Hey, everyone.
Have you ever had those kind of days where you'd go out and expect one thing to happen but then something else comes up?
Like, as you fall asleep as the day passed by, you ask yourself if the day was awesome or just another day.
My entry tonight is about a day that wasn't totally mind-blowing but at the same time pretty fulfilling.
Last Saturday, my Photography class went on an outing to The Historical City Malacca as part of our course.
There were groups and stuff to remember and a photo competition that everyone participated in by default.
It was cool that I was actually part of a real photography course and it finally sank in on that day.
I ended up touring around alone, which isn't something I haven't done before.
When I was in KL, I did some street photography alone for three days and it was great.
And this was no different.
I was dressed in my classic Hard Rock Cafe tee, with Sydney written on the bottom, black shoes, brown pants and a hat my grandmother had given to my brother.
I wore it because it reminded me of Kai from DigitalRev, so I felt that it would give me some sort of inspiration and motivation.
At first I felt kind of lost.
I didn't know what to do.
Of course, I had to take photos but in my mind, I had it so hard that I didn't want to take anything too ordinary.
But Malacca being a tourist attraction for many, many years now, there really isn't anything left unphotographed.
Or so I thought.
Here's one of my first shots of the day.
Guess what it is:
It's actually the umbrella and a seat of a trishaw.
As I'm very attracted to colours, this was something that gave me great drive to look for more wonderful blends on hues around the city.
I didn't find more of it, though.
I, then, found myself at the foot of St. Paul's hill.
It's this hill that has a church at the summit, where you have to climb a steep flight of stairs just to reach it.
As I came upon the stairs, there was this man, American I presume, coming down the steps who when he came to the foot, paused and sort of looked upwards.
I also stopped and took a photo of him looking upwards to the stairs.
There was another person, a girl, walking down.
However, she was clearly an Asian girl.
And as she neared us at the bottom of the stairs, the man exclaimed, "Hey! Say hello to him. Sydney!"
The girl looked over to me and smiled and said hi.
She, too, was wearing a Hard Rock Cafe T-shirt, but hers was Sentosa Island, Singapore.
I said hello.
"Are you guys from Sydney?" I asked.
"No, we're visiting from Thailand," the man replied.
There was a woman standing beside him and the girl joined them.
So, they were a family.
"I went to Bangkok in March for a concert. Korean Music Wave, where all those Korean groups came down,"
"Oh, did you go?" the man asked his daughter, I presume.
"No, I didn't," she said.
"Have you visited the Hard Rock Cafe here?" the man asked.
"No, I haven't. I don't even know where it is,"
The man then proceeded to give me detailed directions to the newly open Hard Rock Cafe in Malacca.
We said our last greetings and parted ways.
I wished them a happy visit to Malacca and proceeded to climb the hill.
As I reached the summit, I saw the very run-down church, now filled with tourists and visitors.
I took some photos outside and as I went in, I saw this huge arch or door, and in front of it was a man with a guitar.
"The back-lighting from the sun, illuminating the doorway would be a perfect background for a silhouette shot of the man," I thought.
I then put some money in his box and asked if he could play a song for me.
I also asked if he could stand in the doorway but he was very reluctant.
It was a bit disappointing because my initial intent was to photograph him in the doorway, but at least I got him to play a song.
Here's my favourite shot:
After a few minutes of random photographing, I went outside to go back down so I could continue to look for other places and things to take pictures of.
Outside, I saw this group of Chinese men looking up at St. Paul's statue, who then started to set up a sort of rig for their cameras.
As I got closer, I saw that they were stacking up their Canon DSLRs on top of each other for a shot!
It was a Canon EOS 5D MkIII on top of a Canon EOS 7D with a 17-40 f4L lens, all of which would cost almost RM20k!
I asked if it was okay to take photos of their setup and one guy said it was okay:
"Where are you from?" I asked one of the guys.
"Beijing TV show about travelling," he said.
No wonder they had all this pro gear.
"Oh, I was in Beijing two years ago!" I said.
There was a short exchange of inaudible conversation, which I just babbled on about stuff I did in Beijing.
I wished them good luck and said my goodbyes before going down the steps back to Bandar Hilir.
As I was going down, there was a group of girls resting on the ledge.
I recognized them from Photography class and said hello.
I took a photo of them for the report and suddenly a Chinese couple asked if they could take a photo with them.
First, the man told the woman to sit down with the girls so he could take their photo with his phone.
After that, I asked the man to sit down with them so I could take their photo with my camera:
Immediately after I took the photo, the man got up and hugged me.
Maybe he was grateful for our friendliness.
"Where are you from?" this sentence was starting to come out naturally for some reason.
"Taiwan," he said, smiling.
"Oh, cool! Welcome to Malaysia!" I said.
He was very joyful, the man.
He asked that his partner take a photo of him and myself.
And after that, he hugged me again.
Maybe he was in a good mood.
I think he was sort of grateful for the hospitality we showed.
I then walked up to the big waterwheel, took some photos, crossed the bridge to the other side and walked some more, where I suddenly found myself in front of Hard Rock Cafe Melaka:
I went into the Rock Shop, looked at some shirts but it was already 1PM by the time I got there and I was already starving.
I looked into the cafe right next door and thought, "what the heck" and went in.
"Table for one," I told the receptionist.
"Right this way, sir,".
I sat down and was handed my menu.
"Your server will be here in a moment," he said.
I looked at the menu and a lot of deliciously photographed food came to sight.
There were burgers, steaks and a whole lot of cocktails (no, I got a Coke).
I ordered my Legendary 10 oz. Burger (medium rare) and just sat back and took in the atmosphere.
Suddenly, a familiar voice was heard.
"Hey! You found it!"
It was the American man I met earlier at St. Paul's Hill.
"Oh, hey! Are you having your lunch here, too? Is your family here?" I replied with a surprised tone.
I turned around to see his wife and daughter also sitting at the table right behind me.
I gestured to them and they waved back.
The thing is, I have trained myself over the years to not really look into other people's tables because it pisses me off when other people do it to me.
I told him how I followed his directions and he also told me that he's been walking up and down hills, going all over the place before reaching Hard Rock Cafe.
"Well, enjoy your lunch!" I think both of us said it but in a slightly different way.
Along the course of my meal, he passed by my table and gave some friendly words.
I was taking a photo of my food when he said, "Yeah! Make sure you get a photo of that. Are you online now?"
Before I could answer he continued, "Are you on Facebook now?", looking at his daughter this time.
"Yeah," she replied.
"Gotta tell the whole world," he jokingly said.
"Well, I'll leave you to your lunch now. Enjoy," he said as he walked back to his table.
It was a jolly experience, and not even a bit of a nuisance.
My waiter, Nelson, was also very friendly.
He had asked which Hard Rock Cafes I've been to and stuff.
There was also another waitress, Mas, who I asked what song was currently being played on the screen with the sweet sound system.
It was Rosco Bandana with Time To Begin.
Check that out if you have the time.
When I finished my meal, I got up and went to the American man's table.
Up until then, even after I said my goodbyes to the family, we didn't introduce ourselves formally.
I keep forgetting to tell people my name and when you're busy talking, you don't remember the details of it all.
I shook hands with everyone and they said their thanks, for reasons I'm not sure of.
I left them to their meal and proceeded to buy some T-shirts for my brother and dad.
I kept thinking to myself that I should at least write down my name and e-mail for them to find me in the future, but then I also thought that I should leave it on a high note.
Like, I'll just become the friendly stranger tourists get to meet and have a friendly exchange along their travels.
After lunch, I was already tired and dehydrated.
I wasn't up for more shooting, so I looked for a place to chill and review my photos.
Of course, I settled in a cool corner at Starbucks at Dataran Pahlawan, where I got to my processing and used about a good hour.
Then, I went back to the assembly point where everyone had to gather before heading back to Johor.
During the whole trip, I didn't just interact with random tourists, though.
I also got to be friendly and just sort of hang out with my Photography classmates, who turn out to be a very outgoing bunch, as well.
In class, getting to know somebody isn't easy and it sometimes takes a trip like this to really get to know a person.
In class, I'm pretty focused and whenever I speak, it's almost always when I'm answering a lecturer's question or even correcting their mistake.
Because of that, I'm afraid people might see me as a douchebag smartass that can't let anything go.
I don't mean to show off, but I do feel responsible when there's a mistake but nobody says anything about it, which will ultimately lead to everyone making the mistake without even realizing it.
As Uncle Ben (Martin Sheen) said in The Amazing Spider-Man, "if you could do good things for other people, you had a moral obligation to do those things".
Socializing is best done in the great outdoors.
It doesn't matter where, as long as it's with the right people.
You won't always get to know or meet with the good ones, but when you do, you should be just as good.
I love doing street photography and to go back out to just walk around aimlessly for photographs is an amazing opportunity.
I came back with a few good photos and a lot more confidence.
I also had my Photography lecturer give critique on my event shots and he says that I really need to work more on capturing the moment.
Photography is a wonderful thing.
Taking photos is one thing, but the journey is what's more important.
Have you ever had those kind of days where you'd go out and expect one thing to happen but then something else comes up?
Like, as you fall asleep as the day passed by, you ask yourself if the day was awesome or just another day.
My entry tonight is about a day that wasn't totally mind-blowing but at the same time pretty fulfilling.
Last Saturday, my Photography class went on an outing to The Historical City Malacca as part of our course.
There were groups and stuff to remember and a photo competition that everyone participated in by default.
It was cool that I was actually part of a real photography course and it finally sank in on that day.
I ended up touring around alone, which isn't something I haven't done before.
When I was in KL, I did some street photography alone for three days and it was great.
And this was no different.
I was dressed in my classic Hard Rock Cafe tee, with Sydney written on the bottom, black shoes, brown pants and a hat my grandmother had given to my brother.
I wore it because it reminded me of Kai from DigitalRev, so I felt that it would give me some sort of inspiration and motivation.
At first I felt kind of lost.
I didn't know what to do.
Of course, I had to take photos but in my mind, I had it so hard that I didn't want to take anything too ordinary.
But Malacca being a tourist attraction for many, many years now, there really isn't anything left unphotographed.
Or so I thought.
Here's one of my first shots of the day.
Guess what it is:
As I'm very attracted to colours, this was something that gave me great drive to look for more wonderful blends on hues around the city.
I didn't find more of it, though.
I, then, found myself at the foot of St. Paul's hill.
It's this hill that has a church at the summit, where you have to climb a steep flight of stairs just to reach it.
As I came upon the stairs, there was this man, American I presume, coming down the steps who when he came to the foot, paused and sort of looked upwards.
I also stopped and took a photo of him looking upwards to the stairs.
There was another person, a girl, walking down.
However, she was clearly an Asian girl.
And as she neared us at the bottom of the stairs, the man exclaimed, "Hey! Say hello to him. Sydney!"
The girl looked over to me and smiled and said hi.
She, too, was wearing a Hard Rock Cafe T-shirt, but hers was Sentosa Island, Singapore.
I said hello.
"Are you guys from Sydney?" I asked.
"No, we're visiting from Thailand," the man replied.
There was a woman standing beside him and the girl joined them.
So, they were a family.
"I went to Bangkok in March for a concert. Korean Music Wave, where all those Korean groups came down,"
"Oh, did you go?" the man asked his daughter, I presume.
"No, I didn't," she said.
"Have you visited the Hard Rock Cafe here?" the man asked.
"No, I haven't. I don't even know where it is,"
The man then proceeded to give me detailed directions to the newly open Hard Rock Cafe in Malacca.
We said our last greetings and parted ways.
I wished them a happy visit to Malacca and proceeded to climb the hill.
As I reached the summit, I saw the very run-down church, now filled with tourists and visitors.
I took some photos outside and as I went in, I saw this huge arch or door, and in front of it was a man with a guitar.
"The back-lighting from the sun, illuminating the doorway would be a perfect background for a silhouette shot of the man," I thought.
I then put some money in his box and asked if he could play a song for me.
I also asked if he could stand in the doorway but he was very reluctant.
It was a bit disappointing because my initial intent was to photograph him in the doorway, but at least I got him to play a song.
Here's my favourite shot:
After a few minutes of random photographing, I went outside to go back down so I could continue to look for other places and things to take pictures of.
Outside, I saw this group of Chinese men looking up at St. Paul's statue, who then started to set up a sort of rig for their cameras.
As I got closer, I saw that they were stacking up their Canon DSLRs on top of each other for a shot!
It was a Canon EOS 5D MkIII on top of a Canon EOS 7D with a 17-40 f4L lens, all of which would cost almost RM20k!
I asked if it was okay to take photos of their setup and one guy said it was okay:
"Where are you from?" I asked one of the guys.
"Beijing TV show about travelling," he said.
No wonder they had all this pro gear.
"Oh, I was in Beijing two years ago!" I said.
There was a short exchange of inaudible conversation, which I just babbled on about stuff I did in Beijing.
I wished them good luck and said my goodbyes before going down the steps back to Bandar Hilir.
As I was going down, there was a group of girls resting on the ledge.
I recognized them from Photography class and said hello.
I took a photo of them for the report and suddenly a Chinese couple asked if they could take a photo with them.
First, the man told the woman to sit down with the girls so he could take their photo with his phone.
After that, I asked the man to sit down with them so I could take their photo with my camera:
Immediately after I took the photo, the man got up and hugged me.
Maybe he was grateful for our friendliness.
"Where are you from?" this sentence was starting to come out naturally for some reason.
"Taiwan," he said, smiling.
"Oh, cool! Welcome to Malaysia!" I said.
He was very joyful, the man.
He asked that his partner take a photo of him and myself.
And after that, he hugged me again.
Maybe he was in a good mood.
I think he was sort of grateful for the hospitality we showed.
I then walked up to the big waterwheel, took some photos, crossed the bridge to the other side and walked some more, where I suddenly found myself in front of Hard Rock Cafe Melaka:
I went into the Rock Shop, looked at some shirts but it was already 1PM by the time I got there and I was already starving.
I looked into the cafe right next door and thought, "what the heck" and went in.
"Table for one," I told the receptionist.
"Right this way, sir,".
I sat down and was handed my menu.
"Your server will be here in a moment," he said.
I looked at the menu and a lot of deliciously photographed food came to sight.
There were burgers, steaks and a whole lot of cocktails (no, I got a Coke).
I ordered my Legendary 10 oz. Burger (medium rare) and just sat back and took in the atmosphere.
Suddenly, a familiar voice was heard.
"Hey! You found it!"
It was the American man I met earlier at St. Paul's Hill.
"Oh, hey! Are you having your lunch here, too? Is your family here?" I replied with a surprised tone.
I turned around to see his wife and daughter also sitting at the table right behind me.
I gestured to them and they waved back.
The thing is, I have trained myself over the years to not really look into other people's tables because it pisses me off when other people do it to me.
I told him how I followed his directions and he also told me that he's been walking up and down hills, going all over the place before reaching Hard Rock Cafe.
"Well, enjoy your lunch!" I think both of us said it but in a slightly different way.
Along the course of my meal, he passed by my table and gave some friendly words.
I was taking a photo of my food when he said, "Yeah! Make sure you get a photo of that. Are you online now?"
Before I could answer he continued, "Are you on Facebook now?", looking at his daughter this time.
"Yeah," she replied.
"Gotta tell the whole world," he jokingly said.
"Well, I'll leave you to your lunch now. Enjoy," he said as he walked back to his table.
It was a jolly experience, and not even a bit of a nuisance.
My waiter, Nelson, was also very friendly.
He had asked which Hard Rock Cafes I've been to and stuff.
There was also another waitress, Mas, who I asked what song was currently being played on the screen with the sweet sound system.
It was Rosco Bandana with Time To Begin.
Check that out if you have the time.
When I finished my meal, I got up and went to the American man's table.
Up until then, even after I said my goodbyes to the family, we didn't introduce ourselves formally.
I keep forgetting to tell people my name and when you're busy talking, you don't remember the details of it all.
I shook hands with everyone and they said their thanks, for reasons I'm not sure of.
I left them to their meal and proceeded to buy some T-shirts for my brother and dad.
I kept thinking to myself that I should at least write down my name and e-mail for them to find me in the future, but then I also thought that I should leave it on a high note.
Like, I'll just become the friendly stranger tourists get to meet and have a friendly exchange along their travels.
After lunch, I was already tired and dehydrated.
I wasn't up for more shooting, so I looked for a place to chill and review my photos.
Of course, I settled in a cool corner at Starbucks at Dataran Pahlawan, where I got to my processing and used about a good hour.
Then, I went back to the assembly point where everyone had to gather before heading back to Johor.
During the whole trip, I didn't just interact with random tourists, though.
I also got to be friendly and just sort of hang out with my Photography classmates, who turn out to be a very outgoing bunch, as well.
In class, getting to know somebody isn't easy and it sometimes takes a trip like this to really get to know a person.
In class, I'm pretty focused and whenever I speak, it's almost always when I'm answering a lecturer's question or even correcting their mistake.
Because of that, I'm afraid people might see me as a douchebag smartass that can't let anything go.
I don't mean to show off, but I do feel responsible when there's a mistake but nobody says anything about it, which will ultimately lead to everyone making the mistake without even realizing it.
As Uncle Ben (Martin Sheen) said in The Amazing Spider-Man, "if you could do good things for other people, you had a moral obligation to do those things".
Socializing is best done in the great outdoors.
It doesn't matter where, as long as it's with the right people.
You won't always get to know or meet with the good ones, but when you do, you should be just as good.
I love doing street photography and to go back out to just walk around aimlessly for photographs is an amazing opportunity.
I came back with a few good photos and a lot more confidence.
I also had my Photography lecturer give critique on my event shots and he says that I really need to work more on capturing the moment.
Photography is a wonderful thing.
Taking photos is one thing, but the journey is what's more important.
"Ain't about what's waiting on the other side~
It's the climb~"
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