A Journey Lived

ALL TERRAIN. ALL THINGS CONSIDERED.

Jan Shim — Mon, 12 May 2008 07:22:39 +0000

Ever since I was convinced to invest in a good pair of casual footwear (good referring to aesthetics as much as comfort), I’ve developed a taste funky sandals to go with my line of GAP/ESPRIT clothing for work and casual wear which if you noticed there’s absolutely no distinction unless the situation calls for penguin wear! It all began with a pair of BEETLEBUG sandals, artistic and oversized, and I went on to a second pair that’s not quite as colourful. I thought they were cool until I came across these NIKE ACG SIDEWINDER! ACG stands for All Conditions Gear and when you have a pair you’ll understand why!

NIKE SIDEWINDER © Jan Shim Photography

Inside the box, the footwear is wrapped with what appears to be recycled paper and on which is printed …

Thanks for trusting us with your feet. We believe the best times are often unplanned activity in the in-between spaces with friends from coffee shops to base camp. This shoe is not only packed full of innovation, but it’s very easy to understand and fun to wear. We hope you’re inspired to practice random outdoor explorations and spontaneous adventures. JUST DO IT!

Sounds like typical day for me and Nike understands my needs! Best of several worlds in one package. Too bad sandals still aren’t considered “business casual” items!

So does NIKE understand the footwear business? You bet! The NIKE SIDEWINDER CI is a sandal fused with sticky rubber sole where I suspect the traction may come in handy someday. What intrigued me when I caught sight of the Sidewinder is the use of leather upper, cork and Poli U midsole. I was convinced by the store that the the midsole is made of high tech material that promotes fast drying when wet so I was assured that it’s not going to stink. I do wear my sandals in practically all terrains as long the element of risks isn’t there. I put my footwear through the elements—fresh water, sea water, sand and mud–whatever and wherever is needed to get the shot.

What is NIKE CONSIDERED? I pulled an explanation out of Wikipedia …

The Nike Considered line utilizes materials found primarily within 200 miles of the Nike factory which reduces the energy used for transportation, diminishing the resulting climate change impact. The manufacturing process reduces solvent use by more than 80% compared with Nike’s typical products. The leather comes from a tannery that recycles wastewater to ensure toxins are kept out of the environment, and it is colored using vegetable-based dyes. Hemp and polyester are used to make the shoe’s woven upper and shoelaces. The midsole is cut to lock into the outer sole, reducing the need for toxic adhesives. The shoe’s outer sole includes rubber made from recycled factory rubber waste.

MOTHER’S DAY. AN EDUCATION OF LOVE.

Jan Shim — Sat, 10 May 2008 09:46:44 +0000

A NOTE OF THANKS to LILY CHIAM, a highly accomplished musician, business owner, a friend and most of all a Mom for her invitation to the DREAM ASCENDS concert tonight where she’ll debut and perform tracks from her album TOGETHER! It’s much appreciated. I’m certain I will enjoy the fascinating aerialist and New York dancer, the lighting effects, the different instruments and cultural dances that you so eloquently put but most of all, your performance! Regrets, however, I have prior commitments on this celebratory weekend. I believe DREAM ASCENDS is going to be a great finale to Mother’s Day.

May 12, 2008 UPDATE: THE DREAM ASCENDS GALLERY BY DAVID CHEOK
May 14, 2008 UPDATE: CINEMATOGRAPHY BY DAVID CHEOK

Meanwhile, according to THE HOMEROOM, an LA Times blog, …

a group of mothers are staging a protest on Friday to send the message that the only thing mothers really want for Mother’s Day is a decent education for their kids … Their target: the millions of dollars the governor has proposed cutting from the education budget.

While nothing of the sort is happening in our education sector, we all want better education for our kids, our legacy for the future! And what better subjects to educate our kids than love. A love for education, a love (and respect) for the family, a discipline that’s taught at Chung Ching Primary School in Seria as early as kindergarten. Education including family values begins at home as much as it is at school and he school instills the culture at an early age. Today, on the eve of Mother’s Day, students, teachers and parents celebrated the occasion with roses, cake and a whole lot of attention!

Primary 2 students playing a Mother’s Day piece to the delight of their parents who looked on from the side walk.

A teacher with an empty red box that contained Mother’s Day cards, a surprise from the students to their moms along with the red roses, chocolates and abundance of smiles.

A student and her mother poses for a deserving photo moment.

Besides greeting cards, students also surprised their moms with a written declaration of their love in more than one languages while hearts remain universally symbolic!

I don’t remember anyone teaching me the notion of giving flowers to my parents at school but if I did, I might have done so quite innocently. But I grew up and eventually understood the meaning of roses fairly well

On April 28 2008 The School Leadership National Conference and Workshop 2008 was officiated by the Minister of Education. The ceremony, a first joint collaboration between MOE, UBD and Microsoft, was held at the Chancellor’s Hall and the event carried the theme ‘School Leaders for Tomorrow’s Education‘. The Minister received a token of appreciation from Microsoft Brunei, a photograph I took at the Rimba Primary School captioned “In Every Child There Is A Potential To Be Great.“

Gift to the Minister of Education by Microsoft | Photography © Jan Shim

Chosen from a series of photographs from the LEARNING STYLES AND POWERPOINT project with Microsoft, Country Manager Wan Kong and I deliberated over the selections and mutually arrived at the same piece differing only in our interpretation of the photo caption.

“Learning Styles (LS) can be defined as the way each person begins to Concentrate on new and difficult information, Process this information, Internalize and retain this information and; Use this information … The Dunn & Dunn Learning Styles Model operates with 20 elements that are fundamental to our learning … is aligned with the learning sysems of the brain … thoroughly researched and has already proven its strength.” You can learn more at www.learningstyles.net.

As a token of appreciation for the efforts of the teachers and students at CCMS in making the shoot possible, Microsoft had goodie bags for the team. On Microsoft’s behalf, I handed them to the teacher in charge on this day to coincide with the school’s Mother’s Day celebration!

The following two photos were candid moments at CCMS. Photographing them candidly can be difficult given the available space to move around in relation to direction of light in order to maintain a natural looking ambient including the right body language and behaviour.

Other Microsoft links

Other Chung Ching School links

LILY CHIAM. SHOOTING FOR THE STARS.

Jan Shim — Thu, 08 May 2008 06:25:43 +0000

Music expresses that which cannot be said and on which it is impossible to be silent ~ Victor Hugo

Musical talent is often said to be God’s gift. After all, talent isn’t learnt but discovered and very often it takes a journey of opportunity and self-discovery before talent is realised and developed. Lily and I go way back in school and in her online bio, “having been caught on camera as early as 8 months old playing on a toy piano, Lily’s love for music has grown into a great passion for life and the expression of the arts for all.” My god-given talent, however, was failing exams and I developed a seriously allergy to schools and became a constant worry for my parents.

Decades later, I survived and our paths crossed at the TOYOTA CLASSICS 2007 event. The top left photo was taken at the end of the event and I had her pose against her grand piano. One thing led to another and this photo remained in my archive until this post–it’s going to be the first time she sees it too.

I sensed a pun when Lily autographed her CD and poster “SHOOT FOR THE STARS” but I was too busy and couldn’t help soaking up the vintage look and feel of her music school, EXPRESSION MUSIC which is located right across from Vintage Rose Cafe whose interior decor coincidentally shares similar tastes.

Lily recently represented Brunei at the FRANCOPHONE MUMBAI MUSIC FESTIVAL to help promote the country’s culture and home-grown music industry in the international arena. The Francophone Music Festival aims to promote linguistic and cultureal diversity and also share Francophone cultures with the world, a community of more than 170 million people in 54 countries … as resported by the Brunei Times newspaper.

Her much awaited first album TOGETHER will be released on May 11 at THE DREAM ASCENDS MEGA CONCERT to be held at the International Convention Centre where she will be performing songs from her album with New York Broadway Director Rich Fowler who had this to say …

It is with great pleasure that I introduce the amazing talents of Lily Chiam. She is fast becoming one of the brightest artist composers in her region. Her music rings with clarity that places the album in the crossover genre of World Music and Pop … We had the pleasure of recording in Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, Los Angeles and New York. TOGETHER is a labour of love intended for your pleasure. Enjoy it many times over.

The album is AVAILABLE NOW from:
EXPRESSION MUSIC | Spg 88 B15-16, Bgn Lim Eng Ming, Kiulap
GOLDEN MUSIC CENTRE | Bandar Seri Begawan, Tutong, Seria & Kuala Belait

May 12, 2008 UPDATE: THE DREAM ASCENDS GALLERY BY DAVID CHEOK
May 14, 2008 UPDATE: CINEMATOGRAPHY BY DAVID CHEOK

DST BROADBAND. GO FOR IT!

Jan Shim — Wed, 07 May 2008 15:52:08 +0000

I’m incredibly blessed to live in the sleepy town of SERIA, slightly over an hour’s drive from the Brunei capital. A high 90% of my clients are in fact located in the capital yet and while I moan the long, dry commutes from each trip, the peace and tranquility of the oil town makes it all worthwhile. The amount of time I spend on the road has also made mobile connectivity a necessity.

So it was only a week ago when premier mobile operator DST launched GO! broadband in a big way that shook and stirred the internet service provision business. So much so that there’s presently an electrifying mix of ecstasy and utter disappointment, the latter belonging to subscribers of the competitor’s price plan.

There’s nothing like having a great deal that’s TWO good to pass up and packs twice as much speed as the other party. It never ceases to amaze me the lengths corporates GO! to sweeten the deal. The competition stiffens and retaliates with new plans but I know who has my support.

BEACH CRABS. THEY’RE NO HERMITS.

Jan Shim — Mon, 05 May 2008 01:22:26 +0000

Know what it’s like to be bitten all over by sandflies (apparently they’re also called blackfly in Australia/New Zealand)? It seems odd that they are over a dozen products for mossies but nothing to wad off these pesky flies that leave unsightly and very itchy marks. Worse part is they take weeks (up to a month from memory) to disappear completely. But, if that’s what it takes to photograph these beach crabs, so be it!

So these appear to be one of the many variety of FIDDLER CRABS that are popular our sandy and muddy shores.

If you visit the beach enough like me you’d have know it’s almost impossible to get close to these crabs. They’d scurry off very quickly and chances are there’s not enough holes for them to hide in so the rest just keep on running until it’s safe again to relax and enjoy what they do best—a little fun in the sun! They’re always on the move and seem to hang around that S curve border between moist sand and water and if you’re able to see what I’ve seen through my 100mm macro lens, they playfully spit water through their tiny little mouth.

If you look at these pictures and stare into the face long enough you’ll probably see (as I did) where some of these nasty looking faces make their way to the big screen. The fugly alien in PREDATOR springs to mind!

Another EASI card image in the making? Maybe. Who knows. The burn from sandfly bites and the scorching sun didn’t make this catch any easy!

What I do know is that my EOS 20D camera that recently took a swim in the Temburong river continues to work and I photographed these crabs with the EF 100mm f/2.8 lens. In addition, there are no sandflies or mosquitoes at the Ulu Ulu Resort to ruin the experience.

NOTES: Coming back to the subject of repellants for sandflies, a swimming instructor (thanks Hans!) once suggested baby oil and I’ve since been applying it before I head to the beach. Even at the local club swimming pool, I get sandfly bites too so I’ve been able to determine the effectiveness of baby oil and it works (unless it had been a coincidence)! However, in light of a recent discovery that Listerine (the mouth wash) makes a great safer alternative to repellants against mosquitoes, I can vouch it’s useless against sandflies!