Fish Spa

I have heard a lot about this "fish spa" thingy but never really gotten around to actually try it nor understand the purpose of it. But today...I went in for one! I was out in KL and decided to drop by this Morino Kaze Aromatherapy centre at Picolo (the mall between Lot10 and KL Plaza) to try out the fish spa.

For RM28, you get to "feed" the fish with your bare feet for 30 minutes. What do I mean "feed the fish"? Basically you dip both your feet into the fish pool and let the fish come nibble at your feet. Initially, it was damn (and I mean really really) itchy having some 20-30 fishes nibbling at your feet at one time! But after while, I managed to get things "under control". It was fun!!!

Basically, the fish eat or feed on dead skin on your feet!!!

And lunch at Pavilion's "Food Republic" was awesome. I had this curry noodle that was so out of this world...truly awesome! Highly recommended. It is sold at the "chicken rice" stall.

See what I mean?

Heavy Trailer

Danger is inevitable especially when driving on the road. Sometimes its not about you being a reckless driver but its about other people driving carelessly. Its not about you banging onto someone but rather someone banging onto you. You can be as careful as you want to be but a reckless driver may still come smashing onto your car!

Here is an incident that happened in Thailand. A heavy container trailer loosing its balance while making its left turn at a junction! Another example of "who is in control of life".

Just A Thought

I like walking in the rain,

Cause no one knows I am crying,

I like smiling in my pain,

Cause no one knows I am dying.

Everything Happens For A Reason

For many of us, life seem to be so filled with challenges and uphill tasks that never seem to extinguish. Often, we complain of such hurdles in life and always seeking an easier way to life. Because we never really knew what is ahead of us, we tend to be smart and act worldly and unwisely. We regret over some of our actions. Little do we know that everything happens for a reason.

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But God knows what He is doing. Will you listen to His voice?

Putrajaya

Putrajaya has never been a place that I have to pop into until last Sunday where I had to be there for an Elken event. I brought a team of cheerleaders for the event's opening act.

Originally, I kinda freaked out when I learnt that I had to be there at Putrajaya. I frantically search the internet for route maps to the venue, known locally as Kompleks Perbadanan Putrajaya. All the maps only show the vicinity of Putrajaya and not roads leading in from KL. But the road signs were very comprehensive and detailed. I managed to find the place with ease.

Here are some pictures I managed to capture during free hours with my Sony Ericsson K810i handhone.

Istana Kehakiman (Palace Of Justice)

Kompleks Perbadanan Putrajaya

The auditorium

The boulevard

The inside of the auditorium

Cheerleaders from Star Jump Rebels

Lee Chong Wei

A glance at today's newspapers reveals that our country's badminton ace, Lee Chong Wei, was awarded a Datukship under the Darjah Setia Pangkuan Negeri (DSPN). This is because he did the country proud by bringing home Malaysia's first win, a silver medal from the men's badminton singles. Along with his new title, he was also awarded a prize money of RM300,000 and also a "pension" fund of RM3,000 every month, with immediate effect, for a lifetime! Not bad.

Somehow, I also play the badminton actively but never got close to any such opportunities. Maybe I should start playing twice and maybe even three times a week and improve my skills. I am sure by 40, I can be as good as Lee Chong Wei and receive my prize money too!

Yesh...!

I finally bought my Crumpler "7 Million Dollar Home" camera bag! I took a stroll at KLCC this evening and thought of just dropping in at KLCC's Crumpler boutique to try my luck since that bag has been out of stock for some time now. I walked in rather aimlessly and asked the girl if they have in-stock for the 7 Million Dollar Home camera bag. And to my astonishment she replied me with a "yes" and showed me to the bag.

And so, I bought it straight away lor! RM379.00. Keke... But now I have to find ways to pay the credit card bill. All contributions are welcome.

Crumpler 7 Million Dollar Home

I used to have a Lowepro Street & Field Reporter camera bag about a year odd ago until I sold it to a friend. I have always wanted a bag that was huge enough to carry all my stuffs and still have decent space for acessories (batteries, chargers, card readers, etc) and a 15.4" laptop. I got one, I bought a Lowepro Computrekker AW Pro which is a huge backpack bag. It was a great bag and it still is. This bag served me very well especially on major shoots where I bring along literally all my gears.

But sometimes when I am on a short and simple assignment where I only need my D2x body with a 17-55, the 80-200 lens and a flash, my Computrekker Pro becomes too much a hassle to carry along and sometimes even becoming an inconvenience.

So, I am now looking for a smaller shoulder bag that can nicely fit in my smaller setup. And I found the 7 Million Dollar bag from Crumpler a really nice one. Not too big yet large enough to fit my pro gears! This bag retails at around RM385. Again, all contributions are welcome!

Wall.E

"Wall.E" is one of the many boring movies I have watched so far. I expected much much more from Disney-Pixar this time. There isn't much of a story line, I feel. The whole thing is just so "artificial" though the movie does bring a laughter every now and then. Fortunately, the movie was a free ticket that BabyKJ got from Adverlets. Otherwise, we would have wasted our RM9 each! I think she fell asleep halfway into the movie! Nevertheless, thanks for the invite.

Nikon AF-S VR 70-200mm f/2.8G IF-ED

I think its time to change my aged Nikon AF 80-200 f2.8 D IF-ED lens. This lens has been with me for some 13 years (bought in 1995) and it is now frequently showing signs of failure and malfunction. I bought the lens back then at around RM2,400 (lens were still cheap back in the 90s) and the current trade-in value for this lens is around RM2,000. Not bad.

Unfortunately, the replacement model, the Nikon AF-S VR 70-200 f2.8 G IF-ED now retails at around RM5, 900 for a new unit. Still no secondhand used units available yet. Its a really damn good lens. Which means, if I trade-in my old unit and buy a new one, I will have to top up almost RM4,000!!! And that is a lot of money to throw in!!!

So, I gotto find ways to raise the additional RM4,000. Anyone owing me money? Please pay up now. Anyone still wanting to give me a birthday present but still not decided what to get...gimme cash! Lastly, anyone wants to do some charity...now is a good time. I need RM4,000!!! Anyone...anyone??? Pleeeeeeease....

Quickies

CONVOCATION

The only "convocation" I've ever had in my entire life was when I graduated from kindergarten at 6 years old. It was a proud moment for my parents. Sadly, all I remembered was the concert and we were made to do "tarian lilin"!!! WTF!!!!

Last Saturday was the graduation convocation for BabyKJ of Universiti Malaya, PJ and Babyboss photograher Brian Lee of MMU, Cyberjaya. I attended BabyKJ's convo since it was nearer and also I was invited to. Waited. Took lots of pics. She bought lunch together with a few other friends. I realised that most of her pics...can see only the head...the neck downwards all covered by bouquets of flowers that she received.

ERV

I was shooting TVB8's Junior Idol event at Sunway Pyramid on Sunday and was pleasantly surprised to see "erv" my regular blog reader there at the event venue. I finally get to know who "erv" is! Thanks for dropping by!

BAH KUT TEH DINNER

And so, after the shoot, I received an sms asking me to go dinner. I thought why not, since I am free. So, I replied the sms and agreed to meet at 7pm. Only to find out later that I have to drive all the way further down to Klang since she was in Jusco Klang. I guess its still ok since I am free. I texted her when I arrived at the designated restaurant and she said will reach in 10 mins. A few moments later, another msg came in...she said she needs to get something done first. Then she left the Jusco and to cut the long story short...she got lost in Klang.

A check at the clock shows 7:45pm. I turned off my car engine after 45mins of idle running, which also now means that I have no aircond. By 8:30pm, the heat starts to itch in. I opened the car door...the neighbouring drain stinks like hell and mosquitos starts to come in uninvitedly. Another check at the clock shows 9pm.

Apparently, she got lost in Klang over and over again. To cut the long story really short, she finally turn up at 9:45pm. That's almost 3hours of waiting for a Bah Kut Teh dinner! And the dinner sensation was only some 15 odd minutes because the shop was closing!!!

Frugality

There are many books that popularize the idea of frugality and living below your means. Many so-called money experts write, speak and broadcast on radio and TV the virtues of cutting up your credit cards, saving money, driving a used car, living in a smaller house, shopping at sales, eating at home, taking cheaper vacations and other such tips.

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While these are excellent ideas for most people, and while there is a time and place for frugality, most people do not like these ideas. The truth for most people is that they love to enjoy the finer things in life that money can buy. For most people, a big home, a new car, fun toys and expensive vacations are much more fun and desirable than putting money away in a bank. Most of us tend to agree with the wise sages professing frugality and economic abstinence. Yet, deep down, many of us would rather have a platinum credit card without a spending limit...that is paid by your rich uncle who has more money than all the Arab sheiks, private Swiss banks and Bill Gates combined.

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While most of us enjoy the wonderful things money can buy, we realised that it is unbridled desire for the fun, fine and fancy things in life that gets many of us into financial trouble. And it is the financial trouble that these desires spawn that causes the money gurus to say, "Cut up your credit cards. Live below your means. Buy used cars".

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But how many of us can really be so disciplined? Hmm...something to think about.

Life...

After reading and writing the previous blog on the horrific accident near my house, I was put to wonder exactly who controls life. Yes, we can do what we can do while we can still do. But like that accident, when control is no longer in our hands, who has the final say? I strongly believe that there is always an Almighty power "up there" who is in control.

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I was just reading some photo journalism sites when I came across this very mind-disturbing picture taken during the Sudan famine in 1994, depicting a famine stricken child (a girl) who stopped to rest while crawling in struggle towards the United Nations food camp located about a mile away. The vulture is waiting for the child to die so that it can eat her.

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This picture won the "Pulitzer Prize" award. No one knows what happened to the child, including the photographer Kevin Carter (1960-1994) of Reuters who left the place as soon as the photograph was taken. Three months later, he committed suicide due to depression.

Cheating Death

We always read about road accidents and people getting killed in them but the accident that happened last Friday morning "woke me up". The accident venue was in Taman Connaught, Cheras, at the tail end of the Cheras-Kajang Highway. In fact, it was just a 30 seconds drive away from my church and maybe 3 minutes drive from my house. The 9:30am accident involving a 10-tonne lorry carrying huge boulders, a motorcycle, three cars, a van and an MPV, claimed two lives, the lorry driver himself and the motorcyclist.

Apparently, the lorry, coming from the opposite side of the highway, lost control of his vehicle and smashed onto the steel dividers and went head-on with seven other vehicles from the opposite side of the highway! From the picture you can see that the involved vehicles were badly damaged. Infact, the van was seen to be smashed, crushed and "flatten" onto the wall of the CMC Complex (Giant) where my church is housed.

2 died and 5 others critically injured. They were rushed to the nearby Hospital University Kebangsaan Malaysia (HUKM).

This incident makes me wonder about life itself. Who owns life? Who controls life? I use that road almost everyday and it could have happened to me. What could I have done to avoid the accident if it was really fated for me. Or could I have driven so skillfully, make my turns, left and right and avoided it like those you see in movies? I mean, it could happen to me on another time at another road. Life is so unpredictable. I suddenly feel to insecure.

I guess the only way to live is to surrender life to God Himself.