The End of an Era

As I stand at my window peering at the world beyond me, I have always wondered if the life I envision for myself would ever come to fruition. Ironically, what I envision changes all the time, and even at this very moment, it is in a state of flux.

From an early age, I came upon the conclusion that my life like most others is merely an ordinary one. An ordinary person in an ordinary environment doing ordinary things. I am neither a great visionary nor a prodigy.

However, even within this capsule of an ordinary world which I exist, I have been blessed with much that many do not have. Raised by loving parents, supported by concerned relatives and inspired by friend and tutors alike, I am much in debt to those aforementioned.

Freed from the rigors of a menial life and provided with the opportunity to choose, I have been able to expand my horizons, perhaps, a little further beyond my window. However, the journey outward has not been uneventful, but in each slope and rise, I think I may have learnt a valuable lesson.

Now, as I begin another chapter of my journey, it is difficult for me to forsee the outcome, but alas it has to be done. As is commonly said, man fears what he doesn't know, and I do not know what lies in road ahead.

It is the end of an era, but most certainly the beginning of another.

Neither a wise man nor a brave man lies down on the tracks of history to wait for the train of the future to run over him.

- Dwight D. Eisenhower

Kelantan - The Trip to Bedal Villa

Welcome to Bedal Villa, Kampung Bedal, Kuala Krai, Kelantan Darul Naim. Home to Hok Lai, our gracious host/chauffer/translator(bahasa Kelate)/guide.

Tobacco grown here. Why buy ciggies, when you can roll your own.

Now, Kelantan is famous for its Thai Wats. Some of them are even grander than those in Penang. Culture shock for those uninitiated. Religious tolerance not usually seen in the West Coast. Located all over from Pasir Mas to Bachok.



This be the kites at Pantai Cahaya Bulan.

And not forgetting to mention batik making.

The awesomely huge wet market at Kota Bharu.




Kelantan wouldn't be complete without this...

And lastly, Bedal Villa's lil guardian. (only 'bout a month old... woof)

So this is actually what Butterflies Eat...

Dunno 'bout you, but it looks like apeshiat to me.


Ugh. :p

Green Hill

My 3rd trip to Hutan Lipur Bukit Hijau, this time just for a walk. Twas Sunday and many a kid were frolicking in the cool waters of the waterfall.

*Andy I need my tripod back :'(

The Cat From Key's

Nyan nyan :3

Laksamana Trail - It Has To Be Done

I have never hiked a trail so long, so far, so intense. But then again I'm not a full time hiker either.


I mean what was I thinking? This trail is most definitely not meant for newbies. Got me into a lot of pain along the way.

But hey at least I made it.

Penang's National Park

Twas a fine Thursday morning and a bunch of us went a wandering into the Penang National Park where I saw...

Fisherman and his boat.


Typical Malaysian fishing boat, the smaller coastal kind.


The Gordian knot?

The Jetty.


Cool looking "dude" on a riding on the jetty.


Political party flags being proudly displayed at Kuala Sungai Pinang. Wow.


Mangrove forest crabber at Kuala Sungai Pinang.


Fishermen flooring the pedal.


Junior at Pantai Kerachut's Turtle Conservation Center. Just hatched. Kawaii overload!


Autumn has come! Not. Bridge at the Meromitic Lake.


Rachel's feet and her sandy sandals.


Lighthouse at Muka Head. 43 steps to the top!


Local ladies digging for mussels at Sungai Tukun.


Finally, back to port!


My legs still hurt from the trekking up to the lighthouse. Ouch.

Racing Queen?

Rachel behind the wheels. @_@"

The System Works

What strikes me most about the events that transcended on the 8th of March 2008 wasn't the results, but the process itself.

The ability for the populace to bring down a government and replace it with another was last demonstrated, with chaotic results, in the aftermath of the 1969 elections. However, to my great satisfaction, the shifting of power this time occurred peacefully.

The idea that an ordinary person can change the government in power is alien to much of the Malaysian populace, leading to political apathy. I have many friends and colleagues who are not registered voters and the reasons given for not registering vary from "Was busy, forgot about it." to "Makes no difference."

Makes no difference? I beg to differ.

This episode should serve as a wake up call to all, that selecting the representatives who govern us is a sacred civic duty and that each individual voice makes a difference.

Democracy is thriving in this country. In short, the system works.

Registered Elector, I Am.

Having met the all requirements stipulated in Article 119 of the Constitution of Malaysia, I am an officially registered elector in accordance with the Election Act, 1958.

For the 12th Malaysian General Election, I am an elector for the federal parliamentary constituency of BUKIT GELUGOR and the state assembly constituency of SERI DELIMA in Penang.


This is my first time participating as an elector as I did not meet the age requirement during the last general elections in 2004.

Adieu

Generous, strong-willed and a master of his art.

Those who knew him, even briefly, would agree. Although plagued by many personal demons, he would not hesitate to aid those in need. Never have I seen a person who has suffered so much, be so graceful in conduct. He never expected pity but instead earned respect by his sheer strength of character.

A man of many talents, he was a guiding light for many who were beginning their journey. He effortlessly demonstrated his mastery of art with the simplest of tools. His untimely demise is a great loss to the community.

Sorely missed. We can only seek solace, that in his absence, he would have wanted us to continue his work and to achieve the ideals which he so ardently expounded. His thoughts and deeds will live and grow in the hearts and minds of many for years to come.

He will be fondly remembered for who he was and what he stood for.

Les, I bid you, adieu. Adieu.

Penang Island Jazz Festival 2007

Late post! The annual Penang Island Jazz Festival happened this year on the 1st weekend of December. I attended the Sunday session (2nd December). Entry is MYR 50 and free seating (on the grass that is). As usual it was held in The Bayview Beach Resort gardens.

'Nuff talk, take a look at what happened...








Music worthy of the grandest applause. Unforgettable.

Coffee Anyone?

No? Tea perhaps?

Strangely, whenever I am at Coffee Bean (as opposed to when I'm at Starbucks), I tend not to drink coffee. I'm a sucker for their Ice Blended Sunrise. Yes the 'vanilla + orenji jusu' drink. Don't really know why... *shrugs*

The Chowrasta Street Market Walk

24th National Chinese Cultural Festival in Penang

The 24th National Chinese Cultural Festival was held in Penang on Sunday the 21st October 2007, from 7pm onwards with a procession starting from Padang Brown and moving along Jalan Dato Keramat, Penang Road, Transfer Road, Sri Bahari Road, Chulia Street and ending at the Penang Chinese Town Hall on Pitt Street. The festival included the dragon dance, chingay, lion dancers, wushu martial artists and other chinese cultural items.

Voices for Hospices 2007

Was invited by John Kay to capture the moments in the Voices for Hospices charity concert at the Dewan Sri Pinang. It's been quite a while since I did any event photography. Very low light, hence the noisy pictures. Good effort by the performers I must say.

My Grand Ma

This here is my paternal grandmother, she's 85! Sadly her memory is fading in her twilight years, but otherwise fit as a fiddle.

Malaysia International Fireworks Competition 2007

A montage of the view from the PICC on 2nd September (aka the Grand Finale).

Ipoh, I was there.

Was in Ipoh on the invitation of a friend of a friend. She took the whole bunch of us all over the Old Town of Ipoh.

Bon Odori and Penang World Music Festival 2007

An eventful weekend. First there was Bon Odori at the Esplanade! Rain interrupted the proceedings, and the fireworks were iffy.


The World Music Festival was a washout. All 3 days. But the show must go on! Well done to all.


More photos when I find time to process them.

In the last 30 days...

* I actually forgot to update my blog for exactly a month. My bad. *

I went to the Sepang International Circuit for the Japan GT 2007 and this is the pool table from the hotel lounge bar. The white cue ball seemed so lonely.

Porsche on display at the SIC. Not many people were shooting cars, because...

... of the crazy pit walk event. The apparent highlight of the day, the Japanese GT models, stole the show. No models, no photographers, no publicity, no racing.






Now, coming back to Penang, this is the Teluk Tempoyak cat. * Cats are so fun to shoot *








Then one early weekend morning, I shuffled over to Love Lane, again! The peaceful streets around that area and the pre-war houses, ripe for street shooting.












A week later, I was then invited on a trip to Kuala Kangsar and Sayong Lembah, just across the river. This here is the Kuala Kangsar town.

Artisan pouring clay into casts for the gourds.

Molded, carved but unpainted and unfired clay pot.

Just a tap.

Rows upon rows of Malay wedding gift pots.

Some routine back street shots.

This is Azmi chimping away during lunch in Kuala Kangsar.


Locks, as usual.

The old lady enjoying the paparazzi.

The river.

Alleyscape.

Lots of water pipes.

Doorscapes.









Having returned Penang, I scooted off to Sungai Pinang the next weekend, to check out its paddy fields.

Found another cat thereabouts, the Sungai Pinang cat.





Middle of last week, took a short trip to Kuala Lumpur, for work purposes. Had a cake at the Penang International Airport.

Didn't have time to take shot in the city, rushing all over. And now it is time to go home. Gate A6, KLIA.

Met with an unexpected 2 and a half hour delay at the airport before coming home. Feathers were ruffled.








Most recent weekend, reunion with Miss Lee. Had Thai food!


Su Yee, Tiffany, Ms. Lee, Huan Lin, Nern Hoong, Doreen at Ms. Lee's place after a sumptuous meal.







Another cat, this time at Sungai Dua.


Yup, thats all in the last 30 days. Will remember to blog more frequently and not lump it into one. Forgive me.

Ronggeng Merdeka at Armenian Street, Penang

Based on the story of the Independence, Ronggeng Merdeka (an Ombak Ombak Artstudio production), was performed live and free of charge to the masses at Armenian Street, Penang.

Applause! Let the show begin!

Introducing the Ronggeng Girls, highlight of the show.

In the days of the British colonial times, everyone seems to be all jolly.

Then strange loud things flew overhead, and stuff started falling out. *Boom*

Oh dear, the Japs are here.

All hail the mighty divine Emperor.

Some resist.

But eventually, we fought back.

And won.

Then the communists started to influence the masses.

But the British wouldn't have any of this nonsense.

The communists wouldn't negotiate.

So, it became an Emergency.

In the end, the communists were cornered.

In the meanwhile, time to get some infrastructure up.

Not to mention, the Alliance.

Then, finally, we earned the right to gather, shout loudly in a stadium proclaiming a new nation. Merdeka! Merdeka! Free at last, Merdeka!

*grin*

It's been a while...

In the last few weeks, I've been too lazy to post. So instead of mass spamming this blog, I'll just toss together an assortment of shots.

That is my bedroom ceiling. Yes, I was bored.

Just an ordinary bank of switches on the wall, in Photo President Queensbay Mall, for the curious.

Sunrise, of a different sort.

Ditto.

Somewhere along the path to Penang Hill. Leaves, of all things. *smacks head*

Taiping Streets

What Taiping Street Shooting
When Saturday the 2nd of June, 2007
Where Train Station, Old Town and War Cemetery in Taiping, Perak
Who Syiqin, Joo Liang, Kenny, Lee and I.

Ye Olde Train Station...











Around town...











It had to rain...

... so we took shelter in a cafe...



It stopped raining, so we went out...



Last stop at the war cemetery...

Penang Beach Carnival 2007

Today I saw boats, boats and more boats at the beach in front of Golden Sands Resort. And for that matter it is all you are going to see, boats, boats and more boats.




Maybe something different tomorrow.

A Trip To A Place Called Manjung

That's me standing with wet feet at Teluk Batik. I followed Joo Liang back to his hometown, Sitiawan, and he graciously took me for a spin around the place.


This here is in Sitiawan, they are baking cookies. Fabulous stuff. Onion and pork meat. Best eaten hot.

Boats for hire at the Lumut waterfront.

Randomly placed jerry cans of unknown flammable liquids.

Cool looking windmill along the coast. Last one standing.

Ah, sunset over the pier.

Another view.

Yes, I promise this is the last sunset of the series.

At the joss stick factory, I saw dragon heads, lots of 'em.

Joss sticks drying under the cool shade.

Timid factory guard dog.

Painters workshop. Look at the dyes, so bright.

Cookies, they are not. Joss stick embellishments made from sawdust.

Ditto. Unpainted dragon heads.

Times are changing. Fishing village in the foreground, modern coal fired power plant in the background.

Surprisingly tame monkey at the Mangrove Forest.

The aforementioned mangrove forest. Smells funky.

Random Filler Shots

Posted for the lack of a better thing...

Penang's Butterfly Farm

In Teluk Bahang, its the world's 1st tropical live butterfly sanctuary, so it says on the ticket which is RM10.00 (wallet seems lighter now).

* Oi! Tengok Apa? is Malay for "Excuse me, what are you looking at?"

Taman Rimba Bukit Hijau

Taman Rimba Bukit Hijau in Kedah. Too tired to say anything else except low hit rate this time. And yes, these shots are false color processed. Take a look.

Anime Fiesta

I'm a big fan of spending my time watching Japanese anime. And this spring (in Japan anyway), there is a whole slew of new anime which is being released and fansubbed. I'm currently following these:

• Bleach
• Claymore
• Code Geass
• D. Gray-man
• Darker Than Black
• El Cazador La Bruga
• Hayate No Gotoku
• Idolmaster Xenoglossia
• Kaze no Stigma
• Lucky Star
• Seirei no Moribito
  
• Seto no Hanayome
• Sola

Esther has been a great help in the selection of the animes. When in doubt (about anime) ask Esther!

Pulau Betong Beach, Penang

Went again today. ;)

Wet feet and mosquito bites.

Sunset at Long Last

Les suggested we go shoot sunset at Pulau Betong beach, just beside the Kem Bina Negara. Upon announcement in the forums, goldwings, cslor and dvvt9591 decided to come along.

Today was one of those rare occasions where I bothered to take my tripod out.

Somehow the session become a long exposure shootout instead.

I also got a lesson from dvvt9591 on why ND filters are a nice to have and Les giving us a black card tutorial to replace a costly graduated ND filter.

After that we proceeded to have dinner in Balik Pulau town. Along the way, I managed to take a shot of the wet market, soon to be demolished.

Upon reaching home, I was alerted to the fact that some of my photos contained sensor dust specks by Ifer. Horrified, I did a quick sensor dust check and found that the resulting image looks like a Sun with its sunspots.

Enhanced false color image of dust on sensor before cleaning.

A quick blow or two, from the Giotto Rocket Blower resolved the issue, with a few minor specks remaining. I suppose one of these days the Nikon Service Center will hear from me.

Wesak Day in Penang

Today I attended the annual Wesak Procession near the Malaysian Buddhist Association with g3k and his family. I'll let the photos do the talking.

That's all folks. The sun went down, and I went for dinner.

230 Miles Away From Home

Look where I went for the weekend!

Albert graciously took me gear shopping. Digicolor at Jalan Ipoh, our first stop.

A100 and kit lens, with the Wide Converter. Spiffy ain't it?

Pizza for lunch, but since the food hasn't arrived, time to play with the gear a little. That's Tarquin messing around with his TLR. Thanks for the long ride.

Albert in action, just after lunch. Yes he is actually carrying 2 bags!

Casual out-of-car-window shot, on the way to Keat's.

Inside Keat's. That's Asyraf glancing over. And a very well stocked cabinet, I must say.

Next up, YL. So many things to buy, so little cash.

Grabbed a street shot along the way. Sorry, couldn't resist, it had to be done.

Moved over to the Sony Concept Store at KLCC. Tested the amazing Zeiss 135 and the mind-blowing 500 catadioptric lens. Nice doughnuts. That's pinkfrog by the way.

smashpOp dropped in for a while with his spanking new Sony wide-angle.

Albert volunteered his face for a wide angle volume anamorphism test.

Meet Adyl, Tarquins significant other with a Fujifilm Instax camera. I dub it the clown cam.

KL Jam Asia was the real highlight of the trip. Arrived late, but the gig didn't start yet.

Drummer rocked. No kidding.

The 3 guitarists doing a jam. Nothing beats being there.

Emo mamak stall cat. So kewt.

LCCT Gate T8. Time to go home.

Good trip. Thanks to Hock Lai for allowing me some sleeping space in SS14, Albert who arranged the whole geekout, Tarquin for the Legend and Ifer for the Lee Filters.

QBM again

Today was boring.

Hence, I took a stroll in QBM. As expected, I stopped at Borders. Discovered that Starbuck's Caffe Mocha is a better drink than Caffe Latte. Maybe I should try the Caramel Macchiato next. Anyway, I left soon thereafter with a copy of John W. Dower's Embracing Defeat - Japan in the Wake of World War II. Sounds promising after the first chapter.

Being still early, I trudged over to Foto President to watch ckvin in action. Today is a busy day for him. Being the printing guy, and a Sunday; he had tons of prints to make. What surprised me was that he actually had to go through each and every one of the few hundred to correct the exposure and color balance. Auto correction mucks up everything. And lets just say Fuji's software and his workstation isn't anything to shout about. I do not envy his job. But the Frontier makes sweet prints.

Waterfall Road's Waterfall

For many years, I've always wondered why Waterfall Road was named as such. To me it was just a road to the Botanical Gardens. And while there is a small stream there, no waterfall was in sight.

A year ago, during the World Water Day celebrations, the Pihak Bekalan Air Pulau Pinang (the water czars in Penang) allowed public entry into their water treatment facility in the Botanical Gardens. Lo and behold, just right behind the treatment plant, a flight of steps away lies a waterfall.

At last, it all made sense.

This year, needless to say, I went again and for the lack of a better picture, I give you a typical shot of a typical waterfall.


Boring huh? Well, then since we are into this boring stuff, I'll bore you with one more, it can't get any worst.

Yes. I'm done. No more boring pictures. Have a nice day.

Breakdance Battle

Joo Nee's studio organized a Breakdance Competition on Saturday at Baby Cafe on the corner of Cantonment Road and Pulau Tikus Road.

Geek Note: Notice the extreme barrel distortion. This is what you get when you shoot at the wide end of a super zoom lens. Buyer beware, super zooms are not a panacea.

"Come on guys, lets steal the show." And they did. The music started, and the action began...

... with well choreographed dance moves and ...

... extreme upper body strength.

Other crews tried to better them, but...

... with vocal support by their personal cheer squad...

... they redoubled their efforts...

Note: Spot the two photographers in the scene, hko (standing) and myBest.

... and earned the title, Champions.

And now for the winners pose, with Joo Nee. Oh, what an honor!

Rant: Joo Nee for some obscure reason seems to never look at my camera in group shots.

I forgot their names. My bad. Anyone knows? Drop me a line.

A Quiet Walk In The Mall

As it turns out, I had plenty of time today. No work. So I shuffled over to Queensbay Mall to take a look around. Seems like an empty place. But its Monday, fair enough. For some unknown reason, there are no floor directories in QBM. Some management eh?

After a few lost moments, I stumbled upon the renowned Foto President shop lot. It's well known because of a certain dude working there, namely ckvin. Now, if I had brought along my camera, I would have posted a photo of the shop with his face and the slew of demo lenses, but alas, my arm hurt today so I eschewed the use of the carry bag, and hence the camera inside it. Seeing that business was slow (think sloth), he took some time to chat with me about stuff.

After a while I wandered off to find Borders which was the primary reason for my QBM visit. I settled down with a nice cup of Starbucks Caffe Mocha Venti with Whip Cream, and sampled some books on the shelves. Eventually, I walked out of the store with a copy of Napoleon's Buttons: How 17 Molecules Changed History by Penny LeCouteur and Jay Burreson.

It is times like these that we need a compact camera. A DSLR is overkill.

At the Atrium

Joo Nee did her thing again today at Gurney Plaza. And I wasn't able to get even half decent shots. Not only was the lighting bad (my lack of skill notwithstanding), she did not even look in my general direction... grrr. Anyway, she's one of the finalists in the Nescafe Kick Start contest, which ends on the 15th this month. Now she needs 200 supporters dressed in red for the finals event in KL. Goodness me.

I stayed around to catch a glimpse of the make-up competition. The models had some really outrageous hair-dos and outfits. The make up artiste's kit was kinda scary, with brushes, pigments and thingamajigs of all shapes and sizes. Sort of like a surgeons operating kit. Like they say, the professionals are masters of their tools.

Although I tried my best to capture them in action, the lighting conditions coupled with my refusal to mount my speed light, a huge crowd and the lack of a press pass, provided me with the perfect opportunity to obtain a series of perfectly underexposed and badly composed images. Now I remember why I don't shoot indoors too much.


And oh, tomorrow is a holiday for me. I only work 5 days a week, and Saturday was a public holiday.

Sleep. Good sleep.

Streets of Penang

I took a stroll along Love Lane and Lorong Stewart today with Harry. It has been a while since I shot the streets. One distinct advantage of living on the island is ready access to pre-war houses. Ever since I started photography, the unique architectural features of these dwellings has always piqued my interest. Even more so, if it partially dilapidated which allow for some interesting subjects.

Seems, like in the modern age, a single lock isn't enough, even for a dilapidated house.



But life always proves itself capable of flourishing, even in exacting conditions.


Nice blue skies, for a moment I dearly regretted not having a polarizing filter.




I've no clue to what S.V. is supposed to mean.


It's been a long while since this wheel has moved. Even the tire has a gap.





Van Gogh has his Postman, I've my Postbox. ;)





Nice place. Do come and take a walk. You'll probably enjoy yourself as much as I did.

Penang X-Jam 2007

Extreme sports came to my town with the Penang X-Jam 2007 competition featuring Skate-Boarders, Inline Skaters and BMX Flatlanders.

Held at the extremely open air Youth Park Skatepark, over the weekend of the 17th and 18th. Yesterday, I missed the Inline and BMX events by sleeping in. Today however, I departed earlier and was ready at the Skatepark at 11am.

The Inline event began shortly with the skaters attempting to perform tricks on the Picnic Table.


Some of the skaters used the ramp to good effect and launched right off into the air. Needless to say, my camera had trouble keeping focus.


During lunchtime, the skateboarders took the time to do some warm-up practice. The boy below is a Japanese by the name of Miyasaki Koya. He's very young but extremely talented.

Being the finalists, the participants were more skilled than yesterday. They performed more technical tricks, leading to more spectacular falls. Oh joy.


The BMX event began after lunch, and you can easily tell that the riders DID NOT READ THE F**KING BICYCLE MANUAL. I don't think the manufacturer has this in mind.

Apparently, some of the participants represented Malaysia in past international level X-Games competitions. You can tell, they are of some ability, when they effortlessly twirl the frame around them and dance along.

The heat was worst than the first day and I left promptly before the conclusion of the event due to exhaustion. I later discovered that I'm sun burnt. How nice.

Addendum: Some additional pan-chromatic photos for those who are sepia-blind.

That's Koya crossing a non-regulation obstacle. Spectacular. He made it.

A Hot Hot X-Jam Day

Woke up late today, I was supposed to be at the Youth Park at 10. But knowing me, I stayed up late watching 300. I'm a history freak, but the movie really spiced up history. Anyway, I only managed to reach the Youth Park at noontime.


After watching them for a while, you can tell they aren't too good. Then again, who am I to comment. At least they are trying.


Didn't spend too much time there, the heat was stifling, and the camera was heating up as well. Left halfway through the skateboarding rounds. My photos were even worse than the heat, most of the shots were out of focus. Those that were sharp were not framed properly. Life just isn't fair.

I'll be there again tomorrow. Part deux.

Weird Days

I woke up to the news Intel confirms low power Xeon chips. Either I'm still dreaming or woke up in the wrong dimension. Now how often do you see the words low power and Xeon in the same line.

In other news Sigma released a lens having the size of a bazooka. Taking that into the battlefield will guarantee that you'll be the first casualty of war. Good God.

Last night, my camera-speedlight combo started acting weird. With the speedlight randomly preflashing whilst mounted on the hotshoe. The case of the haunted flash. I cleaned both contact surfaces and I hope the problem will go away. I'd really really hate to send my gear for service.

Found out about my brother's emo rant blog, or at least thats what I think it is. I bet he's still pissed off at the fact that we both have the same initials, and that I took the shortest possible representation. He has to fully expand his, which is a good 4 characters longer. Oh well, I came first anyway.

I've run out of storage capacity. I have a mouth watering 360 Gigabytes. And its filled to the brim. Ridiculous. ''Broadband is a transformation of limitations. From a limitation of bandwidth to a limitation of storage''. I'm afraid chucking in another hard drive will finally cause my PSU to keel over dead. And I doubt that would be the correct solution. I suppose I need to find some willpower to start deleting. Burning to DVD is the last thing I want to do, although I have a spanking new Liteon LH-18A1P. The difference in capacity is 2 orders of a magnitude.

And, you know you need a haircut when you wake up with a mouthful of your own hair. Drat.

Chap Goh Meh, What A Crowd!

Sunday night, the 15th day of the Lunar New Year. It's getting really crowded along Jalan Masjid Kapitan Keling, what's going on? Apparently, the Penang Chinese Town Hall organized a Chap Goh Meh celebration event this year.

Arrived with g3k on the scene quite late, about 6.30 pm and the first thing I see is flagpoles the height of a 2 story building being balanced around by people using their heads. This is part of Penang's famous Chingay flagpole balancing act. I watched with interest as the members of Penang Chingay Association, attempted really incredulous stunts, whilst trying to catch and balance flagpoles which were tossed towards them.

As the sun set, and the street lights came on, the crowd shifted towards a specially erected stage in front of the church. As the crowded settled down, and the VIPs took their seats, the gala event began in earnest.

As is customary with all Lunar New Year events, a lion dance is a must, and this year, we have a special performance by all-female lion dance troupe. Yes, you heard me right, all female. And they did not disappoint us, by showcasing a fiery lion dance routine.


Next came the dances, some of the ones I liked were the Visit Malaysia 2007 dance, featuring dancers decked out in costumes from all races and cultures. Malaysia - Truly Asia.

Of course, there was this cute and well choreographed dance routine by the Phor Tay Primary girls.


A martial arts troupe performed a spectacular routine, with a very catchy soundtrack. I may have missed some good shots, because I was more interested in watching than shooting.


Towards the end, the dancers became more active, and started jumping all over. Lovely.


This particular singer was trying to touch the moon. Nice voice too.

I skipped the last few items, as I was afraid I'd get stuck in the ensuing traffic jam. Not pleasant considering how narrow Penang roads are.

All in all, fantastic night. Something I will remember for a while. Kudo's to the Penang Chinese Town Hall who went through all the trouble to organize this event. Hope to see them again next year.

Joo Nee And Her Dance Studio

I spent some time on Sunday morning with the exotic Joo Nee at her newly opened dance studio Let's Dance, at Northam Tower, where she was kind enough to allow me to do some portraiture.

She is a semi-finalist in Season 3 of Nescafé Kick Start, and through this program she is able to start up her dream of owning a dance studio. Since the program has not ended, you can SMS vote for her so that she can win the Grand Prize to help her make her dream a reality.

She's a really nice and patient person, as she endured the agony of making smiley faces and weird poses for a long time in front of a rabid photographer.
She's also an accomplished belly dancer and is also the dance instructor at her studio. Her studio also offers lots of other dance courses, if anyone is interested, visit her website and take a peek.

Remember watch Nescafé Kick Start on 7:00pm Saturdays on TV3. If you think shes good, vote for her!

At Mrs. Kwans Place

Met up with Ronnie, Su Yee, Doreen and of course, Mrs. Kwan, for our annual New Year meet on Saturday. This round, Peng Chuen declined to attend, David is still in Adelaide and Chu Leik could not be contacted. It was a short meet-up as I had to rush to the SP Setia 88 Lions event after that.


I hadn't seen Ronnie and Doreen for a while. Ronnie, ever the smart alec, has put on a few pounds, so to say. Doreen hasn't changed a bit, still wacky and joyful. Mrs. Kwan and Su Yee, well look the same, still all smiles as usual. Ah, the good ol' days.

Ronnie and Doreen are both going to be doctors! Gosh. Su Yee is doing her postgraduate studies. I'm like the odd one out who isn't studying now.

Event Packed Weekend Ahead

It's the weekend again and surprisingly I'm fully booked. Ever since I started amateur photography my life has changed from being sedentary to outgoing.

This afternoon I've got a meet-up at my English tutors place. Yes, I did go to an English tuition class, but I think I learned more about life than about the language as my tutor had unconventional methods. This meet-up is a annual affair, organized by some of my other mates, but the attendance has been dropping as more and more people leave Penang to work elsewhere. I wonder who will attend this year?

In the evening, I'll head over to Pearl Island Golf Club, where my friends from FotoKrazy have secured the enviable position of being the Official Photographers for the 88 Lions event. I'll tell you more after I come back. It is supposed to be something grand.

Tomorrow, I'll be doing some portraiture work for Joo Nee at her dance studio. Hopefully it'll turn out well. I'm trying to spread the word about her participation in Nescafe Kick Start and help her garner some votes. She's a nice person really... I think she deserves a chance.

Tomorrow night is Chap Goh Meh, the "15th Night" of the Lunar New Year, the last day of the festive celebration. Supposedly there will be something to photograph at the Chinese Town Hall and the Temple of the Goddess of Mercy. I'll tag along with the FotoKrazzies and have a look.

If all goes well, I'll try to post some shots later... till then, enjoy your weekend too.

Self-proclaimed Computer Geek

My interest in technology was piqued during the waning years of my primary education. Hailing from a lower middle-class family, techno-gadgets were not the priority back in those days. However, my uncle's family was much better off and he owned a computer.

A computer. To be precise, it was an Amstrad 8086 PC-XT compatible. Wow. I was immediately enthralled. It could make beepy sounds and display 16 color graphics. Yes, of course the games were fun, but there was more to it. It so happened my uncle owned a mini-library of BASIC programming books.

And BASIC was... well, pretty basic. Without any formal guidance, I did self learning, from those book of course. I actually learned the concept of variables were before I was thought Algebra. I suppose from these early experiences, algorithmic programming became second nature to me.

Before long, I become interested in the innards of computers and decided to find books about Computer Architecture to digest. Mind you, the Internet was in its infancy and printed books were the only option. Physical access to the hardware was even harder to come by. Who in their right mind would let a kid mess around with hardware.

The chance to handle hardware came when I entered the Computer Club in my secondary school. The computer lab was fabulous, at least I thought it was. They had nearly 30 computers and as a member of the club you had privileged access. Clubs in my secondary school were purely student affairs, and if something broke, we fixed it ourselves. Lovely.

Note that I still did not own a computer at that moment in time. I lobbied hard, and finally got my parents to buy me one. A spanking new Acer Pentium 133 Mhz system. For the record, within 24 hours of the system being delivered, I crashed the system. Apparently I tweaked something I should not have. I believe it had something to do with me messing with the File Allocation Table, oops.

Skipping the boring details, lets just say I became so at home with computers that I decided after completing my secondary education, that decided to pursue a undergraduate degree in Computer Engineering, no surprise there. Apparently, I made it through a difficult 4 years of engineering while spending some time in Australia.

Finally, as of today, I'm an engineer working in Intel's Penang Design Center. Perhaps some might say that I've come a full circle in my geek-ness, but I believe my journey has barely begun...

A Renewed Beginning

I've retconned my blog and now its brand new. As with every retcon, I'll need to spend some words re-introducing myself. My name is Wai Keong and I live in Penang. Currently in my twenties, I work during the weekdays as an engineer in the semiconductor industry. I take my weekends seriously and I'm very involved in amateur photography. My other prime interests include reading, messing around with computers and watching anime. Yes I know, I sound like a geek and I'm not denying it. I'll probably say more about each aspect of my daily life in my following posts.