m4dst3r_Inc.

Week in the Life: Sunday, last day!

noreply@blogger.com (GladysDavid) — Sun, 25 Sep 2011 12:47:00 +0000

Last day of WITL!

Phew~

I did not do a strict follow through with the project. But, here's a self congratulations to a first step of appreciating the everyday. I'm definitely going to follow Ali Edwards' Week In The Life project next year and I'm very sure I have something to compare it with. Finished album post coming up as soon as I get the printed.

Err... anyone know where I can get print in 12" x 12" here in Kota Kinabalu?

Week in the Life: Saturday

noreply@blogger.com (GladysDavid) — Sat, 24 Sep 2011 13:45:00 +0000

Here's how Saturday looks like:

Week in the Life: Friday

noreply@blogger.com (GladysDavid) — Fri, 23 Sep 2011 13:41:00 +0000

My Friday is like this:

Week in the Life: Thursday

noreply@blogger.com (GladysDavid) — Thu, 22 Sep 2011 15:15:00 +0000

Last day of training. An interesting one, I should say. Can't wait to implement what I've learnt.

Anyway, here's how Thursday looks like:

Week in the Life: Wednesday

noreply@blogger.com (GladysDavid) — Wed, 21 Sep 2011 14:57:00 +0000

Hello Wednesday!

Still busy with training but I'm still at it. WITL, that is :)

Week in the Life: Tuesday

noreply@blogger.com (GladysDavid) — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 15:40:00 +0000

I made it through my second day of Week In The Life. I consider that an achievement! Hooray!

It's been a busy day with new machinery training but there's a bit more photo today compared to yesterday.

Need more eye practice in capturing ordinary and routine stuff. I have yet to take picture of my food. Hmm, that's a thought... shall do that tomorrow. Toodles!

Week in the Life: Monday - Appreciating the ordinary

noreply@blogger.com (GladysDavid) — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 15:01:00 +0000

After a lot of to and fro-ing, I've decided to embark on a week long journey called A Week In The Life this week, starting today. It is where you spend seven days documenting your daily life, the typical kind of week you have at this point of life. I'm going to spend the whole week lugging my camera and try to capture the routine. Which I predict, will be quite a task. At the end of the week, I'm going to print out some selected pictures of each days and put it in an album together with some journaling and thoughts that I currently have at the time. Now, this might sound very rushed and confusing but I promis I'll get back to explaining things sometime soon. As I didn't want to be slowed down trying to explain stuff and lose the enthusiasm I have now to even finish this post - which will then end up along with my other unpublished drafts this year...

As at the end of today, the first day, I didn't get to take that many pictures. I think because I have a lot of getting used to as I'm one who tends glaze over little things. Excuses, excuses.... meep. Now on to pictures I've taken for Monday:

It is quite a chore to remember taking pictures all the time. I had doubts throughout the day. Not only once that I thought that I won't be able to finish and decide to put everything aside. And that's only on the first day! Btw, I'm accompanied with a set of Daily Sheets (two pages per day) where I jot down current thoughts and happenings, food I had on that particular day. Here's how my Monday Sheet looks like at the end of the day:

Note to self: I'll get better everytime I do this. Go Mlap go!

Dilemma II

noreply@blogger.com (GladysDavid) — Sat, 27 Aug 2011 16:40:00 +0000

Note to self: Please decide which of these two you want to get for next year's bonus.

A Lomo LC-A+

or Fuji Natura Classica.

As your more practical side of self, I shall limit you from buying both.

Either one. ONLY.

The Postcard Crossing Project

noreply@blogger.com (GladysDavid) — Fri, 17 Jun 2011 13:16:00 +0000

"Send a postcard and receive a postcard back from a random person somewhere in the world!"

Remember when we were in primary school, there was this fad about having a penpal from across the world? We would choose someone from a pamphlet where there are lists of various other kids from around the world and write them a letter.

For me Postcrossing.com gives off that kind of vibe, 'that' kind of anticipation and excitement - if you get what I mean.

The system randomly generate who you'll be sending postcard to. You send a postcard and now you can sit back and wait for yours to arrive from someone else. As a new member, you can have a maximum of 5 addresses to send your postcards to.

I've just sent mine today! 5 postcards for 5 people from 5 different countries.

*rubs hands and waits in anticipation*

I'll report when I received mine.

E-book: Networking Awesomely

noreply@blogger.com (GladysDavid) — Thu, 16 Jun 2011 22:54:00 +0000

Remember when I posted about Colin Wright's E-books aeons ago? One of the three - i.e. Networking Awesomely - was sold at $20 back then.

Now it is sold at a major slashed down price of $0.99 from E-bookling, a project site by the author himself. The rest of his free e-books are here too.

Click to get the Networking Awesomely e-book. I'm reading mine right now.

Sunrise at Mengkabong Bridge

noreply@blogger.com (GladysDavid) — Sun, 17 Apr 2011 09:06:00 +0000

Went to Mengkabong Bridge at dawn to catch the sunrise yesterday morning.

I set out at 4.45am from Putatan, reached Sapphire's place at 5.05am, met another friend, Darren, at the roundabout after Politeknik College and finally reached the said bridge at about 5.37am. It was still dark then, we have to wait for another few minutes before it was bright enough to take any pictures.

Although it was pretty early, them lorries and a few cars have already begun their Saturday. We parked by the roadside, where there's a narrow strip of the 'roadside' that we can squeeze most of our little cars into it, folded our side mirrors, lighted the hazard signal lights and hoped with crossed fingers that them lorry drivers are sober enough today.

The bridge shook every time they roared pass it.

Click to enlarge

It was a relatively fine morning yesterday save for the fact that a huge mass of heavy clouds blocked our view of Mount Kinabalu. We almost thought it was a wrong day to come to the bridge but we stayed anyway.

Click to enlarge

After a while, them clouds were finally - albeit slowly - being blown away. By then we're finally able to see a glimpse of the mountain top.

Click to enlarge

It was 6.30am when we decided that we should leave. I went to work straight after breakfast.

The little boxes who came with us yesterday: (from left) Kiiro, Mjolk, Kurodigi & Haagen. More shots coming up after the rolls of films from Mjolk & Haagen are developed. I can hardly wait.

Before I end this post, here's a Time Lapse Video of the Sunrise at Mengkabong Bridge that I've snatched with permission from Sapphire. I was so in awe with it that I had to watch it over and over many times and has yet to feel bored. If you liked the video do visit its FB video page and let her know!

My Book Challenge Progress

noreply@blogger.com (GladysDavid) — Mon, 28 Mar 2011 16:13:00 +0000

Click picture for a clearer view

Sorry, Marie. I can't help but feeling a little bit smug about it XD

This may sound like an excuse but, even as I failed my Weekly Post Challenge - by being absent for the whole month - I am absolutely keeping up on my other challenge e.i. to read 50 Books this year.

As of today, I have finished reading 11 books and is well into the 12th. I mentioned before that I will create a page to chart my progress but since Goodreads has a page for me to keep track of it already, I resorted to pasting a link to that page on my blogroll.

I admit, most of the books I read - that contributed to the speed and over-zealousness of my reading - were written by David Eddings. They're part of two series of five books: The Belgariad and The Malloreon. Sapphire blogged about it some time back and I thought I'd give it a try. By the time I completed the first book, I was instantly converted. And I must say that I was addicted to the point that I have to keep Stieg Larsson's trilogy on hold until I finish with them.

I'm on the last book of The Malloreon and I've already started feeling a bit sad that I'll have to part with Beldin and the rest of them soon. Sobs.

I'm going to savor this book and read it slower.

Alright, I'm going to have to continue reading now.

Toodles.

If you think J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter is brilliant, you haven't tried Eddings yet.

Photoholic Anonymous

noreply@blogger.com (GladysDavid) — Wed, 02 Feb 2011 10:20:00 +0000

I am currently on a one week long Chinese New Year holiday, since last Saturday. Jeles taks?

Hello, my name is Gladys and I'm a photoholic.
I love taking random quirky shots especially from the hip.

Yesterday, I got my hands on a Tamron AF 18-200mm F/3.5-6.3 XR Di-II LD Aspherical (AF) Macro (in Nikon mount) as an addition to my Nikon D5000 from a shop in Centre Point. For almost a year, I've been eyeing for a Nikkor AF-S DX 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 G ED VR II but it's out of stock now and I can't wait.

The shop owner's explanations made sense, why spend double the amount of money purchasing a Nikkor when you get similar functions from these two superzooms lenses?

Shortly after making the purchase, Sapphire and I went around and about town in a shooting frenzy.

Shots taken to check out the widest and tightest angle.

We went to the usual picture-taking spots namely Signal Hill, Atkinson Clock Tower, The Graffiti Ruins (Okay, that's just random. I don't know the official name of that old burned building) and Jesselton Point.

It was nearly rush hour when we decided to go home at 4.50pm so we made a detour to Times Bookstore at Suria Sabah.

By the time we walked out of the bookshop at 6.00pm - It's true, we made ourselves at home there for not less than an hour X3 - I'm all smiles because I finally have the complete set of Stieg Larsson's trilogy. Yay!

And before I end my post, here's a parting souvenir.

Sila teka which aisle was that in the picture above XD

To everyone who's celebrating Chinese New Year, have a blast! To the rest, enjoy your holiday with your family and friends. As for me, I'd love to spend this time curling up on that cozy sofa and finish my Stieg Larsson trilogy peacefully.

2011 Personal Challenges

noreply@blogger.com (GladysDavid) — Tue, 25 Jan 2011 11:33:00 +0000

Title: I'm Posting every week in 2011!

I've decided I want to blog more. Rather than just thinking about doing it, I'm starting right now. I will be posting on this blog once a week for all of 2011.

I know it won't be easy, but it might be fun, inspiring, awesome and wonderful. Therefore I'm promising to make use of The DailyPost, and the community of other bloggers with similiar goals, to help me along the way, including asking for help when I need it and encouraging others when I can.

If you already read my blog, I hope you'll encourage me with comments and likes, and good will along the way.

Signed,

Gladys David.

As anyone can guess, I copied and pasted the whole thing from the sample from The DailyPost and plopped my name in at the bottom. Hehe.

I first found out about the challenge from Chegu Carol and committed myself to it almost immediately upon reading her post. I think it is an interesting way to keep blogging faithfully every week, especially with the constant prodding in the form of email newsletters from TheDailyPost. The challenge is targeting Wordpress.com users but I guess there's no harm for someone like me - a blogger.com user - in joining in, no?

Postaweek2011 posts shall be tagged as such and my take on the challenge shall begin next week.

On another note, I'm also doing my reading challenge this year too, calling it - obviously - 50 Books Challenge 2011. I wasn't able to finish all 50 books I've slated for last year - only managed to finish a bit over half of the sum because I'm easily distracted and l.a.z.y. - but I will continue to be optimistic this year and well, read on. A page will be created here for my easy reference and accountability. I'm desperate to finish my stack of books because I buy books faster than I can ever finish them. Le sigh.

So, there's no resolutions or whatsoever for me this year. I failed 80% of my resolutions miserably last year. Too. Mostly because they're forgotten right after I hit publish. I think I do challenges better.

Wish me luck, Amis.

Happy New Year 2011!

noreply@blogger.com (GladysDavid) — Sun, 09 Jan 2011 12:55:00 +0000

Pardon my late new year greeting.

I'm happy to announce that I'll be hanging around + lurking more now that I've temporarily solved my laptop display problem. I got myself a 19" LCD monitor from Karamunsing yesterday and it is now permanantly attached to my laptop. My desk now looks like the picture above (as Kuro sees it).

And the picture below is showing the flickr-ness of my laptop screen compared to the crisp and huge display of the monitor. To avoid headache and distraction I taped an A4 paper over it (again, as seen in the picture above) and might be using it as some... light box, maybe? I'll think about it later.

Everything seems okay for now except for the fact that I have to look to my left when using it as opposed to my instinctive urge to look straight to the front while typing.

I find it kinda funny.

In a weird way.

I'm going to prove its weirdness with this.

If it so happens that you and I ended up chatting on Skype or Yahoo Messenger, you'll have to get used to me not facing the camera, but constantly looking to its left.

Any way, I'm just happy I can participate in the online rumble again ^^

I feel so crippled!

noreply@blogger.com (GladysDavid) — Thu, 23 Dec 2010 12:32:00 +0000

Yes. Just like the facebook clipping above says. I am without a working computer right now. See you around during Chinese New Year - coz that's when I might get some cash to do something about my laptop.

Right now, I won't be able to blog, surf, lurk or play any flash games unless I hijack my mom's netbook which will be quite a hassle to us both.

Till then, see you around ^^

Hello from Namiseom Island, South Korea

noreply@blogger.com (GladysDavid) — Tue, 21 Dec 2010 02:28:00 +0000

Daily Disturbances II

noreply@blogger.com (GladysDavid) — Tue, 09 Nov 2010 12:29:00 +0000

Happy Tuesday!

Rainy days makes people feel sluggish, no? I had a hard time waking up this morning for work but after that things went nicely, like it normally would. I hope yours did too :)

In the meantime, here's another Daily Disturbances clip that was unintentionally - well, at least the kitty part was not planned - recorded minutes ago. I was sooooo distracted I got the lyrics mixed up and eventually, didn't felt like continuing... too many mistakes, but so sayang mahu delete this clip. It ended up here instead.

Guys, this is Charlie... please say Hi to him!

It has begun: The search for the perfect 2011 planner.

noreply@blogger.com (GladysDavid) — Fri, 05 Nov 2010 01:29:00 +0000

Now that we're into the final two months before 2011, it is only natural to begin the annual search for the perfect diary/planner/scheduler/journal or whatever you prefer to call it.

I've been goog-ogling at online sites that sells neat planners since last night and they seriously made me drool.

{Click respective pics to view their description}

Aren't they cute?

If only they weren't so expensive when converted to RM. Le sigh.

For now I need to get some breakfast. I'm gonna get severe gastritis if I continue on looking at them planner any longer. Saya sangat mahu!

Borneo Bloggers + New Media Dialogue 2010

noreply@blogger.com (GladysDavid) — Mon, 01 Nov 2010 18:00:00 +0000

{Photos courtesy of FlaneganB & Irham}

Last weekend was a blast! ~ GladysDavid

B2.0 has arrived and passed but I can vouch for one thing; it will not leave its participants the same as before.

For those who are not familiar, B2.0 is an event that sees bloggers gather from various ends of Borneo together. There are bloggers from Kalimantan, Brunei, Sarawak and of course, from Sabah, this year's host. One of it's two major highlights is the New Media Dialogue, where speakers from Borneo along with their counterparts from Singapore and Philippines share their experience and thoughts on different topics - i.e. trends, practices and issues revolving bloggers in Borneo and South East Asia. Click for Speaker's List.

I didn't get to attend the Dialogue.

Though, with all the buzz going around after it, I'm hard set on not missing next year's.

What I did not get first hand, however, I managed to collect through bits and pieces of information from those who managed to attend. Summarized in points, some of the things that were exposed to the participants are: (1) the importance of owning a domain name, (2) niche blogging and monetization, (3) legal issues concerning blogging.

Another highlight of the event is the first ever Borneo Bloggers Awards Night. Eight bloggers managed to rise and be finalists, placing themselves within reach for the coveted RM 10,000.00 cash reward the Award offers. They have each contributed an article promoting Borneo and after weeks of campaigning the wait has finally come to an end that night.

I personally got cold feet as Daniel - being the emcee that night - teased everyone by dragging the the announcement longer.

Who's that lucky blogger?

People, lets congratulate Muhammad Irhamna, the environmental blogger from Kalimantan. Being the only blogger who actually has a clearly defined niche, I think he is a great choice for Borneo's Top Blogger 2010. Congrats again Irham!

Throughout the event I had the chance to meet quite a number of other bloggers. It's awesome to finally be able to get to know them in person and connect on a higher level... beyond lurking each other's blogs.

Bravo to those who worked themselves off in order make B2.0 a successful event. You people rock!

And lastly, B2.0 participants: I can't wait to see what you're going to do now that you've attended the Dialogue X3

What have I been up to recently?

noreply@blogger.com (GladysDavid) — Thu, 05 Aug 2010 15:02:00 +0000

The last month has been the month I fell off the earth's surface. Erm, more like the virtual earth's. No new blog posts, minimal twitter and facebook updates, and was slacking off ym chat more often than I would like.

Here's what I have been up to for the past month till now:

1- Catching up on my 50 books challenge. Time is running out!

2- Games galore. Battling ZOMG monsters online; Conquering monopolyland & making virtual cupcakes offline XD

3- Staring intently on laptop screen watching JDrama, Anime, DVD movies.

4- And lastly, I doodled some freebies on Gaia.

And, that'd be my main activity all the while I was missing. Miss me anybody?

I'm torn between choices

noreply@blogger.com (GladysDavid) — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 04:46:00 +0000

Or ?

My 50 books challenge for 2010

noreply@blogger.com (GladysDavid) — Sun, 04 Jul 2010 03:38:00 +0000

Yes, a little to late i think, but heck! Lets see how far this goes.

After spending a few months hanging out solo at Goodreads - of course there's my good friend Marie in there too, but then it's just the two of us - I finally joined Goodreads Malaysia, a group of avid reading Malaysians. It feels great having a place to gather and discuss about regional reading matters but the best thing they have is the 2010, 50 books challenge.

Just what I needed to boost my reading enthusiasm.

Do I get any prize for completing the challenge? No. But what I do get is a personal satisfaction that I have completed 50 books and finally, be able to finish reading my ever-growing stack of books - or mourn over the money I have wasted just because I love hoarding stuff.

Here's a simple rule I made for myself: One, the books can be either bought or borrowed from the library or friend. Two, the books can be a printed one or e-book version. Three, books must be read from cover to cover. The ones that I almost finish of with chapters skipped are not eligible to be put on the list.

And, listed below are the books that I have read for the first half of 2010.

1. Tuesdays with Morrie, Mitch Albom
2. The One Minute Entrepreneur: The Secret to Creating and Sustaining a Successful Business, Ken Blanchard, Don Hutson, Ethan Willis
3. Dewey: The Small-Town Library Cat Who Touched the World, Vicki Myron
4. For One More Day, Mitch Albom
5. Diary of a Wimpy Kid,Jeff Kinney

6. Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules, Jeff Kinney

7. Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Last Straw, Jeff Kinney

8. The To-Do List, Mike Gayle

9. Wish You Were Here, Mike Gayle

10.The Life and Soul of the Party, Mike Gayle

11.Honk!, If You're Malaysian,Lydia Teh

12. Personal Branding, Colin Wright

13. How to be Remarkable, Colin Wright

That means I have 37 more books to read *gulped* wish me luck!

Just, I Love You

noreply@blogger.com (GladysDavid) — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 16:05:00 +0000

Kanojo wa yoku usotsuki da. She used to lie very often. - Makoto Segawa.

Tada Kimi wo Aishiteru - its international title being Heavenly Forest - is a beautiful love story following - in extended snapshots - the life of photographer Makoto, and the relationship that evolves between him and two of his female university classmates, Shizuru and Miyuki.

A brilliant novel adaptation by Takehiko Shinjo, this film boasts the appearances of Hiroshi Tamaki (known as Chiaki-senpai of Nodame Cantabile fame) as the clueless and shy Makoto, Aoi Miyazaki (Komatsu Nana of Nana 1) as childish Shizuru and Meisa Kuroki (of Dance! Subaru) who plays the beautiful Miyuki.

To be honest, the only reason I felt compelled to watch this movie last year was because I've just completed watching Nodame Cantabile and needed more Chiaki-senpai fix. By the end of the movie though, I am truly in awe. Not so much because of Hiroshi Tamaki - although he did well too - but more of Aoi Miyazaki. I've never heard of this girl who played Shizuru but it is very clear throughout the movie that she pwned it from start to finish. Her character's exuberance and charm grow into you as the movie progresses and you can't help but feel for her. A girl who looked like an elementary school kid and almost always dismissed as a wierdo by the more 'normal' students, she is however... pure, silently determined and nyum! cooks very well.

The story never gets boring and steadily built up viewers anticipation of finding out its ending. The movie carrying the powerful message of treasuring things that almost always left taken for granted, is very moving and I admit it left me in tears towards the end. A case not of unrequited love (though there are some of that element too) but of love that is within your reach but have missed forever.

The song for Tada Kimi, one sang by Ai Otsuka conforms with the overall theme of the movie. I have attached the ending credits below where the theme song Renai Sashin (Lit. Photographs of Love) is playing. Be sure to watch every second of it as it contains beautiful still photographs and clips from the movie.

Although I've watched it at least three times now, I'm sure whenever I see this movie on the shelves of my local DVD store I will grab one. That's how much in love I am with this movie. Too bad they doesn't run it on cinemas over here; I wanted to watch it with all its glorious beauty in HD.

Must watch rating: 5/5.

Can be found here.

Link Love Thursdays :)

noreply@blogger.com (GladysDavid) — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 16:05:00 +0000

{click to view source}

It's July now. We have officially passed the middle mark of 2010. Time flies and I have yet to fulfil any of my new year's resolution. Ack! And I've up my sleeves more personal projects that I hope I can complete by end of year. I'll keep my fingers crossed for now.

From this week onwards, I will share some link love of sites on the Internet that strikes my fancy on Thursdays - hence the post title. Here goes:

Yippiee! Apparently PhotoYou magazine's Summer Issue is here. Now go and view the flipbook video made by Santafire. Good thing I've subscribed for it or I'll be very green with envy looking at it. We have yet to have newsstands in KK to provide us with this delicacy.
Last week, I received a newletter from amazon.com. It says Kindle is now on sale for 189USD. That is absolutely cheap, give or take it's around 615MYR considering the currency exchange is 3.25 now. Alas, I don't even have 500MYR of excess money to be used right now. Have to begrudgingly let go for now. Sobs.
Was scourging for something for my friend Ah Chan to refer to for her new 'adventure' as a newly converted twitterer hehehe (all that thanks to Marie and I XD) I might as well share them here too, there's a lot on google but these two are what I particularly use. 1)Link to Video. 2)Link to ebook download.
Epic Unfriend is the phrase of the year. Last week, I've unfriend-ed 50. That's a mere fracture to the 1000 Facebook friend Leo Babauta shed. All in the name of having a more manageable feed on only the people he truly know.
Get a funny error message and set it as wallpaper in your desktop. Now sit back and enjoy looking at your friends trying to click/get rid of it whenever they end up using your computer.
I found an interesting Sabahan Travel blog. Nicely designed and it contains great posts worth reading!

That's it for today!