Daemons: The Golden Compass

A new fantasy movie is coming out that is based on a book called 'The Golden Compass'. The movie uses the concept that humans have souls outside their body and is represented as a Daemon. That really puts a twist to the phrase 'our internal demons'. Anyway, just out of fun and curiosity I 'explored' my Daemon.. does this fit my personality?

Candlelight Vigil for Burma @ KLCC

, originally uploaded by alreza.

There was a mass gathering at the KLCC grounds last Friday the 5th of October in support of Burma's plight. A bunch of us from the KL flickr community as well as some workmates went there to show our support as well. Though there were cops, it was a peaceful ..shall we say... "demonstration".

Steph and Dave's Wedding Registration

Stephanie and David recently had their wedding registration in Putrajaya. The couple will head for London soon as Steph is now posted there. Will be missing them alot but at least whenever I head down to the UK (for maybe a photo excursion perhaps), I have somewhere to bunk in ;) . Hope you guys don't mind ya Steph and Dave? And I hope you don't mind too that I may steal your husband for the said excursion :P

Trippin' in Langkawi

Went for a short break to Langkawi with friends old and new recently and it was a major BLAST! Cenang beach is really a happening place to be and there were many Europeans and water sports activities on this beach.



The highlight of the trip was a banana boat romp and it was great amongst close friends. I think we broke the record so far for falling 4 times in 1 session! Aside from the fact that we had two so-called 'non-swimmers' it was great fun. The evening was also blessed by the most beautiful golden sunset but alas I left my ~Dawn~ in the resort. Later that same night, a friend introduced us to a wonderful Japanese Restaurant at Pantai Tengah called 'Unkaizen Restaurant'.

It was certainly a trip to remember..

Time to change..

The title is a caption from an add of the live-action film 'Transformers'. And man did it ROX-ED..sorry for the bad English there.. Went to see it the other night unintentionally though as was supposed to book for a Wed group outing but there were no longer available seats. They had opened up another hall just in time for me to buy tickets and they were no regrets watching it...right then and there... Of all the sci-fi/fantasy flicks that came out recently (Spiderman 3 and F4 II: Rise of the Silver Surfer), this is one that blew me out of the waters. I do not mind watching it in the cinemas again..'twas that good for me. Oh and Megan Fox is uber hot... a definite Mega-Fox (Megatron, eat your heart out!).

Tagged: Six Wierd Things About Moi

Been tagged by Steph awhile back on her post, so I guess I should take up on it to be sporting. Haha.. Well, here goes:

1. I don't think I'm wierd (does that count??)
2. I go mental (slightly -ask my colleagues, they'll know) after 6pm at the office (but then again, who doesn't?? right??.... right??)
3. I am sooooo into photography and I have named my dSLR and I almost....almost take it everywhere I go.. :D
4. Oh and along the lines of #4 above, something non-camera related that cost a 3 digit number would really make me question its purchase but something camera related that costs 4 digit or more would not.
5. I do not eat egg yolk however the egg is cooked and even dishes with garnishes for eg. porridge I will separate the 'extra' bits and eat the rice plainly first.
6. Somebody needs to help me with this last one ... :D

Hmmm... can't really think of anyone to tag because the rest that I know that have not been tagged and have a blog are highly unlikely to follow through. So, if anybody wants me to tag them, lemme know .. :)

Gong Xi Fa Chai

A happy belated Chinese New Year to all. Been busy with work and my passion (no they're no related). Minor news is that I bought myself presents this month in the form of 2 National Geography books. And I joined smugmug (thanks to fox for the introduction - and that sets me back US$34)! Those interested in reading more can visit my other site here.

Guess who?: Episode 1

For those who recognise, this is the first part of a 'Guess Who?' post. The only clue: its a guy......ok seriously... he's a colleague..

Innocence of Youth

Received news of late that the daughter of my babysitter when I was small has been confirmed to have bone cancer. Apparently this was noticed by the sound of 'cracking' in the knees. My parents told me that doctors also confirmed another crack in the wrist. I do not know yet what stage is it at or the type of cancer as bone cancer can be of 2 forms: primary, cancer that begins in the bone (which is rare) or secondary bone cancer, the one that spreads from another part of the body to the bone.

I was informed that the 2 most common cases of bone cancer is Ewing's sarcoma and osteosarcoma, the latter being mostly found in adolescents and young adults. She is still very young at 10 years of age and the prospect of her possibly 'leaving' us (and especially her parents who care for her very much) early is saddening to know. These are the people who helped me and my parents when our family just 'started'. Doctors say that there is not much to hope for but looking through the web I did see references that there are treatments that are possible, depending on the type and stage of the cancer. I just hope that hope is a possibility. They say sometimes you should not take away hope from some people, for it may be all that they have left. But I also do understand that the reality of the situation should be made aware.

New Hopes

Finally manage to survive the transition into the new year without much hassle. Its been rather hectic at work and outside work with many mini-photography projects towards the end of last year. In fact, I still owe a few people some photographs to which I will be providing..soon. Real sorry for the delay.

Singapore trip went well and had a great time touring anything accessible with the MRT and anything else that uses the Easy Link card. Must really thank Sam and her family for their hospitality. The place was great and the location was easily accesible via public transport and close by to the city, just a few minutes walk to the entrance of NUS. Looks like I might be visiting again, real soon! (I still owe Sam her pen back). The main reason for the trip was a visit to Cathay Photo for some err.. equipment. Lets just say that the savings I made purchasing here compared to back home was more than the cost of the return bus tickets. Speaking of bus, the trip back was NOT fun at all with major jams near Ayer Keroh and the air-conditioning belt breaking down mid-way! I may not take Airebus again..

Had two weddings to attend in December as mentioned in previous post: one in Johor and another in Malacca. Was great travelling with friends, almost like an excursion. Other than that it was just more, and more photog outings during the weekends and a Christmas Eve steambot gathering amongst friends. New Year's eve was very low key for me..just home with the family seeing as to dad's birthday is on the 1st of Jan.

Other milestones (for me) included the purchase of an external 200Gb Maxtor drive to which I must thank nottyboy for his asssitance in the selection process. Needed this as I realise my old laptop's drive has less than 1Gb left and this was made worst and running resource intensive programs like Photoshop and DPP. Hopefully this drive can last me a while to satisfy my photog needs.

Stressful moments include the almost 'death' of my laptop. Luckily for me, opened it the next morning and got a message saying,

'Your machine has recovered from a serious error'

Serious error indeed. Teaches me to make sure all important things are backed up on the new drive. Case in point: a friend's wedding pics which I still need to give.