Borneo Dwen's Random Musings

NBLFC's best moments captured on camera..as Red Devils were dealt a 2-0 defeat by Liverpool

2009-10-28T13:33:00.000-07:00

North Borneo Liverpool Fan Club (NBLFC) organised a supporters/fan outing at Eclipse cafe to witness the epic Liverpool vs Manchester United battle last Saturday play out on the big projector screen with serious speakers/sound systems. NBLFC president Danny sponsored a 2L bottle of JW Black Label specially for the event and there was beer as well-Carlsberg of course..lol.
The pub served up pipping hot fried chicken wings and fries to go with the drinks..perfect for a footie match for hungry supporters
Being appointed the club photographer for the event, I pretty much positioned myself in a good spot and was lucky to succesfully capture the die hard supporter's interesting antics and the memorable key moments on camera..
Half the time i was using my 50mm f1.8 and 10-20mm f4-5.6 sans flash (hence the blurs when someone moves to much as the camera is shooting in a pretty low light environment)..to avoid using too much flash as I doubt they'd appreciate me going paparazzi on em and blinding em during a key moment..lol
All in all it was a fun shoot for me and a really great night for the members as u can see. I hope to be able to do more match outings for them in the future..it seems I will never be shooting alone either then. Lol

JCI Malaysia ANC in Ipoh Perak

2009-10-22T10:25:00.000-07:00

Ipoh, Perak in West Malaysia...dang, its been some years since I was last there..of course it was during my days in Sunway College..oh.. lets see now 1992-3? How much has changed or not changed at all in that place..it more or less looks like the same as i left it ..does anything change there at all development wise?-hmm maybe only the state govt ..haha.. anyway I digress..

Ok this time round I was sent over as part of the Penampang JCs (short for Junior Chamber) contingent from Sabah to the JCI Malaysia Annual National Congress which happens to ta da da da in West Msia this year..yap..its Ipoh's turn to host..

So you may ask, whats there to do in Ipoh if ur only got 3 packed& busy days? Umm..IMHO nothing really..
Yes thats right..not much..unless you have ready transport to bring you around this spread out surburban city with scarce skyscrapers and limited shopping centres/malls eg Tesco very far from the town...so shopping like KL? nope..not a chance.

Food haven?..umm yes,supposedly Ipoh is supposedly well known for its tasty dishes..
but generally the fewd I got to taste wasn't as good as I'd hoped (err ok lar except for the dim sum) but in consolation at least it was still better than KL food which was as usual a big joke and Ipoh fewd prices was stil pretty cheap.

and letsee what else ..umm...buy Kampar chicken biscuits?..(sadly didnt have a chance to bring back some- no time to run around and taxis are pretty difficult to get over there, and the shops close pretty early..cant find it in Ipoh Parade even!@_@..what lar?!...bummer.

Anyway as mentioned ealier the all u can eat dim-sum lunch was the most memorable to me where we whacked the dimsums till we were royally stuffed..blissss-I think the bill came to Rm 170++ for our table only...hehe ) but it was a shame the final dinner night ball menu was horribly horribly CHEAP for a grand ball event. Macam kantin food..1 serving of multiple small portions..what an utter disapointment.. Ugghhh! Horrors..

Anyway on another vein...it wasnt all fun and games for me, it seems that I was the ( unofficially appointed ) photographer/ videographer/chronicler for the chapter ..(must be on account of my DSLR... doh)
Why do I say that? Well guess who do they look for everytime when its picture taking time..haha...of course lucky for me there's my good friend aka ' stalwart assistant' Ely with his bridge camera there as well to take over my position while i take 5 and raid the tasty fewd and coffee outside..lol

So long story short, we arrived late on the first day, missing the opening night Tambun Lost World theme park welcoming party event ( yes, we were booked on a 'cheaper' flight late afternoon to KL LCCT via airasia to save costs but the coach traveling time from KL to Ipoh was umm..3+ hours..from a fixed starting schedule of 6pm. so confirm that event cant make it...oh well..
So since the Tambun event is cleary a total loss, (and it rained as well by the time we got there) we dourly headed straight for the Hotel Impiana where the ANC was to be held over the next 3 days. ooo..hotel 24hr aircond and buffet meals...yea luv it..rolling rolling on cold new linen sheets and sleeping like a piggy until its time to get up..best oo.

On the last night we organised our customary ANC room party and it was a fun event. The Penampang, Intan & KK JCI chapters whipped up a great party event and the room table was turned into a makeshift bar and on it were piled bottles of Gentleman JAck, Absolut/JD/Dewars/CaminoTequila, Black Label and when room service came with tasty chicken wings and fries..it was one word....sweeett!
Everyone had a great time drinkng/eating and chit chating, and slowly we got more and more people coming over from the other chapters and soon the whole room was packed until it spilled outside-the smokers being outside of course.

I heard there were other small closed room parties going on with the other chapters but it seems they got couldnt really hold their liquor and were wasted early and that was the end of that..wat larrr..sheesh..oh well too bad..hahahaha..our was the biggest and the best lasting into the wee morning hours. Unfortunately our bus pickup and ride back to LCCT was at 3.30am so we couldnt stay until the end..oh well.
Oh in case ur wondering about pictures of the people signing in ..we even made up a party attendance form jus for fun (yes 45+ people in that small room) where everyone had to sign in before proceeding.... you cannot passss!! says Rachel-dalf & Rina-dalf the gatekeeper...gota sign in first pls then u can..p.s.ignore si Brian tu sebelah Rina, menyibuk ja wana be Brian-dalf hassle Takeshi..haha

Johnnydick & Manmeet's Wedding in Kuala Penyu.

2009-10-20T10:24:00.000-07:00

Here is a selection of some of the wedding photos from Johnnydick & Manmeet's wedding shot on the 26 Sept in Kuala Penyu (Turtle Bay), Sabah at the local Catholic church with the brides reception on the same day at her residence and the groom reception the week after (3rd October) at his dad's residence.

Its one of my first outstation assignments so it was a pretty interesting one for me at least.
The groom is my cousin's brother in law and I was hired to shoot for the grooms side. There was another photographer that the bride's side hired from Penampang for their side and to top it all up it was a double wedding in the church with another couple also being married at the same time as well.
Suffice to say there was more than your average number of camera-men & video-men running around that church that day..

Anyway one interesting element of the Kadazan Dusun Kuala Penyu style of wedding is the custom of the bride/groom offering relatives & guests a drink of local rice spirits (similar to the Chinese tea ceremony) at some point during the reception. This is where the bride and groom sit in circle with and MC and trade toasts with their parents relatives and guests.

My very own little vine yard..Growing grapes in Borneo

2009-09-19T15:14:00.000-07:00

I always wondered last time wheter you can grow grapes in Sabah and how nice it would be to have your very own grape farm..lol..well yes you can..

Grapes vines easily thrive in our Malaysian climate..and they're also being grown in West Malaysia on a large scale.

So my mom planted a few vines cuttings we rescued from an aunts townhouse in town being cleared up and in a few months they started to grow into this wonderful shady leafy roof in one corner of our garden next to the car porch..soon they started bearing small white flowers on stems which developed into grapes as u can see in picture.

Each of these grapes are bundled in a net stocking to prevent bird attacks on them as when they mature and turn ruby red, the pesky birds will try to feast on them.

They can taste sourish if you eat them before they fully ripen but if you let them mature until they are dark red..they taste can as sweet as the store bought ones.

In the end, I guess the novelty of the idea of just being able to wander under the leafy shade in your garden and just pluck your own grown grapes hanging straight down from the vine is fun and a pretty satisfying thought..lol

Dwen makes the famous Bubur Lambuk Mesjid Kg Baru KL

2009-09-18T12:25:00.000-07:00

Seeing as Puasa month is almost over, in keeping with the flava of the month, I decided oh well time to make Bubur Lambuk yesterday but wait a minit.. ahh its not any ole bubur lambuk..its tha famous original recipe Bubur Mesjid Kg Baru KL one.

What is that u ask? Well this bubur (rice porrige) is a porrige with beef that has been made traditionally at the Kg Baru mosque in KL since the 1950s(?) every puasa time to be handed out to the public for them to break fast. However its not only those Malays who can partake of it but also all the other races are also welcomed to try.. so u can see Chinese and Indians also queing up for a plastic bag the free delicious bubur. But knowing Malaysians the word free is probably good enuff.. haha
BTW There are also many other types of bubur lambuk recipes with some like in Kelantan or Trengganu IIRC using fish instead of beef..
So I made it and it was not bad... delicious..well my mom and cousin commented it was..my bro just nyom nyom makan only..lol
I brought some to Dinoza's big birthday party yesterday,but since there was so many food on the table, and we were using paper plates, only Edgar tasted it in the the end..the rest only realised it the next day..in the CSP forums.
Don worry folks maybe I'll make again next time..

Having fun at Eclipse- Liverpool fan club gathering.

2009-08-28T05:36:00.000-07:00

Yep photos of that great time at Eclipse ..

This are some of my photos from the official Sabah Liverpool football club fan club gathering..
yep we had great time that night even if it was storm and the rain poured buckets outside, out came a bottle ..or three.. hehe..

We cracked open a bottle of Jacks, Chivas and a Tequila and special guest stars present include up and coming local KDM singer Connie Micheal Jangki..
Other highlights include some cool coyote ugly routines by the band girls on the bar counter.

Yep the place was rocking.. as they say with this group that night 'you'll never dance alone'..Ting!..TM!! Lol

A Fun Island shoot with local KDM singer Connie Michael Jangki

2009-08-27T08:44:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures of my Pulau 3-Island "holiday" off Kuala Penyu (KP) with local artist Connie and her crew shooting her latest upcoming music video album..I became de documentary camera man lar.. :)

On da 1st day morning we drove all the way to KP, took us about 2 1/2 hrs..then arrive in KP sampat lagi go shopping at the market n shops for supplies while the speedboats got ready to ferry us over.. on arrival at the island after about a 15min? trip, we unpacked our gear had lunch and after dat then zzzzz like phytons in the rooms, while I went to meet up with my old island resort colleagues...then towards 3-ish the weather started to become quite windy already when we wanted to start shooting..

So anyway to cut it short on the 1st day we managed to shoot the video at the parks jetty and later on during dinner time we shot at the clubhouse, obviously delighting the tourists there-they even took pictures with our group, then one err dutch tourist guy even did his own dance routine ikut2 (facepalm)...then off we went to the beach for the night campfire shot with a roaring bonfire after dinner..

Out came the syrup,the bottle of rum, limes/lemons and Coke and it was a surreal but memorable experience having rum-cokes and daiquries by the beach with a roaring fire, gale strong winds and eating bbq'ed chicken wings and shooting pics .. while trying to prevent the plastic cups from flying off the table thanks to the strong winds lashing the island..didnt dare do much shooting with my camera ,scared just in case got nasty flying sand..errgh.

I even brought my fishing gear hoping to fish for squid off the docks but waves and wind was too strong..drat..wasted oppourtunity.. Never mind I still have me rum..arr me mateys..yohoho and me bottle of rum :P

Anyway next day it was calm day and we shot some scenes on the seaside with hammocks not far from our rooms under the coconut trees..then the rest went off to the mud volcano for a mud bath like buffalos..lol while I squared off with my old nemesis the todaks (long toms) at the jetty with my rod and trusty sabiki set for bait gathering..sadly they were crafty as always or maybe I got my gear setup wrong..grr I'll get u next time with my..at least i got loads of baitfish for my notty puddy tats at home..lol.

Then after a late check out, had lunch for those not fasting and back on the boat to KP..then after lining up for the ferry, we had a lil miscommunication on the next shoot location and ended up doing a crazy high speedrun (the Stig and Mike Schumacher would have been proud) all the way to Beaufort before it became dark where we shot a bit more of Connie singing and leading the gang wandering around in the Beaufort's vege n fruits market to the amusement of the market vendors..
and after dat since it was close to breaking of the fast time, we joined those of our crew of the moslemic faith who fasted at the local pasar makan (food bazaar) for 'sungkai'-time (breakin of the fast)...then our tummies filled with fewd, we again turbo drove all the back to KK ..lol... phew..tiring but so much Fun!

Nikon D90- my new Main body

2009-08-16T11:51:00.000-07:00

My new D90..ok ok so this one I got 2 months ago..but I didnt feel it was fair that I introduced my D40 while not doing the same for my D90..so there..lol..its as good (same CMOS sensor) as a D300 with better features also for much less.It has far better image quality than the older proffesional D2x camera which cost many thousands more in the years before.. It is far far better than the Gen 1 D200..It has Nikons Adaptive Dynamic Range technology which renders most scenes closer to the way our eyes preceive them. As a Gen 2 camera it also auto corrects for colour fringes. Its also lighter which is great if u travel alot..
Yep, love the movie option too..can grab short movie clips..hehe..but as with everything the lens is the one that makes the picture..so yeah I'm buying lenses that cost as much or more than the D90 body..koff2 pokai..but considering these lenses can last(with proper care probably 10-20 years) they make a pretty good investment..

JCI Penampang Sabah Environmental Recognition Nite- 25 July 2009

2009-08-16T10:59:00.000-07:00

This is the Sabah Environmental Recognition Nite dinner function pics on 25 July 2009 at Sutera Harbour resort in KK that JCI Penampang members were invited to attend.
Our project; the Moyog river cleanliness campaign was one of the various environmental themed projects nominated that day and we were one of the finalists. They had some guitarists from KL playing the guitars and singing and a school dance and light performance with an environmental theme.
To cut things short, in the end we get to didnt win the special best environmental project award (that went to some Ranau? folks and their kampong homemade hydro electric power plant) but instead we won "The most outstanding environmental friendly NGO organisation award". woo woo..
After which we then proceeded to Rawk pub in Penampang (band nite Sat)to celebrate our win with a bottle or 2 of Johnny's..yay!..prost,slainte,cheers..

JCI Sabah Area Convention 09-Palace Hotel Karamunsing

2009-08-16T05:57:00.000-07:00

Just some of my pictures from the JCI Area Sabah Convention 2009 hosted by JCI Tg Aru at Palace Hotel Karamunsing ..err I think was on 19-21 June IIRC..put up here for my JCI friends benefit. Lets see whose the Penampang JCs who went.. Pan(& Clare), Me,Eli,Tiko,Bridget,Father,Emma,Martin,Winnie..err did i miss anybody

Kursus Kontraktor Jalan Raya KPSKTM 10-14/08

2009-08-16T01:49:00.000-07:00

Last week I was busy attending the KPSKTM road works contractor course at Wisma Bandaraya lasting for 5 days from 10-14 August. I booked my place more than 3 months earlier..

Althought I was told the maximum targeted no. was 40 people, in then end such was the demand to join the course, that up to 60+ people were registered for the course..Encik AhMing one of the KPSKTM managers explained that they pitied some of these people who came from outstation to attend the course, so they try to stuff as many as they can...

Initially one the first day there was a sort of H1N1 scare with some people coughing (flu? Haze?)..so our lecturer En. Norazman of Iman Consultants explained that it be wiser for us to mask up for everybody's sake(but as usual many didnt really took it seriously)..anyway with 60+ people, I guess u can say it was a pretty high risk area..so i took upon myself to mask up..but after the 1st day seeing as ther was nobody around my immediate seating area who was actually coughing their lungs out, by the 3rd day I kinda relaxed my bio-hazard safeguard standards and generally didnt mask up unless i went to the toilets..you know enclosed moist area...just in case..lol

Anyway I found it an interesting and err..stimulating course with most of participants being generally mostly women..hmm ..and the participants of varying ages -even from the looks of it some retired people..and there were of course some fair amount of calculations involved and practical class and group excercises as well.
I of course took the event as an good oppourtunity to snap away and polish my events photography skills especially candid and the official group sessions.
In the end I'm pretty sure now given the knowledge I have now and if provided the right equipment and materials, I could probably construct/lay my own highway now to Malaysian Public Works Dept (PWD) standards..lol
Now for building construction and bridges..woo woo

Calum's Church Wedding Photos

2009-07-17T03:54:00.000-07:00

Here are some of the pics I did from Calum Mogindol's Church Wedding at Mary Immaculate Church at Bukit Padang. His mom is related to mine so you could say it was sort of a relatives wedding shoot..Shot as a second shooter with my Nikon D40/D90 gear.
I just love to shoot church weddings especially when in 'fly on the wall mode'..while the wedding photographer was mainly shooting formals I had the opportunity to do more candids.
It also helps add up to my wedding shoot experience and portfolio.^-^

A Kadazan wedding at KDCA

2009-06-08T04:53:00.001-07:00

Wooah been some time since the last update..been busy of sorts lately..
Anyway I'd try to update this blog 1-2 times a week at least to keep it fresh..ok on to this weeks story..

I attended a wedding reception( Brian & Adrina) yesterday with my family at KDCA it was a usual Kadazan Penampang style wedding with all the stage singing and band, sumazau & traditional dances plus lotsa food and drinks except this one had a little something extra..

well seeing as harvest fest just only was over..the bride and groom were wearing traditional Kadazan costume along with quite a number of the entourage as well and later on the highlight of the event was the traditional marriage ceremony- where the bride and groom fed each other rice and lihing chicken soup(I think) and pour rice wine for their respective parents/in laws kinda like the Chinese tea ceremony.

Then came the cake cutting and the usual yam-seng toasts.
For me it was a clicky opportunity with my camera..getting to know the dewan conditions etc bla bla..
Well I'll guess I'll shut up now and let the pics do the talking then..

Wedding at KDCA

2009-06-07T23:55:00.000-07:00

My new budget DSLR Kit- Nikon D40

2009-05-16T00:08:00.000-07:00

I recently got myself an entry model DSLR-A Nikon D40 kit comprising a D40 bundled with a 18-55mm f3.5-5.6G EDII lens for RM1500 in K.K. Sabah after checking out the recommendations on Ken Rockwell's site. I know-some people feel he's a Nikon biased idiot..you either love him or hate him. But I find his advice is good even if his views doesn't suit everyone.

After fiddling around with it,I do agree with his contention that the kit lens is a great starter lens -being able to take sharp photos in good light during the day or well lit indoor settings. Its a good general purpose budget lens that does what its suppose to do-take sharp pictures on a budget. It can focus pretty close too and can do double duty as a sort of macro lens for taking close high detail pictures of objects.

The high plastic construction content may leave some people fretting but for the weight (its light), price and picture quality I love it.

However low light evening snaps tended to be another different story i.e. the kit 18-55mm may end up not being not fast enough to deliver..so after more research..I ended up buying the Nikkor 50mm f/1.8 prime lens which was at Rm39o I consider a bang for ur buck lens.

Although it couldnt autofocus(AF) on the Nikkon D40 til D60 range of cameras (manual focus only) due to lack of a built in lens motor, The 50mm f/1.8 was great little 'budget' priced lens that was fast enough for me to take pretty impressive indoor and low light pics without a flash. Its a great lens for taking portraits as well giving you a reasonably nice bluring (Bokeh) effect in the background.
However once I get my D90 body, it should be happily AF-ing along in the low light sans flash.
Now all I need is a speedflash (Nissin?),and a few telephoto zoom lens.
My chapter is also using one.

Blog from the past-Dwenchan's Modern Life

2009-05-11T07:50:00.000-07:00

Yep just as the title says peeps.

This blog actually existed since 2005 (it was named 'Dwenchan's Modern Life' then for lack of a better name idea-Rocko just happened to be on TV then) when I first tried to set one up for fun made one comment, saved it and totally forgot all about it.

In all honesty I didnt really have much to say at the time..this blogging thingy was all new to me then.

So anyway, last night when I sat down to really set up a blog-by coincidence my brother suggested this site and I found I couldn't register using my email..the system didnt allow me to use my Gmail Dwenchan account cos someone seemed to have registered already a similar email under hotmail..waitaminit..now thats f@rkin strange..plus the title "Dwenchans Modern Life" seemed strangely familiar..wow I was thinking who is this other guy named Dwenchan using my email..so to cut a long story short after mucking about with passwords and stuff..

It was me after all..Damnnn..and presto..Its alive again..after umm more or less 4 years in limbo.