Archive for the ‘1’ Category
I’m back, people! I haven’t much time to write, so here are a few pictures of my Silat boys and girls at the tournament in Sarawak.
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EDIT: Pictures taken after the formal dinner later that night.
No prize for guessing what we brought home from the tournament… 
Got to go for now. Some stuff to be delivered to the family back in Seremban. Going to the airport to see a friend off. She’s flying back to the U.S. to start her second year in college, in Penn State U.
This post will most probably be edited later with proper narration of the going-ons of the tournament.
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Oh, and I’m having my wisdom teeth pulled out tomorrow, possibly a minor surgery that would leave me literally speechless (as in, unable to speak) for maybe a couple of days… Weirdly enough, I’m looking forward to the surgical procedure… Maybe it’s because I want these two ‘wiseguys’ out of my life so badly…
EDIT: The dentist who was supposed to perform the operation was called away for a seminar. Another dentist took up the job, but she had her schedule full for the day and for the next few weeks, so she only had time to take out one tooth. I will have my other wisdom tooth extracted possibly in October, after Hari Raya month.
Best of all, when I thought that the operation would cost me hundreds of bucks, the dentist told me that it was free of charge. How awesome is that?
So he died. I found out through the radio this morning, when the usually hilariously entertaining Hitz.fm Morning Crew show seemed to have lost all its colors and turned black. I actually thought I dialed in Lite.fm, but no, it was Hitz.fm. They kept playing MJ songs and then I realized something relating to MJ must have happened. Then the sub-Morning Crew reannounced it: That MJ died from cardiac arrest last night.
Yes I was shocked about his death. But more shocking to me was the fact that I somehow felt affected by this news. I usually couldn’t care less about the entertainment world and its celebrities. I don’t celebrate when celebrities get married or welcome a newborn. I never felt sad for a divorce or a death in the family of celebrities. But when I learnt about MJ’s death, I felt a tinge, a small sense of loss inside, which is weird, because like I said, I don’t really care much about the guy.
Maybe it’s because they keep spinning his music all morning. And the fact that when I was growing up, he was the biggest thing in music, and that his music pretty much brings up lots of memories of my childhood.
Come to think of it, I’ve always liked his songs regarding human compassion and the environment. So I guess as a tribute I’ll post the lyrics of one of his songs here, the one I seem to have listened to the most in recent years.
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Heal the World
written, produced, and sung by Michael Jackson
Theres a place in your heart
And I know that it is love
And this place could be much brighter than tomorrow
And if you really try
Youll find theres no need to cry
In this place you’ll feel there’s no hurt or sorrow
There are ways to get there
If you care enough for the living
Make a little space
Make a better place
Heal the world
Make it a better place
For you and for me
And the entire human race
There are people dying
If you care enough for the living
Make a better place
For you and for me
If you want to know why
Theres a love that cannot lie
Love is strong
It only cares for joyful giving
If we try
We shall see
In this bliss we cannot feel
Fear or dread
We stop existing and start living
Then it feels that always
Love’s enough for us growing
So make a better world
Make a better world…
Heal the world
Make it a better place
For you and for me
And the entire human race
There are people dying
If you care enough for the living
Make a better place
For you and for me
And the dream we were conceived in will reveal a joyful face
And the world we once believed in will shine again in grace
Then why do we keep strangling life
Wound this earth, crucify its soul
Though its plain to see
This world is heavenly
Be God’s glow
We could fly so high
Let our spirits never die
In my heart I feel you are all my brothers
Create a world with no fear
Together we cry happy tears
See the nations turn their swords into plowshares
We could really get there
If you cared enough for the living
Make a little space
To make a better place…
Heal the world
Make it a better place
For you and for me
And the entire human race
There are people dying
If you care enough for the living
Make a better place
For you and for me
Heal the world
Make it a better place
For you and for me
And the entire human race
There are people dying
If you care enough for the living
Make a better place
For you and for me
Heal the world
Make it a better place
For you and for me
And the entire human race
There are people dying
If you care enough for the living
Make a better place
For you and for me
There are people dying
If you care enough for the living
Make a better place
For you and for me
There are people dying
If you care enough for the living
Make a better place
For you and for me
You and for me
You and for me
You and for me
You and for me
You and for me
You and for me
You and for me
You and for me
You and for me
You and for me
You and for me
…
R.I.P. Michael Jackson.
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There you go. My generic MJ’s death tribute entry.
This is the swimming pool at the Hills Hotel Bukittinggi, West Sumatra, Indonesia.
The pool is well-maintained and there are lots of poolside chairs with shade, and there’s a reflexology and massage service provided.
Next to the pool is a small playground for kids and there’s even a small slide (partially in the picture) that goes into the pool.
For all the days that I was there, I haven’t seen anyone using the pool, although there are times I’ve seen children with towels and wet hair in the elevator (I assumed they played in the pool earlier).
I went to the pool two times: once during the day to snap photos like this one, and once at night for some long exposure photos.
Maybe sometime, I’ll share the long exposure photos here. Only the nice ones though, long exposure is not something that I have truly mastered and it usually takes me quite a number of tries before I get a decent shot.
But for now, this one shot of the pool will do. Tell me if you want to see other shots of the pool 
This is the swimming pool at the Hills Hotel Bukittinggi, West Sumatra, Indonesia.
The pool is well-maintained and there are lots of poolside chairs with shade, and there’s a reflexology and massage service provided.
Next to the pool is a small playground for kids and there’s even a small slide (partially in the picture) that goes into the pool.
For all the days that I was there, I haven’t seen anyone using the pool, although there are times I’ve seen children with towels and wet hair in the elevator (I assumed they played in the pool earlier).
I went to the pool two times: once during the day to snap photos like this one, and once at night for some long exposure photos.
Maybe sometime, I’ll share the long exposure photos here. Only the nice ones though, long exposure is not something that I have truly mastered and it usually takes me quite a number of tries before I get a decent shot.
But for now, this one shot of the pool will do. Tell me if you want to see other shots of the pool
Seriously, check this site out. If this was around back when I was doing undergraduate math or even back in high school, I’d get perfect scores for all my homework and assignments. Seriously.
There’s so much more that the site can do than just math. I suggest you go and see for yourself.
I am such a geek.
This is the waterfall mentioned in the previous post. This waterfall is located near the West Sumatra highway, and is encountered on the way to Padang Panjang and Bukittinggi if you’re traveling north from Padang.
It has a nice, clear pool at the bottom and the water is fresh and cool. When I arrived there I was fully dressed in businesswear to give a presentation on Genetic Algorithms, so I decided not to take a dip in the pool although the tour guide kept insisting us to.
Also, the communal shorts provided at the “kamar ganti” (the changing room featured in the previous post) have no guarantee of cleanliness. In fact, nobody from the tour decided to jump in for a dip, however alluring the pool may be.
Next time, if I were to get a chance to visit this place again, I will bring my own change of clothes and take a dip and maybe a few more pics of this place.
I seem to have forgotten if this place even has a name. For those who are familiar with this waterfall, please do tell me of its name, as it bugs me that I failed to find out what this place is called.
Last weekend I traveled northeast all the way to Terengganu to attend my cousin Ahmad’s solemnization and wedding.
Solemnization
The groom before the solemnization. Someone’s excited to get married. =)
The solemnization, or ‘akad nikah’. The marriage registrar or ‘jurunikah’ (sometimes called ‘tok kadi’) holds the groom’s hand in a firm handshake while reciting the ‘akad’ (the marriage vow). The groom then has to firmly state his acceptance of the marriage vow. This is adjudicated by the witnesses, who have the ultimate say whether the solemnization vows are legitimate (‘sah’) or not, in the latter case the recital of the vow and the acceptance vow have to be repeated until the witnesses are satisfied.
Once the vows are accepted, the ‘tok kadi’ will recite some prayers together with the groom and everyone who is present at the solemnization. After that the groom will recite the ‘taklik’, which is sort of like a disclaimer of sorts, in which he declares that their marriage will be nullified if certain undesirable circumstances were to be met. This is to ensure that the welfare of the wife will be taken care of if those undesirable circumstances should happen.
The next step in this ritual may differ from family to family, in my cousin’s case, after he’s done with the ‘taklik’ and shaken the hands of his immediate family members and in-laws, he proceeds with putting on the wedding bracelet on his wife’s hand. For some families, this could be a wedding ring, or a necklace – the choice is up to them since this does not affect the status of the marriage per se.
The bride then kisses her newly wedded husband’s hand. This is a key part in the ritual, for this signifies the first moment that the couple are allowed to touch each other.
After that the bride puts on the wedding ring on her husband’s finger. In our culture and religion, men are not allowed to wear gold and/or diamonds, so usually the man’s ring is made of coated bronze or brass alloy and brandished with a rock gem like opal or onyx.
The part where the groom kisses his newly wedded wife’s forehead is usually more or less for the photos and are usually by request from the guests present or from the photographers.
Wedding reception
I won’t bother going into details about the wedding reception, in much simpler words, the groom and his bride get to be the king and queen for the day and are dressed in regalia akin to those worn by the Malay royals. They also get to sit on a throne, where guests can come and greet and wish them happiness. So, here are some pictures from the reception.
This last picture is of the couple with groom’s immediate family – his parents, siblings, siblings-in-law and nephew. Ahmad has a family as big as mine!
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On another note, this was one of the times I got to play with my Speedlight SB-600 and I must say I can’t go to another photoshoot without it! My photos look so much better with it =) What do you think?
Last weekend I traveled northeast all the way to Terengganu to attend my cousin Ahmad’s solemnization and wedding.
Solemnization
The groom before the solemnization. Someone’s excited to get married. =)
The solemnization, or ‘akad nikah’. The marriage registrar or ‘jurunikah’ (sometimes called ‘tok kadi’) holds the groom’s hand in a firm handshake while reciting the ‘akad’ (the marriage vow). The groom then has to firmly state his acceptance of the marriage vow. This is adjudicated by the witnesses, who have the ultimate say whether the solemnization vows are legitimate (‘sah’) or not, in the latter case the recital of the vow and the acceptance vow have to be repeated until the witnesses are satisfied.
Once the vows are accepted, the ‘tok kadi’ will recite some prayers together with the groom and everyone who is present at the solemnization. After that the groom will recite the ‘taklik’, which is sort of like a disclaimer of sorts, in which he declares that their marriage will be nullified if certain undesirable circumstances were to be met. This is to ensure that the welfare of the wife will be taken care of if those undesirable circumstances should happen.
The next step in this ritual may differ from family to family, in my cousin’s case, after he’s done with the ‘taklik’ and shaken the hands of his immediate family members and in-laws, he proceeds with putting on the wedding bracelet on his wife’s hand. For some families, this could be a wedding ring, or a necklace – the choice is up to them since this does not affect the status of the marriage per se.
The bride then kisses her newly wedded husband’s hand. This is a key part in the ritual, for this signifies the first moment that the couple are allowed to touch each other.
After that the bride puts on the wedding ring on her husband’s finger. In our culture and religion, men are not allowed to wear gold and/or diamonds, so usually the man’s ring is made of coated bronze or brass alloy and brandished with a rock gem like opal or onyx.
The part where the groom kisses his newly wedded wife’s forehead is usually more or less for the photos and are usually by request from the guests present or from the photographers.
Wedding reception
I won’t bother going into details about the wedding reception, in much simpler words, the groom and his bride get to be the king and queen for the day and are dressed in regalia akin to those worn by the Malay royals. They also get to sit on a throne, where guests can come and greet and wish them happiness. So, here are some pictures from the reception.
This last picture is of the couple with groom’s immediate family – his parents, siblings, siblings-in-law and nephew. Ahmad has a family as big as mine!
…
On another note, this was one of the times I got to play with my Speedlight SB-600 and I must say I can’t go to another photoshoot without it! My photos look so much better with it =) What do you think?
Photog job for supervisor : May 23
Meeting with potential clients : May 24
SAS Academic Workshop : May 26
Conference report: due sometime next week
Progress report: due sometime next week
30-page paper proofreading: due sometime next week
Cousin’s wedding in Terengganu : next weekend
Submission of conference paper regarding GA-based method for normalized clustering : due June 1st
Submission of abstract for the International Conference on Research and Education in Mathematics : due June 1st
Photog job in Seremban : June 6
Present paper at the International Conference on Mathematics, Statistics and Their Applications : June 9 – 11
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Hooray for living life!
