pinoydaysleeper

My Scholarship entry - A 'place' I have visited

ayan — Mon, 14 Jan 2013 14:19:18 GMT

i am a dreamer.
and to drift around the world with my camera is the ultimate dream.

a dream: an entry to the scholarship program of Mr. Edwards

ayan — Mon, 14 Jan 2013 10:20:00 GMT

i am a dreamer. and to drift around the world with my camera is the ultimate dream.

if you are someone who comes from a working class family living in a third-world country, dreaming a dream like that might, as well, end up as a dream. of course, not unless i win the lottery.

i am a dreamer. like the kindergarten-type of dreamer. those kids who come up to the stage and speak of them wanting to be scientists, or doctors, or actors when they grow up. they dream like its nobody's business. their dreams are unadulterated and innocent. they dream like how its suppose to be done in the first place. no limits. i like to keep that kidergarten trait forever with me. yes, i can still be that hollywood actor =).

because, really, i think, everything, it all starts with a dream.

everything written on that "about the scholarship" page is a dream. owning a hot shot camera. travelling to a foreign country. but most of all, to be mentored by Mr. Edwards is the greatest thing.

apart from being a dreamer, i am a student of life for life. my biggest dream and passion is photography. i want to learn more of it. i want to be good at it. and to get the privileged to be taught by someone like Mr. Edwards is something... just beyond my wildest dreams.

in photography, i am hungry. i yearn to learn more. i know i can and i hope all the universe will conspire to help me achieve it, as what i learned from Paulo Coelho.

i am passionate. whether it be at my work, or at a sport or even in the smallest of things like cooking an egg. i like to put my heart in everything i do. at the end of the day, when i sleep at night, those are the things that make me smile. those "nicely cooked sunny side up" moments.

i like to be challenged. i long for adventures. i enjoy getting lost in a foreign place. i love, though scared at the same time, to be caught out of my comfort-zone. because, apparently, i think, life begins when you step out of that zone.

i love looking at photographs of people and places especially of those that are taken from other parts of the world.

photographs can take me to places i havent been to, know people i havent met before, learn cultures i only catch in National Geographic Channel.

above all, photographs trigger me to dream. dream more.

thats the power of photography for me.

and on the same breath, thats what i hope to share to people, my photos, my dreams and hope that those move them to dream as well.

i would like to inspire people with my photographs( in the future when i am able to take better pictures already). the same way i get inspired when i see some.

what i know now, my knowledge about photography is 1 part out of 10. i yearn to learn.

some people dream of owning a penthouse suit in a fancy part of the city, some of driving that ferrari sports car, some of marrying that victoria secret model; my dream is to be able to take one photo, one good photo that can inspire people.

dont mess with the Hindu

ayan — Mon, 7 Jan 2013 14:00:00 GMT

after my fucked-up indian friend’s girlfriend told me about Batu Caves, it being a wish granter( if and only, one has climbed the 270plus stairs with out stops) i knew i had to pay a visit.

i woke up to a beautiful morning tucked under fresh cotton sheets of our beautiful oh-so comfortable bed in our beautiful hotel. it was a very sound sleep indeed(for me, as for my host michele/jm/watever.. i doubt, haha… i was told i snore when im pulling one of those hibernations).

the irish beers i had the night before, in upscale Changkat Bukit Bintang, surely delivered the goods.

we headed down to the hotel resto to get our filling of nasi lemak, pancakes and the gang for breakfast. then, she took off to work while i headed to Kl sentral and took the direct train to Batu caves. some 13km away from the city center.

we agreed to meet-up at night after her work, and after i closed the deal with the fairy godmother of Batu Caves.

whenever i oversleep, i tend to be sleepy the whole day. and that morning, i was not only sleepy in the train… i actually slept. good thing Batu is the last train stop, and another good thing were the two european girls, spanish if im not mistaken, who were nice enough to woke me up. they were smiling maybe because i looked cute sleeping or saliva was dripping( probably the latter). i tried to engage a conversation with them but they speak no english( tsk tsk tsk).

the batu caves complex is right beside the train station. one of the temples is perched inside the cave some 270-steps above ground. and there sits the wish granter( aha!). a couple of interesting Hindu statues and shrines scattered around. lord Murugan being the focal point.

but the rain that morning made taking pictures an ass. bad lighting etc. and the rain of course.

it was cold and gloomy. i walked around the smaller temples, and wandered around some more. i waited for the drizzle to stop or atleast die down a little before i climbed the stairs but it didnt.

the gameplan was to ascend slowly so not to tire myself too much so i can avoid stops thus getting my wish granted(sounded like a plan.)

i looked up and scaled the whole set of stairs. “this is in the bag” i said. you see, i tend to esteem myself a little at most times. i always think of myself as very healthy and athletic ( even if the image in the mirror seems to not agree almost always, swear, there are mirrors that tend to make you thinner and taller just like the ones in SM department stores, those mirrors are damn accurate).

i wished for the rest of my backpacking trip to be a smooth-sail and perfect; then i took a deep breath then proceeded with the stairs. one step at a time. no looking-up or looking down( heck i didnt look at anything else aside from the stairs in front of me). i did not stair-count. i was focused; i reminded myself that the fate of my backpacking trip on the following days layed on my hands( ok, feet). as i made it, the WISH.

maybe i was over the hundred stairs when i felt my calf muscles to tire and ache a bit. i was not breathing anymore, i was panting. i surged forward.

and when i was on the last 3 or 4 remaining steps it dawned on me how stupid my wish was. what was i thinking right? a perfectly smooth-sailing trip? BORING! a LITTLE mishap here and there would spice up the trip(i was very particular with my words specially the part l-i-t-t-l-e). so i changed wishes at the last minute, at the last 3 steps. from a perfect-smooth-sailing-trip wish to getting laid(now, thats what i call a w-i-s-h).

i stepped on the last step and… ohboy what a relief. at that time, i was sure that i will not have a perfect-smooth-sailing trip and that i will get l-a-i-d. sweet. victory(haha).

at the top i saw the fairy godmother hindu god/goddess sweetly smiling at me… so i sweetly smiled back…
and so she owed me one.. haha. gotcha.

happily, i commuted back to explore the rest of KL. good vibes. an old guy in his 50s i met on the train was even so kind to tell me more about the city. show me around the train station and even accompanied me to the ticket office in kl sentral( i was headed to Penang the next day.) after small talks, he finally led me to the ticket counter and then he graciously went his way out of the terminal and went wherever his home is.

filled out the ticket form and then i searched my bag for my wallet. and then i searched some more. and more…
and more. but found none.

damn it. demmit. tang.na. fukc.

my money was there, cards( the fukcin mastercard was my safety net for this trip, incase i ran out of cash i can always withdraw… and the money on my card is actually included in my backfukcin budget), ID’s, hotel keycard and other valuables were there too. i just got fukced. bigtime.

…and i was not even half-way on my trip. my plane ticket to the Philippines was due not until after 12 fukcin days. Thailand and Laos still awaits me.

i made the deal with the fairy godmother that noon for “a l-i-t-t-l-e mishap”. i was clear on l-i-t-t-l-e. i made sure on that. i repeated it( you know, incase he/she didnt hear it clearly the first time). but this is no way close to l-i-t-t-l-e. cards and money? cmon.

and there i was in the counter with my bag inside out, all stupefied infront of the now puppy-eyed malaysian ticket seller.

***i headed to Penang the next day walletless. broke. and damn i did not even got laid in kl. tsk tsk tsk

***********
-no entrance fee for the main cave; however there is a fee for some caves since they will require you to get a guide
-2rm, train fare, kl sentral-batu caves