A Quickie

Argh...somehow, it feels different. How different is different? Hmmm...very different. Mixed feelings. Again, this is public blog, so, no "intimate details" allowed here! haha...

Feb-May has always been slow as far as business is concern. I am referring to events and shoots. Peak seasons are between mid-May all the way to Jan the following year, with Oct-Dec being the busiest time of the year. It has been like this the last few years. Which also means I am now quite jobless and not having much to do. I think I am generally a workaholic and I get really moody and upset when I have nothing much to do, let alone income being dry. And yes, my bank account is slowly drying up and I am getting a lil desperate for jobs! Basically, I am now surviving on surplus savings spill-overs from last few months (i.e., payments from Nov-Jan).

Which means, I am now bored, jobless, moody, restless and slowly getting broke financially. Oh ya...and heart broken too! Where is my love? When are you coming back?

So, I really need to pull through this next one-two months quickly and "safely", grab a few small jobs to cover overhead expenses until the high season comes in...end-May. Meanwhile, I gotto remind myself that I gotto try to keep that smile going!

Anyway, here are just some odd pics I recovered from my handphone and just wanna share with you guys here.

My Swift getting her first polish and waxing.

Do you know what this is? No, its not "it". Its something you stick into your shoes to keep it in shape when you are not wearing it. Saw this "device" at a Puma boutique at 1Utama.

What's he doing inside a garbage tank? Snapped this last Friday when I was at Sepang Circuit for the F1.

Flash flood in Bangsar. The rain came so sudden and hard that within minutes, the entire area was flooded. We parked the car but realised we couldn't get out! LOL. In this pic, the water has subsided by almost half.

This toilet in UM (University Malaya) has a pair of ceiling fans turning at almost full blast most of the time. A really pleasant toilet to use, clean, dry and never humid. I don't think I have seen toilets having fans, have you?

Found this at Facebook. I thought its nice. Indeed...sometimes, you'll never know the true future purpose of something that is happening today. Yes, I will take a chance and go for it.

Love

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

Love never fails.

And now these three remains : faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

[1 Corinthians 13]

Oh, here is another really sweet version, I picked it up from a very beautiful card a few months ago. It says ”Love is...those moments you call me baby”.

So, its good to have faith, its good to have hopes. But the best is still to have love. Its like steroids to makes you jump up with super strength, makes you do things you don’t normally do, say things you don’t normally say and feel things you don’t normally feel. It has the power and ability to wipe away hatred, anger, frustrations, tiredness and “worriedness”.

But without love, many things can fail and fail miserably too. Sometimes, without love, one can loose focus and direction. The things you normally like to do are no longer in your priority list. The people you used to hang out with are now no longer your buddies. Your personal performance rate and results will decline sharply.

LOVE is the only “four letter word” freely permitted to use and its the best “four letter word” ever invented.

All the above characteristics of love are all worthy of re-reading over and over again. It has reminded me on many occasions on what exactly love is and how it should be. So, just wanted to share with with you guys.

The greatest is still LOVE...remember, its still LOVE

Malaysian F1 Grand Prix 2008

Don't be misled by this post's title, I have nothing much to share and show. And neither am I in anyway involved in this year's Malaysian F1 GP. Got no pics of Lewis nor Kimi, not even their cars nor the track!!! haha...

I manage to grab some shots while I was there using my Canon IXUS70.

The main ticket entrance to the tracks.

I thought Mercedes-Benz had the best display this time.

Merchandise Booths selling their products at throat cutting prices.

A heavy duty crane operated "jip arm" for arial video coverage.

The BMW Sauber F1 car.

From another angle...

The driver's steering wheel. See all that buttons and stuffs?

Facebook at Blogspot

Interesting "stickers" I found at Facebook. Just can't resist but to "stick" them here.

Nice...means a lot.

Dayang Amirah Hanna's Birthday

Its kinda getting fun doing birthday events like this one. This is the third one we are doing for this group, the first being in his Tropicana home and the second was Aqilah's at her dad's showroom cafe in Bangsar. All of them...16 years old. Anyway, by now, I have gotten to know most of them from this group.

This is Dayang's 16th birthday and she approached us during Aqilah's birthday in Bangsar about a month and a half ago. We sat down and talked, discussed with her dad, budget agreed and this is what you get. Held at Kuala Lumpur Golf & Country Club (KLGCC), it was an awesome evening (as far as the birthday event was concern).

Emotionally, I was still very down with some stuffs, depressed and almost wanted to ditch the event but I obviously know I can't and should not. No matter what happens to my personal life, professional business practises must always be a priority. And yes, we got it executed perfectly well. BabyKJ was there to assist.

All pictures by Babyboss junior photographer, Brian Lee. And since this is my blog, here are some of my pics...keke

With birthday girl, Dayang during setup.

Feeling bored, all setup done, nobody teman me...play piano lor

With Aqilah, whose 16th birthday we did on Jan 18, 2008 at Bangsar

Attacked by Alladin?

Pilow fight!!!

Here with Aqilah and Aaron (whose birthday we did at his Tropicana home)

Dayang and her snake...and babyboss!

The custom-made cake

Getting the cake ready, with Jigee Jon and BabyKJ

With Dayang's dad...the paymaster!

Communication - Internet Chats

Communication is a very powerful element in today's society. Everywhere we go, everything we do...its all about communication. A simple definition of communication, according to Oxford Dictionary is the "exchange of information" or "process of transmitting information". Basically, we know its all about "I say something, you listen and reply, and you say something, I listen and reply".

The mass media, TVs and radios know how to do it best. But as an average person in the society, we always, like some people say, have "communication break-down". The latest and dangerous form of communication today is the internet chat which originally started with Microsoft's Inter-Relay Chat (iRC) or what some would call Internet Relay Chat, back in the mid-80s.

Some 3 years ago, I was speaking in a youth conference on the topic of "Communication - Internet Chatrooms". I did a research and study on users of such internet chatrooms, stuffs from MSN Messenger, Skype and stuffs. A general conclusion, most people (generally the younger generation) prefer to use chatrooms to chat rather than making a phone call or even talking face-to-face. I have a friend who would rather tell me her problems over the MSN chatroom rather than meeting me up and talking face-to-face. Her reason...don't know what to say when I am around. LOL. And this is where potential danger arises...

In chatrooms, all that I want to say are only represented with text on the screen that does not carry any form of human expression nor body language. Yes, while some argue that the use of emoticons can show references to human expressions, nothing beats the real face and the real expressive vocal tones of the human voice. A simple sentence can easily be misread, mistaken and misunderstood for something that was never meant. The receiver of the said message is subjected to a host of potentially misleading and totally off-track interpretations of that one simple message.

It is even more so, when couples that are in a relationship chat online. The potentials of miunderstandings are even more pronounced. Because couples in a relationship tend to have a much higher level of expectations from their partners during online conversations. And in internet chatroom, such expectations may not be satisfied due to the nature of such online chatrooms. For example, I write something and my girlfriend does not reply in the next few minutes (cause she is maybe in the toilet), I tend to think what wrong have I said that caused her to be in this silence. The fact is...I don't know what's happening on the other side of the chatroom, I don't know what she is thinking and I don't know how she is reacting to my statements.

I have personally experienced this myself when I chat over internet chatrooms. There is always a high tendency of a misunderstanding or a misexpectation. But when I am communicating face-to-face this this same person, I notice that such same misundertandings and misexpectations are of much lower levels and frequencies. Because by being able to see her responses, facial reactions, vocal expression and tones and her body language, I am able to make better and more accurate judgements on what exactly is happening.

So, chatrooms are for the convenience of internet use. But when it comes to some real serious chats or heart-to-heart talks...always meet her face-to-face, hold her hands, look into her eyes and be ready to give her that kiss. haha...

All the best guys...

Word Power

During the recent activities of our country's "election season", we see all sorts of promises being shouted out by almost every participating campaigning party. I mean, who wants to be left out, afterall "its just a shout"! LOL

But I have also been observing the US version of their election for the new presidency, a fierce battle between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, both of which will also cause national history since Hillary would make the first lady president for the US and Barack will be the first African-American president.

And one of the most difficult thing to do in life is to "change". Nobody likes to change. Accepting a change is always difficult for many. Yet, the word "change" is widely used in American campaigns. Hillary Clinton's slogan says, "Ready For Change" while Barack Obama says, "Change We Can Believe In". Personally, I'd buy Obama's, it tend to bring in more meaning and value. Not just change for the sake of change but to change into something that "we can believe in". And that is very important.

And if I were to be asked to "platform speak" to an audience of young and hungry entrepreneurs, I'd choose to speak on "Change We Can Believe In". There is more meaningful values and personal achievements to talk about here. While "Ready For Change" charges up the people to "attack" and move forward. Maybe the value systems may not be of priority.

Very interesting. But what does our Malaysian campaigners say? Barisan Nasional's official slogan shouts "Security, Peace & Prosperity". LOL! OK, maybe they have their reasons!

Choice of words very much reflects the mind status of a person at the point of communication. The way your sentence is constructed and delivered speaks a lot about your true inner self. And many times, we ourselves don't realise it. I am personally guilty of that. (hehe)

Esepcially when you communicate through MSN or Skype, where words don't carry expression nor body language. It becomes very dangerous and can easily cause misunderstandings simply because every word and sentence can be interpreted in many ways since there is no vocal expression nor body language present. I have experienced that several times too where my original meaning was taken totally off course.

So, high tech is good but high touch is still very important. Nothing beats a face-to-face chat.

Good, Good, Bad

Just did my follow-up medical check on my cholesterol level yesterday morning. The healthy limit is nothing more than 5.2. My first check-up showed 6.1 and thats not good. Now, after a month of medication and diet control, my results yesterday shows 4.8!!! So, I gotto continue to watch my diet. Eat healthy and continue to exercise more.

And in the recent months, many have commented that I lost weight, look slimmer and tummy gone. I can verify that as my clothes are getting loose now. Even my belt had to shorten by two holes! My XL shirts now are very nice fittings. So, while I was at the Dr's, I asked to have my weight measured. I used to be around 92kg and yesterday's measurement shows 87kg!

Hmm...not bad. But somehow, I am still not exactly a happy person and still have a lot of things troubling my mind.

Sigh...

Argh!

Just want to share this out to release some frust on this particular client that I have. I deal with the Founding Director of this company. I did an event for his company sometime early February and the payment due was only RM5,000. Today, a month later, I called him up to see if I could go pick up the payment check from his office (which I'd normally do for the previous events). I called at 11:45am, no answer. Then sent him an sms, no reply.

Anyway, went out for a beautiful lunch (at least something to cheer me up a lil) on my brand new Swift (another reason to be a lil more happy). Passed by his office and I thought might as well just drop in as see if my check is ready or not. Went in, asked the front desk receptionist if there is any RM5,000 payment check for Paradigm Events. She made some calls to the finance dept and replied, "no". How about Babyboss Pictures, I asked. She made another call and replied, "also no". Then she told me that the check is ready but is now with the Director (the guy who did not answer my calls). Ok, so I left.

Sometime around 3:30pm, he finally replied my sms with a "yes" ( I suppose that means my check is ready). I texted him and told him that I was at his office this morning but the receptionist said got nothing for me. Then he replied with this (in his exact words) : "My reception is not finance dept. Think b4 u act...". Whoa...my suhu badan went up reading this reply! He told me to "think before I act"!!!!! Wahlau...as though I was so stupid not to!!!!

Anyway, I just replied him asking where and when can I collect the check...no reply since then! Sigh. Really chartou lar!!! Speechless!!!

Quick Updates

Hmmm...I actually had quite a lot to write esepcially on what happened yesterday (Sat) but now I realise that if I were to write and complain about yesterday, I'd only be shooting myself. So, wont be writing much about the bad things of yesterday. hahahaha....

#1 Yes, I finally got my Suzuki Swift on Friday night. Took delivery of the car at 9pm at the Bangsar showroom. Nice wheels, small but really tight performance. Easy to drive and economical. Something I can afford.

#2 Sent in my Swift for tinting on all the windows and windscreens. I opted for tinting films from 3M and not the commonly used "V-Kool". I was there throughout to learn and see how they do tinting. Took about 2.5hours. Cost me RM1,000 (apparently a special price from RM1,400).


#3 While I was there tinting my glass, I also took the opportunity to change the car's horn to something like my BMW's. Its an "air horn", a typical BMW car horn. Otherwise, the Swift comes standard with the normal "beep" horn. Cost me RM65, inclusive of installation.

#4 Went over to Mid-Valley to deliver a DVD to a client who's event we shot last Sat (when I was still at Damai Laut, Lumut for another event). Witnessed how rich people spend and throw money...just like that. I think he spent some RM700 on things that I would probably spend not more than a hundred for.

#5 Got home last nite, fell into high fever. My themometer measures me at 37.8C (that's like 101.5F). I was alreay not feeling too well on Friday nite but the excitement of getting my new car over-powered the pain. Tried my best not to think it but by Saturday afternoon...slowly dying liao. By night time...high fever!

#6 Was in Damai Laut, Lumut lat weekend for an event. Had a great few days there, perhaps even the best. Got this nice pic with this Sarawak native. Borrowed his guitar and headpiece and took this pic. haha...

#7 Twisted my left wrist quite badly and it has been like 3 days already but healing is very slow. It is still in pain, applied Chinese medicine "tit tar chau" and constantly wrapped up. Can't lift up even a glass of water wth my left hand. Sigh...

The King @ Sepang

Last Saturday, two of our Babyboss photographers were assigned to the Sepang International Circuit to cover the "Supercars Charity Event". It was a mega gathering of the country's top sports cars and luxury cars. The Porche 911 Carrera was probably the cheapest car there, retailing at around RM850,000 while the rest are exotic Lamborghini and Aston Martins...all retailing around the region of RM1.5-2.5million a piece!

Here are some interesting images from the event...

The Yang Di-Pertuan Agong of Malaysia...arriving in style in his Rolls-Royce

The King...being greeted by the VIPs upon his arrival at Sepang Circuit

Don't know who this handsome young man is? He is the King of Malaysia!

The King getting ready for his ride in the RM2,000,000 Lamborghini

As the car leaves the pit, press photographers firing all the way

There you have it...the tail of the Lambor hitting towards the race track.

Lamborghini's doors don't open sideways...they fly upwards!

For some reason, I find this mock check presentation quite a joke. The cheapest car in the pit costs some RM800,000 and the most expensive piece being around over RM2,000,000.

So, what's with the RM10,000 contribution from Selangor Turf Club?

Here is another funny one...10grand from Rotary Club...a prestigeous club with numerous multi-millionaires. Any of the 3 guys there, except for the King, can easily write a personal check of RM100,000! What's with the 10k??? LOL

Aha...my personal favourite...the Aston Martin DB9...around RM2,000,000 too! Driven by Berjaya Group boss, Tan Sri Vincent Tan's son...Robin Tan.