Ministry of Beats Vol. 1 - Dinner

18th January 2010

Was invited by my friend Sharon to cover this soft opening of Lounge@Royal Oak, Hills Shopping Mall. Was thrilled to cover another event again~ =)

The other bloggers and photographers

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MENU FOR THE NIGHT

Cakes

First the cakes were brought out and we wasted no time taking pictures of it. Cupcakes and layer cakes for everyone!

Baked by Ms Heather's Speaking Roses which is just opposite the bar, situated inside the mall itself.

Let me introduce the lovely cakes....

+ Cookies +

The diamond-shaped Spicy Spring Onion lives up to its name. Upon biting and tasting the crumbs u can taste the spiciness in it. It tastes salty to me too, but its okay cos i like salty stuff ^^

Then i tried the tear-shaped Almond Golden Leaves. Right amount of sweetness and i love the almond pieces.

I think both cookies are baked very well. *thumbs up*

~ Cupcake pastries ~

I like these cupcakes. The icing on top isn't too sweet (compared to ones i've eaten in the past) and the pastry itself is just the right amount of softness. Looks very cute too~

- Layer cakes -

The chocolate cakes isn't too sweet, which is nice and the chocolate flavour is retained. However i wish it could be more chocolatey though, but that's me and my chocolate cake fetishes =P

The layered chocolate & cheese cakes are quite ok, but i think still can be improved with stronger flavours as i felt i couldn't taste much cheese/choc in it.

The way the layered cakes is presented looks like a radioactive signal doesn't it? >.<

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Drinks

The main course for the night would be beer(after all, its a pub!) but orange juices are available too. I was very 'guai' for the night; i chose to drink Green Tea instead =)

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Food

: Satay :

This is the beef satay, which i didn't try as i don't eat beef. =)

Lamb satay!! I love lambs >.< It was cooked pretty well, juicy and tender enough. Top-notch!

And the main courses are rolled out...

-o Lamb chop o-

Certainly my most favourite in western cuisine, i was very eager to try it. It was served with baked potato, salad and sum broccolis. Not bad! Quite healthy as opposed to the normal lamb chops served with fries & baked beans and buns. =)

= Steak =

Unfortunately as i do not eat beef i didn't try this. But i can eat the fries, no problem~ =P I think they put some mint dressing on the salad? Because i remember taking some fries and i tasted mint O.o but it was nice, i like it =)

* Salad *

Broccolis and carrot. What's not to like?

They did a great job for the lamb...it was cooked just right, tender and as such easy to cut and chew on. Here's for u to see the texture of the meat....full marks for meat texture. =D

My cupcake <3

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Alright, let's take a look at the bar's interior~

When i first step in from the outside i saw this quote on the wall, and i thought it's pretty neat to put such a quote in the interior. Nice quote too btw~

If you turn to ur left there's a staircase up to the lounge upstairs.

Here's how the area looks like.

I like these seats. Comfortable and i wonder if curtain can be let loose and the seat be covered and 'privatised'. LOL. Dang forgot to ask =.=""

Another quote! Found at the top of the stairs. Nice~!

So this is the bar counter, viewed from the upstairs lounge. The green part is actually beer bottles, which is cool! The countertop has a nice curvy shape. Order your drinks here~

The countertop is actually decorated by our not-for-use-anymore 1 cent coins. Talk about recycling! =D

Walk further in and u'll see the other entrance/exit of the pub, and this shelf of wines to the right side. Can u see me in the picture? =P

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Speaking Roses

Ms Heathere's shop. A nice lady who took me to her shop and introduced me around. =)

The logo is surrounded by "I Love You" phrases in different languages. Awesome!! The place is brimming with positive energy already~ =)

***

Official Pass

When we were settled with our dinner, the pub owner, Mr Ronald came out and gave us passes to his upcoming event at the bar, the Ministry of Beats Vol. 1, which is a percussions event. So excited to hear this! Because i love percussions ^^ Not only that, we were given 5 free passes each so we could bring 5 friends of our own. One free bottle of beer for everyone with a pass! =D

Note: Thanks to Sharon for information on the cakes and the names of the cookies. Pictures are taken using her Canon EOS 40D except for the very first picture. Thanks. And many apologies for the late post...

More pictures on my DeviantArt.

Green Int'l Fest Kuching Part One

No message could've been any clearer: If you wanna make the world a better place take a look at yourself then make a change! Man In The Mirror, Michael Jackson



I had the most fun Saturday night thanks to my friend who got me to attend the Green International Festival Kuching...i had a total blast!! Of course i'm really happy cos they played i think 3 or 4 MJ songs....i get to listen to 'Beat It' performed right in front of me!!! I LOVE THE BASS!!!! AND THE GUITAR RIFFS!!!!!

First time i attend a concert like this...being so close to the stage i also had a close-up look at how they took pics of all the action on stage...now i kinda have an idea how photographers, journalists all that work when they are covering events...it really sucked when they halau us from inside the fence...means no close-up shots of the performers =((

I was enjoying all the guitar, the bass, the music, the drums everything!!! If u saw me at the stage when they were playing 'Beat It' (if i remember correctly its by Orion Burn rite?) u could see a huge smile on my face LOL i feel like a kid....AHHAHAHAHA!!!!

MJ songs played: 'Beat It'..and then 'Man In The Mirror', which was sung in a 5-song medley by the pretty Sharon Lugun(i think i read abt her in Eastern Times 2 days before the event), which included Leona Lewis's 'Bleeding Love'...and then as the closing act 'We Are The World' sung by everyone, which was preceded by a dance routine by the group Hazard Minors, which contains the numbers 'Smooth Criminal' and 'P.Y.T'. Fun!!! I actually half-wished they would do the 45-degree anti-gravity lean on the 'Smooth Criminal' number...hahahah i was wishing too much LOL!! Then i learnt they are actually a shuffle dance group...so to dance like that is pretty good...

Now now i shouldnt just blab abt their covers on MJ. The festival consists of a charity concert, with all the tickets going to the Green Ribbon Association. Besides the concert there's also an open exhibition to everyone, which was abt the Environment, Organic, popular Enzyme, Health, 3R, Art, Technology and Energy. Its a 'Green' theme remember? Heheh~

I think these fests are great. The world really needs more awareness on Environment and what we can do to sustain and recycle, and what are the stuffs we can use to recycle and etc. 'Heal the world...make it a better place....' xDDD

Ahem. So i was shooting the concert for my friend and i must say, i'm being very bad, i didnt get alot of good shots, and i wasn't paying much attention to the names of the bands(i know i suck!!! but i was too lost in the music and taking pictures). So i'm VERY SORRY. I felt i let her down. But it really touched me the trust she put in me to shoot pics for her. Thanks Sharon!

Apart from enjoying the concert, i actually learnt alot from this event, photoshooting-wise. Through my mistakes i learnt. I wasnt very good at planning my shots, there are times i shouldn't had took so much on the same angle, and some too less. And i saw for the first time in my life how ppl covered events like this. The photographers, bloggers, event officials all that.

It also took me awhile to familiarise myself with the camera i was using. I knew alot of the shots i made was a bit senget, cos i wasnt holding it correctly and my eyes weren't aligned with the camera...kicking myself for warming up so slow..but that's me. Sigh.

Among the performers that was in action was Orion Burn, Hazard Minors, Sharon Lugun, Number, Visualize, and and...uhhh...i forgot. >.< I don't think i can do photojournalism if i am the sorts that can't get my facts written down. I'm sorry!! But everyone was great that night. Some of the songs are sang with those 'screaming, high-pitched raspy' voice u get in metallic bands, but overall its really ok, and i enjoyed one of the Hokkien song by Dream Machine...cool...never thought i'd like a Hokkien song LOL!! And then the malay bands...which is very entertaining with their onstage action and jokes...

There's this guy with a Mohawk...which was really punk!!! And he's a funny guy....very entertaining with his hair!!! =D Rock on dude!!!!!

At the event i also saw a few familiar faces...like my Moral classmate who i knew was an avid photographer as well, and the girl he came with which i saw in my lecturer's office once..LOL. And then i also saw a friend of my friend. O.O And then there was *that guy* which kinda uhm, spoiled my mood abit. Lol. He was taking my video man!! But at least he told me he filmed me, instead of keeping quiet. But still, i was abit angry when he did that without telling me...sigh. Oh wells. Whatever!!!

But i also got to meet new people..some of them really nice...Mr Edwin was nice, and he played 3 times that night...wow..cool...singing, drums and guitar on 3 different occasions. Cool!!

And there were really important people there...many famous and professional photographers..but i didnt know who was who...LOL...but it turned out ok anyway. I just hope i didnt embarass myself that night in front of so many pros. Lol...

Ok guys, i know u want to see pics. But i gotta sort the pics out with Bunny first yeah...i'll post it up soon k...as i do not own the pics...sorry no pics in this post..and if u wanna know more about the event can go to its facebook page here http://www.facebook.com/home.php?ref=home#/event.php?eid=105480393163&ref=nf

I'll leave the details of the concert that night to the bloggers to blog about. I missed out alot of the band and song names...and my memory is failing me as i write...plus this is a blog about my own experience there...so if u looking for a more detailed description of the event u can go to Bunny's page...only she hadnt update also cos her pics with me xP But i'll keep y'all updated NO WORRIES.


I shall mark this post as Part 1. Keep a lookout for Part 2 soon...and i promise i'll put up pics....heehhe.


The event was held in the Borneo Convention Centre Kuching(BCCK) and was the first event to be held there, even before its own official opening! Heheh. The concert was hosted by Karen Bong and Season.



Again, thanks to Sharon, Allen and Edwin.

Exciting events....

So this week alone it happened two events that was kinda cool to happen to me. First was a photography talk by a renowned professional photographer by the name of Alvin Leong which was held in my campus on wednesday 27th May. Together with Breeze model search and more importantly, Canon, who's goin to display some of their EOS DSLR cameras, of cos i'm going!! That and the fact that i didn't have classes that time...nice....this was an opportunity not to be missed!!

And so i went with my fren, whose interest in photography outweighs my own. After registering ourselves we went into the auditorium. The Canon booth was on the right side, and further up front was a set up for the model photoshooting. To the left is a table with free Breeze magazines. Of cos, both of us went straight to the camera booths.

Some of the cameras are mounted with lens already, like one with telephoto lens and another with zooming lens. We were saying how heavy the equipment will be! Hehehe!!! Then we quickly settled ourselves and wait till everyone was there.....while we spend time talking and occasionally glance at who was in the auditorium xP



Minutes later...the emcee cam eup and asked evryone to be seated..and then mr alvin himself started his talk. i was really glad i went to the talk. i learnt alot. like abt the Digic thing in Canon cameras. And he even recommended wat camera to by for beginners, which i'm gonna take his advice. Lol~~~

He said....as a start, the 1000D model is a good enuff investment. Since u are starting out, there's no need to buy a high-level camera yet. unless u pro already. cos one camera can last 3-5years. by the time is up, there could be better models around already. so yea. if i am really getting a DSLR, i'm gonna buy the 1000D first. Cos it was the only model within my budget. And originally i wanted this one before i switched to target the 450D. So yea...keep my fingeers crossed, i'll save enuff in time to buy one new DSLR!!!

Another cool part of the talk was the Breeze models. 6 had came and were allowed for us to shoot them. naturally, of course i tool the chance to shoot them....even tho my camera is the normal dg ones....while eveyone's is like DSLR...but wth...i dun care...just shoot only...and the nice thing is lvin standing by the side giving tips how to shoot a good angle...and how to communicate with the model....so even tho i had to stop early cos my battery low and memory card full, i was satisfied.... =D

after the photo shoot...me and my friend went over to check out the cameras for real this time. I had to confess, that was the first time ever i hold a DSLR in my hand!!! i was thrilled like a 3 year old...but of cos i hid it. HAHAHAH. so i checked out a 1000D model that had lost battery(or hadn't any battery at all)..and another 1000D that had a type of lens mounted on it...i think its a zooming lens...i took a few shots with it...and i LOVE how it came out. Damn...if only i had this thing to myself to play with!!! then next came the 450D...which i played with too....doesn;t feel too differetn from 1000D tho....or maybe i was too excited to notice...heheheheh yeah.....

and by way of ending the talk...we all did a group photo with alvin.


Yeah. It was a blast all right.





THE SECOND EVENT


Happened on friday, week 12 of class, for 2D animation. for that class we were going to do something outside campus...lecturer posted that we meet at this Bing! cafe in town. and so we went....

The place is nice. I still dun like coffe. But i appreciate the place. then we all sat at the back of the cafe and waited for everyone to come. then lecturer briefed us on wat we all gonna do...and guess what?? Movie shooting!!!!

I was already excited at havin a class out of campus...but movie making made it more interestign!!!! but we werent just making ANY movie. we had to make a short film....in which the characters in the film will have to do super stuff like...disappearing suddenly and reappear...sumthing like that...and well the trick is just in pasting the frames. sounds fun huh!!

so me and my three friends, we went off to look for location to shoot. in the end we ended up beside a nighttime clubbing hotspot...lol...but since its 3pm in the afternoon...there wasn;t anyone. except the ppl working in the club next door getting ready to open business....
so we went back and got a tripod from the lecturer(who's in the cafe) and went back to start shooting. and so we thought up a story: aliens appeared on earth out of nowhere. and then they were looking at their surrounding...their new location. just wat are these aliens doing here? and so they tested their powers in that street...disappear and reappear. in the end of the short film, the aliens moved to the front of the camera and snapped the whole thing off. nice? hope so! xD

and so we got ready. i chose to be director. cos i really wanna direct stuff for once. i like seeing over how films are made. and i really wanted to try. so i volunteered to be director. 2 of them became the 'beautiful' aliens, and another is the 'camerawoman'. HAHAHAHA. sorry din say ur names out. i'm respecting ur privacy....lol.......

and so we shot the film. wat was fun for me was the process. the process of filming...and changing ideas..and stuff. and also the people in the club next door. all of them were watching us film. i feel a bit embarassed but oh well. we had to go on. and credits to my frens the actresses who didn;'t complain abt the 'extra audience'. the people even helped say 'action!' 'ready!' all dat....tho i tink it was to amuse themselves on their part. LOL. filming was made slower due to the fact that people were walking on the streeet....and we needed an empty street at all times to maintain the flow of the film. so everytime a person walks by....we had to wait almost a full minute for them to pass!!

so filming wrapped up around 4.10pm...by that time we were all feeling very hot and thirsty. we went back to find the lecturer and showed her our footage. we were to edit it next week in class. COOL!!!!

and then i went and got sumtign to drink. to satisfy the thirst from all dat heat. in the end i settled with ABC, which my fren highly recommended. and......IT TASTED LIKE HEAVEN!!!!! it was so nice, and costed only $1.50. super valuable!!!! i love it...till i decided to go for second round. HAHAHAH. i ordered another type....i think got six different stuff in it....that kind...adn it tasted good as well!!!! i just tasted the best ices EVER!!!!

So there u go. two things that happened that was rocking awesome that week. of cos...who wud've thought i'm gonna be surprised and disappointed later ab the whole thing frm previous post. but oh well. this isn' wat i wana talk here!! wat i wanna say is the two great events...and...i immortalised it as a blog!! xDDDD