Walking/Trekking

So miss Fleur (I hope you remember her, I've mentioned her a few times in earlier post. Great teacher, great friend) came up with a project idea for us to do, I won't disclose anything just yet, aside from the fact that this project involves a heck load of walking and jungle trekking. And it is super fun, what with the abundance of forest in Brunei and all.

So for the first part, we went to Wasai Labi (Labi waterfall) and also Tasek Luagan Lalak (Luagan Lalak Lake).

We went through the trekkings, the hikings or walks or whatever you call it, with ease. The tracks at the waterfall were ruined by some landslide, making the journey a little tougher. But we made it in just within half an hour, cool huh? :)

Once we reached the waterfall, the peace and the serenity... wow! all those "hardships" we had to go through, WORTH IT :)

At the entrance

We had to cross these slippery rocks because there's no actual path at that time... and well, I actually feel like Bear Grylls. HAHAHA no.

This picture makes the place look mystical.... and look like it's from a fairy tale or something

Not a good photo. But but spider D:

I love this the most :)

Looks like I should swing on it or something

That ant was almost as big as my pinky

Baby ants

♥

And then off to the lake we go!

YASMINE the movie (my thoughts on it)

YASMINE – one of the greatest movies Brunei has ever produced. Firstly, the biggest congratulations to the casts and crews for the superb job.

What makes this movie so inspiring? So amazing? Just everything about it is very Bruneian. I am amazed at how the film manages to capture almost every square inch of Brunei in it.

The weird accents – Yes, we Bruneian have very, very weird accents. We of course have our own national accent. But take note that this movie was portrayed by actors from three different states, namely Brunei, Malaysia and Indonesia. Many movie watchers complained that there were too much accent mixtures, but I on the other hand find this very amusing. And this very thing is also very Bruneian. Bruneians have a tendency to follow accents from Malaysia and Indonesia; even I myself find it ridiculously difficult to maintain my own accent while talking to Malaysian and Indonesian. Like a chameleon, Bruneians can easily camouflage themselves within Malaysians and Indonesians.

Silat – Brunei is very well known for this. In south East Asia, this is the Malay version of martial arts (kung fu). Most typically found in the Malay region, but also known to the rest of ASEAN. Silat is our national identity. Before this movie became mainstream, silat was both well known and unknown to the generation today. But after the movie, everyone knows exactly what the Brunei identity is. Everyone is in to silat now, that’s a good thing.

Videography & Photography – Brunei… landscape and buildingwise, is pretty boring. When taking pictures, I meant. Brunei is pretty, but you have to do something to make it look alive, instead of asleep, in a video or a photo. This movie managed to capture it perfectly. Everything about Brunei came alive in just a few scenes. And I, as a budding photographer, find it very fascinating.

The people – Need I say more?

The puns – The movie was pretty punny too, not just any puns, but very relatable puns. Very out of the box puns, but very relatable. Even the post-movie instagram uploaded meme/puns are punny. I make no sense. Haha!

Basically, that is all I have to say. All is well, all is good J I hope to see more of these in the future, it’s a huge milestone for the local film industry. 

Lastly, a sentence from the awesome director herself: “Yasmine is the face of Brunei. I don’t want people to see Brunei making cheap films. I want good films.”


And here's a MUST READ article, click here.

Things I have yet to post about

It's a self reminder.. and a emmm basic 'sypnosis' for you readers, I guess? haha :)

1. National Day celebration
2. Travels adventure (PH & MY) = from making new friends to underwater turtle drama and to making dreams come true!
3. My work experience
4. Why I hate goodbyes
5. Some birthday party I photographed for. the one year old was absolutely adorable, and beautiful! :)
6. The sultan's birthday
7. Some firework and lantern parade show I attended
8. the Green Youth Workshop
9. A movie review: Yasmine. What it is to me, and what it holds for me (stay tuned, hopefully I won't get a writers block!)

My dear god, that is a lot to write. I think I have a lot more to post, but my memory is failing me, and it is also 2 A.M right now. yawn!

Empire Hotel (ridiculously late post)

Yasmine pose before it was cool

Macro? macro.

Yes. the title is a TFIOS reference.

No. this post has nothing to do with it.

Some cool new shots [RANDOM]

My absolute favourite ;)