Pulau Ubin
Tuesday, November 11, 2008 at 4:49 PM | 0 comments  
It's cool how my Photography module is forcing my out of home. And that's what I did last Sunday upon Hilwan's invitation to hang out at Pulau Ubin.

This week's assignment was to shoot 5 pics each of these 4 principals: Texture, 'Patterns and Rhythm', Layering and Visual Poetry.

Some tips to share with fellow adventure newbies:

1) Be prepared to get dirty (especially after it rained... muddy ground and puddles)
2) Water.. lots of water (but it will add on ur total weight, and the tap water in the toilet is not potable)
3) Shades and Caps can come in handy (for posing purposes too)
4) Time... be prepared to spend the whole day to maximise your bike rental's worth
5) Choose the right clique (same fitness level so that you will not drag others or get bored waiting for others to catch up; unless everyone is willing to work out on a compromise)





Why do we fall, Bruce? So that we can learn to pick ourselves up.

I only had 3 hours as I had to rush for school in the afternoon. I had wanted to reach the peak and get a nice view of the quarry but the diamond trail proved to be very challenging to me. My spine and arm was also starting to feel the brunt but it was mainly my stamina. It sucks how my lack of physical endurance gets in the way of living to the fullest. But it worked out well and I had enough time to change at home before heading to Sunday school. Hilwan and his bro, Syukri, was gung-ho enough to conquer the peak after I left.

It was a nice re-introduction to nature.

>> more pics here
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MJ
Friday, November 7, 2008 at 1:07 AM | 0 comments  

Cool!
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Phone Blogging
Tuesday, November 4, 2008 at 3:01 PM | 0 comments  
Technology can be wonderful and scary at the same time. I am blogging with my nokia e51. As it is, the phone is underutilised. Hence, me blogging with the phone is a first and painfully slower than a proper keyboard.

I just signed up for wireless sg. Right now i am at the library at sbg. School was 30min instead of 3hr today. Then i had craving for adam rd nasi lemak. Had lunch there and now i am waiting for work to start. I had wanted to get done with concept pitch but creative juices are not flowing.

Surfed my blog and found out i could save the images on my blog onto my phone. Cool. Probably half the internet and 3g world knows that already but its still cool to me.
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Gaara
at 12:07 AM | 0 comments  
An update of my Work In Progress. The pros can cook up something like this within the hour. I still need to learn the best workflow for these kind of works. Fun, love, passion... these are the ingredients I need to savour while working on my projects. An area I need to work, something to pay more attention to instead of worrying so much about deadlines.
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It's like learning to ride a bicycle
Monday, October 27, 2008 at 11:25 PM | 0 comments  


Siti Nurul Nadia

Ainul Sariyah with Bear Bear

A couple of months back, I was teaching Ainul how to ride a bicycle. What I witnessed was something short of a miracle. She was able to ride within minutes without training wheels albeit a little wobbly. She was able to master riding in a straight line by the end of that first session. Mastering to turn with the bicycle required her another session before she was comfortable in doing so.

I started to delve on why Ainul was able to learn how to ride so fast. I attribute why it was so to a couple of things. Firstly she's already in K2 when someone (me) finally bothered to teach her how to ride the bicycle. It's considerably older than other kids learning how to cycle out there. A more important factor is probably because she already understands the concept of balance. She's already a pro on her blue kick scooter prior to this. It's applying the same concept on a different tool.

At that point in time, I was just beginning to force myself to be proficient with my left hand. I was able to relate my situation to this incident.

"Maybe it won't take another 20 years to learn writing with my other hand."
"It's just switching tools, it's not like I have to re-learn the artistic skills. I just need to learn how to control it."

And I said thank you to Allah for that little motivation in my journey towards ambidexterity.

Another motivation came in a form of an obvious question by a colleague, "Kalau kau hari-hari draw, ko nyer drawing makin bagus. Betul eh?" He asked that question because he has a younger brother who became obsessed of drawing quite recently.

A part of me wanted to reply, "Isn't that obvious. Of course lar."
I managed to give a nice reply, "Betul ar."

Moments later I felt that question was directed more towards me. If I want to become better with my left hand I just need to practise continuosly.... obvious kan. My heart said my thanks again.

With these two micro-epiphanies, the choice was still left for me to make. Continue with the struggle or concede defeat to the challenge. If I choose the latter, I remind myself that I will be no better than the musyriks who turn their backs from the Truth even after witnessing it with their own eyes.

Once I mastered my left hand, it'll be like riding a bicycle. I won't forget how to do so. My journey continues.
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My Office
Sunday, October 26, 2008 at 11:53 AM | 0 comments  
I took some photos for my Digital Photography assignment during my one hour break at work yesterday. Still have lots to learn.




I work here part-time... nice right??
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New Semester
Friday, October 24, 2008 at 7:41 PM | 0 comments  
2 weeks of second semester has passed by. How has school been for me? Apart from the modules that I am re-re-taking, I am taking a module which is new to me. I pleaded my course coordinator to let me take Digital Photography. I'm glad I did it. It's definitely a break from my monotonous existence. A breath of fresh air. Learning is easier when it's fun. I bought a DSLR camera for the course and also partly for NYPMS Network Jalan Rayer. Bought a second hand one. I still don't know how serious a photographer I will be, a second hand entry level one should do just fine for now. The best part is that taking photos does not affect my hand like drawing does.

I started the semester with my right arm still very susceptible to pain and my left arm as back-up. My right arm will still go weak and pain will run up to my shoulders and back after extended use. My left arm is still unable write and draw at the level that I need for my course.

Drawing class is the one that I dreaded the most but so far it has been pretty okay. I am able to zone out from the pain when I need to for the class. It's a different story later on in the day... but i have learnt that complaining is not going to anyone any good. All I can do is suck thumb...nah...physio exercises does help reduce the pain.... but I will have days when I just get bored of it and forego. Lepas tu tanggung ar sendiri.

At times the pain will be bad enough to distract me and I will start feeling like a druggie who can't wait for the next fix. Panadol Extra would seem heavenly at that point in time but so far I have still yet to resort to painkillers. I also considered muscle relaxants.

The heaviest part to everything would have to be my mental stamina. I do zone out and start wondering why am I still doing this? I try to distract myself in my own head when I need to... it gets boring learning the same thing. I will start thinking of anything and everything... I would start thinking and am still thinking ... "Man, I should really celebrate in a big way when I get this semester over and done with!!" It should be something special... something special enough that will motivate me to go through another 16 weeks. I am open to suggestions.
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