culture, photoblog, photography

Singapore National Day Parade Rehearsal – Fireworks Display July 16 2011

chicpencil

Majulah!  – the word originated from Bahasa Melayu meaning – ‘Go forward’ or ‘Move forward’ has always been popular in Singapore during its National Day which dates August 9th. The word majulah is also known for Singapore’s anthem – ‘Majulah Singapura’ which translates to ‘Onward Singapore’.

Since Singapore’s national day is just around the corner, every weekend is a practice for many Singaporeans to showcase their parades, songs, among others to show tribute to their nation.

One amazing portion of the national day rehearsals is Singapore’s fireworks display which magnetizes many photo enthusiasts to capture the wildly array of colors in the lens of their camera.

I’m one of those photo enthusiasts. Even though I’m unfamiliar of using my Nikon D200 camera for this scene, I went to the fireworks rehearsal armed with my camera, a remote control, a tripod, a friend who is another photography geek, and lastly, a courage and hope that I can shoot the fireworks displays at least with a clear picture quality.

We’re lucky enough to take a place opposite the Marina Bay Sands where the fireworks are going to be held.

Marina Bay Sands Singapore

Fireworks Display.

Fireworks Display.

Here’s the photo set for this fireworks rehearsal.

I went to the fireworks rehearsal totally unprepared. But my camera somehow didn’t fail me.

I love my Nikon D200. 🙂

Til next time. Au revoir.

culture, history, photoblog

A Farewell To KTM Railway In Tanjong Pagar

chicpencil

Keretapi Tanah Melayu (KTM) Railway station in Tanjong Pagar Singapore is now closed in terms of railway operations.

The said intercity railway station between Malaysia and Singapore has been in operation from 1932 until June 30th 2011.

It’s sad even for a foreigner like to me to witnessed the closure of the train station. It’s a symbol of history – of bond – between Malaysia and Singapore.

On June 25th 2011 I had the opportunity to enter the historical train station and privileged enough to see the historical landmark under the lens of my camera.

The KTM Station at Tanjong Pagar, Singapore.

Symbolizing Agriculture – One of the pillars of Malaysia and Singapore economy.

Symbolizing Commerce – One of the pillars of Malaysia and Singapore economy.

Symbolizing Transport – One of the pillars of Malaysia and Singapore economy.

Symbolizing Industry – One of the pillars of Malaysia and Singapore economy.

The Four Symbol or pillars of Malaysia and Singapore economy.

In Bahasa Melayu, translated to English.

The Ticket Counter.

Arrival Platform.

Departure Platform.

The KTM Train.

The Rail Tracks.

His Inspection time.

Separation. Good bye. Adios. Hasta! In memoriam.

The Stain.

I will never forget this plant which caught my attention through the distance. 

The KTM Station is also called the Tanjong Pagar rail station.

Interesting enough, the Sultan of Johor Bahru Malaysia drove the last train out.

It’s a mixed of sadness and must have had full of fond memories to ride the last KTM intercity route from Singapore to Malaysia and vice versa. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to witness the ride, but heart warming, I have witnessed the embrace of Singaporeans and foreigners to visit and have a glimpse of the KTM station in its final days of seeing the public.

Here’s my complete snaps of the KTM railway station in Flickr.

With full of memories, facts, and emotions, here’s the blog of the His Royal Highness Sultan Ibrahim on his accounts on the reason why he drove the last KTM train out of Tanjong Pagar station.

Til next time. Au revoir.

Citation:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tanjong_Pagar_railway_station

life, relationship

With U

chicpencil

Chill start and it was good

Slowly unfolding each individuality

Heavy schedule yet thoughts present

Didn’t hinder communications

As what does matter is the gestures

And the ponders inevitable.

With u means a lot,

With u is smile & soothing,

With u is warmth,

With u is comfort,

With u is life,

With u is home.

~ The Kid

Til next time. Au revoir.

australia, life, relationship, travelblog

A Chilly Melbourne, Australia

chicpencil

Working as presales consultant supporting the Asian region can be a tiring job… However, one of it perks is to get the chance to travel to various parts of the globe.

Though travel involves ample amount of energy, patience, and courage (to not to feel homesickness after a certain point in time), I guess it’s the opportunity to discover the wonders of other countries especially those where you never set your foot yet…

This month of June 2011, I had the opportunity to visit Melbourne, Australia to attend a Sybase mobility training.

When I requested to attend the training, it didn’t occur in my mind about Australia’s climate condition, I just shoot out the request and applied for Australia visa. It was a hectic schedule.

A week before my travel, that’s when I realized it’s winter season in the land down under. And so, I set foot and experienced Melbourne’s winter season.

St. Kilda Parkview Hotel is where I stayed. A very good hotel for travellers to stay.

A warm welcome from St. Kilda Parkview Hotel. 

Just beside St. Kilda Parkview Hotel is Albert Cricket Ground where cricket games and practices happen every morning.

Their morning practice.

View from the top. Albert Cricket Ground.

A closer look of their game.

Tram is almost everywhere in Melbourne. This is the scenic St. Kilda Road Melbourne.

Melbourne’s Tram Network.

A Sunday Saver card is available which allows you to travel to trams and buses in Melbourne for a day with a fix amount of AUD 3.50.

Federation Square is one of the busiest district in the city.

Yarra Trams – Federation Square.

Though I stayed in Melbourne for a week, it was a wonderful experience to mingle with the people and to witness the calm and suburb living of Melbourne.

Flinders Street Station is the busiest hub in Melbourne. This is the central station for Metro Network Railway across Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.

 

The traditional horse carriage ride in Melbourne central business district. Amazing scene! Very Old English!

Though my stay is considerably short, I managed to made friends and one of them is the sweet gal Elaine and her cute daughter Amy…

My friend Elaine and her bubbly daughter Amy…

This is Amy. Or Aimee. Or Eimee… I prefer calling her ‘Ang Mo Kid’ due to her Irish mix. Very bubbly toddler.

Don’t disturb! She’s busy with her BABYCCINO!

Due to work, studies, and exam, I wasn’t able to visit Melbourne’s historical landmarks. This gives me another reason to come back and experience Melbourne in another season…

In retrospect, I must say Melbourne is an epitome of the ‘Anglo-Saxon’ suburb embracing modernity…

Melbourne Central Business District.

Going to Chapel Street with Elaine and Amy.

Known shopping district in Melbourne. This is Chapel Street. And Chapelli’s resto is where we had lunch and shopping on a Saturday afternoon.

My travel to Melbourne made me realized the soothing and simplicity of life. It was a week of experience and I wouldn’t forget the place and faces that I met along the journey.

Til next time. Au revoir.

security, technology, tips & tricks, troubleshooting

Error 51: Cisco VPN Connectivity

chicpencil

Okay, so this is the first time that I’m going to write about sharing technology resolutions based on my experience working as a consultant.

Lots of enterprises today implement security standards especially when accessing their corporate resources from remote networks.

It is but a norm to use VPN connectivity in order to impose restrictions to qualified and approve personnels to allow to logged in beyond corporate firewalls.

Cisco VPN software is a common name when it comes to VPN access. If you are using Cisco VPN, it is likely that you have the VPN client tool that you normally launched in order to connect to your company network.

As I have downloaded the Cisco VPN client for Mac OS, I was trying to configure it to be able to connect to the customer VPN network. However, configuring the latest Cisco VPN client 4.9.x wasn’t that easy in the latest releases of Mac OS.

I was stucked with Error 51: when launching Cisco VPN client for Mac.

After searching the internet for all the relative resolutions, the below solution steps did resolve the problem I faced.

My Mac OS Environment: Mac OS X 10.6.7

Solution Steps:

  • Go to your Network Preferences

  • Click on the + button in order to add a new network connection. If you have locked your system settings, you have to unlock it first by providing an admin account of your Mac OS. The new network connection will require settings.
  • After clicking ‘Create’, you will need to provide the Server Address, etc…

  • Next, click on ‘Authentication Setting’…

  • Now this is where a little challenge begins. You have to provide the ‘Shared Secret’. If this is not provided by the Cisco Administrator, it is likely that there is a .pcf file that is provided to you which you normally import to the Cisco VPN Client tool in order to import all the config settings. In this case, since you are not using the client software, you need to do the following:
  1. Open your .pcf file in any text editor. Locate for the Encryption. Copy the value of the Encryption parameter.
  2. Go to this website: http://www.unix-ag.uni-kl.de/~massar/bin/cisco-decode
  3. Provide the Encryption parameter from your .pcf file. Hit ‘Decode’ button and —
  4. You will see the Shared Secret in clear text.
  • Provide the Shared Secret in the network settings. The Group Name is also provided in your .pcf file.

  • Click ‘Ok’ and apply the settings. 
  • Now you can test logging in and provide your password (based on your login provided).

That’s it! You should be able to connect to the Cisco VPN of your company network.

In summary, you don’t actually need the Cisco VPN client for Mac in the latest Mac OS X versions as you can choose the Cisco IPSec protocol from the available Network Preferences.

As a code of ethics for us consultants, it is but included in the Non-Disclosure agreement that we are not allowed to share any customer information (names, passwords, etc) that we are working on. The above steps are helpful to work on the technology resolutions. I recommend not to abuse the VPN decoder link.

Til next time. Au revoir.

Reference:

The name Cisco referred by this article refers to Cisco Networks (www.cisco.com)

life, relationship

Angels Amongst Us

chicpencil

In generic terms, Angels are messengers of God. They are usually found in the Hebrew and Christian bibles. In Quran, the term Malakh gives the similar context while in Hinduism Angels are coined as Deva.

Angels are also referred to metaphors, a representation of people who appeared to helped others, an instrument of God to rescue people in times of needs.

Angels are people… whom you know… or moreover strangers who does not know you and yet offered their hands during your trouble times.

I was very busy with work today, a typical Monday at the office where everyone is scrambling to their weekly activities and schedules. Meetings, reports, and reviews are but the usual Monday blues (“Monday blues” and the context here is borrowed from a very good person in my life – wink).

I completely forgot about the time only to realized that it was past 9PM and I’m still at the office. When I was packing my things I decided to go to the ladies room. Usually my access card is inside its leather holder to ensure that I won’t misplaced my card inside my bag. And so I went to the ladies room. It’s only when I’m returning back to office that I realized I don’t have access card in its leather holder. I have the leather holder but the access card is not in it. When I looked outside the office door, the reality sunk in. It is then I realized I was the last person in the office. In short, I was standing outside the office door without anything with me. My handbag, mobile phones, wallet, everything is inside the office. I couldn’t call as I don’t have my mobile… I couldn’t get a cab and ride a bus as I don’t have my wallet with me.

Without thinking I went down to go to the security desk and check if I can use their desk phone so I can call and seek help.

Two challenges faced me:

  1. I don’t recall any numbers except for a vague memory of my boss mobile number
  2. The security desk phone can’t call mobile number and the security guard is fairly new at his post and his mate was on roving time. He also doesn’t have mobile phone with him.

While talking to the security desk we noticed a young woman who was sitting outside and was probably waiting for her ride. The security ask me to talk to the lady and seek help on my situation.

I told myself “Seeking help to a complete stranger… this is my first time. Courage, courage, and God please help!”

While I was approaching the young lady, an On-call taxi came. It was her ride, I was already loosing hope when the security came out and have asked the young woman by himself. They were speaking Mandarin so I wouldn’t able to understand. However, the young woman needed to go and my mind left blank.

I was again discussing with the security for possible options when suddenly the young woman came back to us. The taxi driver agreed to wait for her. She allowed me to borrow her mobile phone so I can call my boss. Vaguely, I dialed a number (I was anxious and hoping that I dialed the correct number of my boss) and I was stunned that I’m hearing my boss’ voice on the other end. Gladly my boss picked up the call and I was able to explain the trouble that I was in.

Thank God!

I asked for the numbers of my colleagues who are living nearby our office. Unfortunately, my colleagues were not able to picked up my calls. I was left with no choice but to go to my boss’ place to borrow his access card. The only problem is, I didn’t have any money for cab fare.

Again without realizing it, I again asked the young woman if I can share her cab. She gladly agreed. I asked her if I can drop her to her place and with the same taxi I’m going to my boss place. I picked up the tab of taxi fare – it is the least I can do for all the help that she offered me. While in the cab we were chatting and talking like we knew each other for sometime. She was an auditor and she’s not working in the building. She’s auditing one of the companies in the building just for the week. As we were chatting, we didn’t realized were near her place.

I gave her the biggest thanks…

After the young woman alight from the cab, I shared to the taxi driver the things that have happened. The taxi driver couldn’t believe it. He thought me and young lady knew each other pretty well. When I reached my boss’ place, my boss together with his lovely daughters were there to hand me the access card. My boss was gracious enough to lend me SGD 60 in case anything happens. I couldn’t be thankful enough for all that has happened.

The taxi driver gladly waited for me and took me back again to the office. The security was there and was also smiling; he knew I somehow managed to get things resolved. I thanked the security and rushed to office to pick up my things and head home. I realized I didn’t have proper dinner yet and it was already 10:45PM.

After picking up my things and taking the same taxi I managed to get home. The taxi driver was gracious enough to recommend me a place to get my dinner – it was in the marketplace within my neighborhood.

Finally I reached home at 11PM. With a big smile in my face and a very thankful heart and a warm noodles I bought from the marketplace following the recommendation of the taxi driver.

I wouldn’t forget today as I had the privileged to witness strangers and people – the ANGELS – willing to help you in times when you’re in deep.. shit… (“,)

Angel # 1: The security desk who willingly helped me and even talked to the young woman to help.

Angel # 2: The beautiful young woman who lend me her mobile phone and shared her cab with me.

Angel # 3: My boss for picking up my call and lending me his access card. His daughters were cute and lovable.

Angle # 4: The taxi driver who has been there to drove to different destinations. He was a careful driver and a patient one.

Above all, I owe God the gratitude for giving me these wonderful people just when I need them the most.

It all happened in Singapore. The cab fare may have costed me approximately SGD 50 but the entire experience is priceless…

Portrait of an Angel. Taken at Cologne, Germany. July 2009.

Til next time. Au revoir.

Reference:

Angel, Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angel

culture, life, relationship, society

Singles Galore

chicpencil

The Asian continent holds the largest set of population compared to the rest of the world attributing to China and India.

It is indeed perceived that Asians in general will get marry otherwise singles will be pressured by society, family, and friends. This statement holds true with respect to ethnicity and religion. Few Asian races still follow the ‘arrange marriage’ protocol no matter how modern the society is. The value of family life is still being followed – a typical Asian characteristics of having to belong to a group or population rather than being individualist.

However, Asians like any other fast moving cosmopolitan residents are affected by the same trend that people choses to be single. A fast moving economy affects the psychology of residents where competition is likely to be sky rocket high. Residents would rather focus on career and personal achievements rather than creating a family which entails responsibilities and life balance.

Why do people chose to be single?

A question that is very hard to answer especially when you’re still single and you belong to the demographics of 30 – 40 years of age.

Is it hard to give up independence when compromise is needed in a relationship?

Singapore though the country population is still considered low is an example of singles galore.

In 2010 Singapore census, the single population has raised to 32% as compared to 30% in year 2000.

Reference: singstat.gov.sg

Needless to mention that the single population is increasing in Singapore. Though dating is common within the diverse races composition, still a third of the residents prefer to be single.

Is education a contributing factor to a person’s singlehood?

Reference: singstat.gov.sg

It is interesting that in Singapore, based on the census statistics study last 2010, that men belonging to the population of 30 – 34 years tend to stay single with the follow qualifications:

  • below secondary
  • diploma and professional
  • university

While women within the population of 30 – 34 tend to stay single within the following qualifications:

  • diploma and professional
  • university

Could it be that magic of love is dying?

I do not believe such. The single population of 30 – 34 are most likely busy building their career as the workplace competition is high due to the multicultural populace of Singapore.

Another reason is that singles sometimes choose to be in such status due to the fear of commitments and responsibilities of marriage and family life.

When singles see their friends’ marriages are breaking up or have broke up, it impacts a silent trauma and fear to dwell to a married life.

Singlehood can be an art and singles are artists. Oftentimes, singles have a diverse range of activities, career, social life, and dating. Such activities can be stimulating to mind, body, and soul.

I often asked on the question of ‘How long do you still want to stay single?’

I just smiled and reply…

When I know then I know, when its time then its time, and when its the right person then he will be…      ~ Chic Pencil


Hold my hand please.

Til next time. Au revoir.

Reference:

Click to access findings.pdf

technology

Wiggle It Spindle IT

chicpencil

The hard worker is always behind the scene. In the case of Online Transaction Processing (OLTP) and Decision Support Systems (DSS), what’s not seen in the naked eye, the hard worker is the disk subsystem which always remains unnoticed.   ~ Chic Pencil

A customer relationship management system will always contain and maintain our records once we become a member or a customer of the business entity. Customer records is always the basis of customer analytics as well as customer loyalty campaigns.

When you want your records to be retrieved, what you know is to input your personal details when it is done via online portal or a customer service officer will retrieved it for you.

Say for example you input your details as the following via the online portal:

  • Firstname      :     John
  • Lastname       :     Smith
  • Date of birth  :     12/08/1980
  • National ID   :     589001122

In the backend processing, the CRM system will get your records via passing of your inputs to the CRM database. As such, the CRM system will pass the query using the following SQL statement (the language of most databases):

> begin tran

> select * from customer where fname = ‘John’ and lname = ‘Smith’ and DOB = ’12/08/1980′ and NID = 589001122

> end tran

> go

Once the database receives your request, it will be placed in the queue. And when it is your request’s turn for the database to process, well the database will do the following:

  1. The database will parse the SQL statement received. The parsing process involves checking of syntaxes and if there are violations, the database will return the errors to the CRM system.
  2. Once the parsing completes and there’s no violations found, the database will refer to its query processing engine to build the algorithm that will retrieve the data. We call this stage, the building of the query plans.
  3. Based on the query plans generated, the database will choose which plan will fit to retrieve the data. The query plan is one of they key workers of a database system. It is essential that the database administrator (DBA) performs the necessary maintenance in order to keep the database system at optimal health.
  4. The chosen query plan will be performed by the database engine. This time, the database engine will perform the coordination with the last worker in the hierarchy — the disk subsystem.
  5. When the disk subsystem receives the database request, it will place it in a queue. And the queue management and control is handled by spindle. The spindle will tell the disk to get the requested data basing from RPM (speed) of the physical disk.
  6. Once the spindle completes the requested operation, it will pass it back to the database with the data in it.
  7. The database will then relay the requested data to the CRM system.
  8. The CRM system will display the data requested. In this case it will validate based on the input if the customer does exists in the customers table.

The above example is only looking for data in one table. When you want to know the purchases you made or any transactions you done in the past, the database system will look for your query in different tables and indexes. The more requests you do translates to more operations to the last worker in the hierarchy and that is the disk subsystem.

Though the role of the disk subsystem is sometimes forgotten. It does play a major role in any IT needs from personal to enterprise requirements.

The disk spindle holds the key role in letting the IT system administrators know the input – output (I/O) speed — MB/sec of the subsystem it manage. It is the benchmark of the system administrators if there is a need to increase or upgrade the current disk subsystem when new business requirements arise.

Most often than not, the importance of the having the best disk subsystem is limitedly appreciated by the hardware vendors. Most software vendors does not put emphasis that by having a best disk subsystem their system will perform par better than their expected speed.

The disk subsystem is the database’s best friend. When the database is fast in getting user queries, the disk subsystem should be able to response fast as well otherwise, choking on the disk system will occur. Disk choking occurs when the disk spindle is not able to meet up with the transactions that is passed on to it. Remember that the transactions not only comes from database requests but also from the operating system side as well.

As such, for OLTP requests, a higher disk RPM and a higher disk spindle is an excellent fit. This requirement is universal regardless of database brand. These days, 10K or 15K RPM SAS disk is readily available in the market.

For DSS or OLAP requirements, you will need to consider the database architecture and technology. Since user queries especially ad-hoc queries requires huge amount of I/O operations as data retrieval is being done in bulk method, parallelism inclusive of disk spindle would be an excellent fit. Well the database technology for this requirement will be discussed in a separate article.

For Unix system, you can view the disk spindle (operations) via these commands

  • vmstat
  • sar

It is important to monitor the health of the disk. Once this component fails, a RAID configuration should be handy otherwise precious data will be completely loss as a backup system may not be able to do an up-to the minute backup.

So, if you’re not taking care of your disks better start checking it now. It is the worker who wiggles and spindles in order to retrieve your important data and files and everything in your system.

Exposure 1/60 sec. F/4.5. Focal 70 mm. ISO 400. Nikon D200.

Title: Simply happy. A symbol of a happy customer.

A happy customer is a loyal customer. Keeping customers happy not only entails business processes but also the IT system as well. As such, everything in the equation has to be balanced. And the last worker in the hierarchy shouldn’t be forgotten.

Til next time. Au revoir.


christianity, culture, faith, germany, history, india, life, love, oman, photoblog, photography, relationship, salalah, singapore, society, travelblog

Expressions

chicpencil

Different faces.
Different places.
Different representations.

People I met.
People I treasured.
People I cared for.
People I found.

Some left.
Some stayed.
Some returned.

One thing I won’t forget is they allowed me to see them in the lens of my camera.

Memories.

Expressions.

In my journey in life.

~ Chic Pencil

Few of my snaps from different places, faces, travels and art.

Exposure: 1/3200 sec. F/4.0. Focal 34 mm. ISO 640. Nikon D200. Title: Jawohl! My cousin on his dunk moves. Gutersloh, Germany. 2009.

Exposure: 1/25 sec. F/4.5. Focal 70 mm. ISO 800. Nikon D200. Title: ONE. My best buddy and his wife on their wedding ceremony. New Delhi, India. 2009.

Exposure: 1/80 sec. F/4.5. Focal 24mm. ISO 640. Nikon D200. Title: Growl. He was playing with me during our road trip to Hamburg, Germany. 2009.

Exposure: 1/60 sec. F/3.0. Focal 19 mm. ISO 800. Nikon D200. Title: Mood! One of my bestfriends in life. In his dancing mood. New Delhi, India. 2009.

Exposure: 1/60 sec. F/3.8. Focal 38 mm. ISO 800. Nikon D200. Title: Graceful. I called her my baby sis in India. She dances gracefully. New Delhi, India. 2009.

Exposure: 1/60 sec. F/4.0. Focal 38 mm. ISO 640. Nikon D200. Title: Dad & Son. Gutersloh, Germany. 2009.

Exposure: 1/90 sec. F/4.5. Focal 70 mm. ISO 640. Nikon D200. Title: Stunt! Taken at Movie Park, Bottrop Germany. 2009.

Exposure: 1/20 sec. F/4.0. Focal 45 mm. ISO 800. Nikon D200. Title: Nasi Goreng. Singapore, 2009.

Exposure: 1/45 sec. F/8.0. Focal 27.9 mm. ISO 400. Fujifilm FinePix S5500. Title: Two-gether. Taken at New Jersey, USA. 2005.

Exposure: 1/680 sec. F/5.6. Focal 5.7 mm. ISO 64. Fujifilm FinePix S5500. Title: Nation’s Pride, The Petronas Twin Towers. Kuala Lumpur Malaysia, 2006.

Exposure: 1/800. F/4.5. Focal 34 mm. ISO 640. Nikon D200. Title: Melanie. My baby sis in Germany. Taken at Cologne, Germany. 2009.

Exposure: 1/60. F/4.5. Focal 50 mm. ISO 640. Title: Innocent Grin. New Delhi, India. 2009.

Exposure: 1/60 sec. F/4.5. Focal 17 mm. ISO 640. Nikon D200. Title: 1001 Meaning. New Delhi, India. 2009.

Exposure: 1/60 sec. F/3.8. Focal 38 mm. ISO 400. Nikon D200. Title: Lovely smiles. Gutersloh, Germany. 2010.

F/3.2. Focal 4.9 mm. Nokia E71. Title: Comprende? Taken at Movie Park, Bottrop Germany. 2009.

X-res 72 dpi. Y-res 72 dpi. Rim Blackberry 9700. Title: Windy at Jebel Samhan. Salalah Oman. 2010.

Exposure: 1/60 sec. F/5.6. Focal 78 mm. ISO 400. Nikon D200. Title: Confidence. My eldest brother. Salalah Oman. 2010.

Exposure: 1/60 sec. F/4.5. Focal 40 mm. ISO 400. Nikon D200. Title: Mother & Son. Gutersloh, Germany. 2009.

 

Exposure: 1/20 sec. F/4.5. Focal 55mm. ISO 640. Nikon D200. Title: Her Eyes. New Delhi India. 2009.

Exposure: 1/100sec. F/4.0. Focal 50mm. ISO 800. Nikon D200. Title: Simply happy. A wedding made in India. New Delhi. 2009.

Exposure: 1/4 sec. F/5.6. Focal 120mm. ISO 500. Nikon D200. Title: The Bride’s Makeup. Singapore. 2013.

Exposure: 1/45 sec. F/4.5. Focal 33mm. ISO 1600. Nikon D200. Title: The Bride’s Hair. Singapore. 2013.

Exposure: 1/13 sec. F/5.3. Focal 50mm. ISO 1600. Nikon D200. Title: Surprises. Singapore. 2013.

Exposure: 1/20 sec. F/3.2. Focal 4.9mm. ISO 800. Nikon Coolpix S3000. Title: Attention. Philippines. 2014.

Exposure: 1/8 sec. F/5.6. Focal 12mm. ISO 500. Nikon D200. Title: Gnex & Harini. Singapore. 2013.

Exposure: 1/8 sec. F/5.6. Focal 11mm. ISO 500. Nikon D200. Title: Dad in-law’s birthday gift. Dad in-law’s 65th. Singapore 2013.

Exposure: 1/60 sec. F/3.8. Focal 38mm. ISO 320. Nikon D200. Title: The Innocent Cry. Gutersloh, Germany. 2010.

Exposure: 1/125 sec. F/5.6. Focal 70mm. ISO 400. Nikon D200. Title: Me and the gracious ladies. Salalah, Oman. 2010.

Exposure: 1/8 sec. F/3.0. Focal 21mm. ISO 800. Nikon D200. Title: Sultan Al Qaboos Mosque. Salalah, Oman. 2010.

Exposure: 1/750sec. F/5.0. Focal 50mm. ISO 640. Nikon D200. Title: Here they come! A unique brewery! Hamburg, Germany. 2009.

Exposure: 1/15 sec. F/4.5. Focal 17mm. ISO 640. Nikon D200. Title: The Cathedral. Cologne, Germany. 2009.

Exposure: 1/500 sec. F/11. Focal 62mm. ISO 400. Nikon D200. Title: Let’s finish the job. Workers at the ruins of Queen Sheba’s palace (Remember King Solomon in the Bible?). Salalah, Oman. 2010.

Exposure: 1/40 sec. F/3.3. Focal 26mm. ISO 1600. Nikon D200. Title: Family party @ Germany. 2010.

Til next time. Au revoir.

health, life, psychology

Dance Like Nobody’s Watching

chicpencil

We can’t manage the outside world if we don’t manage our inside self.

~ Chic Pencil

Dance has always been a part of human society. It’s a form of expression, a communication, aesthetics, and an art. To some, it is a form and part of religion, a ritual, and a healing process. The movement of the body in tune to the rhythm of the song constitutes the graceful effect of the dancer conveying the message of the performance.

Dancing as an expression has been portrayed since the earliest human civilizations. Archeologists already found traces of dance since the prehistoric times such as the 9000 year old Rock Shelters of Bhimbetka paintings of India and Egyptian tomb showing dancing figures from 3300 BC.

Different continents and countries have different dance movements, they are called their own ethnic or traditional dance. All dance movement portrays a story, a message that needs to be conveyed to the audience or the receiver.

Widely known as it is, dance is an art.

However, dance or dancing can also be a therapy, an outlet of an individual.

All of us suffered from stress and pressures which can be from work and even family. And as such, all of us need an outlet to regain focus and energy from what has been drained from mundane work and responsibilities.

Dance releases endorphins, the mood enhancer, which gives an individual the natural euphoria and good feeling after the physical movement of more than 20 minutes.

Nancy Cassman, a dance/movement therapist from Boulder Colorado believes that when you start moving your body you’ll start moving the energy in your life too. In dance movement therapy, especially the sensual, rhythmic response aroused by dance and music is used as a way of bypassing the conscious mind and making contact with the inner emotional world. Through dance, hidden emotions can be expressed in a nonverbal way and accepted by the conscious self.

Since I was a child one of my passions is dancing. After our afternoon siesta my dad would usually asked us to dance or to sing. I prefer dancing and I love dancing with my dad in the tune of salsa and cha-cha with the old Spanish tunes. Needless to say, dancing is but a part of Spanish culture.

I stopped dancing when I suffered from hypothyroidism last 2001. Such condition made me succumb to weight gain and water retention that I reached 100+ kilograms, twice the value from my original weight. Though my height is 163cm, having such weight made my body structure suffer from health problems not to mention the low morale and inferiority complex that I’ve been through.

After years of medication, I became free from my hypothyroidism. My doctor decided to put me in weight management program in early 2010. After one year of weight management, I reduced my weight to 65 – 67kgs. It’s very challenging but one’s motivation and faith is always the key to achieving results.

As part of my weight management, I went back to dancing and using it as part of therapy. Dancing not only as one of my passions but it also become my outlet, a stress reliever from the outside pressures.

Here’s an excerpt from Step Up Movie. The dance finale, a fusion of ballet and hip hop.

Here’s the ancient and ever popular belly dancing. My favorite of all dance routine.

We cannot escape the pressures and stress of the outside world. If we don’t take care of our internal self, no else will do it on our behalf.

So let’s dance.. like nobody’s watching… It always feels good.

After my belly dancing workout. 🙂

 

Here’s one wish that I will dance  as what Shakira (my fave artist) did in this video. 🙂

 

Til next time. Au revoir.

 

References:

  1. Wikipedia Online – Dance
  2. Laurel Kallenbach, Dance For Your Health, http://www.thrivingnow.com/dance-for-your-health/