Akhirnya dapat aku bercuti...

Alhamdulillah...

Plan ke Ayer Keroh tahun ni hampir tak jadi sebab Mak dan Pak tiba-tiba kemalasan untuk berjalan-jalan.

Apa-apa pun, mujurlah diorang ubah fikiran sebab kesiankan aku yang tak berjaya mendapat kawan atau pengangkutan untuk ke sana.

(mana taknya- 10 hari lagi nak bertolak baru bagitau tak nak pergi; mana nak cekau orang last-last minute camtu?!)

Hari pertama, berpeluang untuk memerhatikan Pasukan Memanah Negeri Melaka berlatih.

"Archery- the confidence game"

Memang tepat pada sasaran. Jauh lak tu! Bayangkan betapa kuatnya tangan dia untuk tarik string recurve bow tu...

Kemudian ke Zoo Melaka pula. Sebaik selepas menyerahkan tiket, 2 ekor buaya tak cukup umur menyambut kedatangan kita :P

Tapi jangan risau, diorang lepak dalam sangkar kaca- so whatever you do, keep away from the glass!

Mat Merak tengah ayat awek :P Menjadik oo... Selepas beberapa minit diorang ke belakang semak buat apa tak tau...

Acara menangguk ikan secara berkumpulan dimenangi oleh Geng Burung Undan!

Gajah yang teramat friendly. Tapi aku kesian kat diorang sebab kena buat show untuk mendapat sesuap tebu. Mahal kos bela gajah ni wei...

Tu pun tak berapa laku sebab sellling point dia 'bergambar dengan gajah-RM10.00'.

Abang kakak oii, zaman sekarang ni, paling busuk pun orang ada camera phone ler... Korang kena cari idea lain untuk dapat duit tambahan ni!

Aku tertarik dengan tanduk lembu Angola ni. Ngeri pun ada.

Dari jauh nampak macam pedang-pedang terhunus tapi foto yang aku amik kurang menyerlahkan gambaran tersebut.

Al-maklum ler kit lens, dah tu tembak lak dari jauh (berani ke ko nak buat close up dengan depa ni?!)...

Iguana ni bole tukar-tukar kaler...

Ingat nak tunjuk beza antara yang dok tengah panas terik dengan yang dok kat teduhan skit. Begitu aku dok frame punye frame, alih-alih tercrop badan yang hijau tinggal kepala aje.

Nak repeat shot dah beralih lak diorang ni...

"Duli yang maha mulia

Selaaaaamat di atas takhta..."

Selambe rock sungguh lemur sekor ni.

Sang Tapir dengan ketapirannya... atau Sang Tenuk dengan ketenukkannya- terpulang kepada anda untuk memilih ayat yang lebih sedap pada telinga anda.

Segarang-garang Pak Belang, sampai time tido memang sebijik comel macam kucing ler...

Anak-beranak marmoset yang sungguh comel! Si kecik tu sebenarnya nak lepas main dengan daun kering tu tapi mak dia tahan nak cari kutu dulu!

Ni pun comel gak! Opps... ni manusia, bukan binatang- lari topik lak!

Eh, tapi anak ikan bukan ke binat... OOOPPSSS!!!

Hari kedua, berkunjung sebentar ke Taman Botanikal.

Amik gambar ni sebab dalam cahaya matahari tu, nampak macam lantai hutan tengah terbakar...

Simbolik :P kunuuuunnn...

Lepas tu ke Taman Mini Malaysia dan Mini ASEAN... Suka-suka amik gambo diorang tengah berlatih.

Ikut maklumat member sorang ni, akan ada pembaharuan besar kat sini tahun depan! Kalau panjang umur, tahun depan kita jengah lagi, insyaAllah :)

Tu la rutin aku kalau ke Ayer Keroh ni. Lagipun, memang tu je yang sempat dikunjungi. Tapi aku sentiasa ternanti-nanti nak ke mari, tak pernah jemu...

d'Reyanz Colour: Azrul Helmy & Noraini @ Selayang/Sungai Buloh

Tagging along to the big boys...

As usual, Boss Redza (foreground) takes the lead while Ben (background) seconds.

Beautiful dais, but am so totally NOT into it!

The event was held in a community hall- lighting was troublesome and the design made it almost impossible to bounce our flash or shoot it from multiple angles.

The welcoming committee, ready to usher or wish guests farewell...

When I see this scene, it makes me wonder at how easy life is nowadays in certain respects. Almost everyone can afford to take photos.

A bit of entertainment, courtesy of the couple's work buddies.

Azrul and Nani posing for their friends.

The wedding ring- first time I edited a photo ever, but necessary to make the image stand out.

Ooh... I didn't enjoy this dais either. Like the other one, beautiful but... I'll tell you why in the next few paragraphs.

The food served was delicious! Absolutely loved it! I simply have to get the name of this caterer...

This shot was the reason for my dislike of the dais. I was behind it, must have nudged something somewhere and, 'geDeGaNG!'- separuh pelamin angannya musnah :P

Luckily we bitches were born with 'Decorations 101', with some help, I managed to put it back into some semblance of its former beauty.

Kalau tak, biaq pi la dengan pelamin hang pak andam oooiii! Sapa suh pakai ornament angin tiup dah goyang? Sentappp!!!

Most photographers would choose to take pictures of the wedding cake. I chose to take photos of the plate that they will be serving the wedding cake on- go figure!

It just seemed appropriate at the time... :P

Ooh... Ben took this photo on my camera! I just love it! It's a very typical scene of makcik-makcik gathering.

But then I usually like the images Ben captures :)

It rained in the evenings- the outdoor shoot had to be cancelled without a chance of rescheduling. It was disappointing that were not able to deliver the full range.

Azrul dan Nani, mungkin tiada rezki korang di sini tapi moga dimurahkan rezki dari segi yang lain...

d'Reyanz Colour: Izura & Rizalmi @ TTDI Jaya

Saje-saje ikut Boss sebab nak merasa amik foto nikah waktu malam.

Tu diaa... Papan tanda siap menunggu untuk dipacak sempena majlis esok hari.

Sebenarnya, ni assignment Azril (t-shirt kelabu), tapi sebab second dia, Rizal (t-shirt coklat), kira first timer buat shoot untuk group, so Azril pun hantar S.O.S.

Alih-alih, Boss lead, Azril second, Rizal dengan aku tag along aje ler...

Sementara Boss dengan Azril makan, Rizal dengan aku amik peluang hentak makeup scene.

Rombongan Tok Imam sampai 3 orang dengan seragam lengkap. Mau tak berderau pengantin laki. Tapi Tok Imam ni funny orangnye, melawak aje... kemungkinan besar untuk relaxkan pengantin.

Berjaya!!! Gembira campur sedih si pengantin pompuan. Dah jadi bini orang, kena ler let go skit family sebab tanggungjawab sekarang pada suami.

Rizal pasang gelang emas kat Zura...

...Zura balas dengan cincin zamrud (kot? hijau jer batu dia) untuk Rizal.

Orait, settled! Esok, Azril amik lead balik, Boss nak kena cover event lain ;)

Big Screen Breakdown: Avatar

Another CGI loaded movie- oh yeaaah... Opened to rave reviews back home so I wondered what it's all about.

Image courtesy of avatarmovie.com

I'm a fantasy junkie. Duh! Of course I jumped at the opportunity to watch this! :P

Don't, I repeat, DO NOT go for the story! Just another simple 'spy falls in love with native lifestyle (not to mention, native female) and decides to turn traitor' thing.

However, DO ogle at the landscape, the flora, the fauna, almost completely CG of course but, damn! it sure is breathtaking!!!

I'd buy the DVD just to be able to study the images... :P

Kerja, kerja, kerja!

(catatan balas buat seorang teman)

To quote Rudy Bluehikari no otomodachi,

"Jinsei iroiro, hito sorezore"

Lebih kurang maknanya- hidup itu pelbagai macam, manusia itu pelbagai ragam.

Di mana sahaja kita berada, pasti akan berhadapan dengan ragam manusia. Baik secara langsung mahupun secara tidak langsung (iaitu daripada kesan tindakan mereka).

Yang berbeza cuma dynamicsnya sahaja: mungkin di sini lebih individualism, di sana lebih favouritism, di situ lebih cat-fighting, di tempat lain lebih back-stabbing...

Dan setiap daripada kita juga berbeza dari segi kesesuaian diri serta kesabaran:

Sesetengah daripada kita akan memilih untuk bertahan.

Sesetengah daripada kita akan berusaha mencari yang lebih baik.

Sesetengah daripada kita akan berjumpa dengan apa yang dicari.

Sesetengah daripada kita akan terus mencari dan mencari.

Mana pilihan yang betul? Bertahan atau mencari? Sebenarnya, tiada pilihan yang salah. Jika betul kata hati anda, betullah pilihan yang diambil.

Yang lebih penting adalah pengalaman dan pengajaran yang telah dikumpul sepanjang kita bertahan atau mencari.

Tidak kiralah jalan mana yang lebih membawa kebahagiaan untuk anda, asal anda menggunakan seluruh pengalaman dan pengajaran yang didapati untuk membuat pilihan yang terbaik.

We can only do what we can, to the best of our ability. The rest...

Big Screen Breakdown: Storm Warriors

Sedang ramai insan gigih mengumpul pahala di malam yang barakah ini, aku pula gigih beratur membeli tiket untuk tayangan gambar tersebut :P

The first movie, Storm Riders, was a disappointment. I gave this a chance because I'm still a fan of the original Fung Wan story-line and am glad to find that it fulfilled my expectations!

Image courtesy of singtao.com

There are certain criteria to enjoying this movie:

1. Die hard fan of the original comic series

2. Die hard fan of the stars involved in this movie

3. Appreciates artsy cinematography

All others please stay away- I don't think it'd be worth your time or money. Plus it's annoying to hear you moan and groan about something that you didn't like in the first place :P

And here's the breakdown...

Story- oversimplified to fit into a 2 hour time slot, but was rendered coherently.

Acting- mostly bland but there were shining moments.

I loved Aaron Kwok's expression when he was about to deliver the killing blow in the final scene. You could see the warring emotions: the anger at Chu Chu's senseless death, the sadness and reluctance at having to kill a 'brother', at the same time a determination to prevent things from getting worse.

Martial arts choreography- there was more to see this time, not so flashy and presented in a way that is reminiscent of the movie 300.

Computer graphics- this time it's effectively used to visually enhance the fight scenes instead of 'becoming' the fight scenes (I think you'd understand what I mean if you'd seen the first movie).

Overall, a surprisingly good watch- 7/10

Mengenangmu...

Mood banyak lari oo minggu ni.

Adakah di sana kau rindu padaku

Meski kita kini ada di dunia berbeda

Bila masih mungkin waktu kuputar

Kan kutunggu dirimu...

Hakikatnya sebuah lagu tentang cinta dan kerinduan setelah pemergian orang tersayang.

Namun lagu ini kutujukan khusus buat beberapa orang teman yang pernah akrab denganku kerana ia paling sesuai serta amat mirip dengan apa yang kurasai...

Yang kelakarnya, daripada ramai-ramai orang yang aku kenang tu, hanya Abang Apai sorang aje yang tau pasal blog ni :P

Tak mengapalah, sebab utama mereka menjauhkan diri dahulupun adalah kerana aku telah membebani mereka dengan emosi yang tak mungkin dapat mereka terima. Jadi biarlah aku seorang yang menanggungnya. Mungkin lebih baik dan ada hikmahnya...

Aku menulis di sini sekadar meluahkan perasaan, supaya tak terlalu berkecamuk dalam diri...

d'Reyanz Colour: Maliza & Fuad @ Seberang Takir

These past few months have been pretty eventful.

Though mentally and physically tired, I choose to go on another work/study trip with d'Reyanz Colour Photographers just to 'get away' from it all...

The event was to take place at Seberang Takir, Kuala Terengganu. We were provided residence, courtesy of the bride, at a home-stay in Kampung Telaga Batin.

Concerned about the cholera outbreak, we also hauled along a bundle of food and some water :P

On duty this round was Boss Redza (on the right) as lead and Abang Hadi as second.

Selamat Pengantin Baru to Dr. Maliza and Fuad!

A smile of satisfaction as the groom successfully completes the solemnization in one try.

The outdoor shoot was done at Masjid Kristal upon the newlywed's request...

...as well as at Pantai Teluk Ketapang upon our request ;)

In case you didn't notice, I'd like to point out that the bride and groom went through 6 outfit changes for the 2 days ceremony. Only 5 outfits are displayed here.

The cake cutting ceremony.

Taking a break while entertaining guests.

The bride's sisters and in-law wearing uniform blue kurung Melayu.

Overall, it was a great session. A lot of beautiful photos were taken. The bride and family were most accommodating.

However, the trip back was something I'd love to forget. A 10 hours journey where 3 of them was spent crawling painfully from Kijal towards the bottleneck at the Sungai Cukai bridge!

Despite all that, I look forward to another assigment like this :)