Namecard

Updates Part 2

This is the second most boring post in my entire blog history i guess.
The fact is, i'm typing this just to update my blog, have fun :)

Let's recap, from my second last post, i said that i'm going to get that new lens, so yea i've got it after my exams.So...? nah nothing..
Weird enough, i purchased another one this morning, since the deal came close to what i wanted. hmm..just to try it out. 70-300mm, it's not really expensive. I don't expect fantastic results with it either. Hopefully it arrives by Saturday.So till then...Exams are coming and i hate them..X(

Updates..

Hie, thanks for eli.This is going to be an update after a very long time..Thank you.
Please drop by at my flickr account. http://www.flickr.com/photos/ilura/
There's nothing much to blog about since life is mundane.Thank you for checking my blog out.It's still alive....finally...
Exams are coming very soon and i've still yet to drag myself to turn the pages.More so when i don't even understand what i've been studying for nearly the whole semester.I'm just so dead...

New lens = New Toy

Nah, i wouldn't say it's really a new toy. By the way, guess so, i can't remember myself spending hundred on a toy when i was a kid.I guess the most expensive useless toy i've ever bought is a Tamiya scale modelling tank or truck for more than Rm200+ each..Plus it's been more than 8 years and it's still lying around in the cupboard uncompleted.. Thinking about it makes me wanna knock my head against the wall...~KOK KOK KOK~3 times.. I've just bought the cheapest lens in Nikon's lineup after spending a night thinking about it.. Third feeling the adrenaline rush while paying. First was carrying a huge amount of cash to purchase the camera itself while riding a bike all the way from Melaka to pudu plaza.. Crazy things people will do..Won't ever think of such thing in my life ever again..By the way, the adrenaline rush was just exaggeration.

Nonetheless there is this weird feeling when parting with your cash, before you know it, it's gone in a few seconds and you start to ponder if it's really worth it.. Ha.. The lens that need no introduction is the 'quite good for it's price' 50mm f/1.8D AF Nikkor. It's like one of the basic needs, something like if u own computer, you'll buy an extra DVD burner eventhought u have a CD burner. Oops..Sounds wrong..Got a good bargain for it. So when i came home, i tried it spontaneously. Results? Look below. Nice... Anyway, it's good for me.. Coming up next.. The Tamron AF 17-50mm f/2.8 XR Di II LD Aspherical [IF] soon after my exams....

Shower me with lenses please..(click photo for enlargement)



Shutter:1/500
Aperture:f4.5
Focal Length:50mm
Flash:Fill flash BL
Metering: Centre Weighted Average.

p/s: Anyone who wanna do outdoor portraiture, please enquire. Package will be discussed according to budget.

Kim Gary

Today has been such a dull day, there isn't anything exciting to blog about nowadays.For some reason i don't know, maybe because lately i've beena bit weary of putting my thoughts here, because some people would read it and judge that you are shallow.So blogs are suppose to be souped up with fantastic facts, figures or well thought reflection of life? Nah who cares if it's an intellectual blog or a bimbotic blog? If that's the case, so what if it's bimbotic not that people are gonna stop reading it right? So just keep quiet and move on with life.

Okay, so lately i don't have the urge to eat or either go out for dinner except for what happened today.I was lazing around in front of my pc until my parents came knocking on my room door, asking me to join them for dinner. Due to my laziness, as usual during exam week , i don't really have the slightest excitement about leaving home at all. But something caught my attention, when i surfed Hua Ying's blog. There was a post saying Kim Gary in Melaka... Suddenly the thought of savoury cheese baked rice came across my mind.I couldn't resist it..goodness, so straight away i sent her an sms asking her where's that place. A few minutes past and i could resist it anymore, called her on my mobile but to no avail. At that instance, i started to google kim gary malacca with utter excitement that cheese baked rice is finally in Malacca. Behold, i couldn't find any post about it.

I started messaging malaccan friends on msn. Until i smsed shirlyn, knowing that she's pretty happening lately, so i guessed that she should know if it's really in Malacca. She said, yea it's in Dataran Pahlawan.Fuh.. at that instance i raced downstairs asking my parents to go for dinner at Kim Gary's. Hahaa..

Then it's all happy until..Hua Ying messaged while we're on our way to Kim Gary. She said, er it's in Dataran Pahlawan opposite starbucks.. But wait, that's not it... she said, it's not Kim Gary but a Hong Kong restaurant like Kim Gary.Surprised i messaged her asking why did u post Kim Gary..She said, dunno what name it's a metaphor..I nearly died at that instance.Since we're on our way..No point turning back..So off we went to this place called De Fun Cafe or something..

The food there was utterly not really nice.No where near Kim Gary's. The waitress couldn't even differentiate the white sauce from the red sauce, because when my cheese rice came with white sauce, i asked her if this is the order.She keep insisting that this is red sauce, but definetly it's not. Long before another waiter came and say that it's wrong..Swt...

That's all for today, haven't been posting anything lately though.So happy reading. :)

Simple Portraiture

Find Us Faithful

It's been a long time since i last posted anything on my blog. :)
If it wasn't for the busy schedule, running from one place to another, it would have been updated long ago. Last Sunday, my friends and I were invited to perform a mime entitled Find Us Faithful at a local church. The song speaks about the legacy and heritage we leave behind for others who would follow and come behind us.The message that day from Ps. Goh was indeed really inspiring, the title of her sermon that blessed morning was Find Us Faithful.What's finding us faithful?

Many a times, we're like pilgrims on a journey of a narrow road. Living a life carrying this legacy isn't a straight broad path. Neither can we say it's absolutely hard, but we know that there is someone there guiding us nonetheless. There are moments when we go through hardships and joy. Wouldn't we feel something amiss if our lives are all full of hardships without joy or vice versa?

Let us leave to those who were behind us a heritage of faithfulness passed through Godly lives. The hardest challenge as Christians is to live a life of faithfulness. As many times we fail, we should always pick ourselves up again..

Find us Faithful by Steven Green
We're pilgrims on the journey
Of the narrow road
And those who've gone before us line the way
Cheering on the faithful, encouraging the weary
Their lives a stirring testament to God's sustaining grace

Surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses
Let us run the race not only for the prize
But as those who've gone before us
Let us leave to those behind us
The heritage of faithfulness passed on through godly lives

Oh may all who come behind us find us faithful
May the fire of our devotion light their way
May the footprints that we leave
Lead them to believe
And the lives we live inspire them to obey
Oh may all who come behind us find us faithful

After all our hopes and dreams have come and gone
And our children sift though all we've left behind
May the clues that they discover and the memories they uncover
Become the light that leads them to the road we each must find

Here are some photos of our mime entitled Find Us Faithful.

Elaine and me


Grace




Rebecca








Four of us on stage



















Grace, Elaine and Rebecca

Love one another.

John 13:34-35
"A new command I give to you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another."

The Bible teaches us that the God we believe in is a God of love.He loves those who belong to Him- He loves us, His children and He also loves those who are outside of His family.

It is easier to love and esteem one another as fellow believers in Christ Jesus. Now that we are in Christ we must view each other in the body of Christ as our brothers and sisters. Then loving one another becomes natural and easy. Loving our brothers and sisters in Christ should flow naturally, just like loving our blood brothers and sisters.

This love distinguishes us as followers of Christ(1 John 3:23). It is a self-giving and sacrificial love that seeks the good of another (1 John 4:9-10).Our relationship is characterised by a devoted concern that seeks to promote the highest good of our brothers and sisters in Christ.

It is important that we learn to extend our love beyond those whom we are comfortable with. Often times we find it hard to love, edify or encourage them. We find it hard to hold them in high esteem because they have faulted us. It is easier to ignore them even though we may not take revenge.

But Jesus says, "don't resist an evil person" (Matthew 5:39). What He means is that when we are wronged we are not to react with hatred, but in a way that shows we have values that are centred in Christ. To be more like Jesus means to love others as we love ourselves.

Romans 12:9-12
Love must be sincere.Hate what is evil; cling to what is good.Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honour one another above yourselves. Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervour, serving the Lord. Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction , faithful in prayer.

Unity

In the life and ministry of Jesus, He prayed many times for the needs of the people.He healed the sick, fed the poor and delivered those bound (eg. the prostitues, tax collectors, demonised, etc.) He commanded the storm to stop and fig tree to stop growing.He even raised the dead by the word of His mouth. He was so authoritative and powerful that nothing could withstand Him.In fact, Jesus didn't need to say long prayers to get things done.

There is, however, one occasion where He did say a long prayer - He prayed for His disciples then and now to be united.

John 17 :20-25
Jesus Prays for All Believers 20"My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, 21that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: 23I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. 24"Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world. 25"Righteous Father, though the world does not know you, I know you, and they know that you have sent me.

What are the ways we can be one?
It's only through Christ. The unity that Jesus prayed for was not organisational unity but spiritual one based on Him (Christ) living in us.So long as we acknowledge Jesus as Lord and Savior, we are one.

John 1:12 says "Yet to all who received Him, to those who believe in His name, He gave the right to become children of God."

Because of Christ and in Him, we become God's children and therefore we are a family. Subsequently, we affirm that we are unified as one body in Christ.

The second mentioned of unity in this passage is found in verse 23. Jesus prayed that we may be brought to complete unity to let the world know that God indeed sent Christ..

What was the reason that Jesus prayed that we will be united as one?
The reason is that through unity in the church, the world may know Christ.As Jesus cannot be divided, so also the church cannot be divided. Division is a sickness of mankind.Resentment, hatred, killings and wars stem from division and mankind is sick of them. The world He lived was filled with divisions. Where can we find unity? Jesus says, only in His church and among His disciples.

John 13:34-35 says, " A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another." Through a concious heart to love one another, the world will take notice of the church and be won over. Therefore, we should not act independently of one another and that in Christ we should have a mutual dependence on and submission to one another.

The third mention of unity in this passage is alluded in verse 26.
Jesus prayed that He had made God the Father known to us in order that God's love may be in us and that Christ may be in us.

Why is it important to emphasize on church unity?
The greatest thing Christ gave to His church is love.
Romans 5:5 says, "God has poured out His love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom He has given to us." The love God gave to us is so precious that it requitres Jesus to die in order that we may have it.However, just as it is given , it can also be snatched away - by the devil. Therefore, we must do our best to prevent this from happening. Not only in our lives, but also in the lives of others in church.

The love in us is the testimony that Christ lives in us. God and Christ have done their part by giving us this precious gift. We must do our part now. We should be reminded to be sensitive to yield our rights to one another, seeking the Lord's best (the love of God) for the body (forever).

I hope my sharing above will help each of us grow spiritually.
I will be able to share on other topics as the weeks progress, different core values that we should consider and not miss in our lives.