The Golden Pass to Interlaken

Montreux, Switzerland

fuhh....what a long, gorgeous day!! I had to wake up at 4am to catch the 7.20am flight to Geneva from London Stansted. But from the moment the plane lifted off until this very moment, the view was endlessly breathtaking. (ok well, I did manage to catch up on sleep when the aircraft was too high above and all I could see were clouds..hehe).

From the airport, I took a train to Montreux. The journey followed along Lake Geneva..and wow!! Roy had told me that Switzerland is a very beautiful country, but i never quite got what he meant until i saw it for myself. Check out the pictures tomorrow, because words to describe the beauty definitely escape me at this point.

At Montreux, I switched trains and got on a panoramic train (Montreux-Zweisimmen). The difference between the normal trains and the panoramic trains is that you could see that they take a little bit more effort in keeping the windows clean, and the windows are so huge, it goes down to your ankles!! All that so one could properly enjoy the view. For 7 swiss francs, you can actually go to the ticketing office and reserve a seat, which was what I did. The stress started when i found a middle eastern couple (and very large sized too hehe) on my lovely window seat, and the dude didn't want to move. no need to delve into our argument, but i got my seat back in the end, as reserved. So i spent the almost 2 hour ride pretending to cough and sneeze to kick them out of my seating area..but of course to no avail. Hahahaa...i enjoyed the journey nevertheless, although by the end of it i couldn't wait to hop off the train because i felt so bloody cramped.

At Zweissimen, I changed to another panoramic train that took me to Interlaken. Interlaken is full of tourists from all over (like me oso la keke). Then I took another train to get to my hostel in Lauterbrunnen, which is in the Jungfrau region. It's 20 minutes from Interlaken by train, about 800 meters above sea level.

After 12 hours of dragging my luggage around, I finally reached Valley Hostel. So relieved...berat jugak bag tu!!! I got a single room for a decent price, but i've got to share the toilet and bathroom. The room was surprisingly nice, although it's only about as big as our average store room at home.kekeke..and the closet is outside the room, which i suppose is a good thing because otherwise i would have to manouver myself around the really small room. It kind of reminds me of the attic room I stayed in once at Colmar Tropicale a few years back.

I'm now on the train back down to Interlaken to find some dinner, and then I think I'll just go back and retire for the day lah. I feel so tempted to just sleep, but I only had a sandwich to eat earlier and now I'm hungry as hell.

The one thing i don't quite like about this country is the smell of cow dung that seems to have integrated with the air around here. Oh well, malaysia bau belacan, india bau kari, switzerland bau taik lembu. Ok la kot..haha. Speaking of which, i was looking for shower gel at the shops. Even the teeniest ones cost like CHF2.50, dammit, i should've bought some from tesco yesterday. In 2 days' time i'm sure I'll start smelling like cow dung as well.

till next time..ciao!

p/s: damn, the rosti margherita was so tasty! Shredded potatoes, sliced tomato, oregano, swiss cheese, baked. Must try when get home.

Rosti Margherita

blue skies, clear days and mild temperatures

IMG_0091, originally uploaded by nadi0.

spent the pas couple of days hanging out with baby nephew and his parents. gi shopping sana sini...i bought this really cool world travel adaptor that comes with a usb port. i knew i should've brought my phone usb charger instead of that bulky plug...hehehe. I also bought this really cool microfibre travel towel that folds down to about the size of my hand.

i went to Picadilly Circus, Lilywhite's was on sale, i got a couple of cropped pants for about 10 quids. That's what i absolutely love about this place...you could get so much for your dollar.

adios for now.

Camden Town, Covent Garden, Avenue Q

IMG_0255, originally uploaded by nadi0.

I went to Camden Town today. The markets were good, though you could get most of the clothes in Sungei Wang. The food stalls were even better! I walked around for almost 1 hour before i settled on chinese. Damn...i will definitely go back and have that cheese nachos i saw at the mexican stall. Yummers!!!

I then went to shop for some travel accessories around tottenham court road, oxford street etc, although i didn't last very long since i got tired weaving through the hoards of people. what's up with some of these people anyway? do they really have to run everywhere? I was walking on one of the pavements near Covent Garden today, and one big sturdy dude totally hit my shoulder..dia tak nampak ke dia jalan mana? bodoh betul.

Speaking of bodoh, in one of the tubes to Camden Town, there were 3 loud kids who kept shouting "MILF!!! MILF!!" Then a couple of chinese girls boarded the train and they shouted, "CHILF!! CHILF!!". Well, if MILF stands for "Moms I'd Like to Fuck", i guess CHILF would mean......? Stupid redneck fuckers.



After shopping, I went to chill out at Covent Garden and watched those street shows. Damn good. Shortly after, I met up with ayol and ta, to go see Avenue Q some where near Leicester Square.

Avenue Q, was funny as hell! It's like Sesame Street, but it covers grown up topics...you gotta see it for yourself if you have the chance..kelaka gila!

That was my day today.

ta!

Vanity Fair, Thai & Coffee

The Long Acre, originally uploaded by nadi0.

At 3pm, I finally had the willpower to leave little nephew, and stepped out to make my way into the city.

Went to the National Portrait Gallery today to check out the Vanity Fair Portraits exhibition. Interesting and beautiful photographs indeed.

Met up with old friends at bond street for some delicious thai food for dinner, and then went for coffee to gossip, "makcik glamer" style. kah kah kah.

I'm knackered now. zzzzzzzzzzzz

green adidas in london (Day 3)

green adidas in london, originally uploaded by nadi0.

i seriously feel a bit oddly dressed as i walked among the Londoners today. Why did i ever buy those green Adidas? black would be so much cooler in london. kekekeke...oh ya, now i remember, isetan had them on sale for RM100 a pair a long time ago.

Well, today, after i played with shazrai until noon, i decided to go to the museums in South Kensington. The Museum of Natural History was hmm...i dunno, i didn't go look at the whole thing. Pusing2 a bit in the mammals section, and headed into the Shell Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibition. Damn, the photos were awesome!!!

Check it out here. My favorite piece is a shot titled Meerkat Moment by Shem Compion from South Africa.

Then I went to the Science Museum. Couldn't be bothered with the rest of the museum, i just headed straight to the Museum Store and checked out the gadgets there. kekeke..

After that I realized that it was 4pm and i hadn't eaten the whole day, so i went back to Ealing for some lunch. There was this burger shop i found near Ealing Broadway...Sultani Flavours (?) damn the chicken fillet burger was awesome!! Then i went shopping for some necessities, e.g. a really nice short sleeve top, when what i really needed is a sweater (all i brought from home were my usual collared t-shirts hehehe). i guess i'll go find a sweater tomorrow then. hehe

so that was my day, you can check out more pics from today on my flickr, as usual.

oh gosh, i'm watching this sad documentary on tv called the Elephant Man, about a dude in china with elephantitis. :-(

London - Day 2

It's snowing in London, originally uploaded by nadi0.

So far I haven't done anything yet today. I woke up to the excitement of snow falling, a rare occasion in London, and the first snowfall for shazrai. Excited gile that little boy. hehehe...the aunty quite excited also, not having seen snow in almost 8 years.

Anyway..i think will just chill around at home and play with the baby.

Kawan2 yang ada kat sini, I'll call you girls soon ok!

Toodles!

london baybeh...!

297, originally uploaded by nadi0.

rilek rilek....

i'm not there yet...this is a picture from 2006. :-)

at last....

..i don't have to force myself out of bed tomorrow to go to work. yay!!

i will definitely not miss the running around getting people's access IDs sorted. i will definitely not miss the questions from the C&Cs (contractors dan customers) in the mid-mornings as i walk into the office: "when am i getting my ID?" "did you check with security whether my airgate pass access has been extended?" "can i get access to the shared drive?" get lost and sort out your own mess. woohoo!! well, don't get me wrong though. i only worked in that hellhole of a project for 2 months before i lost my patience...the rest of my tenure in the company was quite great in comparison.

i'll definitely miss my friends though. i don't think i'll be able to get over this great bunch of people, ever.

good night!!

p/s: i am so looking forward to being unemployed for the next 2 months.

Makhluk Tuhan Paling Seksi

a song that can definitely be categorized as an Irritainment.

i heard this song on the radio a few days ago. it's one of those greatly annoying songs, but you'll never be able to get the chorus tune out of your head. which is probably why it's topping the charts these days. enjoy! i wanted to spread the annoyance. hahaa.

tompok's kitten

tompok's kitten, originally uploaded by nadi0.

doesn't it just make you want to smile?

wishlist 2008

this is an entry about my birthday.
in 2004, i posted an entry a day before.
in 2005, still a day earlier.
in 2006, on the day itself.
2007, a day later.
this is 2008, and i'm only posting about it a week later. (denial syndrome) hahahaa!

let's see, what were the things in my wishlists throughout the years? let's check it out.
------------

wishlist 2004

1. To become more knowledgeable about worldly issues
2. All the problems with my car gets magically fixed (for free!)
3. I no longer have to attend classes
4. My completed thesis falls from the sky
5. My cats to learn the basics of cleaning the litter tray. Or better yet, use the toilet and flush it after
6. The super glue that has been stuck on my fingers for the past 2 hours to disappear (from an attempt to become my own cobbler)

wishlist 2005

1. For the lung infection to totally clear up so i can have a full stem cell transplant
2. For all other lurking viral/fungal infections to clear up
3. For my stem cell transplant to be successful
4. Holiday in Disneyworld, Florida (wooohoooo!)
5. Trip to Taiping Zoo
6. Moisture restored on my face, it's so dry despite me drinking bottles of water!

wishlist 2006

1. i was mainly just thankful to be alive
2. All the problems with my car gets magically fixed

wishlist 2007

1. i didn't really have a wish. my head was in a sad cloud at that time, from i can't remember what anymore. actually i do, but i'm not telling. hehe

-----------
so, they're basically the same wishes, different years.

1. i still wish my car problems would go away (while still getting to keep it, of course).
2. i still wish that my completed thesis would fall from the sky.
3. i still wish i would care a bit more about worldly issues like politics, the election and things like that. felt a bit lost and bored out of my ears during the heat of the elections. all my fault for not caring a single bit though. haha.

hmm...what else?

4. i wish for a long, happy and fulfilling life that is full of adventure.

there you go!
happy birthday, me! (7 hari lambat sebab tak nak mengaku dah tua. hahaha)

a view to ease the mind

cameron highlands, originally uploaded by nadi0.

i had to cover a wedding in Gua Musang for a friend last weekend. I went via Bentong-Raub-Kuala Lipis, and came back via Cameron Highlands. The air in Cameron Highlands was so fresh, and the view so breathtaking. Stopped by the veggie shops to buy loads of veggies, although i am certainly not a veggie eater. hahaha...

Cruising alone in the car along the winding road, with my windows rolled down, and Maroon 5 playing in the background was the best experience I've had in the recent weeks. I got off the car at one point to enjoy the view, but immediately got back into the car because the silence was too unnerving. I must do this again someday.

Went to the doc's in Ampang yesterday. Bone marrow test results from a few months ago came out excellent, blood test results excellent as well. Alhamdulillah. My liver enzymes seem to have improved, although I have gotten used to it going up and down over the past few years. Despite everything going well, I'm on a 3 day medical leave. The doc said i look stressed and tired, so she said I need to stay home and rest. Not surprising, since I've been picking up this other dude's shit for the past week, and I guess the stress is even more when I'm just really too lazy to do anything nowadays. I keep telling myself that I'll just do this one last thing for the company, since it supported me through some very difficult times. Hope that useless dude gets fired someday. ahahaa!

Anyway, I'm off until the weekend..I guess I'll watch the cooking channel shows over and over until i get bored. hehe..have a good one people!

the old and the helpless

Man. It always breaks my heart when i see very old people with no younger people around them to help. I was driving in home in my neighborhood today when i saw a fragile looking old man trying to cross the little plank across the drain, with his two walking sticks. I thought he was going to commit suicide because he was trying to cross the main road and the cars were driving by so fast. So aku yang penyebok ni stopped to ask him if he needed help crossing the road. Turns out he was trying to get to the petrol station so he could hail a cab because his wife is sick at home. I found a cab chilling out at the petrol station, and the driver said, "hah, that old man yang dok berjalan kat sebelah sana tu? ok i go get him now."

kesian gila. dunno how long he was walking from home until he could get himself a cab. i hope he manages to sort it out. :-(

How to find your purpose in life

i was talking to a friend about some totally ridiculous plan i had, and wanted to google that saying, "Every success starts with a dream." and i found this article, about finding your purpose in life. it's common sense stuff, but it good to read these things and remind ourselves sometimes.

excerpt:

Think about, if you knew you could not fail, had the resources you needed, and were supported by your family, friends, and your community, what would you do??

You deserve to have a purpose and to make your dreams come true. Most of what stops you is from a culture that did not give you what you needed to think of yourself as a contributing member. Through deep thought and hard work, you can find that needle in the haystack- and experience the power of purpose.

read more

- Randy Swanston

hmm. Yes. I deserve to have a purpose and make my dreams come true. By whatever means I feel is best for me, and not hurtful to anybody.

dinner

dinner, originally uploaded by nadi0.

another recipe main-belasah that me and deli made last night.

Fettucini with Prawns and Mushroom in Cream Sauce

garlic, onions, chopped, sauteed in olive oil
mushrooms, sliced, mix with sauteed garlic and onion
paprika powder
dried parsley
shrimps/prawns
cream - the small box
salt and pepper
mix in cooked Fettucini
stir in a slice of butter
eat

sedap gila! kekeke, unfortunately the picture doesn't really do justice to the actual thing. should've thrown some fresh parsley for garnish..

try it...and enjoy!

letting go

Fiat Coupe 1996 2.0 N/A 16V going for i dunno yet how much. i know it's going to be less than RM26k for now.
send email to shazrin@yahoo.com for more info.
* the plate no NADIO is for illustration purposes only.

right...so, earlier this year, i said that one of my goals would be to improve certain aspects of my life. with the most reluctant feeling, it will involve letting go of some of the things that i love, which include my workplace, and my car.

yep, i am leaving my job. it wasn't the easiest decision to make (same as convincing myself that i need to let go of this car), but i guess it's normal, since the company was sort of the place i grew up in. i'm mainly sad about leaving the people in there. people who have been my friends through and through, but that's alright, i suppose with a little bit of effort, we will remain friends for long. i'm so emotional lah. hahaha..when i handed in the letter last month, my eyes were filled with tears. but i knew that it was something i had to do, for my own self-satisfaction. and when the future inside became as uncertain for me as it is outside, i thought, why not? need to regain my passion for work, because i lost it some 6 months ago. hehehe...

so there it goes. while writing this piece, i was chatting with a colleague who said, "No..keep it..don't sell it!!" damn...hahahaa! i'm gonna put this out anyway.

great drinks, yucky food.

drinks @ williams Taman Mayang, originally uploaded by nadi0.

after sleeping from 4pm to 10pm just now, i woke up with a rumbling stomach. so me and brother decided to go out and find a steak stall. wanted to go to Steven's Uptown, but decided not to since it was too far and it was kind of wet. So we went to William's in Taman Mayang instead.

the drinks were delicious, brother had a honeydew lychee and i had a mango special. I asked for a Ribena Lychee, but apparently that particular drink doesn't come in small size. Weird, couldn't they just pour the drink into the small jars they use for the other drinks? i didn't understand why, but whatever lah.

so the food came. Chicken chop came a little too fast for brother. Padan lah...it was cold! Brother said the chicken chop tak sedap. Then my 30 ringgit rib-eye steak came. Tried to cut the meat, but it felt like it was just fat all around, no meat. It was disgusting! So i returned it, and told them i lost my appetite.

I see a lot of people coming to eat there, not at all minding the stench from the drains. Seriously, what is good there? So far whatever I've tried sucked big time, but i saw many other people happily munching their food away.

I ended up buying a cheeseburger from McD afterwards. I can still feel the slimy taste of the steak (or was it the fat?) in my mouth.

Gross.

the traffic, the police, toilets and rich buggers

i was driving home today, and i thought, thank god the traffic police are here to help us through this mess every day.

then i thought, what if they need to go to the toilet in the middle of their shift? how ah?

and a bit later, closer to home, i saw this, very hard not to notice, stuck on a huge billboard right beside the highway with slow-moving cars:


will you marry me?, originally uploaded by nadi0.

How bout that, eh? It's so showy-offy, at the same time so romantic. hehehe.

Have a good one, people.

sunrise @ Nusa Dua

sunrise @ Nusa Dua, originally uploaded by nadi0.

The beginning of a new day at Nusa Dua. Taken from a low viewpoint of the rocks near the observation deck as the sun was rising. I took over 20 shots of the sunrise that morning, and decided that i like this one best.

i suppose it's the same with life. we live our lives getting upset over things that we cannot control, but if we stop for a while and look at it from different perspectives, we will find the beauty of it at some point.

i'm back!

lotus, originally uploaded by nadi0.

...from bali, yeeha! after 6 days of chilling out, with a heavy heart and severe muscle cramps, i dragged myself to the airport for my plane back home.

i had some enrich points that were expiring, and coincidentally Enrich had a promo to Bali for 30% less points than usual. so i booked my seats 10 days before going and asked several friends who i thought might have enrich points to use (plane tickets were already RM2.5k). unfortunately, my last minute plan wasn't so well-received, but fortunately a couple of days later, my friend Lan said he could come with but he needed to leave by Sunday. woohooo! thank goodness, at least i had company for a few days before braving Bali by myself. i suppose i would get by OK by myself, but having company definitely made it more fun (and cheaper, hehe).

we did the usual touristy things. the weather was alright for the first 4 days, then it got very cloudy and stormy so i didn't get many sunset photos. Legian Street was flooded on Monday night. boohooo...but it was fun nevertheless. getting stuck alone at the TanahLot temple with the priests (caretakers?) while waiting for the storm to pass was not at all what i imagined to be doing, but what the heck...ikut aja lah. hehe

i also never thought i'd be brave enough to go scuba diving and surfing, but i did. diving was muchas excellente, but i failed miserably at surfing..hihi. got tired after 1 hour on the first day, and skipped my second lesson because my muscles hurt like hell when i woke up the next morning, so i just decided to lie in bed for a couple of hours instead.

best siol bali...hehehe.

Happy 2008!

2008 New Year Fireworks, originally uploaded by nadi0.

a bit later than usual, i know, but there u go. my goals for this year:

- get thesis 95% done by end March 2008 <-- ok, this has been my annual goal since January 2004. it's my last chance, i really have to get it done this time, or i'll be screwed.
- get more photo jobs
- train to climb mountains
- climb a mountain (if health permits)
- improve certain aspects of life, where appropriate

hope u all have a good year!

live long, and prosper!

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!