anakbrunei

Kata pujangga wanita bagaikan angin lembutnya melenakan ributnya menggusarkan. Adakalanya mereka seperti ibu menyaji kasih, menghidang sayang adakalanya mereka seperti anak ingin dibelai, minta dimanjakan adakalanya mereka seperti nenek berleter seadanya, merungut semahuannya. Namun, teman kembara dalam kehidupan yang sementara ini. bahagia dan derita kita sangat berkait dengan mereka. Sajak asal oleh Joe Bogo

Last night, I had the pleasure of attending the wedding reception of a couple of ex-colleagues. It was held at the Royal Berkshire Hall in JP Polo Club, still the most resplendent venue for an event like this in my mind... It was a wonderful occasion and I caught up with several friends and ex-colleagues some of whom I had not seen in ages. Anyway, what happens when you put a shutterbug in a hall full of people? His hunting instinct takes over... heheh enjoy!

Today's weather reminds me of winter in Perth (except for the part where you freeze your nuts off). Gloomy, rainy, and generally sombre. But Kantalensa and I braved it and went to Tasek Lama to capture some extreme rock-climbing action. The great thing about this sort of weather, the light is fantastic. Not too harsh and not too dark. We met Skipper Zack (first pic) on the way in, and he was kind enough to extend his, and his troop(?)'s hospitality to us. So Kantalensa covered the event from 8 metres above while I was happy to cover it at ground level heheh. Anyway, this is the first time I've seen rock-climbing in real life and I'm awed by the skills of these climbers. Thanks also to Tya (second pic), who was Zadm's source on the event. Oh, and there was also a flying fox set-up and in between shooting the rock-climbing, I managed to get a few good shots of the flying fox (fourth pic), so I'm whistling away happily ;) Click HERE for the video slideshow. Kanta...

This morning's outing was amidst erratic weather but with the shots that resulted, it was truly a worthwhile endeavour, and Kantalensa will agree with me! The objective was to capture rock-climbing action (pictures in next post). I got a bonus though cos I came across these young students from Kelab Kembara or Adventure Club from Sixth Form Center, Berakas. It was their first outing of the year. Ahhh.. the joys of being young... Specially for you, Kembara kids, below is a video slide show I made for you. ENJOY!

G'day mate, to-die is Australia Day and being a strine alumn-eye in brewn-eye , I was invited to the reception this arvo . Wishing all my ozzie mates near and far, a Happy Australia Day! Chuck another shrimp on the barbie, have an ice cold one and enjoy the slide show!

Congratulations to Shima on being conferred the Pingat Indah Kerja Baik by His Majesty on the occasion of his 60th birthday. Heheh I knew it was gonna happen sooner or later. I was tagged by Kantalensa . So here goes nothing! 1) Are your parents married or divorced? Married. They celebrated their 39th wedding anniversary in November last year. 2) Are you a vegetarian? I tried it once. The vegetables hated me. 3) Do you believe in Heaven? Yes I do. As mortals, I think the belief in heaven helps diminish our fear of death. 4) Have you ever come close to dying? If you mean "seeing the light" close, then no. 5) What jewellery do you wear 24/7? Only the royal jewels I think 6) Favourite time of day? Early in the morning 7) Do you eat the stems of broccoli? Yes, I love broccoli. All parts of it. 8) Do you wear makeup? Nope 9) Ever have plastic surgery? Nope 10) Do you colour your hair? Used to 11) What do you wear to bed? Dilbert T-shirt and shorts 12) Have you ever done anything...

In continuing with the humour theme, a news article from a Florida Newspaper (tks Raglan for sending this to me!): When Nathan Radlich's house was burgled, thieves left his TV, his VCR, and even left his watch. What they did take was "generic white cardboard box filled with grayish-white powder." (That at least is the way the police described it.) A spokesman for the Fort Lauderdale police said "that it looked similar to cocaine and they'd probably thought they'd hit the big time." Then Nathan stood in front of the TV cameras and pleaded with the burglars: "Please return the cremated remains of my sister, Gertrude. She died three years ago." Well, the next morning, the bullet-riddled corpse of a drug dealer known as Hoochie Pevens was found on Nathan's doorstep. The cardboard box was there too; about half of Gertrude's ashes remained. And there was this note. It said: "Hoochie sold us the bogus blow, so we wasted Hoochie. Sorry w...

There is nothing more fulfilling than going out on the streets and capturing normal ordinary folks doing normal everyday stuff... To me, that's what street photography's all about...

Wanna know what your name is in Russian? Just enter your name in this box ! Cool stuff! Got this "e-meow" today from Fauziah. Bee-row is an ek-cher e-meow from Ah Beng to his Ah Lian: Dear Ah Lian Thanks you for your letter. Wrong time no see you. How everything? For me, I am quiet find. You say in your letter your taukeh soh want you to chain your look? Somemore you must wear kick kok soo, hope you can wok properly. You know, Ah Kau Kia working in a soft where company now. Last week, he take I, Muthu & few of his friend to May Nonut to eat barger. After that he take we all go to kalah ok. Muthu sing and sing no stop until the sky bright. Next week, my father mother going to sellerbread 20 years annie wear sari. My father mother going to give a fist to all the kampong people. So you must come with your hole family. I only hope one day we no need to write and send letter to you and to me. Better I e-meow you, you e-meow me. I will ketchup with you soon. And when you got ...

In Kg Ayer, street signs are replaced with "bridge" (Jambatan) signs like these.

This afternoon, fellow sharpshooters Zadm , Bruneian , aspiring sharpshooter Zaza , and I were treated to some seriously extreme action photography. We had the pleasure of photographing some really skilled Bruneian bikers practising their wheelies and stoppies and everything in between. These guys ROCK! Much thanks to one of Mr BR's "favorite persons in the world" for giving me the heads-up on the event! Check out the rest of the pics here (MULTIPLY users only I'm afraid) KIDS, PLEASE DON'T TRY THIS AT HOME! Its berry berry denjeraaaaaaas!! Wheelie Stoppie Wheelie Stand-on-a-bike-ie Stoppie

Check out part one of our intrepid guide's account of the Kg Ayer outing here .

Update (Jan 21 2006): It looks like we made headlines with our outing! Read all about it here and here ! This morning's outing was definitely a BLAST! The "all-boys" nature of our outings was given a refreshing change with the presence of two lovely ladies (one of whom was da missus who kindly agreed to video the sharpshooters in action heheh *muaaahs*). What started out as a 3 hour outing ended up being a 4 hour guided tour (by our intrepid guide no less!) of Kampong Ayer and its surrounding areas. I had been on a tour of the area aboard the Tanjung Bekarang , but at the time, was too busy attending to the visiting VVIP to take in the sights. Today, it was perfect! Thank you to Bruneian , our excellent guide, fellow sharpshooters , Mr What to do , and our lady companions, and to the crew of Roda Impian Charters , you guys ROCK! More pics to come!

The last time I posted a recipe was over six months ago. Thought I'd do one today for a change :) Start with a nice cut: I always go for the shoulder cut these days cos I find it way tastier and easier to carve. Plus its slightly cheaper than lamb leg which is overrated if u ask me :) Use simple ingredients: Lamb is such a flavorful meat u dont really need to use fancy marinades and spices etc. Best fren nya sira, black pepper, garlic, rosemary, and thyme. Thats it. Oh, and olive oil of course to bring it all together! Do a Norman Bates: Stab the hunk of meat all over with a good size knife Stick it in... all the way in: Just sumbat the holes we just made with the garlic.. skin on and everything... it'll taste fricken beautiful later trust me! Season well: Do the Saxa Salt Cha cha, the Black Peppa Rhumba, then sprinkle dem erbs, and top it off wit some olive oil to bring all together Make the bed: Since this is a roast, we need to make sure the hot air circulates around t...

Today's title is inspired by this interesting post about the internet big boys. I let out a teeny weeny chuckle when I read this here : Bandar Seri Begawan - Brunei ranked 104 out of 198 in the 2006 global e-government study conducted by US Brown University. " Brunei's ranking is very good ," said Karl Verhulst, CA (formerly known as Computer Associates) Director-Marketing for Asia South. Someone please tell me how 104th out of 198 nations is "very good"? Maybe I'm seeing this the wrong way? Perhaps there's some other metric these guys are using to gauge success? Either way, I think we can all agree that we have a pretty loooong way to go :) Then I scratched my head when I read this here : He [Mr Verhulst] suggested that the next step would be for government departments to take inventory of their paper forms and produce downloadable versions for the convenience of the public. Hmmm... downloadable forms so people can print them out, fill them in m...

I just delivered these calendars to a client this evening. She was absolutely chuffed by them and that put me over the moon! Heheh! *Whistles happily*

Cam on left: "Hey baby, wanna go back to my place and check out my L -lenses?" Cam on right: *Giggles* "I'd love to! Can I bring my friend Bambi along?"

Haven't posted any pics of the little man for some time... Poor little fella's got the sniffles :(

You may have noticed I've started putting "Click to Buy" banners on some of my pictures. As a result, I've received several email inquiries about prints of my works with questions about size, mount, frame etc. So I thought I'd give all prospective buyers out there an idea of what they will get when they purchase an original anakbrunei framed print. To start with, the pictures will be printed in stunning colour on high quality matte finish media (11in x 18in)* . It will then be pressed onto a double white border. Finally, it will be mounted into a custom-made high quality black lacquer frame (20in x 24in)* which will be finished with non-reflective glass. Below are some samples: Note: Dimensions are estimated and may vary according to buyers' requirements and the size and aspect of the print itself. As you can probably imagine, these high quality framed prints would be right at home on the main wall of your office or conference room, or even in your living ...

dunny ( plural dunnies ) ( Australian English ) ( slang ) A [toilet]]. Possibly an outside toilet and by implication old, ramshackle.

I received a lovely email from a young (I assume heheh) Bruneian studying abroad giving her comments and suggestions on the Visit Brunei 2008 Blogger Project . Thought I'd share it: Assalammualaikum, Hey cool! ^_^ Thanks. no problem. I'll spread it around to everyone i know in Manchester and beyond. Good luck! we're having another visit brunei? wow. i'm.. amazed. what else do we have to offer that we didn't have in 2001? ... snip ... Talk to the tourism board and get your shutter friends to collaborate with them if you're serious about visit brunei. Best way for this 'visit brunei' to work is to create a hype. Online and offline. Oh! make souvenirs too!. ^_^ That'd be cool. Brunei souvenirs are replicated from the ones in Malaysia so that's kinda boring for tourists. ... snip ... Good luck. ^_^ - Aeny

Check our more scenes from Kampong Ayer on the Visit Brunei 2008 site!

Taken during the outing to Kampong Ayer today. Check out Bruneian and Ber's write-ups on the outing.

Came across these cats while on outing in Kampong Ayer this morning with Bruneian (our intrepid guide) and new re-found buddy Ber . These cats look pretty street savvy. I wonder what a day in their lives would be like... How ya doin'? Apa usul nya kan? Mun paham bisai.....

Darn! I know I should've just opened my fish and chip stall above a monsoon drain by the roadside in Beribi Auto City. Pehin Goh would've taken pity on me and given me a FREE stall in his new multi million dollar complex. From BB: Unlicensed roadside hawkers can now retire their flimsy makeshift stands for good, as they have been invited to relocate to proper premises at no cost. In a bid to realise His Majesty's aspiration, Pehin Dato Goh King Chin has put forward a generous contribution the Sumbangsih Mulia, which is one of the most modem SMEs located at Beribi Industrial Estate, carrying a price tag of $2.4 million. The plight of unlicenced hawkers and those in need of a place to sell their wares was a hot topic in the media in the past year. Many of those displaced by the demolition of the Tambing wet market, for example, said that they could not find or afford to rent a place elsewhere. "I am a citizen of Brunei Darussalam, and this project is my contribution to B...

Ansel Adams is the mahaguru and the Big Kahuna of black & white photography. I (along with legions of other photographers!) have always been a great, great fan of Ansel Adams, and his work is a source of inspiration for me. I wondered what it would be like to apply HDR in B&W . I was blown away with the details rendered which were not visible in the original files . I presented these to my client this morning, and I hope it made her day :)