Wild Africa

Excited beyond words!

That's how I felt when my boss told me to pack up for a short gig for work in Nouakchott, Mauritania, northwestern Africa. It was quite a short notice thing, which left me excited beyond words  and panting heavily from rushing around arranging for visa, flight and vaccination jabs. Well, definitely a heck lot more excited than panting.

And of course I shared the wonderful news with my friends.

"Oh cool! Say hi to the elephants to me." A friend joked knowing my Africa trip.

"Beware of the wild beasts." My ex-classmate, C warned me.

"See any lion yet?" My buddy, Y asked me online when I logged on.

I've been here for almost 3 weeks. So far, the wild animals I've seen here are donkeys pulling carts on the street and a bunch of goats. Plus the few peacocks in the office yard. Actually there isn't a big chance for the wild beast encounters as almost 75% of the Mauritanian land is desert. I went to the desert at the edge of Nouakchott over the weekend, well, no camel sighting too. 

What Say You?

I saw these along the way on my train ride from the airport to Paris. I mean ALL along the way. Some say it's ugly. Some say it's cool. Some say it's rage. Some say it's expression. Some say it's trashy. Some say it's creativity. Some say it's illegal. Some say it's alright. Some say it's vandalism. Some say it's art.

What say you? 

And even this.

Je T'aime, Paris

Day-tripping in Paris while on transit to Africa. Hope to stay for a couple of days in the City of Lights on my returning leg. More pix to come.

Bottleneck

It hit me as the plane was landing at Charles De Gaulle. It's summer and the field flanking the runway was dotted with beautiful small white wild flowers. They reminded me of those pictures I took, and really like, in the Chilean Patagonia, Ottawa and even Miri. Then I found myself wandering when was the last time I shot and produced something I really happy with. Man that was so long ago! 

I think I've lost it. I no longer can take beautiful photographs. By beautiful I mean something I personally would like and be proud of. 

Perhaps I should take a few steps back, examining the reason for every click of the camera, evaluating my passion for the art of photography. Where am I heading with with this passion? What am I trying to share through the images? What are the stories the subjects in the pictures are telling me, telling us? How can I assist them best through my lens?

I took these at the park at the Eiffel Tower. Little white flowers, simple and graceful and pure, the essence of photography. Well, to me at least. 

 

Tonight...

I'm going to AFRICA!!!

Well, it's for work. But hey I'm going to AFRICA!!!

Strong Legs

My friend, A (not a Malaysian) and I went to Krabi over the long weekend. We flew with Air Asia. Our flight back to KL was scheduled to take off at 12:50 pm on Sunday.

This was one hour plus before the flight AND there was no boarding call yet. These people, mostly my fellow countrymen were already lining up, wanting to get onboard, beating the rest and grabbing the best seat in the flight. Super duper fucking kiasu.

I pointed to the long line and told A:"Look at them, so bloody kiasu, such a disgrace to the country. It's this sort of people that make me ashamed of being a Malaysian.

Then A said to me:"Well, maybe not kiasu. They just have strong legs."

Overheard #4

"Petrol price will be increased to RM 2.70/liter tomorrow."

WHAT THE FUCK!!!