Framed

I love photography! I snap anything that captures my attention. It doesn't matter if it's a beautiful scenery, weird people behavior or something ironic.

For some images, you need to tilt and position the camera in a specific way to get a good shot. Sometimes I have to snap lots of pictures to get that one 'perfect shot'. During this process, I would be experimenting my camera by changing modes and anything else of the like. There has been many times where people gave me weird looks whenever I snap something. To make things worst, I only have a compact camera, not a DSLR (I wish I had one). So the 'professional photographer' first impression is not there (I got so used to this, that somehow this built my self confidence). I guess its all in a days work for an above-average-level photographer.

My friends were kind enough to borrow me their DSLR for a day or two, so I had the opportunity to experiment with a few cameras. My personal favorite is still Canon. I prefer Canon's camera interface, compared to Nikon. I'm sure Nikon fans would think otherwise :-P
I wish I had one for myself, so that I can learn how to create effects via camera in my own time. Not that a compact can't do the effects, but it has limited AF intelligence, compared to a DSLR. Besides, I don't really fancy those new compact camera functions, like it snaps when you smile, touch screen or it snaps whenever there's movement.

Anyways, in this post, I want to share some funny (or rater ironic) things that I spotted around. All of these images was snapped using my cell phone (cell phones are perfect substitute for camera when it comes to spontaneous photography), so excuse the pixelation.

 

McDonalds at the middle of the road!

 Holy crap, Captain Malaysia is real!

 

I dunno, maybe they spell it in this way in another country :-/

 

At my university...

 

At a mamak shop in Penang.

 

I wonder what the driver did to make the other guy mad...

 No comments...

 

I didn't know how to respond to this warning....

 

Then again, maybe it's normal in a gas station...

There seem to be some problem with pictures using this blog template. I can't adjust the size of the pictures. If the details are not clear, just click on the picture to see the original size. I'll rectify this problem soon...

These are just pictures that I took recently. I have loads more in my archive! Maybe I'll share them in the future.

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Narasimha Caturdasi

Its Narasimha Caturdasi tomorrow, so I thought of sharing something about Lord Narasimha. The lila of Lord Narasimha is well known, so I'll not go into that now. For those who want to know the brief lila, here's the link. I want to share the size of Lord Narasimha by comparison (just for you to get the idea).

In the Ramayana, Ravana went to Bali Maharaj to look for help. Bali Maharaj, knowing the position of Lord Ram, declined to help, and tried to convince Ravana to give up. Ravana of course, didn't listen to Bali Maharaj's advice. In order to show Ravana that he doesn't have a chance, Bali Maharaj invited him to a huge mountain. This mountain was made of boulders of diamonds. Bali Maharaj then said to Ravana that he will give the mountain to Ravana only if he can lift it first. Ravana tried to lift the boulder, but to no avail. Bali Maharaj then revealed to Ravana that the mountain is the earing of Hiranyakasipu, decorated with diamonds.

During the fight between Hiranyakasipu and Lord Narasimha, the earing fell down to Sutala Loka. Now, can you get the general idea of the size between Ravana and Hiranyakasipu? Alright, now fancy this, 'just as one can easily crush a wasp between one's fingernails, so in the same way the body of the wasp-like demon, Hiranyakasipu has been ripped apart' by Lord Narasimha. Get the idea yet?

Lord Narasimha appeared in that particular form, just so that it doesn't contradict with Lord Brahma's boon to Hiranyakasipu. More about this boon can be read from the link stated above.

Fun Facts:
Ravana was Hiranyakasipu in his past birth (This is based on Jaya and Vijaya curse).
Bali Maharaj is Hiranyakasipu great grandson (Prahlad Maharaj's grandson).
Bali Maharaj is the king of Sutala Loka

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Proton vs Mitsubishi

When Proton Inspira was announced, many people joked about how Proton was copying Mitsubishi's design. In fact, I've come across many bloggers who made fun of the engineers working for Proton. The boys from my university was poking fun at how cheap Proton is, to "carbon copy an awesome car like Lancer". I was surprised that many Malaysian's are not aware of the engineering behind Proton.

What many people don't know is, most of Proton cars are Mitsubishi old models. They were re-badged and renamed into a more local tune. Proton Gen-2 was the first 'Proton's car', (excluding Proton Waja), including its engine (yes, i know right!). Proton and Mitsubishi were partners for many years. The proof? Well, here are the pictures...

Proton Saga

Mitsubishi Lancer Fiore/Mirage (4th Gen)

Proton Wira

Mitsubishi Lancer (6th Gen)

Proton Perdana

Mitsubishi Eterna (7th Gen)

Proton Juara

Mitsubishi Town Box

Besides these models, Proton Tiara was also re-badged, but its not by Mitsubishi. Proton Tiara has the same design as Citroen AX. It seems that Proton Savvy is an 'upgrade' to Proton Tiara. Interestingly, Proton Savvy looks almost like the Mitsubishi's Concept Global Small design. Not only Proton, even Perodua models was re-badged. I won't go to the details of Perodua now, since we're on the topic of Proton and Mitsubishi.

Interesting isn't it? For the past 25 years (26 this year), we Malaysians are driving old Mitsubishi models in the name of national car. Nevertheless, Proton are coming up with their own designs lately. Perhaps their partnership with Lotus could make some significant changes soon, besides their Proton MSX and Satria Neo R3.

By the way, what do you guys think about the Pahlawan Series?

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harer nama harer nama harer nama eva kevalam, kalau nasty eva nasty eva nasty eva gatir anyatha

“It’s not the body that people love, but the soul. The body is a temporary vehicle. Without the soul, the body is like a car without a driver. I see through my eyes, smell through my nose, taste through my tongue, hear through my ears, feel through my skin, think through my brain, and love through my heart. But who am I? Who is the witness, enjoyer and sufferer that activates my body?”

~His Holiness Radhanath Swami in The Journey Home book~

Cool quote isn't it? I believe this quote strongly suggests the presence of soul in one's body, and the significance of it.


When I was at campus, I could hardly go to any family gatherings. There's always something during these gatherings. I've missed quite a few important ones. I thought the one month semester break given was good enough to attend to any of my family gatherings. Unfortunately, during this break, I had to attend to a funeral and other prayers of the like. Well, it is family gathering nevertheless, but not at all like how I was anticipating.


You see, the death of this relative of mine was very unexpected (she had a stroke). We met her two weeks before, and she was speaking like any other normal person. The news came as a shock to us all. The same thing happened when we heard the news of Uttama prabhu passing away.

Attending the funeral of this relative of mine reminded me of the famous quote "You're not this body, you're the soul.". Yes indeed! Many people out there know this fact, but don't behave like they do (this includes me... well, to  certain extent :-P). There's a story from the Pandavas I wanna relate here. When Yaksha asked Yudhistira about the most wonderful thing, Maharaj Yudhistira replied that, "Eventhough everyday one sees living entities dying, he still acts as if he will live forever.". I couldn't agree more.


This paragraph took me a while to type. I keep typing examples, and at a certain point, it looked like I was going off topic already. I was relating body conscious activities like grooming for a long time, making money as the center of the universe and some other similar ones. I think I'll just skip the examples. You get what i mean right?


People are doing so much, just to maintain their stay on Earth. This includes physical working, mental and emotional drama. All for what? When asked about the purpose of their life, the answer would be simple; "I dunno, make money, and enjoy? And then when die means die lar". What most people don't realise is what happens right before, during and after death; how the soul passes on; and what happens to you after that. People who do, would start fearing death. The case is not the same for most of the devotees that I know. Well, that's because they're crystal clear of their goal of life, and the process of achieving it.


So guys, to sum it up, for those of you who are trying your best to ignore the call for some boundary and rules in your life, I would like to say that its time to stop being a coward by ignoring and running away from the inevitable.

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One Hour's Sleep Before Midnight Is Worth Two After

I recently finished my finals. I guess it goes without saying that I had to burn the midnight oil one too many times. Well, I do hope the effort is worth it!

During this studying process, many of my friends came up with different theories about how we can do 'quality studying' by 'sleeping smartly'. Funny how we can stay awake till late night and don't need these tips during non-exam seasons. Anyways, I wanna share what they said, and what I found out from the internet.

One of my friend heard from his girlfriend (she's doing MBBS) that sleeping from 11pm to 3am is the best. According to her, even though elementary school calculation says its 4 hours of sleep, its actually equals to about 8 hours of sleep. He was explaining about the 'sleep calculation'. I forgot the details of the calculation, but it was something like; 1 hour of sleep after 11pm is equal to 2 hours of sleep, and the calculation anytime after 3am is back to normal maths. Like i said, i'm a little foggy on the details, so excuse the mistakes. I'll get back to my friend, and update the details soon. He also said that his girlfriend is following that sleep pattern, and she's not feeling fatigue during the day. I thought "Hey, its a great deal! Double amount of sleep for half the time. Why not test it. I don't have anything to lose!". We decided to test the theory on that very night.

So I went to sleep at 10.45pm, just to make sure I'm already asleep by 11pm. Both of us woke up at 3.30am. At first, it was hell trying to open my eyes, and get myself out of my cozy comforter. To add fuel to the fire, it was really cold as it rained few hours ago. I somehow got myself out of the bed. For the first 2 hours, studying went smoothly. After that, I was too sleepy to study further, so I slept for another 1 hour (from 6-7am). I tried again the next day, and the same thing happened (FYI, that includes the rain). I could not continue doing this everyday as my group study friends normally stay up till 2am to study. I notice one thing though. Studying early morning after some rest feels really GOOOD! Well, after all, there's a solid reason why devotees wake up early in morning to chant! I think the extra concentration was because all my friends are already asleep, and there's no notifications in Facebook... haha

The next day, I asked a fellow devotee,who's also a lecturer in my university, about the sleep calculation thingy. He mentioned that its true, and the scriptures did mentioned about it. Then he looked at me and said, "That's why we're supposed to sleep early". He also explained to me about the calculation, which, again, i forgot the details. Looks like i have to update this post with significant details soon.

Ever heard the phrase "one hour's sleep before midnight is worth two after"? Looks like there's some truth in it after all, not just something your parents say to make you go sleep early! I googled to find out details about sleep, and how we can make most of it.

After doing some fair amount of research, i noticed that the world don't need another how-to-sleep-better article. Many people done extensive research about this matter. There are many solutions given for optimum sleep too. Among all these, i really like this article. Happy reading!

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First Post

For my first post, I want to share a little information about our universe. Honestly, I'm not sure what topic to post first, and astronomy was the first idea sprung to my mind :-P

I loved astronomy since I was a little boy, and I'm fortunate to have parents to support all my interests. My dad would print out, and buy books, encyclopaedias and the like related to astronomy for my reading pleasure.

Over the years, I came across many astronomy experts, including George Fitzgerald Smoot - Nobel Prize in Physics (2006) winner. Meeting these people gave me an idea about the process taken by the scientists to determine what our universe is all about.

One thing boggles me though. Science if filled with assumptions and theories. Scientists need to have assumptions to proof something (refer Isaac Asimov's statement). All these are based on observation, via our imperfect senses. Since high school, i was thought to just accept a certain theory (imaginary number 'i' is one example) to understand a certain topic. Anyways, more about this in the future...

I think the best introduction about astronomy would be; establishing just how minute are we in this universe (rough graphical representation).

The 'planets' from slide 4 to 6 are stars.

Here's a link showing an approximate structure of the universe. For your info, 1 light year is 9.4605284 x 10^15 meters.

Still think you're the center of your universe? Well, it did smash my ego... haha


update 28.5.11


Here, check out this video. Graphic representation in terms of video is better than plain words anyways.

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