Dark Ages...

Earth Hour.

Errr.. Off Lights only or all power supply eh? When I first heard about it, first thing that came to my mind "How about the computer servers?" Then I was concerned about the road lights.. then the security alarms... list goes on... I guess not everything can be turned off even for an hour, unless we really have a power tripp.

Worry not... I am in full support for this campaign. (Questions pop out coz I happen to have a habit of over analysing things... hehe...)

During the earth hour (8.30pm-9.30pm), I turned off everything- lights, fans, tv, fish tank oxygen and even the fridge. Errr.. so what do I do for one hour? Hmm... tick... tock.... tick.. tock... Let's check out the neighbourhood...

only one neighbour's house and ours were in complete darkness. Few houses away, I think there were 2-3 more houses in dark... Erm... were they supporting earth hour or they just happen to be out of home at that time?? Hmmm... wonder... Btw... all other houses were terang-benderang, with even some houses with porch lights on. Well... it's up to individuals i guess. Fortunately, the campaign call had been answered and supported by some of my friends, Nurul being the most semangat, hehe.. Kak Ilah, Zue, Jane, Joni, Marli, to name a few.


cameras don't use electricity... therefore mine entertained me for at least 30 minutes... Hehe.. I had 2 candles lit, they were the main victims of my experiment, alongside other items around the source of light.

I was testing my remote flash setting... Klik Klik Klik... by the time a nail clipper became my model, I knew I had enough. Last item... the grandpa clock on the wall... showing the time - 9.09 pm

20 minutes to go... lets Visit the World before electricity... hoho... to the kitchen and get some chores done, with the help of the second candle.

I turned on the power (the fish tank n fridge 9.30 pm sharp), the rest after 10 minutes.

I heard some places organised some "celebrations" for this earth hour campaign. I hope nothing fancy though because it will defeat the purpose of saving resources. How about lighting a candle? Opppss :P~

Got this from the Net:

Are the emissions from these candles worse for the climate than simply leaving the lights on? After all, candles emit carbon dioxide too.
The answer: It depends on what kind of candles you use, how many of them you burn, and where you get your electricity from.

and This:

Hank the Eco-Geek tells us that it takes about 40 candles to produce the same amount of light as a 40 Watt light bulb and puts out a lot more CO2, so lighting candles during Earth Hour isn't exactly doing much for our greenhouse gas emissions. But he also points out that we don't tend to light 40 candles and make do with a lot less candlepower, although I am now a bit embarrassed by the picture of our dinner table last year. While the source for his information says burning candles is carbon-negative, Hank concludes that it is roughly carbon-neutral if you don't burn too many.

2 candles (1 lit a bit later) compared to the total power turned off in my house... I think it can balance out to be carbon-neutral... Hehehe...

Last but not least... whether or not we turned off the lights for an hour during this campaign, we should practise saving resources.

We have Sakura too....hehehe

I saw Aan's title of her latest blog post: Sakura is blooming!!!!

Yes, she's going to Japan (tonite) to enjoy Sakura season (honeymoon). I don't mean to mencabar her version of Sakura :P but.. I have to do this: tell n inform all of you that... we have our very own version of Sakura here.... yes here... in PENANG :P hohohoho

I got this email few weeks ago, with some photos of some so-called 'Sakura' trees blooming all out of sudden this year. I am still not sure what kind of trees they really are (need to google in depth ni)

It's someone's photos... i dunno whose... not mentioned in the email...

As you can see... sakura-alike trees on sideways in penang :D Near Pisa (Bayan Baru-Relau area)

Close-up photos... this is courtesy of http://cuttlefishhand.blogspot.com/2009/03/blog-post.html (also circulated in emails).

Zue and Nando both forwarded these emails, (must be from Intel-ians), to bring out my camera the get some shots... I wanted to... but couldnt find the time.

Then, I was assiggned as Rinaz's outdoor photographer... I thought I can drop by this place for some shots... but we were running out of time, and it started to rain heavily in the evening. On our way back, Rinaz dropped by her office in Prai to meet her colleagues... and guess what... these trees were there! And not only there, but in front a masjid and housing area nearby my house too... Wow... now... it's everywhere in Penang (mainland and island) and also along the highways... towards Kedah. Not sure about other place though...

Unfortunately, it was drizzling... so we couldnt take many shots. Soon after, it started raining heavily... so no close-up shots of the treess... ehehhe...

So... yey... we have Sakura treesss.... Para-para sakura!

Which level of marketing it is?

Before I go on, I would like to clarify that this post it not meant to condemn anyone, any policies or any choices made by any individuals. They are merely my own opinions influenced by some series of requests I have had recently.

I don’t believe I’ll make a good salesgirl. Some people think I am, they say I know how to market things… really? How come I didn’t know that?

There was once, I was in an interview, interviewed by some 7-8 academicians. I tried answering all questions, tried to reason everything. I didn’t realize that I was actually “selling” myself to them until one of them said
“have u been a salesgirl before?”
“Uhh…No, never” giving the 'why' look.
“You know… you can be a good salesgirl” he sounded cynical… paused… giving everyone time to get curious, before continuing “but we are not businessmen”
silence. all other interviewers looked at me, waiting for my reaction/response.
“In that case, I can sell knowledge”. Everyone laughed, I knew I made my sales that day. Even an academician have impression that I'd be a good salesperson?

So, maybe, in certain situation, I can “sell” things. But I prefer not to sell/market things I don’t believe in.

I hope I don’t eat back my words in future, but as for now, I am not comfortable being approached by Multi Level Marketing, or also known as MLM.

I do respect people having their own choices of building their career or soft skills. But it affects me if I am pushed. Personally, I don’t find a liking to the business strategy so how can I sell or market things I don’t believe in? I know people who do it for different reasons:

1. another career option
2. Improve their budget
3. Meet people and socialize
4. Join for the sake of friends/family who keep inviting/ pressing

Number 4 is bad news, coz they’ll end up losing their money in the end. I know I’d be number 4 if I'm not able to say “I’m sorry, I won’t have time for this”.

Few years back, I was asked to join this particular MLM, known to be one of the popular ones in the country. I was hesitant and wasn’t interested. The person who approached me invited me to meet some people from their network, in case I’d picked up interest from there. Not wanting to disappoint the person, I went to lepak with them for like 3 times, just to observe, listen and learn about the business environment. From my observation of the network of people I met, in general:

1. Most of them are money and profit oriented
2. Some even skipped classes and extended studies to “build the career”
3. It’s all about downline and not the product
4. Some shared experience with me, and talk highly about materialism
5. Some seemed like they are trying too hard to be like some others / impress

In conclusion, I didn’t join :P

when I say most and some, it means Not All of them lah ;-) so, chill yaa :-)


I know some have made it big and become successful because of such scheme. I respect those people for their determination and hard work. Not all push people around. Some give us the options and leave us alone when we politely reject. All the same, there are also cases of failure, where money are lost and friendships are tarnished.


I don’t mind listening to schemes but I mind if people push me to join, after I have listened.


How to say No (or keep saying No)… In a nice way? Since some who approached are friends/relatives? :-(

Movie Star or a Queen?

Tiba - tiba saya jatuh cinta dengan POS Malaysia... jangan tak percaya... inilah penyebabnya:

1. I just got my parcels... the items I bought from eBay has safely arrived my homie today... The crown and a watch. Yeyyy..... *square-dancing
   
2. I have received a letter from Italy. From my very old penpal. Can you belive this, I am still in touch with my pen-friend using snail mail since 1995. I am sooooo excited and happppy.... coz the last time we corresponded was 2006.
   
   

Yahooo... I have a tiara crown... yeahhh... I wear it and I feel like a queen... Well, I bought it for wedding photoshoots... ain't I suppose to feel like a bride when I wear it? Nope, nope... not a bride, not even a princess... I feel like a Queen... *agak melampau :P~ (semestinya demam-Iggy Queen masih belum kebah)

This time around.... I have a newly recruitted model. He's purple... and willingly tried on the Tiara... no questions asked.


See... He does look happy, doesn't he?


Barney is such a sport, he gave me more than one pose. See.. different angle... and he kinda look excited, kan? Hehehe...

Smiling wide....
I love you... You love me... We are heppi femili.... wooot woot...

Not only I feel like a queen today... I feel like a movie star too!!

I just came back from 2 good friends' weddings. One, my schoolmate + roomate in matriculations. The other, roomate in matriculations + uni. Using Math Logic, A(A-->X) ^ A (A-->Y) . B (B-->Y) ^ B(B-->Z) =((A.B)-->Y) ?? Make sense? In summary, A (Rinaz) and B (Atun) knows each other coz all three of us plus another friend were roomates in matriculations. They are very close buddies... so it is kinda weird, funny, crazy that both got engaged on the same day (last year), nikah on the same day (yesterday), wedding on their reception on the same day (today), and the groom's reception on the same day (tomorrow). NO... they are not married to each other... :P (in case u are speculating, stop rite there :P)

Have you watched "Bride Wars" by Anne Hathaway + KateHudson. A+B didnt get into cat fights like in the movie, they are still good friends. However, Alisa and I played the supporting roles today....the friends. Running from one wedding to another, separated by 20-40 minutes driving, depending on the traffic. That's the movie-star role I had today :D:D *ouhhh.. the camera loves me.. klik klik klik... tenkiu tenkiu....



Last but not least...
Selamat Pengantin Baru Rinaz dan Atun ;-) :*

TestBed models to ensure my camera's not sleeping...

Test Photo-Shoot

Siapakah model testbed d300 kita kali ini? It's Kak Ilah dan Zue.

When I used d60, it was my first time using DSLR... before really owning it, ada la a few times playing around with Alisa's camera. D60 is kinda user-friendly. It just took a week to feel comfortable with the camera. The menu is also slightly similar to my Sony H1 semi-SLR, so I didn't have much trouble.

With D60, I was quite dependent on the default settings. I end up using Potrait,Landscape setting most of the time. The closest I was to advance setting was using the Program Mode.

Therefore.... upgrading to d300 is one of the steps I take to become more "advanced" (or maybe to make my life more complicated than it already is... hohohoho). D300 provide no default settings like D60 and D90. Transition is kinda smooth... Kind of... but shooting a photo has been trickier ever since.

I tend to get confused with the aparture and shutter settings...
Solution? More practise!


Thanks Ain.. haha... (jadi mangsa juga), Kak Ilah and Zue sudi menjadi bahan eksperimen dan model gua.

This photo, the color is a bit too saturated (opps... my mistake). I didn't change the setting (can be set in the camera menu) when I took this photo. I edited to make it look similar to the real color.

I need more practise on using Manual mode. Why is the focus range different here? Me have no answers yet. Need to look into it. Manual mode is supposed to produce better results, but that depends on how u set the parameters.... which I need to learn.

OK... enough of comparisons for now...

Need to Turun-Padang more often to test my new bebeh.



Hehe... My model, Zue. Hihi.. ini kali kedua Zue menjadi model testing saya, kerana masa d60 pun dia jugak menjadi model testing2 kamera saya. Hehe put this pixxie to show the lovely tree behind :P ahahha... u are lovely too, zue ;)

Errrr.... wait... In both photoshoots, D60 testshoot and D300 testshoot.... I wore skirts. Why eh? Trying to shoot in a challenging environment kot eh? Like how to shoot with a flowingg skirt attached to you? Pass the test, then you are good to go! Hmmm... Hahaha...

Ya laa... have to feel good about myself first rite... then only I'd be able to pass the 'chi' to people/objects that I enchanted into still-images maa. (save it! Don't need to clarify... they know u like to photogedix too, just admit it) :P

When u say "Sweet Dreams", make sure u don't use numbers

I'm a dreamer.

Some people have dreams occassionally, some just once a while, and some rarely. Me? I Dream! I dream almost everynight... I know, some of my close friends who I at times torture with my dream stories are rolling their eyes right now. Mwahahaha.... Like "No, not about your dreams again" Hahahhahaa.....

I dream sooo much... most of the times, I don't pay attention to em. But if the 'storyline' in my dreams involve some friends or sound interesting, they will be victimised with my stories.

I can recall back my dreams from as early as I was 5. What can a 5 years old kid's dream be like? Some 3-4 monsters circling around the dining table. Round and round... and round and round... and... round and... Ok... I think they get the point!

There's one dream that has been bugging me for quite some time though. I just dreamt about it again a few days ago. A dream where I'd be back in secondary school, in Form 5. I love it when my dreams transport me back to the memories of school days because at times, they just felt so real (revisiting places I used to hang out, joking and running around with friends). But sometimes, this dream would be interupted with an anxious feeling.

I would have a feeling that I have not prepared anything for my SPM, specifically for Add Maths. Suddenly, towards the end of the dream, I would be feeling worried-sick that the big exam is just around the corner and I have not studied a thing, especially Add Maths. I dunno how to put this feelings into words... Like "u start to feel butterflies in your stomach"-kinda feel. It feels like my whole future was at stake and I was not ready. Yalaa.. big exam kan.... and it was as if I was totally clueless and unprepared. I'd be awake after a while, feeling a bit anxious. By then, I'd realise it's just a dream and boleh tarik nafas lega.

I don't dream about this very often though. But I have this dream like from time to time... after a few months or years... but the feeling is the same = worried and Not prepared!

Hmmmm.... but why Add Math? This has to go in X-Files.... kan kan....

Since it's a repeating event, I had some time analysing this X-Files of mine. I've thought of some possibilities:

1. I was a lazy student who never did her Add Math homework. I used to leave my homework blank until the following lesson, I'd be the one asking most questions when Mr.Lo announced to the class "Any questions you want to discuss?" I'd fill in the blanks when the answers were discussed and written on the blackboard. It's weird... I'd do all other subjects' homeworks except for Add Math...Could this be the reason??
2. I never liked tuitions. But the only subject I chose to enrol for tuition was Add Math... I'd be listening to what Mr.Rao taught and tried to remember and understand them. But.. again.... I never did the homeworks.
3. For our debate team, we each had our "so-called bombastic" introductions. Elena, first speaker "As long as Titanic remain sunk, and shall never sail again, I will stand affirm with....." Prema, second speaker "As long as the electron....bla bla bla..." and mine was, "As long as the formula of the roots of quadratic equation is negative b plus minus square root of...bla bla bla" (LOOK at the FORMULA wehh... damn long....) Why on earth did I use that as my intro? Never did AddMath homeworks... got guts to use it for some literature purpose some more!
(maybe I should ask Elena if she has dreams of Titanic ship or... Leonardo di Caprio, maybe? :P)
4. SPM revision? I would do some exercises from revision books, just to get familiar with the structure of the questions and answers. A few days before the paper, I memorised the important formulas for every sub-topics... so even there were certain questions I couldn't answer... I wrote down the relevant formulas and fill in any numbers I'd see in the question, just to bag some marks from my answers... Maybe my method of studies/ answering had violated Pythagoras' theorem or some algebra ethics?? so.. i'm haunted?
5. Maybe Mathematics keep haunting me because I was supposed to take up Math course in my tertiary studies??
6. Or... maybe my Soulmate will be a mathematician?? :P:P HAHAHAHA.... oppss... lari topik!
7. Or is it a sign or a reminder not to take things for granted?

Added: Truth be told, as responded in the comment, I was very playful and kind of carefree during SPM (teruk rite :P). When the whole class would be intensely doing their own revision, I would jump around finding people who I could entertain or sembang2. At home, my sis would be studying for PMR and I would be on TV... Hmmm... Maybe I was too relaxed last time, that the anxiety had been diluted and dispersed into my dreams... possible, no? :S :S but still... why addmath?

But if the Add Math-phobia is a price to pay in order for me to get dreams of beautiful memories of my school days... I'll write the cheque... But then again, I don't really have a choice of what to dream when I fall asleep rite? HAHA....

With That....

GOOD NITE u ollss....

SWEET DREAMS... (or should I say sweet-non-mathematical-dreams) Ahakss....
Sleep tite... ZzzZzzZzzz....

dancing to the throne

This week I did 2 unpredictable things...

1. I went to a camera shop to trade in my flash lite... I end up trading my D60 camera for a second-hand D300. My D60 buyer happened to be one of my friends I brought along to survey camera in the same shop. I misssss my D60 soooo so very much now...

2. I bought something from eBay.

Number 2 is a norm to some people... What is so unpredictable about buying things online? :P Well, it is for me. I am a very skeptical person. I don't think I can buy things I don't physically see. What is happening to me? Doing unpredictable things lately? Ayyaa....

Btw... I bought THIS!






HAHA...

I went to Forever 21, where Jane bought a tiara crown a few weeks ago. Found it. RM39.00. Nice... I liked it. But then, the tiara is not tudung-friendly. For someone wearing a tudung (hijjab), it will be impossible to keep the tiara still.


Since my "expertise" is on Malay wedding, and most my clients wear tudung, I needed a tiara that can fit them. Was not able to find it.

I need a Tiara to cater for outdoor shooting, in case the couple have returned their accessories back to the bridal house.

So I tried eBay. Found a few nice sites with some interesting tiara. I prefer something more simpler, but then I don't think too-simple will look outstanding for tudung, so I went for this one. I really hope it looks nice in real life... ?Need to wait another 1-2 weeks to verify that.

RM 20.00, plus shipment and insurance = RM52.00. Ok laa kan...

I wanted to buy this one. If you notice, there's a heart shape in the middle. It is also simple and fancy at the same time. Eh.... wait!! Why didn't I buy this one??? I am confused! I think it's because it was still on bidding, I didnt want to risk losing it in a bidding... so I went for the one I bought. Huhu....


I like this one: SIMPLE! But looking at it a few times.... it looked more like a hairband than a crown. But I like it... simple and clean. Will look perfect on elegant/contemporary hair-do.


Hehe... was one of my considerations. It has a classic look, but then it won't fit with Malay attires very well. A bit too medieval and too fancy.

Then I saw this... A butterfly? I hope no one wears this for a wedding photoshoot... hihi...

There are some pinky stuff that caught my eyes... I like this one. I think this one is cute, it'll look sweet on a soft/classical hairdo and also will suit garden concepts.
I get so carried away.... tsk tsk tsk....
Weihhh..... Crown shopping is FUN lah !!!!

:D

Going Girlies....

Personal Rambling:

For a school that has exceeded 70 years old, it is kinda late to finally have the alumni established in June 2007. Better late than never ;-)

I attended the reunion lunch in 2006, where they managed to gather ex students dated from the 50s right up to the most recent years. The idea to form an official alumni body emerged and some great people volunteered to be the backbone to realize this noble proposal.

I was invited by Dr.Ooi to join the protem committee, recommended by our Pn.Jan Lyn actually... I was unsure, afraid of not being able to give full commitment and few other reasons. But, after some calls made, and since I have always been in love and loyal to my alma mater... it was hard to say no. This can be a way to contribute back to the place that have somehow shaped the person I am today. The place I learned to love people known as friends, to share joy and sorrows... Learn to love people regardless of race, religion and status. Learn to never give up, learn to be confident and learn to be independent. Learn to respect and... the list goes on...

The alumni is still very young. We are looking for more ex-students to register as alumni. We, at the committe level, will be happy to get more response and suggestions as well.

We are currently working on a project to help needy students in the alma mater with a mini scholarship program. This will be discussed in the AGM and so will some other possible activities, especially ones that can bring back ol-girls gathered together.

 

Misc:

Datuk Zainab opened the table for dinner. We, in return gave her a small gift for her belated birthday. 29th February... this year no 29th? ehehhee... still... birthdays need to be celebrated aite?

Committe members... discussing issues on AGM and the upcoming project.

P/S: Some frens ask me. Syok ke skolah perempuan semua? Tak bosan ker??

JAWAPAN: SYOKKKKKKKKKK..... tak booosannnnn... seriussss........

No... It's not a price tag...

I AM TAGGED.....

Haha.. been sometime since I was last tagged... the "25 random things" tag in facebook... errr... I was not able to complete that... 25 weh... so many! too many sikrets to be revealed in one go... scarrry!

I'm so gonna do this tag with full of integrity. Tagged by Zue. Copied the questions without looking at her answers and answered one by one :D

1. Do you think you're hot?YES… and the weather just doubling it up... to further enhance my HOTness.. ahaks...


2. Upload your favourite picture of you...

3. Why do like that picture?
It’s a very old picture… family portrait… Late grandparents and great grandma - during my dad's childhood years. I manage to edit it, getting rid of all the dust and scratches… and print it large 8x12 inch… and I have printed it for all my father’s siblings (aunts and uncle)… yet to be delivered :D (Though I am not physically visible in the photo... My gene is)


4. When is your last time you ate pizza?
Last week with my family. Ainaa likes the soup in pizzaHut… and we thought she would eat the ayam Gorong… or is it called ayam Gorang in her dictionary? :P But, she didn’t eat the spicy deli wing coz it didn't look like the fried chicken in Upin&Ipin… Grrr.... takper, aunty2 dia boleh makan… hahaha!


5. The last song you listened to...
Some song from the box called TV


6. What are you doing right now beside this?Looking at the above mentioned box


7. What name do you prefer besides yours?I never thought of replacing my name, if that's what this question means... But I remember when I took Spanish class, we were supposed to have Spanish names. I chose Arianna coz it still sounds like my name... haha...


People I Tag
RanDomly :Andes
Jessie
Marlina
Emme
Aca

8. Who is number one?
Uits… I was confused… I’m supposed to write about people I tag ke? Following numbers eh? Ok… Didn’t know that… Ok… number one… Hehee… Andes…

A Friend from USM, during degree years. We were not from the same “gang” haha.. but we clique… I know why… because we dua-dua pun cakap banyak! Hahahah…. She’s a nice gurl… she’s talkative… and she’s very caring and helpful…


9. Number three is having relationship with?
ALamak… Marli… Seriously... the list is random... terkena nama u for this question. Kena tanya Mali sendiri la nanti ;-)


10. Say something about number five?
She was my student... The only thing I taught her well until she get obsessed to it is Make-Up. Nope... it was not in the syllabus and it was Not taught during my tutoring era. Oh yaa... and since she’s same age with my younger sis… I can’t stop sistering her :P nag nag nag…. Hahahhaha… my feveret line to her “U ni kannn…”


11. How about number four?
This one is Funny… At first, I am her husband’s friend for 3 years before he officially introduced her to me and other friends. Somehow, we cliqued instantly… and now I am closer to her than her hubby… haha… both of us are also alliances in the BB-rinas United. We rawkk BiBee….


12. Who is number two?
Jessie… Ok… also funny…. We were in the same school… but we were not close back then… Didn’t even have a real long chat except for the times I chased her for Editorial Board, to become our photographer. After we graduated from school, we hear updates like so and so, from here and there. Then… thanks to friendster, blogging and facebook, I reunited with this gal. I am not sure who became obsessed with whom… but we check on each other online ever since. Hehehe… and looking forward to her return to melesia :D

THE END

(Eh... how did I know that I was supposed to tag only 5 people?)

*mystery* :O