Puan Mama Sarah and YT* have always planned to bring the kids to the National Sea Life Centre again, as the first time they went they were probably to little to appreciate the experience.
The great thing about driving in this country is - the roads are so well sign-posted that even without printing out the maps to our destination and without using GPS we still ended up spot-on.
The National Sea Life Centre was great, if not a tad expensive (money well paid and nominal in perspective I suppose, if to pay for the upkeep of the place). My other complaint is that the only restaurant available did not serve anything remarkable, unless if you consider chips remarkable. (No fish and chips at an aquarium??? come on! I'm sure they have cod in one of the tanks).
Food aside, it was a great experience for Amar and Sarah - especially when they "found" Nemo. Sarah was crying part of the time though - scared of the gigantic crabs and sinuous eels.
The other great thing about the National Sea Life Centre is its location along Birmingham's Canal. The Canal is beautiful - lined with Pubs, Restaurants and water taxi stops. I wished our children were behaved enough that we had the opportunity to taxi around the canal and stop by one of the strategically placed restaurants. Alas, our two small ones were very cranky from missing bed times, wet nappies and brain-over-stimulation.
*YT = yours truly
As some of you guys probably know, Alynn calls her D50 "Yume" which is a Japanese word meaning "dream". Since purchasing my 400D I have always wanted to give it a Japanese name too and seriously, I've been thinking about that name all this while (it's been many2 months since I purchased the 400D - around 6 months now?). I've finally found a for it:
Arashi
... which is Japanese for "storm". I like the name for many reasons: I like the sound of Arashi. A storm could be both beautiful and devastatingly deadly at the same time. Storms make beautiful photography subjects. It also symbolises the turbulently steep learning curve of mastering the beast that is the 400D - even now I still feel incapable of full control of my Arashi. I also like the the kanji for Arashi, shown above. It has the kanji for Kaze (wind) which is another Japanese word I like.
The full name of the 400D is probably Taka Arashi, and for those in the know, Taka Arashi is a character in VF3 and VF is one of my favourite previous past-times (intentionally cryptic).
17 comments:
So guys, the next time you hear Mynn says to MS, "Where did I place Arashi?" or " My Arashi takes good pictures" do not be baffled. This is just an act of love by someone who is besotted to a hi tech gadget, taken to the extreme! :p
i enjoyed the seahorses pics! I always find them fascinating.
Arashi is an endearing name. Seb baik tak taruk nama Kotaro Minami (eh u know him or not?)
Nway, I remember naming my previous cars 'si comot' & 'si comel' :D
anne
hey anne, arashi is supposed to be a Macho name not an "endearing" one! grr.
heh heh, for some reason i still remember the name kotaro minami - is it one of those power rangers type of show waaaay back?
dith
come on dith, what's so wrong with naming a loved possession? it's better than calling the thing a series of semi-random letters and numbers right?
So what happens when you put the L lens on? does it become Super/Ultra Arashi? haha
and for the record, I find naming inanimate object so wrong:Þ
And...Mama Sarah blends well with the decor. ;)
"Arashi is an endearing name"
I most certainly got a kick out of that one LOL.
*remembers that there is a Japanese band by the name of Arashi*
exdua
samurais name their swords with non-endearing names all the time. it's customary. didn't you say you named your teddy bear "si busuk" or something?
pycno
puan mama sarah is so colour coordinated that she researches the colour scheme of the destination she's going to and dresses accordingly.
hiyoshi
i googled "arashi" and found out that there is infact a japanese band with the same name. are they good?
re: anne
yeah, sheesh huh? men just don't give endearing names to anything. hey, you should give an "endearing name" to your camera too man.
the photos are 'fuyooooooo' ...
i like photo #5 but i prefer from the superior view ...
the seahorses photos are amazing as well...
now i'm thinking what should i call my d70s ... let it be mukhsin la .. hehehehe... =P
mynn
I have absolutely no idea. The only Japanese music I listen to would be OSTs from games. Nobuo Uematsu, anybody?
Plus, they're a boyband :P
Why not 'Beyonce' or 'Jessica Alba'?
dyanna
not everyone loves* or worships beyonce and jessica alba dyanna!
hiyoshi
i'm a big fan of game OSTs too - metal gear solid, Rez, Halo, those megaman games and definitely nobuo uematsu from some of the final fantasy games. having said all that, i'm a fan of OSTs in general e.g. the OST for 300, and various animes e.g. Read or Die :)
khairil idham
thanks for your comment khairil idham, i was surprised by your choice. unfortunately for these photos i just had to "shoot and run" - that's my style of taking photos. I rarely ask people to pose or get ready for the shots so normally you'd see my subjects doing all sorts of stuff; poor puan mama sarah. (but puan mama sarah is good nowadays, as soon as she sees the lens pointed at her she straightens up & strikes a pose).
interesting choice of a name for your D70. you have to do an essay on why you choose that name khairil idham.
if you're interested in seeing larger pictures of the photos here do go to my fotopages: click the link on my name above.
*but I do
wakakaka, geram orang tu. I just think it's endearing because it sounds (to me) like a male japanese lover i would fantasize about :D
It didnt occur to me that you compare yourself to a samurai (ala Anuar Zain? lol) naming his sword an uber-macho name!
As long as you don't stroke your camera at night & lovingly call it Arashi, sudahler...
anne
i heard japanese lovers have short "swords"
im not preoccupied with their 'swords' :p
anne
"im not preoccupied with their 'swords' :p "
with regards to my previous comment, i dont blame you.
ya lor, my fantasy japanese lover oredy got super power one, ala teleporting Hiro-yattaaa!!-Nakamura and Kotaro-satria-baja-hitam-Minami!
First thing that came to my mind upon learning your camera's name was the Japanese band actually. Haha. My friend was a die-hard fan. Not me, though ;) Still, I love the sound of it. And the National Sea Life centre sounds fab. =)
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