December 18th,19th & 20th - Wedding Bells in Kuantan

Due... due... due... One week due, as usual. Apologies for the late entry, again. If anybody out there who considers my blog my homework and acts teacher at that, he/she would be pissed big time. LOL!

December 2009 has been blessed with non-working Fridays. This week, on the 18th, it's Awal Muharram, translated into a New Year in the Islamic lunar calendar. So Soon Joo is getting married on Saturday (they've been engaged forever), and we decided to show our support (and to bankrupt him) by going to his wedding reception in Kuantan.

I took a lot of out-focus photos. Weddings are a rush, it's no wonder Rashdi (one of my photography sifus) said that it's impossible to shoot weddings with a compact. So the photos are really bad in actual size, so I had to resize them down to about 1/3 of a usual upload size to be presentable. But showing small photos is so last century now, so I actually made a slideshow video out of them. I thought that people wouldn't mind the small photos in a video so much because they think I had to resize them that small to fit all those photos on one screen! LOL! Yes, amateur photographers like me do cheat.

Anyway, I can't find a way to link the video here (yet), so I'm just going to blockquote the stuff I wrote in that video here, adding a little explaination...

We embedded out footprints in Kuantan, for our friends Joo & Angie, to celebrate their joyous union of love.

Let these memories be kept alive eternally, with only the best wishes for our friends.

Thank you for your generous hospitality.

Here, there's a photograph of Joo and Angie sitting on the Tai Gong Tai Po chairs at the place we stayed. That place is so huge and elegantly decorated we think it caused Joo a fortune. First reason of his "bankruptcy".

19/12/2009: Joo & Angie
Wedding of the year

There's a really pretty photo from their pre-wedding photo album here. I snatched it from their wedding announcement website. If anybody believed I took and edited that photograph, i seriously thank you for your trust in my ability.

We rose early in the morning...

This were followed by photographs I took in the morning (before 7:00AM) while we few who rose and readied early waited for those who are still dressing and grooming. I'm not going to say who, but i am sure we know.

We saw Angie received and welcome into Joo's family...
Some of us fought alongside Joo...
To win Angie's hand in marriage...

Here's a big chunk of the video documenting the traditional wedding ceremony, from Joo's house to Angie's house and back to Joo's house. Seriously, lots of shots were killed here because there were too many people (I keep getting hands and heads in the middle of my focus) and the action was too rapid (blurs... a pain...). And we ate endlessly! Joo & Angie provided endless buffets, we think this could be the second reason for Joo's "bankruptcy".

We witnessed their vows before God.

They had another wedding ceremony at the church. More hands, heads and blurs. But we did took a lot of photographs outside the church, just among ourselves, that I did not include in the video.

We then dressed and groomed...
Ate and drank to their joyous union.

The wedding dinner. Everybody was so different! And I raked compliments. LOL! And there were photographs of food and beverages. I cheated again by including some of the food that doesn't belong to the wedding dinner. But hey, space is not cheap in the journalism business. (LOL!)

And then we had joy and we had fun.

This is the part where photographs of the trip down to Teluk Cempedak. Not my first time, but then it's different because this time, the wind was overpowering. We had ridiculously funny shots of people acting stupid on purpose. Woohoo~ and I got Samson and Loong Hung to do the Titanic pose. They are the prettiest couple ever! San Jiun posted the photograph on Facebook first before I made the video, and I joked that she should take it down because it's my idea, and she really did (Wow!). Oh, and just in case I forget one day, Loong Hung knits! How about that?!

And then we went home.
-The End-
Credits:
Soon Joo, Angeline & their family,
Wai Yan, Bee Aik, Shu San, Yea Ling, Chui Yoke, Choon Kiat, Lik Sin,
Sam, San Jiun, Samson, Loong Hung, Douglas, Jo-Ann,
Wen Sharn, Agnes, Srinda, Akzam, Joo's Groomsmen, Angie's Bridesmaids,
Finally, Ah Kao, Ah Miao, Ah Gu, Ah Huey...

And that was it. That was the end of the video I made. Oh, by the way, the background music is Jon Schmidt's Love Song cum Viva la Vida mix. Joo and Angie played it as their wedding theme at the dinner. So I might as well (couldn't say I don't like it anyway).

I might find a way to post the video here. Might, OK? Till then, here's the end to this blog!

---

UPDATE: Uploaded the video to facebook and embedded it here. Might have permission problems because only friends can view my video. Looking for a way to change this. In the meantime, here's a no guarantee embed.

November 21st & 22nd - Rainy Port Dickson

My blog is getting late. I keep forgetting to update. Here's another long-overdue update. A lab trip to Port Dickson with the lab people. I'm so going to miss you when you or me graduate. Ha ha ha ha...


This less-than-24-hour trip is so full of emotions: The excitement of being in Port Dickson for the first time, the joy of seeing a beach, the disappointment at the first feeling of rain droplets, the adrenaline surging as we ran for the house, the innocence as we played in the rain like children, the hunger as we waited for dinner, the overstuffing because of food overload, the worry as we learned of Siew Fen's injury, the pity as we watched her deal with her pain, etc.

Yes, there are indeed much to be remembered.

October 25th - Sunset @ Putrajaya

Putrajaya Botanical Garden, because Bee Aik had mentioned that she wanted to go and because I thought there would be great shots.

It wasn't very bad. The place is situated in the city in the gardens, so the gardens would have to be of certain standards, I guess. It was green enough; It's got water; It's got magnificent views; It's educational; But I did not get as much satisfactory shots as I'd anticipated. This however might have a lot to do with the mood, the weather, and the settings...

Most memorable is the "salty-egg-yolk" -- the Sunset. Haven't seen a sunset this clear since forever. It was too bad, however, that I hadn't the fate for my childhood ritual for sunsets -- counting down from 100 at a certain level, till the fireball falls into the sea beyond sight. I used to do it with ma; It has just occured to me that the reminiscence had made me miss my mother. Hmmmm~~~

October 17th - Painful experiences @ Chiling Waterfall

Apologies for only writing this post now, which is a-whole-week overdued.

Kuala Kubu Baru, a town about an hour and a half drive from Kuala Lumpur City Centre, holds a gem known to many -- Chiling River. The hilly setting of the area made this beautiful sight possible -- Chiling waterfall.

From the small flatland where we park our cars to the arch welcoming us to Chiling Fish Santuary, to the Trekking trail entrance; we had to walk 10-20 minutes. Then, it was a hike of jungle trails and river crossing, for approximately an hour to two to this beautiful heaven on earth.

Jacelyn's ex-colleagues planned this trip. They invited Jacelyn, who invited Shing and I to come along. It's my second involvement in physical activities with the girls in about three years of our time together (the first being a cycling trip at Taman Pertanian Shah Alam, that I spent learning and failing cycling :p). I think the girls surprised me, because they were usually not as keen on activities like this, and would always make fun of me as the one who likes to get in touch with Nature.

The hike was not as challenging as hill-hiking at Apeh Hill or Broga Hill, because they were not as steep. Although, we did skip the last steepest climb to another waterfall (which the guys did go up for a look). The water was cold and very vast, as it rained on the previous night. The strong current made it easy to slip and fall into the water while crossing the river along the trek. I slipped almost 4 times, I think. The final destination was breathtaking and calming at the same time. The water was strong, hence the power could be felt over the sounds of water hitting rocks; but the cool water flowing past while you stand or sit in the pool seem to drift pressure away.

Ahh, what a getaway... Ha ha ha... Oh, why was it painful if I could only praise its beauty, you ask? Well, that was because I spent the entire trip feeling weak from a stomachache. What a pity! (By that I meant @#$%&!)

September 20th & 21st - Raya Holidays

Raya's always been a big holiday although I'm myself am not celebrating the end of a month-long fast. This year's Raya falls on a Sunday, thus giving us a wonderful 4-day-long escape from the dreadful chores of daily life.

My original plan to spend this weekend in Cameron fell apart when we could not get any accomodations - most budget-range hotels were fully-booked. So, instead of relaxing with the cool breeze in the hills, my friends and I chose to embrace the sunshine on flat-land. LOL!

Our destinations: Sepang Gold Coast Beach and Melacca. (and of course shopping was included whenever possible in our itinerary!)

On the afternoon of 20th September, we (Shing, my sister and I) drove (and got a little bit lost, but got back on track thanks to a foreigner-jogger and Shing's Google GPS!!!) to the Sepang Gold Coast Beach. We arrived at about 6:30pm, just in time to enjoy a little non-detrimental sunshine and a walk on the not-so-wide beach. We looked at the construction of the Gold Coast (which is supposed to resemble a palm tree pattern looking from above), watched other people run/walk/picnic/photograph/bathe at the beach. The water was a copper-coloured tint, and thus we did not wish to touch it.

There were several expensive-looking F&B establishments there that we did not feel up to trying. But we did snap quite a few dozens of photographs. It was a nice place to play a bit with the lightings and reflections, and I'm quite pleased with some of those that I did, (*smug*) although some of them needed a little minor editing. (*bleh*)


On the morning of September 21st, we (Shing, May and I) gathered RM100 each and set foot (into the car first, of course, and then) onto Melacca, the historical city. Although not really there for the history (I don't really remember any of the stuff we learnt in school about Melacca), we were into the culture (F&B *duh*), lifestyle (special designed clothing & apparels) and architectures (those buildings look nice, but we don't really care what they were and/or are for) of Melacca city.

Yep, although it was just two days, although it was just Malaysia, but we sure had fun, hadn't we? (*smilez*)

July 25th - Shape & Men's Health Night Run

First ever marathon! Was fun! But some said 5km is not exactly a marathon. =p Who cares? I was there for the fun and the goodie bag!

The shoes... from middle (single) clockwise: My new power (My Dora was stolen last week... wuuu...), TK's unknown, Lyson's (Glamour name - I never asked how he spell his name) Nike, Star's Reebok, CK's unknown, and MP's power. Right picture is Sakura's sandals... Obviously there as spectator only... Eh, where was Parami?!

The goodie bag and the goodies! Actually girls are supposed to get pink one with "Shape" inscribed, but I cheated and asked CK to help me get a red one. Yeay! 'Cause nobody wanted to change with me, they all too man for pink. I also change the Clear shampoo for men with CK for the Clear extra strength, so I got two. =p Apart from that, there are still some really gender specific things in the bag: like a pack of condoms for example, and... ta-da... breast enlargement supplement pills!!! The guys are so going to get a laugh-at!!! =p

July 10th, 11th, 12th - Going home away from home

I needed a break. That was the main reason, aside smaller less-significant reasons I chose to drive myself home to this home away from home: my sister's place in Skudai.

It was a fun road trip, all in all... I saw the Ayer Keroh Skybridge Restaurant, Baskin Robbin's hut at Ayer Keroh Rest Stop, and Mary Brown's Maskot driving in Kulai. Ha ha ha... So cute...

My sister's love nest had lots of pigs, and pig-sties. :-p If my sister read this she would probably plan to kill me the next time she sees me. Oh, they have a big TV, and Astro too... Wah-lao-eh...

I bought a new water bottle. The blue one is mine. Brother-in-law gave me a racket, because he said he has many and that one is the least used. I found out that Sis is a med addict. Ha ha ha... literally, of course.

On Saturday, the couple took me to play badminton. I took their picture while resting. Bro's a very very good player. He didn't break a sweat playing against me and Sis. He can even play two shuttlecocks in the air. One for each of us. It was fun getting the rhythm and trying to fail him.

On the way back to UKM, I found this hotel at Ayer Keroh, and made me wonder if creativity really is limited. If you had wanted to copy, couldn't you at least have came up with something grammatically correct? "Now everyone can stay"? *Duh*

This trip home was more like going home than I'd ever expected. Sis and Bro were very much like Ma and Pa: Sis talks to Bro like Ma talks to Pa; Sis nags Bro like Ma does Pa; Sis and Bro argue like Ma and Pa do; I get the feeling of being stuck in the middle when Sis and Bro had a fight, just like when Ma and Pa had one. That made me think that Sis is right, when she said they were as good as married. I don't really like what I see in the role of a wife, I hope I won't be like that, or else I'd hope I'll never be one.

July 4th - Heading Home

The earliest day that I've risen in the three months I'm here -- at four in the morning.

Last minute packing and leaving of a note to Pauline and Alf, made me leave the house at fifteen past five. I dreaded missing my bus to Heathrow, but the bus was late. It was more than half an hour late, but it got us to Heathrow half an hour earlier.

After check in, Peg came to see me. I treated her to her favourite doughnuts with the last of the Pounds I had with me. I think it was just about enough. She had wanted to pay for it at first, so I shoved all of my coins into her coin bag. I had forgotten how much I had, and I don't remember how much the doughnuts and drinks costed. Peg, was the first familiar face I see when I reach UK, and the last familiar face I see when I leave UK. Thank you, Peg!

The long journey home lasted hours to almost a day, and got me back to KLIA on the morning of July 5th, looking frazzled and dazzled. I had not sleep all along the ride, to avoid jetlag. I hope I don't get it. :-)

I am home, finally, I am home.

This blog will terminate here. Well, terminate being updated daily, at least. It will be updated to include exciting trips and events, but no day-to-day logging of what I do anymore. Be glad that you will probably never see my food anymore (to those who complained, and that's a lot).

I will soon organize a CD of non-redundant photographs, to share with family and friends. Do ask, (to my face) if you are interested to take a look but I have not shown you. Cheers.

July 3rd - Day 90

The last episode! Ha ha ha ha... Somebody was chasing me for this last post in the comment of Day 89 post. I'm sorry. Have been busy packing and preparing for flight on the last night, and have been busy arriving in Malaysia. Ha ha ha ha...

The last Friday, the last working day, the last day: The last breakfast, the last lunch, the last dinner, the last walk, the last sleep -- in Cambridge. A day filled with reminiscence. This foreign ground, why do I seem to dread leaving it for a familiar soil?

The last breakfast was the last nectarine, the last yoghurt and the last pair of pastry: Raspberry crowns. The last lunch was free, because my boss bought them. The last dinner was pasta with the last pork steak and the last of the vegetables in the last of the gravy.

Woke up extra early today to take a special walk, to see a bit of Cambridge before people wake up. Went out and post the last postcard home from the postbox nearest the place I call home in Cambridge. And took memories to last. Parker's Piece was the piece of green that I have to walk on every weekday, towards the Catholic Church, my destination every weekday. There's a crossroad that I had to pass on the green every weekday, at which stood a lamp post.

When I got to Catholic Church, it was too early, the streets were empty, so I took the road down the left of the church, which I don't usually walk. Saw some things that I don't usually see... And then turn back to the church, to take one last time of the first bus in the morning. Took a picture of me at the waiting place before anybody showed up, so they don't look at me like I'm an idiot, before I went on the de'tour. When I went back, I stood on the opposite of the road and took a picture of a line of people waiting for the bus, you should imagine that I could have been one of them, waiting in line.

Sanger, a place where I have been for weeks, and yet have never taken a piece of permanent memory. Today, on the last day, it is natural that I do, for I might never get the chance again. I love those steel balls. There were three that I could see everyday, if there were more I have never seen them. The smallest one stood just outside Morgan building. the middle one stood near the bus stop, and the largest one stood on the way to Sulston building, where I work, in Room D2-42, at the corner desk to the left of the door. On the side of Sulston, there was a wooden carving recording all the organism which Sanger has ever sequenced (or took part in the sequencing of). At the back of Sulston, there is a piece of huge green, where people assemble in an emergency.

Arnab bought me a card, and had everybody signed it. It said "Sorry you're leaving us! We miss you already..." on the front and "...and you haven't even left yet!" inside. Arnab and Adam thanked me for my work (hard work, they say), Jacqui, John, Thomas, and Uli wished me all the best for my future, and Jason wished me a bon voyage (in Chinese, way down the bottom right).

Back from work, I took the last walk along Cam River and into city center. Stood on some of the bridges and said "Goodbye, Cambridge." in my mind. I gazed beyond the river, looked up upon the gargoyles (the third gargoyle, from left, on the walls of Keys college, Paul told me the other day, is his gargoyle.), touched the brick walls and know I will miss them one day.

I got a shot of the fountain in the middle of Market Square, which I could never take during the time of the market being open when people are sitting there and being conscious that I'm taking a photo with them in it. I passed La Raza, which was the first restaurant that I had dined-in in Cambridge, thanks to Paul. I passed the flower patch at Christ's Piece and remembered that when I just came, it was blooming tulips. Now, as I'm about to leave, the flowers of summer are in full bloom, none of which I could name (except daisies).

I am going home... although not the home I would most like to go to, I am going home.