.Back from KK.

.One of my life's achievement: Jump Shot with Mount Kinabalu.

Well well... I'm finally back from my much anticipated and highly thrilling roadtrip to Kota Kinabalu, Sabah. A week away from home with much members from my extended family, on my mother's side... and yes, there were plenty of drama that came with the family. We'll just leave it at that.

Convoy to Kota Kinabalu: 2 SUVs, 2 Trucks and a Van.

Seven days on the road, which resulted in well over a 1,000 photos. Go figure. It was quite the itinerary for the roadtrip and as we got closer to the departure date, the more and more things we did! Among the few...


Arrival to the wedding celebration

A wedding of an unknown relative. Truth be told, this was the main reason why the roadtrip to KK was organised. To attend a wedding of an unknown relative of mine. Unknown in the sense that I don't know him... or her... well, more like we haven't been formally introduced or are acquainted of each other. But all in all, Congratulations to both the Bride and BrideGroom. May you both enjoy a prosperous life with each other.

My small newly-acquainted cousin

The wedding was an interesting cultural experience. The wedding itself was modest and humble in size and decoration, unlike those held in Brunei... I realised that when it comes to weddings in Brunei, people always try to go as glamourous as they can... And everyone running the event would always be uptight... paranoid... whereas this one I attended was very laidback... bride and groom were mingling with the crowd, proud happy parents smiling and laughing with other guests... there was even the "pocho-pocho", danced and enjoyed by both males and female guests...


The Wedding Stage

It was only during this wedding reception that i realised how much Bruneians like to show off their "glamourous"-ness. I was almost ashamed to admit it. Sitting there like princes and princesses in our fancy personally-tailored clothes, flapping our fans away, not bothering to mingle with the rest of the crowd...We sometimes know no humility. But then again, that's my opinion....

Anyhow... aside from that, we also managed to visit: OneBorneo - supposedly the biggest mall located within the South East Asian region. As this month coincides with school holidays, we weren't surprised to find many Bruneians journeying out to this huge shopping complex to get their hands on the latest christmas sale in KK. There were so many Bruneians there that in fact, it had felt like I was back in Brunei!

Relaxing at a massage parlour

Christmas tree at OneBorneo

A visit to the Tagal River within the regions of Mount Kinabalu, where carp fish swam to and fro against our feets on the bed of the running water. Echoes of lip smacking filled the air, as the fish fought against one another to shove their slimy soft heads into our enclosed palms for food. After which, we spent most of the remaining day frolicking about the clear green fresh water, picnicking by the riverbed with the beloved family.

Scenes from the Fish Experience and Picnic by the river

On this note, I conclude this with a nice photo of my family having fun in the
Kinabalu National Park.

Shots of Mount Kinabalu and Sunset by the Mountain side

the three crazies

.The One Mile Shot.

Speaking of exploring beyond our comfort zones, recently I decided to take a leap of good faith and try something new - I bet you'll never guess it: ordering take out and sitting by the side road to enjoy your food. hahaha... yep, you bet. I did it.

It was a rainy night out and, with Rockband, we cruised around town searching for some inspiration after conducting a sunset Jerudong Beach shoot. The rain despite being constant was quite light. Roads were shiny, floors were slippery, skies were dark, street lights were bright... I was just thankful there wasn't any lightning or thunder.

Rockband enjoying his KFC
So by 8 o'clock, there we were roaming the streets of the city, looking for something to shoot: trying to explore the city/town in a different photographic perspective when Rockband suddenly proposed the proposterous yet unseemingly awesome idea: to cover a night city shoot in Bandar up on the pedestrian crossings, whilst enjoying take outs from KFC - naughty, naughty food!

Wow... I have to say it was quite an exciting shoot! Bascially the concept was a traffic-night scene similar to those in Bundoora, Melbourne. We conducted ours above the pedestrian bridge by Batu Satu. Driving to the nearing shopping complex, we headed over to KFC where we preceded to order our take out food and soon after, headed to the bridge.

Over the pedestrian bridge

Overall it was a fun photoshoot, however the rain did effect the quality of the photos, as the wet road reflected the lights coming from the car - it proved to be a bit of a challenge. Nevertheless despite all that, most of the photos manage to turn out well. Standing above traffic, in the middle of the pedestrian bridge, catching the rays of light streaking down the black shiny roads. I think at some point there were cars that slowed down... i suppose they were curious to see what we were up to.


Half way through the shoots, we took a break - which was when we took our packed food and by the stairwells, sat to our comfort and ate to our jolly stomachs. Hahaha... till this day, i still can't believe I did that. One word: Ghetto!

.The One Mile Shot.

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Oh yeah not forgetting to share with you guys, in these past few weeks I've been privileged enough to be able to catch some amazing scenes in Brunei.First being the "smiling moon", that beamed up its lovely vision up against the dark skies. Twinkling down to earth from the heavens...

.Twinkling Smile.

And the second being, an evening shot around the back of my house. Just as the sun was setting, I was fortunate enough to catch one of the ever-noisy planes gliding across the horizon and coincidentally into my shot! Talk about awesomeness, eh?

.Gliding by.

.In Need of Something Different.

Sometimes it's best to let go of our fears, take a chance, and with a deep breath
let go of our comfort zones to explore the unknown.
Whose to say what you'll find there?

.Sunset by the Empire.

.From the Memory Box.

.From the Memory Box.
.Airport Brunei, Brunei Darussalam 2008.

Sunset Horizon

.The Empire.

.Sunset at the Empire.

So Far in 2 Weeks

It all happened in a flurry with much that have been done: many sights seen, places visited, sounds heard, things touched, tastes tasted and knowledge learnt. Officially as of today, it has been a week and two days since I arrived back to my motherland.

Most things have remained the same, well pretty much everything and everyone's still the same. Except roads are bigger and there are more cars on the road... oh and very less sights of smokers around town.

In terms of my dearly beloveds, I'm happy to say that its quite pleasing to see everyone in good health and general mood. Coming back home, the cats were still the same ole rambunctious bunch I had left when I began my trip to Melbourne.

Oh how I wish I could tell you the things we've been up to, however sadly photos and details are far too many for me to process all at once in my head, let alone type up onto this blog. However, I will share with you a few visual insights as to the events of the last two weeks.

Nine people

One Crew

This is Melbourne Paintball

Jump Shots

Always on the go, Always on the move - that's what you get for living in the city. Now that exams are over and done with, most students are free to roam about the cosmopolitan city in search of entertainment and other amusing activities to fill in the passing time. For four Melbruneians, it was a time to JUMP.

I suppose it's almost become a signature mark for me when it comes to photography: Jump Shots. I find myself attracted to the idea of jumping mid-air. For me it signifies many things: colour, sudden movement, sporadic energy, happiness, silliness, fun, power and much more. I came up with this random idea that whenever I do photography, I will always try take the opportunity to have at least one session of Jump Shots - no matter where the photography is taking place.

Thinking back, I think what started it all was a photo I took of Ms SG. Earlier on this year, my budding interest in photography led me and my curious stubby fingers to reach for CameraGuru's SLR... I was keen on giving it a go - to see what it felt like, what I could come up with. I still remember that day vividly: bright lit blue skylines in Docklands. The weather was just perfect for a hang out - all of us wanted to check out the art exhibition there.Curiousity led me to explore the camera settings, I went for the continuous shoot settings whereupon I had asked Ms SG to jump mid air. Below was what I produced.

. My very first ever Jump Shot.

Ever since then, as I continue on to explore the world of photography and I hope in time learn to develope some serious skills, I have been quite persistent in making many of my candid subjects jump. Don't ask me why... I just like the results - I find them to be quite interesting. Fueling my eagerness for these jump shots is actually the energy I get from my jumping subjects. The more they are keen on joining in the fun and jumping, the more it energises me and drives me to take more jump shots. So when my last jump shots take place? Well... no more than 2-3 days ago, in fact.

I call it: Conquering Bourke & Crown.

.The Crown Shoot.

Conquering Bourke & Crown

Left to Right: Mx, Ms Crocs & Mr Anime

So how did conquering Bourke and Crown came to be? Quite an interesting story to that.

The day was just like another other, except in this case there was less pressure from the academic world now that most of us are done with our exams. The sun was out in mid sky, flaring out against the baby blue backdrop skies and white cotton clouds.

Mx & Ms Crocs

Cool breezy winds were sweeping throughout the city and amidst the noises and sights of the hustling bustling city, Ms DT and I found ourselves heading up to the QV to meet and play catch up with some dear old friends: Ms Crocs and Mr Anime who brought along their friend, Mx at Max Brenners.

Max Brenner's colourful popsicle

Being a good day, the five of us decided to enjoy the weather outside the chocolate café – where I decided to go for the small ice-cream popsicle they offered on the menu. Much to Ms Croc’s misery, as she was trying her hardest to resist the temptation to give in and buy self one, despite the fact that her stomach was filled up to the brim with luncheon that ended not more than 15 mins before our get together.

Ms Crocs & Her Chocolate

As we hung out in Max Brenners, the gang took turns to play around with Primo - it was a great opportunity to kill time as we had plenty of it to spare that day. After the refreshing afternoon break, we headed back to Mr Anime’s place for a bit of relaxation from the sun before dropping by RMIT to check out his architectural exhibition (more on that later) which was to take place later on the week.

The Gang in RMIT

Mr Anime climbing the walls

After a little fixing and rearranging, the group headed out back into the streets. We went through the back (I think) alleyways of the university, where I found the architectural designs of the building interesting. Out came primo for a little play… .and this was what eventually led to the Jump Shots of the day.

First Jump shot of the day

Pretty soon from RMIT, our jump shot craze led us down to Bourke against the nice backdrop of the sun setting…. We even came across Mr Silhouette and managed to convince him and his friends to join in the jump shot in Bourke Street – scuttling back and forth to give way to the trams. As the day, night and eventually the midnight hours dawned on… we were still out and about in Melbourne doing several jump shots…Even I joined in the fun… and ended up hurting myself.

Mr Silhouette & his friends join in the jump

.Jump shots in Bourke Street against the sun set.
For more photos: Conquered Bourke & Crown