Reminders…

Went to a photography talk by Nikon, where the talk was by Manny Librodo, a portraiture photographer from the Philippines.

The talk reminded me lots of things…

1. Always tell stories with your photos

2. Look for colours, contrasts and textures/patters.

3. Be spontaneous.

4. Take photographs of the face, and also photographs of not the face.

5. Natural lights are the best.

6. Always engage with your subject matter.

7. Workshops make you grow faster, at the same time, they may create challenges along the way.

 

And here are some other facts about him…

1. He shoots with JPEG

2. He rarely shoots after 6pm (as there is not much of natural lights).

3. He started out his photography with a compact camera.

4. As he was a teacher, he used to have his students pose for his portraitures.

5. He may spent hours in front of his computer to do post processing.

 

Can’t wait for another talk tomorrow: Wildlife.

 

Visit http://www.nikon10.com.my for more information.

Getting old…

For the past few months, my dad has been complaining to me that his mobile phone screen is so small.

Then last week, he got himself a new 3.2” touchscreen phone with the font size set to ‘large’.

Yet, he complained to me that the screen is still small.

It made me realize one thing:

My parents are both getting older as the day passes.

The day would come where my dad would ask me to read out his messages, and I would have to send E-mails with large fonts to my mom.

If only Apple could release an iPhone with a screen size as big as the iPad, I would not even hesitate to get one for them.

In short, love your parents dearly before you’re left with memories of them.

A millionaire in Jakarta

Simple. Go to the money exchange, hand over RM 350, and be a millionaire in Jakarta.

Jakarta is one of the busiest cities (I’ve been so far), and the traffic jam is horrible.

You see motor and mobil (motorcycles and cars) going around, with the motorcycles weaving through the traffic. If you’re not competent riding a bike in Indonesia, don’t ride one. Nonetheless, travelling by motorcycle is the best way to go around town.

Instead of wearing a helmet, some others wear a cap or hoodie instead.

To be hemat (safe) when you cross the road, you can literally blindfold yourself when you cross. If you observe the traffic before you cross, it’s either you’ll never cross the road, or you’ll get knocked down by a vehicle. The drivers on the street evades pedestrians, not the other way round.

Less traffic lights on the streets means less traffic jam even though the place has high vehicle density. Giving an opportunity for the local people to earn some living.

You pay for parkir (parking) and you pay again for the person who lead you out from your parking slot. They even provided parking spots for ladies.

Lots of gratis (free) stuffs around to lure more people to purchase, and the advertisements on cigarettes filled the TV screen and the billboards along the road.

Shopping malls are grander than ours, with brands not even found in Malaysia and Singapore, and things may be dirt cheap as well. You can get a pirated DVDs as low as RM 1.80 each.

As usual, food here is good, and one of the most popular – masakan padang.

On the other side of the Jakarta Town, you’ll see a different group of people trying to survive on the streets. People who make a living by pushing carts around, selling all sorts of stuffs. Plus, because they can’t afford to buy a car, the carry all sorts of things on their motorbikes and push carts.

And again, because there are more motorcycles on the street, they have motorcycle wash all over the place.

They can’t use money to buy fancy stuffs, so they built them.

Some scenes you don’t see much in the big city of Jakarta…

Family coming together to enjoy.

People repairing motorcycles by the roadside.

Selling of colourful motorcycle seats.

Jaw dropping graffiti art…

And lastly, some other photos to share with everyone:

People here are survivors. They grow up working hard, learning all the street skills we didn’t learn in school. So you think that they’re weak? Think again.

The unpublished note

There is a note, which I have written and re-write so many times,

but not published.

This note has got all the feelings inside,

so rich, yet so selfish.

This little note shall remain as it is.

Written again and again, but would never be shared.

 

When it comes to the day when I stop writing this note,

would I be free?

or would I regret having spent so much writing such note?

we shall wait and see.

Why wait? ACT now!

Yesterday, I wrote the second English article for publishing. Although it was not as hard as writing a journal paper, it was still as tough, expressing my feelings with words. I felt that what I wrote would made a greater impact than if I were to write in an high impact journal.

On the evening of 11th March, Japan had one of the worst natural disaster in the history. It made me wonder again. Are we doing enough? Am I doing what I should be doing? Most importantly, did I made an impact?

Yesterday evening, I helped a blind to the LRT station. He may be able to navigate around even without help, but i knew that my little assistance would be able to help him get to his destination quickly.

At the platform, he told me that he's going towards the other direction. I was sad that I could not accompany him throughout the journey. There were people at the platform, but they’re just staring at him. When his LRT arrived, no one helped him at all. I went back to guide him into the carriage and left quickly before the doors were closed.

That incident left thinking again and again. What does publishing a journal paper gives you? Fame? Money? And does all these have an impact on the people who needs your help urgently? A quick action may do much more. Some things can wait. Some others just can’t.

So ACT today. Don’t just be glad that you’re safe from all these shortcomings. Take an action to help others in need. I said this once and I’ll say it again:

Someday, the person who really needs the help is YOU.

 

Forced to do something you don’t like

What if the thing you’re doing is something good… very good…

What if the thing you’re doing can help a lot of people…

but…

you find no joy in doing it…

you find yourself wondering why you are wasting time on it…

you noticed yourself dozing off while doing it…

or you noticed that most of the time you felt like you’re wasting your life on it.

But what you’re doing is noble!!!

What would you do?

Continue the work, or leave it and go somewhere else?

Two Blind Persons

I saw two blind persons in the LRT today.

When the LRT arrived at their destination, the two of them stood up and headed towards the wrong door.

No one helped them.

When the two of them started panicking, a kind lady helped to direct the two of them towards the right exit.
Just when I thought the problem was solved, the two blind persons headed down the wrong platform exit.

Again, no one helped them.

Some rude man even jumped across their walking stick, holding back his curse upon seeing the two who almost made him tripped.

And again, no one helped them.

Everyone left the platform except for a kind couple, who spent time guiding the two of them out of the station.

Someone helped them.

I was seating 5 metres away when I saw this. I was helpless. "Oh heaven's sake, why can't anyone help them?" However, I did learn something out of this incident.

1. Life is unfair. Some people are born with a perfect body, but do not use their brain.
2. There is still hope in this earth. There are still many helpful people around.
3. Treat these handicapped with kindness. You'd never know one day, you might be the handicapped who yearns for a little extra attention.

The next time you see someone like them, why not just spare them a few seconds, and that would make a huge difference.

The Spear River – Sungai Lembing

The most interesting fact about this small little town - it floods every December, every single year. And the worst floor ever recorded was in the year 2001.

This small little town also contains other wonders. You will need at least 3 days to complete the tour around. By the time you're done, you'll want to come back here again.

This town, which has never failed to mesmerise everyone, is better known as Sungai Lembing, just a few kilometres away from Kuantan, Pahang.

The growth of this town some one century ago was due to the mining of our rich minerals, especially the tin ore. A visit through the local museum will reveal much of the history of this town.

Some of the remains can still be found located around town and most of them are preserved in the museum. A few sites to visit include the place where the refinery of the mineral ore took place and the underground cave entrance.

So why 3 days to complete a visit? Because on the first morning, you'd most likely be interested to see the beautiful Mount Panorama, and on the second morning, an early trip to the Rainbow Waterfalls is worth every second spent. Sadly, I did not take the latter trip.

When you're done with all these activities, you can enjoy some famous Sungai Lembing noodles, especially the tomato sauce noodles. Their local biscuits tastes great as well. I find their sesame biscuits tastier than the coconut biscuits though.

This local bakery also sold some very nice Kaya puff.

Other attractions include crossing one of the many hanging bridges, visiting the crystal house, buying your freshly made noodles from the local factory, and if you're bored at night, talking a stroll around town at night.

Road signs in English are certainly new in Malaysia.

About 10 kilometres away from this peaceful town, there is a cave – Charas Cave (Gua Charas).

My dad told me that he came some 20 years ago, he had to pay RM 2 for the Indian guy down the cave to start up a electric generator for the lights. So much has improved, and people can be seen coming here to pray.

A grand Taoist temple located not far away from the Kuantan Toll exit is the Temple of the Golden Dragon (太子金龙). It is a grand temple with the dragon as the main theme. I find the place is a bit lavish though, somehow felt that the money should go somewhere else better use.

This short journey to Sungai Lembing certainly brought much joy and peacefulness. See the kampung people around, old shop lots, and people riding bikes without helmets.

In short, I would come back to Sungai Lembing again. And if you love nature, you'd definitely love to explore this place.

Positive Stress

A change of stress, towards positive stress.

It’s very much helpful to my mind.

No wonder those who came never left!