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| Thursday, 4-May-2006 14:50 |
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picasa collage
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testing the collage function available in picasa.
i guess i put in a little too many pictures hehe. maybe i'll put up the proper pictures later, after i've tweaked them some.
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| Monday, 1-May-2006 06:51 |
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athen
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i was at cherating over the weekend, and i just couldn't help snapping this picture, having seeing it on syahrin's page previously. such a fun session we had yesterday morning. big thanks to these people, for contributing to this image, either directly or indirectly:
syahrin (for teaching the technique)
moque (for the proper execution)
tony (for the camera, since my d50 doesn't have the wireless commander mode)
rambo (for the 12-24mm f4 nikkor lens that you loaned to modar, memang best gila lens ni!)
athen (for graciously agreeing to be the model in this picture)
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| Monday, 24-Apr-2006 15:37 |
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lomo?
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| Sunday, 16-Apr-2006 15:35 |
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old boys weekend 2006
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2006 is only my third year returning to kuala kangsar for the annual old boys weekend as an old boy. this year also marks the tenth year since i left the malay college back in 1996. it's sometimes hard to believe that it really has been ten years, but what can i say? i look at the calendar, and it says there that it's the year 2006.
old boys weekend always has a special meaning to malay collegians, whether present boys or old boys. for the present boys, it means being able to mingle around with successful old boys from various backgrounds and callings. it's the initial step to being familiar with the old boys network. for the old boys, it means a time to renew the camaraderie forged a long time ago, and recalling those times with fondness. pardon my ignorance, but i don't know if any other schools have something similar, at the same level.
anyways, i decided to carpool this year with four other guys. apart from saving some money, it's actually a fun way because the weekend practically begins as soon as we all get into a car together to drive to kuala. the old stories, rehashed for the umpteenth time, would resurface and we'd laugh ourselves silly again. this year, also, i brought along my camera to capture those moments in kuala.
the first stop we made in kuala was none other than yut loy. we were famished, but were told that they could serve us only pau. i was surprised, because usually the pau would be difficult to get during old boys weekend. but we didn't complain too much, since power was out. moque joined us, and it was all talk about our upcoming reunion and pertinent issues (hence moque's and dayat's rather serious countenance).
after having our fill (we managed to have fried rice), we adjourned to koleq. just passing the big school along jalan stesen was enough to get us singing the school song. it was a beautiful day with blue skies and beautiful clouds. we parked at the pavilion carpark, and walked to the registration area to check out the merchandise on sale. i saw abang su seated nearby under the trees, so i went to say hi. walking back to the registration tent, i was 'pulled over' to donate blood, despite my weak protests of needing blood myself. i was soon on the cot though, after some initial tests. it was quite nervewracking since it was my first time. but it went along fine. i was a little dizzy after that though, as could be expected, and had to lie down for about ten minutes.
then, we proceeded to the big tree, while snapping away at overfloor's beautiful greco-roman facade. some of the guys were hanging out there, having played cricket with the present boys. the cagers also joined us under the big tree for a while.
half an hour later, we had a drink at a stall set up near the registration tent (yes, this is one of the things that we do a lot during old boys weekend). at about three, i proceeded to hargreaves hall to catch the soundcheck, after being told by abang su about it. it didn't really happen though, but i got to chat with ipin for a while. he almost didn't recognize some parts of the school, having never visited the school in the last ten years or so.
we proceeded to get ready for our football game with the first formers, so i returned to pavi to get changed. i was back at the prep school field soon, when the skies took an ominous look suddenly, but we held onto hope. it was a fun game, but we were out of sorts. it's been a long time since we played on a field and it showed. but we won by a very slight margin (hehe) of 5-4. by that time, it was raining cats and dogs but we didn't care. even after the first formers left the field, we continued playing for a short while in the rain, just to recapture those idyllic moments back in 1992.
the football game of old boys versus present boys commenced almost as soon as we arrived at the big school field from the prep school field. some of us 96ers put on the quad colors, hoping they wouldn't have to play (some) but they all eventually did.
it stopped raining for a bit during the old boy-present boy game, but the rain picked up again right about the time it got dark. we waited the rain out for a while, and decided to have our dinner at lembah. it was a simple affair, since we didn't want to miss the concert. a few of us left for kl though, right after dinner.
the present boys orchestra was playing when we arrived at hargreaves hall. i have to say that they were pretty impressive. we never had anything of the sort during our time, but it's good to see the college embarking on something like this. we took our seats near the back of the hall, clad in our batch t-shirt, next to the 8892 guys, who were our seniors. abang su was the bidan terjun emcee for the night but we wouldn't have thought otherwise, if he didn't say so in his blog. he even announced rizal's birthday, complete with cake, onstage to buy a bit of time for the band to prepare.
and then, the show began with honque and co. playing the riffs of metallica's harvester of sorrow. the band promptly changed gears, and played decidedly radio-friendly tunes. they also had an awesome medley that stretched over quite a few songs. the present boys came on next, with their rendition of cake's version of i will survive.
the thoroughbreds performed next, opening with abang su performing casey's seribu impian.
and then, eyva came on.
hmm, i guess i'll let the pictures talk for a while hehe.
in my defence, i can only say that eyva totally got the house going with her stage antics and infectious smile. am i right, or am i right, guys?
the concert definitely ended on a high note, with us 96ers going over the top at the back of the hall. we didn't care, and we had a jolly good time. personally, the concert was the highlight of the whole weekend. it practically made me forget about the weather and dismal turnout.
high on the concert's energy, we walked to the (railway) station to have a drink. some objected initially, saying it was too far, but the counterargument was "dulu takde hal pun nak jalan...".
even if you just joined us at the table, it was pretty easy to guess what the main topic of the discussion was: eyva. she really got us going, even half an hour after the concert. i didn't see it, but apparently the guys were pretty crazy back there, while i was up front snapping away. after much banter, we finally called it a night at around 2am.
the next morning, we woke up rather early to have breakfast at an eatery located behind the college grounds. dayat had heartily recommended the place to us. the nasi lemak was quite good, but the portion of the roti canai left a bit to be desired. we got back at around half past eight, but the rugby game started only at around nine.
it was a hard-fought game played on a very soggy field, but the old boys prevailed with a final score of 15-8. then, it was a final walk at the big school before packing up to leave.
as was usual, we decided to have one last meal at yut loy before making our separate ways. and as was usual, yut loy was packed. the nyonya even told us to go upstairs to get chairs. we only managed to get our food after an hour or so of waiting. meanwhile, i busied myself by taking pictures of the establishment.
i guess we came at the wrong time, because everybody seemed to have the same idea of having one last meal before leaving for home. we actually got our order after most of the old boys had left.
we adjourned to kl a bit after three, i think. now, i always leave kuala with a heavy heart. at least, it had been that way with the past two old boys weekend. it was more bearable this time, riding in a car with other batchmates.
as we left, i suddenly recalled a passage that i read in one of our yearbooks, which goes something along these lines:
we came in crying to leave, but we left crying to stay.
indeed, that was just how we left college ten years back. but the memories shall always remain.
here's to old boys weekend next year!
ps - i reposted the pictures, because i wasn't happy with the colors. changed the composition a bit for one or two of the pictures (19/4/06).
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| Tuesday, 11-Apr-2006 06:13 |
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used
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| Sunday, 2-Apr-2006 02:33 |
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menora
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the opening musical sequence, fuelled by intensive percussions, got me from the get go. just like how the photojournalists described it, dah masuk angin (literally, the wind/spirit has entered me). i was almost enthralled. almost, but i didn't forget the camera in my hands.
as the musical cast assembled, i noticed one thing: there were many familiar faces. they were the same faces that performed during the makyong and also during the wayang kulit. on one hand, i was amazed at how talented these people are. they were the ones playing different musical instruments, they were the ones stepping up to dance and act, and they were the ones who also became the main players in the aforementioned performances.
i could only smile and wonder just how long it took for them to master the intricacies of these traditional performing arts.
but at the same time, a realization came over me. it was the flipside of the same coin. yes, it's true that these are multitalented performers. but it's also true that the same group of people is performing these different traditional arts. and most of them are getting on in age.
where are the young ones? the ones who will carry on the torch? why aren't there many more of them?
this is definitely something to ponder. if there will be no one left to ensure the survival of these arts, will they be around much longer? tell me, dah masuk angin ke?
err, apologies for the rather haphazard presentation. kind of ran out of space to host the images on fotopage, so i have to rely on photobucket.
say what you think of the pictures, please! too much blurry shots, should put other pictures up, etc. anything so that i can learn from this set of pictures.
 
 
 
  
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| Monday, 27-Mar-2006 13:40 |
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not much to say
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a brief update, if you will. i'd like to present these pictures as graphic designs, but i think they'll get shot down as quickly as i can think about presenting them as graphic designs.
but anyone want to take a stab at guessing what the pictures are? the one of the stones is a no-brainer, of course.
hmm, somehow the red seems a little pixelated here.
anyone planning to go to the menora performance this saturday 1st april?
ps - alright, after a fair bit of guessing, the red portion of the big picture is actually the bottom part of the lecka lecka logo. the rest of the picture is just negative space, which appears dark because i metered the picture on the illuminated lecka lecka logo.
as for the orange plastic thing, it's just a close up of plastic cones stacked on top of one another (3/4/2006).
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| Sunday, 19-Mar-2006 16:06 |
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wayang kulit
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just as last week's makyong performance was the first time for me, so was the case with this wayang kulit performance. the difference this time was that i came better prepared, ie with a flashgun and a newly-purchased memory card. better prepared also in the sense that i sort of knew what to expect. at least there wouldn't be any dances.
did i fare better this time around?
you be the judge and tell me.
one thing's for sure: i really, really enjoyed myself taking these pictures. so much so, that my colleague and i (almost) totally forgot about the other event we came to klcc to capture. we kept delaying until the race was over when we finally got down there.
ps - i had so many pictures to choose from, that i wasn't sure which ones to put up. hopefully i got a good selection up (21/3/2006).
pps - as i had suspected, the side profile of the tok dalang may have been a little too dark. i've edited the picture as suggested (23/2/2006).
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| Sunday, 12-Mar-2006 16:45 |
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makyong: a learning point
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i wasn't even sure that i was going to put up these pictures. for one, they wouldn't really do justice to this traditional performance art. two, it's only going to really frustrate me. nonetheless, i've decided to go ahead because i thought it would, at least, be a learning experience for me.
i had never been to a makyong performance ever in my life, despite my two years of working in kelantan. thus, it wasn't going to be a big surprise that i wouldn't really understand what was being said by the performers, except for when the third(?) character was making his presence known by talking loudly with the second character (something to do with his oghe tino aka wife making soup for him). that tickled me quite a bit. apart from the language barrier, i didn't really know what to expect of the performance. is it a dance performance? a play where dialogue holds the main stage? a flashy display between music and dance? a spontaneous expression of art?
it turned out to be a bit of everything. and being such a dynamic performance, i was caught quite unawares of how to capture the moments well. it was quite a challenge to get the good angles, but i guess i was too conscious about obstructing the view of the audience (in hindsight, maybe they wouldn't have really mind). i had also declined my father's offer of the use of his flashgun, and... well, i guess the pictures will tell you of that fact.
i'm suddenly reminded of this conversation i had with a certain mr syed imran just a few hours ago. he had recounted how his first wedding shoot went. it certainly didn't help that the inside of the location was dark. seeing that he was facing a fair bit of difficulty, the professional photographer on hand was kind enough to ask him how he was doing. after confessing his frustration, the pro was gracious enough to tweak his camera, and lo and behold, all his pictures turned out fine.
i wish there was someone like that during the performance to give me some pointers, so that i would be able to capture the moments in a more directed manner.
i didn't, so i guess i'll have to ask my kind visitors to give me feedback. brutal pun takpe, janji dapat belajar dari kesilapan.
ps - sorry if i'm too wordy this time around, but i'm sure there are others who would feel the same way.
pps - for those who're interested, the galeri petronas (third floor, suria klcc) will be having a wayang kulit performance on the 18th of march, a menora performance on the 1st of april, a dikir barat performance on the 15th of april, and a main puteri demonstration on the 29th of april. all of these will be staged between 530 to 630pm. i think i will be there for most, if not all, of these shows. on the 22nd of march, there will be a seminar by the photojournalists who documented these traditions in their native kelantan, also at galeri petronas between 530 to 630pm. admission is free. do check out the photo gallery as well.
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| Sunday, 5-Mar-2006 16:18 |
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fabrics
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this particular idea had been in my mind since i rediscovered my powershot a80. most of the pictures here were taken with that camera, and a few others with the d50. and here is my very first montage. woohoo! as usual, took me quite a while to come up with something as simple as this, seeing that i'm so stupid with photoshop hehe.
anyways, it's quite interesting to note that there are just so many different types of fabrics that we use in our everyday life, with different types of textures. then, there's also embroidery on the fabric itself, lending further interest. of course, when you mention the word fabric, you're bound to think of clothes. but what about the use of fabric for upholstery? for decoration? for toys?
for safety?
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caucincau.
Hee.. its ok. Thank you though.
