.: ShaolinTiger - Kung-Fu Geekery :.

So May 10th came faster than expected and everything seemed to come together just in time, World Lupus Day was here!

The first part was getting the Anything Butterfly Photography Competition running, which we got going with the help of the large member base on Shutter Asia, fellow bloggers giving it a mention and adverts donated by Nuffnang!

Plenty of entries came in, Thursday night was reserved for judging, how we did so is explained here:

Winners of the Anything Butterfly Contest

You can also view the winning pictures there.

Friday night was sticking the winning picks on the mounting boards along with the Lupus posters and information for the exhibition.

The exhibition is on until the 18th of May so please do check it out in 1-Utama near the Oval in the new wing on the 1st floor (You can also buy one of my framed pics for charity!).

Saturday was the event itself, after a late night out at Starbucks it was up and out to 1-Utama, the others had been there since earlllyyyy setting up the panels, carpets and so on.

Freaky was the main organiser + sponsor seeker + everything else + emcee for the day!

Along with the runners up and consellation prize winners we also had stories of lupus displayed.

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So it came down to the Malaysian Dreamgirl Final 3 for Season 1!

Adeline, Cindy and Hanis - Hanis being the clear public favourite, Adeline seeming to be popular amongst the young Chinese population and Cindy being expected to win due to certain 'outside factors'.

The finale itself was held as part of Fashion on 1 at 1-Utama new-wing Oval, on the main catwalk for the Fashion shows.

I propped myself up on the photographers platform with Kimberly and Mike and my new monopod and got a few shots in.

The stage was set for the MDG Finale in 1-Utama.

There was a pretty decent crowd in and outside.

And the photographers were ready on the platform.

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Hanis - 3rd place *sigh*

Why like that one?

Taxi drivers in Malaysia get a lot of bad press for not using their meters, not taking people if the distance is too short or too long, charging more if it's raining, charging more if there's a traffic jam or just plain refusing to take people because they don't feel like going where you want to go.

For me if a taxi is for hire, you should get in - state your destination and off you go.

Anyway have you noticed the worst drivers on the road are also taxi drivers? Cut queues, change lanes recklessly? No signal, no indication of intent? They drive too fast or too slow...of course there are some good taxi drivers, but on the whole?

I managed to avoid them mostly with their crazy antics, but this time I didn't, I was coming out of 1-Utama carpark (new wing) onto the 3-lane section that goes back to the main road.

My lane was empty, let's call it lane one - I double checked, no cars coming so of course I pulled out onto the lane..

Well I managed to pull out half way..when a taxi in the second lane decided to cut into the first lane without any signal, very suddenly..so of course I was half way out there's nothing I can do, he just ploughed straight into the front corner of my car and didn't stop, so he dragged the entire side of his car along my bumper..

He managed to completely crush the side light (thankfully not the headlight) and due to good design, the bumper absorbed the impact and the bracket popped (so no real dent) there's one very deep scratch though.

Care is in the workshop now, it was time for service anyway...service is done but it'll take another 2 days to repair and respray the bumper *sigh*.

Plus about 3-400 bucks to fix (I'll fix the part that got busted at Plaza Damas too) + normal service.

Shit happens! Just beware of the taxis.

It's been a great year, ups and down..but everything turned out well in the end.

New ventures, new friends and new beginnings. Plus loads of free stuff and free parties, can't beat that really can you!

Just came back from a kicking party at KY's place with all the people that matter, good times - and of course supper at William's after!

So here are my Christmas wishes to you all, Merry Xmas and may there be many more healthy and prosperous Xmases to come!

Have fun, have a rest and enjoy yourself.

Eat drink and be Merry!

Merry Xmas from me to you.

For those not interested in the GayPOP saga, here's back to normal programming for a post

The Shong Lee Contest, a behind the scenes look and the 1st prize winner!

These were taken with a super wide angle zoom at 10mm, who else shoots catwalk with 10mm, just me!

The contestants! There were quite a lot, but most of the pros didn't enter, if not we'd stand no chance, respect to them for that.

Quite a lot of spectators too.

A lot were just there for practise too or to get some more portfolio shots in a stress free situation.

Fighting for space.

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This would be part one I guess, seen as though I got less than 10 comments when I use only words it must mean I'm a lousy writer, I better stick to pictures! Hahah.

As I mentioned, I went off to 1-Utama on Saturday afternoon to shoot some catwalk pictures of some lovely young girls holding all the latest cameras. It was a fairly informal contest, you could only enter 1 picture per person, no post processing allowed, you had to print it there on site on one of the provided Canon printers.

The rules were to shoot the girls WITH the cameras, the cam had to be in the shot.

I had a quick triple play and a beer at Chili's then headed down to shoot the contest.

From a photography point of view I think I did ok, pretty well without flash and shooting with a f/2.8 macro lens with no stabiliser

Compositions could be a little more adventerous, but just need to learn the basics first..

Anyway, enough of that, what you want to see is the GIRLS right?

Well here you go..

Christina Ng with a new Sony DV Cam.

The infamous Rose Chin with the Leica D-Lux

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