.Nation Blackout.

Well this happened a while back when I was in Brunei: I just haven't had the time to load to this up and show it to you guys. I think it was more or less two-three weeks ago during the first week of Eid Celebrations at home when pretty much the whole country went through a major black-out.

I can't really remember what time it started but I do recall that it lasted for a while because I still have the vivid memory of dying in the humid heat amidst the dark (hahaha) - the heat was further amplified by the candles lit up all over the house.

Power didn't come back on till one the morning and by then, each person in the house (aside from the maids, who had their own living quarters) had gathered around the massive living room, hogging each vacant space to themselves in vain attempt to cool themselves off the heat.

By the time the electricity and lights came on, there was no one in sight... hahaha everyone scurried back to their relative bedrooms for the a/c. BUT... enough of that, what I wanted to show was this:

.The Case of Joblessness: What we were up to in the dark.

We had Nz come over during the early hours of the blackout and seeing that our parents were out for dinner, we decided to go trigger happy with the camera and went crazy with the flash lights. You'll be amazed with what you can do with 2 girls, a flash light and a strong flashgun on your camera. Hahaha... Good memories, indeed!

.During the Eid Break.

Taken during intermission - the break between guest visits.
The whole family got caught up watching Ms T challenge her cousin in a friendly iPod Touch battle game, whilst the others gathered around them to cheer on and support both players.

.Eid Celebration Part II.

.bidding farewell to guests during open house no.3.

This was the third and final open house hosted by my family and quite possibly was one of the busiest days I've seen since I got back. By ten in the morning, the house was drowned in a multitude of voices and laughters as people flocked through the door to join us extend our Eid Celebrations.

.boys will always be boys.

.quirky family photo.

Today it was more on a personal tone as more family relatives and good family friends came to visit and spend time with us. Food on the table was a variety of rice dishes, mainly: Chicken Briyani with its condiments or Traditional Nasi Lemak accompanied by sambal anchovies. There was a lot more dessert in assorted variety to be found, ranging from Chocolate sponge cakes to Tiramisu, Traditional Layered cakes and what nots... You were definitely spoilt by choice.

.old school friends from the young days: classic case of men trying to be boys again.

.my nephew.

Some of my favourite moments of the day: seeing and getting the chance to see my new family editions (nephews & nieces) and spending time with my favourite uncles and aunts. They always bring joy and light to my day.

.Celebrating Eid At Home.

Photos were taken from yesterday's open house. According to my mom, it's now our second open house that we've hosted. It's been a LONG time since I've actually celebrated Eid Mubarak full-on... and at home! So I was looking forward to seeing how it turned out... God knows how long it's been since the whole family have gotten together to celebrate this special day for Muslims.

.the first time in years that all the kids are back for Eid.

Having just arrived the night before, you can imagine how knackered I was yesterday when I helped my family host our second open-house invitation where my parents and siblings had invited some office colleagues and friends to the house!

.the first start of the event begun with a prayer for blessing by one of the officers.

.as one of my nephews excited tells a tale to his grandad, my uncle.

It wasn't as hectic and crazy as I expected it to be, so therefore I was pleasantly surprised. However that doesn't mean that I wasn't tired. As soon as the clock struck 10pm, I was already on the brink of KO-ness.

.friendly visitors from one of the offices - Sorry, it's not in Media Permata!.

.First Class Ladies.

.queue-ing up for the buffet table.

BUT...what I love best about Eid Mubarak Celebrations is that it's always an opportunity to see and catch up with some good old family and friends that I rarely get the chance to meet on the normal basis.

.Ms T with her favourite aunty & uncle.

.Happy Family.

.say cheese: i loved how the lady on the side pivoted my aunt to pose for the cam!.

Scenes from Eid Celebrations at home. Tons of good food, smiles, laughters and more good food! To those in Melbourne: you don't know what you're missing!! He he

.One of the food on menu: Chicken Briyani with Dhal.

.Day of Flight II.

I'm flew back home to join Eid Celebrations with my family. I'm looking forward to see how this ends... well, starts. It's been years since the whole family has come together for Eid Celebrations. Good news awaits.

Some how this photo makes me think of those vintage movie scenes of fighter planes. I shot this after the plane took off and started ascending up to the heavens. It was a pleasant flight.

And guess who was beside me throughout the journey?? Yup, another Melbruneian student who was going back home for a 1-month (1-MONTH??!) holiday. Lucky guy, I wish I was in his position at the moment. Exam-free, stress-free and full mode for celebrations.

.Who would've thought?.

Taken during my 6-hour transit waiting period in Changi Airport. As I shot this, a question boggled my mind: Who would've thought at one of the busiest airports in the world, you would find it so quiet and vacant?

I also came across this guy who happened to be enjoying the quietness. It looks as though he was getting some damn good ZZzzz in lala-land. But of all things I saw, I was so happy when I came across this sign.



Some say best things usually come free - in this case, I guess it's true! :)

.Fingers and Arms.

Took this photo sometime yesterday morning as one of the boys were sleeping. This is a picture of his arm and if you look close enough, maybe you can catch the faint drawings of a wing on his arm - I'm proud to say that was my work.

For some reason, I love this photo. It's so dramatic, especially since it's black and white plus the imagery is enhanced by the faint appearance of the wings before his wrists. They say pictures tell a thousand stories - what do you think this says?

.A Day of Flight.

By the time this blog has been published, I would have arrived safety to Singapore - I have automatically set it to be published that way. Why?
Simply because I didn't want to and wasn't ready to say bye to you guys.
(I know what you're thinking: EMO JUA! hahaha)

Anyway: I'm probably wandering aimlessly somewhere around the Singapore Airport terminals right about now, without having any clue as to how I'm going to kill 6 hours before I head home. Or maybe I'll be passed out on one of those chairs snoring my ass off in the terminal with people staring at me weirdly! Hehehe

I'll be missing you guys once I'm home (and bored... haha) and I'm sure I'll be missing out on A LOT of fun stuff you guys are up to. Whatever it is: party it up hard and have a blast... sort of like me last night (although I have to say, I paid dearly for it that next morning!)

As of today, I have accomplished my goals: to bite you all of you. :)


To Hafez & Peh:

For being my champions of the day- thank so much for taking care of me and making sure I was ok! Its been a while since I've had my head over the toilet bowl like that but you're company beside me in times like that is.... yeah... well... not nice but much appreciated! ^_^
You guys were awesome!

To Nafee:

It's too bad we missed out on the Nidji concert. I know we definitely would've loved partying it up with you -regardless of what the band is! So did you see me on stage? Hahaha.... Here's your special message: I will miss nyaya-ing you... EEEEeeehhhh!! Hahaha. Thanks for coming over and chilling with me with the guys before I flew off - it was good times!

Oh yeah... and you're welcome: for using Tee's bed. Nda ku sadar you went up to sleep there! I only realised it after I went upstairs and saw a pair of feet sticking out the end of the bed!

To Shuk:

For you shuk, this is your special message: thanks for helping me puke by showing me your face! Hahaha. Damn... I feel good now. I'm like really hyper at the moment - I could be bouncing off the walls! But seriously, thanks for joining us that night dude.
Hope your arm is doing better today after that nasty fall (after the first jump lagi tu!! Hahaha CLASSIC!)

To Azim:

Hey sport. Can I draw on your arms again? This next time I'm plan on going crazy with the pen! Sampai hajat ku last night sudah when you became a LEGEND and left your trademark on Degraves Street! Maybe that's the first one in many to come?? Hahahaha... bah, prepare your arm ah! You're officially my walking drawing paper! :)

Ok, now that's out of my chest. Thanks guys for being such great loser friends to me. Hehe I kid i kid. Selamat Hari Raya - maaf zahir dan batin! If I have done any wrongdoings to you guys, I hope that you find it in your heart to forgive me for them. However, if you choose not to do that...
meh, screw you! Hahaha I kid I kid, I joke I joke.

This is going to sound gay: I love you guys :) - that's why I bite you!

.Food from Eid Mubarak Celebration.

One of the best things about Eid Mubarak Celebrations: Glorious food.
Certainly the day that all food-lovers looked forward to! he he


.Baked Herbed Butter-Garlic Prawns.


.From: Beef Satay with Ketupat Rice and Buttermilk Chicken.

.Dessert from left: Tapak Kuda (Chocolate Horseshoe) with Cake Batik and
Sugar Cornflakes with Egg Tarts.

.Stepping Back.

This happened a while back - can't really recall the date but I remember it was sometime when the Weather was a little brighter, nicer and warmer in Melbourne (something that was a rare occasion nowadays). By pure coincidence, all the ladies weren't fasting due to personal reasons so we opted to head out to the beach and enjoy the sun! :)

Ladies waiting for the Tram to the beach: Misses T, P and A

It was a lovely day: the sun was nice and warm although the weather was spoilt a bit - upon our arrival on the beach, the wind picked up and it was cold. We went walking about the beach from one end to another before we were approached by a stranger who asked if she could take a photo with us... yeah, i know: weird, right? Turns out.. after taking a shot with us, she was approaching everyone else on the beach to do the same thing... it's funny how tourists are sometimes! He he..

.Ms A. enjoying the sun by the vegetarian cafe.

After concluding that the wind was too cold to allow us to enjoy our relaxing session facing the beach, we headed to try out this Vegetarian Cafe located by a balcony.... Discovery of the Week: Not all Vegetarian dishes are yucky. We ordered some tid-bits and coffee for some munchies and drinks. Good stuff.

.Yummy Vegetarian Dishes: (Top) Potato Chips & Gyoza, (Below) Spring Rolls & Pesto Riceballs.

Later that evening, there was a quick catch-up session with some mates at Minang Restaurant - unfortunately as we arrived late, I didn't have much time to take photos of the whole lot as I launched into having dinner with the lads outside in the cold weather.

However, I did manage to catch some photos after the dinner session when we went out for a quick coffee at MZ to spoil the new birthday boy with a "lap dance" from a belly dancer. Unfortunately we didn't get to do it as the birthday boy had to call it an early night and left... plus the belly dancer was too interested in keeping the patrons downstairs happy that she forgot to come upstairs :( Ah well, nonetheless it was good fun. :)

.Coffee at MZ: (Top) Mr.Korea and Ms P. (Bottom) Ms T & Ms. A.

Last but not least: I know it's a few days late but I just want to take this opportunity to wish
Mr. Silhouette a Happy Birthday!

.Birthday boy: Mr. Silhouette.

.2009 Sungkai Coburg.

It's a Sunday evening, precisely 30 mins left before dinner awaits as the day slowly glooms darker and the soft cold breeze starts kicking in. I've had 8 hours of sleep but I'm still feeling knackered - tried to get some shut eye but sadly that didn't work because the TV became too interesting.. haha...

Pictures from last night's dinner

Another dinner on another Saturday night hosted by another Bruneian family who was generous and kind enough to invite us to their loving home to join them for the break of fast (unfortunately this time I didn't have time to get a photo shoot of the hosting family). Dinner last night took place in Coburg, a nice big home situated 20mins from the city by train in the suburbs of Melbourne.

Some of the ladies during dinner

beautiful! A nice big suburb house with white high ceilings, spacious layout, big kitchen and best of all the patio - where we spent most of the night hanging out with friends on the kid's swing and the steps besides the BBQ station. It was a nice night to be hanging outside to enjoy the weather as it was neither a cold nor hot. Furthermore the evening cool breeze made it more enjoyable to sit and appreciate company.

Other Bruneian Students studying in Melbourne

As with the previous other dinners, there were lots of people and tons more food to be found: the main course meals were catered by a local Melbourne restaurant, Lazzat, and there were also a few things brought by some guests, mostly the desserts. The family also hosted a late night supper/sahur eating session where they jump started the bbq grill and proceeded to cook some of the most delicious lamb that I've tasted. Remembering the sweet, aromatic smell filling the air last night is starting to get me hungry again... hahaha

Ms. T & A enjoying the patio with Mr Awesome

The group last night also took the opporunity to organise a surprise advanced birthday wish to Mr.ArmyBand as well with a lovely cake from Brunetti. Sadly, I didn't get to try out most of the dessert as I found myself more focused towards taking photos and somehow forgot to try out some of the food on offer...ah well, there's always next time.

Mr ArmyBand & his wife with his surprise birthday cake

Officially as of today, it's plus/minus 7 days left of the Ramadan season and soon enough, we will be celebrating the much awaited and anticipated Eid Celebrations - something I'm looking forward to as I will be flying back home to celebrate it with my family! Just the thought of it is making me giddy with excitement!

For more photos: 2009 Coburg Sungkai