A photoblog

KFC

2008-07-23T00:13:00.003+08:00

KFC at night.. the Kianggeh Food Court lah. Its one of those places that we know exist but most of us dont visit anymore. I dont know why. I'm a frequent visitor, popping by late at night for a quick meal. Cheap, fast and lively. But i'm not the only one. Most nights the place is alive with young people, till the early mornings. Eating and chatting and smoking and generally making a lot of noise. The foods not that great but its available. The Sop hati buyah is nice though!! And the satay..well..there are four or five satay vendors there and i can say at least two of them are fantastic.

If you havent been there at nights, pop by. Its nice. Its still somewhat dirty, but its nice. Sometimes one wonders why the authorities havent done anything to fix the place up. It has plenty of potential. What does it take to move them to do something..???

Happy 62nd Birthday

2008-07-18T16:11:00.003+08:00

His Majesty's 62nd Birthday. Missed most of it because of a stomach bug. Missed the functions. Missed the fireworks. Missed lots of good photo opportunities.

I've been meaning to buy myself a 100mm Macro lens. But belum tersampai. Huh. Lots of opportunities to express creativity with them. But then again, i'm just afraid that after buying them, i wouldnt be much using them. Usually the case with us right.? Excited in the beginning but forgotten in the end. Typical human nature. I'm not a professional photographer. I dont use my Nikon to earn a living. So i should learn to live within my means, and to buy only what i need. sigh....

Mushroom

2008-07-11T12:51:00.003+08:00

Life is strange. Just when u think u have it figured out, it turns on you and you're left in the dark again.

Found this growing near the garage. I thought it looked at peace, growing in the shade

Again

2008-07-11T00:03:00.002+08:00

Two pics on Bandar at night, taken a week ago. I bet its looking better tonight.. but i'm still away and wouldnt be able to take any pics til tomorrow. These pics were taken on a short walkabout taken on a whim last week, at 1am. Didnt bring my tripod so a lot of the pics i took were shaky and blurry. These midnight jaunts are extremely fun..just remember to bring along a photgrapher buddy..so you wouldnt look so out of place.

SOAS at night

2008-07-08T15:47:00.002+08:00

Picture taken a week ago. In preparation for the celebrations for His Majesty's birthday. Bandar is lighted up about this time. SHould be nice. But i wouldnt know..i'm away at this moment..and in my infinite wisdom, i (mistakenly) decided not to bring my Nikon. Not a good idea. Sigh!!

Shes 13!!!

2008-07-07T18:35:00.006+08:00

Yet another birthday party. This time its our eldest. Just a simple affair at home.

Work

2008-07-06T11:05:00.002+08:00

We had some workmen over to the house the other day to do up some things. This one guy stood out. Works hard. Kept to himself. And he looks soo..... well, u decide.

Buggies in Serasa

2008-07-05T11:26:00.003+08:00

Took the kids to Serasa cos they've been talking about getting on those buggythingies all week. So we went, and they had a lot of fun. They have kiddie sized dune buggies there in Serasa...but only on Sundays. . Nice. Maybe a bit dangerous with all those people around but keep an eye on them and they should be okay.

These pics were taken during the last school holidays. We didnt go anywhere, just enjoying the hols in lovely Brunei.

Oh yeah, havent been updating a while. My macbook HDD conked out.. seems to be a common problem with the macs. But i have it back and all is good.

Sunset .. again

2008-06-20T16:43:00.003+08:00

Picture taken a couple of days back. Sunset. Looks dramatic.

Cloudy days are a boon for photographers..makes our pictures all that more dramatic. Makes for really good landscapes and nature pics. BUT... its LOUSY for my Astro reception!!!! Especially now during Euro2008. Its like seeing a series of photographs flashed across the screen. Oh Why cant Astro strengthen the power of their signal.....???

Storm

2008-06-17T15:23:00.002+08:00

Took this sometime ago. Weird clouds and weirder weather we're getting nowadays. Scary too. I was standing outside the house when this suddenly happened. And then it rained really heavily. Global warming..??

Muara beach facelift

2008-06-15T14:14:00.007+08:00

Muara beach is getting a facelift!! And about time too. And its nice. I like.

Pictures were taken last week.. a quick drop by just to get a few pics. It has all these little huts now, with bbq pits and long winding concrete pathways with cycle tracks. The beach is also cleaned up.. these big dozers were busily clearing up. The beach also have a nice new playground with new games (?). WIll be bringing my kids there soon...

in the garden..

2008-06-09T16:45:00.005+08:00

Just messing about in the garden. You know the drill...feeling bored but not really wanting to go anywhere with your camera. Lots of little things to point my camera to. Pity i dont have a macro lens..next on the shopping list me thinks.

Mischa

2008-06-07T21:08:00.003+08:00

This is Mischa..a friend's cat. Well kitten actually. Cute playful Mischa. Huh. This is her in the drain playing with her imaginary grasshopper..which is actually just a piece of grass that she plays with. I like Mischa. she listens to you. Call her and she runs to you. But those claws...

Lillies

2008-06-05T12:15:00.003+08:00

On my way to Miri during the long weekend.. endured the long queues because of my appointment.. then saw along the drains these beautiful lillies in bloom. Quickly took out my Nikon and snapped away. Then on the way back (late afternoon by then), saw them all closed up.

fun day part 2

2008-06-02T09:45:00.004+08:00

Okay. The second part.

Sunday's party wouldnt be complete without a giant water bouncer! So here you go. Kids had fun. All soaked, and tired, but they had fun.

A fun Sunday

2008-05-27T16:08:00.003+08:00

My little girl's birthday last Sunday!! It was just after mid year exams so we thought we'd give her a treat. Invited all her little school friends and had a nice party at home. Its great. We had party games and a great big water slide outside. Nice. These are just some of the pics i took. I'll post the second part later.

Danau beach

2008-05-20T21:43:00.019+08:00

Went to Danau beach on Sunday. Its somewhere in Telisai... Heard some good things about the place so decided to take a look see. Its nice and clean..though somewhat smallish. Looks nice and peaceful...but hidden menace---sandflies!!! Oh why are our beaches so full of sandflies??? A friend got bitten so much that he actually went to the A&E at RIPAS to get some relief. Huh!! Anyway, the place is good for family picnics etc..just make sure you bring some insect repellent.

SOAS ..

2008-05-17T22:14:00.002+08:00

SOAS, after the rainstorm the other night. I want to get this picture to remind me of the time when they cleaned the dome!

More flowers

2008-05-17T16:45:00.002+08:00

Just some more flower pics..a collection of pictures i took over the last few months. Been thinking about travelling..

The ISB inter-school swim meet

2008-05-07T18:20:00.007+08:00

Pics taken during the ISB inter-school swimming meet last Sunday. Hot day. Spent the whole day there. Because..my kids are competing!!!!! I am so proud. See if you can spot them..

shopping part 1

2008-04-22T23:02:00.004+08:00

This is in this building in Itaewon where they sell souvenir items and (ahem!) fake stuff. There was this woman who tried to sell us these really nice (and real looking!) fake watches...good brands and amazing copies. Asking for about B$106 a piece. I was tempted but no lah. What for?

Anyway, the place was nice and good. Lots of things for us tourists..

Itaewon

2008-04-17T13:54:00.008+08:00

Itaewon in Seoul, South Korea. The guide took us here on our first day, to walk around and explore.

Its nice. The weather was nice and cool and everything was busy. People were rushing and hurrying and all over the place. The place was alive and busy. It was nice. It all reminds me somewhat of edgware road in the UK. huh.

These pics were taken when we got there. The first pic was us getting ourselves aligned...doing the headcount (haha) and making sure everyone know where the meeting point was. See the worried faces..

p.s. This was the only place where we saw plenty of foreign faces. Lots of Angmoh ler. We later found out that Itaewon is the place where foreigners like to hang out. Lots of restaurants (a few halal indian and arabic ones) and bars and shopping. Itaewon is also where the main mosque is located. And, as the guide told us, 90% of the goods you find there are fakes or copies. yeah...

Kimchi-land

2008-04-10T11:06:00.008+08:00

I am now in the land of the Kimchi. A whole week here! Left Brunei on Sunday and am now in my room struggling to upload my pics.

Beautiful here. Nice and cold. Strong winds here so it gets pretty chilly at nights. But thats okay. Brought along my jumper and coats and its pretty nice and snug. Spend the days working but the rest of the time is pretty much spent exploring Seoul. I am with a group of Bruneians so , yep, its pretty much shopping shopping shopping. (Why is that???) But i can get away and explore on my own.

These are just some of my earlier pics. The plane, my room and some early glimpses of Seoul.

p.s. One annoying thing...our GSM phones dont work here so those who sms-ed me, sorry.

Paragliders

2008-03-31T23:29:00.019+08:00

Okay. Gonna put the rest of the pics in.

Went to Pantai Seri Kenangan in Tutong on Sunday. Met some paragliders.. Good guys all. Nice and friendly. Let me and my partner hang around as we took some pictures. Then as they start coming down, realised that they're old friends. Hah! Turned out we have an active paragliding society (club?) in Brunei. So far, some 25 of them are flying. Takes a week to learn to fly them things. But as they say, once you're up there, the feeling is so unreal. Its flying, without the airplane.

By the way, the beach in Pantai Seri Kenangan is beautiful!!! Clean and beautiful. But dont take my word for it... go see for yourself. During weekends they have those Dunebuggy thingies there...fun lah..only $10 for 20 minutes. Go crazy!!!

skyrider..

2008-03-31T19:43:00.001+08:00

Sunday. Pantai Seri Kenangan. I wish i was up there...

Apa kan ni..

2008-03-30T11:59:00.003+08:00

This was taken sometime lastyear. I was going through my folders and found these. We went 'fishing' in tungku beach. Just for the fun of it. Then we barbecued the little fishies. Was nice. havent gone much this year, but maybe will make the effort to go again soon. Kids love it.

Orchids

2008-03-28T00:55:00.009+08:00

This is for my parents. They grow orchids. Lots of them. And they grow them beautifully. It started as a hobby i guess but over time its become more a passion. They're there among their orchids everyday. Me, i dont have the patience to be growing flowers. They're beautiful no doubt but like i said, no patience. Maybe one day. When i'm old. Really old. Realy really old... These pics are of their garden..

colouring

2008-03-24T21:18:00.006+08:00

Havent been updating lately. Been having some problems with uploading pictures.

These are pictures taken of my baby and her cousins on Sunday. I took them to the 'colouring competition' at the Empire Cinema. Nice idea..kida just turn up with their parents and colour the stencils there. The cinema staff collects all entries, goes on to the judging on Tuesday, and calls up the winners. Nice. No waiting. No start times. Just a relaxed Sunday afternoon. Well done guys!!

Jill

2008-03-16T01:30:00.003+08:00

This is Jill. A friends' daughter. She is just so cute...

a blast!

2008-03-14T13:24:00.006+08:00

Had a birthday party for one of the boys last weekend. Got a huge water bouncer. Kids had a blast!!
Happy ninth birthday Big A!!!!

night

2008-03-13T18:17:00.000+08:00

Stood looking at this the other week. Is it made of cheese..?

The canopy walk

2008-03-10T19:11:00.007+08:00

Went up to the Canopy walk in Belalong a few weeks back. A leisurely early morning walk through pristine Temburong rainforest. Its a great feeling. Its tiring, having to climb some two thousand steps (i think), but in the end, the view from the top of the canopy walk/tower is just amazing. These are pics of the walk.

Muara

2008-02-28T22:34:00.006+08:00

Muara beach. Our best and most famous. I went there this evening. Went for a drive and to get a few shots. I was in for a surprise. The beach area was undergoing some maintenance work and i guess when they're done, the place will look beautiful. A real park-beach. But what surprised me and saddens me a lot was the state of the beach. It was a mess!!! The once sandy beach is now so dirty. Wheres the sand??? Its all so dirty.

Someone need to do something here. Major work. But we cant let Muara Beach be left in this state. Not like this.

lepak..

2008-02-17T19:13:00.003+08:00

Mucking about at the coffeebean in Bandar. On a slow sunday..

Sunset

2008-02-16T17:46:00.001+08:00

The sunset yesterday. Looks nasty... from my bedroom window in Berakas. But then, its better than today...its been raining the whole day.

serene

2008-02-15T17:54:00.001+08:00

Havent gone out lately so i'll just post this pic of a fishing boat i saw in Serasa. Calm waters on the right side of the spit and it just look serene.

Serasa

2008-02-13T15:29:00.004+08:00

Some pics of an outing to Serasa beach last Sunday. Not as crowded as usual but boleh lah. Its funny how Serasa always attract a large crowd by late afternoons, when loads of cars seems to converge there, just 'pusing pusing'. To see and be seen i guess.

Famous

2008-02-10T19:00:00.000+08:00

Saw these guys at Serasa. I heard they're famous.

..still the New Year

2008-02-08T23:52:00.002+08:00

Continuing on the Chinese New Year theme..some pics taken off the NBT site. NBT really did a great service to everyone by doing up their site with the festival themes. Lots of people there, all with their cameras. I like.

New Year

2008-02-07T23:37:00.000+08:00

Happy New year. Didnt go out today. Wasnt doing so well. Not a good start for me, but i wish all a very happy new year!!!

Pasar basah

2008-02-06T23:53:00.000+08:00

The wetmarket, pasar. I dont go often enough. Not as much as i should. Prefer going to the supemarket nowadays. I guess many people do And you can see that at the pasar. Slow. Not many people. I guess maybe its cleaner at the supermarket. Not so wet, and no smell. Yeah, the smell. Pity lah. Going to the pasar is an adventure. You get to see all that fish, crabs etc, and you get to see the sellers. Like i said..interesting!

The Cafe

2008-02-05T21:15:00.000+08:00

Just a pic taken at a cafe in Qlap. I was trying out my new toy.. a little 8mp Olympus camera i got as a gift. A far cry from my Nikon DSLR but just as effective, especially for those candid shots. Its an interesting little camera..all automatic and just point and shoot. But the images are good. And it fits into my pocket so i carry it everywhere now. Hehe..

The picnic

2008-02-04T19:23:00.000+08:00

Some pics of the picnic we had recently. Great fun.

People say pictures say a thousand words. So i wont say anything.

water

2008-02-03T00:41:00.000+08:00

My son's experiment. He asked to take a shot of a water splash. He was throwing these large rocks onto the little drain while i try to take a pic. Out of 20 shots, i only managed to get a couple of splashes. I am not very good at this.

huts and sand

2008-02-01T18:06:00.000+08:00

Pantai Seri Kenangan again, this time along the beach further to the right. Its beautiful there for picnics and just lazing and doing nothing. Nice long white sandy beach. And there are these little huts and shacks all along the beach from the days when the people of the nearby villages used to hangout there on lazy sunday afternoons. Its all run down nowadays. Pity. I guess they dont go down to the beach as often nowadays.

Monkeys

2008-01-31T19:02:00.000+08:00

The proboscis monkey. Caught a whole group of them the other day, just playing in the trees. Some small, some large-ish. Like flying jua durang atu. Happily hopping from one tree to another. I couldnt get closer because i was on the jetty thingy at the Makam diLuba (or something), err....thats somewhere in Bunut. Caught these on my 400mm. Maybe next time i'll venture closer.

playground

2008-01-30T14:44:00.000+08:00

The playground in Pantai Seri Kenangan on a Sunday. Lots of kids playing..some doing what kiddies do and play innocently, while some already displaying some anti-social tendency by showing their tough guy-ness. Damit damit sudah!!! Great they have these facilities at the beaches sudah.

tyreshop

2008-01-29T20:38:00.000+08:00

Had some problems with my wheels the other day. So i stopped at this professional-looking tyre shop and i had them take a look at it. Nice people there. Three indonesians..couldnt stop smiling, especially after i whipped out my camera. Heehee. Thats what i call service with a smile. One of them is a girl...i asked her if her job is the same. She said 'ngak eh'. She only helps out, not doing the heavy tyre stuff. Sort of like a PR lah. They did a good job. And it only cost me 8 bucks. Nice.

fishing boats

2008-01-27T19:32:00.001+08:00

Went for a drive today. Dropped by Jerudong beach. Fishing boats coming in, and the fishermen sorting out their catch. At least i think thats what they're doing. I oso dont know..never done that before. They look like they're having fun.

schoolbags

2008-01-24T19:08:00.000+08:00

This was interesting. I saw this the other week. Schoolbags look good now. Knapsacks style. Kinda cool. And they come in all colours. .which is kinda nice. This was taken in Bandar. I like the way the bags are displayed. Easy to choose. I wonder if they last..?

More water fun

2008-01-23T12:36:00.000+08:00

Taken last December in KL. We love water. Kids love playing in water. Well..that and computer games. Good fun.
I took a lot of pictures that day. Still having a hard time organising them.

2008-01-21T18:27:00.000+08:00

Kids went bowling recently at the Empire. Had lots of fun. They dont know how to bowl the right way...but who says its gotta be right? But it was fun for them. Lots of gutter balls lah. Biasa lah...balls are too heavy for them. The bigger boys i think were kinda shy playing next to some girls who were playing next to them. tsk tsk tsk!

Beach soccer

2008-01-20T18:13:00.000+08:00

Having fun on Muara beach...playing beach soccer...or whatever its called. We have these nice facilities on the beach..for soccer, volleyball, bbqs . Maybe we should build a golf course on the beach. hahaha! That would be fun! See who can hit that fat guy bobbing in the water. hehe. Luckily the family has lots of kids for soccer. Fun that way. Right after us, these group of bigger guys started playing. Tediam kami bah! hah! They play rough! Are they playing for money..???

Waves

2008-01-19T12:13:00.002+08:00

The strength within. Looking from afar, the water looks calm, with gentle rolling waves spewing onto the beach. Until you see its power as it pounded the rocks. Over and over. And you realise that all is not what it seems.

Kids having fun

2008-01-18T16:00:00.000+08:00

Our beach fun in Tungku. We let the kids play in the surf, with those large-ish waves. With us adults staying on the beach and looking on. And they had fun. They had lots of fun. Which prompted some of us adults to join the kids playing in the water. Tungku beach is beautiful. It has these nice big waves that just keep on pounding and pounding. Lots of fun being in there. I saw some people bringing body boards and those little surfboard thingies. That must be really fun!

Tamu

2008-01-17T18:45:00.001+08:00

Pics of the old tamu. Taken on a busy Friday. It was fun. Tho i had to take from afar becos i wouldnt think people here would welcome a Melayu moving with an SLR and clicking in their faces. Funny how its ok for a tourist to do that but not for a local. But the tamu is a wonderul photo opportunity. Lots of colourful characters. I did see some kids playing rather dangerously on the dry river tho. Kinda yucky too i thought.

JP lights

2008-01-17T00:49:00.000+08:00

The lights in Jerudong Park in December. Was beautiful but wished there were more. I thought i had seen most of the animals before at a friends' house. Hmmm.

Down at the padi field

2008-01-16T20:12:00.000+08:00

A visit to the farm. My anak-anak had fun huh? yeah..they dont go down to the farm much. And when they're there, all they do is run around and throw stuff. But they're curious little people..they ask about everything from the padi plant to the little birds that fly all over. Nice huh?

On the rocks

2008-01-15T17:59:00.000+08:00

Pictures taken among the rocks in Serasa. We were driving around on a Sunday. Saw lots of people fishing. Banyak bah! Interesting how many people are taking up fishing nowadays. I personally find it boring but there must be something in it for these people. Its hot too. Maybe when i was small kecik-kecikdulu dulu fishing was interesting. But its just not my thang nowadays. Besides, i get my fish from the pasar. Lagi senang.

Took these shots on my telephoto at (i think) 400mm. It was early afternoon so was hot. And the suns too bright and too vertical.

Kites

2008-01-14T23:10:00.000+08:00

Kids playing kites. Brought them to Serasa beach, buy some real cool kites, and play. NIce. First time for them. The boy is cute though. He wanted to play. But know what..the parents ended up playing with their kites.

Bouncerkids

2008-01-14T19:51:00.000+08:00

First post in this new beginning..pics of the neighbouhood kids playin on this huge bouncer thingy during a birthday bash recently. Kids looked like they had a good time. Wish i was young again!!!