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Attended a friend's bedak mandi (pre-wedding ceremony which involves a blessing by close family elders and a cleansing body-scrub) ceremony this afternoon and it brought back memories of my own bedak mandi all those years ago. What fun, a free body scrub performed by several family members, watched by even more family members! More pics here . Short rant: During the Microsoft Vista launch , both of us went in "business attire" as stated in the invitation. While trying to photograph the guest of honour, I was approached by one of the more seasoned photographers who asked me where I was from. I said I was an invited guest who happened to bring my camera. This is what he said to me, "Mana baju kot mu? Kalau jemputan duduk saja. Kalau mau buleh pulang ku panggil AO ni untuk membawa kau keluar." Yes, very Bruneian indeed matey. You could have just told me that its a requirement for photographers to wear a suit in the presence of royalty. No need to bite my head of...

I said it, he said it, even she agreed . I'm gonna go again to the book fair sometime this week to browse properly what's on offer. But this time I'll be armed with a towel!

Congratulations to one of my key figures in ICT development in Brunei Darussalam on his well-deserved appointment . I attended a launching ceremony of the Microsoft office in Brunei. HRH the Crown Prince was the guest of honour. During the ceremony, HRH was presented with a spiffy, mouth-watering Lamborghini notebook . I bet many in the audience, including your's truly, wished they were at the receiving end at that particular moment. There was also a demo on Windows Vista , Microsoft's update to the aging Windows XP operating system. All I saw was the bells and whistles. I guess I'd need a deeper technical explanation of all its new features in order to convince me to upgrade. I just hope its not a Windows Millennium type of release... nuff sed.

The venue for the book fair seriously needs to be changed... the indoor stadium's ventilation is in a very bad state and so it was super humid inside. Everyone was sweating like wasn't the year of the pig! Ok that didnt make any sense. Its time for bed. Good night.

Update 25/02/07: The slideshow is up. You can view it by clicking here . I was in Form 4 when the 1st National Day Parade took place at the Stadium. I remember going with my dad and younger brother. My dad had a Nikon SLR with a zoom lens then and he let me play with it for a bit and that was the first time I had ever handled one. Since then, I only watched the proceedings every year on the telly in the comfort of my living room. But as Johnson put it: It's not the same. You don't sweat. You don't get feel the heat. Smell the body odour and you don't get thirsty. You don't have to set your alarm for 530 am. You don't feel the thumping of the brass band. You don't have to park 2 km away walk into town cause you woke up late.............. you don't get to be on TV! Never in my wildest dreams would I have thought that today, 23 years later, I would be on location at the Taman, thoroughly immersed in the experience, carrying my own dSLR and absolutely enjo...

Ma uri zio worked his magic again tonight and magic it was... The food was superb and the company fantastic. Thanks so much S and S for having us. Sorry we couldn't stay long cos I've got to be up by 5am tomorrow! Next one's at my place and I'll be cooking! Il mio amico Maurizio, you're invited too!

Selamat Menyambut Hari Kebangsaan Negara Brunei Darussalam Ke-23 Kepada Semua Pengunjung AnakBrunei.Org Brunei tanah air kita Warisan berkurun lamanya Budaya Melayu teras bangsa Islam cara hidup kita Kita purih pancir mulia Tabah gagah berhemah tinggi Bermaruah dan berperibadi Bersopan sedar harga diri Masa depan penuh cabaran Kita ungkayahkan dengan iman Dengan ilmu bakti setia Ikhlas amanah kerana Allah Bangunkan kemakmuran pelihara keamanan Teguhkan kedaulatan Tegakkan keadilan Junjunglah kebenaran Hidupkan kerohanian Ajaran Allah kita turutkan Tegak bersatu mendukung negara Brunei sejahtera bumi tercinta Taat setia rakyat bahagia Di bawah naungan Sultan kita Lirik : Shukri Zain Lagu : Manaf Haji Kamis Susunan muzik : Manaf Haji Kamis

How to think like a Genius 1. Look at problems in many different ways, and find new perspectives that no one else has taken (or no one else has publicized!) Leonardo da Vinci believed that, to gain knowledge about the form of a problem, you begin by learning how to restructure it in many different ways. He felt that the first way he looked at a problem was too biased. Often, the problem itself is reconstructed and becomes a new one. 2. Visualize! When Einstein thought through a problem, he always found it necessary to formulate his subject in as many different ways as possible, including using diagrams. He visualized solutions, and believed that words and numbers as such did not play a significant role in his thinking process. 3. Produce! A distinguishing characteristic of genius is productivity. Thomas Edison held 1,093 patents. He guaranteed productivity by giving himself and his assistants idea quotas. In a study of 2,036 scientists throughout history, Dean Keith Simonton of the Uni...

The full dress rehearsal this morning went off without any hitches and everyone gave a spectacular performance. Saturday's event looks set to be a truly memorable one! Hats off to the Ministry of Culture Youth and Sports for once again organizing a wonderful National Day spectacle. Well done all!

I was doing a shoot at a friend's place a couple of days ago and as usual, I was enjoying myself as most photographers do when given the opportunity to shoot beautiful people in a beautiful setting. Well, I do anyway heheh... Sometime during the afternoon, a guest, a very successful businessman and a prominent Bruneian, made a remark which went something like this, "Eh, turun pangkat kah jadi photographer?" Normally, I would have made a smug come-back to the distinguished gentleman's comment, something like, "Maaf YB, not sure about that, but my previous job in top management involved shovelling other peoples' shit, and lots of it, so in my humble opinion, photography's a vast improvement." But on that day, I somehow brushed the comment aside and continued enjoying myself behind the lens. It was then that it dawned upon me how much I have grown to love photography... so much so that a derogatory remark, which normally would have gotten me riled up, ...

There was a media briefing this afternoon for the 23rd National Day parade . Apparently media are not allowed onto the grass during the performance... woops... heheh

Happy Birthday to my top ranked influential IT figure in Brunei Darussalam.

Ever wonder what happens at supermarkets early in the morning way before opening time? Lots of grown-ups get together and perform a ritual called a supermarket sweep. In this ritual, some of the grown-ups are allowed a certain amount of time, as little as 10 seconds, to grab anything on the shelves. Canned abalones and washing detergent seem to be prized choices for some reason. Perhaps this was practiced by the elders many moons ago... At the end of the ritual, the grown-ups cart their loot out of the supermarket with a big smile on their faces...

PDS School had their early Chinese New Year performance today and everyone turned up in Red . As usual, the kids blew me away with their talent and skills! The Lion Dance was very impressive with some nice acrobatic moves. The chinese drums team were absolutely spectacular, not surprising with the number of performances under their belt. VKI finalist Azy also made an appearance with her rendition of " Biarlah Rahsia ". An enjoyable afternoon despite the searing heat of the afternoon sun beating down unforgivingly on us heheh...