Ten things from Twenty Ten.
First off, Happy New Year to all. I haven’t been updating for a long long while partially because I was very caught up with my work and dedications.
It’s the time of the year when I look back at 2010 and noted out some of the things which clearly made my year (either great or miserable).
1. Someone broke into by car and stole the car battery
I still have no idea how someone could open up a locked car hood and took out the battery.
2. Became an avid photographer covering certain events and functions (such as), and getting some good shots off people as well.
Had a great time with great retro dressing models.
2. Now I See Spiritual Revival Concert 2010.
I wasn’t an official photographer for the event but since anyone can basically just go up front to take photos, I just went ahead. Anyway. Shot for 2 concerts, first one was in New Era College Kajang, and the second at a University in Sunway.
3. Staged photoshoots.
Managed to ask Joanne & Leo, Fang Wen and Shirley & Ezone to model for me. I still feel that the photos are lacking a lot though. Need more practice.
4. Desmine and Melissa’s Wedding
My first ever Wedding photoshoot. And I didn’t do quite well. Hmmm. But they are a loving couple. Apparently starting a family soon ^^.
5. UPM Dogathon 2010
Once again, not an official photographer. But I reckon I got some great shots that day.
I realized I didn’t blog about this since I was on a break. Regardless I had a fun, great and emotional time at Port Dickson.
7. Chinese Opera Charity Concert
This was a charity event so I wasn’t paid for it (nor I was for most of the events). But still enjoy taking photos of the actors and mostly actresses on stage. Also didn’t blog about this but most of the photos can be found on my Facebook.
8. Alex and KaeChing’s Wedding.
Was a guest but that didn’t keep Esme (my camera) away. They finally tie the knot after… 7-8 years?? And they will surely have many more years to look forward to.
9. CSSUPM Freshies Day.
Welcoming the lovely juniors to the family away from home.
10. English Language Dinner
Was called to shoot this event. More photos on Facebook. Though I think I was paid for this. Since the dinner was free for me ^^.
11. Some random shots of people around me
Nova might kill me for this. But its a
lovelyvery descriptive shot.12. Macro photography.
Loving the Tamron 90mm lens I have right now.
3. Met Karen Kong during Alex and KaeChing’s wedding.
I’m a fan for hers though not so recently. But I do like some of her songs. Did managed to get a couple of photos of her.
4. Won a few tickets online for miscellaneous events.
Tickets to Moto GP UK from Air Asia, which I didn’t go because it was in the UK. And they gave me the tickets 1 week before the event.
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NTV7 Star Live Concert 2010 tickets from DailyChilli.com which I gave to Sally.
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I did won tickets to Alice in Wonderland special screening though… I misplace the photo but I gave the tickets to TJF and Wei Keat. That particular screening was pretty harsh on my wallet though cause even though I got the tickets for free… I was fined for speeding on my way back from the cinema TT.
5. Got my photo published in a magazine.
I remember I intended to get a photo out in a magazine during my 2010 resolutions which I made in 2009. And in November 2010, I got my first photo out in the Digital SLR Magazine Malaysia October 2010 issue. I submitted the photo in September and I was very disappointed when it didn’t come out in the September issue but was really shocked when I saw it in the October issue. Won a memory card as well. Hurray for me.
6. Took care of a CAT for a whole month.
Smokey isn’t mine. She’s Sandy’s cat but Sandy is having her break so I offer to take care of her. And she is one timid cat. Enjoy my time scaring her all over the place. She’s going back to Sandy soon though. I might miss her. But she’s better off with Sandy since I found out that I can be quite a bully 
7. Lost some weight.
I have no proof of this yet though since I haven’t weight myself for sometime. But since most of my jeans are a lot looser than they was, I guess I should have lost a few kgs. But definitely didn’t reach my target of 65kg. Perhaps somewhere within 70kg to 75kg. I’ll keep trying the coming year.
8. Cried my eyes out during the CSSUPM Annual Camp.
I did mention that it was emotional but you would never guess how emotional it was for me. Perhaps only the few who sat beside me knew what had happened. But it got me to change some parts of me though I guess. Some parts of the evil me still remain but I’ll slowly take care of that.
9. Travelled all over Malaysia.
I went to Malacca, Johor, Penang, Kedah, Pangkor, Perak and also went back Labuan for a few weeks. Didn’t managed to go outside Malaysia though like in 2009 when I went Taiwan. But AirAsia is already flying to South Korea and also New Zealand next year. These destinations are really tempting me. Maybe I will really fly to this places in 2011.
Went to AIMST university in Kedah when my sister enrolled there.
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Got attacked by monkeys and leeches during my trip to Pangkor. It was funny though.
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Went to Malacca with CharYong to meet up with FangWen for her photoshoot.
10. And finally… Made a decision to get my doctorate by 2013.
I have to graduate by then. Seriously I have to!!! Working hard on it now. Progress this year had been better than the past years but its still a long way to go and I still can’t see the end of the road. But I’ll keep walking… And I have to go on a faster pace as well. Lets do it!!!
I hope your 2010 was as eventful as mine ^^
The final ‘Thank You’
I met you tonight once more, after close to 2 years not seeing you at all. My first reaction when I saw you walking through that door was ‘Oh shit, you have got to be kidding me’, but there you were, standing with the rest of them. We weren’t in contact for that 2 years, except for that one time when I asked that really stupid question of you. But other than that there wasn’t any contact for close to two years and I have got to admit, seeing you once more was awkward. And I slump into my ‘please don’t notice me cause I don’t know how should I act’ program and that eventually turned into ‘oh you noticed, self denial protocol initiated, Alan will ignore you today’.
And I am not happy for it. I didn’t wanted it. But I didn’t know what to do about it.
~I remember this was taken on my way back from sending you home 2 years ago. Later that night you broke up with me~
But still it was nice seeing you again.
You know that tingly feeling you have within yourself when you met your ex, knowing that he/she is seeing someone else right now. I had it in abundance this night. Things didn’t work out between us last time. And things might remain how it was like tonight for a long time to come.
But in my mind, I’m really happy (I’m lying partially) to see that you have met with a better person. I’m happy to see that you have found your own happiness (Still lying partially- I just had to be honest). I hope that he can treat you as how you will wish to be treated (At least I’m telling the truth here, you should be treasured). And you also need to keep believing in your own happiness.
I never really talk about us much to anyone else. And after all this time I’ve been trying to let go of that part of you within me. Because it makes me unable to love anyone else fully. But I guess I’m wrong. Why should I let you go. What we had was special, and so it should be there, even though things didn’t work out. After all, memories shouldn’t be kept hidden. It should be cherished. That is why I’m acknowledging you here.
There is one last thing I really want to tell you though. (Don’t worry, its not another ‘ I’m the Alan~~’ post.)
~This was taken when we were at Johor for Alvin and Janice’s wedding~
Thank you, for being the one for me, even though it was short. Thank you, for keeping me company for those few months. Thank you, for teaching me about God. Thank you, for all the cares you have given. Thank you, for putting up with me when I hurt you. Thank you, for that second chance. Thank you, for teaching me how to love. Thank you, for all that you have given me.
And the final ‘Thank you’ will be.
Thank you, Nat, for loving me once, for being my first love.
~It has become a norm for me to dedicate song’s that I’ve learnt to people who matters to me. This will be your song. Its translated as ‘Thank you takes on a deeper meaning’. Original song here~
I’m quite sure you would not be seeing these ‘Thank you’ since the cowardly me decided that it is totally unnecessary for you to see it. But if you ever found out about this, then it’d be great. At least I’ve done what I wanted to do ^^.
Spaghetti Grill, Midvalley Megamall, Kuala Lumpur
If you’re looking for a place to eat at Midvalley, do give this place a try. It’s located on the same row as Chili’s but just further down. It offers quite authentic Italian pasta and pizza with bottomless drinks for a dirt cheap price of RM10. The taste of the cuisine might not be as good as more authentic places, such as Little Italy in KK, but it’s definitely better than some other pasta places such as Pizza Hut or Domino’s.
Watch out for this signboard the next time you are at Midvalley
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The interior gives you a calm and cozy feeling. This, along with bottomless drinks, might stop you from leaving ^^
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Can watch sports here also (Too bad World Cup is over)
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Some of the food on the RM10 set lunch. There’s also a dinner set which cost around RM16 which includes soup and other appetizers (can’t remember, sorry)
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Calzone (simple but yet delicious, but it sort of look like an oversized curry puff)
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Chicken Bolognese pasta (with a piece of garlic bread on the side)
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Chicken salad (looks like KFC popcorn chicken plus some vegetables)
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Pepperoni Pizza (A lot better than what’s offered by the Pizza Hut)
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They really have a brick oven with wood fire at the back of the restaurant.
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Anyway, do give it a try.
You might be wondering what I was doing there recently right?
I met up with the bride here to give her the wedding photos. And thus, ends my first wedding assignment.
In case you didn’t catch that post, visit here.
The Food in Penang
Please make sure you are not hungry when you’re reading this or you just might get more hungry at the end of the post
I didn’t just went for the Proteomics Workshop in Penang nor did I just went to take photos at St Anne’s Church, I had a great time filling myself up with some great food as well.
This is all thanks to Olivia, JJ and Dominic.
The day after I finished the workshop, JJ took me to Seberang Perai where Olivia was staying at and our first stop was Sungai Udang (Coordinates: precisely at N05 9.050; E100 27.750)
This place is famous for its curry seafood which I had to say was great 
~Curry Fish~
~Curry Crab~
They serve the dish with either bread or rice. Imagine dipping bread into the curry and eating it. (I’m salivating).
Quench the spiciness of the food with a bottle of cool sugarcane juice
After that we ventured to a night market nearer to the Seberang Jaya area where Olivia recommended some of the nicer food to me.
~Some type of chicken~
~Soft version of the egg rolls you normally have during CNY. I like this one~
~Sandwich with BBQ pork and meat floss in it. Damn nice~
~Finished it with this nice cool dessert~
At night, we ventured to somewhere (I really should take note of what I eat and where I eat and how much it cost)… to have a steamboat dinner. I remember it was nearby Bukit Mertajam area though.
~Steamed fish steamboat with the extras dishes we ordered~
Later, Dominic went across the road to buy some of the nicest kuih I have ever tasted. Seriously damn nice.
~The kuih~
~The family that made them…Vehicles were lining up literally to get some of these kuih~
And finally, the next morning, I had a nice tasting hor fun for breakfast in Penang. This one can really fight with the one in Perak
All in all, thanks to Olivia once more for bringing me around Penang to ‘see’ Penang through my taste buds.
Photos: Shirley’s birthday 2010
Place: TGI Fridays, The Gardens Midvalley KL.
Date: 12th June 2010
Photos:
Speak no evil
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The cake
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The chilli sauce
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The grilled lamb chop
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The girls
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The girls and one guy
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The over-photoshopped-photo of a girl.
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The table at the side
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The backdrop of TGI Fridays
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The poor little birthday girl who had to come by KTM because her bf is a bit busy on that day. (Next time tell us earlier so we can go fetch)
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The challenge: Blow it!!! Blow it!!!
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The crazy look. @.@
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The celebration (I like his hat)
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The slice of cake
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My Ferrari
Shirley and Ezone’s photoshoot
Managed to get this young cute couple to model for me just before they went back to Borneo. It was a bit hard to start off as always since I was at a loss of ideas. But once it got off things went a bit better.
Location of shoot: UPM Bukit Expo and Presint 2, Putrajaya.
Here are some of the photos:
Thanks again to Shirley and Ezone for helping me out with this
A few more tips regarding photography
- Snap as much as you can
- Best lighting conditions are early in the morning or during the evening
- Starting is always hard but after a while it will become easier to conduct the shoot
- Allow the subject to do something with each other.
And with this shoot I’m hope I’m ready for my big assignment this Saturday.
Malacca Trip 7th-9th May 2010
Went for a simple trip to Malacca last weekend, purpose was to have a simple break and to take some photos. Managed to talk a friend of mine to model for me and also to provide transportation and accommodation for me and another friend during the 2 nights we were there.
All in all it was a short trip with loads of nice food and loads of photos. But the recovery rate (amount of acceptable photos over total photos taken) for my photography skills are still low (around a 20% I guess)
Here’s some of the photos of the historical sites that we’ve visited. Its funny that during my past 2 trips to Malacca back in 2008 and early 2010 (not blogged), I didnt really visited these sites before.
Someone sort of spoilt the photo here. Oh well. (HDR attempts btw). This is a photo of the A Famosa fort.
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The Christ Church Square in Malacca (HDR)
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Inside the old church above the hill (HDR)
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A few more photos of the cannons on display. I tend to take too much shots of a single subject while doing a HDR.
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The Christ Church building
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Attempted to do a 9-stop ND filter long exposure shot but it sort of failed. I need more chance to use it. We went quite far from the town for the beach.
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The red clock tower (HDR)
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A big tree behind the A Famosa fort (HDR)
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Trishaws. These trishaws are mounted with loud speakers which plays disco music (of all music) which sort of spoils the mood of touring the historical site. It is also sort of funny when you hear ‘Boom boom pow’ while a trishaw goes by.
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Water fountain in the Christ Church square (HDR)
Will upload some of the model shoot photos soon.
When relationships becomes business-like
A moment ago, I was chatting with a friend who had just broken up with her boyfriend and is currently looking for a new one. So I had helped her to create an advertisement, looking for the perfect guy for her. Interviewed her a bit on the type she’s looking for and came up with the following advertisement.
She really is quite a looker, so much so that I actually sent her my resume
I wonder if she would hire me.
Alan is ‘in a relationship’
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Or should say Alan ‘was’ in a relationship.
At least for one hour or so.
I changed something in my Facebook account. From ‘single’ to
Well since people might notice that it’s a particular ‘day’ and I changed the relationship status, we need something to further strengthen that ‘changed relationship status’. So I left this comment to myself.
In the end, I gotten a lot of comments. Some congratulating me, some being super curious. [And some definitely super angry and pissed off after this]
For the congratulations, thanks a lot for being happy for me, although it was just a one day relationship, I’m happy to know that they are a lot of people who are happy for me as well.
For the super curious, sorry for playing around with your curiosity. Alan most probably won’t be able to find a girlfriend any time soon for quite obvious [and perhaps quite unobvious reasons].
For the super angry and super pissed, I’m very sorry. But since it’s April Fools, I hope you don’t mind. Hmmm I’ll let you all be the first to know if I really do managed to get into a relationship after this
So come 2nd of April 2010, I’ll be back to ‘single’
[Actually I feel so bad that, I’d changed my status back to ‘single’ after one hour]
[Dear Michelle, I’m so sorry to disappoint you. I heard that you were really happy after reading that status update.So sorry. I’ll definitely tell you first if I gotten into a relationship]
[Dear YeeWuen, sorry for cheating you. Thanks for being a good junior. I didn’t expected that message from you]
[Dear Miss Mermaid, are you still curious?]
Here’s a few of the kepo (translated- people who wants to know about other people’s stuff) messages:
And eventually, someone from my MSN decided to follow in suit
It’s contagious, this joke~~
Anyway. Happy April Fools.
And as JJ and Ian (from Hitz.fm morning crew) would say: GOTCHAAAAA!!!
CSSUPM Annual Dinner 2010 [Retro Rendezvous]
CSSUPM has recently just organized it’s annual dinner on the 14th of March 2010 at the Banquet Hall of Palm Garden Hotel. The theme for the current year is ‘Retro Rendezvous’ by which dress code will be ‘retro’.
Unfortunately, Mr Cam-man (Cameraman for the day-referring to me) has no idea how looking retro should have been. I’ve imagined myself wearing a white formal shirt buttoned to the neck and with a bow tie and with cotton slacks that are pulled very very high up my waist. Also thought of combing my hair down and using lots and lots of gel to make it shiny. And perhaps top that off with a pair of big round glasses. And I’ll end up looking like a very old-minded young adult. After all that thinking though, I just decided its a lot of work and ended up just wearing what I normally wear [I found many similar minded friends at the dinner]. But regardless of that, some really went an extra mile to portray their ‘retro-ness’ [A big applause to them].
Anyway, I am one of the organizing committee being in charge of [you know it] taking photos. So it would be my first cover of a dinner even as a cameraman. And also my first real experience of using the hot-shoe flash I gotten for my Nikon.
It was also a good experience for me because all the attendees are required to pose after they had sign their name for the night [and I had the chance to attempt modeling photography with almost everyone that night]
We have poses like:
Overall the dinner was well planned out [you’ll get that impression when you go but if you’d listened to what the committee had said during the post mortem, you might beg to differ]. Food was ok [I was photographer with less food to eat T.T]. Performance was ok [Great show from Kimberly]. Games were ok [A bit long winded but fun nevertheless] and the Fashion show was ok [Go Go Go!!! Father Jo!!!]. A job well done by the committee members.
And surprisingly Dr Mary turned up for the fun as well. Thanks for coming Dr Mary.
Some photos of what’s happening on stage and off stage:
Dr Kenny giving his speech
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Sensual Steffi and Stylish Lawrence.
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Steffi with Mr Camera-man (Love this shot, thanks Lawrence)
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Benny rocking it up for his fashion show performance.
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Brandon was up on stage as well
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Charming Alex
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MC Kevin and President Nova!!!
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Comedian Clement and Percival ‘The-Twister’ Liew on stage
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Scandal alert!!!
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Alert No 2!!!!
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Gary showed us some more of his moves.
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MC Kevin and MC Christine
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The three musketeers.
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Deejay S.cH bringing the house down.
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President Nova.
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Best dressed of the night [Devebra retained her crown]
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Yammmmmmmmmmmmmm-Senggggggggg
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‘I liked to thank my daddy, my mummy for this award…’ [Actually no, it was Fr Jo reciting the closing prayer]
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Krystal and Alex showing their stuff on stage.
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Bringing the house down!!!
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The Twister showing Devebra how to twist.
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Spotlight on some of the attendees that night.
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Dr Kenny helping Fr Jo with his ‘do’
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Alert No 3!!!
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Dr Mary graced the event by handing out some of the lucky draw prizes.
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CSSUPM members + Kimberly
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Final year CSSUPM members with juniors on stage for the games.
I’m really looking forward to covering another even like this one. What’s next? Easter? Or CSSUPM Annual Camp?
Febrianna and Elaine’s Portrait shots
Attempted a HDR with people in the photo. Color was very hard to get right though.
Anyway, the photo shoot was done very in a very impromptu condition during the Putrajaya Balloon Fiesta 2010. Still thanks to Febrianna and Elaine for being the 2 main models and Kai Leng and Sui Sien as backup models.
Now I See! Spiritual Revival Concert 2010
I’ve went to attended the Now I See! Spiritual Revival Concert organized by ICM. It’s all thanks to Liannie and some juniors for ‘bringing’ me to the concert. It was held in New Era College, Kajang on the 20th of March 2010.
It was really an enjoyable experience, a bit different from what I would have expected but still enjoyable nevertheless. I really do enjoy the Praise and Worship session [a bit similar to what is done in CSS, except most of the time we in CSS tends to loosen up too much] and the drama act. And I also do enjoy the energetic dances put up by the dancers [Liannie included]
Unfortunately I had to go early because I have other obligations to fulfill [obligations as in to fetch some juniors to the balloon fiesta in Putrajaya]. So I think I wouldn’t be qualified to say that I have had the full experience.
Honestly though, it managed to open my eyes a bit towards my own spiritual faith and perhaps I might join in more activities in the near future. Also, I would enjoy being a photographer for their upcoming activities [Invites, anyone?]
Here are some photos of the event [Some of the photos was improperly exposed since I’m still not used to the external flash unit of my camera]
All the photos you’ve seen here would have already been pasted on Facebook.
We won best booth award for Postgraduate Fair UPM 2010
Last Thursday till Saturday, there was a postgraduate studies fair in the Grand Hall of UPM. Graduate Students Club was asked to help out in setting up the booth and maintaining it throughout the whole 3 days. The tradition was that our faculty are title holders for best booth for 3 years running and I was a bit worried that the title will fall out of the hands of the current batch of Exco.
However surprisingly, we won. I’m really thankful for all those who helped out in the booth. Especially to my secretary who did quite a lot since I was out with a cold and also had to plan for a secondary booth during the Biomedical Symposium at Faculty of Medicine and Health Science. It has been a hectic few days but I guess the hard work paid off.
I’m still wondering though how we’d managed to win as I really could see other booths that are on par, if not nicer than ours.
Anyway, here are some photos of the booth
Lets hope that we can retain the same achievement next year
Here are some of the photos from the secondary booth for the Biomedical Symposium.
I’m really grateful for Phoebe [girl in white in the above photo] who helped me out when I was facing the prospect of guarding the booth on my own for 4 hours [being sick and all]. Thank you very much.
And now, after all this, I can finally focus on other things which I really have to get done.
And gosh, I’m still not completely well 
A belated birthday celebration
Last year I had I really early birthday celebration which, in the end sort of ‘pissed off’ a lot of people. And I’ve learnt my lesson and didn’t do the alterations I did last year.
I became 10 days older last year. And this year if I were to follow the date by which this group of friends celebrated my birthday, then I would have been 18 days younger . [So all in all, 8 days younger??]
Anyway, thanks for celebrating my birthday
~The bf, the gf, and the lamp post~
~PKK friends~
~The birthday cake~
~I still have this much sitting in my fridge since I’m sick and can’t really eat any cake~
~Me cutting the cake~
~Me wishing for … (secret)~
Oh anyway… I still have that very unique sense to know whether there’s a hidden surprise for me every birthday. So in the end I really felt that you might as well just bring the cake out and get it over with. The faster we go through routines, the faster I can eat the cake.
Thanks
I’m 23 years old, with emphasis on the ‘OLD’
On this day, 23 years ago, a baby was born.
And that baby was me.
He’s normal by day… But at night he become…
Power Rangers Alan Tan.
Okay… Enough with the bulls#it. Happy birthday to me. How did I went through the day I turned 23 years old you ask?
Well… First off… Its the third day of CNY. So can hardly expect much celebrations since CNY is more important. Secondly, since I’m in Labuan, there’s less celebration as well, since I prefer to be relaxing at home. And third, this must be the first birthday I had with me suffering from a toothache T.T
Anyway, many thanks to SingYee and LeiHong for the yamcha session at McD. They even gave me a photo album as a present. Thanks a lot. I’ll print out all the nicer photos I have and keep it in that album. It will become a collection of my ‘work’
Later that night, there was the 3rd open house I attended throughout this CNY. Have to attend it since it’s my aunt’s open house. Brought my camera along and after the food, just snapped away, especially with my baby cousin as the model.
In the end he got so annoyed with me taking photos of him that he made that face 
My sister was one of the more reluctant models.
There was another gathering the next day for some of my friends. We met to drink at one of the pubs and later went for a photo session in Grand Dorsett hotel.
It was during this photo session that I really feel that I need more practice taking photos at night (And possibly a shotgun flash)
Some of the photos:
L-R: Michelle, WeiEn, GeokFang, LeiHong, YawSing, SingYee
They were suppose to model but seems like both the models and the photographer fail to communicate well.
At least we got some nice shots even though their pose seemed really forced.
The main-and-only thorn among the roses.
And then they chose to pose with the dead plant. Lol
Final shot of the guy and girls before leaving.
Anyway, my very much anticipated photo session with Yvonne as the model got cancelled off after some unexpected things came up. I do hope to be working with her soon though.
Oh ya. I inserted the ‘Power Rangers’ photo above to generate more hits coming from Facebook. Did it work?
P/S: 23 years old. I’m OLD. Do I need to start planning about MARRIAGE and HAVING A FAMILY? Lol.
