Day 1: Road Trip

Last Friday, I spent the weekend at Bukit Metajam and then Pulau Pinang to celebrate St. Anne's feast at St. Anne's church. Actually, my main story was supposed to be about the grand church at Bukit Metajam, but the road trip was so eventful and full of surprises that day that I just had to share it with you!

In the beggining, I was hoping to get a picture of the highway, but because I was in the car, there was no way I could get a good picture so I forgot all about it. How did I get the picture above?

The car overheated.

My dad stopped the car by the side of the road and so we had to wait for about 20 minutes or so. After a REAALLY long time (5 mins), we got tired of doing nothing in the car and decided to fill the tank with water.

To open up the tank, one should wear something to protect their hands because it could get hot. So armed with a towel and an old underwear, my dad bravely went and opened up the bonnet of the car to open the cap of the tank. As soon as he opened it, the tank exploded! Luckily, no one got burned or hurt. Its too bad I didn't get a picture of it!

Well, maybe I exaggerated a little, the tank didn't really explode, it kinda 'spat' out hot, boiling water.

Not long after that, a tow truck came by.......uh oh........

Just kidding! He wasn't gonna tow us away, much to my relief, he just came to help. Luckily, he had a bunch of water bottles so the car cooled down quickly.

After being stranded out at the side of the highway for about half an hour, we were on the road again! On the way, we stopped at the highway stop and bought some longans. Unlike most longans, the skin of the longans we bought were hard while most of the longans I get from the market and such are soft. One thing I can say about it is; best longan ever.

The reason why most longans are soft is because they're usually soaked in water so that they'll be heavier in which the person who sells it can charge his customers more for less. We finished it all by the time we reached our destination.

Along the way, we saw a badly damaged car by the side of the road, and I MEAN badly damaged. The car was totally crushed and the strange part was that there was only one car and not two, so how did the car get crushed?

The answer came as we moved on. A dead cow.

It must've been a real shocked to the driver and I really feel sorry for him rather than the cow. Nobody would expect to drive on the highway and get hit by a cow! There was no herd of cows to be seen anywhere, so, this cow might be a wild one. Another great pic that I couldn't take!

End Of A Decade

Nothing lasts forever. And, this is especially true when it comes to websites and web based services. I have had a personal website for my fine art photography for almost a decade. And, with the financial meltdown of Q4, 2008, the domain that I was using to host my website had decided to close its free services. As I do not make any money from my fine art photography, I have decided not to continue with a personal website as a paid venue.

I have instead put together a little retrospective of the best of my works over the years based on the images I offered for sale at my art shows over the years. As I considered these to have been my best works, I believe they still represent the best of my abilities in fine art photography. As a website, content is important and, perhaps, not everything was really worthy of being put up there for display. So, of the hundreds of images that were there, these represent the cream of the crop. It is my photographic legacy up to this point. Now, with my upcoming move to South Korea, there will be more worthy photographic images to come. And, some of them will show up here in my blog in a more casual, less formal, capacity.

About One Month Left

Kids Will Be Kids

Well, it's almost time to fly over to South Korea. WooHoo! LOL About one month left to go and all the jumping through the hoops is finally done. After about three months of paperwork and assorted other paper chases, I have my contract, visa, and plane ticket in hand. It is now time to wait it out until the end of August. Time to meet up with friends and go out and enjoy the last few weeks until I leave. To that end, my calender seems pretty full these days. And, that's a good thing, too.

I saw Harry Potter And The Half Blood Prince on opening day, too. This is the most "adult" Harry Potter movie to date as there is less of the "gee whiz look at all the wonderful stuff they have here" to a fast moving story line from start to finish. Some very good relationship moments to some funny bits along with some much darker elements than in other previous Harry Potter movies. That's to be expected as the series winds down to the last book, which is being made into two movies. Can't wait for those to come out.

As all the uncertainty and waiting of the past little while had me a bit beside myself, my art had suffered a bit. I was in no mood to create anything on any consistent basis. Now, I seem to be back to my usual swing of things again. And, I like that as I missed the comfort and satisfaction of the creative process. I'm hoping to add my photography back into the mix again, too, once I get to Korea. From what I have seen, there are so many photo opportunities to be found.

Gingerbread House!

Just now, and organiser of an orphanage saw pictures of our gingerbread house from last year's Christmas party and wanted us to make another gingerbread house with the kids! Actually, my mom, brother and I decided to create our very own gingerbread house for fun last Christmas and auction it off or eat it up. Here's a photo of it;

How bout another one?

We were pretty proud of it, specially when we put all our hard work on it and I think it turned out beautifully. This is what it looked like before its finished:

It took us an entire day to finish it, and that's just the base. We had to make several batches of icing and buy lots and lots of sweets. (about 2-3 kg, I think or maybe I'm just exaggerating.) In the beggining, the icing was a lot of trouble because it just couldn't stay firm and it wouldn't turn hard, so, it was pretty frustrating at first. Then, we realized that we were missing an ingredient and we used the wrong type of sugar.

Later on, as we were putting up the fences, we used biscuit sticks, dipped it in hot chocolate and stik it on the pile of icing on the base. It looked good at first, but there was a fatal flaw; the biscuits won't stay still and it turned soft later on because they're biscuits!

Because of that, we had to take out all the 'fences' and replaced it with marshmallows instead. I thought the marshmallows looked ten times better after that. Don't you think so?

By the time we finished it, people weren't the only ones who were attracted to it; so were the ants. We had to blow them all away without destroying anything of the house and wrap it up so that it would be airtight. It wasn't an easy job let me tell you this.

It really took a lot of time and patience. Although it was rather tiring, it was definately worth it and the results are rewarding. Merry belated Christmas!

Belanga

So this time, I went to Mid Valley for lunch and not forgetting shopping with the family last Sunday. We went for lunch first at the Belanga restaurant at the ground floor.

In case you didn't know, this is a malay restaurant, which means its gonna be Rendang for me cause its my favourite. Also, this restaurant is my mom's favourite restaurant in the whole building. She comes here so often, that the people who works there recognizes her.

The restaurant is well organized and decorated in a malay style theme. Its kinda pleasant to look at because it has this homelike feeling to it.

The menu has most of the tradisional Malay food.

Like I said before, I ordered the Beef Rendang and I chose mango juice for drinks.

And here's my dish!

The dish is well presented for one thing, but the taste is the most important part of it all. And I have to say, it passed the test. I really enjoyed the Rendang! Not too spicy, not too dull, just the way I like it.

The mango is just as good. Not too sweet, not too plain, just right.

My dad also ordered oxtail soup for everybody to share.

Although it looks and smells great, I find it a bit too spicy for my taste. Too much pepper I think. But my brother and dad doesn't seem to mind it. So all spicy food lovers, you gotta try this oxtail soup. On the other hand, other than the spicyness, the meat is soft and tender.

My mom ordered this kuih Jala and asked me to try it.

Heehee, sorry bout the half eaten one there. It was too late by the time I snapped that picture.

The kuih was pretty good with the Rendang actually.

All in all, everything tastes wonderful and I'd give a rating of 5 out of 5 stars. Great job guys!

Getting There

Dollhouse

For those who know me, you will know that I like my toys. Unfortunately, the upcoming move has necessitated that I get rid of most things as it would be just too much stuff to bring along with me inside only 2 bags and a carry-on. Today was the day that I finally got it down to a manageable amount of necessary toys; one computer (13" MacBook), one camera (Olympus E-P1), and one watch (Omega Seamaster). This meant selling off, or giving away, three extra computers, two extra cameras, and one extra watch. That's it! And, I also don't plan on getting anymore toys when I get there either. Oh, how will I live!!!

Bling and Shine

Weee! I love shopping with my mum. Yesterday, we went shopping for clothes then jewelry.

My mom wanted to change a few baby earings and necklaces of mine and repair a few of her's
It was soo cool! We actually spent about 2 hours at the jewellers store.

Finally, we exchanged my baby necklace for this gorgeous gold and diamond chain. Also, we changed my brother's baby necklaces too.

Though, I bet he'd never wear it. Might as well give it to me ^.~

Aren't they fab?

I simply couldn't resisting trying it on. Sooo.......

Heehee....... I know my pictures suck. I'm not so good at taking self portraits.

Too bad I can't wear it because of school and stuff. Might as well enjoy the moment before I give it back to mom.

Ice Age 3: Dawn of the Dinosaurs

So, this would be my very first movie review. Since the Brats never made us do a movie review, well, gotta start somewhere.





Anyway, I got to watch Ice Age 3: Dawn of the Dinosaurs in 3D version. Basically, the movie is focused more about family. Manny is over-excited over facing fatherhood and wants to make everything perfect, Diego feels that he's loosing his edge and wants to leave the herd, while Sid wants to have his own family and adopts 3 giant eggs, which eventually hatches into 3 baby T-Rexes. Awww...... so cute!



There were also a few new characters introduced such as Buck, a one-eyed crazed weasel who chases down the most terrifying dinosaur of all, Rudy. Oooh..... scary......



Also, Scrat, the squirrel found himself a lady.







All in all, I didn't find the movie as exciting as I thought it would be. Sure, there were a few laughs or two, some parts were pretty hilarious, but the romantic part with the squirrel dosen't sound right for me. Plus, the 3D version doesn't look anymore different compared to the 2D version. Not only that, I hate to say it, but I find the storyline kinda flat.






On the bright side, the film's animation art was pretty good and you can tell that there's a lot of effort put into it, just not enough though.





In my opinion, out of all three sequels, I prefer Ice Age 2 better. Sorry, Ice Age 3 wasn't exactly one of the best movies I've ever seen. I'd give 3 stars out of 5 for this movie.

Weird Graduation

Ok, the last blog entry was about my dive trip. This time, I'm gonna share how I graduated as a Jr. Open Water Diver. But I gotta warn you, it DEFINATELY wasn't any typical graduation party as I came to discover soon.....

First, let me briefly explain about how it all began. I trained to become a scuba diver under Kids Scuba, a training centre where they specially certify kids as scuba divers. My instructor was Syed Abdul Rahman, a friend of my dad's.

My dad wanted my brother and I to become scuba divers so that he could take us along with him to his next dive trips because he is the manager of Reefball Asia, an environmental-friendly company where they make artificial homes for the marine life. Also, I wish to become a marine biologist someday...

Well, anyway, I graduated in Pulau Perhentian in August 2008.

Honestly, when I took the test there, I was kinda nervous because at the first dive, all I could see was a big, black, hole. Plus, I have trouble in equilizing underwater and its kinda painful.

But in the end, everything turned out fine. I passed the test, managed to equilize, but most importantly, it opened a new world for me. There's so many things to see, even on a typical coral reef! Its just so full of life down there!

The kids were very energetic depite they were hungry and went diving the whole day. Its so amazing...

I bet, you were wondering what's so strange about the graduation party later on eh? Unfortunately , I didn't get a clear picture that time so I'll try to describe it as well as possible.

So, the party was held at the dive shop outside. There was a chair placed under the open shower. I found that kinda odd, yet, I suspected nothing.

Then, I saw a dive instructor holding a mask an snorkel. Nothing weird huh? Well, would you find it strange if the mask was covered up with masking tape including a funnel attatched to the snorkel?

Soon, a row of chairs were placed next to the chair under the shower. Ok, now there's DEFINATELY something fishy going on....

During the party, the graduates were told to sit on the row of chairs. The first victi.... uhh..... candidate sat on the chair under the shower was given the strange mask, put it on and then......

They took a pot of who-knows-what and poured it down the funnel!

By the looks of her, I'm guessing that it ain't gonna be pretty.... unfortunately, its the fate of the rest of the graduates!!

So when it was my turn, I was practically dragged towards the chair of doom.

Let me tell you this, I don't even need to have that mixture down the funnel to know that it tastes like shit, honestly. Because its been used a few times, *getting sick here* well, you get the point....

You can guess what happened next....

Terrific Tioman Trip

Although this was about a month ago, I just wanna share some of my wonderful expeience in Pulau Tioman. (well, I have nothing interesting to blog about, so....)

As this was my first dive trip alone, I was pretty much excited. All alone in the wilderness....

Well anyway, this wasn't my first trip to Tioman Island. My first was absolute crap, honestly, I didn't really enjoy it there that time. Hopefully, it wouldn't happen again......

Fortunately, it was at a different location. This time, I was with Kids Scuba; a club where they specially teach children how to scuba dive. Once they have been certified, they would be known as Scuba Rangers. I'm not a Scuba Ranger, if you're wondering. I'm too old. Lolz!

Nope, I'm a Jr. Open Water Diver and I'm proud of it!

So this was the place I was staying at.....

Every morning, a LOT of moniter lizards would come out for a swim. That was a fat one....

Well, on the first day, I had nothin much to do, so I went snorkeling....

There wasn't much to see at the shore, although some of the Open Water divers did go scuba diving there to get their certification. I already got it, haha!

Seriously, though, I can't see a single life form in there. Just sand.

The next day was the opening ceremony of our dive trip.

There were 3 groups of divers; Scuba Rangers, Open Water Divers and Fun Divers. I'm in the Fun Divers group cause I'm already certified.



Our dive crews were Adam, Tom and Richard. Tom was the one of the few people that caught my attention. He's about my height with brown eyes, long, blond, curly hair and if I'm not mistaken, I believe he's a dive master trainee. Also, I think he's about in his twenties and must've come from England like the Brown family that was with our group. I know that dosen't sound unusual, but he reminds me of the type of American surfers who covers their eyes with their hair and goes, "Dude!". He dosen't do it anyway, but I guess I watch too much TV.

Just gearing up for our first dive.

The first dive was pretty good I had to admit, it has all kinds of creatures and corals all around. The only creature I wanna see in the wild most of all is a turtle. Unfortunately, I didn't get to see one there...

The next site was just as good too...

Dosen't this coral look beautiful???


OMG! Could it be?



YES! Its a living, breathing, TURTLE!!! I LOVE TIOMAN!!



The next day was also another exciting trip, including a mangrove tour.



Oh yeah, check out what the kids did to one of their dive instrustors that night........



....... that's what you get for making them paint a picture of their thoughts.

Right, back to the dive trip. Check this out!



Isn't it awesome?


That's the Crown of Thorns Starfish. Really poisonous and eats up corals.

After the dive, we had lunch then we went out for the mangrove tour.

During the tour, we were told to help clean up rubbish along the way. I think its an excellent idea to teach the kids to care more about our environment because there were so many nets and strings from the fishermen's boats tangled up in the trees. Everybody helped one another in untangling and collecting them.

I've been taking too many pictures of people's butts.....

How 'bout another picture for the road???

See ya!