Current Status: Still Job-Hunting

3 months have passed and here I am still waiting for my big break. Convocation's coming up and if I don't see any progress coming my way I don't see any point in graduating. I never expected it's gonna be this tough. Well, I just hope I see that light at the end of the tunnel pretty soon coz I am already losing steam here.

Textile Funhouse

N97, A Dream Device

Just Had Her Claws Done

Proboscis Monkeys? I've got cats willing to pose for me at the comfort of my own home.

Missing KL

The Tragedy of Macbeth

The tale of the Macbeths takes place in Scotland around 1040 AD during the reign of King Duncan, a time of violence, assassinations, and witches. The play was first performed in 1603 to honor James VI of Scotland, who had just become England’s James I. The play opens when three witches, also known as the Weird sisters, tell Macbeth and Banquo, two military heroes, that Macbeth, the thane of Glamis, will also become the thane of Cawdor and will be king, while Banquo will not be king, but his children will be.

Meanwhile, a military captain reports to King Duncan that Macbeth and Banquo had been magnificent in battle, but that the thane of Cawdor had been disloyal. The king has the thane of Cawdor executed and transfers his title to Macbeth, placing him in line to be king. When Macbeth and Banquo learn that Macbeth has been named thane of Cawdor, they come to believe the witches’ prophesies. Separately, King Duncan names his older son, Malcolm, the Prince of Cumberland, heir to the Scottish throne. In a letter to his wife, Macbeth tells her of the witches’ prophesies, but planting a seed in her mind also lets her know that though he is now the thane of Cawdor he wonders how he is ever going to be king, Malcolm now having the inside track.

King Duncan travels to Inverness Castle for an overnight stay with the Macbeths. He is joined by his sons, by Banquo, by the Scottish nobleman Macduff and others. Ruthlessly ambitious for her husband, Lady Macbeth convinces her husband that if he is ever to be king he must use this moment to murder King Duncan. So, the plan is set. Lady Macbeth spends the evening with the king’s guards, telling stories and making sure they have plenty of wine. The guards fall asleep. Macbeth murders the king, but is so shaken by his actions that he returns to his wife with the bloody daggers in his hands, and says “I have done the deed. Didst thou not hear a noise?” He could not kill the guards, saying “They did wake each other” and “I could not say ‘Amen’ when they did say ‘God bless us.’” She says “Consider it not so deeply.”

Later, Macbeth greets Macduff; Macduff on his way to waken the king; Macbeth shows him to the king’s room. When Macduff returns, Macbeth slips away, Macduff crying “Murder and Treason!” Macbeth then kills the guards, leaving the bloody daggers on their pillows as evidence against them. Macbeth soon returns, telling Macduff and others that “I did kill them,” saying he did so after seeing Duncan “his silver skin laced with golden blood” and “there the murderers, their daggers unmannerly breeched with gore.” Suspicious of events and fearing for their safety, the late king’s sons Malcolm and Donalbain decide it’s in their best interest to flee, Malcolm to England, Donalbain to Ireland. But in the doing they both become suspects in the king’s murder. Separately, Macduff announces that Macbeth is to be crowned king at Scone, while he quietly plans to stay behind at his castle at Fife.

Meanwhile, Macbeth, now king, fears that Banquo knows too much; therefore represents a threat. Macbeth hires two murderers to kill him and his son, Fleance, during a roadside ambush. Banquo is murdered, but Fleance escapes, which worries the king, thinking of the witches’ prophecies. Meanwhile, Macbeth and his wife make plans for a state dinner; Macbeth continually preoccupied with fear. The banquet begins with all the nobles present, but soon the ghost of Banquo visits, but appears only to Macbeth. Macbeth shouts out at the ghost, seriously disrupting the dinner party. Lady Macbeth defends her husband, saying he just needs sleep.

Macbeth seeing the Ghost of Banquo.

The next morning Macbeth decides to revisit the witches. The witches’ apparitions (the witches’ masters) tell him he should “beware of Macduff,” but that he has nothing to fear from “any man of woman born” or until “Birnam Wood goes to Dunsinane.” Macbeth listens intently. Macbeth learns from Lennox, another Scottish nobleman, that Macduff has fled to England, leaving his wife and children unattended and vulnerable in Scotland. Murderers (hired by Macbeth) enter and kill Macduff’s family. Later, Macduff and Malcolm meet in England, but Malcolm is suspect of Macduff’s motives, fearing he is Macbeth’s agent, Macbeth having tried to trick him in the past. Malcolm puts Macduff to a loyalty test; Macduff passing the test with flying colors. The king of England has offered Malcolm access to ten thousand English forces with Siward as their commander, Siward being Malcolm’s uncle. Macduff learns that his wife and children have been murdered. Macduff, Malcolm, Siward and the English forces all agree to a joint effort to defeat Macbeth at Dunsinane Castle.

Meanwhile, at Dunsinane, Lady Macbeth takes to walking and talking in her sleep. She appears to those around her as having “lost” it. Macduff, Malcolm, Siward and the English forces assemble in Birnam Wood, outside Dunsinane. Macbeth is warned by a servant of an impending assault by the English forces, but Macbeth dismisses the warnings on the basis of the apparitions’ admonitions. The doctor warns Macbeth that Lady Macbeth is seriously ill. He tells the doctor to cure her. Later Macbeth learns that his wife has died. Sensing his own time is short, Macbeth gamely moves on.

Using tree branches from Birnam Wood as camouflage and shields, soldiers attack Macbeth’s castle at Dunsinane. Macbeth kills Siward’s son. Macbeth learns that Macduff’s mother died just before he was born. Macduff slays Macbeth. Macduff proclaims Malcolm the new king of Scotland.

Source: simplifiedshakespeare.com

Facebook Taking Over

Aside from the fever I'm currently having, and the temporary setback of my photobucket account, I've been neglecting this blog these past few days thanks to the ever-growing popularity of Facebook. With the new tweeter-like interface and an abundance of things I could virtually do, I guess I've spent too much time in Facebook I forgot how fresh air smells like.

More on Macbeth

I've got people asking me what was all the Macbeth play all about. Well first of all, it's not exactly the complete play of the tragedy written by Shakespeare, per se, but more of a comedic spin on the famous Macbeth play. Of course, one would need to be familiar with the tragic story of Macbeth in order to really enjoy this upcoming show organized and performed by the Brunei Amateurs Dramatic Society. Simply put, Macbeth is a medieval Scottish tale that ends sadly as a result of the ruthless ambition of an equally guilty husband and wife team.


Here's the synopsis of the upcoming play: A classic story about a group of ladies who attempt to stage Macbeth as their entry for a Drama Competition. The heavens conspire to ensure everything possible goes wrong, with series of mishaps occurring. But the valiant ladies struggle on regardless, though no one is quite good enough to save the day.

If you want a taste of how a live theatrical act feels like, this is your chance to witness a tremendously exciting play of a classic at D'Anggrek Hotel in April. At this moment, the production is still in its rehearsal stages. More details about the upcoming show soon, so do check back.

Images courtesy of Mr Syaf.

The Next Shirley Temple

Born on October 6, 2002 in Moldova, Cleopatra Stratan is the youngest person ever to score commercial success as a singer, with her 2006 album La vârsta de trei ani (At the age of 3). She holds the record for being the youngest artist that performed live for two hours in front of a large audience, the highest paid young artist, the youngest artist to receive an MTV award and the youngest artist to score a #1 hit in a country. She is the daughter of Moldovan-Romanian singer, Pavel Stratan.

Site Maintenance

Apologies for the current condition of this site. Don't worry, this is only temporary. My bandwidth usage will reset to zero after a few days and all my images are still safely intact. In the meantime, I will rely on my flickr to redirect images into my new entries until everything is reactivated. I guess its time for me to upgrade in order to enjoy the unlimited bandwidth offer. I need a credit card.

Macbeth, Coming Soon

From The Window Seat

The New iPod Shuffle

Apple on Wednesday introduced the next generation iPod Shuffle. Now it is nearly half the size of the previous model at 1.8 inches tall by 0.3 inches thin. This new model is the smallest portable music player, but being so small doesn't mean compromising memory capacity. Apple has bumped up this little gizmo up to 4GB!

The new iPod shuffle comes in silver or black and features a sleek and design with a built-in stainless steel clip. By removing the buttons Apple was able to make the shuffle smaller, without compromising on other features. All of the controls are located on the earphone cord, allow you to play, pause, adjust volume, switch playlists and, get this, 'hear' the name of the song and artist. That's right. This Shuffle actually talks! Not convinced? Check out this demo:


The new Shuffle is now the smallest music player in the world, but despite being smaller, it actually holds more songs. Its revolutionary features and control totally obsoletes the old models. This is your perfect companion for your weekly jogging and gym needs. Get this if you can't afford a Nano.

Countdown To Convocation '09

PD/BNF/02, graduated in 2006
It's already been set. My colleagues and I will graduate next month and the Convocation will be held in ICC on the 23rd of April. I'm so excited now, coz this is indeed the moment I've been waiting for after all these years. I still couldn't believe that its close to the end of our course already, and 2005 still feels like yesterday. To think that I wanted this to happen so fast back when we were still sitting in campus.

We've gone through many challenges, passed so many obstacles, and for 4 long years we've endured all that. We made friends, we formed assignment groups, we held gatherings and events, we went through the pain and hardship together, and we made it to the end together. We remained friends until today, and we will forever cherish the moments we've spent together in the Business School since Day 1. And now, its time for us to graduate and move on, as new challenges and opportunities awaits us in our doorsteps. As one journey ends, another begins.

In light of this upcoming event, I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who have given us all the support throughout the years of studying in The Business School for our National Diploma in Business & Finance. Our parents, instructors, friends, seniors, juniors, colleagues and of course, the Almighty. Our future has become a brighter one and we hope to take it further to the next level. See ya at the convo!

The 13th Biggest Shopping Mall In The World

Berjaya Times Square KL is a twin tower complex containing a shopping centre and two five star hotels located in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. It was opened in October 2003 by the then Prime Minister of Malaysia, YAB Datuk Seri Dr Mahathir bin Mohamad. It is tagged as the "world’s largest building ever built in a single phase", with 7.5 million square feet (700,000 m²) of built up floor area.

Berjaya Times Square offers shopping, luxury accommodation, business, food and entertainment. Currently, it has space for more than 1000 retail shops, 1200 luxury service suites, 65 food outlets to suit many tastes and entertainment attractions such as Asia’s largest indoor theme park, Cosmo's World and Malaysia’s first-ever IMAX 2D & 3D theatre which is located on the 10th Floor. Other popular stores include Metrojaya, which is a multi-level major department store, and many more.


The view of Berjaya Times Square from our hotel glass window


The Kuala Lumpur Monorail's Imbi station is linked to the building by a footbridge.






Currently, the Borders store in Berjaya Times Square is the largest in the world.










Cosmo's World, Asia’s largest indoor theme park

Interesting Facts

• Berjaya Times Square is the biggest building built in Kuala Lumpur as well as in the whole of Malaysia. It is currently the 8th tallest buildings (twin) in Kuala Lumpur and 9th tallest in Malaysia.
• Berjaya Times Square is currently the 5th building in the world with largest floor area (7.5 million square feet, or 700,000 square metres).
• Berjaya Times Square is the 13th biggest shopping mall in the world (3.5 million square feet, or 320,000 square metres).
• It is also the world's largest building ever built in just a single phase of construction.
• It is a mega-scale multi purpose complex consisting of shopping outlets, a cinema, an indoor theme park, a hotel, residences, offices, etc. It is located in the most famous area for tourists in Kuala Lumpur, an area known as the Golden Triangle.
• Berjaya Times Square was the first location that teams of The Amazing Race Asia 1 had to visit and complete a task of abseiling from the 8th floor of the mall.

Inspired By a True Story

This is just one of the latest local film projects created by the talented guys at Visual Dimensions Entertainment. They've made an excellent effort in creating a buzz in YouTube and the local scene. The moral of the story: live below your means. LOL

The Group Behind The February KL Trip

F#%#^%@ I'm NOT in this picture!!!
Time and time again, I always ended up not being in the group photos, well, for obvious reasons (duhh ~). Anyway, here's the group that I went to KL with last month; Khyrul, Dijah, Gboy, Fahmi, Buzz and Khyreen. It was a fun-filled trip. They've enjoyed the shopping and sightseeing, while I had my own fun with all the street photoshoots. Our last day in Sunway Lagoon was perhaps the most exciting one as we totally experienced our breakaway from all the years of studying and celebrate our upcoming graduation and career ahead of us. In fact, we wished the rest who couldn't join us were there to enjoy it.

Compacts Catching Up

Let's face it. At the end of the day, you would wanna end up carrying light. Sometimes even the smallest entry level SLRs won't cut it. You still need to strap it on your neck or shoulder to lug it around in between shoots. And putting them in the bags can be quite a hassle, especially if you've got a couple of lenses and other accessories to boot. But you'd never wanted to return to compact point-n-shoot cameras after spending all your hard-earned pay checks on those shiny black digital SLRs because you refuse to go backwards as you're literally used to the superb quality of those big guns of yours.

Technology is just getting better and better at a very fast pace its sometimes difficult for us to catch up. I won't be surprised when 12 megapixel sensors suddenly appear in mobile phones (Sony's currently developing one), and there are rumors speculating that a Polaroid digital camera that instantly prints your images like in the old-school Polaroid days are in the works. Over the course of time, new innovations are trying to meet the most critical demand from every product for the end-users; user-friendliness and convenience without compromising performance. Just like mobile phones and laptop computers, these new technologies could just kill the current cameras we're carrying now (which we think are sleek today). Your dSLR could be obsolete before you even know it.


Like SLRs, compact cameras are catching up with technology and introduced new and innovative features which actually appeals to the users. But for dSLR users like myself who are used to the superb quality captures and shooting in manual might be looking for the perfect companion to their toys, without compromising power, performance and the ability to expand. For the typical Canon and Nikon fans, don't be afraid to try out these high-end compacts, the Canon PowerShot G10 and the Nikon Coolpix P6000.


At first glance you'll notice that the two look pretty basic, but don't let their small size and simplistic form fool you. These two digital cameras have full manual controls that function just like how you operate on your digital SLRs and both pack the sensors which can deliver pro-quality shots as good as entry level SLRs. Plus with its small size and built (although slightly bigger than the standard digital point n shoots on the market), its lightweight and more convenient to carry around with you at any place or occasion. This is indeed the perfect camera you'd wanna get if you plan to carry light. The Nikon P6000 and Canon G10 boasts 13.5MP and 14.7MP resolution respectively, with a bearable ISO sensitivity up to 6400, and both have the ability to shoot in RAW if one desire to go even more creative in the digital darkroom.


Image shot with the Canon G10. The colors are superb.
Also, both cameras sport hot shoes to fit in external flash units, so you can mount your available speedlights (Nikon) and speedlites (Canon) into them and bounce light just as you used to with your digital SLRs. Both lenses built-in are of superb quality made specially from their respective manufacturers, the same ones you'd get out of the lenses for your SLRs, so there's nothing much to worry about image quality. Other worthy features include optical viewfinders if you're used to framing your shots through those things as well as internal image stabilizers.

Image shot with the Nikon P6000 (with bounce flash). Click to enlarge for better details if you're unconvinced.

Of course, the major downside is that the Nikon P6000 and the Canon G10 are compact cameras without interchangeable lenses. But that's by far the only compromise you'll need to worry about, and that's just a rather fair trade-off for lightweight and compact yet pro-quality snappers with the ability to manually control your camera just as you would on an SLR. Best of all, These two digital cameras each costs only less than B$1k, and that's cheaper than even the cheapest low-end entry-level digital SLRs on sale. That's pretty affordable to start with for those who are newly interested in photography and wanted to purchase their first camera.

I'd get my hands on the Nikon P6000. I wanna carry light on my next travel and prove to myself that even on the most basics of equipment I could actually capture almost the same (if not exactly identical) quality shots as my Nikon D80 (in certain circumstances of course). I've also fallen in love with the sleek ergonomic design of this baby. In the end, it's all about convenience.

Experiencing Sunway Lagoon

I was rummaging through my old photos from KL and I figured there were still pictures I have missed posting into my blog. These were taken during our fourth day in KL, the day before we returned home. It was the last bit of fun we did before we packed our stuff. Not surprisingly, the entry price for the Sunway Lagoon Theme Park has gone pretty steep throughout the years. The last time I went to Sunway Lagoon it only costed half of how much they actually charged today. But from the looks of it, they've just made the theme park better and better so it was money well spent.




We took the Waterpark


The latest attraction in the theme park




Limestone formation exhibition








I had so much fun on these!












The magnificently huge lagoon. If only my camera is waterproof.

ITB Information Day

Institut Teknologi Brunei (ITB) will be organizing an ITB Information Day (InfoDay@ITB) on Saturday, 7th of March 2009 at the University’s campus in Kg Tungku. The InfoDay@ITB is open to the public and prospective students from 9 am to 4 pm. The deadline for applying to the University’s degree programmes has been extended to the 15th of March 2009 due to changes in the programme structure.

The activities during that day are:

• Personal consultation with ITB academics on the range of the 4-year degree programmes available at ITB with explanation on ITB definition of ‘discovery year’.
• Exhibition on few of ITB students’ hands-on final year projects physical displays.
• University’s Engineering laboratories tour.
• HECAS officers will also be available during the day whereby the prospective students can consult them regarding the registration process. They will also be able to register on the day as registration facilities will be provided

Now Everyone's a Photographer

Anticipating T4

Suddenly, May 21st seems like taking a long long to arrive. As everyone's excited about the Transformers sequel this summer, I'm heavily anticipating this film. A third new trailer has been released and my god it looks wicked-awesome: