BRUNEI | Masjid Omar Ali Saifuddien

Masjid Omar Ali Saifuddien celebrates its 50th anniversary this year, and an exhibition is being held at the Brunei Museum at Kota Batu to commemorate the event.



Photo shows the dome during the restoration process few weeks ago.

BRUNEI | NATIONAL DAY 2008

Today marks the 24th National Day of Brunei Darussalam

I don't know why, but I don't feel like taking load of photos today, walkaround for a few blocks, met some people, took just one or two shots, then off to the Taman.

Saw load of photogs, local, imported, men N women all alike, young and seniors, whilst some photog. have "change" their profession to videographer and such.

Anyway, I was hoping to capture some people on the street, unfortunately, this year's celebration, there were not many people on the street! Was it because most of the "public" were involved in the actual field performances?

So, yeap, I was just at the grandstand, putting down my camera, and enjoying the field performances, a big round of applause should be given to those performers.

This year, the celebration was held at the reknown Taman Omar Ali Saifuddien, or Taman SOAS, and for the 25th National Day celebration, next year, as it will be grandeur, most probably it will going to be held at the National Stadium, yet to be confirmed.

So till that time comes, enjoy your present celebration.

REVIEW | CANON EOS 300X + 28-90mm

Was sorting out some camera stuffs at home, and remembered that, I still have not finish the roll of film in my Canon SLR EOS 300X!

I remember the last time I used the camera was during Brunei's National Day Parade 2-3 years ago!!

So I just snap anything, and quickly developed the film in one of the camera lab at the capital.



The above photo was taken with the Canon EOS 300X; 28-90mm, scanned digitally by the photo lab, and I just convert it to Black & White.

A sample coloured photo taken with this camera can be found here.

I was quite amazed that, even after the 2-3 years, the film was still good & usable!

The camera itself is very light, easy to operate, FULL-FRAME (as opposed to some DSLR with 1.6 ~ 1.3 crop factor).

Convenient for traveling due to:

1. With the advancement of Digital Camera, the 35mm film negative can be bought cheaply almost any place in the world.
2. Need not panic if no power supply to recharge your batteries, as EOS 300X is using 2xCR2 batteries, which also can be bought it most camera shop everywhere.
3. No need to worry about inadequate disk space problem.

You can find many good reviews for the camera, just search for it online.

Despite its goodness, I'm thinking of selling this camera if there's anyone interested, might do a special post about it some day.

BRUNEI | The Simpsons' Feel ....

... whilst having a time out... the topic of having a cultural centre was one of the subject ....

... in our neighbouring countries ... one can go to nice restaurant.. serving local dishes ... and at the same time enjoying the cultural performances ....

... so why can't we have it in Brunei .... ? we can set-up one facing the Brunei River ....

.... at the moment .. we don't have any real fine dining restaurant .. serving real local dishes .... and to top them up ... with a nice cultural performances .....

.. so if anyone of you out there .. have the dosh .... have enough money to set one up ... why not make one...? not only beneficial for the tourist ... but also for the local people ... who love to eat .... and eat ..... and more makan .....


.. looking at this photo .. reminds me of The Simpsons' opening montage ... hmmmm.... " The Siiiiiimmppsooonsss......"

hmmm bah inda lagi bath kan sungkai ni.. sungkai tah .... sebaik-baiknya .. makan lah buah Kurma ..... dan jika tiada.... berbukalah dengan air ...... dan jgn lah kamu melambat-lambatkan berbuka ......

FLORA | The Pink & White Petals ...

... only fake flower blooms forever.... a real flower will only blossoms for while... and some only for a night ....


... this flower have had reached its peak ... yet.. it is still as glorious....

hmmm....

... on the lighter side....

... some of our everyday stuffs... we just take it for granted ... such that.. the origins of their name .... of which ... they are actually their brand.. not what they is .... eeeer confuse? ... just read the examples below lah ....

... XEROX ... established as a photocopier .. hence people will say ... " can u xerox this for me please .... " ... instead of ... " can u photocopy this for me ..." .. even thou the photocopier is not a Xerox ... it may be Canon .. Minolta .. or the like ....

... KLEENEX ... famous tissue brand .... " ... do u have any kleenex with u ..?" .. thou people nowadays .. will just say tissue ...

.. OMO ... a famous washing detergent .... " .. oh no .. I have run out of OMO ... " .. eermm... doesn't sound right ..... perhaps only happens in Brunei ... " ... eh abis tia omo ah ... ada jual omo kah sini ani ah ...? " .... despite having new brands such as .. Trojan .. Fab ... and Persil ...etc ... people in Brunei .. will still call it ... OMO ....

.... KODAK .. one of the established camera film .... " .. ermmm.. I've only got one Kodak left ..." ... or in malay ... .." .. nah inda beKODAK kamera mu ah ... " .... ( mana jua inda berkodak ... mun digital ..) ... when one should say ..... " yikes.. no more spare film left ..." ....

... COLGATE ... another well known brand of toothpaste .... " ... sorry dude... no more colgate left ..." ..... " ... nah abis tia colgate ku ah .... " .. when people should say ... " nah abis tia ubat gigi ku ah ..." .... but we have many brands now .... Darlie (use to be Darkie) ... Pepsodent .. Oral B .... and there's this brand ... believe it or not ..... ORAL ME! ....

.. CLOROX ... brand for a bleach .... " .. adeeh .. mesti jua makai clorok ni .. mun inda inda mau ilangtu eh ... " ....

.. and there are many more such examples .... but it's getting late .. I can only think of this at the moment ... perhaps... u can add some more....

RANDOM | Bare .....

... I know .. I've been posting about flora... or flower series.... for the past few days ....

... like it or not ... it is part of our world .... without 'em ... our world would be empty ... bare ... gloomy ....

.. if there's no flower ... there's nothing else to give to your love one ..... fake flower u say...? .. yea .... it will last forever .. but it's fake ... would u want a long lasting fake love ... or not so long but real love ....



... somewhere at the locale ... a bare tree... no leaf nor flower ....

Just Some Thoughts ...

... unless your heart .. your soul .... n your whole being are behind every decision u make ... the words from your mouth will be empty.. and each action will be meaningless....

... be a gentle friend to trees .....and they will give you back beauty......cool and fragrant shade, ......and many birds singing...

... so .. stop every now and then...... Just stop and enjoy...... Take a deep breath...... Relax and take in the abundance of life..... appreciate what we have now .....

STREET | Ready for Business ...

... walking along the back alley .... very early in the morning can be very intriguing ....

... u can experience.. the "behind-the-scene" .. or what's going on .... on ones daily routine .....

.. loads of empty parking spaces still.... people walking to their offices .....

....... buying .. and getting hold of the daily newspaper ..... whilst sipping those aromatic coffee .... or even those creamy frothy... "teh-tarik" (pulled tea) ... enjoying it with ... roti telur ... and dhal .. or curry .... hmmm.... can u just imagine that ...

.. well... one more day ( or two) .. before the fasting month ... if u are craving for those... there's still ample time ..... ;)

.. shop owner arranging goods for the day business ....

... as far as I know... this shop has always been there ever since I can remember... at least .. 20 years or so .... don't they...?

BRUNEI | The "60" Monument @ Nite ...

.. a nite view of the monument....

... the newly renovated waterfront the capital ... overlooking the water village ...

BRUNEI | EVENTS | HM's 61st B'Day | Bersama ... Colourful Attires ...

... 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 ....

BRUNEI | EVENTS | HM's 61st B'Day | Bersama Rakyat 1

.. 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... ....

BRUNEI | WEDDING | S&A | Even The Photogs Need a Break ...

.. Brunei is quite small of a country .... compare to the neighbouring countries ....

...due to the large extended families ... everyone seems to know anyone ... especially if they are those "know-it-all" person ....

... like .. he's the cousin's of this uncle's wife .... or the grandson of this aunt .... or the cousin's of this cousins ... or even the mum's stepdad's cousin's uncle's friend's housemate's dad! ......

.. eeerr which eventually made them .... eerrmmm... nada ....



.. just like these happy bunch of people .... his lens is related to his flash .... his camera can use a 3rd party lens... so those his lens which can be used to ... eeerr... eh .. what am I saying .... digressing .... oh well.....

BRUNEI | HM's 61st B'day | THE FIREWORKS 6.0

.. as mentioned on the earlier post ...

... was hoping if only we could conduct all the water taxi driver.. to make some sort of numeral design ... hmmmm.....

... oh well .. while waiting in between the fireworks .... so made this ...



.... 61 .... 61st Birthday .....

... hmmm... I must admit... some people did stare at me for doing ... eeer... whatever it was I was doing .... ;)

BRUNEI | HM's 61st B'day | THE FIREWORKS 5.0

... zooming out further ....

... some of the spectators watching ... and enjoying the fireworks display ....

BRUNEI | HM's 61st B'Day | THE FIREWORKS 4.0

... one of the limitations in taking photos stuck to one point is that, you are limited to a certain compositions only, especially if the subject is more or less at the same spot...

... this is where having a prime lens have it disadvantages... unless you have loads of prime lens with different focal lengths ......

.. in using a tele-zoom lens...by varying the focal length ... you can have a different compositions .... despite standing on the same location ....



... the photo above shows yet a new landmark .. which is the water village on the other side ...

... those light trails on the water are the lights from the moving water taxi ... which is an art of their own ...

... was hoping that I could conduct their movement... such as those synchronize swimming... perhaps .... this time they could design the number 61 ... hmmmm...... oh well... it only happens in the movie ...

BRUNEI | HM's 61st B'day | THE FIREWORKS 3.0

... zooming out .....

... there were so much activities going on that night ... be it in the sky .. or on the water ... the water taxi ferrying passengers from one point to another .... manouvering frantically yet steadily thru the darkness of the night ... thou that night it was lit by the glowing fireworks ...


.. the photo shows another new subject on the foreground ... the structure on the waterfront ...

BRUNEI | HM's 61st B'day | THE FIREWORKS 2.0

... the night was showered with the glitters... and glow of the fireworks.....

.. what ever it was fired in the sky ... would then be reflected on the water .... making it a nice show both in the sky and on the water.....


The fireworks... with the Royal Palace .. and the water village on the foreground ....


hmmm..... while we're on this fireworks... or in malay .... "Bunga Api" ... or in Bahasa Indonesia. "Kembang Api" .... perhaps... here are something to ponder...

Banyak-banyak bunga... bunga apa yang panas? BUNGA API!

...bunga apa yang lebih besar dari Bunga Rafflesia?? ..... BUNGA API!

... ada bunga yang harum baunya ... ada yang inda brapa jua... tapi bunga apa yang bau angus? BUNGA API!!

.... selalunya bunga mesti disiram aying ... tapi ada bunga ani.. mun di siram makai aying .. inda pulang baik .....apa nah bunga nya ....? .. BUNGA API!!

.. bunga apa yang inda payah dibagi baja...? BUNGA API!

... bunga apa yang inda kena jual di pasar bunga di Hortikultur Rimba Gadong ? .... BUNGA API!

... bunga apa yang paling lagu time Raya ...? Bunga raya!? salah ! .... BUNGA API!

... bunga apa yang inda dapat dibagi arah gelpren mun kan jalan dating?? ... BUNGA API!! .. ( lain lah mun kan outside dinner ... kan pasang bunga api... atu buang kes...)

BRUNEI | HM's 61st B'day | THE FIREWORKS 1.0

.. I think a single photo would not do justice to that beautiful night.. so I guess... I'll be posting the fireworks series for the next few days....



... the first up ... is the close up ... "full-frame" .. (uncropped) ... image of the fireworks above the magnificient royal palace .... The Istana Nurul Iman ...

BRUNEI | STREET | The Paramedics ....

.. for every event ... involving lotsa participants .... the paramedics will always be on stand by...


... the mobile bed/ stretcher ... with the paramedics at the background ...

BRUNEI | STREET |3 Sekawan Bergambar Ria ...

3 Sekawan Bergambar Ria....

.. silaunya sirna matahari ....
.. tiada mematah jua semangatnya ...
... semangat untuk bergambar kenangan ...
.. meskipun hanya di tengah jalan...
... di bawah teriknya sinar sang mentari ....
... namun riak kepuasan jelas terbayang....
.... sehingga bila tetap dikenang ....


3 sekawan bergambar ...

BRUNEI | STREETS | Waiting For It ....

.... just a quick post .....

.. students waiting along the road for the Royal entourage .....

eerrrmmm... I wanted to post some anecdotes..... but .... hmmm... I guess... next time saja lah ....