Gone Surfing!

(The Lion Rock and its reflection on the wet sand at Piha, f/8.0, 1/225)

I'm posting some shots taken from my recent trip with the other avid photographers from our university Photography Club. I'm told that this club is one of the first clubs established in the university and it's suffice to say that it's been there since before I was born!

So the theme of the outing was something like water and waterfalls.. Oh! Behold.. We've got more than what we asked for (at least for me!). I truly enjoyed this trip since it's something I'm dear to: Hiking to waterfalls and hills and forests!

(Kite Kite Fall at Piha, f/16, 1/4)

These waterfalls are located to the west of Auckland, Waitakere, about 45 mins drive from the city center. They're truly amazing features of west Auckland, where the closest National Park to the city resides. Apart from this, this part of the city/region also offers one of the best trekking experience in the country, and I speak this from my experience of walking through part of the trails.

After exhausting most of the photographers in the group (I must admit that these guys are really soft bones!), we decided to spent our sunset in Piha, the surfers paradise! If you're an avid surfer, go brave the water in Piha or Raglan when you step to the country!

Most of the photographers had cool gadgets with them. Manfrotto tripods, several magic filters (blue, yellow, gradual, purple, sunset and even black ones!) that trick the cameras to produce superhuman shots. There's even a guy that owned a Canon 1D for Pete's sake!! I've to be contented with my UV filter and solely depends on the nature's friendly light to get the effect that I wish. Oh well, poor student! But nowhere it seems that my robust Pentax K10D failed me! Anyhow, I wouldn't want to end my post without a quick surf on the day's sumptuous outing treat! So, here we go...

(Looking down at Kite Kite Fall along the walkway, f/8, 1/400)

(NZ is famous for its ferns, f/8.0, 1/400)

(A stream along the Kite Kite Fall walkway, f/22, 0.3")

(Majestic view of the Sun crossing the horizon across Tasman Sea, f/22, 0.3")

Somewhere, out there...

(The beautifully lit Sydney Opera House--f3.5, 3.5secs)

Somewhere there's someone who dreams of your smile, and finds in your presence life that is worthwhile. So when you are lonely, remember it's true, somebody, somewhere, is thinking of you.

(The proud Sydney's Harbour Bridge--f1.4, 1/4000s)

Now that soothed my soul a bit after a phase of life where challenges never cease to cool down even for a bit. Well, that's a student life where you're constantly bogged down, or rather spent an eon figuring out how the heck my experimental data doesn't agree at all with the well-established theories. Ever felt being let down by inanimate objects? Go figure my plots of measured data!

(Martin's Place at Sydney City Center--f5.6, 1/30s)

It's not all bitter and sour, this life of a research student I'd say. On the plusses side, I'd say I've lead a comfortable if not luxurious life with the research stipend. Oh, never forget about the free tickets for conferences and seminars around the country and the world! Of course, you're supposed to be there introducing and presenting your skills in your area to your fellow researchers, but it's never a crime to bite the juiciest part of the travel intent; travelling itself!

(With the first guy who invented THz Pulsed Time Domain at IBM, Dan Grichskowsky [center]. Here we're taken around a cruise ship sailing around the Sydney's harbour before the dinner function.)

Anyhow, since I've been talking about sponsored travel, it's about time to display my ostentatious my pictures of Sydney visit for another conference that's heavily attended by the 'gods' of the microstructured fibers field.

(Stoked with the award!)

Comment: The visit to OZ wasn't very eventful at the first arrival. Holed up at the waiting area with an Immigration officer interviewing your purpose of visit isn't really something I've had expected. Lost my way to the conference hall the first day (and missing the best bits of keynote talks!) adds several exasperating unnecessary stress! But the most shocking but pleasing surprise that I've got was the Best Student Award (for presentation) at the conference, despite my stammers and some bad English pronunciations at the beginning of the talk.

Too many women!

I cannot contain my enrage upon reading an article ('Cuepacs concerned about 'female dominance') on the online newspaper TheStar about the 'worrying trend of women dominance in decision making posts'. The article claimed that Cuepacs is anxious about the 'long-term implications on the progress and growth of the country'.

First thing: Everybody can make stupid, ridiculous decisions without careful thought and planning. Men do not qualify to exclude itself from the blame or responsibility at being wrong and at fault, neither does the opposite sex. Fullstop. This chauvinist who identified itself with the name Ahmad Shah Mohd Zin, a secretary-general of the concern Cuepacs, believes that gravity of making absurd conclusions and resolutions is greater if a woman hold the steering rather than a man. Such a claim should, at first, be corroborated with a firm, thorough, bullet-proof evidence that his assertion that women leaders hinder development more than their men counterparts. We have seen it through the looking glass of what, when, which, how our men commands, conducts themselves at the national level at late. Oh who can forget about the 'bocor' issue, sharp and loud cry of 'monkey' in the parliamentary sittings, derogatory remarks of 'pendatang' etc? And from whose mouths do such moronic verses echo? I don't have to add that some countrymen (and women) lauded such grotesquely comments coming from their men bosses. Yes, men.

Second thing: While they support that government quota on women as the principle players in charge of coordinating the best options available, why should we (men or women) approve of the quota in the first place? The best should be selected, and their sex should never be tipped as one's lack of leadership quality. Rather it should be embraced as one gives her/his best to take control and work as a team that is also consists of men and women having the same vision. Harping on the issue of gender inequality in certain sectors, this guy not only demerit 'itself' as a clueless leader but also a 'lapuk' (i cannot find a more sweeter insult) domineering boss. This guy see leader standards in a polarized way such that it distinctively attributes its own race superior judgement. I do not deny for once some men made some decisions that changed the entire course of history, but let us also recognize the equal, if not more contributions from mothers and daughters that empower nations across the globe. Why is it hard to understand that the combined effective improvement of the country comes from both men and women, and not exclusively from one sex? When more pressing issues should have been worked out together collectively, why are they so persistent about who's leading who when all have the same visions and goals?

Comment: I wonder if this guy can face the music if he's been put into women's shoes. Or even more drastically, that it's always been the environment that women take charge of anything and resolve everything, he was born into since the dinosaurs ancient time. Or maybe if the religion books state that the forbidden fruit was first touched by Adam, this guy would not be so critical and discriminating against women. Sigh..

Poetry in Motion

If you can keep your head when all about you

Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,

If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,

But make allowance for their doubting too;

If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,

Or being lied about, don't deal in lies,

Or being hated, don't give way to hating,

And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise:

If you can dream - and not make dreams your master;

If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim;

If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster

And treat those two impostors just the same;

If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken

Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,

Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,

And stoop and build 'em up with worn-out tools:

If you can make one heap of all your winnings

And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,

And lose, and start again at your beginnings

And never breathe a word about your loss;

If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew

To serve your turn long after they are gone,

And so hold on when there is nothing in you

Except the Will which says to them: 'Hold on!'

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,

' Or walk with Kings - nor lose the common touch,

if neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,

If all men count with you, but none too much;

If you can fill the unforgiving minute

With sixty seconds' worth of distance run,

Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,

And - which is more - you'll be a Man, my son!

If... by Rudyard Kipling. A beautifully composed guidance..

The Name of the Rose

I'm reading this beautiful piece of literary fiction book of Umberto Eco 'The Name of The Rose'. While the book is categorized as fiction piece, it's actually based on real characters in history dated back to the 12th century. A story that is crafted with gorgeous words that captured the essence of the period, full of murderous thrills as well as engaging pursuit of the killers that led me to stay awake late at night to finish even just a couple more pages to feed my ecstasy to solve the mystery! I did warn you that it's going to be torturous read until you're in the final page of the book!

Well, since the entry title today had to do with fauna it's then more than befitting if I put some macro shots of plentiful of colorful flowers around anywhere in NZ. These photos mainly taken with Pentax DA f2.8 100mm, with some taken with my loyal Pentax SMC f1.4 50mm. Enjoy the smell of the spring (and sometime summer) spectrum around NZ!

(SMC f1.4 1/250) (DA f5.6 1/250) (DA f2.8 1/100)

(SMC f2.8 1/100) (DA f2.8 1/250)

happy new year!

and here's my first entry of the year...

glittering summer people!

just back from summer break, and boy wasn't it hard to unhook myself from the relaxing sun bathing on the beaches and barbeque fun!

so i decided to post some pictures from the summer break, taken with my loyal and reliable pentax k10d. i'm very much amazed with its capability to take about 300 pictures without leaving the battery dead flat. so here they go:

Cape Reinga at sunset (F22, 1/6)

Taputaputa Bay (F22, 1/60)Ahipara at sunset (F 8.0, 1/250)Whangarei Stream (F 22, 2 sec)

Faith without fear

The statement 'Faith without Fear' is indeed a powerful one. On my way to university recently I noticed the flyers lying around--'Islam Awareness Week'. I've been meaning to look this up over the Net many times, but only got the chance to read it after my teacher posted up this link, and I continue the quest reading up the materials from this website via Google search. It's a powerful enlightenment, fresh awakening as well as challenging my belief.
The material that I got hooked on afterwards is the section "Anti-muslim Writers". I was curious on what these writers have to say about Islam. While I do think that there are several writers listed are devout propagandists of anti-Islam, I see most of them however the true lovers of Islam and its teachings. Some of them, Tawfik Hamid, whose articles in particular 'When I asked my Muslim friend 'Why do you hate Jews?'' touched my heart and let me see how love can transcend the insurmountable unimaginable boundaries around us today. My friend, Muslim or non-Muslim, I encourage you to read up the websites and maybe see the new birth of reformed view of Islam.