The sleepy cat

I saw this cat yesterday, sleeping under the hot sun when I'm back home from work. The cat doesn't seems like it was bothered by the hot weather, and won't nudge a bit even when I approached nearer.



I like to see the cat's calm face, maybe it does not have to worry about paying the rent, bills, maintaining a car or paying for the foods like humans do. Shot this black and white as I don't want the tainted wall and surrounding areas to mess up the whole photos.

My Toyota

Oooohhh...how I love the wireless features of my cam. Inspired by some buddies from alphanatics.com, I took my Toyota Trueno 1:18 model and try out some wireless flash photoshoot. One Sony HVL-F42 fired from the front part of the car, with a reflective paper at the opposite of it to light up the rear part of the car. If I have another Sony flash, light setups would be versatile and could bring out more details.

Bring up some noise!!!

Last Saturday I attended a metal gig called Sarawak Metal Force 10th Anniversary held at Temuai Lounge in Kuching. It gathers some of Sarawak's metal talent and the premier head banging Langsuyr which is the main band for this event. Seeing the local Sarawak music scene, I am glad that nowadays there are more gigs and concert happening here and there compared to a few years back when I'm still with my band. I played drums with my band Dragorion. We didn't make any noticeable progress though. But my guitarist, Daniel is active with his band Ethnic Transmission and Stoic4Life. Norman, who plays bass is now with Stoic4Life and currently expanding his home studio recording business.


Daniel Ading of Ethnic Transmissions and Stoic4Life.


Aloy aka Asrul Zahidi, my guitarist last time when I'm still studying.

Back to the Metal Force gig. Bought the ticket for RM17, went in but I didn't manage to get all the bands in action especially Langsuyr. Went back early to catch my flight to KK later that night. I shot Ressurection, Rudeboys, Kherow and Vormit in action. Kherow has a female vocalist, and she rocks the stage with her growls. Kherow plays death metal by the way. Seen a few nice axes too, especially Jackson and LTD(very nice indeed).


The MC for the gig.


Rudeboys.




Rudeboys vocalist.


Resurection


Resurection.


Resurection.


Kherow






The only female singer...whhooaarrhh!


Vormit





The crowd was wild especially when the last few band played. I had some difficult times taking photos are the crowds kept pushing just to be in front. And boy, having a dslr is great! One of organiser's member assisted me to be in front when Kherow was on stage even though I'm not having any press tag. Way to go, and I'll reward them with my post here. And thanks to that particular guy too for helping me in getting my shots.

The long and winding road...

I'm at home now in Bau, Sarawak. Just reached here around 9 pm, after driving for almost 12 hours from Miri. I started my journey yesterday from Lawas, spent a night in Miri before continuing my journey. School? I applied for a leave. :D.

Anyway, I'm back because I'm driving home my parent's Proton Saga or as my cousins would called it the Tank. It's gonna be sold off soon as my brother bought his own car. I can say my journey was a little bit terrible. Just as I thought driving home during weekdays will be jam-free especially at Limbang-Brunei border, I got stuck for almost three hours. The Malaysian Immigration Dept. has set up 3 booths(thanks to the newly built complex), but after that comes the Brunei Immigration which opened only 2. I can stand the jam, but I can't stand idiots who jumped queue. Really hope that one day Brunei government will build a new immigration complex there. Better and faster service, everybody from both countries will benefit.



Next, our roads. Haih! I'm having backache now as the result of the uneven surfaces. The worst would be Bintulu to Sibu. My previous rims bent all over and I had two tyres 'swollen' at the sides because of potholes and hidden 'bumps'. I drive slowly mind you, but some bumps are really hard on my Kenari. No doubt maintanance are made, but how can you expect a pothole on a nicely resurfaced roads? Maybe it's true that sometimes accidents do not caused by human error, but by our road conditions. Not everybody can manouvre a car away from danger without being panic. Even the once newly built Miri-Bintulu coastal highway was nice, but all in a sudden there's a lot of hidden bumps. I've seen a few 'Fall Guy' car acts because the driver did not aware of such bumps. But thankfully, most of the bumps have been resurfaced to make it flatter.

Lastly, some lorry drivers drove like there's no tomorrow. It's clearly stated at the back of the lorries their limit speed, but I saw a few reaching almost 100km/h. That's fast for a big size lorry. Imagine trying to stop the lorry in case there's an emergency ahead. Chaos could happen in an instant. At an instant I remembered this song...

Where have all the soldiers gone?
Long time passing
Where have all the soldiers gone?
Long time ago
Where have all the soldiers gone?
Gone to graveyards every one
When will they ever learn?
When will they ever learn?

Going to sleep now. I'm going back to KK tomorrow night. Thank God my journey is a safe one.

The hand that draws

Photos taken in front of Wisma Merdeka, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah.

I have a lot of respect for these people that draws with passion and patience. I personally loves drawing things, people, cars but always ended up ruining it. For example I drew a car, when I got the front part right, I won't get the rear part they way it should be or fits the whole car. There's always a crooked line, or an uneven angle which makes the whole car looked weird. Taking photos is almost like drawing, that is presenting a good picture or a message. Just that you don't have much room for error when you draw.

St. Michael's Church, Penampang, Sabah

I saw this church through a friend's wedding photo and I initially thought that he spent quite a lot and go overseas just to get his photoshoot done. To my surprise this church is just located in Penampang district. I have been staying for quite some time in KK, but I never encountered it before. Need to go out a lot after this and look out for Sabah's hidden interesting places.









St. Michael's church was built in 1936, and initiated by the late Fr. August Wachter. I love the old look of the church. Being in the church compound itself gives a more spiritual feeling compared to other churches I've been to.

The Palace Hotel, Kota Kinabalu

Formerly known as Berjaya Palace Hotel, The Palace Hotel is currently going through a renovation process which will transform it into one of the nice and cosy hotel to look out for when you're in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah. Everything from the lobby area up to the guest rooms, details have been upgraded to make your stay a memorable one. It is situated within walking distance to Karamunsing Complex and the main police station. The hotel itself resembles a big fort, situated on a small hill surrounded with trees.


The reception area.


Lobby with LCD Tv for guest's viewing pleasure.


The facelifted lift. Nice blue-lit buttons and a display which shows Cuti-cuti Malaysia songs.

I had a pleasant stay there. I had the karaoke lounge all for myself(it was weekdays anyway...:D). The songs selections are good, alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks are also served and the sound system was nice and clear. There are rooms for smokers and non smokers. Wifi is available too.

Breakfast is okay. There are selections of dim sums, cakes, salads and local dishes such as nasi lemak, porridge and chicken curry. My only comment is that it would take some time for the waiters and waitresses to fill up the empty food containers. Maybe it's just that particular day, but I waited for almost 20 minutes for the potato wedges to be served. It's just around 8.30 in the morning and I'm sure there were more guests who haven't come down and have their meals.


The Tangerine.

The guest rooms got a fresh new look. Red and white combination kinda remind me of Tune hotels. But nevertheless, the layout is better with generous space. LCD TV adds a nice touch to the whole room. My main concern is the sound insulation in the room. The one I stayed in had two doors which leads to the other two adjacent rooms. During midnight I can hear quite clearly guests from both rooms laughing and talking to each other. It might caused some discomfort to other guests especially the elders. Hopefully the hotel management can rectify this soon. What I did was stuffing some towels into the door gap, and the noise is minimal.


The red and white bed colour scheme.


Sliding cabinet.


LCD Tv. Saves space!


Showers. My room doesn't come with bathtub.


Ample surrounding space to finish the 'business'.


Coffee and tea making facilities.

Would I stay there next time? Yes, and hopefully the pool and the room near the lobby which looks like a free internet station will be opened later. That will make my stay even more pleasant.