLR, the Leica R8 | 50mm Summicron lens ...#7 | A Local Brunei Wedding Scene@BRUNEI
.. one of the many events of the local traditional wedding scene ...... well... wanted to post more.. but might burden the bandwidth... so these will do for the time being ..... hope to bring u more photos in the future ....... comments or critiques are highly appreciated ...;) .... for those who appreciate ....
... these past few days have been a rough day for the people at the stock market business ...... the crisis in the US home loan sector have very much affected loads of the stock market around the globe ........ major Central Banks have to come in.. and injected a VAST amount of money to "stabilize" the market ... vast as in Billion of dollars ....... but this week is better than the previous ... where the market is not plunging as fast ....... the London's FTSE 100 index was up .......... by 0.19 percent...... at 6,231.00 points in Tuesday trade.....
.. a man looking at the updated Equity Indices ... making sure that his trading is doing OK or otherwise....
... whether this is a Bull Market ... or Bear Market ... it all depends on the investors confidence....
.. Bull if .. despite what's going on ... it still increases the investors' confidence.....
.. but Bear .... if pessimism gain more outcries .....
.. well.. we just have to "open-up" and be aware of what is happening around us ....
.. a nite view of the monument....
... the newly renovated waterfront the capital ... overlooking the water village ...
.. since we can't watch Singapore's TV channel in Brunei ... hence we don't really know what kind of celebrations they usually are having for their national day ... thou we can read them from The Straits Times (Singapore Edition), which is available in Brunei .......... but usually ... we know how the Malaysians celebrate their national day .. because we can watch their local TV channel in Brunei .... especially ... those mega concerts with their popular artists.... awaiting for the clock to strike 12 or 0000 Hours on 31 August....... well.... in Singapore they also do such celebration ... a free concert was held within the vicinity of the Esplanade ..... the Marina Bay area .... performance by Singapore local artists ... 
... countdown celebration ... at exactly 12:00am 09.08.07 .... (wow ... nice number.... just realised that ...) ...... the people celebrating the National Day of Singapore ...
MC: .... yeaaaa... u want more free music?? ..... of course... we all know that we Singaporean love FREE stuffs.... got free concert some more what ....
... what make the meet n greet session a wonderful.... and colourful one are those beautiful multi coloured traditional dresses.. worn by the multi racial ethnic group of the country ....
... zooming in to the details of one of the colourful ethnic dresses ....
.. well the previous post was just a 'lil teaser of what to be expected in future posts .... .. anyway... back to the celebrations in Brunei ..... 
.. the Royal .. meeting n greeting the public ... and the performers ..... with the ubiquotos large billboards at the background ....
.. today 9th August 2007, marks the 42nd National Day of Singapore ...... and for the very first time ever ... the celebration this year was held at the Marina Bay ...
.. fireworks.. the climax of the celebrations .... ... fireworks were everywhere..... even on top of the skycrapers..... .. more photos to come..... soon ... ;)
... at another part of the celebration .... thou still within the same location ...
... students lining up in front of the BIDB Dar Takaful building .... waiting to greet His Majesty ...
... another bunch of participants .... young kids .. the future generation ....
... the 'lil ones ... looking up gracefully .. or curiously ... wondering .. what is the photographer wanna capture ..... .. " .. eh lain jua skill nya ia ani ... dimana ia belajar ah ...."
... behind the scene of the Bersama Rakyat event ...
... one of the young cadets during the event ........ eermm... this one was taken with the Sigma 70-300mm... honestly ... I like this lens... price wise it is "cheap" ... yet .. still manage to give a good sharp photo ... ( please don't compare with the "L" sharpness.... it is just like comparing Apple and Oreo ...) ... nice bokeh ... and such .... compact .. n lightweight ... with a semi macro function .. (1:2) ....... but I guess... the Sigma have seen its better days .. it is now coming to it's "retirement" period ..... might need to buy a new replacement .....
.. one of the main events for HM's Birthday celebration every year is the Majlis Bersama Rakyat ... or plainly translated as ... " The Get Together Event" .... ... where by HM will meet and greet the public.. in person for each district ..... usually the venue for the event are change accordingly ...... this year .. the event in Brunei-Muara District was held at the Taman Omar Ali Saifuddien ...
.. a boy running in the field of the Taman ... perhaps trying to get a better view of His Majesty... ....
.. something for the weekend ... 
... call it anything u want ... a rose called by any name will still smells as sweet ....... have a very good weekend u all .... ;)
.. usually after performing the Berbedak or Berpacar ritual ... people will then be given some scented flower bits ... and a 'lil dab of perfume ... and often accompanied with a small gift ...
... picking some scented flowery bits ....
.... hmmm.. it's getting closer to midnite ... getting late ... just a quick post ...
... well as discussed earlier ... here u go .. another photo of u ... ;P
.. berpacar .... or berinai .... depending where your geographical are ..... .. in Brunei .. it is commonly known as Berpacar .. ... where as the standard term ... is Berinai ... which is widely use in Malaysia .. and Singapore ...... ... but in Indonesia ... Pacar .. means something else.... the usual sentence would be ... " Waduh.. udah ada pacar baru eya ... " .... meaning .. " .. wow .. having a new date (boyfriend/girlfriend) now eh ... ".. anyway .... Malam Berpacar .. is usually held a day before the actual wedding day reception ... .... Made from the plantation called Henna .... (.. i gotta got this correct.. otherwise... some other intelligent person would correct this in their blog .... eeerrmmm... on second thought ... hei .. what the heck ... who cares .... ;P) ...... Bridal Mehndi .. is quite common amongst the Asian .... especially in celebrating a festive ocassion ....
.. in the olden days ... the henna paste would be applies to the fingers.. toe .... and the palms .... .. after leaving it on for about 2 hours at least ... ( so that it reddens the skin).... the henna paste would then be recyled ... ( by a pinch of lemon to soften it back) ... .. and some would just eat the dried henna paste .... ... hmmm.... ignore the edible bit ... no one actually eat henna paste ....... but some modern bride nowadays... prefers those decorative ... flowery design on their hand and feet ....... decorating the henna on one hand or feet need a considerable skill ... especially if u want it to be a piece of art .... and a typical decorating of the hand will take about half an hour at least each hand ..... so just imagine how many hours u have to sit/stand/lie still .. (whichever u prefer) ... just to get those piece of art on your skin ... from applying it ... till it dries .... yet ... some people do insist to be "Henna'ed" ... despite the long hours ... ... and me looking at the talented artist doing her stuff... at the end gives up and let her applied the henna on my back .. and design a camera ... and map of Brunei (to promote KNK) as large as possible ... .. eeerrr nope ... I was just exaggerating ....ignore this last paragraph ............. oh .. I better sign off.. before I exaggerate even more..... ... Hati-hati berpacaran eya ... ;)
