Monday, March 30, 2009

The departure, the arrival ..

30th March 2009. This marks the day the loyal Sentra leaves my side.

It has been 21 years since my family welcomed the Sentra. I was still in kinder garden then. And for 21 years, she has served my dad, then myself, so well. The 250k milleage registered on her meter is a proof of the journeys we've traveled together. To have to let her go, pains me. I had the chance to have a little photo session with the old ride before sending it over for a trade in. It's amazing how after 21 years, she still stood solid, proud and abreast for the shots.

On a brighter note,

30th March 2009. Also, marks the day I welcome the latest addition to the family. My new Pearl White Myvi SE.

She is awesome! She roars, she shines, and she's smokin hot! She's my vivi!

Nothing to write about it yet, since I've only driven it for 15minutes from the shop and back home. I will however, provide a full review on it after I'm done taming it.

Coincidently, I got the same number plate as Peter. 863. What are the odds!? CREEPY WEYYYY!!!

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

William Shakespeare

"There is a tide in the affairs of men.
Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune.
Omitted, all the voyage of their life
is bound in shallows and in miseries.
On such a full sea are we now afloat,
and we must take the current when it serves,
or lose our ventures."

William Shakespeare ..

A brand new dawn?

"Life is all memory, except for the one present moment that goes by you so quickly you hardly catch it going.."

Tennessee Williams .

Questions.

How far have I gone in 10 years?
Actually lets take out 10 years and talk just about the 2 years I have been in Agilent.
Have I done well?
Have I done enough?
Can success be measured?
Is there a barometer that we can use? Is there a suitable scale?

A few weeks ago, I would have said that I could care less.
I have seen what 30 years of an engineering career could give you. But all the same, I have also seen what it could not give you. A good man once said to me. "Work, be it part of your life. Not your life itself." And I utterly agree. I go to work everyday, thinking that it is just a job, that what I really care about is to enjoy my everyday. All I wanted was to earn a shit load of cash, serve out the remaining years of my bond in Agilent, get out, and open a quiet little cafe where I could hang out, lay cozy on a plush sofa and read books on quotes by really important people. I want something in my life, and the engineering route just didn't seem to be able to give me that.

Then it happened. I was chosen. A chance served on a silver platter, and they probably are throwing in caviars just as well. A chance to build a legacy you say? This is it. Lets hope I appreciate it and do good. California baby!

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Sunrise atop the Pearl of Orient

This was the first sunrise photoshoot outing I had, just a few weeks back with a bunch of my colleagues. Armed with our cameras and tripods, we headed out at around 5.45am from my place, and managed to catch the first tram up to Penang Hill at 6.30am. Arriving at the top at 7am, the view made it seemed like we were standing at the top of the world. Majestic, was just the right word to describe it. We were all in awed, well, that was besides feeling cold to our bones! The wind was so strong, a few of us smart asses were left wondering why we never brought along any sweater.

Anyways, it was all worth it. Here goes the shots.

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This is among my favourites. The reddish branches in front of the photo brought out the sunrise behind it, at least that's what I think.

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A darker version of it

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Still rising ..

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And they say I'm a slow riser..

After the sun came fully up, we continued our photo shooting session around Penang Hill with Too, my colleague being our model of the day. I would have to ask her permission first before postsing the photos, so I guess that would have to wait till the next post.

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Signing off with this shot

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

My Genting trip

I'll start off with the conclusion of this post first. I absolutely love my Ultra Wide Angle Lense!
Why? Read on.

It was pretty frustrating recently, on how I managed to turn every single discussion with my parents on the new job opportunity I have, into a shouting match. So here, I decided to take a breather, and chill a bit (literally) up in Genting. It was a last minute reservation, and I did not ask anyone along for the trip. I wanted some alone-time, to ponder upon everything. All I had with me was my lappie, and my beloved DSLR.

With the holiday on Monday, it was no wonder the rates were so ridiculously expensive. Rm200 per night for a small square space and 2 mattresses which they call a room is seriously an overkill. Though that was all gonna change. I'll come to that later.

I took the 10.30pm bus from the Penang Sungai Nibong Bus Station, and slept all the way. The journey took about 6 hours, and the bus managed to reach First World at about 5am in the morning. As expected, I could only get my room at around noon, so I took out my DSLR and started wandering around. If you need a place to clear yer mind, Genting is one of the places you should consider really. The 5am breeze was really soothing..and for a moment, all my worries seem to vanish.

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After getting my room at 11am, I put in an hour of nap, then I was off to the casino. There could only be one table I was heading to, and it was the Texas Hold Em table over at Casino de Genting. Although it was different from the normal Texas Hold Em, whereby everyone plays against the Dealer instead of against each other, that would do. It was spanking good I would say. The table has a minimum bet of RM25, I started off with RM500 in chips, and managed to grow my stack to around RM2800. Awesome huh! Well, there was always gonna be a "but" in the story, I managed to lose it all away in the end. Though, I had some stroke of good luck in the end, getting a pair of AA in my own hand. The payout was 30 times my bet! That took my overall winnings to RM400+, enough to cover the whole of my trip. I made the wisest decision of the whole night to walk away with that. :)

I had a fast dinner over at some chinese restaurant, then sat out at Star Bucks for a while. It was kinda nice, sitting there slowly sipping my hot coffee as I took in the cool fresh air.

I spent the whole next morning poking around..with my DSLR that is. Here goes. One picture speaks a thousand words. What about a bunch of them then? Here goes, hopefully it shows why I absolutely love my Ultra Wide Angle Lens.

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First World Hotel

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Fooling around with the wide angle ..

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Genting Hotel Lobby

IMG_3778Noah's Ark.

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The bus home ..

I now have a clear head. Plenty of thinking yet to do I guess. :) Go get em I say.

William Faulkner once said:
"Always dream and shoot higher than you know you can do. Don't bother just to be better than your contemporaries or predecessors. Try to be better than yourself.
"