the story begins

http://stillwahdi.blogspot.com (my new blog)

2009-05-19T16:34:00.001+08:00

http://stillwahdi.blogspot.com

The Story Has Ended.

2009-03-21T21:59:00.004+08:00

The Story Begins has ended!, with a happy ending!
Feel free to visit my new blog at :
http://stillwahdi.blogspot.com

Today is Music Saturday. I have chosen Taylor Swift for this week.
Yeah, her music style is girlish, but that's what I find interesting. And I like her lyrics as well.

Have a nice weekend everyone!

Orang Asli

2009-03-13T12:22:00.003+08:00

I managed to visit an Orang Asli (aborigine) village on my way back from Cameron Highlands. And what can I say, most of them were very shy, but very down-to-earth. It seems hard to live in the jungle for us, but maybe not so to them. Most of them have motorbikes at home nowadays, even the latest mobile phones! But how sad, not all of them have access to clean pipe water nor electricity...

This is the view from the main road, leading to their settlement.

The youths of the Orang Asli community.

And this is their house...

Suka tgk bag budak nih..bag sekolah kot?

I suruh dia pose ngan bag tu :)

They spend their evenings selling jungle produce and handicrafts at their little kiosks.

Just wondering, why do the kids love clinging to the kiosk pillar?
Generasi ni dah gayat kot? Hehehehe...

Cameron Highlands = Strawberry

2009-02-22T13:33:00.001+08:00

It's not Cameron Highlands, without strawberries, right? And it's not worth the trip, if we hadn't bought any strawberry stuff there, right? Strawberry lover or not, you've got to admit strawberries up there are really fresh and cheap! And believe it or not, it is a bigger Cameron Highlands icon than tea.

En Arip had always maintained that strawberry is girly. He believes strawberry and cherry are fruits belonging to the feminine realm, and a guy would risk his masculinity by eating strawberry or cherry. Really meh?

Like I care! I eat any fruits, and I have a special liking for stawberries! I had strawberries day and night while up there... Hehehe...

Strawberry farm...u can pluck your own strawberry at an affordable price. Which is MYR20 perkilogram.

It's really worth it to pluck them yourself, instead of buying those ready packed ones.

I noticed that only this stall sells fat strawberries... 2 cases for MYR10. cheap!

Special original-recipe Snack Plate set from KFC Cameron Highlands. No! I was just joking... Hehehe... Actually, the KFC at Cameron Highlands should serve their chicken like this right? Don't u think so?

Self-pluck tomato. MYR6 perkilogram.

Wine grapes

And last but not least, aksi jakun di ladang anggur plak, haha
I had planned to visit a local avocado farm, but had to cancel it last minute.

Cameron Highlands - Morning walk

2009-02-19T10:58:00.007+08:00

Fraser's Hill is now undergoing a massive reconstruction. It is not worth your effort and time to go up there at this moment... On a previous trip, I had a really quality weekend up there.

We made a final decision to go to Cameron Highlands last Saturday noon, since I was in the mood to spend my weekend overnighting somewhere chilling, and to have good hawker food in the cold night. And the whole week prior to that, En Arip had been longing for some great hot tea and scones at the Boh tea plantation ;)

I'll upload some pictures from Fraser's Hill later, just to be fair... although it was a disappointing trip. LOL

The following morning, we left the hotel room as early as 7.30 am. The plan was to visit a vegetable farm, and to have some tea at the tea plantation. So, we decided to go to the Boh tea plantation at Tanah Rata. We had also gone to the Boh plantation at Sungai Palas later in the afternoon, but that is another story.

We parked the car at a few stops, and started walking... What a lovely morning to enjoy the fresh air and view!

We walked across a mint farm.. OMG! Refreshing scenery and fresh (Colgate?) smell!

This is Abu, a friendly Bangladeshi guy who has been working at this farm the past two years.

Daun bawang (spring onion) plantation...

An old taxi. I simply luv to capture shots of abandoned cars... To me, they make very interesting subject matters. Btw this pic was taken by En Arip.

As usual, En Arip prefers to walk... leaving me to drive alone...

Nice breakfast with a great view...

En Arip finally tucking in a totally blissful breakfast, as he had wanted all week long!

We shared our breakfast with some birds too ;)

I want that house! LOL

Budding tea leaves...

Lovely little brook making its way through the tea bushes...

And finally, aksi jakun hehehe

I'm selling my bike

2009-02-11T09:34:00.003+08:00

I'm selling my Honda Shadow, since I had only used it once last year. To make good use of it, I've decided to sell it for RM15K. Anyone interested?

Busy

2009-02-09T22:30:00.002+08:00

Penat. Baru balik dari Muar & Melaka..soon lah blog ni diselaraskan sebaiknya k?

Menurut apek penjual, rambut patung ni diperbuat dari rambut manusia asli, patung ni antik berkurun lamanya... kalau malam2 patung ni mesti melompat-lompat dan kuar suara menangis. * Hehe part malam2 melopat dan menangis tu saja aku tokok tambah, kasi elemen seram, eh tak seram ke?

40 Hari.

2009-01-28T03:47:00.006+08:00

Sunset di sungai Muar...*itu bukan saya bersama anak buah, itu apek.

Masih tak terlewat rasanya membuat ucapan. Oh, ini "manis" si anak kucing milik anak buah yang dikutip dari kedai membaiki kereta.

p/s : Sedang ada mood menaip dalam Bahasa Melayu.

My Cookbook!

2009-01-19T13:03:00.001+08:00

I'm so glad to announce this... I have been doing photography as a hobby and when not doing that, I cook for fun.

I have never thought about producing my own cookbook! But from being just a hobby and for fun, it slowly brought about an interest to cook healthy food! I practised and perfected my recipes, and most people actually enjoyed my cooking! They said that my food has been delicious! ;)

Over time, I have gathered a lot of recipes in my collection, but they have not been uploaded to my blog before. And now, in collabration with a book writer, let me present... My own cook book! Get your copy sometime June 2009. It can be yours for just RM29.90 each.

This will be your handy companion in the kitchen, if you want simple, no fuss cooking!

Kumquat

2009-01-16T00:27:00.000+08:00

After dinner last night, bought some miniature oranges and a Special Edition Starbucks Chinese New Year mug. En Arip bought a similar mug as well. Planned to bake something this weekend, using these kumquats as its main ingredient or as garnishing, at least... hmmm... I'm still not so sure about that yet...

Oh, I am so happy to get back in touch with some former classmates, former lecturers, people I knew before, and some old friends as well as making some new ones. Not forgetting, starting new friendships with silent readers of this blog!

Yeah, I am a late-bloomer in FaceBook! I am most happy to be reunited with all my friends from UiTM. But some of them said that I appear fatter now! WHAT?? ME, fat??
OK, maybe I have gained few pounds here and there... :P

Yeah... I can't deny that anymore, by looking at some pics taken in 2002 during my UiTM days... OMG! Now I have to agree... I AM FAT! T_T

My face used to be longish, but it's roundish *speechless. Thanks semut, for posting this pic.

Peach Tartelette, Painting & My Facebook Account!

2009-01-10T23:27:00.005+08:00

I did my spring cleaning the whole day today! I did a lot of things, so it can be considered a very productive day! ;) Anyway, I baked some sweet & healthy tartelette (pie). I had planned to bake green grapes tartelette but end up with peach tartelette instead!

It doesn't take long to bake the tartelettes. In just 10 minutes, my tartalettes were ready, and with a cup of fresh-ground coffee, what a great way to start my day!

To bake the peach tartellete, all u need is, cut up a whole ripe peach. One peach is needed, to bake each tartelette... then, wash some groundnuts, and roast them with no oil added.

While ur goundnuts are still hot, crush them slowly using a rolling pin.

Flatten a slice of wholemeal bread, and cut it into halves... Spread the 1st half with butter and honey . Put the other slice on it... and spread it with some honey and arrange ur cut peach. Sprinkle with sunflower seeds and ground groundnuts. Finish by spreading honey on top of them. Now they are ready to be baked!

Set your oven to 190 degrees. Bake until the whole kitchen smells sweet by the honey and peach. It should take approximately 6-8 minutes... And here is the result! :

While having my tartalette, I noticed that my canvas on the entrance garden wall needs some refreshing... I still love this canvas frame; I bought the polka dot canvas from IKEA some two years ago and framed in on a timber frame.

Before.

After. I painted a huge shilouette of a dragonfly on it! Ermm... what do u think? :P

Owh by the way, I can no longer stand be asked the same question, "Why u don't have a Facebook account?" O.k... I had just registered myself a while ago! So finally, here is my Facebook profile!

So people, let's get in touch!

Simple, easy & definitely delicious

2009-01-04T01:07:00.003+08:00

Curry mee (Curry noodle) is one of my favourite dishes. But to get the best curry mee is not easy at all... I still have not found any eatery which sells the best curry me in town. Some said those from a well-known famous kopitiam (coffee shop) is the best, but I find that it was still below expectation! Any new recommendation?

I had tried the one from a foodcourt in USJ6, recommended by someone last nite but still... I luv my mum's recipe the best! And today, I somehow got some time to cook my favourite cockles curry mee! Obviously, this is my mum's own recipe!

I think the key to good, delicious curry mee are three important things: First, use the good old lesung batu (mortar and pestle) to prepare the curry paste. All you need is, pound some shallots, garlic, curry powder, salt and chilli giling (chilli puree) in the lesung batu. Forget the modern day blender! Blender takes too much texture away, and what is left?

The second key item is, to use some fresh coconut milk! Get some thick and thin coconut milk from a whole coconut.

The third key thing is, using the right garnishing.

O.k now, heat up some cooking oil. Saute the chilli paste till a full aroma is developed. In the mean time u can fry your brinjal by the side. When the paste is really fragant, add water and thin coconut milk till it comes to a boil, and throw in a cube of chicken stock. Then, add the thick coconut milk, and reduce the flame to let it boil. Thereon, put out the flame, put in the deshelled cockles, fried tofu and curry leaf. Leave it for about five minutes. And your cockles curry is now ready!

For the garnishing, I personally find that boiled cabbage and long beans, fried brinjals, sliced chilli, and some mint leaves, are enough to make the curry mee fabulous!

It really put me off when they put fake sauteed onion, hard boiled egg and spring onion in my curry me. Why can't they just stick to the old, proven style?

And this is what I want when I order a curry mee - a simple yet delicious curry mee! Since I was too excited to enjoy my curry mee, I had actually forgotten to put the mint leaves! I just realised that on my 2nd helping ;)

Soothing

2009-01-02T08:52:00.003+08:00

*pic taken this morning

I don't know about u guys, but when I look at the number "2009" it looks soothing... yeah I feel it that way... It's not just soothing; at the same time, it looks clean, elegant, smooth... what else? Ermm... it sounds delicious too!

What do u see in that number? ;)

Anyway, to all my blog readers, I wish u a happy new year! This is the reality of life, it might be a good year ahead for some, but a disaster for others... Let's face any possibilities with trust in God.

A & A

2008-12-30T11:17:00.003+08:00

Aiman (left) and Afif... they had a small fight when I brought them to our favourite kopitiam in Muar.

Afif, hiding under the table after the fight.

It started when Afif kept doing the horn sign when I was taking Aiman's pictures. Aiman got angry and they started pinching each other.

Afif continued sulking... But when I told them both that if they would finish their ice cream in 10 minutes, I will buy them some extra PSP CDs each. Didn't take much to cheer them up!

But they couldn't finish their ice cream, so they ended up with just one new CD each ;)

No, he didn't intentionally choose to sit under that sign... but somehow, the "crown" fits... Did he buy that ECM?

After the cooling ice cream, coffee and breakfast, we headed off to a special place... a place I didn't have the heart to go to, but my heart longs to visit... A place we all will one day, call home... Next entry, ok?

Ah Pek & Nyonya

2008-12-24T07:37:00.000+08:00

*Giant X'mas tree standing proud at Pavilion's main entrance

Still on the story of what happened at Pavillion last weekend... I saw an old Chinese couple standing at the foot of the giant X'mas tree at the entrance. This happened just moments before I left Pavilion. The wife needed two walking sticks to walk, and the hubby helped her with her hand bag. Both looked up the massive X'mas tree peak, probably in awe of something they had never experienced in their long-gone youth.

Moments later, the wife displayed a tired and unhappy look, and her hubby tried to cheer her up... Hubby made some funny gestrures to make her happy, but still, she looked unmoved... Undefeated, he didn't stop but continued trying to make her happy, by rubbing her back and saying something in Cantonese. Still, the wife remained silent and unconvinced... I, on the other hand, continued to observe them through my lens...

Probably with a tinge of frustration, the man left his wife, and walked ahead for a few meters... which made the wife looked worried and scared. She retaliated, and said something really loud. Hubby made a sudden turn, back to his wife and immediately snapped a candid shot of her on his mobile phone. This took his wife by surprised, and she looked really shocked for a split second, but ended up laughing... And both continued walking on, with big smiles which light up my heart... Ahh... Such simplicity... such bond!

The Loaf , I Love...

2008-12-22T08:06:00.002+08:00

It's has been a week since dad passed away... It has been quite tough, going through everyday knowing that he's no longer around... I feel the emptiness, but on the other hand life must go on. I can just pray as much as I could everyday, for arwah...

I went to Pavilion yesterday evening to have dinner. And later in the evening, had dessert at The Loaf cafe while waiting for Maghrib prayer... The sky was gloomy and from time to time, wets the land beneath... slowly, the sky turns dark...what a beautiful scenery from the cafe terrace, more so when each of its corners was glittering with Xmas lights and decoration... I just love every moment I spent at the cafe!

Look at the sky tone in the back...

Nice colours, rite?

I had my favourite strawberry danish and cocounut bread. The coconut taste was almost exactly like our traditional kuih kelapa, but I forgot what it was called LOL. OK, lets continue with the pictures ;)

Luv this...

This one too...

Across the road...

Finally, the sky went completely dark...

What a great scenery at The Loaf... I really miss these momments...

Below are the pictures taken just before we had dinner... and to me personally, Pavilion's X'mas decoration last year was way better compared to this year's... And lucky thing they re-cycled last year's giant X'mas carolling tree at the main entrance - at least that was their saving grace!

This is my favourite picture!

Ho! Ho! Ho! The first Santa I saw this season...

Capturing a self potrait ;)

Me in a ball...

New Cat

2008-12-18T09:50:00.001+08:00

Today is the third anniversary of the day I sold my lovely Persians, Grizabella and Sir Duke, to a lovely couple from Hartamas. I have lost contact with them, so I have no updates about Grizabella and Sir Duke. I hope they are doing well now...

Grizabella (female)- Bought her from a pet shop in Taipan USJ, the one facing Watson... They always offer beautiful cats for sale. If u are looking for majestic-looking cats, this shop is your solution!

Sir Duke (male)- Bought him from Ziana Zain's neighbour at Kayangan Heights, Shah Alam.

Anyway, after long time, I've decided to have a pet cat again. But this time, I'm not looking for long hair and flat face cats anymore. NOOOOOO..... I just don't have the time for the tedious daily grooming tasks - cleaning the tear stains, brushing their long fur, etc. ... That's the reason why I had sold Grizabella and Sir Duke.

Was thinking to get a British short hair from the pet shop, but I haven't seen any worthy ones at the moment... If u guys have a domestic kitten up for adoption, that will be cool! *wink*

No more stray cats from the streets. I had a bad experience where my other cats died due to FIV+ infection from the stray cat I brought home..

So, if u have a healthy kitten that can be adopted, let me know. If possible, I prefer it in solid black or blue colour... alamak memilih lah pulak eh?

Al-Fatihah...

2008-12-16T10:34:00.004+08:00

As some of u might already know that my beloved dad has just passed away last Saturday, 13 December 2008, just one day after my elder sister's birthday... I have come to terms with it, to the best I can... although this happens to be the most difficult chapter in my life...

Thanks to Allah for lending us the best dad...

Thanks to Wakjaman and Hazman for the announcement on my blog, as I couldn't go online the past few days... And thanks to those who made special blog entries about it. Also, not forgetting everyone who offered us words of comfort and condolences...

P/s: I have received a lot of sample pictures to qualify for the free photoshoot session. Thnx to those who sent me their interesting pictures, and for showing ur interest... Offer is still open, and I will fulfil my promise when I am ready for the photoshoot.

I Pray On...

2008-12-12T21:36:00.007+08:00

It has been one whole week since dad was placed in the ICU/CCU... Thanks once again for your prayers and words of comfort; and sorry for not being able to reply to all your messages. Dad showed some positive reactions yesterday, which gave us all that very glimmer hope, if at all... But just as he got his first stroke attack last week, he got his second attack this morning at 6 AM... His condition became very critical, even at this moment... I pray to God, hoping for the best. But I will accept any outcome or possibilities...

I Love you, Dad...

Pray for us, please...

2008-12-09T21:13:00.003+08:00

I'm still at the specialist centre to take care of my dad. Dad has been warded in ICU since last Friday. Not really celebrating the past Aidiladha, hope it's not too late to wish you "Selamat Aidiladha".

Thanks to those who wished us well. Keep praying for us.

Free photography session!

2008-12-03T11:38:00.008+08:00

Hey guys, as u already know, I had always featured En. Arip (pic above) as the subject of my potrait photography.

So I'm now looking for new faces for free outdoor photography! And those selected will be photographed by me! If u think u have strong features, act cool, looking exotic, or even fierce :P, feel free to email me your pictures (to : wahdi_usj@yahoo.com)

Anyway, regarding the wedding pictures in my previous entry, I don't have the owners' permission to upload onto my blog for public viewing. This has been requested by the couple... sorry for that, k?

Kuala Pilah

2008-11-30T22:20:00.001+08:00

Pegi last minute 'wedding assignment' kat Kuala Pilah petang tadi...

Memula Traffic clear dan smooth...

Trafik kemudian sangatlah teruk sebab ikut jalan kecik mengekori lori besar ,
ditambah sesat2... so snap2 lah dalam kereta huhu

Akhirnya selamat sampai walaupun agak lewat...

Alunan tradisional yang melegakan setibanya di rumah pengantin...

More pictures soon!

Coconut Roundies Tree

2008-11-26T14:16:00.006+08:00

Someone really adored my coconut roundies in the previous entry ;)
No worries, I'll bake some for u ! And I had just sketched the design for my coconut roundies tree, and I plan to stick it in a pot. So here is my sketch of the coconut roundie trees!

So which one is ur flavour,dear?

Red Coconut Roundies

2008-11-23T21:12:00.005+08:00

Actually i plan nak buat macarons, as gift utk kawan blogger i , Pinky~
Since putih telur yg kena peram dulu kat fridge tu mcm tak berapa meyakinkan,
so i tukar la ke plan B, jadikan Coconut Sandwich berinti maple Syrup+caramel dan marshmallow... kaler merah some more ;)

Tak dapat buat macarons, buat ala macarons pun jadilah kan?:)
amacam sedap tak sapa yg rasa sandwich kelapa malam tu? hehe

Pinky jemput i ngan En Arip dtg ke majlis makan2 satay yg dia anjuran malam sabtu, malam setibanya dia dr NZ, wah tak letih ke kak? ;)
Tapi En. Arip tak dpt dtg, so i dtg alone..tu pun dah lewat dan tak pakai warna merah, warna tema malam tu..tapi i pakai tight boxer merah o.k! :P

So ni kira 1st time i jumpa kak pinky dan blogger yang lain malam tu.mmg fun!
Dan inilah hasil coconut sandwich yg i namakan as Red Coconut Roundies!

I suka bila inti tu beku jadi mcm effect meleleh~

Red Coconut Roundies...mmmm

2008-11-22T20:48:00.003+08:00

Mmmmmm~~~ I baked something today... and now, the whole house smells of coconut!
Will serve u guys tomorrow! ;)
have a nice weekend...

' Main Air '

2008-11-18T11:41:00.010+08:00

Last Sunday, had breakfast at Sri Hartamas, thnx Che Mie, for the breakfast!
And I can't wait to see the result of the project En. Arip and Che Mie are working on.

We later went to a nearby Sbux; and I just got carried away watching some kids playing with the water feature happily... Brought back nice childhood memories of playing in the rain... so seronok...

I just luv the kid's gleeful expression below:

Happily running...

Ready for the big gush!

ahahahaha!

How I wish I could go back to my zaman kanak2 now!!

I bought this from Sbux...oh, so cute!

Weekend = Home cooking

2008-11-15T23:57:00.012+08:00

I'm no loger a fashionista. I find shopping no longer fun... Nowadays, I only go shopping if I am in the mood. On the other hand, I am now addicted to cooking, and groccery shopping itself is half the fun!

That's why I can't wait for it to be a weekend - so that I get to cook something, and photographing it, too ;)

I cooked Hoe See poridge for lunch today. Hoe See is dried oyster. I'm not a wannabe chef (LOL!) but trust me, I cook my own recipes with passion and love. I'm already thinking of what to cook for tomorrow, and in doing that, am also dreaming of writing my own cook book... can ah?

Must have ALL the necessary ingredients.

Favourite salted eggs!

Favourite garnishing: salted carrot and spring onion...

My porridge style, I don't like putting fried onion. So I had boiled whole shallots until they are tender, along with my porridge...

Ready to eat! Final garnishing: fried transparent vermicelli, or 'soo hoon'

Simply delicious!

Avocado

2008-11-12T07:12:00.000+08:00

We have heard a lot about the benefits of putting avocado in our dietary habit. Known as the first fruit a baby can eat, it balances sugar level in human blood, burning belly fat, and it does much more! So I've been taking avocado everyday since a month ago, and I can see a lot differences now. And that's just by putting avocado in my sandwiches every morning. I also put some on my face, and the result surprises me too! What a fabulous complexion! *matilah

Below are the avocados - my avocado supply for a week...

I love home-cooked food !

2008-11-10T07:12:00.003+08:00

Had time to cooked for lunch today. I just wish that I have time everyday to prepare my meals at home. I baked some potatoes, turkey drumsticks and some onions... That, were enough for my lunch... since I'm still on my new diet! I eat in small portions, 5 times a day... and along with other routines, I've lost 3kgs so far!

Below are the pics of what I cooked for lunch today. Of course, I had prepared everything for two people.

Simple ingredients...

Half way through the cooking...

Ready to eat...

Yummy! Forgot to snap the drumsticks before we ate them ;)

New Sbux Bearista Bears

2008-11-05T06:58:00.001+08:00

Before that, give me a hug, guys!!! :P Sorry for not updating my blog these past few days, and kept u waiting :P

I've been so busy this week and hopefully, by the end of this week, I wouldn't be as busy... Picture above was taken during yesterday's photoshoot for some office assignment.

More pictures and proper update soon, ok? To all Starbux Bearista Bear collectors, take note! Starbux had just released their X'mas bears a while ago! I got mine last nite. So did En Arip... For more details, feel free to visit http://www.kopimalaysia.com/.

Speechless!

El-Cheapo Haircut

2008-10-30T07:45:00.002+08:00

From left : En. Arip, Aiman and Afif Iman

We celebrated En Arip's birthday again last night, as we did on Tuesday night. Afif and Aiman are now frappucino lovers! Had a great time with them at Sbux Pahlawan Mall Malacca. Talking about Aiman, I am amazed by how detailed and well organized he is nowadays. He places all his stuff orderly in boxes and manually labels them. And he told me he's gonna open his own Pokemon library soon! He showed me the progress, and for an 8-year old, I'm proud of what he has done!

His own writing on the "library" door.

And he put up another sign in the "library". Ahaha... that is really cute, although there's a spelling error. But it's the effort that matters. And he did replace the sign after we had corrected it.

Meanwhile, I had my mohawk hair cut at a Malay barber in Malacca. Hair cut and shoulder massage cost me only RM6!!! En Arip had his too, at a slightly higher price. He has less hair, but definitely longer ones!

I just luv my new hair cut ;) * sejak diet baru i dah turun 2 kilo dlm 2 minggu~ :P

It's Someone's Birthday Today!

2008-10-29T11:38:00.005+08:00

Burn

2008-10-26T00:03:00.005+08:00

I'm now at my parents' house... since the house is in a peacefully quiet area, I find lazing around a true bliss!

Anyway I was fooling around, exploring the camera while lazing around this morning. I usually set my camera up to 400 ISO maximum, never going beyond that. And this time around, I had set it to 1600 ISO, 3.5f and 1/20 to get a burn effect. Then I desaturate the images in Photoshop. Hera are the results ;

Took these shots this morning...

Such a beautiful blend of colours

Self Portrait : Timun

2008-10-23T19:57:00.008+08:00

This is what can happen when you bring a DSLR too closed to the kitchen table...

Congrats!

2008-10-21T21:54:00.003+08:00

It has been a busy day today... I took half a day's leave to attend my younger brother's convocation at UPM Serdang. I stood in for my dad to accompany mum, since his health condition doesn't allow him much mobility. Congrats again, to my younger brother who has just completed his Bachelor's Degree (Hons) in Industrial Chemistry. He is pursuing his Masters at the same University.

Mum with my younger brother. I forced mum to pose with the 'jubah' (graduation cloak/cape)... And I too, wanted to test the UPM 'jubah'... LOL

KopiMalaysia is Back!

2008-10-20T00:55:00.004+08:00

Finally, En. Arip's coffee blog is back! After settling the dispute over the domain name, now KopiMalaysia is officially back! Feel free to visit www.kopimalaysia.com!

Anyway, I went to the Chow Kit market on a photography assignment. So I took the opportunity to snap some pics for my personal collection, too ;) Below are my favourite pictures of the day...

This aunty was digging for some rotten vegetables from a stinky heap of rubbish at the market. But looking at her clothes, I'm sure she was an Indonesian. I did't feel sad looking at her, since she was wearing a well-ironed baju kurung. LOL.

Peeping on Nature... ;)

2008-10-16T00:26:00.005+08:00

These pictures below were taken on the same day, at the same location where i shot the flies making love he he he

Doesn't he look like a surveliece warrior?

lalat taik?

Such a complex and delicate creature, only the Almighty can create...

Luv it black spots...

A bug's playground...

Raya 2008 - Company pot luck

2008-10-13T22:14:00.004+08:00

We had a small gethering at the office today, a Hari Raya pot luck! What a beautiful day, as almost everyone wore their best baju raya and brought home-cooked grubs. The food was absoulutely delicious!

And below are some pics to remember the day by.

We are from the same former company. We have all now reunited at this new company "Selamat Hari Raya to all ex-MMSC staff" ahaks~
From left ; Alid, Yazid, Wan and me

Faces of the day;

Makan time! Thnx for the yummylicious food, guys!

Weekend story

2008-10-13T10:46:00.005+08:00

*tilam yg paling sesuai!

Accompanied En. Arip shopping yesterday. Unlike him, I have no problem sleeping on any surface. I can easily fall asleep as I close my eyes. Give me 30 seconds, max ;). But poor En Arip... he has trouble sleeping.

So I accompanied him to look for his new mattress yesterday. He finally found the right type but he does not have the right budget at the momment. MYR 26k for a mattress? That's almost like buying a small car, isn't it? But he will still work hard to get it *PITAM

Before that, we had breakfast at Starbucks. I haven't tried their lastest breakfast meal,
so I thought, why not? Presenting :

Look at this pic! They look damn yummylicious, don't they?

And this was what I ate?

Errr... speechless!!! But luckily, they actually taste rather good!!! especially the mushroom , tomato and cheese one...

And later on, we had lunch at IKEA. Poor En Arip accidentally chopped off his thumb!!!

Aahaha!!! It was actually the tip of the chicken sausage which looked like a human thumb. Kan?

Raya 2008 : Cha- lus

2008-10-10T07:45:00.001+08:00

I was walking to the nearby surau at my auntie's house in Sagil, Johore, a lovely village located at the foot of Gunung Ledang when I bumped into this little boy with a panic face by the road.

Close up view, from the same pic below. Did he look fierce?

I asked him what was wrong. He answered: My bike "cha-lus..."

OMG I used that very word when I was a kid! And it has been almost 20 years I have not heard the word. Cha-lus is the word used by Javanese kids, meaning the bike's chain thas gotten dislocated.

Raya 2008 - part one

2008-10-09T07:49:00.001+08:00

Some pics taken during this Raya:

Raya morning, after I got home from solat Aidilfitri. These kids were all dressed up, ready for the traditional family session of 'Maaf-maafan'. They happily obliged when I asked them to give me this pose!

Later on, we visited our uncle's house nearby. And baby Wafri was so eager, since he can already walk. Pic taken as we left our Pak Long's House. *owh his ears are exacly like mine.

On our way home from Pak Long's house... mmg indah beraya di desa...

Someone was crying as we reached home ;)

I wore my pink baju Melayu on the 1st day of Hari Raya, since everone said my new baju Melayu was so transparent, and my nipples were clearly visible! *PITAM! On the 2nd day, the whole kampung did the tradiional marhaban, a communal visitation.

The marhaban group that came to my parents' house... And that's just the males! Our kampung is rather huge, ok!

En Arip on the 2nd day of Hari Raya

After the marhaban, we went to Muar town to print some pictures...

Took these pictures below when I got home from town:

Wild ginger flower

Oooo... ada yg tengah buat anak di pagi raya!!! Hehehehe...

Today is my birthday!

2008-10-07T18:24:00.001+08:00

Today is my 28th birthday and I'm celebrating it on my couch in the living room! I have been down with a fever since last nite, and after seeing the doctor, I was given one day medical leave for today... so I hope I will be better later tonite...hopefully...

Since everyone is still in raya mood, I will share some raya pictures in the next entry... Dad has not been well since last year, so it has been quite an emotional difference this hari raya. But it was still a great family get-together as usual!

Before I forget, here is the recipe for my chocolate pretzels as promised before, and I hope u guys will give it a try!!!

The ingredients :

The steps:

And this hari raya, I had placed all my cookies in Sbux coffee jars. En Arip bought them,(6 in total) during our Sydney trip last May. Nice isn't it? And each jar was only AUD9!!

Selamat Hari Raya!

Colours & Cookies

2008-09-28T05:35:00.001+08:00

I've promised to upload the recipe for my chocolate pretzels, right? I'll do that in the next entry, k? ;)

And yesterday, I managed to bake one more type of cookies for Hari Raya. This time, I had chosen "colouful" as the theme. Enjoy!

A Warm Gesture

2008-09-26T12:37:00.000+08:00

Got this Hari Raya card from the neighbourhood Starbucks... Thanks so much! And this is the first Hari raya card I have received this year, while the rest are e-cards... I still prefer this conventional way sending of greeting cards. To me, this is more meaningful, as e-cards are just an excuse for cutting cost, time and being lazy. The effect is still not the same, don't you think so?

12-hour cookies

2008-09-23T11:30:00.001+08:00

Malim, Rich, Kasih, Ecah and I have decided on a Hari Raya assignment just for fun! We decided to bake two Hari Raya cookies each, and upload all the pics on Monday. But I had failed to meet the deadline! Ada denda kah? *matila

U know what, I've spent 12 hours on Sunday to finish the cookies below. OMG since i baked the cookies with sticks on them, I have actually limited the space in my oven . So, I had to do multiple batches, each batch limited to only 7 cookies!. Another few extra hours to make sure the icing sets properly, and then, the wrapping process, too.

So I am uploading one type of the cookies first. The rest is coming soon, can ah? So, let the pictures tell the story. Enjoy!

Sahur

2008-09-21T00:59:00.000+08:00

Just cooked this for "sahur" this morning. Rajin masak tgh malam mcm ni sbb perut dah macam tak betul sejak asyik makan luar. Selamat berpuasa!

*pic taken by En. Arip, using his compact camera Olympus u810.

Starbucks Bearista Bears!

2008-09-18T09:13:00.008+08:00

Starbucks has just released their latest Bearista bears for Halloween. I managed to grab mine last nite after terawih, so did En Arip. As I've said before, I don't like teddy bears. But in this case, I collect Starbucks' Bearistas as a minor hobby ;)

Presenting the latest bears :

Cute!!

This orange one is my favourite!

This pic just got in from En Arip via e-mail. His American colleague just got back from a trip home to LA, and bought him this cute LA Bearista Bear! Check out those striped shoes! Paul Smith yer! tomei~~

Lately, I luv Starbucks' Marble Cheese cake - it tastes fabulous! Compared to the cheese cake at SR, nah... their's too sourish.

As promised to Malim, Rich, Kasih and Ecah, here are my latest pics with my new hair cut ;) Pics taken 2 days ago at Sunway Pyramid via En Arip's compact camera.

hahahah habislah jadi lanun ketot!

Promised Recipe.

2008-09-17T10:53:00.004+08:00

Dah banyak kali kan i ckp 'later i share' resepi yg u guys mintak tu kan?
tapi takde juga kan? mesti korang kata kedekut hahaha
btw bukan kedekut cuma tak sempat nak wat entry tu. Anyway ini dia resepi yg dijanjikan.

Szechuan Soup ala Wahdi :P

Ingredients:
1 cake tofu (fresh, kalau boleh)

2 ounces beef
Marinade:
1 teaspoon soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
1 teaspoon cornstarch

Other:

3 - 4 Chinese dried black mushrooms or fresh mushrooms
(kalau yg kering rendam dulu semalaman ye kengkawan, kalau yg fresh lap guna kain bersih yg basah shj)

1 carrot ( since i tak suka bamboo shoots )
6 cups water (or 6 cups water and 1 cup chicken broth)
1 teaspoon salt, or to taste
1 teaspoon sugar
2 tablespoons soy sauce

1 teaspoon sesame oil
1 Tbsp cornstarch dissolved in 1/4 cup water
1 egg, beaten ( i suka guna telur sikit, so ikut citarasa masing2 yer)
1 green onion, finely chopped
few drops of vinegar

White pepper to taste (no more than 1 tablespoon)

Last sekali,
20 biji cili padi ( mostly diorg pakai Hot chili oil )

Preparation :

1- Mix marinade ingredients and marinate beef for 20 minutes.

2- Bring the water to a boil. When it is boiling, add the slices carrot, mushrooms, and Stir.

3- Add the slices tofu. Bring back to a boil and add the marinated beef.
Stir in the salt, sugar, soy sauce and vinegar and sesame oil.
Test the broth and adjust the taste if desired.

4- Mix the cornstarch and water. Slowly pour the cornstarch mixture into the soup, stirring while it is being added. Let the broth come back to a boil. As soon as it is boiling, remove the broth from the stove.

5- Slowly drop in the beaten egg, (tarik tinggi2 ye biar dia jatuh mcm benang)
stirring in one direction at the same time.

6- Add the green onion, cili padi and the white pepper to taste.

Siap!!!

My Szechuan soup. Inilah hasilnya, since i suka pedas i lebihkan cili api, dan tak suka telur banyak so i kurangkan telur.

Selamat mencuba!!!

*jgn mintak resepi tapi tak cuba! :P

Chocolate Pretzel

2008-09-16T12:37:00.006+08:00

Continued baking some leftover dough that I put aside last night. If I baked caraway pretzels last year, this year I'm baking my chocolate pretzel with topping, and the size will be bigger, too.

Ready to bake! *pic main2

Baking this year is more exiting since Malim , Rich, Kasih and Ecah have decided to bake too, as our assignment, where we must bake our own recipe of Hari Raya cookies! We are also to upload the pics a week before Hari Raya!

Puasa Already Into It's Third Week!

2008-09-14T04:57:00.005+08:00

Wow, it's happening so fast! Sekejap je puasa dah dua minggu! Another 2 weeks before Hari Raya... Spent the whole day yesterday at The Curve and One Utama for a movie but ended up doing some Hari Raya Shopping... I planned to go to Jalan Tunku Abdul Rahman today to fulfil some requests from mum, and to get a feel of the coming Hari Raya..

Today is mooncake festival, celebrated by the Chinese community, and OU has lined up some live shows to mark the festival. I managed to get behind the stage, and snapped some pictures of their actors preparing for the performance... Here are some of the pictures:

Can't wait to bake some Raya biscuits this afternoon, too! :P

Have a splendid weekend, and selamat berpuasa!

Cherating Pahang

2008-09-12T22:58:00.001+08:00

Singapore

2008-09-12T05:39:00.000+08:00

Pangkor Island

2008-09-12T05:24:00.002+08:00

Day one

Day two

Day three

Sydney

2008-09-12T05:00:00.001+08:00

Gold Coast

2008-09-12T04:30:00.002+08:00

Szechuan Soup.

2008-09-11T09:11:00.005+08:00

Akhirnya petang semalam berasap gak my kitchen untuk bulan ramadhan ni.. sepanjang ramadhan ni asyik makan luar baik berbuka atau sahur...so petang semalam takde idea nak makan apa... dah boring makan luar so lepas balik kerja, terus ke kedai beli barang dan masak.

Dan inilah hasilnya, mmg puas hati bila dapat masak benda yg dah teringin dari aritu...esp. Szechuan Soup! sengaja buat cair sikit tapi extra pedas dan kurang telur...oh yummy!

My Szechuan soup...Sahur pun makan soup yg sama gak, masukan sayur dan tofu fresh kat kuah extra yummy yer ! *pics dari compact OlympusE810

p/s : Szechuan soup is reputed to be good for colds

Finally!

2008-09-09T09:06:00.008+08:00

Ha! This is the story of last weekend. I took half day's leave to sort out some personal matters, and thereon, headed back to Malacca! The moment I had been waiting for finally came, at a ramadhan bazaar... to look for my ayam percik! From brown to yellow, to pale white ayam percik - they have it all. Dah tak ngidam dah... :P

Who is this? :P

I went straight to the ayam percik stall which has all the colours! *Sedap ye ayam percik kepit buluh kedai ni...Later at night, after terawih, we went to the el-cheapo fun-fair in my parents' neigbourhood. I asked Aiman and Afif "nak tak naik carousel tu?" They said, "Ayah cakap ni fun-fair besi burok, jangan naik." PITAM.

The el-cheapo fun-fair

From En Arip's compact camera.

Afif on his last try at a ball-throwing game...

... and he won 2 cans of soft drink!...

Ngidam

2008-09-04T09:30:00.002+08:00

Juadah yg wajib dibeli kalau ke pasar ramadhan mesti Asam Laksa ngan Ayam Percik...kalau takda 2 benda ni mcm tak puas je, tapi hampa sungguh tahun ni! semua pasar ramadhan kat USJ tak jual Ayam Percik...jadi ngidam ler... petang nnt kalau tak hujan lehlah cari Ayam Percik kat tempat lain...

Gambar tahun lepas :

Ayam Percik ohhhh....

Home- made gelato

2008-09-01T13:29:00.005+08:00

For this week's assignment, Malim, Ginseng and I have decided to capture ice cream, BUT we must prepare the ice cream, too! So I've decided to make some gelato! Here's the result!

Many have asked how I managed to get lighting like in my jelly corn entry. Actually, I snapped those pics near a window which has natural light. And I had the day curtains and a white blind acting as diffuser ;) So, basically, I do most of my photography at my coffee table...

I chose papaya, as well as yellow and red watermelons for my gelato.

The process for the papaya gelato...and repeated the same process for the water melon...

But at the very last minute, I cancelled the yellow water melon... So I ended up with just papaya and red water melon gelatos. Yellow melon was only for deco... Here are the gelatos after 5 hours..

Cut fruits for deco..

here are my home made gelatos:

Spring in USJ

2008-08-31T17:38:00.002+08:00

En. Arip took these pictures below on his compact camera last Friday on his way to work. The area is near our neighbourhood. Wow! It's almost like spring time in USJ, where every road is filled with flowers from the blooming trees...

I did some Photoshop touch-up for the blurry effect ;)

Corn Jelly in glass

2008-08-28T00:23:00.003+08:00

This is what I had for breakfast yesterday. I had prepared the jelly before sleeping, and garnished it the next morning... I actually saw ginseng's entry regarding his tiramisu, and got freaking tempted by looking at his pictures, so I decided to make some homemade dessert, too! Since I was craving for corn these few days, so here it goes!

An ear of raw corn...

Bangun2 pagi bukak fridge jelly sedang menunggu...

Simple garnish..

Wanna have one?

Ida & Ihzan

2008-08-25T07:27:00.001+08:00

I would to congratulate Ida & Ihzan for their engagement last night. Phatnfierce was there to cover the whole ceremony.

Kuih Raya.

2008-08-24T11:50:00.001+08:00

Breakfast pagi Sabtu kat restoran Kelantan yang baru dibuka di USJ9. Wow banyaknya pilihan, dan bermacam kuih-muih tradisional orang Kelantan pun ada dijual.
To be honest, I memang tak penah makan kuih muih pelik-pelik orang Kelantan selama ni, sebab;
1. Tak penah sampai Kelantan.
2. Tak penah jumpa kuih-kuih ni dijual kat tempat lain.

So dari nama kuih Taek Itik sampai la kuih Jala Mas ada dijual kat kedai Kelantan ni. Dari jauh dah terbau, mesti kuih tu semua manis tahap dewa-dewa seperti selalu dibaca dan diberitahu. Sure makan sikit dah muak kot?

So I give them a try by choosing two types. Kuih Buah Tanjung, RM1.50 for 10 pieces, and kuih Jala Mas, RM3.50 per piece. OMG both tasted damn sweet! Esp. kuih Buah Tanjung... It tasted damn freaking sweet, and I assume, a bite contains 10 spoons of sugar; and the taste of egg yolks was damn strong! Wow! I can't take it man... they were just too sweet!

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Talking about kuih, remember these pictures below? I made them man! Yeah, I can bake too :P
Mum and sis are masters in traditional kuih-muih, and my specialty is modern cookies.

These three pictures below, were my three most favourite cookies, of 11 types which I made for last year's Hari Raya. Since Ramadhan is coming, I've started to design new cookies for this season. Too early? Nah... I need to experiment with it, too. So this year's cookies have more varieties, newer looks and newer ispiration.

Everyone's favourite...

The adults' favourite...

Kids' favourite...

* All 4 pictures above were taken on my Olympus compact camera e810.

Sup Tenaga

2008-08-22T09:08:00.003+08:00

lately kalau rasa weak, mesti nak minum sup ayam herba ni kat Leo's taipan USJ... i panggil sup tu, sup tenaga hehehe.

lepas minum sup tu mesti rasa tenaga bertambah dan terus segar camtu... kalau dulu gi leo's sebab suka gelato dia yg sgt yummylicious~ itu dan juga air-air yg cantik dipandang dan sedap diminum LOL, ha lately i sangat sukalah minum sup ayam dia... antara kesukaan yg terbaru kat situ, nasi goreng tomyam yg dialas daun pisang nice! Harga? affordable... since dia betul2 sebelah starbucks kat taipan tu, semakin kerap lah ke Leo's... jalan kaki je dari umah ;)

Sup tenaga
*harap maaf visual tidak memuaskan hehe Pics. ni semua En. Arip snap guna phone cam

40-140mm jer

2008-08-19T22:33:00.004+08:00

Benda paling kureng sikit masa ambik gambar ni bab tukar2 lens, nak tu kat kawasan terbuka dan terdedah habuk... so memang jaranglah nak tukar2 my lens kalau kat luar tu...pakai je mana yg dah kebetulan dah pasang kat kamera tu LOL...tapi kalau assignment ngan client, itu takleh lah malas2 tukar lens kan? ;)

Pics bawah ni semua i guna lens 40-150mm memang jarang le guna lens yang ni, Sekarang ni dok berangan nak beli satu lagi DSLR, atas alasan kalau gi shooting dah siap2 ada 2 camera terpasang dengan 2 lens berbeza,tak payah tukar2 lens... tapi jadi pokok krismas lah pulak nanti eh?, bila sekali gatung dua kamera kat badan LOL

Gambar bawah ni semua diambil 2 minggu lepas kat bandar hilir, masa tunggu En Arip gi beli barang antik, tu yg terajin tukar lens hehe

Diseberang jalan, CJ7!!!

Comeynye~~~

pakai sebelah tgn pun boleh~ LOL

I don't know why... tiap kali bulan Ramadhan mesti nak simpan beard...ni dah start malas shave huhu *matilah semua malas

P/s : baru terperasan i taip entry kali ni dalam Bahasa Melayu masa last pic
*LOL lagi

Kids' Pictures

2008-08-17T14:10:00.005+08:00

I have just completed compiling the wedding album, book and CD for Izza & Ayob. Will be able to deliver the products next week...

While at it, I stumbled upon some kids' pictures captured during the wedding reception, taken from both En Arip's and my cameras.... Oow.. I just luv thier honest expressions!

Two sides of a coin... Twins with different expressions...

Miss Purple Dress was playing hard to get... Bet she must be saying, "Whatever!!!"...

Thanks!

2008-08-14T13:20:00.005+08:00

Went to Putrajaya after office yesterday to meet Lieen, and after that, dropped by KLCC to collect a wedding album fo my client.

Met Lieen at Putrajaya to collect some gifts which were directy sent from the States, but ordered from Aussieland, wahhh !
Thanks to Malim for the Coach card lanyards, and Nekrok for the Hawaiian Kona coffee!!! And not forgeting Lieen, too! Thnx guys!

Busy

2008-08-13T14:44:00.001+08:00

Busynya lately sampai tak sempat nak update, later lah guys i update, ni Gambar masa malam wedding aritu ;) *bkn wedding den yer

Mission Accomplished!

2008-08-09T22:52:00.004+08:00

PhatnFierce has just completed its first ever wedding assignment today - we had been hired to cover the whole wedding of Izza and Ayob. Congrats to this pair of newly-weds from us at Phat&fierce! Will share more pics soon!

Behind the scene. On location at Izza's wedding

Bayang

2008-08-07T12:18:00.002+08:00

Last Tuesday night, after having my daily dose caffine at starbucks KLCC, I went snapping the reflections of the KLCC twin towers off its park fountain.

Before that, En Arip and I had gone to Pavilion to get a particular book that is only distrubuted by Times, but they were closed for stock-taking that day. Just after Maghrib there, we decided to try the Times outlet in KLCC. OMG, how long have we not gone to KLCC? Times at KLCC has been replaced by Toys 'R' Us...
huhuhu... Ever since I had lost interest in shopping, I had seldom visited local malls ;)

I read Hotmama's recent entry and spotted a coffee book in the entry's last pic. So I was also looking for the same book, too and luckily, it was still available at Kinokuniya! ;) What a great book! I had just read the first few pages yesterday; and En Arip bought some other books on coffee, too. I borrowed one this morning, entitled 'God in a Cup'. *aiyoo tajuk kemain.

From gravity's point of view...

Magical, majestic marvel... Malaysia's pride and joy...

Me :P

Picnic

2008-08-06T07:56:00.006+08:00

I had actually gone to Sg Besar for the pre-wedding photography session of PhatnFierce's 3rd client. Sorry, no photography samples, as requested by my client ;) And this weekend, I'm going to shoot the wedding ceremony of my next client in Johore.

Btw, as promised in my previous entry, here are the items that we had used as props for my client's shoot. So the items were: boiled tapioca with salted fish (ikan sepat), nasi lemak, kuih rempeyek, jackfruit, buah salak and kopi O. Owhhh what a great picnic it was, by the paddy field!

Anyway, Malim and I decided to take picnic pictures for our weekend fun asigment, so I took the opportunity on the set to do this assignment, although I had earlier planned to capture a continental breakfast by the lake...

Here's what we had...

Black coffee and boiled tapioca, *eh kenapa ubiku jadi kuning ek? tapi sgt lembut dan sedap!

Nangka

The shoot's surroundings:

Harvested paddy field... ready for replanting...

Motionless serenity...

Bulk harvester in action...

Masa on the way balik sempatlah singgah beli buah jambu, jagung kukus, jus mangga dan buah mangga kat kedai budak ni, umur 14 tahun dah boleh handle satu kedai sorg diri..hurmm...kagum! yang tak tahan tu dari jauh nampak kat papan tu 4 kilo RM10, cuba perhatikan betul2, rupanya 3 kilo RM10. Gerai tu yang no 4, wah leh tahan gak mengaburi mata pemandu,yer?

Sawah

2008-08-04T07:46:00.002+08:00

Phatnfierce had an assignment outing yesterday, at Kampung Haji Dorani in Kuala Selangor. And prior to that, it was Bangsar, on Saturday evening... I've never driven to Sungai Besar or Sabak Bernam before, naturally, we ended up lost - beginning with going up the wrong highway until we realized that we had already reached Tanjung Malim! LOL! Then we made a turn back to Sungai Besar.

Since the shooting location was a paddy field, I was freaking excited (jakun) since I've never set foot into a one in my entire life! Huhuhu... luckily, we're now in the harvest season!

To complement the surroundings, I've prepared a traditional Javanese breakfast where my grandma loved serving us everytime we visited her when I was a kid.

We arrived at the location about 1 hour late but still, we managed to have our best breakfast as planned - a-la my late grandmother's favourite breakfast, under the big manggo tree by the paddy field. What an amazing feeling, something I can't express in words...

En. Arip enjoying the scenery...

En. Arip had not forgotten to capture the moment through his compact camera, too.. and below are the results...

To me his compact camera pictures are consistant to those taken on his DSLR. Yeah, that's right, it's not the camera that makes good pictures, but the man behind the camera! Kan Mak Julie?;)

And this was taken through his DSLR. Huhu... what I was doing, ?

I was baiting the fish ;), since I did not bring along my fishing rod... LOL!

Later, we had the best breakfast by the paddy field. Owh... what fish is this? This was part of the breakfast. will tell and show u guys the pics later, k? ;) And these pics were taken by me. LOL!

It's our official lauch today!

2008-08-01T09:27:00.004+08:00

Feel free to visit my official site today! Something is waiting for u there ;)

And please come back to phatnfierce.com on August 16 2008, to discover our full gallery and also check out our special packages for wedding & event photoshoots!

Discontinued favourtie perfume.

2008-07-30T08:46:00.004+08:00

Last night, I snapped these pictures below at home, it being our second experiment after the milk spalsh experimental last week... This time around, Malim had asked me to snap pics of some perfume bottles. So in this assignment we must snap the bottles in very basic and simple concept.

so I have chosen 5 perfumes that were really meaningful to me;) . Some bottles are empty, but I still keep them since they are no longer on the market and I luv their designs so much!

Before that, let's look at my camera settings for this shoot. I have used a white glossy mounting board as backdrop and base, and the lighting is provided by an IKEA table lamp ;) and no Photoshop editing, please! ;)

Here are the results ;

Luv this so much! Smells great; and this was the perfume I used on the 1st day at my first ever job! BTW the blue effect is actually not affected from the bottle. For those using Olympus, choose the bulb icon on ur white balance setting and u will get that blue effect.

owhhhh this was really meaningful to me,*takleh cerita lebih. But this is the miniature version, the rest are "gone"...

This is my favourite among the rest! Too bad, no longer on the Malaysian market... This is really meaningful to me, as I used this during those difficult days the last two years with my previous company...was thinking to collect as many bottles as I can since I luv the stripes at the side when i arranged them all together...

Same bottles, showcasing their colour stripes

And these remind me of the days during my Studies in Art and Design at UiTM. These are miniatures, too. The big bottles have gone into the unknown...

And this is one of my current favourites that is still available on the market. Hopefully it wont be discontinued! This particular brand reminds me of my Europe trip in 2000. I had picked this bottle up at the Changi Airport enroute to London. And in London, I was there on the day they promoted Escada Casual Friday...

Fully booked!

2008-07-29T13:42:00.007+08:00

Wow, I'm a bit shocked and happy, too ;) Just to announce something here;

*Site masih tak siap lagi yer kengkawan

Phatnfierce is fully booked for August! Only weekday slots are still available. So those interested in hiring me for their photography assignment, pls inform me as soon as possible ya?

Im very concerned about my products' quality. I am not doing this just as a side income but it is considered my passion! I'm very particular about quality, to make sure it meets my target standard and most importantly, it must make u guys happy!

I got some e-mails regarding my phone number stated on my call card on my previous entry. O.k, the number has just been activated a while ago, so please do not hesistate to contact me ( +6014 3276574) for enquiry and bussiness purpose, k? ;)

Btw below are some pictures taken during the last day my vacaton trip, yeah yeah i know, it has been 3 months now! But this is my blog, so let me do whatever I want ;) Pictures from Sydney to Gold Coast to KL, this is how the vacation ends.

Midnight shopping at Sydney airport, ohhhh I really miss that orange chocolate! Damn delicious! Owh... love that blue tee! and managed to get it! ;)

Naaa, I really missed my home by that time ;)

Virgin Blue to Coolangatta

This was abt 7 AM. We just grabbed a simple breakfast at the airport, since we have pre-booked breakfast on board. Those bread were so delicious!.

Coolangatta to Kuala lumpur.

Love coffee? Find out something new from the site below!

http://kopimalaysia.com/

Countdown!

2008-07-28T01:04:00.003+08:00

I was so busy this weekend, but it was fun to have fixed everything that needed to be done... And my official photography website will be launched soon, too! I have designed my call card and yeah, finally, I am satisfied with the printing quality, the way I wanted it, and below is the result;)

Design sempoi2 jer he he he

Conteng

2008-07-24T14:56:00.004+08:00

I always bring along my sketch book to places where I go. Did this while having my daily dose of caffeine at Starbucks last nite huhu,

From my lens :)

2008-07-23T11:03:00.001+08:00

It was day 11, the evening before we left Sydney for Gold Coast the next morning. We did some evening walk and managed to do some photography of Sydney Opera House, to get some close-up views. These pictures below were taken at about 5.30 PM and it was almost dark... and they are how I see them from my point of view...

Milk splash shot!

2008-07-22T08:34:00.006+08:00

For those into photography and DSLRs, I think u guys should join us on our next experiment! Huhu... Actually, Malim and I have decided to do some experiments in photography, and discuss it to enhance our skills in photography.

For the 1st task, we had experimented the water splash shot, by using fruits and milk. The deadline was in one week, and during the task we exchange info on what we have learned, in getting the best result. It wasn't an easy task; in fact, it was quite difficult! And I had chosen kiwi fruit as the object to be dropped into milk. And here is the result:

I guna kiwi kuning tapi tak cun, so guna yg hijau plak ;).

I've tried the cherry splash on milk, but the splash impact wasn't dramatic enough, and rather too small... so I ended up doing only normal photography for the cherries ;) So, for those interested to join the next fun task, let us know!

yummyyy~

Phat n Fierce

2008-07-19T14:36:00.003+08:00

After so many requests and offers for my photography, I have decided to go commercial!!! This is the right way to handle your requests and serve u guys in a more condusive way!.
Feel free to visit my photography website by clicking the link or picture below;

http://www.phatnfierce.com/

And something else is brewing! ;)

Pictures from Malacca.

2008-07-17T07:53:00.001+08:00

More pics from our last trip to Malacca two weeks ago. What I luv going on outings with my two nephews Aiman and his younger brother Afif is, they are always easy to handle and very well behaved. We managed to take the boat ride on Malacca River as I had promised them the night before.

Aiman was so surprised to see his uncles coming to fetch him at the mosque this time.

We first fetched Aiman at Masjid Al-Azim Malacca on that Sunday morning. He is 8 years old and is following the Thafiz Al-quran classes held on every Sunday. He has memorized about a quarter of the surahs of the Al-quran so far.

Other boys waiting for thier parents.

Aiman with his younger brother Afif.

I've never tried riding on a trishaw, ever!

The boat ride. That is not the Eye on Malacca as many have led to believe in. It's just a mini theme park, a fun-fair at best!

Aiman enjoying the ride, while Afif and En. Arip took a nap on the boat.. Yeah, we waited for this boat trip for 3 hours, and it was tiring!

Me : You like the boat ride?
Aiman : Not really, the river is so smelly but I like the boat!

And Afif, just woke up from his nap, joined his brother...I luv his facial expression.

We later had a great coffee break! This lovely con panna for me..

The cheerful face after some great refreshments...hurmm

Manly, Sydney Australia.

2008-07-16T08:06:00.005+08:00

This is the promised entry from this previous one. Anyway, it was already day 10 in Aussie land. Physically, I was a bit tired and my feet were hurting terribly the past 2 days... unlike the ever-hyperactive En. Arip who maintained his "youthful" strength... huhu

Yeah, we slept late most of the nights there. En Arip's philosophy (in everything!) - Start early in the morning, and do it till late evening...Mentally, I was very happy... physically, was just a bit tired...

To me, if u go to Sydney, u must go to Manly for souvenir shopping and the beach, although Gold Coast is still number one for the best 'shopping and beach' in Australia... Having said that, here are some pictures taken on that day, during our time in Manly...

The view from ferry wharf 3. Our ferry was exactly like that one in this pic.

And the weather was so great!

Yeah, I have used this pic before, but I really like the natural lens flare, and the silhoutte... The ferry journey to Manly took about half an hour. Take the Jetcat if you want to halve the time...

After 30 minutes, we reached The Corso in Manly... The souvenirs here were freaking cheap!

The main street...

En Arip went missing for a while, and re-appeared with the luggage he bought to carry the items we were gonna get... huhu

Beautiful and clean beach... to me, Bondi is somehow nicer!

We spent about a few hours in Manly, and we were busy shopping! What a must to visit if u guys were ever in Sydney!

It was autumn and a bit colder than the day before, when we were in Bondi... So cold that we didn't do any beach activities as planned earlier...

We left Manly just after 4 PM, since by 5.30 it would be totally dark..

Huhu... I wonder if my mum would wear her baju kurung while travelling... hurmmm sgt patriotik agaknya?? hehe

From En. Arip;s compact camera..

Also from the compact...

Owh, I just luv the sky! It was such a tiring day that we didn't go anywhere after dinner. We were also busy do our packing up, since our flight back to KL was the following midnight... so, we had slept early and planned to do one last city walk the next day...

Here is a short clip of our visit to Manly. Enjoy!

National Cheerleading Competition 2008

2008-07-14T07:06:00.010+08:00

I was assigned to snap pictures at the 8TV and Silkygirl National-level Secondary School Cheerleading Competition 2008 at the Bukit Jalil Indoor Stadium.

Anyway, here are some pics from my collection. And this was my first time snapping sport-themed pictures... I was a bit unprepared and inexperienced, and just tried my best! ;)

The best part of the whole assignment was, I just luv seeing the whole lot of facial expressions at the stadium... Such good subject matter to be photographed!

Sporting and cheerful contestants. Thanks, girls, for those beautifull smiles!

A very supportive team member.

Quite a happening MC...

One of the judges was the gorgeously beautiful Miss Malaysia 2007. Her name? Who needs a name when you are this beautiful?

Part of the panel of judges

The other half...

A supporter. Nice facial paint, boy!

Part of the crowd...

One of the coaches...

It is normal in every games, ends with sad and joy!

Defeat and Victory. Two common states of any competition. Frown and Smile, are the results...

Scrappingchix

2008-07-12T20:33:00.005+08:00

I just got back from the official launch of Scrappingchix, owned by Naddy. It was such a colourful party... and your home-based boutique is great, Nad! Good job!

Btw, I'm the one who designed Scrappingchix's corporate logo. I had also designed their call card and website, too ;).

For scrapbook lovers and those interested to start a new hobby in scrapbooking, u can get all your scrapbook stuff, accessories and even professional advice from Scrappingchix!

Scrappingchix's website is still in its final stages of design. Very soon, u will be able to buy their products online, by simply going to www.scrappingchix.com (sorry site is still under construction!)

Scrappingchix's boutique!

Naddy also offers scrapbook classes at Scrappingchix. Those are Naddy's friends, and yeah, that's En Arip browsing thru some fancy papers for his scrapbook.

She also offers cakes and cupcakes, made to order. Owh... I am amazed at how Naddy prepared these very cute and presentable food all by herself!

Top: Naddy and me. Bottom: Me with Ezzyros. Owh... I was a bit suprised that a few people at the function, actually read my blog regularly ;)

To be continued

2008-07-11T10:31:00.002+08:00

I am rather busy these few days... When I get the time, I will continue my Manly entry... This pic above was taken during the ferry ride to Manly. Look at the human beings on the bridge, that's how huge and magnificent the Sydney Harbour Bridge is... I will do the BridgeClimb on my next visit! ;)

The Corso - Manly

2008-07-09T11:58:00.002+08:00

Actually, I have yet to finish the entries on my Australia 2008 trip,;)
Yeah, it's been two months already! I intend to write about the whole trip, so that in future, I have something memorable to read about and to flip thru. That is another reason why I blog.

Anyway, we left Bondi Beach at about 5 PM, and the sky was getting dark really quick. We took a short rest at the hotel, and went out to the nearest mall for chilling out, dinner and to do some shopping.

Had a great time at this Starbucks on York Street, just luv the night scenery here. We managed to buy a very limited edition Starbucks jar at this outlet. Will upload the pic soon in the next entry.

From En. Arip's compact camera. We had dinner at the nearest Oporto. What a great, piping-hot fish and chips, on a cold autumn night.

En Arip bought this snow cap as a souvenir for himself. He also couldn't wait to wear it at Snowy Mountain, huhu... Btw, it was a great night out!

The next day we spent half the day in the Sydney CBD and after lunch, we took a ferry to The Corso, in Manly. Owh the beach there was as great as Bondi, but the souvenir shops there offered really good prices! Damn cheap! If u guys are looking for souvenirs in Syndey, don't buy them in the CBD! U'll be better off taking a ferry at Circular Quay wharf 3, and spend ur souvenir hunting time in Manly! ;)

Waiting for the ferry to Manly!.

On the ferry deck... Errr... what were they looking at?

The Sydney Opera House!

To be continued! Stay tuned! ;)

Ting Tong

2008-07-07T10:07:00.001+08:00

Just reached home after spending the weekend in Muar and Malacca. I'm not feeling good after taking the boat cruise on Sungai Malacca last evening - the smelly river was not as teribble as the canals in Venice, but the bare scenery and the smelly river made me nauseous and dizzy now...

I'll upload some pics later, but here are some taken around my parents' house. Owh the fruit season has just started but the durian season has taken a headstart. Dad planted some fuit trees in his small orchard near the house, and I took the opportunity to sharpen my photography skill there just after subuh prayers... what a great morning sun to be captured!

Mangosteen, owh it looks like the round moon in a glance...

Miniature sun ready to fire up...

It was a raw rambutan, actually...

Round cluster, just like stars and planets- buah duku.

What is this?

My mum's bourganvillas...

Oh, after that, we had breakfast at this new, modern kopitiam in Muar! They provided customers with free wifi and free parking. And of course, the coffee variety was great too, at amazingly low prices. This lovely and delicious Cappucino was only MYR4.50 and no taxes were added!

Malacca

2008-07-04T09:24:00.001+08:00

Oh...I was so busy yesterday. Btw, I'm off to Malacca after work today. Syioknya!.. Can't wait to do a lot of things! Have a happy weekend, guys! Owh, ikan bakar, Bandar Hilir, cendol, asam pedas, and more! Hehehe...

Limau-limau cafe... owh, miss the coffee here!

Jonker Street. A must-visit evertime I'm in Malacca. Happy weekend, guys!

Done!

2008-07-02T08:50:00.001+08:00

Last night, I've completed the second painting ordered by Mr. HP ;) . So here is the result! But to make this entry more informative, let's learn something about oil painting :P

These are tubes of oil paint, guys! I only use this brand, which is considered premium in quality. It has a very smooth texture and gives a very fabulous final outcome! A single tube costs RM60; and to complete this painting, I had used nine tubes.

Turpertine. This acts as a solvent to dissolve the oil paint while I do the painting. A few drops ia enought too smoothen your oil paint. A bottle is about RM30+.

Palette. Generally, I use the el-chepo ones. This one was only RM1.60. I don't like cleanning up my pallet, so I just throw away after using it.. Hehehe... That applies to the paintbrushes too, guys! I had forgotten to snap the pics.

To get matured colours, do not use paints directly from the tube. You ought to mix a few colours together, to get the desired tones.

So, here is the pic from my previous entry when it was 10% done. The paint I used for this layer was diretly from the tube, and looks too fresh, right? This layer acts as my guide as I paint.

80% done!

90% done! Just to compare sizes... The two smaller paintings there are A3 in size. O.k Mr. HP, hope u like it ;)

Pictures of the day

2008-06-30T23:29:00.005+08:00

*tgh letih nak menaip. Rehat jap entry Australia ;)

Dinner at Restoran Nelayan Titiwangsa.

luv this view...

Eye on Malaysia.

I luv green!

Pink eye.

Le Paris-Go Cafe

2008-06-28T13:40:00.002+08:00

After spending a few hours on the beach, we went on to explore Bondi town and the areas surrounding it.

Bondi area...
We just walked, walked, and lost ourselves in our little exploration...

There was a cafe under that big tree. Didn't it look interesting?

Le Paris-Go Cafe. I luv its casual setting.

The best part of this cafe must be its big, open-out window, and the big tree it opens out into.

The crowd.

Baristas' playground.

Cute cookies in their transparent jars.

I had yummylicious brownies with vanilla ice cream.

Overall, this is a great cafe for relaxing your mind... I actually love how they operate the cafe - the staff didn't wear any uniform so, they look really casual and unassuming ... also, they have been super friendly... I give this cafe 5 out of 5 stars.

Next ,
The Corso at Manly.

Bondi Beach, Sydney!

2008-06-25T16:27:00.010+08:00

The next morning we woke up early as usual. What a waste to waste time by sleeping eh? At 7 AM. I went to the grocery shops on Oxford Street, while En. Arip went to the nearest coffee shop to get some good coffees. I bought the ingredients to make some "homemade" sandwiches... Huhu... we had actually planned to spend the whole day on Bondi beach, and the small town surrounding it. So I planned to bring extra sandwiches for our little "picnic". Can't wait to do some sunbathing, and read a good book by the beach...

I had forgotten to take the pic, but it definitely looked like this... These were the sandwiches I made when we were in Gold Coast.

Getting ready for Bondi. We rented this car.. hohoho Noooo! This was someone's car parked in front of our hotel. I simply luv how the owner has maintained this car.

We actually took a bus to Bondi. Striking a pose while waiting for the bus ;)

The view from the bus. Another old car! How did they keep their car in such good shape, and looking so fabulously charming? *This is one of my favourite pics.

Actually, the sky wasn't that dark... it was the glass tint on the bus windows that gave it the gloomy effect.

Another view from the bus. Finally, I could see the beach!!

En. Arip was so excited to pose with this coffee van. He had chased it for 100 meters!

That's the Bondi beach behind me... Owh the wheather was so great~!

We didn't bring along any swimming trunks, so we decided to get them first. But before we could do that, we bumped into this seafood shop below!!

Bondi Surf Seafood! En Arip said he couldn't resist it when he saw the prawns on display, which had suddenly made him felt hungry. So we had an early lunch!

Everything looked so tempting and nice that I forgot about my packed sandwiches! Hehehe!

We had these simple items. I ordered the grilled calamari with chips, while En Arip had buttered prawns with chips. Owh... the portions were huge! We had also shared a large helping of yummylicious marinara salad.

Owh... simply delicious!

En Arip's buttered prawns looked delicious, too! So yummylicious! The butter smelled really great and tasted even better!

They also served the world-famous fried Mars in batter, too! But I couldn't put any more into my stomach.. I was so full!

I could smell the sea... These are the shops facing the beach...

En Arip was so satisfied with what he had, and even packed some mixed seafood grills. We give this shop 5 out of 5 stars! It is a must visit if u guys go to Bondi!

And we continued hunting for our swimwear.

Huhu... Aussieboy is better than Aussiebum? Owh, girls... let us do our innerwear shopping first, OK? Kasih org laki pun memilih yer pakaian dalaman, tapi tak ler spent time lelama:P

Owh... must get some Bonds, too! That's as Aussie as you can get! En. Arip bought some by the dozens! They are cheaper than buying on-line!

Yeah, finally found the right swimming trunk! But we bought those which covered our "modesty" lah :)

O.k, beach time!!! It was autumn, so the water wasn't good for swimming. But at least we must spend some time in the water, kan?

Bondi beach~

Our view to the right...

and to the left...

Here is a great spot to spend the day. The other spots were just too quiet...

I have a lot of surf pics, will share later in my Flickr, OK? But I must select the best ones first ;) Btw, no more topless pics of me. Don't want it to turn out like what happened the last time! :P

*Bawah ni ada clip I kat Bondi ;)

We had a great time at this cafe during coffee break! Owh, what a great cafe... Stay tuned!

Night cruise on the Paramatta

2008-06-24T09:40:00.004+08:00

Owh... from QVB, we went back to our hotel, had a good rest, and in the late evening, we went on a night cruise down the Paramatta river. We had our dinner at the usual Oporto cafe.

The night cruise started at about 8 PM at Circular Quay, and took us all the way to Sydney's Olympic Park. What a stunning view of the Sydney Harbour Bridge and Opera House! It was very challenging for me to capture the both the Opera House and Harbour bridge at night on camera. Wait! Remember, I was on a moving ferry, and holding the camera with bare hands and with no tripods! Huhuhu... it was so freaking difficult! But I somehow managed to do some proper photography on the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge the following days. Here are some pics taken during the night cruise:

Darling Harbour, Cockle Bay.

It was getting too cold for En Arip...

It's amazing to see how the different the bridge looks from down under it...

No less romantic than Paris...

To enjoy the true beauty of the bridge, you have to stay at a distance...

The Opera House splashed in majestic light.

The two gems of the Sydney bay area...

Next entry:
Bondi Beach! Stay tuned!

Queen Victoria Building.

2008-06-22T17:44:00.004+08:00

We left Sydney Fish Market by tram, and headed for Darling Harbour. Oowh... by then my stomach was already totally full! I could hardly breathe and walk!:P

So from there, we walked to a few popular places and malls until we ended up at our hotel for our prayers and rest. We went on a night cruise on the Parramatta river!

Among the many malls, Queen Victoria Building (QVB) is still my favourite in Sydney. Owwh, I read on a board somewhere on the 3rd floor that the renovation and modernization they were carrying out on the building, some parts of the building will be painted in blue. What??? Blue?? err.... Btw, the coffee at QVB's JET Sydney cafe was really great! *kembung kopi

Darling Harbour by the Cockle Bay.

Sydney Tower. Both En Arip and I have gone up there during our previous trip, so we decided to not bother on this trip. *pic taken by Me.

Sydney Tower. *pic taken by En. Arip.

I just love the tone of this pic; the brown and blue stripes of En Arip's shirt blended well with the surroundings..

While En. Arip was taking this shot, another homeless man yelled out at me; " Smile!!! You're in Sydney!!" Oowhh I bumped into two friendly homlessmen in a single day... seem they were really proud of their city so much!

The York Street side of the QVB...

The front of the QVB, facing the Sydney Town Hall - the other fabulous building around...

The grand matriach of British monarchy, Queen Victoria. If you think she looked rather sulky, that's because she went into depressed mode after her Albert died. Albert was her husband, not her dog huhu :P

Another En Arip's coffee rendezvous... But JET Cafe really knows how to pull a nice, slicky shot!

Coffee again, Yummy

Big yum!

*errr kat pic ni br perasan bibir cawan tu mcm comot LOL

Cup Cakes! Pastry for tea was from the QV Bar Cafe inside the building. Their cream puffs were the best in the world! Creamy and smooth... or simply "Orgasmic!", as En Arip puts it...

Really luv the coffee they served here... luv the surroundings, too...

The lovely Sydney Town Hall building in the back... I am amazed at how well they have preserved this building.

The majestic Queen Victoria Building... We came back the next evening ;)

En Arip filming the nice evening buzz...

The interior. Noticed the "Ipoh Limited" on the clock? Yeah the last restoration in 1997 had been done by a Malaysian Company : Ipoh Garden Berhad, or IGB.

Antiques at every corner u turn *including En.Arip opsss

Little florist shop on the ground level...nice...

Below is a short clip I've taken from En Arip's DVDcam. Take note of the Royal Automata Clock (turret clock)...

Following the hourly Westminster chimes, the clock displays a moving Royal Pageant, showing six famous events from the pages of British history, namely King Henry's reign, King John signing the Magna Carta, and the knighting of Sir Francis Drake...

Sydney Fish Market

2008-06-20T07:59:00.008+08:00

*Korang asyik tanya entry makan2 kan? ha ni dia ;)

We went to the Sydney Fish Market the day after the tiring trip to Blue Mountains. Owhh... I was really excited to eat as much seafood as I wanted there hehe ;)

We decided to walk to the fish market from our hotel instead of taking public transportation. It would've taken us about 30 minutes, if not for the few stops on the way there... But we did reach there 3 hours after we left the hotel... Why? We stole time to visit the Princess Diana Exhibition! What a exceptional show about her life!

The Bank of Australasia building. I was actually taking shots of a coffee signboard nearby, but a homeless man shouted at me and said, "There are monkies jist abov' there, and u should take their pic!" His chuckle hid the bitter bite of pre-winter cold...

We walked toward Darling Harbour, and bumped into this group of Chinese ladies (concubines?). They were headed for some Buddhist celebration just outside the Chinese Garden of Friendship...

After a 15-minute walk, we took a rest at the Chinese Garden of Friendship...

We continued walking... and the traffic was so clear... We managed to visit Paddy's Markets, too...

What a shocking delight! There was a Princess Diana exhibition at the Powerhouse Museum. This is a must! While the exhibition at London's Kensington Palace was mainly to showcase her glittery costumes, this one was more about her life as an aristocrat, a princess, and a commoner... Too bad no cameras were allowed inside :( We spent almost one hour here.

Finally, we reached the Sydney Fish Market! These were the shop lots outside the fish market...

Owh!! A must-try seafood kebab!!

The lady gave us a discount, We had 6 pcs per person...

Great service too, she grilled the sticks one side at a time, and served them hot! Yummy!

En Arip beating the heat to finish his 1st helping...yummy kan, En. Arip?

Sea harvest on racks...

We went on to have a lobster!

We had the lobster half baked in cheese, and the other grilled on a hot plate. Cost us just AUD28!

It was so worth it! The lobster was juicy and fresh!

We shared a grilled barramundi... so devinely delicious! This one was only AUD23.

We continued exploring the fish marked, and had coffee at this cafe, but it did not taste so good... En Arip's macchiato shot was overly strong.

And the exploration continues... What a cute tagline for the cheese!!!

Actually, the best coffee served at the Sydney Fish Market could be found at this little kiosk...

I was full by this time... Btw the coffee here were really good!

But, we had kebab again for one last round before we left the fsh market... Haiyoh cannot tahan lah...so yummy!!!

The cashier luv my "just Cavalli" t-hirt so much! Huhuhu...

And we left the fish market after spending almost 2 and a half hours there... What a must-visit in Sydney!

The fall of the Chinese concubine, huhu watch the clip below ;)

Leura

2008-06-17T22:43:00.004+08:00

We continued the tour to the small town of Leura at Blue Mountains. We were supposed to spend one hour at Leura. But because the two couples were late for 45 minutes at the Scenic World station, we could only spend 30 minutes in Leura! Haiyohhhh... the whole bus actually got very mad with them! They didn't offer to say sorry to us or to the bus driver! The most annoying fact was, the second couple were Malaysians having migrated there for years! They didn't say sorry, just came aboard the bus as if nothing had happened, In fact, they continued joking among themselves, enjoying their ice cream, laughing and making a complete fool of themselves... Damn these people, especially the wife, damn witch (with a capital B)! So f*&^#$ annoying! And the bus driver was damn right to say that if they do that again (being late) at the next stop, he will leave them behind!!

The funny part was, all of us in the bus suddenly divided into two groups - the tardy group and the punctual group. En Arip and I were in the punctual group; and we stopped talking to those in the tardy group! ;) yelah diorg sendiri pun tak respect org lain kan?

The road leading to Leura..

Rent me? If I've got enough money I'll BUY u!

I noticed all the houses and shops here were small and cute...they looked like miniatures!

Bumped into a garage sale conducted by some women's association. I was alone when I entered the hall. As usual, En Arip went on to do his on looking aroung, so we ventured separately... An old lady (about 80 years old) on an arm chair welcomed me so cheerfully... She asked me where I had come from, but I asked her to guess. And she said Singapore? Almost right!!

I was interested in buying the sitting doll on the left for my niece. So, I asked the old lady how much will it be. Without looking up, she muttered : "You can take it home if you're sure you can take good care of it!" *terus tak jadi beli... mcm seram plak dengar ayat tu LOL

I really luv this small town...

Some other shops...

Christmas cottage, selling christmas supplies all year round..haiyoh.

Bumped into En Arip!

Their local people were really nice, too.. The lady in black in the pic above even offered to snap our pic...

I actually don't like using flash in my photography, but since the surrounding was getting dark, the automatic flash accidentaly switched on by itself... and here is the pic. Not bad, actually!

Here's a clip of what we managed to see in Leura, thanks to those BOZOs... En Arip forgot that his DVDcam was rolling when he said something rather 18SX... You've been warned!

After Leura, we made a stop at the Jamison Lookout. It was already 5 PM and almost dark in this jungle. En. Arip and I decided to stay by the bus and enjoy our packed sandwich, instead of joining the rest at the waterfalls... Jamison Lookout is the other picturesque side of the Blue Mountains... Now I remember why I had lost interest in seeing the waterfalls... that's because by now, my feet were extremely tired! Furthermore, the jungle was getting really dark, too..

We left Jamison Lookout at 5.30 PM in complete darkness! We slept in the bus and reached the city at 7.30 PM, after several stops to drop a few tour members at thier hotel.

Owhh... it was a tiring but satisfying day! We reached our hotel at 8 PM and at 10 PM, after refreshing ourselves, we had a late dinner at Oporto... owh... I just luv thier fish and chips!

Blue Mountains

2008-06-15T22:00:00.004+08:00

We continued the tour, first visiting the Three Sisters Echo Point lookout at Lilianfels Park.

The weather was so good! We could see clearly the blue hue of the mountain range. The blue hue actually comes from the gas reflections of the euclyptus leaves (koala's favourite food).

The Three Sisters refers to the formation of three eroded peaks. From the mythical story of the aborigines, three village girls were cast a spell to be turned into three rocks while their fathers went to war. The fathers died before being able to lift the spell, leaving the three girls in that condition forever. Whatever!

It was a Saturday so the place was flooded by tourists...

The peak formations called the Three Sisters...

I was searching high and low for En. Arip, and I finally spotted him! Haiyoh!

Three out of SEVEN sisters? Wonder what happened to the other four...

MANY tourists and the Three Sisters.

Trying my luck at snapping a lost, wild koala...hehehe

We spent about 45 minutes at Echo Point, so by the time we got back to the bus to wait for the others, I had snapped a lot of pics! Huhuhu...I like the sun this bright... with cool temperatures, of course!

The pic on top left is that of an aborigine playing his didgeridoo...

We left the Three Sisters lookout to proceed to the next stop - The Scenic Skyway! A cable car is connected from one cliff to the other side of the ravine. And there were two other rides waiting for us on the other side... After all the fun at the Scenic Railway, the bus will pick us up at that peak, too..

The Scenic Skyway , owh I luv the glass floor! Also the view of the Katoomba Falls between the two stations...

On the other peak, we took the Scenic Cableway down the valley floor. It took us deep down into the jungles...

The view from the Scenic Cableway.

At Scenic Cableway lower station. Thereon, we walked through the jungle... To get back up to civilization, we had two options: either take the same Scenic Cableway or try the Scenic Railway. Having tried the Scenic Cableway, our choice was obviously the Scenic Railway.

Some pics from the jungle. Along the path, one can find the explanation to how this jungle came about.

There were three routes available to hikers, all of different distances. We decided to take the short walk, as advised by the bus driver earlier...

This is the Scenic Railway. Of all the three rides, I enjoyed this one the most! It was a really thrilling ride. Do u know why there was netting on the roof of the train? Because, on the way up, the train's position was almost slanting 90 degrees! U would feel like u were standing up, and the train passes by a narrow rock crack, and into small cave tunnel! The cave's walls were only a few inches from ur face! The net was to protect ur face! Also, the train moved as fast as a roller coaster! Damn, it was actually better then a roller coaster! hehe

The Scenic Railway ends at the Scenic World Station as well, where our bus was already waiting for us... To calm the adrenalin, we took in the view with some hot coffee... The ride was worth every single cent!

The machine that drags the Scenic Cableway up the steep slope...

They have also displayed sculptures of the legendary three sisters in the station compound...

And this must be their farther? Oowh don't shoot me! I am not ur daughters' BF! LOL

Not everyone enjoys coffee En Arip! Hahahah

The old Scenic Skyway gondola on display... En. Arip was lucky to have experienced it 15 years ago...

Something from En Arip's 15-year old scrap book - the Skyway gondola used then.

So, after the wonderful time at the Scenic World, we waited for everyone to board the bus... and this time, the 2 couples were late for about 45 minuets! We had actually left them behind to go to the other lookout. We came back here to pick them up and luckily, they were there by then! And the usually-nice-but-now-sarcastic bus driver told them that he would leave them to take a cab back to the city if they are late again at the next stop!

Below is a short clip of the three rides from En. Arip's DVDcam:

Btw, the next stop was the small town of Leura... owh I simply luv this town!!

Stay tuned!

Boomerang, Wenworth Falls, and Lilianfels

2008-06-11T16:38:00.001+08:00

Before I begin, I would like to say that all my pics here are shown without any Photoshop editing. I don't like adjusting colours to alter the natural mood of the object or scenery I shoot. All the pics here are a combination of my DSLR and En Arip's little digital compact. See if you could differentiate them ;)

O.k let's continue. We left Featherdale Wilelife Park at about 11 AM, and coutinued with the journey to the Blue Mountains. After a 20-minute drive, the coach later made a stop by a large football field for a boomerang-casting lesson. Yeah!! I finally got to learnt how to throw a boomerang "professionally"... Hehehe.

This was to be a very exciting activity to me! Everyone on the group got their chance to cast the boomerang! Owh... it was not as easy as I thought! At last, I finally succeeded in putting one in flight, perfectly! (After a few tries) ;)

We didn't see anyone on the field just yet, and we just kept on walking...

But the boomerangs were already there waiting for us... Hmmm...

We waited for Mr. Coach to appear.. and waited a bit we did!

Naaaaa... Mr Coach was actually the bus driver himself! Haiyooo! I thought some native aborigine with costumes and all would be teaching us!

The demonstration. OK.. I got it!

Oh! Like that!

En. Arip's first trial! Huhuhu PERFECT :P I didn't have any pics of me throwing the boomerang, since En. Arip was busy recording me on his DVDcam.

The bus drive a.k.a Mr Coach still showing his skills when most of us were already back in the bus! That was kewl!

After spending for almost 40 minutes there, we moved on with the journey! Next stop was for our lunch break, at a rest house in Wenworth Falls. We have been told by the bus driver that for muslim and vegetarian tourists, they do provide vegetarian food. Not bad! Apart from the delicious food, the scenery at the hill-top rest housel was also very nice!

Some sceneries from my coach:
I luv the mural on the bus stop wall!

Owh, cute mini shop!

A house near the rest house stop.

Just luv the contrast.

OK... here is the rest house. And I told En. Arip, it was like we were going into a 1970s haunted house! Hehehe

Nevermind the haunted house feel... the food was great! OMG the rice was so delicious! Sticky, creamy and a little bit raw but really nice aroma... But I had forgotten to snap the pic ;)

En Arip also luv the rice so much! See the expression below:

Mmmm.....

While waiting for the others to finish thier lunch, we walked around the rest house.

Owh, this orange car really caught my attention! What a good subject matter for photography! And I told En Arip to pose with the car! hehe,

The result:

We continued our journey after the delicious lunch, and reached the small town of Lilianfels Park, by the Three Sisters Echo Point lookout where a skinny koala mascot was already there to give us hugs! ;)

OMG! Isn't that a Holden?

The skinny koala! Huhuhu...

Man, this koala was skinny but tall!

To be continued ;)

Latest painting!

2008-06-11T02:25:00.001+08:00

Mr H.P has commissioned some paintings from me after he saw my previous works ;)
He wanted exactly the same as my previous one, but in oil paint on canvas.

I've already done the base layer, which is considered 10% done...owhh I enjoy painting it so much! For a few years now, I have not done any big-scale painting. The canvas for this one measures 3 feet (height) by 2.6 feet (width)...

So, people... If u are also interested to own my paintings of about the same size or larger, my rate starts from RM1200.00 upwards, varying based on the materials I use, as well as the subject matter (+ u get my special signature on it!) *matila

I have ran out of space in my studio at home! So, I had to use my workout corner temporarily to finish this painting. I do the painting during the rep breaks in my workout! Didn't know working out can be so inspirational! heheh

As u probably noticed, there is a small A3-size painting on the floor... That is the painting that Mr H.P. was excited about!

Featherdale Wildlife Park

2008-06-08T20:45:00.032+08:00

On the first day we reached Sydney, we went to do some shopping, sightseeing in the city and chilling out at the cafes near the Sydney Harbour Bridge till late in the evening... Owhh... It was a Friday nite, and it was so happening!

On way back to our room, we booked 2 tickets for a one-day tour to the Blue Mountains. We made the bookings at the hotel lobby for AUD135 per person, something totally unplanned!!! The tour will bring us to the Featherdale Wildlife Park, inclusive of a boomerang-casting lesson, the Blue Mountains trip and a short visit at several small towns enroute. The package price is inclusive of transportation, lunch, and 3 rides at Blue Mountains. To me, it was soooo worth it!

We only had to wait for the tour bus as early as 7.45 AM at the hotel lobby - it was so convenient! The journey to Blue Mountains from Sydney would only take 1 hour. But since the tour had to make a few stops on the way, the estimated arrival time was set at 1.30PM.

The bus left quite late from the Sydney CBD, because a few tour members from the pickup hotels were still in bed! (Don't forget, the previous night was Friday night, and they were probably out drinking till late!) Damn! An Itallian couple made us wait for them in the bus for abt 45 minutes! And they didn't even offer a word of sorry! Hurmm... they were such an annoying couple!

Anyway, the 1st stop on the tour was the Featherdale Wildlife Park. Only native Austalian animals are put on display in this park.

Excited! En. Arip explaining to me about the trip... Huhuhu sempat tu snap2 pic dlm lif LOL

The tour bus. Oowh at 7.50, the sun was already perky!

Scenery from the bus... An old housing area... This was somewhere after the Sydney Olympic Park..

Almost reaching the wildlife park...

A pleasant welcome, by a 6-month old joey at the entrance. At first glance, En. Arip thought it was a puppy... huhuhu.

Owhh... She's so adorably cute!

At the park entrance. The park was not busy at all, and that gave me the chance to enjoy its natural setting, which I luv so much. Macam nak masuk kebun getah huhu...

The wooden archboard too! O.k... Lets begins the visit!

The first section was the area where hyperactive and fierce young kangaroos are placed. En Arip tried to make friends by offering a eucalyptus leave .;)

I too tried to coax this one to pose for me...

Yeah, finally!

Yes, he was too young to understand the sign board! huhu

They took shelter from this brave boy!

The next section was the enclosure for adult kangaroos. Being otais, they were more friendly, and rather passive too!

They even have a yellow kangaroo, too! hahahaa

Beware of this horny female kangaroo!!!

She was really excited to kiss me, so I kissed her! huhuhu
En Arip just missed the kiss by a split moment!

I tried to put the leave on my mouth between us, but she still wanted to continue kissing me! Cannot dear, u don't smell TOOO NICE :P

O.k enough about kangaroos! We only had 45 minutes to spend at this park, so we moved quickly to the next section - koalas and kookaburras! Yes, kookaburras! I didn't manage to see them during my last visit to Australia. All I remember is, I luv the kooaburra song when I was a boy scout...

Koookaburra sits in the old gum tree~~~~lalalal,lalla~~

The kookaburras were everwhere!!! Even on the bench...huhu kantoi cara pegang camera sgt amatur :P

Shot of the kookaburra above... Isn't he cute?

Careful! There's even kookaburras on the ground.

This owl was so cute!

Koala.. They were many of them here, in almost every corner...

Patting the koala goodbye. Too bad we were in New South Wales, so there will be no pics of me huging a koala. Had done that in Queensland on the last trip. Yeah, only in Queensland are the public allowed to hug a koala. It's prohibited in NSW!

In the next section, we saw penguins, tazmanian devils, woombats and other wild Australian animals - including crocodiles and etc.. We didn't have enough time, so I was fast enough to snap only a few pics and ended up at the souvenir kiosk to get my kookaburra soft toy. The boy in this pic said, he was holding a wild lizard or something... I forgot its name! LOL!

The penguins.

Luv the penguins here, compared to those at Seaworld, seen here below.

The penguins at Seaworld looked unhealthy, and the pad looked hard and cold.

Wombat. I was rushing, so I didn't stop to snap it properly.

Tazmanian Devil... owh... I had only another five minutes before the bus moved on toward Blue Mountains!

Damn! The same Italian couple were late again! So were an Asian couple! We had to wait for them in the bus for about 15 minutes! This iss why I don't like joining guided/escorted tours.

We then continued the journey to Blue Mountains, but before that, we had stopped by two other places for a boomerang-casting lesson and lunch, respectively.

I had only managed to grab this kookaburra and some other souvenirs for myself... Got the 2 free special edition minikoalas as a gift from Featherdale Wildlife Park.

To me, it's better to visit this park instead of the Taroongga Zoo in Sydney. I give Featherdale Wildlife Park 4 out of 5 stars!

O.k people, let's enjoy this clip below about the kookaburra...