KOREA | Seoul City Tour ... 1

…usually.. when u arrive to a new destination … obviously you will need a ride to your lodging .. hotel or watever …. so we got the local taxi for this purpose …… the driver is on the left side …..due to the influence during the American revolution … n just for the record … The right hand side drivers are all or mostly Commonwealth Countries… ( …. yet need to reconfirm this … check it on the net if u want to …. ) hence the first thing that I notice whilst inside a ride in Seoul was the number of gadgets on board ….
NOTE: All the photos belows were taken from a moving vehicle, depending on how fast the vehicle was moving … it added more difficulties in capturing the perfect moment … u need to compose real quick … and the camera should be within easy reach … otherwise you will miss THAT moment … and what happen if THAT moment was on the opposite side i.e. if u r sitting on the right … the subject is on your left … …. well that need quite a considerable skill.. n luck …. n to that … Good Luck …


.. they’ve got GPRS … virtual map … mobile fones … walkie-talkie …credit card machine … remote control ( looks like a DVD.. perhaps for karaoke..?) just name it ……..only thing that I couldn’t find was a washing machine … hmmmm may be they put it in the boot …


.. it was still very early in the morning when we were on the road … hence the road was only half sided full (or half-sided empty) … i.e. people going to work … n children going to school …


…. ” hmm nice suit ….” … ” yeaa.. u bet … cost me a fortune.. sold my car for it .. hence I’m walking to work ….”


.. a senior citizen enjoying the early morning breeze ….


… bunch of youths.. I assume waiting for the bus to their university …


… then there were this massive traffic jam …. took us couple of hours … when suddenly we encounter this … we were told it was some sort of a peaceful workers union demonstration … so every traffic were diverted …. eeerrr….

BSB | Street outing... Part III

... so here we are walking away from the Tamu area to Tambing .. or in glamour term ... Kampung Aying Water Front (pronounce come-pong-are-ink) ... walking there from tamu actually took only about 5 mins .. but as relaxing as one can be .... it took us more than 15 mins to reach there ... due to some unnecessary distractions and technical glitches ... too offensive to be written down on this blog ... ( not really THAT offensive thou .. nor anywhere near it .. just feel like writting it down ... cause it seems to give it more dramatic feel!.. ) but .. continue with the journey ....

.. along the way we passes blocks of shophouses .. and blocks of shop-office-houses or what ever u call it .. and of course ( as a good citizen ..) .. we made proper use of Bandar's only underpass/ tunnel walkway crossing ... which connect Yayasan (Foundation Complex) with the Waterfront ... all of us seems to be excited walking in the tunnel (although this was not my 1st ..) .. but I think carrying those bulky camera with u made u think it was some kind of an aphrodisiac ... so everyone was snapping away ... ( if u don't believe me .. u can check everyone's blog and u can find one photo of the tunnel ....) .. but this tunnel always reminds me of the tunnel in Singapore's Orchard Road ... the one connecting to Border's ... Coffee Bean n that Cinema ... ( .. n while we are in this matter .. do u know that .. where ever there's Borders book shop .. there's Coffee Bean ... hmmm.. related ? .. U figure it out yourself ..... I know what's the answer.. I think ... ) ...

.. arriving at the the water front's pier .. one can't avoid seeing this .. .some sort of marker warning about the tide's safety mark .. n this probably says that .. it was high tide .. and take care when crossing the river .. also not allowing any boat to dock or anchored to the piers... otherwise risking to pull off the pier .. or if the boat is not up to standard .. might tear the boat apart .... so u've been warned ...

....people passing-by ..

.. Istana Nurul Iman .. the official residential palace for HM the Sultan of Brunei can be seen at the background ... ( with more than one thousand rooms .. no wonder it is the biggest in the world .... according to the Guinness Book of World Record ....)..... where as the water village (Kampung Aying) with the boat can be seen in the foreground ... living in the water village is quite something .... listening the sound of the boat's engine roaring ... children running thru the stilt wooden walkway ... splashing to the river ... the smells of one cooking ... all in once can be somehow mesmerising ... your next door neighbour could be your uncle ... or your aunt .. or your granny .. or whoever .. yet their are still related to u .... u know one another ... borrowing cooking ingredient thru the window ... or just exchanging gossips within one corridor ...

... a tourist .. leaving the water taxi ... after an excursion within Kampung Aying ... leaving with memories to cherish ....

... one of the friendliest water taxi operators we've encounter ... offering us ride for a bargain .. unfortunately .. we were quite in a hurry .. otherwise .. we can hope in for a ride ... well may be next time ...

... Mutu Tambang ... or Water Taxi ... the main mode of transport in Kampung Aying ... a locally made boat ... which can accommodate about 10 adult.. powered by the latest engine .... and the charges can be as low as US1/person to perhaps US20/person .. depending on the destination n duration ...... and manouevering one boat .. take a considerable skill .. and of course one need to know the name of the places .. otherwise .. u'll be lost within the thousand and thousand of wooden stilts ....

... " baah maritah .. sini saja... murah ni .. $10 saja se round ... tu nah sampai ke Pulau Lumut Lunting ah ... jangan watir .. ada diskaun ni ujung tahun .... " ... fellow boat operators ... trying with their might... interesting promotion ... ... to lure passenger on board their ride .....

... waaaaw.. what a long lens that is ... an L lens 100-400mm IS mounted on a Canon DSLR EOS 20D... I bet he can even see the village's people hanging laundry with it ....

Guy With The Cap: ... hmmm.. what kind of photo did he took.. doesn't make any sense to me ... all are either blurry .. or dark ....
Guy With Long Lens: .... now where did I save that photo with the hanging laundry .....

Photo of the Day ... for the release of the new upcoming album .. by the singing photographers ... don't miss out their debut album ..... "Photo Yea...?" ...... with every purchase of their CD or Cassette.. entitle u for a free poster of the Prime Minister of Uganda! ...
Note: ... do not adjust your monitor .. the photo are purposely put that way ... dark .. or in simple english ... cellulite .. eeer siluit .. eeer sillhoutte .. eer eh however u spell it .. as long u understand ...

.. as we were about to leave the waterfront to Yayasan .. we caught up with this group of young ones ... scouts perhaps .... I actually wanted to capture candid moments of them .. but .. as I was composing .. this young lad .. out of nowhere.. suddenly jumps towards me ... crash on top of me ... breaking the camera lens into pieces! .. eeerrr not really ... ignore the last sentence .. nothing happens .. I just made it up ... well .. actually .. they were a nice bunch of teenagers ... quite happy to see us.. or perhaps .. our large equipments ... that one of them just jump into the air ... and .. I just capture that moment ....

.. then thinking of how good it would be .. if captured on camera ... I asked them to jump up some more... was asking them to jump up like 67 times... eeer no .. about 17 actually or less.. but since I was the one who asked to jump.. I myself... forgotten to click the shutter ... but oh well... at least I manage to get this ... Thanks to all of u ... Majulah Gambar Untuk Negara...

... then off we went to Yayasan ... then saw this couple ... hmmm.... what a lovely day it was ain't it .... actually I've been to yayasan so many times... and have taken quite a number of photos already .... so was thinking ... no need to capture anything ...

.. but as photographer as we may be ... just couldn't resist the moment .. thou the same place .. but the ambience just ain't the same...

What do photographers have in common...? Taking the photo of other photographers taking photos of another photographers .... hmmm ... jus look at that guy in white .. being the centre of attraction for those 3 photographers ... and me .. might as well.. took all 4 of them in 1 frame ...

.. " ... see I told u my fone's camera is brilliant .. I can capture anything with it ... " ...

... Masjid Omar Ali Saifuddien .... with the City's Fountain in the foreground ...

... the colours of today's youth ..... future leaders ... one of the spices of many cities .... .. yo yo .. what's up u all...

.... " .. hmmm .. now where is he ... been waiting for about 2 mins 37 seconds now ... missed calls... missed calls ... that's all he knows ... oh well.. at least .. I know he missed me .... hence the missed calls.... " ...

... then it was time to pack up .. it's getting late ... the sky's getting dark ... time to leave .... one outing was done.... another outings to follow ...

WORLD | HAPPY NEW YEAR 2007

Wishing all of u a Happy New Year 2007....

WORLD | SELAMAT HARI RAYA AIDILADHA

Wishing all Muslim readers ... Selamat Hari Raya Aidiladha...

BSB | Street Outing ... Part II

.. .well as posted earlier ... this is 2nd part of the outing ... after the rain had stopped ... we continue our quest to the near by "must-go" area.. especially for those 1st timer to Brunei .. i.e. The Kianggeh Market .. or Tamu Kianggeh .... which was just across the river of the capital ...

It was already quite late in the afternoon when we arrived .... so many stalls have closed .. or about to close ... nevertheless .. we still manage to capture some of the activities there ...

... as with other market .. I guess ... the one here are more less the same .... buying ... selling ... bargaining ... people watching .... photographing ... ;)

... looking ahead ... a senior citizen ... looking at us.... the photographers ... so might as well ... terima kasih maci .... :)

.... a young child .... gawking at his dad's boat.. perhaps ...

... in Venice, Italy .. they've got the gondolas .... have u guys ever been to Venice? .. well I haven't ... but u can watch it from the Travel & Living Channel ... The Globe Trekker ... especially if it's hosted by Ian or Megan .. fuuyooo ... will make u jump up your sofa ... n book your ticket straight away .... but enuf of that ... wake up to reality ... this is Brunei ... if u can't afford to go to Venice nor Floating Market in Thailand ... u can go to Brunei ... The Venice of The East ...

... " .. hei .. look at that ..." ... must be something interesting ...

So how do one buy something from the River Market ...?
Well... 1st ... step down the stair... careful .. it might get quite slippery.. make sure your shoe/slipper have a good grip ... and choose what u wanna get ...

.. so finally decided on what u wanna get ... say ... fish .. whatever kind it may be ....

... then ask for how much it cost ... $3/kilo ... perhaps .. $5/kilo ... or watever price it may be ... bargain if u wish .... flirt if u want .. (but flirt on your own risk...) ... it may reduce the price ... (especially effective with the opposite gender..) ... ;)

... then if everything's agreed upon ... pay for what u get ... sorry .. cash term only .. no credit cards .. no cheque ..... no IOU ... no bank loan .... no no no .... jus cash ... n of course must be in Brunei Dollar .. will not accept ... Indonesian Rupiah ... will not accept Indian Rupee .... nor Thailand's Bath ....

.. but if u don't like what u see ... well ... there are many other fishes in the river .... (sorry about the pun ....) .. but yeah .. just look at the photo above ... spoilt for choices ...

... Ms. Nita ( not her real name obviously ..) .. attending one of the market stalls ....

.... a view of Bandar Seri Begawan... from the other side ... .. tamu to the left .. n the mainland on the other side ...

... well done ... bravo ... merci bien .... that's what I like ... cleaning up .... such novel act will for sure keep the country clean .. n beautiful .... really appreciate it ... ;)

... alone ... waiting .. .. or perhaps .. just looking .... or ... hmmm....

... smile ... you are on gferro.com!

... where the B&W dispersed to become colour ........

.. Pusulistas Ikanaei Damiti .. or simply known as Pusu ... small in body .. but high in cholesterol ... very the very nyaman ... i.e. delicious ... either u .. fried it ... make into sambal .... masak merah ... tunu ... goreng sama nasi ..... makan sama talur ... fuuyyooo .. nyaman kali .. if mau campur kicap ... lada ... mesti lada "Brunei" .. eeer what am I talking here... abissh .. abis tia cerita ku tu ....

.. on the otherside of the Tamu ... stalls under the covered walkway ...

... as I walked along the narrow aisle ... a bunch of Indonesian guys were asking me if I could take a photo of their friend (the above photo) ... waduh ngak tau deh mas .. mungkin namanya Mas Embron kali .. dari Cilacap ... kayaknya macam pemain sinetron ... tumben lho .. tapi ngak apadeh ... bisa aja deh di potreten ... bisa jadi model sih ... or plainly translated as ... Jakarta is the Capital of Indonesia .. not Cilacap ...

.. then from the distance ... saw these group ... discussing about something ... I think the Starring is that senior citizen ... Pakcik Din (not the real name again ...) ... .. telling story about the glorious .. (or not so glorious) past .... thus making the other listening quite attentively...

.... ~ .. waktu pakcik di Gunung Kolijoko ... pakcik ketemu .. Ikan Paus .... pakcik karate .. di tengkuk dia .... dia pun mati kelemasan ..... ~ .....

... (speaking London even ...) ~ ... there .. I still remember the time ... there he was standing there ... looking at me ... Mr. Tom Jones .... n yea ... It's Not Unusual ... for me telling u guys this story ... ~ ...

... but heeeii .. what do u know ... these 3 photographers were watching me all those times .. n yea .. I got you back ... ;)

... then we're off again ... to Tambing ... n Yayasan ..... to be continued on Part III .....