Thursday, January 31, 2008

ABSTRACT | The One with the Circle Thingy

Most of the times, before pressing the shutter, one can already visual the photo that one wanted to compose.

The challenge is how to capture it and share it with the others to have the same feel.



One of the most important aspects in photography is the composition, how you place the subject within the frame.

The easiest, by which all amateur should know is the Rule of Third, of which, you imagine the photo as a tic tac toe, and you place the subject at any one of the intersections of the lines.

But obviously, most people doesn't like to stick with the rule, as what they said, rules are meant to be broken, are they?

Anyway, as one, are more proficient in photography, you can deviate from the rule, bend the rule if you will, or otherwise, make your own rule. :)

Wednesday, January 30, 2008

TRAVEL | Port of Singapore

A port is one of the important gateways in a country, depending on the historical factor, the capital city is usually situated at, near or within the port area.

The major port in Brunei is Muara Port, thou there is a smaller one at Kuala Belait, called KB Port, very near to it, the neighbouring country, they've got Miri Port but I'm wondering, they don't have Baram Port, hmmmmm, I presume, it doesn't sounds nice in the Malay Language.



What is the difference between a port, harbour, wharf, dock and quay or even jetty?

The above photo shows a monorail passing by the Port of Singapore.

The Port of Singapore was featured on the National Geographic Channel in their programme "MegaStructures" as the "World's busiest port!"

Tuesday, January 29, 2008

RANDOM | Door Unlock Misuse S$5,000

Just to give a break from the Black & White series, here is something with colour.


The sign says it all, in other words, don't misuse anything, even if it a good stuff.

Too much of something, is bad sometimes.

Monday, January 28, 2008

RANDOM | B&W | Two Guys & One Girl

Photography is about timing, being there at the right place, the right moment, and yeap, with a camera of course.

How many times have we miss taking a photo opportunity, when something interesting happens? Loads!

Some moments cannot be described by words alone.



The above photo is an example of such, being there the right place the right moment.

The guy at the foreground, Timmy (not his real name) is adjusting his pants, and glancing at the sweet lady, An-Julie (not her real name) on the phone by the wall, but the "guy-on-the-wall", let us just call him Ariwibowo Yudhoyuno, are also looking at Timmy, giving an impression, as if saying " Hei you, You staring at my girl, watcha lookin' at eh?"

Don't y'all think so?

Sunday, January 27, 2008

RANDOM | B&W | Lagi Kencan Eya...

So what do one usually do on a Sunday?

Hmmm, well, loads of stuff can be done on a Sunday, at times, a single Sunday just ain't enuf.

In Brunei, Sunday can usually means "jemputan" i.e. Invitation, Morning is usually wedding invitation, then the afternoon Thanksgiving or Baca Doa Selamat or the like, then at night Ambil-ambilan.

So in other words, at times it is as if, there's no off day.



So for those who are lucky enough (or unlucky, depending who you look at it) to have no invitation, one can hang out with friends, or just sit lazily at home watching telly and such, or go on a date.

Waduh hebat banget kamu eyah, lagi kencan melulu, hati-hati dong, asal jangan cinta gombal doang.

Selamat liburan.

Saturday, January 26, 2008

STREET | B&W | Coffee Time

Saturday, the most favourite time of the week for most all people.

Time to meet friends, time to socialize, time to meet new acquaintance, time to have coffee or tea or whatever one desire.



A bunch of friend having some time together, most probably discussing about their hobbies and women.

Speaking of which, we have some sort of theories amongst us, with regards of the hanging place in Brunei.

CZ is usually for beginners, those who are just about to "taste" the up-street alfresco cafe, then the Bean is usually for those yuppies, where as that alfresco cafe at the ground corner of that Mall is for poser, who just love to see people and cars passing by, and the cafe up the stairs a bit, is a bit up from the Bean, thou they now draw their curtain to a close.

Then if one is a frequent visitor to such place, or the other place not mentioned, you can expect to see the same group of people hanging around at the same time of the week, more or less, and one can usually presume their characters, and one can not miss one or two, who just buy a glass of drink and hook up with their wi-fi for hours and hours and hours.

Friday, January 25, 2008

RANDOM | B&W | The One at the Directory

TGIF!

For some it's Thanks God It's Friday .... but I still remember the TV show called TFI Friday! Hosted by the brilliant Chris "Ginger" Evans, and some said it stands for Thank F*** It's Friday! Hmmmm...

It was a brilliant live show, with celebrities coming in, free drinks for the audience, very humorous segments such as, It's Your Letter, Freak or Unique, Cedric the Entertainer, and the most popular one is his side kick Will MacDonald.

Oh well,he was once the presenter of The Big Breakfast show, then a Radio DJ, and when he had accumulated enough money he bought the Radio Station Virgin 1215AM, and now not so sure what is the update, thou I know he is now a DJ at the BBC Radio.uz




Friday, an early weekeend for some, yet still dunno where to go, well, just look at the directory and pick your choice.

I'm sure there's always something for everybody.

Feel bored? Only boring people get bored.

Happy Friday peeps.

Thursday, January 24, 2008

STREET | B&W | The Ice Cream Potong Man

I think, for the next couple of post, I will probably post black & white series.


A senior man, on the street, a typical scene in some of our neighbouring countries.

In this case, Mr. Ken ( not his real name), earn his living buy selling cut ice-cream, or a.k.a. Eskrim Potong.

Comes in various flavours e.g. yam, vanilla, chocolate and durian etc, it comes in huge block chunk, then cut accordingly to size, which are then usually placed in between the lovely bread bun.

Thou, locally, you can buy the eskrim potong off the shelves in many leading supermarket, and obviously comes in different flavours such as, kacang merah, pulut hitam, chendol and such.

Wednesday, January 23, 2008

ABSTRACT | The One with the Many Patterns

Just a quick post.



I'll just leave you with this photo, it is up to you how you wanna interpret it.

Tuesday, January 22, 2008

BRUNEI | Masjid Omar Ali Saifuddien Restoration

Masjid Omar Ali Saifuddien will be 5o years old this year. Hence refurbishment are being made at the moment to mark the anniversary.


A pedestrian walking pass-by at the foreground, where as at the background, one can see the mosque is in the tender restoration process.

Monday, January 21, 2008

RANDOM | The Lonely Road

The Lonely Road ahead



So do you recognise this stretch of road?

Oh well, does not really matter, or does it?

Just like our retirement, have we put our mind into it...?

I'm talking about the majority of us, who are no longer in the pensionable scheme.

The rule of thumb for a retirement fund is, one should have at least 10x the annual income by the time they reach retirement age, i.e. 55 years old.

Say the annual income is 10k, hence the minimum retirement fund should be 100K!

And, yet they need consultant, and some smart Alec from the uni to tell us that the present retirement scheme fund is not adequate! ..

..... oh man .. come on .. I know that long time ago .. .without any consultant or such to tell me .... come on lah ... it is common sense.... easy maths .... u don't need to be an Add. Maths nor economist expert to figure it out ....

Speaking of retirement, it is so scary thinking about the current situation.

Have we save enough for retirement? When I said we, that also implies me, no we without me... just like no Woman WithOutMAN .... eeermm... oh what am I saying here....

Oh well... I think what the public need now is more public awareness ... education ... which we can start from the early age ....

... parents especially.. can play an important role in this situation .... unless the parents themselves need to be "educated" ... then .. that is another story ....

.. but can we blame our culture for it ...? or is it just one own self control ...?

... just for example ... if one is to organise a function.. say the ubiquitous wedding function ...

.. if the function was to made to be a simple one... some will be afraid that... the guest would talk behind their back or so .... eleeeeehhh.. so what ... as if they are paying all the expense...

.. it is you money .. so spend the function as to your own limit .... most stuffs are nice to have .... but only few stuffs are must have .... so stick to your budget ....

.. if 5k is your available budget ... then be it ..... don't worry about what other may say ....

... I can give you thousand of sample about spending unnecessarily .. but hmmm.. that will make those in finance area an easier job ....

so ... I'd just stop here.. as I know .. as always .... .. nobody cares to comment about this anyway ... just see see ... just read read ... no participants ... typical of us eh ....

Sunday, January 20, 2008

RANDOM | Projek Angkasawan?

Something new?


Or is it something old, but getting a new facelift?

In certain part of the world, the exterior looks hundred years old, or they are in fact really that old, but inside, very hi-tech, sometimes, even more sophisticated than your home!

And speaking of angkasawan (astronaut), there's this Minister interviewed by the press, the Minister known for his alter-ego, answered each question very arrogantly, until these Q&As were highlighted:

Press: So what is this extra special project for our astronaut?
Minister: Don't worry, ours is very unique, no one has ever tried it before.

Press: And what is that uniqueness?
Minister: Instead of going to the moon, we, our astronaut will go to the sun!

Press: But, Sir, that is quite impossible, do you know how hot the sun is? Long even before they reach it, the metal will melt!
Minister: Ah! That's where our uniqueness, we will travel during the winter night!

Press: ?????

Saturday, January 19, 2008

TRAVEL | SINGAPORE | The Other Side

Singapore is one of the popular destination for a holiday, especially for the Bruneians.

Thou some of the items are rather expensive or the same value as in Brunei, yet the wide array of goods made it an attraction to be there.


A view of the city skyline from the other side.

Anyhow, this is what I wanna share after reading Singapore's local paper today, which is regarding their newly proposed national stadium.

5 very unique and marvellous design concepts were presented during the unveiling of the new stadium by 5 different design consortiums.

Each of the different concept were very well presented and illustrated on the paper, with all their sketches, computer graphic designed concept, histories of world stadiums, views from world re-known architects, engineers & designers, best practices and such.

By building the new stadium, it will not only be a centre or hub for sports, but it also act as a landmark for the country, just like what the "durian" Esplanade does for Singapore.

Singapore are now into their goal to be the sporting hub of Asia, have been into lots of discussion with many major sports player around the globe, with the likes of English Football League, Rugby and Cricket etc as well as a bid for the ASIAN Games and Youth Olympic Games.

One of the designs, is a horse-shoe type of stadium, with one end open to view the open seas.

Another one is an i-max type of stadium, where the roof will be movable, and images can be projected to the roof if required, to add more sizzles to the performance.

Then there is this "crumpled-tissue" typed of stadium among others.

Stadiums, have been made an unofficial landmark in many places around the globe, e.g. Wembley in England, then that new "bird-nest" stadium in China, that Allianz arena in Germany just to name a few.

So to wrap this post, what I want to see in the new future is, for Brunei to follow such public illustrated presentation lay-out for its upcoming new airport, if possible let the public choose the design concept.

Since it will gonna be the pride of the nation, so might as well build something better the Singapore's T3 terminal.

Oh, and by the by, please incorporate access and facilities, for people with disabilities, senior citizens and breast-feeding mother, and ah, please install the flight schedule in the restaurant with working P.A. System, so that people will not miss their flight.

Thanks in advance.

Friday, January 18, 2008

RANDOM | The Goody Bags

A typical scene in the local wedding function.



Goody Bag is usually presented at the main entrance to the guest, as some sort of appreciation for their attendance.

Thursday, January 17, 2008

Wednesday, January 16, 2008

RANDOM | The One with Floral Tudong

Been a very hectic day, some very surprising hits & misses.


A photo taken recently.

Anyhow, I am actually quite amazed at the quality of the photo produced by this piece of glass i.e. 70-200mm F/4 L lens, the sharpness is just so great, and the bokeh is something you can be proud of, nya orang melayu, "dapat udah diayaukan ni" .

Tuesday, January 15, 2008

TRAVEL | KOREA | Peeping Thru Gyeongbokgung Palace

Traveling out of the country for a while, errmm, just a photo actually.


Having a glimpse of the reknown Gyeongbokgung Palace in Seoul.

Did u know that it is possible to have Breakfast in Korea, Lunch in Hong Kong, then dinner in Brunei?

Speaking of which, after some "research" I think that, eeermm, I can conclude that the local people in Brunei love to eat!

Well, you can see loads of evidence, even it says so in the local media.

Ok let me guide you to some interesting findings.

Just tune in to the local TV, yeap, despite the thousand of channels in the cable TV network, I do still watch the local networks, they are even showing good new series on the 2nd channel, as well as nice Korean Drama!

Anyway, back to the local channel:

First, there this advert regarding car's safety, where they first show a clip of an EGG inside a container, imagine you are an egg they said, then knocking it hard hence breaking the egg. Which correspond to you if you are not wearing your seat belt.

But the irony is that, they never show the egg strapped to the container, so that we can know what happen to the egg, and furthermore, why are they driving fast at that SOASC carpark? Eh, come on lah, show someplace believable.

Second, another advert regarding road safety as well, this time for motorcycle rider, and guess what type of analogy they use this time? Foodstuff as well, i.e. WATERMELON! Watermelon smashed to the road, just like your head without a helmet!

Another advert regarding drug awareness, guess what a conversation on the dining table which obviously involve food and eating!

Then eventually another advert, showing this guy who loves to smoke and EAT a lot, hence giving him some medical complications.

But I still remember some "good" adverts which most of you might still remember, about vandalisms.

One is the one at Damuan, about this bunch of guys vandalising the infrastructure, when one of them get electrocuted trying to pull/ touch a live wire.

And the other one, about these students ( Sekolah Mabohai kali looking at the school) who wanted to go for a toilet break, but could not find a decent toilet, as the toilets were vandalised.

Oh well, obviously we need more interesting adverts, need not go far, just tune to those Indonesian channels, you will find loads of eye-catching ads.

Happy surfing.

Monday, January 14, 2008

RANDOM | The Lady with the Tambourine

Listen to music is one thing, playing musical instrument is another.

Some musical instruments seem to be quite easy to play but if who handle it, some will just go numb.

Playing in tune with the others, keeping with the rhythmic pace can be a challenge for some.

But some they are are just naturally born with such talent.



But I guess, one of the simple instrument one can play besides the Triangle is the Tambourine, yet, if you cannot grasp the whole idea of the musical tempo, even the simple jingle of the tambourine can be out of tune.

Interestingly, woman and musical instrument goes along quite fine together, or perhaps, people just love to associate woman with musical instruments?

As curvy as the violin, thou the double bass is curvier with more volume.

Sunday, January 13, 2008

RANDOM | No Photo Please

Just another quick post for this weekend.


Sorry, no more photo allowed, time is up, time to makan.

Dikau indi ka'in? ( tagalog for " You are not eating?")

Saturday, January 12, 2008

RANDOM | Of Blue Glasses

Of blue glasses and blue sky
Are the glasses "colourless" and the colour is just a mere reflection from the sky?
Or,
Or the glasses are really blue?

In fact, it does not really matter;
As what matter most are the end product.

Might be true to human as well,
Does not really matter how many A's you got during your lower classes,
Nor how many distinctions whilst in secondary years;
Or even how many O's and A's you manage to grab during your upper secondary.

At the end of the day, what type of Job you are doing to earn your living.
Will it be the one who design the "blue glasses"?
Or will it be the one who build the "blue-glassed structure"?
Or the one who cleans the glasses?
Or just a passer-by who admire the beauty of the "blue-glasses" and wanted to achieve such feat?
Or perhaps, just someone who took photo of the so called "blue-glasses" then upload and made a poem (if that is what you called) out of it, out of the blue???

So it is up to you, to think of what you wanna be;
We can only plan but our actually destiny and faith, that is not for us to decide.


Of blue glasses

Friday, January 11, 2008

Thursday, January 10, 2008

WORLD | SALAM MA'AL HIJRAH 1429

Salam Ma'al Hijrah 1429 to the Muslim readers.

This photo was taken few years back with the Film Canon EOS 300X SLR + 28-90mm lens.

One of the prominent landmarks of Bandar Seri Begawan.

On a totally different note, I read this article regarding the danger of improper disposal of the super energy saving light bulb, found ubiquitously in most home.

A broken energy saving light bulb, contain a little amount of mercury, hence when the bulb broke, the mercury will diffuse and release a hazardous mercury fume, thou a single broken bulb in a well ventilated room is not THAT hazardous, but if 5 bulbs broke, in a small contained room, well my advice would be, get out of the room ASAP!

Whilst watching the Mythbuster on telly, one of the crew accidentally hit the light bulb with a solid object, and he mentioned that he wanted to go out of the room in danger of the mercury fume! Hence that strengthened the above para regarding the mercury thingy.

Mercury, Hg, with the atomic number of 80, is the one of the very few metal which is liquid in room temperature.

I think, the manufacturer should clearly label on the packaging of how to dispose the light bulb properly.

Wednesday, January 09, 2008

WEDDING | E&F | By Request

Another one for the road


Amacam? OK kah kalau makai kacamata ani? ada macam Superman? Mana jua orang tau kan.

Tuesday, January 08, 2008

WEDDING | Pelamin

Pelaminan

One of the "gazillion" types of "pelaminan" available in today's market.

Monday, January 07, 2008

WEDDING | Circle Mirror Reflection

The reflection from the round mirror.

Saw these interesting subjects reflected from the mirror.

Saturday, January 05, 2008

RANDOM | Of Nature & Stainless Steel

Somehow, something strucks me about this contrasting image.



The contrast of the modern stainless steel structure against the living nature.

Wednesday, January 02, 2008

TRAVEL | SEOUL TOWER

Been quite a while I have not post anything about Seoul, Korea.

So here is another quick post.


Was trying to capture the tower and the sign, the only way I could squeeze them all with my available lens was to compose it as such, and captured hand held.

Tuesday, January 01, 2008

GREETING | Happy New Year 2008

Wishing You all a happy New Year 2008.



2007 had past, loads of memories, many lovely journeys had been traveled.
Yet, 2008 is a new year, another new exciting journey yet to be explored.