Kitties!

Last weekend I had visited somewhere pretty special. I was bored and I decided to search online about something interesting places to visit. I had something in mind that time, it was the cafe where they have cats roaming around.

I knew something like that existed here in Korea, but to my surprise, they have one of those kitty cafes in my area of Bucheon! Without hesitation I went to visit that place with my trusty old camera, and took a bunch of photos of the playful kitties over there. Here are some of the best which I like!  Enjoy!

Pearly white kitty!

What did I do?

Bossy kitty who hates interaction with people

Interested on something

Can I go out?

Angel above!

Emo kitty... awww...

Don't disturb my nap time!

Photogenic kitty!

If kitties could fish

Puma kitty!

Still cute as ever!

I want some more treats!

Me, myself and I

The perfect gift to ponder apon

 

It’s really funny… Here I am sitting at a slightly crowded cafe by my self, thinking about everything that’s related to myself. I don’t do those normally, but tomorrow is my 25th birthday, and officially my second birthday in this foreign land I called home for the past 7 years (have been spending my birthday in my hometown during summer vacation when I was studying).

Anyways, here I am, alone with this cup of cafe latte on the table, thinking whether being here is a success or a failure.

I like the freedom I have here in Korea. Well, I’m am not talking about the freedom of time from work, frankly I don’t have those… But the freedom of doing anything I want, meeting the people I want.

To be honest, I came from a well lived family, didn’t struggle much in my life. But having to grow up in a fairly strict asian family, I enjoy the freedom that I had earn right now. Don’t get me wrong, I still respect my parents and love them very much.

But sometimes if you ask me, I would gladly choose freedom over family even though to get the freedom I need to sacrifice a lot.

Sometimes people can be very insensitive to others, thinking what they do is always right. The ever slight inconsideration can cause everything to go wrong in many situations.

On the other hand, when you are left all alone facing that world by yourself, the smallest consideration can go a very long way.

The human nature has always been like this: we never appreciate what we have in front of us, until we lose it. By then we only realize the importance of even the smallest things in our life.

Well, I like it this way. I’m far away from my family, so that I wouldn’t burden them, and I would appreciate them more since I would am not around them that often. Sacrificing that I gain my freedom while teaching myself to appreciate every little small things in life.

But it really tears me apart when I think of myself not being able to spend my time with my beloved ones, especially my grandmother that I love dearly. I guess I wouldn’t appreciate her as much if I’m beside her all the time.

Well in the end, all I have is an empty cup where I first had my cafe latte in. In the future when I look back, I hope I wouldn’t regret on the decision that I had made.

Happy birthday.

Relationship – friends

Can you find a friend in this sea of people?

Relationship is difficult for me it seems. Here, I’m talking about friendship. Some people will tell you that it might be as simple as starting a conversation first, but for someone like me living in a foreign land, that’s a pretty daunting task.

To be honest, most of us only hang out with those we are comfortable with, or those who speak a similar tone with us, be it language, interest, religion or whatsoever. So naturally, I had less friends when I’m here in South Korea compare to when I was in Malaysia. Most of the friends that I had when I was studying in university were those fellow students that came with me. Back then I didn’t bother much about making new friends since I had the mind-set of “I’m the alien and I should let them strike the first conversation”.

And also being the cautious person I am, I’m always wary of that most people would only befriend someone so that they can benefit from them. By experience we  also know that there are many kinds of people out there trying to get us too, waiting to back stab us at any moment for whatever reasons.

But as life and time goes by, we would get the chance to meet loads more good people around us if we spend a little bit more effort to seek them out. I had been skeptical from the beginning about this last time since one of the stereotypes about Koreans is that they are not really that friendly with anyone, always arrogant (to fellow Asians at least), particularly those from Seoul. But being off school and stepping into the 8-to-8-working world, I have been forced to re-construct my social circle among the locals since I was alone.

Maybe I was fortunate enough because most of the people who I had befriended up til now are really good people, whom I can trust and would give me a hand when I’m in trouble. So I had concluded that I was wrong, that there exist friendly people everywhere, even at my work place.

Right now, I have people I consider friends, and friends that I consider like my own brothers and sisters which I had never thought of. Even though some of them are from the management level and significantly older than me, I am able to communicate with them well, sharing our thoughts, our ups and downs together, talking about anything and everything. Mind you, S. Koreans always have this social hierarchy that’s really though to handle, and also the language barrier that always hinders me, but they were good to overlook that most of the time.

Furthermore, I was too blessed with other foreign friends that I had met, from work and from social interaction. There are so many things to learn from them since they are from all walks of life and have traveled more, and have more experience in life compare to what I have seen. So, now I had realized that I missed out some great opportunities of meeting great people while I was studying, and also realizing that 1 really close friend is better than 5 superficial friends.

It is nice to have people to interact with even in the age of social networking where most people would face their smart phones screens poking their friends on Facebook and sending tweets rather than talking to someone face to face. All in all, be careful while befriending someone and we shall benefit from each other and who knows this world might become a better place to live in.

Having fun under the summer sun

Innocent and pure fun under the summer sun

Looking back, I was surprised since I didn’t write anything during the month of July. I’m not sure why, but for sure many things happen in the 7th month of this meaningful 2011.

First of all, was the 9th of July street rally dubbed as “Bersih”, which is the word CLEAN in the Malay language – a rally done by peaceful Malaysians asking for fair and equal election. That rally happened in the streets of Kuala Lumpur, and I believe those who follow global news would know about it. That time, I heard a small rally would be held in Seoul too. So I brought along my camera with some excitement thinking I would be able to expect some crowd in Guang Hwa Mun, the place where some Malaysians in Seoul would gather. I think I was a tad too late, well 30 minutes late and I didn’t see anyone there at all. Instead, I had a great time shooting some interesting photos in one of the must-visit tourist attraction spot in S. Korea.

Above is one of the best that I got, at least for me. I love how I was able to capture the atmosphere, the innocent laughter of this little girl playing in the water fountain in front of the King Sejong statue right in the middle of Guang Hwa Mun. It reminds me of the time when we were young, when everything was so simple, and all we want was pure and naive fun.

In the midst of busy work schedule and less interesting day-to-day life, to my surprise I was invited to a dinner session with the King and Queen of Malaysia, who came to S. Korea for a short 3-day visiting trip! Actually, I had to put up my name to the embassy, and only 100 or so Malaysians, whom were mostly students were selected for that dinner. It was one heck of an experience for me; having the chance to enjoy French cuisine in a 5-star hotel in Gwang Hwa Mun (again), and meeting, and greeting His Majesty the King and Her Majesty the Queen of Malaysia weren’t something simple words can describe.

Sunny summer days doesn’t last too long in the month of July. Heavy downpour for a whole week had made Seoul into a sea of nightmare. Landslides, people killed and missing, houses destroyed and sunken cars littered the city streets. It was horrible, and there’s yet reports of more rainfall beginning next week.

Well, one thing good for me is, my holiday officially starts today, and I will be going back to my dear hometown on this Sunday for a short one week vacation! How should I spend the next 7 days? I hope I can make them as meaningful as ever!

Life is full with so much ups and downs that to be honest, I do not know what to expect next.

I wish I can find back the way to enjoy “fun”, just like that kid…

Spring is here, and I see the lesser me out there

The feeling of being alive!

Spring is here~ Another year has passed…

Spring is the season of life, where everything comes back to life from the cold harsh winter. Life never seems to lose against the winter, but I myself is slipping away day by day, even when spring is here…

I decided to took some time last Saturday to visit a park near by my area to take some photos of the blooming cherry blossoms. But to my dismay, most of the flowers were still budding, so it wasn’t the full glorious moment that I longed for.

Looking back at all the photos taken, I see the lesser self in me. After some post processing, it seems that I had portrayed myself as one who longed for hope, showing the pessimist inside of me.

The photo of blooming cherry blossoms was the only consolation that I got. Suddenly I feel, maybe patience could bring me somewhere I wanted to go.

Never give up

Time is priceless, unless you have given up everything. But it could feel forever when you are waiting for something or someone. Can time make up for what we missed?

Beating the odds and shine as bright as gold

Someday, we will find what we want. Someday.

Seoul Motor Show 2011 – The babes

The 2011 Seoul Motor Show opened last Friday and it is still on until the end of this week. I decided to visit the show last week, and man I can tell you, there were more people than ever.

I didn’t have much time in the show myself, and having only budget lenses compare to those who brought their white long lenses and shooting on stools, my photos seemed so unprofessional.

Anyways, out of more than 600 photos, these are those which I really like, and would like to share over here. Take a look and comment please!

 

 

Make a wish~

Make a wish, in a totally different way

Stack it up, make a wish…

Who knows, it might come true without you even knowing?

Just wishing…

Mmmm... Coffee...

I love coffee. Especially in a cold winter’s day, sitting with someone to talk to, or just all by myself, enjoying some of the warm caffeine goodness…

It’s funny that in the Korean culture, it’s impossible to sit and talk with friends for hours without alcohol. Not to say something bad about Koreans or what, but only talking about the personal stuffs with friends after like, a few bottles of soju isn’t something what I call sincerity. By the way, soju is a kind of alcohol,  the choice of alcohol of all Koreans since it’s so CHEAP and widely available everywhere. Are they trying hide something, or just that they need alcohol to drain down their ego first? Just my personal thoughts…

But for some of us, talking with friends, and I do mean not only 1 or 2, but a bunch of friends, it’s a fairly simple task, especially with the company of coffee or teh-tarik(try google for the photo and you get the idea) of our choice. That’s why in Malaysia, we have kopitiam (that’s coffee shop in our local slang), and mamak shops and stalls (mamak points to Hindu-Muslim people in Malaysia, and it’s not a racist remark as far as I know). Being a Muslim country with scorching hot climate, the beverage of choice would be less related to alcohol most of the time. Not to say there is no coffee shops in S. Korea, nor saying that no one goes to Starbucks or Coffee-bean over here, but the culture seams different to me. And don’t get me wrong, I love booze and you can get all the alcohol you want in Malaysia pretty easily too.

Non-Muslims in Malaysia do enjoy a cold beer from time to time too. But to associate alcohol with EVERY outings with friends or colleague is pretty outrageous for me. Must you get drunk at EVERY gathering? Can you have some variety in life?

Anyways, back to coffee. Just love how it can keep me awake in the morning, and the fragrant of freshly brewed coffee.

The above photo was taken with my latest addition in my arsenal, my Samsung WB2000. Strangely, it exhibit a very purple tint under some circumstances that I still couldn’t really figure out. Right now, all I can see is when the camera is shooting under some special lighting conditions, there would be a very strong purple tint on parts which is black in color. I love this camera since it has features such as RAW shooting, a bright lens, full HD video, high speed shooting and a back illuminated sensor.  It’s still a point and shoot, and cannot be compared with those better featured LX5(Lumix) and S95(Canon), since they are in very different price points.

Anyways, if anyone of you who own this camera who has the same problem, maybe we can discuss this? Hope it’s not a fault on my camera, and would be fix by future release of the firmware.

I have my own problems.

 

Tired

I always begin my day with a laugh.

If you ever met me, you would wonder where I get my “excessive happiness” from. Yes, I was commented by people before about me being too happy.Well, all you selfish pessimists out there, don’t even try to cross my line ever.

Always facing life with a smile doesn’t mean that I do not have any of my own problems. You never see me when I am down, you never know what I am thinking or hiding despite my smile. I too have my deep troubles.

Sometimes, I feel really tired. Seems like reality has really come down on me. My contagious laughter is less by the day.

Stop bothering me with all your petty problems. I have my own to deal with. Plenty of them.

I am tired. I need some rest.

Runaway

Runaway from reality

Have you ever wanted to run away from everything?

I do.

Runaway. Just keep on running, and never look back.

No regrets.