Doulos!

my favourite floating bookstore is back!

i heard from somewhere from someone that it'll be the last trip to this port :( .... awww! too bad ... although, i only look forward to doulos coz of the classics books that can't be found in local stores and don't cost a fortune. but seems like all that i want , i've acquired over the years. thanks doulos!



since this is the last time i thought i'd take in the dinnertime show ... well, i don't want to put down doulos's hard work but i couldn't really say that it was great, because its exactly the opposite. or mebbe i'm just used to ...ummm, something better. was it interesting?, nnnh, i guess in a way. i laughed (i should say snickered) a lot during the show because the lady doing the malay translation was really ... well, it kinda sucked actually. but she was nice and it entertained me for five minutes. after that, its just annoying. we left halfway thru the show.

correct me if i'm wrong, these artworks were done by kids in commemoration of doulos's visit. these are the best two that i like, kids can do these kinda things now? yikes, its still the stick figure for me at this age :p

anyhow, come again doulos, its still great buying your books!

aidilfitri 2007

eventho i enjoy meeting the family, raya has lost its meaning since mom's (grandma, not to be confused wid mommy) gone.

used to get all excited wen @this time with my new baju kurung or kebaya or even kedah, we'd always had an open house, but now i just wear jeans and we celebrate @ other ppl's house. just not the same. gets worse every year.

i absolutely adore mom's kuih makmur. miss dem so much dat i baked dem myself. luckily i helped her often nuff to memorize d recipe. its somewhat touched n go cos mom never did use measurement. din bake any dis year.


i'm a little sad but still happy enuff to spend a little time with family. in dis yea portraits ....

not complete set. hope can do d whole family one day.

wanted 2 take d others pics 2 but de were off


somewhere. its a big place, u can get lost if u wanted 2. guess de were camera shy!!


i think mommy looks the best here. (of cos, since i took the picture, nya~ha~ha!)

mommy's been having morbid tots lately, she says to take nice pictures of her for her obituary! (touch wood, touch!touch!)

its hard 2 b a daughter.







the sisters, 2nd generation. different fr sister n me, the elder sister IS the elder sister. a little while ago, de were just little girls, wen did de grow up?


u. sven + a. mina, i remember wen i was in high school i sneaked into rocky (a popular club then) n bump into dem. a humiliating nite, i choked on 'promise me'. de never tol mom or mommy! ehehe, lucky!

u. sven is my fav uncle! he let's me do wutever, ever since i was a little gal n knows me the best. only he can make me cry!

a. mina is also fun loving, its hard to get a good picture of her tho, she's too conscious n always moves at the crucial time!

i like this picture of dem d most (well of course, again, i took it, hehehe!)

a. rita~ she lets me do wutever too :) mommy was kinda jealous of her @ one time since i spent so much time @ her house wen she lived nearby... nya~ha~ha!

remember 'come and get your love' @ damai? it was mother's day but ... ummm ... where was my mommy? eheheh. i showed up @ her office a teensy weensy minute wen i was 17 n somehow manage to get 2 admirers, it was fun flirtin wid dem over d fon. i ended up goin out wid one of em ... for a day. i still see him around town these days, he works nearby :)

she's also a bookworm like me. i tink she's read my entire library at least twice.

i think she is my prettiest aunty! actually, all my aunt were babes wen de were younger, i saw their pictures :) wish i coulda take their portraits!


ani, cousin~in~law. we hardly see each other, so it was a treat. kk bein such a small place n all, its a wonder y we never bump into each other more. i bump into ppl dat i dun like all the time. its a mystery. the last time we met was wen i was on the mega sale assignment and i was shooting at karamunsing. @ dat time i had cropped hair dat was sum yrs ago, so she's probably shocked 2 see me now! she on d other hand, hardly changed at all, whats her secret i wonder, she's gotta be almost forty right?


cousin myra + casey. both of dem r d quiet type, i wonder how is that possible since the rest of us is so loud.


cousins and nephew. just clowning around! they must be shocked, since its not often dat i'd play wid dem :) de looked like de trying to get away huh?



:)

at least i can still haf dis ...

my grandma

its another year gone without her.



little by little, it gets less harder to visit her grave. words always fail me when it matters the most, but she could hear it from my heart right? so, its okay right?

Mommy's energetic moon cake festival performance!

i remember when in school i use to dance a lot. mommy always comes to all of my dance performance. this time its my turn to check out mommy's moves :)



i adore moon cakes but this is the first time that i attended the festival. all over sabah, many moon cake festival activities are being held throughout the month. this one is special cos it's mommy's first ever public performance !



there were also lots kawaii kids performing in the festival. this little girl (the grumpy looking one) really reminds me of me! and the little boy next to her reminds me of ritz. oh, how i miss those days!


anyhow, great performance mommy! too bad it rained!

scoops gelato @ warisan square

came for an assignment ;0, but it sorta turned out to be a reunion with Bree, Sel, Yo, Missy and I in da house!

really yummy stuff here! just looking at it makes me sweet! (yeah, right!)
sometimes my work rocks!

go try it out!

Otto~Happy Birthday!

its otto's birthday today! its funny, it was us who were clowning around :P we treated him to lunch at the imperial delight, for the life of me i can't understand why we didn't take pictures!

neways, happy birthday!

yahya + ayu tied the knot!

congratulations to them!

the reception was really merry! they looked really happy together. i almost didn't make it to the night reception cos i fell asleep, but luckily the Mr. woke me up in time!

all the best for the new life!

USS Pinckney Destroyer

life aboard the USS Pinckney Destroyer is pretty interesting. Ms Abigail Hutchins who is an officer on board thinks so too. traveling to all the places she's been sounds nice. i like travelling !

i used to think that it'd be all grays and blues on board, but theres a lot of colors to be seen. they even have smoothies. not bad at all.

Scottish Beachside Wedding @ Beriggis Beach Resort

this assignment was a pleasure. i don't usually do weddings but for friends and family i'd be happy to, but this is a different matter altogether.



the couple and family invited us to their wedding ceremony and allowed us to use the picture we've taken to be used in our promotions. nice of them right?



it was a really sweet and touching ceremony ....



i sort of for a moment there had a wish to have my own beach wedding ... just for a moment okay ... don't get excited!


the weather was great for an afternoon affair like this ... it was a perfect wedding !

Anjapar Chettinand Restaurant @ Asia City Complex

the night my mouth exploded with flavors! now i'm definitely a chili gal, that is to say , i like spicy food ~ i'm tellin you Anjapar's takes hotness to whole different level. yumminess with a whole lotta punch!

Missy may not look like it but truth is her tongue is actually on fire! its burning! hahaha! seriously i enjoyed it and i've since come back for more torture. i'm into s + m don't ya kno ... a true blue masochist! naw, naw, naw just kiddin (not about the s+m) the torture ba, torture! its really delicious and they tell me they can tone it down (huh? why...???) esp for peeps who like less hot (wimps).

i was on the job twice @ anjapar. its cause the nite lighting does not really meet my criteria so we had another one. a lunch shoot. aren't i lucky? like i said, sometimes this job is da bomb!

that nite missy, juls, Mr. and i ate the fiery indian cuisine with gusto. there were several dishes but for the life of me i can't remember the names (ehehe, isn't that just like me?). just to let you know my pick is the lamb briayani. can't beat that! of course i must also have my naan on the side ... crap! talking about it makes me hungry!

try it out dudes, great atmosphere, great food and great price, what else do ya need?

Floral Parade ~ Team Agamid

it was such a fun event! so many beautiful flower in all possible colors! it was held in putrajaya in january. we were there for a week for preparation, the judging and parade day and also the static display afterwards!



it was my first time participating in a floral parade and i learned a lot. the work hours sucked but it was so much fun at the same time that i didn't mind it so much. i'll talk more bout my whole experience later!



for now, three cheers for team AGAMID!




well, its not first place but we are still very happy that we got the theme trophy! YAY!

* Vignettes * Aily on a fine sunday morning ...

this was a photo shoot that i did for a competition. I LOST!! or rather, i didn't win. ouch! there goes my confidence. so thats why i had put in some effort for this shoot, more than usual and some $$$. though i didn't win any prize, it was worth the experience. worth the experience. worth it. yup.

and my model, cousin aily : ) she is very easy to work with and she can 'tahan' my bitchiness. ehehe.



this is combining two of my hobbies, nature and photography. fun!

i am grateful to my helpful assistants : ) thanks DiDi and Fizzi! i'm really happy that the whole of my family supports my very expensive hobby especially the Mr. ~ so, Thanks!!!!



let's do this again ! yay!

Goodbye. Farewell.

these two kids were attached to our office for a few months. Fred is from AKMA (me thinks) and Sarah is from some university from the Netherlands. i know she doesn't look like european nor the usual mixed indon that we get sometimes, she's actually from china but wanted to study there and then came all the way here for internship. fred is from membakut :) very near my hometown.

i was really glad that fred turned up, if i recall rightly he was the most useful student that we ever had. he was place in IT and was really helpful. now that he's left its back to the 'mia' guy again.

oh well. good luck kids!

spa + wellness

i like being pampered and catered to just as much as any other gal, but actually i'm really a the shy shy type so that's why i've never before done the whole spa thing. as a photographer, i could only take the picture of someone else being coddled. the closest thing i've come to this sorta thing is having a floral bath up in kiulu's river. an experience to be remembered.

However these spas are quite a luxury and little ol me can't afford it with my sucky salary (hello, anyone listening?) ... anyways, after doin this shoot i can actually understand why people get addicted to think lifestyle.

jari - jari spa

this spa won the malaysia spa + wellness award for best traditional treatment, which is the dusun lotud body therapy. that's quite an achievement! my model for this session was shana + genevieve.

ka'andaman tradiational healing garden spa

i really feel at ease at kaandaman, the beautiful deco gives a totally relaxing ambiance and its pretty addictive. i just wanna curl up at a corner and stop thinking. unfortunately, theres work to be done! my models ~ shana, genevieve + aily.

borneo spa ~ nexus resort karambunai

the best part is that is has an outdoor beach side massage hut and you know me loves the beach! the spa itself is really exclusive and ultra posh! you'll feel like a queen! my models ~ aily, nor, jojo + susan


the spa @ dalit bay ~ shangri-la's rasa ria resort

now, this is a relatively new addition for SRRR, but already its classy and elegant ambiance makes you feel totally calm and tranquil. my models ~ nor, aily + susan

chi spa ~ shangri-la's tanjung aru resort

the spa has just begin construction at the time of photography and we were only able to experience the outdoor massage hut which was by the beach. anything that has to do with the beach is great : ) my model ~ aily

all in all, it was an eye opener ...

mommy's birthday!

happy birthday!



its cheating, how come mom gets to celebrate twice ...




i want cake !

roach reef resort

i remember being apprehensive when i heard that i was suppose to head out to this island, because of its name. i mean WTF? the number one mortal enemy of mine ~ roaches! ye gods, they're everywhere!



well, it turned out differently than i expected. actually it was totally fabulous! its a small beautiful coconut infested man made. but best of all no roaches in sight! YAY!

i was here to accompany the media group from KL organized by Air Asia and my office. This was part of a two 3D2N itinerary on Tawau's finest to boost tourism here. I'm lucky that it was a very nice group. we had more chance to talk during the island trip because our schedule was so hectic before, so it was a nice change of pace.

it rained a little when we arrived about noon but it fine with me, it created a somewhat romantic atmosphere ... you know, lazy, rainy day swinging on a hammock, enjoying the sound of the surf.

we did some marvelous snorkeling around the island! i simply adore snorkeling! i wish i could dive but its unfortunate that i am asthmatic! i did try it once, it was heaven, although it was a bit noisier than i expected, but i got sick after so its a no go! it is one of my regrets but at least i could still snorkel! some of the media participants experience their first snorkel here and after they were raving madly about it! i'm glad, i feel just like big sista introducing the kiddy pool. ehehe. one of them were really frightened but she gamely followed through and had a great experience if a little scary. way ta go you! Andrew, another participant was the only one who went for a dive and he said it was pretty good.



i met the island manager who is japanese and we talked a bit before dinner, he said whales and dolphins have been sighted nearby every year. that is good news! i would loved to see myself but alas they never appeared while i was there. The manager told me that on a moonless night its beautiful to stargaze. i took this opportunity to ask him why is this man made island named after my nemesis but he was also clueless like me. oh well. anyways, they are currently planning to expand, adding more water bungalows. the future for this island is looking pretty good.

dinner time the manager showed us his underwater photos from around the island's dive sites. it was marvelous. dinner was marvelous too. as a note, no matter what island it is, i notice that the food is always superb!

i hang out at the jetty after dinner and soak in the tranquility. at that moment i am certainly at peace with the world. a little after midnight i head back to my chalet to take a nap. tomorrow we had to wake at dawn to catch the sunrise.


its a great experience watching the sunrise with other people, although Thanam + Andrew were new friends but its still nice.

i remember feeling that the sunrise was quite warm, i never felt so close to the sun like this. its probably just my imagination




now, i'm a person whose hobby at no. 2 is sleeping. but i didn't mind at all to have this magnificent view.



although it looks like sunset its actually sunrise :) i was just blown away with the beauty of it. i should try to get up and catch the dawn more often at home but problem is although i live by the beach, the sun sets there :)







although it is a man made island, and it doesn't have a beach but its still a lovely place and so beautiful. met some people there who were part of a diving group from europe and interviewed them along with the other media people. Their opinion of this island is that they like how exclusive it is, theres no crowd because the island capacity is quite small as is the island itself and perhaps also because it is not well known. yet.... they also said the dive is great!



i had a wonderful experience at the roach reef island resort. like they say, a rose is still a rose by any other name. i hope i can again!