a lunar corona and planet mars

a lunar corona and planet mars, originally uploaded by nadi0.

some facts for you and me. hihi

"A [lunar] corona quite frequently occurs when the Moon passes behind light or broken cloud. ...the most common form of the lunar corona is a disc of light which is bluish at its inner edge, changing to white further out, and intensifying to a reddish-brown outer edge. This is called the aureole, which may well have a further colored ring or rings surrounding it (normally refers to as iridescence). The corona is caused by the diffraction of moonlight by water droplets or by ice crystals in the atmosphere." - Astrophotography by HJP Arnold, pg 130.

pizza suka hati

pizza suka hati, originally uploaded by nadi0.

pizza sauce:
chopped onions & garlic,
tomato paste, whole canned tomatoes
dried oregano, parsley, rosemary, ground paprika,
salt, pepper & sugar to taste.

topping:
suka hati. in this one, crabstick, sausages, mushrooms, pineapple, sliced onions, bell pepper, mozarella cheese.

pizza dough: bought at giant..pretty good dough! can't remember the brand, but it's in a white box with blue writing all over it.

organized mess

KJ Sky, originally uploaded by nadi0.

that's what i am, like the stars in the sky. (i couldn't find my camera's battery and realized that my room has been subtly reorganized.) apa lagi..melenting la!

and i realize that i haven't written in almost 3 weeks.

i've always been fascinated by objects beyond earth. like the moon and sun, and recently the stars and deep space objects. here's a recent one i took from my front porch, the orion constellation. because of light pollution, i could only capture the brightest ones in the sky. i need to find some place that is darker but safe around here la...to get a better outcome.

a friend said i need to find myself a boyfriend. it made me feel like a loser for about 2 seconds, but in some ways, i'm quite glad that i have the interest, and plenty of time to learn and indulge myself in it. but of course, having that someone who loves you and cares about you would be nice too. hehe.

what else? i had a bone marrow test recently. it's been two weeks, no calls from the hospital. so i guess things must be good. no news is good news, they say. alhamdulillah. blood counts also came back good, as they have loyally done so in the past 2.5 years.

ok lah. i'm off to the times warehouse sale, to see if they have any astronomy books on sale. hehe.

ciao.

and selamat hari raya haji.

monkey in the park

monkey in the park, originally uploaded by nadi0.

i thought i'd post a picture of this monkey since i haven't posted anything in so long.

nyeheheheh.

yay!

lost in Singapore part 1, originally uploaded by nadi0.

after what seems to be a bad week for me, finally something wonderful came about.

i entered this picture into the hpmerdeka contest a couple of months ago, and today, i received a notification saying that this picture won 3rd runner up! yay...! my first ever winning photo contest. of course i'm excited, i've never even won the photo contests that were organized by my office!

credits to my brother deli, who clicked the shutter. all the other credits, of course goes to me
, e.g. idea, editing and perseverance to realize the vision in my head. muhahaha

oh my oh my a week has gone by

a week of fever, cough and cold just passed me by. i probably caught it from the kid who coughed into my face at the wedding on sunday. or from the sick people at the hospital from my checkup on monday. it's just horrible.

gosh. my temperature has just risen again. i hope i feel better tomorrow.

monster cookie

totally yums

testing the slide

look what mama found

my house jersey from high school days.

wooohoooo!!! hahaha

yep. i'm so happy because in high school, the shirt was a tad too tight for me.

Epa

DSC_2540, originally uploaded by nadi0.

a tiring sunday yesterday, yet full of fun!

i think i am addicted to Ted Adnan's studio now. Or any studio, for that matter, muahahahaa.

this is Epa, the model at the workshop yesterday. beautiful girl, i must say. when i saw how she worked, i thought, damn i could never do this job. i also didn't understand how she could (almost) maintain her sanity on the job. but she smiled and told me, "selalu nye pro photographers semua professional, takde la yang perangai tak senonoh sampai buat i uncomfortable."

it comes with the job, i suppose.

sepandai-pandai tupai melompat...

...akhirnya jatuh ke tanah juga.

i found something about someone on the net today, something that i am not supposed to find out, but it slipped anyway. but i'll let it be, because i only jump in excitement about things that, well, excite me. (lynn, this is not referring to that link nana found ok. now THAT is exciting..kekee).

anyway. hospital updates?

no updates. why? because when i arrived there today, i was told that there are no doctors around so my appointment has to be carried forward to some other date. and why didn't the clinic call to inform me? because my name wasn't even in the appointment list, although the appointment date was noted in my hospital book. why la these things always happen to me. i think i'll be more positive about my checkups in the future, because i think the negative vibes i'm emitting are probably attracting more unpleasant experiences towards me.

next scheduled appointment - 12th November.

Yay hospital!

Learn from the Right Eye

my good friend, Reza Ali, who is better known in the flickr world as Right Eye has started a "How To" blog. It's called "Anybody's guide to take better portraits with any camera."

check it our here.

He just recently started the blog, but i believe the blog will have more tips soon, given that he mastered portraiture in a very short span of time.

so guys and gals, if you want to take better portraits, be sure to bookmark him!

you've lost that feeling

i'm sure a lot of us have been in relationships where we suddenly lose that feeling. that feeling of love, loyalty, trust and many other feelings that come with a relationship.  something exciting that you started which you thought would last a lifetime, suddenly becomes just plain boring.  to do anything for the poor lover becomes a chore, no longer something that you willingly do out of your love and passion for that person.  and the worse bit is when there's no other person, no third party, no safety net.  you just want out, just because.  but it makes you think twice, many times over, doesn't it? because what if you can no longer get what you're thinking of leaving behind?  and it breaks your heart to even mention the idea of it to that person.

i'm sure it has happened at least once to everyone of us. regardless if it was a 2-week relationship, 6-months, 1, 2, 7 or 10 years.

and now it's happening to me.  and i friggin' hate it when that happens, because i usually can't focus on anything else until i end it, once and for all.

at last....

the little one, originally uploaded by nadi0.

after waiting for almost 5 months, and missing my chance to see him twice in a row, i finally get to meet this little boy at his tok ibu's house.

he was everything i imagined he would be, except that his daddy's camera really made him look bigger than he really is. hahaa

welcome to the family, little one.

Casey Stoner

Casey Stoner, originally uploaded by nadi0.

went oredi...so have to show picture la right...

so here u go.

i had a really good time, it was a good learning experience, i think. a bit sakit pinggang from trying to pan all the damn fast motorbikes.

i'm going again tomorrow, so will post another picture then.

gnite!

MotoGP

Today's your day to catch all the action as our MotoGP VIP! Remember - your bus will leave at 9.00am from Bar Savanh, Asian Heritage Row, KL. Don't be late!

That was the wake-up sms I received from the event organizer at 7AM this morning. I won this pass sometime last week after answering a couple of questions (which I answered incorrectly..ahaha).

And when the nice chap called to tell me that I won the pass, I asked him, "what GP is this??" I accepted the ticket anyway, and decided that i'd do the research later. I also had the knack to ask him, "lerr..one ticket only, who am I going to hang out with there?" to which he answered, "err..u can hang out with the ducati riders..?" Slow sungguh aku ni, dan agak kurang pengetahuan am..hahah!

But now I know lah. Casey Stoner is leading now, followed by Rossi, but Stoner's probably going to win the GP since he's so far ahead and there are only two more rounds left for this season.

So I think I have done enough research for the ticket not to be wasted on me. Kekeke.. Ciao from your undeserving motoGP ticket winner, nadio.

facebook facebook

i've gotten used to this monster by clicking ignore on every Add an application request i get. muhahaha...sorry ye kawan2.

man, this thing can hurt some feelings sometimes. i have a friend whom i consider one of my very good friends, who decided to only let me see dia punya limited profile. terguris hatiku, so i decided to just remove this person, since obviously dia rasa there are some things that need to be hidden from my view...like dia punya friends. i know i do that sometimes too, but to people whom i've never met...not to my friends who communicate with me everyday!

i'm virtually hurt.

keke.

Urban Legend Chocolate Chip Cookies

Urban Legend Chocolate Chip Cookies, originally uploaded by nadi0.

i found the recipe for these cookies in allrecipes.com. Search for Urban Legend Chocolate Chip Cookies.

I tell u. yum....!

to make them soft, place huge patties on the tray..probably about 1 tablespoon of the dough.

to make them crunchy, place little patties, 1 teaspoon..

bake in oven for 6-7 minutes, then take the tray out for the cookies to cool. dip in milk for extra umph.

Angkasawan Launch

Angkasawan Launch, originally uploaded by nadi0.

damn, i totally forgot about this most anticipated angkasawan launching today.

Congratulations to Dr Sheikh. I would definitely do anything to get to be a passenger in a mission into space. Maybe someone will hire me to photograph space some day. At least I'd be doing something. hehe.

A conversation i heard on the radio between a caller and the DJ.

DJ: Awak rasa bagus tak Dr Sheikh dapat pergi ke angkasa?
Caller: bagusss....
DJ: Kenapa awak rasa bagus?
Caller: Sebab Dr Sheikh tu kan hensem, and dia best.

mangkuk betul pemanggil itu.

some excerpts from news articles that i found rather interesting (and funny):

from CNN.com:
Shukor, 35, will bring a "symbolic" load of Malaysian food to the space station, said Zulkeffeli Mat Jusoh, a program director for the Malaysian space program.

Shukor's religion also requires that he face Mecca for prayer but clerics decided that the exact location matters only for the beginning of the prayer ritual.

from The Guardian Unlimited:
The astronaut will take the Baikonur launch point as his reference for his five-times daily prayers, ordinarily dictated by sunset and sunrise. Otherwise, with 16 orbits each day, a devout Muslim would be obliged to pray 80 times every 24 hours.

Luckily, Malaysia's Islamic scholars spent a whole year finding solutions to these and other ticklish problems as Mr Muszaphar prepared for his nine-day trip to the International Space Station aboard a Russian Soyuz rocket.

adoih...kecohnye....

I'm surprised they didn't make him wear a songket space-suit for his journey into space.

Al Fatihah

say a lil' prayer, originally uploaded by nadi0.

My grandfather, who suffered from stroke since early 2006, passed away about 2 hours ago after his condition deteriorated from the fever he caught last week. Though I don't have many memories of him and me, he is still Atuk, a part of my life and blood. He opened his eyes yesterday, as i whispered into his ear to tell him that i was leaving back for KL. I was touched; i guess in a way i am glad that he remembers me, one of his countless grandchildren and great grandchildren (dang, i can't even remember the names of all my cousins, nephews and nieces).

at least now he gets to be with nenek.
semoga roh atuk dicucuri rahmat.

Al-Fatihah.

it may takes a while....

Sorry, all our executives are busy. It may takes a while for your call to be answered by our executive. Please hold. We will attend to your call shortly.

Maybank's IVR system.

Needless to say, I never got to speak to an executive. So i blog instead.

je suis stuck

bugger. for a person who did a degree in decision systems, i sure am out of ideas on how to build this evaluation system i'm supposed to do.

there's the assessment criteria for process maturity, the importance of the criteria, and the evaluator's rating, and all that will give an end answer of how mature a particular process is.

it sounds simple when i type it out like that. but every time i open up a new spreadsheet to build a test application, i stumble upon a dead end.

maybe if i think about it from an RFP point of view? hmmmm...

i think i'll go to the square where the geeks are, to find some inspiration.

no view today

no view today, originally uploaded by nadi0.

rather scary, as i turned around and realized that we're completely surrounded by heavy fog. i couldn't see the ground below, nor the top of the other tower.

hehe.

Cyber Love

Technology allows you to do almost anything these days. Here I'm experiencing my newly born nephew having his bath, although he's almost half way around the world from me. It's amazing how I can feel so much love for this new being whom I've only ever met online.

Welcome to the world, little one. (ok he's not so little..5 months old oredi..hehe)

i thot i'd test this video thing out

nadio delio nachos

nadio delio nachos, originally uploaded by nadi0.

yum yum. a food experiment by nadio and delio (that's my brother).

i am old

the kids who called me makcik, originally uploaded by nadi0.

today, for the first time in my entire life, i was addressed as "makcik" (auntie) without the kids being told to call me so.

kids: makcik makcik ambik gambar saya!
me: WHAT did you just call me?

hehe no lah. of course i didn't say that to the kids.

but dayemmm, did i look like a makcik?? maybe i did, a little. hahaha!

Acar Buah

Boss gave each of us some acar buah today. His wife's famous acar buah.

I know some of you out there will be jealous. MUAHAHAHAHAHHAA...

p/s: i have to apologize for the picture..it really doesn't do justice to the taste of the acar buah.

alas, i sold another.

my french spidey pic, originally uploaded by nadi0.

apparently the French Spidey, Alain Roberts climbed the Federation Tower in Moscow last week. Much to my delight, ABC News Online purchased one of the pictures I sent to Scoopt.com/Getty Images many moons ago. It was used as a compilation with other images of the French Spidey climbing towers around the world.

Supporting image pun supporting image lah, kan?

Link to the page here.

Facebook Fobia

I've been introduced to facebook recently. I was told that it is bloody addictive, but now i'm just scared. it's like something that moves too fast before i've had a chance to properly understand it. so i just leave it, and it takes a life of its own. click 'confirm' where i want, and click 'ignore' where i don't want. hehe.

I think playing Alice Greenfingers is more addictive than this scary thing.

:-)

Food Frenzy

1 Ramadhan, originally uploaded by nadi0.

1st ramadhan.

I attempted to brave through the crowd. Quarter way in, i realized that i was concentrating more on trying to push my way through, than checking out the variety of delicacies offered at the bazaar.

I turned back, got my yong tau foo and jelly sirap, and got back inside the car where it was much more comfortable. i totally forgot about the lemang i had to buy for Tok. hahaha.

after dinner, i checked out my belly in the mirror, and decided that today will be the last day that i ate like a monster.

Selamat Berpuasa

Have a good fasting month for all my muslim friends & acquaintances.

And good luck, for those who need it. hehe.

Panorama Kuala Lumpur

Panorama Kuala Lumpur, originally uploaded by nadi0.

once in a while i work late (covering back the time for coming in late hehe), and sometimes when i'm lucky enough, the sky will be as nice as this and i have a respectable camera with me.

unfortunately the window cleaners haven't reached this level yet in their cleaning rounds, so the glass was kind of dirty. hehe.

taken from my office with my coolpix P5000. 3 shots stitched with Autostitch.

that's me baby!

i got picked. hahaha!, originally uploaded by nadi0.

hopefully it will get printed some day... :-)

selamat pagi malaysia part deux

sungguh membazir effort ku...

as it turned out, i still arrived at 9.20 despite leaving home at 7.45 AM because there were two accidents on the Federal Highway, and of course, everybody slowed down to see what was going on.

and as i was cursing the traffic, i suddenly remembered that the morning meeting was postponed to tomorrow afternoon.

zzzzzzzzzzzzz...

selamat pagi malaysia

selamat pagi malaysia, originally uploaded by nadi0.

i'm up this early because i never even slept. serves me right for sleeping until noon on sunday. i was reading, when i realized it was already 4am. so i figured, screw it, i'll just stay up until it's time to go to work.

...kerana hari ini aku tidak mahu lambat lagi ke ofis for the monday morning meeting that i have been consistently late for, for the past weeks.

may it be a good week ahead!

i know for sure it won't be a good Monday for me starting at about 12noon when my head starts to ache from the lack of sleep.

Malaysia Boleyyyyy!!!

Malaysia Boleyyyyy!!!, originally uploaded by nadi0.

i was trying to find excuses to not finish the things that i'm supposed to do, so friends and me decided to brave the traffic to watch Malaysia play. Awesome stuff, i didn't take too many photos because

1. the game was too interesting
2. i was 100mm short, and from where i was sitting, 200mm was kind of useless.

look at those dudes in the orange shirts...cheh, jeles aku!

Malaysia won 3-1 to Myanmar. Myanmar played rough, and it was bloody annoying. But Malaysia persevered, and we won! Nice 50th Merdeka present for the country yea?

ok aku nak tidok...rasa macam nak demam lak....argh.

hanim

hanim, originally uploaded by nadi0.

budak lawa.

Perbalahanku dengan pihak berkuasa

Sebok-sebok post gambar, I forgot about my incident with the authorities late afternoon today. I was driving around Sg Buloh trying to hurry to another place when i got stopped by the police, as i got down one of the many ramps there. You know, the road towards Damansara Damai, where all the road constructions are?

Dah la aku nak cepat ni..kena tahan pulak. Sah2 kena saman. but what did i do wrong? After waiting for about 3 minutes in the friggin hot sun, Pihak Berkuasa (PB) finally came to my car. I rolled down the window.

PB: Bagi lesen. Awak tahu apa salah awak?
Me: Tak (and gave my license)
PB: Awak U-turn dekat double line kat atas sana. Double line mana boleh U-turn.
Me: Saya tak nampak pun double line? Papan tanda U-turn ada la, warna oren.
PB: Pegawai saya dekat atas sana nampak kamu U-turn. Mana-mana ada double line mana boleh u-turn, papan tanda tu ada orang letak sendiri lah tu.
Me: Jadi, orang lain letak, saya yang salah? Papan tanda tu warna oren, bukan papan tanda orang suka-suka lukis pakai marker pen!

..and then he went off for another 10 minutes to do i don't know what. I prayed that the destination i was headed to is still open by the time i get there. When he came back, he asked me to sign the offense ticket.

Me: Saya tak nak sign.
PB: (heavy sigh) hish, Kenapa pulak?
Me: Sebab saya tak rasa bersalah. Papan tanda tu macam papan tanda construction. Saya nak encik naik sana pegi tengok kalau tak percaya. Mintak maaf pada encik pun saya tak nak, sebab saya tak bersalah. Encik pegi naik sana sekarang tengok.
PB: hish. tunggu sekejap lah, pegawai saya turun sekejap lagi.

Another long wait in the car, and i spent it shooting angry stares at them PBs having their ciggies and chilling inside their cars. The pegawai finally made it down, and they waved me off. No apologies, no explanation, no nothing. And i don't know how many other drivers before me drove away with undeserved offense tickets in their hands.

RM300 saved, 20 farking minutes wasted.

shine

killing ambient light, originally uploaded by nadi0.

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.
Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.
It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us.
Your playing small does not serve the world.
There is nothing enlightening about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you.
We are all meant to shine as children do.
It's not just in some of us; it is in everyone.
And as we let our own lights shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.
As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.

- Timo Cruz's speech, in Coach Carter.

my productive sunday

sundayimage, originally uploaded by nadioblog.

from 9AM to 6.30PM. now i'm tired...

thank god i'm on leave tomorrow.

yeehoo!

Great Eastern sucks

anybody holds a life policy with Great Eastern? Their latest promo is the Premier Accidental Death Benefits Rider policy, which they slip in under the items section of your Premium Notice.

a normal person, like me, who is always in a hurry to pay their bills, looks at the notice, checks the total premium due at the bottom and makes the payment, only to realize an hour later the statement at the end of the notice that says:

"If you do not wish to add on the optional P-ADB, you only need to pay the Premium Due on the Policy (1)."

Upon which you know you will spend the next three weeks trying to claim the money back from them. In my case, the policy i was paying was my brother's, who is working out of the country. So when i called them, there was another hooha of getting the money to be refunded to my name instead of my brother.

For some unknown reason, when I called to get the refund, I was told that the payment had gone in, and I needed to fax a letter in order to get that refund. So I did all of that, and today, I received a call from them saying that they never received the Maybank2u transfer that i claimed to have made. True enough, when i checked my account, I didn't make the payment. All i did was register my brother's insurance account in Maybank.

SO WHAT THE FARK WAS GOING ON WHEN I MADE THE FIRST CALL, AFTER I THOUGHT I PAID FOR SOMETHING I DID NOT WANT?

Menyusahkan orang betul.

Moral of the story:
They should never slip in extra policies like that, which will end up wasting everybody's time.

Why am i so pissed off? Because nobody else can waste my time, other than ME.

what a weekend...

ate too much, drove too much, shot too many, talked too much - to semi strangers. it was fun though, as they usually are.

while i was shooting, i heard some guests whispering my name. felt like a celebrity for a split second, until i turned around, and voila! there sat my neighbors, who turned out to be cousins of the bride. then, towards the end of the day, when i was chatting with the bride's mother, it came to my knowledge that the bride's mother was my mom's college mate, and good friend.

"it's a small world after all, it's a small world after all, it's a small world after all, it's a small small world...." hahaha. (damn, i miss disneyland!)

ok...i'm off to bed after that 4-hour drive in the rain.

after this will be shooting hari raya hampers pulak...nervous, kind of, my first product shot assignment. but at least products don't move like children do, kan? i remember the domii clothing shoot, where i kaput for 5 hours straight after the session, and ended up delivering the photos to the client at 1 in the morning. kekeke...parah gila.

nite nite.

hospital update

lens test, originally uploaded by nadi0.

today was my first checkup after the 2nd anniversary of my stem cell transplant.

my blood count is normal, white cells 4.8, hemoglobins 11.8 and platelets 195. my liver function is also improving, though the numbers are still outside of the normal range.

the doc said, "u tak minum air ka?" she caught me there. my kidney function test showed that it's a bit dry. i told her that i am so lazy to drink water that i'd rather sleep than go downstairs for a glass of water. kena sound seround...padan muka.

otherwise things are good. just need plenty of water and regular exercise. and as of today, i'm off all medications.

alhamdulillah.

ahh what a day...

man, what a tiring day.

it started with a small request that turned into a huge argument. Having let things slip in front of my eyes in the past, that request just hit the wrong buttons, so what ensued was a barrage of "ungkit-mengungkit" because i refused to back down on my point. ungkit-mengungkit dalam omputeh apa ah?

i'm not going to tell the story, because it was tiring enough having to go through it today, so i'll just stop thinking about it altogether.

then tonight, i received a call that left me pleasantly surprised. it didn't have anything to do from what happened in the day, but it made me feel better anyway. :-)

only one more day of work tomorrow. yeehoo! then i'm off for my routine checkup, before i head to JB for the weekend with my friend, for a wedding we have to cover. Apologies to Raz & Riz and Fakhzan for not being able to make it to your parties, this was something i've already committed to since months ago.

i'm off to edit a picture now before i go to bed. (it helps me relax) hahaha

yes, i'm a geek. gnite.

moon upon a blue sky

moon upon a blue sky, originally uploaded by nadi0.

i found this in my Perhentian Trip pictures folder today.

I was having some keropok lekor at a restaurant near the Kuala Besut Jetty around 6PM while waiting for my bus back, and i saw the moon. Biasa la jakun kan...so i took out my camera and started snapping away.

Makcik Restoran: Mung amik gambo gapo tu?
Me: Tu bulan tu....
Makcik Restoran: Gambar bulan pun nak amik ke?
Me: Eh makcik....bulan macam ni susah nak dapat kat KL tau!!
Makcik Restoran: ooooooooooooo...

and then i showed her the images i just shot. She looked at them in silence, and her first word after that was, "Masya-Allah.."

Masya-Allah indeed.

My Affair with an EOS 20D

tigers playing, originally uploaded by nadi0.

i borrowed a friend's 20D for the weekend, to test out the wide angle lens i got for my brother. Alang2 tu, i borrowed the friend's sigma 70-200mm f/2.8 sekali...mainly to test my endurance.

so, apa lagi....this calls for a trip to the zoo! my third visit this year, i believe. hahaha. damn the 70-200 lens was bloody heavy. i only walked around for 2 hours, instead of my usual 4. but of course, the pictures came out so much sharper compared to my el-cheapo Nikkor 70-300mm G. look at the tigers here..you can even see the fleas flying around them. pergh!

one day i'll get that lens for myself. but before that, i need to start lifting weights...2 kilos of equipment is just a tad too heavy for me to lug around. hahaha.

Camera, lens and storage card courtesy of Khan. Thanks dude!

stress domino effect

somebody in my workplace seems to be in stress. the control-freak strikes again, and it's driving me mad.

there have been massive changes in the environment these days. people leaving, people coming, friends moving to greener pastures. now, after almost 7 years, those changes are starting to take a toll on me.

i have been asking this to myself a lot lately. why am i still here?
- because i don't really mind my job, and i like what i'm doing.
- because i don't know if the other companies will pay for my health insurance, with my history.
- because i still have good friends here
- because i'm too lazy to see what lies beyond my two cubicle walls
- because i'm bonded for another 22 months, and my bond amount could buy me 2 D2Xs bodies.

are they real reasons, or do they sound more like excuses?

maybe the time has come.

or maybe not.

kadangkala

sometimes you sit on cloud nine when people keep telling you how good your work is and how happy they are to have hired you.

then, occasionally, you get the really honest one, who tells you that the shots were good, but they are not happy with a few (important ones).

that brings you down, for a minute, an hour, a day, depending on the type of person you are. but once you snap out of the self-pity, you'll find ways to improve, and from that, you will learn. and you will realize that that is exactly what you need to get better.

gnite!

I hate public transportation

I now remember why I stopped using the train. It's even less reliable than my car, that's why. I'm now standing in a massive queue at KLCC to get past the ticket gate, since only one gate is working.

And what's worse, the system announcement said, "ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the Kelana Jaya LRT station...we are experiencing a service interruption between the Dang Wangi St and Ampang Station."

Kelana Jaya??? Mangkuk betul. Can't even get that right.

Ok ah...no point whining too much. I'm gonna get meself some bagel and coffee, lagi best.

and then there's the sunset

sunset @ Perhentian Kecil, originally uploaded by nadi0.

i've seen better sunsets, but this one was beautiful nevertheless.

Turtle Bay Beach

Turtle Beach, originally uploaded by nadi0.

and this...is Turtle Bay Beach. Site of the Turtle Conservation Project...I prefer this beach to Long Beach, merely because of it's serenity. The water looks different here too. It's an RM10 boatride from Long Beach.

i wanna go back...

late morning at Long Beach

Long Beach in HDR, originally uploaded by nadi0.

my favorite HDR so far.

:-)

LRT Blues

Due to the unavailability of both cars, I was forced to take the train today. Now I'm on my way home, and some bugger standing or sitting nearby is in serious need of some deodorant. Eww!

Funny eh, in my travels here and there, I have no qualms riding the trains, subway, metro, MRT. No problems walking 4 kilometers to get to my destination.

And here I am in my home country, whining and complaining like a spoiled brat.

Merdeka!! Merdeka!! Merdeka!! (takde kena mengena. kakaka)

sunrise @ Kuala Besut Jetty

sunrise @ Kuala Besut Jetty, originally uploaded by nadi0.

the beginning of my photographic adventure.

kakaka...

taken the morning i arrived in Kuala Besut, before the boat to Long Beach, Perhentian Kecil.

The road to Kuala Besut

I can't sleep. I'm on the bus to Kuala Besut and we're stopping somewhere in a canteen-like area for buses. Regret not calling Lan for some sleeping pills just now. Hehehe..

This bus isn't bad actually...it could comfortably seat a 6 ft tall man. Next time I will buy two seats for myself. That would be awesome!

I looked at the sky and even on a cloudy night like this, I could see the stars..now I regret not taking my battery charger with me so I could photograph the sky tomorrow night. Will try to save power and do a star trail shot if I can.

I tell you...it's kind of leceh carrying this camera backpack around. It took me 5 minutes to pack my clothes and another 20 minutes to pack my camera gear. Deciding what to bring and what to leave behind...and I know that when the time comes, I will still regret the choice of equipment that I decided to take with me. I'm like the lady traveller who takes too many dinner dresses with her just in case. Hahahaa...sometimes I miss the days when the only camera i'm carrying is my boyfriend's compact camera. Hehe. Gone are the simpler days, and I don't regret a single bit of it!

I'm travelling by myself tonight, and will be seeing Mar tomorrow morning. That lucky woman has already been there since yesterday. Cheh!!

Aight!! I'm gonna try to catch some sleep now. Wish me a safe journey. Nite2.

to err is human

to err is human, originally uploaded by nadi0.

...to forgive is divine.

this is from my judgment error this morning. i really don't know what happened, but i was trying to switch lanes and i did not budget properly. next thing i know, i have already hit the car in front of me.

the driver got out of the car, and immediately spoke to me in the most condescending tone, "aiyergh....how do you drive la?"

with my foot on the pedal lerr, how else?

anyway, i just apologized, gave her my business card and asked her to call me when her car is ready.

my unlucky morning, i guess. but i'm off to perhentian tonight for a couple of days of fun in the sun! woohoo! babai!

Tragedi Projek Potret Bulan Dalam 31 Hari

it was beautiful tonight...from Pak Mok's house. A perfect yellow crescent moon, and Venus right next to it.

the disaster was that when i got home and rushed back out with my camera and tripod..i couldn't locate the moon from my house.

tried to locate the moon again after dinner, to no avail.

just not my lucky night i guess. :-)

Al Fatihah

The latest news i heard was that they found the Nuri Helicopter crash site, and no one survived. Among the 6 Royal Malaysian Air Force crew members killed in the crash was Pak Mok's brother, Kapt Nor Azlan Dato' Termuzi.

Al-Fatihah.

image licensing question

so..some Argentinian book publisher wants to use one of my photos for their English books. It's a photo of a kid in a street playing the drum.

i'm not making any money from the photo usage. do i still need to seek permission from the kid?

shit i need to start learning all this licensing stuff.

Asian Football Cup 2007

numero neuf et numero huit, originally uploaded by nadi0.

after the disappointment from our loss against China last week, some friends and me braved the rain to see China play against Iran.

awesome game. I ended up not taking that many photos because:

1. the game was more interesting to watch than photograph
2. the players were faster compared to the last game i went to. hehe..

the game ended with a draw, China 2, Iran 2.

good stuff.

this photo was shot with my D80 and Nikkor 70-300mm G lens mounted on a monopod (the monopod is bloody awesome btw!). ISO speed whacked up to 1600. I'm starting to feel the itch to buy a fast telephoto zoom...argh! please stop me! kekeke

Midvalley frigging megamall

Can u believe that one of the largest shopping malls in the country has only two visible ATM machines? And one is not functioning.

Talk about stupidity.

Mind blogging questions

Why do people have public blogs when they don't allow for questions to be asked?
Why do people share things, when they don't allow for their readers or viewers to reciprocate?
Why do people post pictures up for comments and criticism, then get defensive when they are criticized?

Why does Monday fall before Tuesday?
Why do summers come in June, why do winters come to soon?
ok...dah lari topic. (remember that 3T + Michael Jackson song, "Why"? haha)

Why?

Projek Potret Bulan Dalam 31 Hari

i stopped at the 7th day. i couldn't bring myself to wait an hour later each night than the previous night so i could capture the shape of the moon.

as i have learned, the moon will move to the same position in the sky every night 51 minutes later than the previous night. so on the 7th night, i only saw it at 2AM, which means that the following night i'll have to wait until 3AM...no way. hehehehe

i've lost that challenge for myself. i'll try again next month.

hehe

Day +2 Years

Can you believe it's been two years since my stem cell transplant?

I can't believe it either. Lots of things have happened in the past two years. New hobbies, new love, new friends, new blood, new clothes, new hair, new health issues to manage, etc etc etc.

Alhamdulillah.

Happy 2nd anniversary to me!

Tuna Noodle Casserole

1 can tuna in salt water (drain out the water please!)
1 cup full cream milk
3/4 can cream of mushroom soup concentrate
chopped celery
frozen green peas
cooked spaghetti
grated cheddar cheese

preheat oven at 175 degrees C.
cook spaghetti (not too much, it will expand) and drain water.
mix cooked spaghetti with tuna, milk, mushroom soup concentrate, celery and peas.
season with a bit of black pepper if you like.

pour mixture in casserole dish.
top with grated cheddar cheese and stick in oven for 20-30mins until the cheese bubbles and turns brownish.

it reminds me of the freezing university days when we used to eat microwave dish tuna casseroles for dinner. comfort food, i tell you!

no pictures, unfortunately. i ruined the dish before i could take picture because i was so hungry. hehehe..plus the look of the casserole doesn't justify its taste. ;-)

The first week of July

first week of July, originally uploaded by nadioblog.

I'm moonlighting as a moon-stalker these days.

only a week, and i have learned a tonne of things about this object we call the Moon.

When I finish, i will list down what i have learned.

I'm so glad tomorrow's a sunday.

sleep time.

Reunited

fiat, originally uploaded by nadi0.

Reunited, and it feels so good...
Reunited 'cause we understood
There's one perfect fit,
and sugar this one is it,
We both are so excited
'cause we're reunited hey, hey....

after more than two months in the workshop, my beloved is finally back. I still feel a bit awkward driving it around. But the new roar of the engine...ahhh, that's my heaven on earth.

now where the hell did i put my car stereo?

Ayam Bakar Ojolali

Ayam Bakar Ojolali, originally uploaded by nadi0.

here you go....

argh...i'm starting to drool already.

sunrise @ The Strait of Johor

sunrise @ The Strait of Johor, originally uploaded by nadi0.

I just got back from a trip to Singapore. Stayed in JB, in a place called Compact Hotel. When I arrived on Friday night, i complained about the car lift and the dodgy looking room. They had a Midnight Special of RM100, and I don't really want to know what that is. hehee..Then, I woke up at 7AM from the sunlight pouring through the window, and saw this wonderful sunrise.

My beloved camera almost got stuck outside the dirty window when i attempted to slip the camera through the small opening. I'm never going to try that again, it almost gave me a heart attack when I realized I couldn't slip the camera back in so easily. had to detach the lense before I could get the camera safely back inside the room. hehehe.

Singapore was awesome. The zoo was awesome. Too many people even at 9.30AM, but for RM15, i am not going to complain. The sale was good too, but I didn't buy much for myself. Went to look for camera stuff for my friends, and ended up buying the all the remaining stock of Sanyo Eneloop batteries at this camera shop in Peninsula Plaza.

Then I hung out at the Esplanade, the Merlion Park...all the normal stuff. A laid-back weekend, other than my legs now feel like they're going to break from too much walking.

Oh. And thanks to Najah who pointed me to Ayam Bakar Ojolali in Lucky Plaza. Man....that's the best tasting chicken i've ever had! yummmmy! I wanted to take home some with me, but i wasn't sure if it will still be as good when it gets to KL..next time maybe.

am going to rest now. work tomorrow.

night.

Traumatic Wednesday

in the past 3 years...i've had many invasive procedures done on me.

- blood tests (probably a thousand times)
- bone marrow biopsies (i lost count of how many)
- insertion of hickman line (twice)
- insertions of lines on my neck, arm and thigh
- bronchoscopy
- spleen biopsy
- lung biopsy

and the list continues...

and you may see me as a strong person, but most of the procedures usually end up in me crying or screaming and left me feeling rather fucked up for a couple of days.

yesterday morning, i had an upper intestine endoscopy procedure - am i using the right term docs? and of course, my standard question would be, would i be sedated, and if no, can i please be sedated?

unfortunately the doc declined my request. he said he wants to save my veins from being damaged. so, he gave me a throat anesthetic...it sort of numbed my throat..but i was fully aware of what was going on. and guess what? of course when i saw the scope, i freaked out! i fought, screamed and cried. and 16 hours after the procedure, i my throat and tummy still feel sore from my fighting the scope from entering my esophagus. the mental image won't go away, and i still feel like crying whenever i think about it. like right now.

why would anyone have to go through such trauma when they can be sedated?

i asked the doc why not, the only reason he gave was:
1. because he wanted to save my veins

but here are my reasons:
1. so i don't get freaked out and start to struggle
2. so i don't fight and hurt my throat
3. so i don't start screaming in the room like a mental patient, hence scaring the other patients
4. so the poor nice doctor doesn't label me as a difficult patient
5. so i don't feel angry for the whole day and have nowhere to channel the anger to
6. so i get to wake up 1 or 2 hours later groggy, but at least i'll be in a pleasant mood
7. so i don't feel traumatized and invaded for the whole day, which will end up in me sleeping until it's dinner time, which i think is a friggin' waste of time. and i still wake up in a foul mood.

it's 2 AM, and i can't sleep because i slept the whole day, and i still feel pretty fucked up.

i know, my mother says that i need to be strong and have willpower. fighting leukemia was a long and arduous journey for me, and these days, if i can avoid any discomfort, i will avoid it. my veins will regrow, but will the traumatic experience fade from my memory? right, why not just add another bad experience to her long list of bad experiences?

nevertheless, at the expense of my feeling horribly fucked up, the result of the scope was normal, thank God. :-) and i hope i never have to go through such a procedure again in my entire life.

have i said that i feel so fucked up now?

Cookie

Cookie Cat, originally uploaded by nadi0.

i haven't written about cats in a long long while.

well, this is a story about a cat named Cookie.

she was born in Taman Seputeh in August 2003, just before Merdeka Day. she became really sick circa late 2004 while i was fighting leukemia..the vet said she had skin cancer. You can see the lesions on her body in the picture. but she lived a full year, before she went missing sometime in early 2006. i assumed she died away from home and prayed that she died painlessly.

then tonight...while i was stumbling in the dark backyard to put food for Baby and Tompok, i heard the sound of a leash bell. the cat purr near my legs sounded strangely familiar. it felt like a lean, short-haired cat...and my heart skipped. shit, did Baby lose all her hair from the skin ointment i put on her? (Baby is having some skin problems too...)

i quickly reached for the switch to turn on the lights, and voila! there was Cookie...munching on the food i had just poured for the other cats. and she looks all better now..she looks older, but it was her!

i believed that she became ill because she was trying to absorb some of my pain when i was sick, and now that i'm better, she got better too. i guess that belief isn't too far-fetched then.

thank you to that kind person out there who took care of her when i couldn't. if she drops by to see me once in a while, that's more than enough for me, to know that she's OK and well-taken care of.

i'm now wondering if Alf and Owen could still be alive. :-)

p/s: Baby, after the maid left and all her three babies died, has gone into depression mode, and now looks more like a germ-infested stray cat rather than a persian. she's got these disgusting crustings on her ears, and she keeps going back into the maid's room to lie down on her bed. :-( it's so sad to see her like that. hope she feels better.

Jangan Pandang Belakang

farah low-key, originally uploaded by nadi0.

not that i'm saying that the subject in the portrait looks like a hantu...hehe. totally not.

i just came back from watching the much anticipated local horror film, Jangan Pandang Belakang. Everybody was too scared to watch it alone, so me and a few friends got together tonight especially to watch this film.

here's my review:

It's overrated, and wtf????

Heroes

finished watching the season finale of Heroes this morning, in my attempt to stay awake until it's time to get to work. The words of Mohinder Suresh at the end of the episode was very touching...i'm sure this paragraph is in blogs all over the world this week.

"we dream of hope, we dream of change, of fire, of love, of death...Then it happens, the dream becomes real. And the answer to this quest, this need to solve life's mysteries, finally shows itself , like the glowing light of a new dawn.

so much struggle for meaning, for purpose, and in the end we find it only in each other, our shared experience of the fantastic and the mundane. The simple human need to find a kindred, to connect, and to know in our hearts that we are not alone."

i am so going to be a zombie at work today.

...and Inzaghi scores....!!!

not that i watched the game. i went to check the score 85 minutes into the game, and found out that Inzaghi scored both the goals for Milan. yeehooo!

not that i follow the Champions League...hahaha.

I remember my college crush on Inzaghi, which made me took Italian for 2 semesters, in hope that the day I get to meet him in person, I will be able to at least have a civil conversation with him.

not that i ever got to meet him, but the A's i got for the two italian courses definitely bumped my CGPA at that time.

ok...i better go to sleep.

buona notte.

forza Inzaghi!

sunset @ Bukit Permai

vertical sunset @ Bukit Permai, originally uploaded by nadi0.

- one better sore eye
- one useless trip to the shopping mall
- one failed attempt to find the Ampang Lookout point

- one goal in life achieved.

driving through the rush hour today trying to look for the Ampang Lookout Point as described by Fariz brought me here, the Taman Bukit Permai Lookout Point. It didn't look promising at first, and just as i was about to get back into the car, the clouds started to part.

my eye is better now. i guess it's time to get back to work tomorrow.

boo hoo.

my eye

sunset @ damansara perdana, originally uploaded by nadi0.

somehow, i contracted an eye infection over the weekend. it got worse last night, all red and swollen. i think i might have to take another day off tomorrow so i don't infect people at work.

coincidentally, it's my right eye, the eye that is constantly on my viewfinder.

maybe it's time i got a disinfectant for my viewfinder.

arghh so itchy!

p/s: i don't know why i'm so bothered by something that i'm not even sure i want anymore. maybe i want it still? maybe i don't. i'm freakin' bothered, nevertheless.

eyes

eyes, originally uploaded by nadi0.

the original exposure was just begging to be processed into this.

look at those eyes.

model: Mrs. O

sunset @ KJ in HDR

sunset @ KJ in HDR, originally uploaded by nadi0.

another day, another HDR.

i'm going nuts. this addiction to HDR can be dangerous to my photo-taking skills. like i told Kichi, who cares what the original shot looks like when you can do a HDR later?

dang.

College sick

These days, when I attend talks and dialogue sessions on process improvement and quality, I keep hearing the words I used to hear in my college classes. Words and abbreviations like SEI, CMM, CMMi, maturity levels, etc.

Somehow hearing those words remind me of the indian food truck near Pitt Library (where they serve my favorite chicken tikka masala in the whole world), Kiva Han on Craig St, the pasta stand in the University Center and the Ponderosa buffet all the way in Monroeville.

Mmmph..yum!

the other side of sunrise

the other side of sunrise, originally uploaded by nadi0.

taken at Teluk Chempedak, the morning after my friends' wedding. Cloudy morning when I arrived at the beach, and it was still cloudy when I left to catch a couple more hours of sleep.

i'm going back to sleep, now that i've arrived in KL.

Miss Oh has now become Mrs Oh. Congratulations, you two!