Much to my amusement, most of the people who weren't familair with the folk tale of Maculele (yes, that's the name of a warrior guy) mistook this scene in the performance for a classic neanderthal-like "me man, me club woman over head and bring her back to cave" kinda thing. *sigh* oh well... amusing

Fiesta Noite Brasileira 2005 started out with the Maculele performance.. Our dear Jamal was the witch-doctor-cum-boogeyman-type-character in the performance and everyone there uninanimously agreed that he made an excellent boogeyman *lols* i couldn't stop giggling throghout all his scenes heh..

This year, the batizado group was so big that my humble camera couldn't fit everyone in the frame.. oh well i kinda like the fact that the grupo spills out of the frame.. lols this is one of my faves actually.. everyone's so smiley and giddy on axe..

i kinda like this one in black and white as well as in colour lols.. couldn't make up my mind on which to post so just decided to post both!

All smiles after a heck of a batizado...and a new cordao :)

hehe.. i really like this one.. it's so cute the way Rafa head-buttted Marissa lols.. and no i didn't add any motion blur or sharpening :)

Another kiddy capo shot lol, i call it Mushroom cos the lil girl was so cute.. ginga..ginga..ginga then she did the 'mushroom' crouch and let Formado Gringo kick..eee so adowabwle..

The kids were just sooOooOooO amazingly cute during their batizado @ One U... lols everyone was like *awwww* hehe..

This is what you start to see after too many Au-s (cartwheels), too much samba and too much Shisha with Mestre Pintor... *woOooooOo*

The best part about all the rodas was the SAMBA that followed it. Gosh i had such a BLAST especially with the whole samba band there... you feel the rhythm and everyone else just pulsating and shakin their booty to this crazy beat.... yes i liked samba a lot.. alot :)

Bantus girls...and...guy(?), Axe!! *lols*

And now we skip from no colour.. to full colour *whee*

More angola... for many of us from Bantus Malaysia, this was the first time we got the chance to see Capoeira Angola being performed live. It was such a learning experience as the true art and culture of capoeira was expressed through Angola..

The most amazing thing about this festival was how so many different people from such diverse backgrounds can come together and immediately share a common bond through capoeira. Half of us barely even speak the same language yet in the roda, there is an understanding that surpases age, color or creed.. and for that moment, you feel this satisfaction of being a part of something larger than yourself - something larger than all of us.

Rafael doing a mortal..at the academia.. original photo creds to Nick on this one. All edits by me.

Friday workshops.. i think sepia tones really give an old school feel to capoeira angola shots..

Sitting there, watching everyone, you start to notice that there are a LOT of Bantus couples. Taken at the thurs workshop again.. Hitomi and Jamal.

Uma mao, um coracao...In the midst of the chaos in the academia, Rafael and Marissa share a quiet moment..

Taken at the Thursday workshop. I have to say that the music was intoxicating...

Just looking at this one makes me feel all dizzy again... think Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon...

As it is, actually playing in the roda is dizzying enough, shooting it and watching it through a little rectangular-box-of-a-viewfinder is even worse.. lols i was turning my camera all over, following them, trying to snap something half-decent.. came up with this..

Another shot taken by Nick again but heavily photoshopped :) i kinda named it bite because i thought it looked like two tiger cubs roaring at each other, about to pounce *heh* Njoy... *rawwrr*

For those of you who haven't heard yet, Bantus Capoeira Malaysia is having their 2nd Annual Festival! The Capo fever has anyone within 10 feet of the Grupo buzzing with a crazy adrenaline rush.. it's sooooo infectious! *whee* Anyways this was taken by Nick at the Wed night roda in Bangsar. Coincidently, it happened to be the Brasilian Independence day which was a great kickstart to the festivities.. do check out the Bantus website for more info or gimme a buzz.. *Axe!*

In loving memory... rest in peace.


Further Home

See you lying there,
Close my eyes
and catch my breath - I’m falling

All I held inside
These feelings, I
can’t comprehend what’s happening

Why you couldn’t wait another lifetime or even two..
God, I’m missing you…

Promises that left
with your last breathe,
I’ll keep with me till morning

comes to steal my sleep,
Steal the beat
that drives me on - I’m bleeding

Knew that you were leaving yet I fell on my knees and prayed..
Cried and bowed my head…

You’re flying further than I can follow,
for now..
Would trade up all my tomorrows,
Just to bring you back
Bring you back..

Home...

I know that you've
never really left
yet I can’t help but feel lonely

Hold you in my heart
The day grows dark
Hear your voice and I’m reaching

Wait for me and I’ll find you where ever you may be..
Feel you constantly..

You’re flying further than I can follow,
for now..
Would trade up all my tomorrows,
Just to bring you back
Bring you back..

Home...

In the aftermath of the fireworks, a soft hazy cloud of colours floated across the Klang Valley, blanketing the city in a misty glow...

Ray-ray, your neck is FAMOUS! heh... i was bored, we were going for lunch, i had a pen, he was blur and obliging, we made art...

a lovely place to lounge.. taken on merdeka eve... we went to watch the fireworks from the deck and saw at least 10 places (ooh and Genting as well) all over the Klang Valley simultaneously explode with little bursts of sparkly lights :) nice..

This place was built for me... really.. someone looked into my head, saw the kind of place i've always wanted, and *poof* Luna Bar appeared... haha i wish i had a rooftop like that.. really...all it's lacking is a pool table and some tall, tanned, muscular, gorgeous guys in the pool.. *ahhh...dreams* lols... anyways we weren't really allowed to take pics there but i propped me cam up on the bench and let the shutter take it's time with the lovely warm lights...

Nick-y took this one of Justin n me at the park.. as we were playing around with my cam settings.. it's amazing how little i know about my own cam.. anyways i realised that i rarely post any pics o my friends with me actually IN em so here's one *lols*

The luxury of being able to wake up (or more like being able to stay in bed) at whim is something i haven't had the pleasure of enjoying for about a month now. Today, it was absolutely heavenly to be able to wake up, laze in bed, cuddle my fluffy baby-smelling dog, go back to sleep, wake up to gentle sounds of a light rain outside, cuddle more and fall asleep, wake up daydream under even fluffier covers, air con is lazily whirring, soft light streeming through the windows... if not for the wakeup call from a certain equally lazy someone, i could've been in bed all day... *ahhh* but instead, i woke up, changed and went out for "breakfast" at 3pm.. The weather was sooooo cloudy and windy and 8am-sunday-morning-like that we ended up going to the Kiara Park (TTDI) to walk around enjoying the cool morning.. er afternoon(?) air... much picture snapping ensuead as i'd brought along my trusty digicam and tripod.. let's jut say that some people have camera-whoring down to an art... heh.. 1 pint of Baskin's and a smashing Rockstar INXS episode later, i'm here, typing about one of the most gleefully unproductive days i've had in a while... it's calming *zones out*