Halo of the sun

ok..here are those pictures of the halo of the sun. Thanks a bunch to Dian who excitedly call me and then half screaming she goes "go outside and look at the sun!!". i gotta admit for a split second there i thought the sun is exploding into dust or something.

Turn out there were this huge halo forming around it. And as an aspiring photographer it won't do justice if i didn't snap a few.

enjoy (click on the pic for larger view)





here are some technical data for those interested:

1st of all this is 12.30 pm and the sun is shining on its full glory, no matter how fast the speed and small the aperture you use without a help of a filter you will get a wash out pic.
And since i don't own the super black ND800 i just have to make do with all the less dark ND i got, and end up with 3 filters on my lense!! which is ND4x, ND8x, and CPL!!
(ND= neutral density, which is basically a dark filter to reduce light into your lense. CPL=circular polarizer, for reducing glare and enhance blue tone in the sky)

F/11 speed was 1/60. the thick filters i used and the frontal super bright sun throw off the focusing a lil bit, so gotta focus it manually, and later or bring in the shadow in PS to show more detail and tune up the saturation a lil bit too.

hump like a bunny

Errrr...no, its not me who is humping like a bunny. In fact nobody is humping like a bunny in this post (not even the bunny is humping).

Ok, so i just got myself a bunnies as a pet. Still longing for a pet after (reluctantly) giving Sydney - my golden retrieval - away and still unable to have another dog I settle for a much smaller but equally adorable bunny!! actually the other reason is that i got myself quite big a garden on my house and i just imagine how cute it would be if i got some bunnies running around on those green grass.

ok, so here are some pics of the little bastards, i only had them for 4days now....believe you me more (tons more) pics will follow.

Oh and i still haven't named them yet, am planning to keep a total of 4 eventually, so if you got any ideas for bunny names then holler it over here.

P.S the grey one is male and the white one is female



the creator of the chosen names will receive the prestigious THANK YOU TROPHY!!!

WE ARE THE CHAMPION!!!

yes Manchester United did it!! We won it in a heart attack inviting penalty kicks out. I am not gonna tell you the story of the match as it will be everywhere.

I made a promise i will wear United's shirt for a whole week before the match, and it will stand!!

i did it back in 1999 when we do the treble, at that time i only got one united's shirt (and a fake one....ssttt!!!) luckily for me (or others around me i should say) i got plenty to choose from this time around!

well, if you see me without it come up to me and ask for a free meal at a restaurant of your choice. Except for tuesday nite when i got a job and the *ehmmm* "friend" who is the EO for the wedding FORBID me to wear it!! damn u *******!!!!

I think she never see a football jersey before, its any way as classy as some t-shirt, i never wore a suit at a job anyway.

ah whatever................WE ARE THE CHAMPION!!!

Up the oil go

I guess its time to bring those old bike out from the garage, dust away penthouses of those eight legged freaks, scraps away the rust, pump the air in those rubber donuts. And start peddling my way through traffic from hell.

Yeap, the Indonesian gov are ready to announce the oil price raise in a few days, and as for now in all gas station all around Indonesia you can only fill up your vehicle to a certain amount. If im not mistaken its Rp.75.000 for a private car, that work out for just 16 litter of premium. Ahhh i guess i have to make multiple pit stop st gas station then.

On another note, this is surely not gonna be taken softly by the people, police forces has been stationed randomly across gas station for precautions, and those potential uprising has cost me my second trips to Samosir in 1 month, my travelling friends got red flagged by their parents because of this issue. For me, i think its more reason to leave town, go to a small island away from it all.

oh and, talking bout biking, i really admire this group of people from bike 2 work in Jakarta. They are groups of office working people, they work all day in suit and tie and all, and yet they all bike 2 work, with the air pollution in Jakarta and safety issue. My hats off for them.
check them out: http://www.b2w-indonesia.or.id/

electricity cost is rising, oil is rising, everything is rising, the only thing going down is my moral....

TANK 1990!!!!

I recently bought a cheap game console as i wanted to play those "old fashion, easy, non addictive" game.

I am not much of a gamer, certainly won't waste my time and money on those PS3 or Xbox . Sure those new breed type of game is cool and all, but it takes so much of your concentration and time to play and it make you addicted and sometime want to yank your hair right off your skull because you just can't seem to pass a certain stage.

So i go out and purchase this V-com!! dasyat game-nya dasyat mainnya!! (errrr..if you say so) It cost only Rp.140.000 with "tons" of game already inside the console.

of course we ripped off the PS joystick design, we are indons!!!!

I get back home and turn it on and turn out its actually not tons but errrrrr......let just say its astronomical, it has 999999999 games !!!!! yes...correct, nine nines!!

count the 9!!

but those bastards! its actually the same game repeating itself for like a gazillion time!! so you actually only got like 10 different game!! Arghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!

It sure was fun playing all those game that the last time I played should be some 15 years ago. But for the easy part is sure wasn't, as i get beaten 5-2 at the soccer game! beaten by a game probably older than me! blahhh....now thats pathetic.

the actual game when im beaten 5-2 is not shown here to avoid further embarassment

But then there is one game i had in mind when i purchase this console, and it didn't come with it. Have to go out back to the store to purchase additional catridge, another downside from buying cheap stuff kick in, it's one of those many in one catridge and you don't get to see the list of the games inside!!! so seeing that they all cost the same i decide on the one with the most game, 85!!

And again, its the same game over and over again!! BUT..............i got the game i wanted......wait for it........................wait...............

TANK 1990 a.k.a BATTLE CITY!!!!

and talk bout non addictive, i play for 6 straight hours the 1st nite!!!! till 5am in the morning!! aih yay yay...i think most of you would had play this game before or at least know about it. You need to kill all other tanks and protect your "pancasila" you know, those birdie in the middle. along the way you need to collect stuff like star, gun, one up, bomb etc, to make your tank faster and meaner, because it just not fun playing with a tank that move like a crippled old lady and shot its rounds like, well crippled old lady trying to kick a football.

and as you can only manually selected your stage up to 50 but can play to eternity and beyond, you would try to play for as further as possible and when you reach a milestone and you are dead........errr...you feel like yanking the hairs out of your skull!!! not a very healthy game afterall

and since me and my girlfriend (its easier to play as a team) play untill stage 88 the very 1st time ever its just set a very high standard for us to break, we spend the next days and nites playing and trying to pass 88, now thats what i called addicted.

after about 5 straight days we finally broke the duck, surpassing 88 way beyond, and probably a little too much, we played till stage 124!!!!

now thats an amazing record breaking...but it left us contemplating how to break the 124!!!


If you don't see me around much lately...you know why

A little escapism

So sickening the life in Medan lately that i just take off, run away from it all. Living in Medan is a daily struggler to get your head and mind through all the scums of the universe that dwell here. Im pretty sure im gonna have my life cut short by all the nagging bout the stupid motor riders all aroun town, the ghostriders, the red crosser, the disoriented, the circus men...and so on.

Translations:

ghostriders : those without lights (either one of front or rear will be enough to qualified for this category)

red crosses: no, of course not those angels from the red cross, but the a-holes that cruise pass through a red light without even blinking.

disoriented: they are so knocked out they can't figure out which way is the right way anymore so they just cruising at the wrong lane cutting through traffic that heading their way

circus men: those who has a dream of one day joining the Chinese national circus team, but before those day comes they rehearsed it by riding along a bike with 3 or more men.

And everytime i see one of them i literally pray that they die from some horrific traffic accident, am i evil?? well you see, these people continue to drive carelessly without a single care (of course, they are careless, D'oh!) about other's and their own safety but all the while its the other driver's safety that is on the chopping board here, they are much more likely to hurt somebody else badly than themself, so i thought the sooner they all die and gone to hell's traffic school its the better for the rest of us, rite??


oh well look where i ended......this is not about those idiots....

ok, so i run away from this mad city.....to where you ask? due to not a very healthy financial state im in so not too far away, but then again why should i fly thousands miles away to have some fun while there is a heaven in my own backyard, yes you guessed it, its the one, the best, but the underated LAKE TOBA!!!!! i still got that little childish joy everytime i go there. To think about it, that 75.000 years ago a super volcano stood there, and then explode so furiously that it is said iy changes the course of human history, and leave behind a lil piece of heavenly beauty.

oh well, i shut up now and as usual let the pics do the talking.............

P.S Please click on the pics to see it in full size to fully appreciate it

around 7 in the morning, a beautiful foggy morning in desa Merek, few km outside of North Sumatera next hottest destination, Taman Simalem Resort

The ride

The in progressed buddhist temple at Simalem

Happy campers

Marquisa/passion fruit farm at Simalem

welcome...duta pariwisata sumatera utara menyambut hangat kedatangan anda di taman simalem

view of lake toba from one of the spot at Simalem, its a cloudy early morning

another view. This is at the highest and prob best spot (view wise) at the resort and is the location where all the hotel rooms will be situated, nothing is contruct yet though.

Taruna, conquer all terrain!!

view from the car, a few meters in front of us is a cliff!!

snack time/narcist moment

errr...not all terrain afterall

helepppp!!!!! the tire all buried in the mud!! as no contruction work yet begin on this site there were no worker or security officers found anywhere near. so nobody is there to lend a helping hands. we tried scream from our small lungs, and pressing the horn for as long as i dare before it burns the battery (or our eardrums), but to no result, nobody can hear us. I guessed other than space, nobody can hear you scream high a above a hill too.

oh and this hotel will be called the one tree hill resort. For a reason that you will finding out below.

in the middle of the area is this one tree, left there alone while all the other trees (i assume there were more than just this one tree) have been dug out when they excavated the area

since she wont be anywhere near strong enough to do the pushing so she must be the driver. And since she can't drive manual the plan failed and we still stucked (or prob because i wasn't strong enough either hehehe)

sad campers

stuck and ain't getting nowhere, but look at the view

we then think hard about walking down to the security office, but it was something like 3km. and then came up with a better idea, the entrance ticket got the Medan's marketing office number on it, so we call it up, telling them that we are here and trapped and ask them to call their security and send somebody the hell up here and dig us out.

10 minutes later 2 guys drive up and free us. He then said that few month ago the car of the Medan's mayor get trapped in the exact same spot too. well then why the hell you didn't do something about it mister??? waiting for the president to get trapped first??

when even the view from the toilet is this good, you know you are at a great place

we start the journey from Medan at 4.40 early in the wee hour, as i always wanted to have a midnite roadtrip (you know, me hating medan's traffic so much its only natural that the only time i enjoy driving is at midnite when nobody is around).

the plan is we hit Simalem and tongging (sipiso2 waterfall) and just go nuts and have fun for the whole day and drive back to Berastagi (nearest town with proper/save accomodation from tongging) and drive to Lake toba early the next morning. But since we both were pretty keen on reaching Lake Toba as soon as possible and it was cloudy and raining and all that so we (or rather me) decide to scrap tongging from the list.

now for those of you not so knowledgeable about the route down this region, of course normally the route you take when you go Berastagi (or tongging/Simalem) is different from the one you took if you are to go to Perapat. But the normal route of reaching Perapat when you go trough all those town like Tebing Tinggi, Siantar and all is boriiiiiiing at best, and you have to navigate through traffics.

as you can see from the map above, the RED line is the normal route to Perapat,getting through to Lubuk Pakam, Tebing and all. The GREEN line runs as the route to Berastagi and Tongging/Simalem, and as you can see it runs all the way to Perapat too, and whats best from this route is that you drive all the way on the foothill over looking Lake Toba herself, all the way to Perapat, small rural street with almost no traffic and a breathtaking view, what more could you ask for from a road trip?!?

There actualy another route which is the BLUE one, it offer an all together different view of Lake Toba from the one most of us ever see, you go all the way "behind" samosir passing Sidikalang and get to a small town called Tele where the view is supposedly superb and then you can drive yourself into Samosir island through Paguruan. No need ferry as there is a little road connectong the island and the mainland. Next trip, we are surely gonna take this route.

A true eureka moment, out of nowhere, after an hour of drive on a road where no other commuters has been seen, this fish shaped building pop out!!!! yes...my dear friend, its a fish!!! we have no idea whats it for, and there is a man looking out from the window there on the fish belly. since its only me and my girlfriend it didn't looks like a good idea to stop and go down and have a chat with that man about what this building is all about. for all we know it could be a butcher house where they kidnapp innocent travellers and cut em up like in the movie Hostel.


you can already see tuk-tuk even when you are still 1 hour away from reaching perapat!!! YEAY!!! and it look like its having a local rain!! awesome!!!

Look!!! tuk-tuk!!

no, thats not the world's worst rapping move. we actually wanna get a pic with both of us is air borne. but out timing sucks and this is us a split second after making a safe landing back to Earth.

Oh this is after we reach Perapat and we got an hour to kill untill the ferry that carry cars to Samosir have to leave. and this is from the pool of Danau Toba Cottage (hey, i might be using your area for free, but you got free advertisement in return too)

and this is the successful shoot

And may i suggest the next time you are going to Lake toba to not to stay at Perapat but Samosir instead. there are lots of local accomodation around the Island, from the very basic and cheap to the one acceptable for most city's princesses. The locals open cafe all around the island and they all offer a different atmosphere, renting bikes to paddle around and just enjoying the life of the locals there is the best way to appreciate the place. There are 2nd book store all over tuk-tuk too, internet cafe, movie renting and so on

a nice brekkie to start the day

church, with waterfall in the background

Our adopted child, Loni and Lona

this is Lona, with a more black patch on her head (incase you wonder which is which)

The children of samosir. As i was across the field from their house photographing the bulls, this kids scream for me to take their photo. "FOTO!!!" she screams. Luckily for her i just couldn't say no to such enthusiasm

Ello there!

Look at them, so happy just because i point my camera at them. priceless laugh

this is the bull i was photographing before those kids "hijacked" me. I didn't dare to went in closer as he stop every now and then during his meal and look at me, as if making sure im not coming any closer. although he is tied to a stick that was stucked into the ground, im just not sure how small rope tie to a tiny stick can stop this giant bull from putting his horn into my backside if he wanted to. So i was cautious and ready to run the bejesus out of me at the first sign of hostility from this particular Mr.Moo. But the next day when i found another bull and another place...its a whole different story as i get as close as it gets!

the tomb of the first king to rule Samosir. You must wear ulos (which is provided) before you step in.

there is another site of other king tombs which i visited a few month before with a groups of friends as their post wedding party. and at those site the local tale teller said that if you touched the chin on the tomb's head that has been sculpt into the shape of the late king's face you will have good luck in finding love. So as the only 2 single guys on the trip me and this other friend of mine touch it for fun (neither of us is supertitious, or isit mr.ali??) and guess what, few month later i found the lovely Miss Mira and we are now an item, and what about the other dude you ask? HE IS MARRIED!!! again, im not supertitious, but that is spooky!!

its this chin that i touched, and this is kinda like a "thank you visit" for the king for "letting" me meet my dear burp. you just have too excuse the blurry pic as it was taken by the old tale teller who take care of this place, he then complained that my cam is dead heavy after he took this, so as you can see i don't really have the option of asking him to retaking it.

another part of the tomb. A rain calling ceremony perform in the yard of the king's palace in the past. A group of young man standing in circle around a sacrificial cow. And the cow statue is not in this pic because it was stolen a few years ago. the bastards!!!


kicking back inside a cafe with a reggae atmosphere,and a killer view

dreaming about the promised "rich land"

Bob Marley posters and door decorative, very Reggae

a very nice range of exotic birds on offer right behind our hotel's room. too bad i don't have the kick ass wild life lense and the time to literally just sat there and wait for them to fly into my field of view so i could take a more close up pic of these winged beauties.

birdy

telecomunication is not a problem, telkom speedy even has their own office and transmitter antenna here, and i suspect their internet connection here is better than mine back in Medan

natural beauties :P

different bull than the one above, a more friendly one (or simply ignorant) he just munch the grass away and didn't really care for me being there so close. well he did give me "the eye" one or twice, probably just making sure that im on the right angle so he didn't look fat. And seeing how nonchalant he is with my present i move closer and closer.

you can't really appreciate the closeness as this is a wide angle lense, but believe me when i tell you that he can just swing his head my way and my heart will be pierced by his horn.

"Mooooooo......hey human!! this is a good pose, snap it!!! Mooooo...."

more bulls

rice field alongside the foothill of Samosir

do we look like a stranded hitchhikers??

This place serve the best pizza on Earth (ohkay, so i never really been to Italy and try their pizzas). I actually ate here 8 years ago on the new years eve of the Y2K. I fall in love with it back then and been wanting to put that little piece of melted cheese with bunch of meat trapped inside in my mouth again ever since. I finally did get the chance, i keep telling people of how good it was, but i actually forgotten about how it taste already, i just remember that i was so satisfied that i was thinking i should like gather all my life saving to open a pizza parlour back in Medan and ask this ibu to be the chef.

so after 8 years, i come back, tasted it again. And oh yeahhhhh.....its still as mouth watering as ever, its like a mini orgasm in your mouth with every bite you take. really!!! take a good look at the front of this resto, its called Franky and its right beside hotel Silintong (the first, not Silintong 2) and the next time you are there go in and prove me wrong.

Whoaaaaaaaa....im actually hungry just by looking at it!!!!

she was overwhelmed by how delicious the pizza taste too, well she might be affected by all the story of how great it was by me before tasting it :p

oh and the spaghetti is pretty mean too! look at that cheese

as you can see that magic mushroom is on the menu, and this is the mushroom that can make you a little high, laughing non stop and such. a mild, non addictive drugs you could say. we contemplating on having it but then if we both try then nobody is left to watch over us and god knows what silly things we might do when under influence.

well thats it....one more last shot as we ride the ferry crossing the lake back to Perapat

taken on board the ferry

people......go tell people how great Lake Toba is, show them we got a hidden paradise behind all this ugly facet.

untill next trip.............