Putrajaya Lakes and Wetland Photography Competition.

On saturday, 23 february 2013, I accompanied my daughter to a photography competition organised by Putrajaya lakes and wetland unit of Perbadanan Putrajaya. we arrived at the site at about 8.30 a.m. After registering there was breakfast and then workshop on how to capture good photographs by a Mr Syibli, very enlightening indeed. Another workshop on photography as a career or how to make money from photography. Next briefing on the rules of the competition, the dos and don't. My daughter was competing in the secondary school cathegory so she had to take photographs of the wetland plants. I walked part of the ground with her and friends. The sun was bright so I decided to drive. Alya, Humaira and Muis contied to walk by the lake. I took some pictures of the wetland and also scene of the competition.

The trip to Assen, Holland

27 MAY 1992
Another train ride to Assen, in the north. Tineke said she liked this part of Holland because it still retain the country life. while on the train ride I could see the farms and farm houses on each side of the track... very picturesque and there were many willow trees. I especially like the purple flowering plants/bushes. Assen town was very quiet. We went to the Museum. There were beautiful art exhibits depicting Dutch history, archeological findings and the culture of people of Assen, their clothes, the way they furnished their dwellings, dining and cooking utensils, spinning wheel and others. very informative indeed but a bit stuffy especially the archeological artefacts.
Then we got on the bus to schoonord open air museum "De zeven Marken" . There were the sodhuts of early settlers. In 2854 when people in other areas lived in modern brick or wooden houses, they still lived in primitive dwellings. Most of the houses also had stable for the horses. There was a school, a cave dwelling of Emmet and Bremmet the giants, carpenter shop, gaol and others. I bought a few precious stones which look beautiful and colourful. next visit to utretch and Amsterdam.....

visit to Rotterdam city and harbour.

The city of Rotterdam looks modern with the famous pencil building and the Euromast, 180 m high. Tineke told me that the historic part of the city was damaged by the German Air raid in 1940. From the central station we took a walk across a park and went up the Euromast something like the KL Tower but since it was built in 1960 so we wouldn't expect much but it was the best way to see the city where the harbour can be viewed clearly. I could even see how the gate is opened to let the ships into the canals. Next we got on the speedo boat cruise and was taken on tour of the harbour. It was a great port indeed. In the evening we cycled to a park in Ridderkerk. I  found myself strunggling with the unfamiliar bicycle which Tineke had rented specially for me. To make it worst cycling on the right side of the road is something difficult to do when we stopped at the junction and I forgot which way to turn. we knocked against each other once but it was not serious. At the park I made my acquaintance with some plants which I  had only read in books before plants such as the poison ivy, the dandelion, forget me not, the daisies and others. I also saw some birds which is not common in malaysia such as the raven.  In the evening we went to Tineke's mum's house for dinner. her brother Jan was also present. Tineke had brought with her a pan in which she told me had only been used to cook eggs. Her mum prepared a delicious steak made from they called it vegetarian meat specially for me. at least I had something different than the usual eggs, bread and chips that I'm taking from the day I arrived in Holland.

photographs of Europe trip

photographs of me at Dubai international airport, moscow airport and in Amsterdam

Interrogation at Schipol, Amsterdam.

I arrived at Schipol, Amsterdam at about 2 pm. I quickly went to the immigration to avoid having to que in long lines. Unfortunately being Asian, I had to. Worst, being Asian and a female travelling alone seems to cast some doubts on the Immigration officers mind. I was taken to an examination room where I was asked questions like where I'll be staying, how long would I stay in Holland, where to apart from Holland etc... and in the end after being shown the US dollar 1500 travellers cheque that I brought with me, they let me through. While passing through the immigration I saw a Malaysian family passed through easily because they came from England. most probably students on holiday. Once outside I was met by Tineke and we took a train to Rotterdam central station and took a bus to Ridderkerk where she lives. Meanwhile I had my first french fries with peanut butter. It was delicious may be because I was feeling hungry not taking any food on the plane. Tineke's house was a cosy 2 rooms house small but enough space to feel comfortable with dining, kitchen and living room on the ground floor and bedrooms on the first floor.  At about 6 pm, Tineke took me for a walk to the town. We went to a mart, a GIANT like market where she bought some canned food and fruits. We also went to the bank where she worked so that I could cash my checque and so I got to meet a few of her friends.  on the way back I encounter my first dyke and was shocked to see that it wasn't really a wall but an earth bank, some sort of batas in malay but big ones where they can even have roads or houses build on it. so how can the story of the boy who saved the town by shoving his finger in the hole of the dyke happen? I wonder. Anyhow the sceneries were beautiful. there were ducks swimming in the moat or small stream, there were weeping willows also my first and the next morning I woke up to bright sunlight, went down but found Tineke still sleeping and thought that I would like to take a walk but could not open the door, the key somehow would not turned and therefore I just looked around the living room and incidentally glanced at the clock to see that it was 4 a.m , so that was my first experience of early sunlight in late spring. so back to bed and I was confused about my subuh prayer too. later I got to know that I would have to pray at about 3 somethong.

while on a stopover in Dubai on the way to Amsterdam.

First Trip out- Europe

May 1992,  It was my first holiday abroad. Tineke, my pen-friend for 7 years invited me to her house in Ridderkerk, Amsterdam for a 3 weeks holiday. Being a Kampung girl and had just graduated from USM I had never stepped out of Malaysia before. It was a dream comes true.  I had always wanted to visit Europe especially England after years of reading novels classic or otherwise of life in countryside or towns in Europe.  I could almost pgictured myself gazing at the Moors or mansion on the hills, horses running free. Travelling on gravel path under the streetlights. I did not have much money to spend so I had to choose the cheapest flight available and it turns out to be the Aeroflot. On 21st May, I was scheduled to fly at about 2 pm. My brother in law and sister were kind enough to send me to Subang Airport which was the only International Airport at that time. We made a mistake of starting late from Banvgi and arrived at the airport at about 1.30 pm. The checked in counter for the flight was already closed and the passengers were already called in. I had to appeal to the officers at the counter for assistance and  they were kind enough to help. An aeroflot flight security officer whizzed me trough, had my passport stamped and soon I was with the other passengers waiting to board the flight. I somehow had to carry my luggage into the plane. Luckily I travelled light it was not too big. Another problem was I did not have a seat number so I had to sit very far at the rear end of the plane. Fortunately for me I sat next to a very friendly male KUSZA lecturer who was going back to England after his term break. He's doing his PHD in England. He and an Indian girl from Ipoh  were to be my companion for our two hour walkabout in Dubai Airport and four out of seven hour transit in Moscow. He also was kind enough to share his donuts so that we could have something to eat in Moscow Airport.  I realy did learn an important lesson that day for my future travels and had never repeat the mistake. I made the point to reach the airport early whenever I'm taking a flight. Another important lesson that I learned was to make sure that the camera I take with me works because I borrowed my brother's camera which he had never used for sometime. When I tested it to see whether it is okay, it looks good and not willing to waste many films (there wasn't any digital camera back then) I was satisfied enough to rely on it for my photo snapping session and I regret not buying a new camera. As a result I did not have many photograps to remember the holiday by. ...... I'll post the second part of this and also some photographs (those few that I managed to have it taken)  later.  

Beautiful Butterfly

This afternoon on the way to Bangi right before I stepped into the car my daughter called me to show what she had found. It was a beautiful Rajah Brooke Butterfly taking a rest on the sidewindow of a car. She wanted to shoot a picture but being scared of insects she wanted me to help. I used to see quite a number of these butterflies when I first settled down in Putrajaya 12 years ago. Nowadays I rarely saw them so I was also quite happy to see one today and had a few photos taken. Later on I saw news of such butterflies being called as giant butterflies and considered rare. These are photos of the news and a picture of the butterfly that we found.