Ray of Light

Jason, on our way home after a dinner of sushi plates.

Me & Diandra, on our way to the airport to say goodbye to our french friend.


Jason's brothers, Monang & Billy, laughing about something funny. (Err, I forgot what hahaha)


Awesome photographer, Yogi Kusuma & Me, having late dinner and beer. And ehhmm too much smoking.


Rudye, the keyboardist of the band Thirteen, at Thirteen's album launching party.


Tania & CB (Cipta Binangkit), we were at a rock show, they're such a cute couple!

Tips for taking photos with this effect (I'll call it the Moving Lights Effect)

1) Manual Mode
- Low ISO speed ratings are much better. 100, 200, or 400.
- Focal length doesn't really matter, how ever it will be easier if it's closer. These photo's focal length varies from 18 - 36 mm.
- Use flash
- Most important : Low shutter speed! 2 or 3 seconds for best results.

2) Automatic Night Mode
- if you're using a D-SLR, you can use Night Mode
- USE FLASH.


Steps : Of course, for the same results as mine, you'll need to (1) take the photos at night. (2) The most important thing is that you set your shutter speed to a low rate. Not less that 2 seconds. And you'll need something to (3) set your focus on, in my case, I focus on people. Once your lens is already focused, (4) take the photo (use flash!), and while the shutter is still open, (before it clicks) you (5) move your camera in motion circles, or lines. Up or down, or left-right. Just jiggle your camera! Once the shutter is closed (clicked), voila! You'll have a motion of moving lights in your photo. Remember not to move the camera too much though, it will have a very bright exposure instead.

Last but not least, practice! And keep on experimenting with your camera. Be creative and unique :)

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

How are you doing over there?

Oh, I'm so so sorry for the late updates. I'm just not feeling creative at all, not even inspired! And this time I'm not going to blame my college assignments, but I'll blame this boredom syndrome that's attacking me! I'm terribly bored, and I desperately need a vacation! Like big time! Only two months left till the end of this semester, yessss. I hope time flies fast, super fast.

And by the way, I have this huge pimple on my right cheek which is so annoying. It makes me feel less confident and I feel so ugly hahahaha. Well, I hope you enjoyed my photos, I'll update soon. PROMISE!

I love you all, hug and kisses!

I Love Me

There will always be moments when we feel the most vulnerable. When we feel insecure and uneasy of our own imperfections. Yes, no one is perfect. We all have flaws of our own. But you know what, I'm sick of feeling terrible about myself! And we should all stop feeling imperfect. At least for one day in our lives.

To be honest, I'm not feeling so well about myself today. It's been a couple of days actually. I don't even know how to start. But the bottom line is, I feel terrible :(

So, as I was being a crybaby ass, I started thinking, what the hell am I feeling horrible for? I am an amazing person! Yes I am! And so are you! And then I came up with an idea, I want to make a list of reasons that makes me an amazing person. And I tag all of you to do so! Write a list of 10 good things about you, on your blog, on a Facebook note, or on a piece of paper, anywhere! Your choice. I tag EVERYONE to do this. Don't feel cocky, it's okay. As my friend, Lina Zainal, told me, there's nothing wrong about loving yourself. It's time to feel positive about yourself, so let's start with mine.

I am an amazing person because..

1) I am creative. I love arts, always did since I was much younger. I've got a good sense of colors and composition. I love to draw, to paint, to take photos, to make videos, all sorts of visual arts.

2) I am a fun person. I like to have fun and be spontaneous. I'm goofy and I'll do anything for you to have a good time with me. I'm also romantic, and I love making surprises.

3) I have a good sense of humor. I'm funny! I'm not a comedian, but I love jokes, and I love laughing! Who doesn't! And this one reminds me that of course, I'm a fun person. People laugh when their around me, and that just makes me happy.

4) I am friendly and easygoing. I love making new friends, and that's pretty much all I've done for 19 years of my life so far. I'm a people person, there's nothing I love more than meeting new people, and I know I'm good at it.

5) I have a passion for animals. I'm not only a people person, I'm also an animal person. I loooove animals! My dream job is to be an animal rescue-er (does that make sense? Well you know what I mean right?). Even though I haven't succeeded to become a vegetarian, oops, but I still love animals.

6) I'm a sensitive person. It's not really exactly always a good thing, because I cry easily, I get mad easily, etc. But that makes me a good listener for others, I understand what other people feels, maybe not always literally, but because of that I'm a good friend.

7) I'm smart. I know I am. I'm not always the smartest kid in the classroom, or in the world, but I know I have a good knowledge. I love to read, I love to learn new things. I'm always curious, and experiences always teaches me new lessons which makes me more smart than I think I am.

8) I'm an optimistic person. I have good hopes for the future, some call me a dreamer, but what's wrong about that? I choose to believe I have a great future than feeling horrible and stop trying to make it come true. I believe everything happens for a reason, and that makes me confident to keep being optimistic.

9) I'm a thankful person. I've learned and experienced a lot. I've had opportunities, I've also made mistakes. And for whatever I've been through, it has taught me to be thankful of what I have, what I have gained, and what I am.

10) I love my family and friends more than anything in this world. I wouldn't be who I am today without them. Without them, I'm no one. I won't let anything hurt them, I know they wouldn't let anything hurt me. I'd do anything to make them happy, I really would. And really, they are who made me an amazing person :')

Wow, that wasn't as easy as I thought it would be, it was hard making a list like that! But now I'm relieved! I really feel much more better about myself. Yes, I'm amazing! Now it's your turn. Don't be afraid to love yourself, feel confident! You are amazing. We are amazing. Don't let anyone makes us feel we're not! Never let anyone feel you're not worthy, because you know you are! Let's all feel happy about ourselves. I hope you make a list as well, trust me, it feels good.

P.S : Anyway, Speaking about being sensitive, I cried when the judges of American Idol saved Matt, he's my favorite idol!
I hope he can go more further in the competition, I wish him all the best :p

The Smallest Country In The World

Vatican City, I have found my heart between your pillars.

Christmas morning 2007, what a day. I arrived at Rome, Italy for the first time of my life. The first thing that I thought was how fresh the air the is. Aaaah, it felt like I've been holding my breath for years. After enjoying the sight of the Colosseum (which was ah-ma-zing by the way), we went straight to the smallest country of the world, Vatican City. I'm still confused, it's a country but a city, blah blah. But whatever, that's how it is hahaha. Well it is certainly small for a country, it's a country within a city, Rome. But man, nothing can't describe how I felt when I first put step in Vatican City.

As a catholic, it really felt like a spiritual trip for me. Only a few of my family members are christians or catholics, or whatever you call us. We were so excited!

St. Peter's Square - The first photo from ©Flickr.

Firstly, we entered the town square, St. Peter's Square. Yet again, AH-MA-ZING! Wow, I was really stunned. There were huge pillars surrounding the square, and because it was Christmas, it was full of people from all over the world! We had to be careful because I guess it would have been so easy to get lost in between all those people. As we walked across the square, I couldn't stop being amazed by the lovely architecture, it was sooo beautiful. The town square was decorated with fountains and sculptures, just perfect architecture! Michelangelo is certainly a genius.

I was overwhelmed when I first came into St. Peter's Basilica. The largest Roman Catholic Church in the world! Everything was so golden, as far as my eyes saw, all I saw was gold colors all across the hall. The church was filled with beautiful sculptures and statues. The main altar was undeniably breath taking, it was so huge and so beautiful. I learned that the basilica was first meant to the the final resting place for the tomb of St. Peter, and yes, I saw the tomb. Oh this is funny, I was staring at an unfamiliar box everyone was staring at. It had big block letters on it that wrote "St. Peter" or something like, I can't remember exactly. And I thought it looks nice, but I can't understand why people are staring at it. And then a little later, I found out there was a body in it, the corpse of St. Peter. And I suddenly freaked out and walked away. Hahahaha. I was shocked hihihi.

Too bad I missed the Christmas Mass, I was too busy looking around and taking photos. But I didn't missed seeing the Pope though! Pope Benedict XVI. He was really old, he walked sooo slow. Not that it is important, I was just fascinated to see how old the Roman Catholic leader was. Everyone was standing together at the St. Peter's Square waiting to hear a speech from the Pope. And there he was, standing up high on the center balcony of the basilica. He waved, and smiled. He looks so friendly. After delivering a long speech that I didn't understand at all (I think it was in Italian, not sure hmmm), then he gave his blessing to everyone, by saying "Merry Christmas" in 60 languages! And when he said "Selamat hari natal" which is Indonesian, me and my family clapped as hard as possible, we were just so so happy to hear him say that. Everyone in the square was cheering for Pope Benedict, it was really a magical feeling.

Pope Benedict XVI

I felt like home standing there. I might be in the smallest country of world, but I share a wonderful common thing with the hundred thousands of people there. We shared the joy of Christmas and the liberty of enjoying the most beautiful scenery of the roman catholic history. Even though we were all strangers and came from different sides of the world, we were one. it was really the best Christmas day in my life so far. I couldn't ask for anything better.


Do you travel? Tell me about your favorite travel experience! :)