bbq,fireworks and 1 more day!!!

yest was the annual bbq with the japanese host family. this year was definitely better than last. fireworks and maybe a younger crowd(that talks alot)

we were picked up from our hostel at about 4pm and we went to tomidaya for food. stuff at tomidaya is bloody cheap..10 eggs for 80 yen??! half price offer. sadly its a 30min bicycle ride so hardly go there. we bought the usual. beef pork prawns noodles and hottate(some kinda shell)

the family's daughter and her husband joined us this year. being radio announcers they sure talk alot which made things fun. anyways here's some pics

during summer, japanese love fireworks from the very small to the very huge.small would b like this pic while big will be during festivals where sometimes 100k+ shots are fired!i like this pic(mainly becoz i took it =P) btw,all shots from kien's t10

my magical wand! she's rie btw,the family's daughter (to be honest i dunno the family's name so it shall be referred as the family)
more bright lights!
group photo.the guy at the back right is rie's husband,gen. he produces some shows as well, just maybe i might appear later on radio..not exactly a good thing though...

me cooking??

yaki soba.. first time i hear ppl putting beer with soba. pretty good though. another technique learned =)
rie

i'll be leaving tomorrow for melb! i dont know, the excitement just hasnt kicked in yet. i'm sure i"ll have a good time though and hopefully, just hopefully, steffi will remember to pick me up tomorrow.if she doesn't i"m gonna throw her yukata awayyy!

Umno man: ‘Birth of a Nation’ is wrong

took the title from The Star, article can be found here.

Article's like this,

IPOH: The phrase “The Birth of a Nation” is misleading and gives the impression that Malaysia was only born 50 years ago, said Tambun Umno Youth division chief Nasir Ismail.

He said this was an insult to the country as it portrayed the Malays as a race without a nation of their own.

“Malaysia has taken concrete steps to break the shackles of the imperialists' economic marginalisation,” he said during the divisional meeting here yesterday.

He explained that the Tourism Ministry had been using that phrase to promote the country in its advertisements abroad.

first thing that popped out of my mind while reading this, is Malaysia a Malay country? Malacca wasn't a country? obviously it seemed to him that the Kingdom of Malacca and that of Kedah on others aren't a country because Malaysia is the only country Malays have been in. seriously, wtf???

again, while the top guns in BN keep shouting for racial tolerance(i do praise Abdullah in PM issue in Penang) but it's always the little puppies that keep yapping about ketuanan melayu, or crap like this!

If you want to be detailed, the Federation of Malaysia is not 50 years old but 44 to be exact. Malaya as a country with Singapore gained it's independance in 1957 but Malaysia was only formed with Sarawak,Sabah and Brunei in 1963. so yes, since Malaya was not a country(according to the UMNO man), the malay's were 'countriless' so why the hell did the chinese and indians gave up so much for nationality and political 'power' ???

君のかえる場所(Kimi no Kaeru Basho)

This is the song by Tokito Saburo when he sang in Hanayome to Papa. very nice song. will try to translate it if i have time. thanks jay_han !

one more week!!!!!!!!!!

It was nice

It was nice talking to you, been a while eh? i know you're gonna have fun without me :)

more pics!

raw processed pics of the church. no.3 is my pick. :)




just about a week!

HDR

High Dynamic Range. when shooting against direct sunlight, notice that either your subject is dark or the sky is just blown away. there are a few ways to overcome this. one is by using a nd grad filter, photomerging in photoshop. lately, the 'in' technique would be HDR or High Dynamic Range. taking multiple shots in different exposures , then combining it in photoshop to get all the details at every exposure level. it creates somewhat of a 3d image.

here are some shots using this technique. doesn't have the 3d look cause the sun wasn't behind the subject.still the sky has plenty of detail, which is pretty cool. the pics are of oogaki's new church.it's now a 30 mins walk from the station but at least now it has somewhat a resemblance of a church. more of it next post!

Back Log

i have a bunch of photos yet to be processed...busy weekend. reports are keeping me away from photoshop! anyways, here's a few shots from sat's college track n field meet. i mostly concentrated on the triple jump event as i couldn't get any other good shots from my position.


diving???they do dive in triple jump!
dash! panning is just so funn
@calvin, i would say that this pic has feelings. the look on his face is unique, disappointment.
flying high!
maybe i'll post more from the meet if i have time to process it. another event is getting my priority at the moment =P

2 more weeks babeh!

My favourite love song =P

was reading thru a forum about fav j-love songs and i guess utada's cover of ozaki yutaka's i love you probably ranks on top ( yes, it's better than first love)incidentally, this song is also oricon's (japan's billboard eq) top 100 no.1 love song.

the lyric's

Romaji

I love you ima dake ha kanashii uta kikitakunai yo
I love you nogare nogare tadoritsuita kono heya
nanimokamo yurusareta koi jyanai kara
futari ha maru de suteneko mitai
kono heya ha ochiba ni umoreta akibako mitai
dakara omae ha koneko no you na nakigoe de
kishimu beddo ue de yasashisa wo mochi yori
kitsuku karada dakishimeaeba
sore kara mata futari ha me wo tojiru yo
kanashii uta ni ai ga shirakete shimanu you ni

I love you wakasugiru futari ai ni ha furarenu himitsu ga aru
I love you ima no kurahsi no naka de ha tadoritsukenai
hitotsu ni kasanari ikiteyuku koi wo
yume mite kizutsuku dake no futari da yo
nando mo aishiteru tte kiku omae ha
kono ai nashi de ha ikite sae yukenai to
kishimu beddo no ue de yasashisa wo mochi yori
kitsuku karada dakishimeaeba
sore kara mata futari ha me wo tojiru yo
kanashii uta ni ai ga shirakete shimanu you ni

sore kara mata futari ha me wo tojiru yo
kanashii uta ni ai ga shirakete shimanu you ni

translated

I LOVE YOU
Please, I don't wanna hear a sad song right now
I LOVE YOU
Run away, Run away, it's this room I found myself in
Our love had its limitations
so we're like abandoned stray cats * 1
this room is like our empty box, buried in fallen leaves
that's why you cry out like a kitten
we bring naivety to the creaky bed,
when we hold each other tightly,
then we'll close our eyes again,
and hope that our love doesn't lose its passion in a sad song.

I LOVE YOU
there's a secret which our love, too young, can't reach.
I LOVE YOU
living the way we do now, we'll never get there
We just hurt each other,
dreaming of a love living as one
You've heard 'I love you' so many times,
you can't live without this love.
we bring naivety to the creaky bed,
when we hold each other tightly,
then we'll close our eyes again,
and hope that our love doesn't lose its passion in a sad song.

then we'll close our eyes again,
and hope that our love doesn't lose its passion in a sad song.

he was talking about himself and his girl in this song, about how their options are being restricted in a conservative society..

rest of the pics from bon odori.. needa finish it or they'll be a massive jam!

another 1st yr student
look at what this guy's wearing! his geta(traditional slippers) have only a stilt..

odo-chan!
dancing dancing!

i'm tired... 2 days of non-stop photos and i met teck soon yesterday.congrats on winning triple jump and good luck on your long jump today!

A sign?

my toy car can't work, i think it's defective, the IC ..(i'm hoping it is cos i dunno what the hell is wrong with it) i've made 2,TWO mistakes transfering money for my stofen omnibounce yesterday. i thought i entered the wrong name, but later i found out the bank acct was also wrong! lucky they don't charge me but pai seh to the bank officer who help me with it.so i just hope nothing else goes wrong...

yesterday was my last day at work.. kedai gulung tikar, strictly speaking its not bankrupt but the boss just called it quits i guess mainly because there aren't enough chefs..it was kinda sad, i liked the people working there. the chef was prolly the nicest guy ever and he taught me quite alot. hopefully i'll find a crew just as nice on my next job. i earned just enough to cover my tix to aus, not bad huh for a weekend job :)

summore pics from bon odori...

1st 3 pics r from tikki with my cam. she hates dancing, so she's been playing with my cam alot. she's not bad aside from 3/4 out of focus(oof) shots.

me..me?her friends...
this is not a good pic,ok for her, not for me..just abit too blur. thought whether i should put it in but readers always complain not enough japanese girls.. this i guess are normal 18 yr old japanese girls.
trying with slow sync flash for movement
odo, tikki and her tutor( i dunno her name... =S her bf would be kien's(my junior) tutor..maybe all 4 of them should go on a double date? )
tupshe( i really don't know how to spell) but he really enjoyed himself!
yamamura sensei, attends it every year. a very funny guy but highly successful :)
the stage..not a good pic taken by me but just to show the atmosphere..

there's more!

Bon Odori 盆踊り 2007

my college hostel had its annual bon odori last saturday.bon odori(obon) is supposed to be held during mid july or mid august depending on calenders. traditionally, obon is supposed to be a festival to honor departed spirits. more info from here

my school holds it early because it clashes with the summer holidays. also obon has lost its roots and is more like a dance kinda thingy.

here are some pics..most of the girls are 16 yr olds(1st yr girls are forced to wear)kids look so damn cute in yukatas!


another cute, she had lotsa fun.. i think she changed to another set later..
more to come...

Lines

notice the widget on top?hehe..i can't wait!! i know i've been saying that alot but i'm exited! till i forgot to plan anything. bit worried but all shall b good!

this is a red umbrella..took it yuri koen.lines are important in photography.this is a good example.it draws u to the centre of the image. rivers,roads also make good lines. sometimes, lines are less subtle but it's still and important part of composition.
preview for my next post. my college's bon odori~ on the left is tikki, a girl from laos, the right is her tutor.and those aren't kimonos! those are yukatas =)

News! Henry Signs for Barca????

Thierry Henry tonight appeared to be on the brink of leaving Arsenal for Barcelona.

Sources close to the Spanish club have declared a four-year deal has been signed for the France World Cup winner.

Front page news from Soccernet

i'm having mixed reactions when i heard this. firstly, this is henry! legend,prolly the best striker to grace Arsenal and maybe the Premiership. and now he might be on his way to barca. no club would want to lose a player like henry, the goals,the runs, the assists, he's the complete striker.

him leaving arsenal would have devastating effects. i'm scared wenger might just follow suit and that would be an end of an arsenal era if that were to happen. player's morale would be another thing. without a doubt, players looked up to him especially walcott,persie and cesc. losing a mentor just ain't a good thing.

all this sounds bad but i did say my reaction was mixed. henry was injured the most of last season and arsenal seemed to play better without him.when henry is on the pitch, players tend to look for him more often and just dont take enough chances themselves. furthermore, arsenal has been over reliant on him, other players just need to shine! though, i would like to see a fit henry this season and see how it goes.

if henry does leave, wenger will be a very busy man especially without david dein to help him. a profilic striker would be his main priority. personally, i'd like to see a return to the anelka-overmas era where the midfield was more noticable. still scoring strikers are important! persie can help, ade is doubtful though. scoring midfielders are also just as important. rosicky n hleb aren't just putting in enough goals. back then, pires,ljgunberg,overmas scored alot. then there's defence. the whole of last season, defence was just not solid enough to let attacking minded ppl do their job without thinking much.then there's lehman..how long more can he last?

sigh,things don't look good but with wenger, u never know.

Tanigumi, from yuri koen

took this 2 pics from the hill at yuri koen. played with my nd grad filter for the first time too. kinda fun :)from wide to tele. this couple were on their way back after visiting the lilies! my place here is all paddy fields:P

more lilies!

summore shots. enjoy. me being un-emo =P

Words.. words

it doesn't take alot to hurt someone. likewise it doesn't take alot to be hurt.whether you meant it or intended on it. i'm starting to think how nice it would be if there weren't any words but all thoughts and emotions can be told telepathically. how nice...

on a brighter side, today is 17 june. this time next month at 8pm i'm gonna fly flyyyy! nothing is gonna stop me from enjoying it, nothing! i think i'll be shitty if it's gonna be miserable. but what are the odd chances of that. so many people to see, so many things to see, so many thoughts. i just hope i can do everything and not disappoint anybody.

yon: practice your winning eleven!

ゆり公園（Yuri PArk)

i've done tulips, roses. next is lilies! yuri koen is in tanigumi abt an hour away by train and bus. was slightly disappointend as only a few flowers were in full bloom. this is part 1, some of the flowers.

close up!yelloww
detailed red
CLS(creative lighting system) by nikon

notice a source of light from the light? that was from my speedlight. going wireless and multiple :P
dragonfly shot. cropped but a very nice dragonfly =)

more to follow

a photographer's joke

i really liked it. sourced from ShutterAsia where the guy got it from somewhere else.

The Smiths were unable to conceive children and decided to use a surrogate father to start their family. On the day the proxy father was to arrive, Mr. Smith kissed his wife goodbye and said, "Well, I'm off now. The man should be here soon."

Half an hour later, just by chance, a door-to-door baby photographer happened to ring the doorbell, hoping to make a sale. "Good morning, Ma'am", he said, "I've come to..."

"Oh, no need to explain," Mrs. Smith cut in, embarrassed, "I've been expecting you."

"Have you really?" said the photographer. "Well, that's good. Did you know babies are my specialty?"

"Well that's what my husband and I had hoped. Please come in and have a seat".

After a moment she asked, blushing, "Well, where do we start?"

"Leave everything to me. I usually try two in the bathtub, one on the couch, and perhaps a couple on the bed. And sometimes the living room floor is fun. You can really spread out there."

"Bathtub, living room floor? No wonder it didn't work out for Harry and me!"

"Well, Ma'am, none of us can guarantee a good one every time. But if we try several different positions and I shoot from six or seven angles, I'm sure you'll be pleased with the results."

"My, that's a lot!", gasped Mrs. Smith.

"Ma'am, in my line of work a man has to take his time. I'd love to be In and out in five minutes, but I'm sure you'd be disappointed with that."

"Don't I know it," said Mrs. Smith quietly.

The photographer opened his briefcase and pulled out a portfolio of his baby pictures. "This was done on the top of a bus," he said.

"Oh, my God!" Mrs. Smith exclaimed, grasping at her throat.

"And these twins turned out exceptionally well - when you consider their mother was so difficult to work with."

"She was difficult?" asked Mrs. Smith.

"Yes, I'm afraid so. I finally had to take her to the park to get the job done right. People were crowding around four and five deep to get a good look"

"Four and five deep?" said Mrs. Smith, her eyes wide with amazement.

"Yes", the photographer replied. "And for more than three hours, too. The mother was constantly squealing and yelling - I could hardly concentrate, and when darkness approached I had to rush my shots. Finally, when the squirrels began nibbling on my equipment, I just had to pack it all in."

Mrs. Smith leaned forward. "Do you mean they actually chewed on your, uh...equipment?"

"It's true, Ma'am, yes.. Well, if you're ready, I'll set-up my tripod and we can get to work right away."

"Tripod?"

"Oh yes, Ma'am. I need to use a tripod to rest my Canon on. It's much too big to be held in the hand very long."

Mrs. Smith fainted...

enjoy =)

Proposal Daisakusen (Operation Love)

since i got no pics to post up, here's my review on this season's jdramas. proposal daisakusen is currently at the top of the list. Starring Yamashita Tomohisa(Nobuta Wo Produce,Kurosagi) and Nagasawa Masami(Dragon Zakura,Sekai no Chuusin kara Aishiteru), it's about Ken(Yamashita) going back in time through photos to stop his love and childhood friend Rei(Nagasawa) from getting married. storyline is nothing original but it's the type of love stories that i've come to liked. not sappy but funny and heart wrenching. it kind of reminds me of 'While you were sleeping' by Sandra Bullock and Bill Pullman.fate plays its part, of course being a drama, saying the 'i love you' thing is just so much harder(esp on ken's part). there are a few twists here and there which keeps things going. i must admit, this was not a drama on my must-watch list but currently, it's the only drama that downloading is just too long a wait. every monday 9pm (at least for the 2 next weeks) i'll be in front of the tv waiting for this. if anyone of u have time, i would definitely recommend this . goes up on the list with nodame cantabile and karei naru ichizoku.

other recommended dramas are hanayome to papa and bambino.

all available at www.d-addicts.com subs are also available for the 3 mentioned here

Yamashita Yomohisa

Nagasawa Masami

One week of hell

last friday was the start of my exams. it was also the day i fell sick, real sick. first was this fever which made me bedridden for the better part of the day and saturday. then there was my throat. it was not sore but i couldn't swallow properly. at first i thought it was because of ulcers on my tonsils but turned out it wasn't ulcers at all!it was this whitish thingy that smelled. a quick google and it turns out to be old mucus that hardens. eew! so i dont think i did well for my exams... getting papers back tomorrow...sigh.. my hols is still so soon!

running out of pictures to show. nothing to shoot and exams and assignments. but bon odori is coming soon, maybe some pics then =P

One Piece

just finished watching the latest episode. it actually brought me down to tears...such a sad episode even though all it was was about the ship. but after maybe 250+ episodes, i guess merry does really become a character and to see it go under such circumstances is just sad. r.i.p....